The Fire (Northwest Passage Book 4)

by John A. Heldt

  "I think you should do it, Sadie."

  "Why?"

  "You should do it for the same reason Andy took the editing position. You need to get out of Wallace and see the big blue world. You need to maximize your potential."

  You also need to find someone else.

  Sadie returned an icy glare.

  "There's more, Sadie, much more," Andy said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "This publisher's a very progressive guy. He pays his employees well, treats them well, and provides financial incentives for those who want to further their education."

  "He does this for women as well as men?"

  "He does it for everyone."

  Kevin watched Sadie sigh and look away. He could see she was running out of excuses.

  "You think he would help me?"

  "I know he would. One of his society reporters is a woman in her twenties. He helped put her through the state college in Pullman. He's one of the most progressive men I've ever met."

  "I don't know, Andy."

  "Come on, Sadie. What could possibly keep you here?"

  Sadie looked at Kevin again, this time with eyes that practically pleaded with him to take her away. It was clear she didn't want to make a snap decision that would put an end to any chance she had of winning over the man she loved.

  "Can I have some time to think about it?"

  "You can think about it until the day I leave, which can't be later than July 22. I promised the publisher only that I'd bring you with me if you were interested."

  Sadie gave Kevin a hard stare and Andy a tentative smile.

  "I'll think about it then. I'd like at least until early next week."

  "Take your time, love. This is a big step."

  "Thank you, Andy. Thank you for thinking about me."

  "Don't mention it," he said. "If there is one thing I've learned in this fair little town, it's that friends matter. They matter a lot."

  Andy took a puff of his cigar.

  "I take care of my friends."

  CHAPTER 61: MAUDE

  Thursday, July 14, 1910

  "So are you going to leave me too?" Maude asked.

  "I don't know. I'm confused right now."

  Maude walked past Sadie to the window in her living room. She wiped a brow, saw a light breeze rattle the leaves of her oak tree, and wondered whether it was time to throw open the windows. She wanted relief from the heat, but she didn't want any more smoke. The smoke from a growing number of wildfires was rapidly reaching hazardous levels.

  "I must admit that Andrew has set up a wonderful opportunity. If I were you, I would probably pursue it. Such opportunities for women, I'm sad to say, are few and far between."

  "I know," Sadie said from the settee. "That's what makes this so hard. I feel that if I don't at least apply for the job I will regret it for the rest of my life."

  "How long has he given you to make a decision?"

  "I have to decide by next Friday."

  "Are you leaning one way or the other?"

  Sadie shook her head.

  "Well, whatever you do, don't do it on account of me."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean I can always find another housekeeper, just like I can always find new boarders. I will miss you dearly, Sadie, if you leave, but life will go on."

  Maude gazed at Sadie from the window and wondered who was lying to whom. Yes, she would be able to find someone to cook and clean, but she doubted that the new hire would have half the intelligence and charm of this wonderful girl.

  As for replacing Andy, she didn't even want to think about that. She knew the quality of single men who roamed the streets of Wallace, and that quality left her wanting.

  Then there was Kevin. She hadn't thought much about his situation, but she knew that it, too, was about to change. He was racing toward marriage, and men who were racing toward marriage didn't hang their hats long in the mansions of woeful widows.

  "I know. I would still feel bad, though, about leaving you all alone."

  "I won't be alone, dear. I'll still have Kevin, at least for a while," Maude said. "You have to do what's best for you. You have to do what you want to do."

  Maude walked back to the settee and sat down next to Sadie.

  "What do you want to do?"

  "I want to go to college. I really want to go to college. Andy told me that his new boss offers scholarships and incentives to his employees, even the women. I like that."

  Maude turned toward her maid, still clad in her work dress and apron, and placed a hand on her knee.

  "There's no need to get a job, Sadie. If all you want is money for college, then just ask. I'll give it to you, no strings attached. I would much rather spend Marcus' fortune on your education than on a husband I don't want or extravagances I don't need."

  "I know you would. You've been very generous. If I decide to go to school first, I will definitely accept your offer. I like the idea of going to college next year, though part of me would first like to see what the newspaper has to offer. Life there sounds exciting. I'm just not sure that now is the time to go."

  "I don't understand your hesitancy. Why wait? Whether you work or study, why put it off? Why delay what you can do now and do on someone else's dime?"

  Sadie looked away.

  "Is it Kevin?" Maude asked.

  Sadie nodded.

  Maude smiled sadly and then let her eyes drift to a fading photograph of a Denver showgirl that hung on a wall. She remembered a time when that girl had gone through a similar trial.

  Determined to help Sadie as best she could, Maude searched her mind for the right words. She knew she had a chance to steer a young life in a constructive direction and didn't want to squander that opportunity.

  "I know how you feel, Sadie. Before I met Marcus, I fell in love with a fellow performer. We dated for several months and talked often of marriage. Then he left me for someone else. I didn't think I'd ever get over him, but I did. I focused my attention on other matters and got on with my life. Sometimes our only course is to accept things as they are and move on."

  Maude put a hand on Sadie's.

  "You should move on, Sadie. You should let Kevin go."

