The young man walked with a resolute step along the streets of Kalispell where once he had dragged his feet as a telegraph boy and, of all things, an apprentice undertaker. Now he was... well, there wasn't really a word or a job title that fitted it, not in most people's lexicography. But whatever it was, it seemed to give him purpose: and purpose in a soul who had lost everything that he had once held dear was a precious commodity indeed.
Well, perhaps he had not quite lost everything. Perhaps the bonds of boyhood friendship still held fast.
He did not know. Perhaps it was by chance that he had not bumped into any of his erstwhile school friends since his Father had died and his sister disappeared, or perhaps they were avoiding him. He would not blame them for the latter. He would avoid himself, if he were in their well worn boots.
Not that he was thinking about Joe McClure or Barney Edwards or Dobie Jefferson as he turned a corner and ran slap-dab into the last named youth so that they almost knocked each other flat!
"Huh! Watch where you're going, Frances Grimes" joked the boy in the round crowned hat with typical schoolboy cruelty, implying that Dobie must be as blind as a bat and the fault all on his side.
The first part of the journey is often the hardest.
Dobie had been pre-occupied with trying to memorise what seemed like a thousand dates for the history exam he was due to take in the morning that he wasn't concentrating on where he was going. For the most part he had avoided obstacles and people on his way home after school that day, so when he bumped into Johannes, it almost knocked the wind out of him.
His initial shock and then surprise to see that it was his friend Ray, quickly turned to joy, "Ray! How are you? Where have you been?"
Realising that he was rambling, he smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry but I'm just glad to see you. With all of this extra studying for the college entrance exams and working for the Wentworths, I haven't had the time to come and see you. I know I should have considering but...well you know...it's good to see you."
Feeling bad for neglecting his friend for so long, Dobie sighed, "To tell the truth, I wanted to see you after what happened to your pa and your sister but my ma said I should wait a day or two but I guess I shouldn't have. I'm real sorry, Ray."
His initial shock and then surprise to see that it was his friend Ray, quickly turned to joy, "Ray! How are you? Where have you been?"
"Shit! Calm down Dobie, it's only me, Jesus Christ!" Johannes shrugged. He liked swearing in front of the other boy, he thought it made him sound tough.
Realising that he was rambling, he smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry but I'm just glad to see you. With all of this extra studying for the college entrance exams and working for the Wentworths, I haven't had the time to come and see you. I know I should have considering but...well you know...it's good to see you."
"Ahh well, you wouldn't have found me anyway, I'm not at the old house anymore. Heck, sounds like they've got you over a barrel." said the other boy, with forced nonchalance.
Feeling bad for neglecting his friend for so long, Dobie sighed, "To tell the truth, I wanted to see you after what happened to your pa and your sister but my ma said I should wait a day or two but I guess I shouldn't have. I'm real sorry, Ray."
"Tuh, I'm not bothered! Serves the stupid old bastard right. I'm just sorry Zenobia got to shoot him before I did. Good old Sis!" he smirked. Actually, the lad had incredibly mixed and confused feelings about what had happened. He had loved and hated his father; he had loved and hated his sister; he hated Roland Smith for somehow bringing his messed up family under the town's microscope; but, probably most important factor, he loathed what his father had tried to do to Zenobia. He picked the one facet of this ugly mess of conflicting emotions that he thought made him sound coolest.
"Ha! Well, I won't see her again." he laughed in a cavalier manner, then he suddenly turned serious, as he always did when the subject of female siblings came up between him and young Mister Jefferson. "I know it's not the same, but now I feel like I can look you in the eye, old man: we've both lost our sisters." he said, reaching out and patting Dobie firmly on the arm. Raymond, Johannes now (he'd have to explain that to his friend) had a slightly strange obsession with the tragically, recently deceased Jefferson girls, an odd feeling that, had they lived, he might have fallen in love with one of them, or some sissy nonsense like that. Dobie's arm felt warm under his shirt sleeve. Flesh of their flesh.
He withdrew his hand, quickly and rather guiltily.
"Oh, by the way, I changed my name. I'm Johannes Krieger now. I got adopted." he declared, again, with that devil-may-care nonchalance he didn't really feel.
The first part of the journey is often the hardest.
