Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Ah, well, there's a rogues gallery," Addy commented dryly as Patty named off her new clients. The men all had reputations around town, but Addy had never worked directly with or for any of them, and she suspected that Mrs. Patty was no shill, nor an ignorant push-over, so she figured she'd give the men a run for their money!
Then she mentioned that there might be wedding bells in the air for Mr. Flagg and Miss Sally, and Addy raised a curious eyebrow. An odd match, that, but then, love was an odd thing! "If it's in their stars, more's th' good for 'em!" she declared, nodding to Jane as she came back into the kitchen.
"You gotta watch out for these girls, Weedy... the 'marrying kind'!" she warned him.
"Yes, Ma'am." The poor boy didn't know what that meant, although perhaps she was talking about the ilk of Miss Arabeller...he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to marry her, even if she did look pretty good without clothes! And that thought turned his cheeks bright red! "I plan on traveling the world," he declared, "so I won't need a wife anyway."
Oh dear, we're all of a flutter!
"Ah, well, there's a rogues gallery," Addy commented dryly as Patty named off her new clients.
"Ha!" Petty gave a sharp laugh "The ones you know are rogues aren't the problem."
Then she mentioned that there might be wedding bells in the air for Mr. Flagg and Miss Sally, and Addy raised a curious eyebrow. An odd match, that, but then, love was an odd thing! "If it's in their stars, more's th' good for 'em!" she declared, nodding to Jane as she came back into the kitchen.
"You gotta watch out for these girls, Weedy... the 'marrying kind'!" she warned him.
"Yes, Ma'am." The poor boy didn't know what that meant, although perhaps she was talking about the ilk of Miss Arabeller...he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to marry her, even if she did look pretty good without clothes! And that thought turned his cheeks bright red! "I plan on traveling the world," he declared, "so I won't need a wife anyway."
Jane looked a little crestfallen, but her mother countered.
"You know, Weedy, travellin' the world wears holes in your boots - who's gonna darn your socks in Timbuctoo when they're full o' spuds? And in China, they don't eat nuthin' but cats and dogs; if you had a wife along with you, she could cook you up some bacon and eggs!"
She looked at Jane, and to further she her up, told her "Say, Janey, when I met your father, he thought he didn't want to get married - but I soon put him straight on that!"
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
Weedy's nose wrinkled up when Mrs. P-F talked about the people in China eating cats and dogs, and he determined at that moment, never to go there. That solved two problems -- running the risk of eating a pet, and needing a wife! "What about here?" he asked, looking around to be sure Farley was inside and safe. "Do they eat dogs and cats when they get here?" Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Buster in a few days.
"No, they don't." Addy might have chided Patty, but she had heard tales of peoples in some of those far-off countries eating about anything they could get hold of. Of course, there was no saying what a starving man would turn to. "There's laws here, an' besides, I reckon if word got around that someone was doin' that, there'd be a lynch mob form up real quick."
"I guess..." The evening had taken an odd turn, and Weedy glanced at Jane and shrugged. "I can learn to darn socks," he muttered, "or just not wear any, but I might need someone to help me look after Farley so he doesn't get lost or nothing."
Oh dear, we're all of a flutter!
"Do they eat dogs and cats when they get here?"
Patty was just about to reply with a ghoulish 'well of course they do', but Ms. Chappel spoiled her funnin'.
"No, they don't." Addy might have chided Patty, but she had heard tales of peoples in some of those far-off countries eating about anything they could get hold of. Of course, there was no saying what a starving man would turn to. "There's laws here, an' besides, I reckon if word got around that someone was doin' that, there'd be a lynch mob form up real quick."
Mrs Patterson Forde doubted if there were actually written statutes against eating cats and dogs (though there would be in 130 years' time) but the bit about the lynch mob was probably true. Indeed, she herself would be at the head of it, right behind Granny Miggins, who liked small animals more than she liked people, not that that was saying much.
"I heard a rumour that there was a Japanese man at the saloon this week" Mrs P.-F. mentioned. "I heard once that they don't just eat cats and dogs, they eat raw fish! So you might wanna give that place a miss, too, Weedy. Boy, at this rate you're gonna run out of places to travel to!" she joked, po-faced.
"I guess..." The evening had taken an odd turn, and Weedy glanced at Jane and shrugged. "I can learn to darn socks," he muttered, "or just not wear any, but I might need someone to help me look after Farley so he doesn't get lost or nothing."
"Ooooh! I'll come along and look after Farley!!" Jane yelped with alacrity "And if any old Japongise or Chinese or Frenchman comes along and tries to eat him I'll, well... I'll just defend him with my life Porter!" she cried dramatically.
Patty smiled benignly on the pair, it was so awkward yet so cute to see her daughter's obvious, and quite painful to behold, crush on the handsome lad, and his complete ignorance of what the heck was going on. She finished her pie and glanced at Addy.