  "I know I should, but I can't. I can't stop thinking about him. Just when I think he doesn't care anymore, he shows me that he does. Do you know what he gave me for my birthday?"

  "He gave you nothing, if I recall. That alone should tell you something."

  "Then you don't know."

  "Know what?"

  "He gave me a hundred and six kisses when he came back that night. They were real kisses too – not chicken pecks or cousin kisses. We sat on the porch swing past midnight."

  "Oh, my," Maude said with a chuckle. "It seems I don't know everything that happens under my roof."

  "It's not just the kisses either. He likes spending time with me. He respects me. He asks my opinion on things he reads in the news. Even my father didn't do that," Sadie said. "I know he thinks of me as more than a friend. I know it. I know he has feelings for me. I just don't know what do to about it. I'm afraid if I leave now, I'll shut the door on any chance to find happiness."

  "I seriously doubt that, dear," Maude said. "You're smart, kind, and pretty. You'll have men lining up to take you to dances and shows no matter where you go."

  Sadie frowned.

  "Even if you're right, none of them will be Kevin. I love him. I want to be with him."

  Maude smiled and looked at Sadie like the daughter she never had.

  "Then do something about it. If you still think he's worth fighting for, then fight for him. Tell him what you told me. Say your piece. If you do, and he still picks Sarah, then you will at least know that you tried. If you don't, then you'll spend the rest of your life burdened by regret."

  Sadie took a deep breath, smiled, and grabbed Maude's hand.

  "Thank you. That's just what I needed to hear. I'll speak to him and speak to him soon. I'll not let him go without a
fight."

  CHAPTER 62: SADIE

  Monday, July 18, 1910

  Sadie stared at her clock and then at her window as she rested, or tried to rest, atop her frilly double bed. At five to four, she knew it was only a matter of time before Kevin walked into the house and into a conversation she had planned all weekend.

  She wanted to talk to him in the house because she wanted to be free of the irritating smoke and other outside distractions. She had waited until Monday afternoon because she knew that Andy would be at work and Maude would be out playing bridge.

  Sadie had hoped to speak to Kevin shortly after lunch but didn't get the chance. He told her that he had to run a few errands but would be back by three thirty at the latest.

  So after Andy, Maude, and Kevin left for their respective appointments, Sadie had cleared the dishes, taken a bath, and put on her best summer dress. She had brushed her hair and fixed her face and mentally prepared for the sales pitch of a lifetime.

  Sadie didn't know how she would start. She would first gauge Kevin's mood, perhaps get him something to drink, and then go from there. She knew only that she would do as Maude had advised. She would open her heart and let it all out. She would hold nothing back and hope that everything she offered would be enough to change the mind of a determined young man.

  Sadie looked at the clock again and saw the hands point to the twelve and the four. She got up from the bed and walked to her closed window just as she heard a door shut downstairs. When she heard footsteps on the stairs, she rushed back to her bed, took a deep breath, and waited for him to enter his room, where she had left a vase of freshly picked wildflowers.

  When Kevin called her name and then Maude's, her heart raced. When he walked past the barely opened door to her room, her spirits soared. Then Sadie heard a second voice in the hallway and her spirits fell. Kevin had come back all right, but he hadn't come back alone.

  "Are you sure no one's home," Sarah Thompson said in a voice barely above a whisper.

  "I'm pretty sure," Kevin said. "If Sadie and Maude were here they would have answered. I think we have the place to ourselves."

  Sarah giggled.

  "I don't know if I like the sound of that, Mr. Johnson. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect you had something inappropriate in mind."

  Kevin laughed.

  "I usually do have something inappropriate in mind, but not today. Today I have something very appropriate in mind. I have something I want to show you."

  Sadie tiptoed to her door and saw Kevin lead Sarah by the hand to the end of the hallway. When the couple entered Kevin's room, Sadie slipped into the corridor and proceeded quietly to a slightly opened door. She could see Kevin and Sarah sitting on his bed through the narrow opening but was reasonably certain they couldn't see her. The hallway was dark.

  "Those are beautiful flowers," Sarah said. "Where did they come from?"

  "I'm sure they came from Maude's garden," Kevin said. "Sadie probably picked them. She is always doing stuff like that."

  "She is?"

  "She is. Does that bother you, Miss Thompson?"

  Sadie saw a smile vanish from Sarah's face.

  "It does a little. I know Sadie's very fond of you, and I often wonder if the feeling is mutual."

  "You have nothing to worry about," Kevin said.

  "Are you sure about that?"

  "I'm sure."

  "You do like her though."

  "Of course I like her."

  "Do you love her?"

  Sadie froze as she waited for a reply that would surely dictate her next move. She knew that Kevin liked her – and liked her a lot – but she didn't know whether his feelings for her crossed the line between affection and love.

  Kevin didn't answer Sarah right away. He instead looked at her thoughtfully and put his hands on her shoulders.

  "I'm hesitant to answer that question truthfully because I don't want to give you the wrong impression," he finally said.

  Sadie held her breath.

  "I'd still like the truth," Sarah said.