"Ha! Well, I won't see her again." he laughed in a cavalier manner, then he suddenly turned serious, as he always did when the subject of female siblings came up between him and young Mister Jefferson. "I know it's not the same, but now I feel like I can look you in the eye, old man: we've both lost our sisters." he said, reaching out and patting Dobie firmly on the arm.
Dobie frowned. Ray was right it wasn't the same...he had lost his sisters in the Whitefish disaster and they weren't coming back whereas Ray's Zenobia was still out there somewhere alive. It seemed that his friend was somehow justifying something but he wasn't quite sure what it was. Then it came...
"Oh, by the way, I changed my name. I'm Johannes Krieger now. I got adopted." he declared, again, with that devil-may-care nonchalance he didn't really feel.
Ray using his first name wasn't the surprise but the second one was. The only Krieger he knew about was that strange fellow who owned some sort of special services (whatever they were) shop. The Wentworths and his ma told him to stay clear of that place. Even Charlie, who had the room in the barn next to his, had warned him that if he was to go there he would end up losing something. Now, he was beginning to understand what they meant. Ray was gone and it Johannes that stood in his place.
"Um...I don't know what to say," Dobie replied, "I mean, I just...oh shoot. This is all kind of sudden isn't it?"
"Um...I don't know what to say," Dobie replied, "I mean, I just...oh shoot. This is all kind of sudden isn't it?"
"Well, Dobes old man, you've gotta strike while the iron's hot, you know. Seize the day. No time like the present and all that" Johannes declared airily. This was really the first time he'd spoken to anyone about his new situation and the bombast, so natural to young men at the best of times, was sort of helping him come to terms with his weird new station in life as Mister Krieger's youthful ward and right hand man.
"Course, I can't tell you too much about what I do for old man Krieger; I had to sign this top secret agreement to keep a whole bunch of secrets, see? Come to think of it I probably shouldn't have told you that but, well, you're my best pal, so I guess it's OK. Anyhow, it's a pretty sweet deal." he told the slightly older lad whom, he knew, rankled at being kept in school by those do-gooding Wentworths and his Ma.
He moved in a little closer to Dobie and added.
"And the best part... the women!" he looked around slyly "No more parleying with silly schoolgirls like Fanny Fawcett, or suffering a crush on Miss Bowen like you do..." he couldn't resist that one "... I deal with real women, now." he said with try-hard forced nonchalance, puffing out his weedy chest.
To be truthful, he was scared to death of the 'ladies' at the cat house he sometimes had to visit to deliver messages to Mrs Adams, and his relationship with his new tutor, his cousin-in-law Mrs Lutz didn't even bear close examination in his own conscience, let alone anyone else's, but he thought that any pretended success with the members of the mysterious sex would look pretty wizard in the older boy's eyes.
The first part of the journey is often the hardest.
"Course, I can't tell you too much about what I do for old man Krieger; I had to sign this top secret agreement to keep a whole bunch of secrets, see? Come to think of it I probably shouldn't have told you that but, well, you're my best pal, so I guess it's OK. Anyhow, it's a pretty sweet deal."
"It had better be or you've gone through all this trouble for nothing," Dobie replied.
He moved in a little closer to Dobie and added.
"And the best part... the women!" he looked around slyly "No more parleying with silly schoolgirls like Fanny Fawcett, or suffering a crush on Miss Bowen like you do..." he couldn't resist that one "... I deal with real women, now." he said with try-hard forced nonchalance, puffing out his weedy chest.
Dobie frowned, Ray...er Johannes was always getting him and Barney mixed up where Miss Bowen was concerned. Although Miss Bowen was a handsome looking woman, he knew that she was far too old for him. There was one thing he did know and that was if he was Shade Thornton, he wouldn't be gallivanting around with other women, especially if had someone like Miss Bowen waiting for him.
However, the topic of women piqued Dobie's interest. He was curious to hear what his friend knew and meant by his last statement, "What do you mean by real women?"
However, the topic of women piqued Dobie's interest. He was curious to hear what his friend knew and meant by his last statement, "What do you mean by real women?"
Johannes rested his thumbs in his pockets and nodded toward a respectable looking woman with copper coloured hair sauntering down the street. Where she was headed at this time of the day who knew? In fact, on closer inspection, she didn't really seem to be headed anywhere. She stopped and pulled up her skirts, exposing her ankle and a glimpse of striped stocking, and made some fictitious adjustment to her boot.
