Kaitlin and Marcail lay on their stomachs in the haymow looking out the loft door to the yard below. Lunch was over and the girls were feeling lazy. They heard movement behind them and a moment later Sean flopped down on Kaitlin’s open side.
“Did Burt Kemp really ask you to teach again?” Sean wasted no time in asking the question that had been on his mind through lunch.
“Full salary.”
“He did?” Marcail asked, wondering where she had been all the time this was going on.
“What will you do?” Sean wanted to know.
“You can’t teach here in Santa Rosa, Katie. Father will probably want us to live with Aunt Maureen.”
This was something she’d already thought of but hadn’t bothered to mention to her sister.
“It would be easier to leave the mercantile than it would the school if Father came back,” Sean stated logically. “But if you plan to make Santa Rosa your permanent home then you need to be discussing with Rigg where you should work.”
Two in one day, Kate thought.
She wondered if Rigg had been telling people something that he should have discussed with her first.
You know better, Kaitlin, she immediately said to herself. The way he feels about you is written on his face, for all the world to see.
“I want us to be together,” Marcail said after a moment.
Sean and Kaitlin would have been surprised if Marcail hadn’t understood the gist of their conversation, so they made no pretense in front of her as they continued to talk.
“Marc,” Sean began, “do you understand what’s happening between Katie and Rigg?”
“They love each other.”
“Right. And that’s how it should be. We don’t know when Father is coming back but we do know that until then, we’ll be together. If Kate marries Rigg, and Father is still gone, then we’ll still be here in Santa Rosa. She’s not going to ship us off to San Francisco by ourselves. Isn’t that right, Katie?”
“Right.” Kate was relieved that that was all she had to say; it was all she could say.
“And you never know, Marc,” Sean went on. “Maybe Father will like Santa Rosa enough to want to stay.”
Marcail looked very satisfied and Kate put her face against Sean’s shoulder to cover her tears. She couldn’t stand the thought that Marcail would be hurt by her relationship with Rigg. The thought of being separated from her siblings, even if it meant a lifetime with Rigg, was more than she could deal with at the moment.
“Are you all right Katie?” Marcail asked softly.
“Yes.”
“Katie, where would we live if you married Rigg?”
Kate’s tears came harder and Sean kept still as she wet his shirt sleeve.
“You know,” he said finally, “maybe we’re jumping the gun here. He hasn’t asked her—or has he, Kate?”
“No.” Kate sniffed and then complained, “I don’t know what’s the matter with me these days. All I do is cry.”
“That’s okay,” Sean said. “Rigg calls it a late reaction. As least that’s what he said when I told him I hadn’t cried much about Mother. He said sometimes we don’t need to cry and then we find ourselves crying nonstop.”
Sean was so sweet with Kate that she only felt worse and suddenly very tired. A few minutes later Rigg climbed up to join them and Sean eased away from his sister. Her head fell against her outstretched arm and for the first time Sean saw she was asleep.
Sean stood and looked down at her and then at Rigg. Whispering, he asked Marcail if she wanted to come, but she shook her head no. Rigg and Marcail watched him leave and then Rigg motioned for Marcail to join him where he sat against the barn wall.
“Was Katie crying?” Rigg immediately asked, still speaking in hushed tones.
“Yes she was. It almost made me cry too.”
“That would have been okay,” Rigg assured her.
“I don’t like to cry, it makes my head hurt and sometimes I throw up.” Her admission was so honest, her face so creased by her frown that Rigg couldn’t help smiling. He adored this little girl.
“Tears aren’t ever fun but they’re sometimes very needed. Were Katie’s needed?”
“I think so. Rigg, are you going to marry Katie?”
Rigg’s eyes went to Kaitlin’s sleeping form. He couldn’t see her face but knew she was out cold. “I don’t think it would be right to talk to anyone about that before I’ve talked with Katie. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes.” They fell silent again and then Marcail had another question. “Does the man always ask?”
“The girl to marry him, you mean?”
“Right. Can the girl ask the boy?”
“I guess so. It’s tradition for the man to ask and from everything I’ve heard, most people like it that way.”
“Do you?”
Rigg could see Kate stirring so he answered Marcail’s question very softly. “I think when two people love each other, it doesn’t matter who asks, just as long as they can be together.” Marcail seemed content with that answer. She had more questions but Kate was stirring. They watched as she came slowly to a sitting position. Kaitlin blinked at Rigg and Marcail as if she were dreaming them.
“Hi Katie. How did you sleep?”
Kate didn’t answer her sister; things were still too fuzzy. She continued to frown at them until Marcail giggled.
“Would you like to get down?” Rigg asked. “I can help you on the ladder.” But again Kate didn’t answer. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her skirt around herself. Once she had curled herself into a ball, she stared out the door at the trees.
“I dreamed that Father was back,” Kate said softly. “He’d grown a beard and we didn’t recognize him at first. I think I miss him more than ever.” Marcail moved over to Kate and she drew her close.
Rigg’s eyes met Kaitlin’s over the top of Marcail’s head and his look told Kate he was very aware of her pain. Quietly Kate began to talk, not reminiscing as they’d done on the front porch earlier, but about her fears. At first she held back, not wanting to upset Marcail, but Marcail shared a few of her own fears, surprising Kate with the intensity of her feelings.
Rigg listened attentively and spoke with tenderness, telling the girls how normal their fears were and how much he believed God was going to take care of their every need.
They talked until the heat of the loft drove them down the ladder. Once outside the barn they walked toward the house, seeking the cool interior and something to drink. They were almost at the back door when Joey Parker came shooting into the yard.
“My Pa’s been hurt!” he cried in panic. “There’s blood everywhere and he won’t wake up.”
The entire family heard his screams and within seconds everyone was gathered in the yard, trying to understand his hysterical chatter. When they could see that he was not going to calm down, Bill, Rigg, and Jeff jumped in the wagon, grabbed Joey, and headed for the Parker house. Kaitlin wanted to go along to comfort Joey, but Bill stepped in and forbade her.
“I have no idea what we’ll find and I’m not about to take you into that situation.”
Kate stood with the rest of the family until the dust had settled on the road, covering Parker and the loved ones in the wagon with their prayers.