"I'd better drag this one back home, don't suppose you've got a team of wild horses I could use?" she joshed.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
Glancing at Jane, Weedy shrugged. Eating raw fish didn't seem so bad. In fact, there was something primal in the thought of just snatching a fish from the river and just chomping down on it! And didn't the Indians do that?
At any rate, he could see that Jane was as uncomfortable with the whole conversation as he was, and he'd be happy for it to be over!
"I'd better drag this one back home, don't suppose you've got a team of wild horses I could use?" she joshed.
"Well, now," Addy declared with a grin, "I do got horses, but they're not so wild as th' boy here." She chuckled, then added, "He's got his little Indian pony out front, ya could fling her over that!"
Oh dear, we're all of a flutter!
"Well, now," Addy declared with a grin, "I do got horses, but they're not so wild as th' boy here."
The matronly looking Mrs Paterson Forde caught Weedy's eye and raised her eyebrows quizzically with a little tip of the head as if to ask oh, a little 'wild' are we? Funny woman, pleasantly-plump, not exactly good looking at all, and, frankly, as rough as a bear's backside, but withal, oddly coquettish. Her innocent daughter, clumsy in such matters, could learn a lot from her. But no girl thinks her mother can teach her anything, Jane's tutor in love was strictly the seemingly all knowing Miss Mudd.
She chuckled, then added, "He's got his little Indian pony out front, ya could fling her over that!"
"That little pinto? Hmm, nice animal. I'm the only one in our family appreciates horseflesh." Mrs P.F. was up now and moving round to Jane, who, through a lifetime of training, stood when her mother did. "Janey here's frightened to death of them, ever since she saw her twin sister trampled to death by a defensive mare, back when we was in California" she said this bluntly as she hugged the girl from behind.
When her mother mentioned her sister, Jane flinched and froze. Blame flooded her heart, and Clemmy seemed to hover in her peripheral vision, arms folded, cross, angry that she too wasn't here, enjoying the pleasures and pains of a fist love.
"Still blame yerself, don'tcha sweetheart?" Patty asked and kissed her daughter on the top of the head. All Jane could do was nod sadly... heedless at this point, with Clemmy's spectre staring at her, of what Weedy and Addy thought of her.
"Still see her, don't you? Even here, even though we've moved" Patty asked seriously.
Jane nodded.
"Best they know" her mother said quietly.
Things made more sense now, Weedy thought, and really, Jane had been quite brave when it had come to being near Milan. She was pretty gutsy, for a girl!
"Oh, now..." Addy felt for the child and shook her head. "I been workin' 'round mules an' horses an' such since I was still in my knickers, an' even I wouldn't take on a mare thinkin' she has ta protect her little one." She shook her head again. "Only thing might of stopped it is a shotgun, so ya've nothin' ta be shamed over."
As for the girl seeing her twin, Weedy sort of thought that was odd, but then, Miss Jemima had told him he could talk to his Ma, so there was no saying.
"Jane petted Milan," he told Mrs. P-F, "and fed him some lemon drops. She's real brave."
Smiling, Addy patted Weedy on the shoulder. "No shame in bein' afraid'a somethin'. Jane's a fine gal from what I seen, didn't hesitate one bit when she saw that pup needed help."
Oh dear, we're all of a flutter!
"Jane petted Milan," he told Mrs. P-F, "and fed him some lemon drops. She's real brave."
"Well, is that right?!" nodded Patty, genuinely impressed by her daughter's partial conquest of her fears. She nearly said something about the power of love, or at least the power of wanting to impress your crush, but decided she'd embarrassed the girl enough for today.
Smiling, Addy patted Weedy on the shoulder. "No shame in bein' afraid'a somethin'. Jane's a fine gal from what I seen, didn't hesitate one bit when she saw that pup needed help."
"Surprised she didn't ask to bring the little rascal home herself!" Patty declared and Jane quickly added "Oh, Mrs Chappel asked if I wanted him but I remembered about Junior being scared to death of dogs"
"Uh? Oh! Is he? I though that was spiders." Patty suddenly realised that Jane was asking her to go along with some fib "... oh yeah, and, er, dogs"
"Well, best be getting along, thanks again." she bid them farewell cheerfully, Jane giving Weedy one last smile before she was ushered out of the house by her mother.
[The End of the Thread?]
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Was a pleasure meetin' ya," Addy said as she escorted the woman and her daughter out. "Don't be strangers, neither of ya."
As soon as they stepped off the porch, she looked down at Weedy. "As fer you, young man, ya'd best get yer pony back ta th' barn now, 'cause I suspect yer not gonna be able ta sit by th' end of the evenin'."
((Fini!))