"See her?" Johannes asked Dobie rhetorically "She's a whore." Gosh, he felt like such a big man saying that word. "And... I can't say too much, you understand... but I know her. How about I introduce you?" he glanced back at the older lad, and threw in the clincher "But it's OK if you're too scared."
Now, the lad had met Mrs Rosenkrantz a couple of times when he'd take messages to Mrs Adam's house of ill repute, and both times he's nearly befouled his trousers with fear when she'd spoken to him. But this was too good a chance to show off to miss; and the swelling of his big head overcame the tremors of his quivering heart and knocking knees.
The first part of the journey is often the hardest.
Dobie looked over to where Johannes had seen the woman. He still wasn't too sure of what to make of this radical change in his friend's life but he was almost certain that even if Johannes knew the woman, that was about as far as it went. Maybe it was the cynic in him but he would be surprised if the woman wasted her time with the likes of Johannes.
When the brothel at the back of the undertaker's opened, Charlie had warned him to stay away. Either his ma had asked Charlie to say something or Charlie said it because he was still in school. Whatever the reason, Charlie had explained that most women only became whores because they had no other choice or way to earn money to survive. So, instead of feeling scared of them, he felt sorry instead. Even if, they had a choice, it wasn't his place to judge.
Charlie had also told that unless he had some money to purchase their services, these women would most likely ignore him or at the very least be they might be nice and flirt a little but that would be about it. There was some other things Charlie had told him about the brothel but at this moment they didn't matter. Since he only had a couple of dimes on him, he felt safe that nothing much would happen.
Turning to Johannes, he nodded, "All right, let's go and meet this friend of yours."
Hettie saw the two boys approaching, or maybe they thought of themselves as young men. One she knew, and didn't particularly like, that kid Johannes who sometimes came around on errands for Krieger. He always looked terrified when he entered the brothel, but now he looked all kind of puffed up and full of himself, probably wanted to show off to his friend that he was big enough to consort with 'women of the town'. His friend looked more reluctant, she'd give him the benefit of the doubt, for now.
"Howdy, Hettie! How's business?!" the younger, if slightly taller, boy smirked. Funny, last time she had seen him he had hardly been able to stutter out a timid 'Good morning, Miss Rosenkrantz' and when she'd snapped back 'It's Mrs Rosenkrantz!' just to see how far he'd jump, she hadn't been disappointed.
"Hello, Johannes. Who's your friend?" she asked, drifting her gaze to the lad who lived with the Wentworths.
"This is Dobie Jefferson. He's on his way to school." the full-of-himself Krieger boy revealed gleefully, proud of the fact he himself wasn't a 'mere schoolboy' now. Hettie held out her hand to the youth, not in her usual manner, which was to offer it palm down and high up, inviting a potential john to kiss it, but just the way a normal person would on being introduced, to shake.
"I'm Hettie Rosenkrantz... Mrs." she added, looking pointedly at Johannes "I take it, then, that you are a schoolmaster, Mr Jefferson." she asked, implying that she took him for much older than his sixteen years.
The first part of the journey is often the hardest.
"Ma'am", Dobie replied before taking Hettie's hand and giving it a quick shake before dropping it. He then questionably looked at Johannes. From a distance the woman didn't look that old but now that he was close up he could see she was much older than he thought she was.
Hettie then mentioned something about him being the schoolmaster which made Dobie frown. The woman obviously needed glasses if she thought he was old enough to be a teacher. However, instead of saying that verbally, he just smiled and said, "No ma'am, just doing an extra year of schooling so that I can go to college next year."
So far, he wasn't impressed with what Johannes considered to be a real woman. What was it with Johannes and all these older women anyways? And what was wrong with the ones closer to his own age?
If there was one thing Dobie knew and that was not to aim too high where women concerned. According to Charlie and some of his other friends, it was better to stick to those around your own age as the older ones tended to be willlier due to all that experience. It was better to have someone you could grow and learn with. Then there was also the matter that whores tended to be looked upon as used goods, so he wondered what Johannes saw in them.
Dobie then remembered Johannes' statement about knowing her. He decided to find out how much so he cleared his throat and said, "Ma'am, my friend here says that he's...well real acquainted with you."