  "OK. I'll give you the truth. The truth is that I do love her. Sadie is one of the best friends I've ever had. She's a lot like you. She's smart, kind, thoughtful, and yes, beautiful. In any other situation, I wouldn't even consider someone else."

  Sadie braced herself against a wall to keep from falling down. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

  Kevin raised his hands to Sarah's face.

  "Sadie is special to me. She'll always be special to me," he said. He broke into a warm smile. "You're more than special. You're my first thought in the morning and my last at night. You're the woman I want to build my life around. You're the one I want to marry."

  Sarah gasped.

  Sadie's heart sank when she took in Kevin's words. She watched him closely as he opened the top drawer of his nightstand and retrieved a small velvet box. She knew what was coming.

  Kevin opened the container. He pulled a diamond ring out of the box, took Sarah's left hand, and slipped the ring on the appropriate finger.

  "I bought the ring this morning," Kevin said. "I've been shopping around for weeks. I wanted to get you the best because you are the best. I love you, Sarah. I love you more than anything in the world. I want to be your husband and spend the rest of my life with you."

  Sadie could not see Sarah's face, but she knew she was crying. She saw Sarah wipe her cheeks with her hand.

  "I love you too," Sarah said. "You know I do. I . . ."

  "Don't say a thing," Kevin said. "I don't need an answer now. In fact, I don't want an answer now. I want you to think it over for at least a few days."

  "Why? I don't need to think anything over."

  "Oh, yes, you do."

  "I don't understand," Sarah said. "Don't you want to marry me?"

  Kevin took Sarah's hands and pulled her gently from the bed. When she got to her feet, he returned his hands to her face and kissed her sensitively.

  "I do," Kevin said. "I want to marry you as soon as possible, but I can't until I've told you who I am and where I am from."

  "Have you kept secrets from me?" Sarah asked.

  Kevin nodded.

  "I've kept many secrets from you. It's not what you think though. There is no other woman in my life, not even Sadie. This is bigger, much bigger."

  "Then tell me. What's this about?"

  Kevin put a finger to Sarah's lips and gave her a patient smile. A moment later, he reached again into the top nightstand drawer and pulled out what looked like a leather-covered diary.

  "It's about this," Kevin said.

  He held out the item.

  "It's about a book?" Sarah asked.

  "It's about a book – and some gold coins and a rock shed and a hundred other things."

  Dazed and confused, Sadie tried to follow the conversation. She too wanted to know who Kevin was and where he was from, but she knew now the particulars didn't matter. They would never matter. Kevin could be a creature from a distant planet, and it wouldn't change a thing.

  He had made a permanent commitment to someone else. He wanted Sarah, not her. That's what mattered. The game was over.

  "You'll have to do better than that," Sarah said.

  "I will," Kevin replied. "Believe me, I will."

  "When?"

  "Tonight. I'll explain everything at dinner. If we leave now, we can have the Placer Room mostly to ourselves."

  "All right," Sarah said.

  Sadie watched Kevin return the book and the ring box to the drawer, grab a flower from the vase, and give that flower, a flower she had cut and collected, to another woman. She put a hand to her stomach. It was all she could do to keep from throwing up.

  Sadie wanted to scream, pound on the walls, and protest the unfairness of it all, but she didn't. In the end, she quietly withdrew to her room, shut the door, and fell onto her bed. When she heard Kevin and Sarah talk and laugh as they walked out of his room and out of the house, she did something she hadn't expected to
do on this sunny afternoon. She cried. She cried hard and didn't stop crying until the day turned to night.

  CHAPTER 63: KEVIN

  "Let me see if I understand you correctly. You're a time traveler from the year 2013 and you got here by walking through a rock shed. Is that right?"

  "That's the sum of it," Kevin said.

  Sarah laughed.

  "Life with you won't be boring, will it?"

  "You don't believe me."

  "I don't believe you," she said. "I'm not a scientist, but I know enough about physics and technology to know that time travel is impossible. You, my dear Mr. Johnson, have been reading too much H.G. Wells."

  Kevin smiled but didn't say a thing. He instead scanned the room to see if the four other diners were looking his way and then reached into his vest pocket.

  "What are you doing?" Sarah asked.

  "I'm making your day, Miss Thompson."

  Kevin pulled out his digital camera and held it in front of his face.

  "Say 'cheese.'"

  "Say what?"

  "Just look gorgeous. It shouldn't be hard."

  Sarah didn't know time travel, but she sure as hell knew how to pose for a photo. She smiled warmly as she gazed at the photographer with admiring eyes.

  Kevin snapped a picture.

  "That's a camera?" she asked.

  "It's a camera."

  Kevin pushed the display button. Satisfied with the image on the 2.8-inch LCD screen, he handed the device to his de facto fiancée.

  "Recognize that hottie?"

  Sarah took the camera but glanced first at Kevin. She sighed and shook her head, as if to ask, "What am I going to do with you?" When she finally examined the high-resolution color image, she did so with widening eyes.

  "How did you do that?"

  "I didn't. The camera did."

  "Where did you get this?"

  "I got it from an electronics store in Delaware. I bought it online."

  "You did what?"

  "We have something called the Internet. I'll tell you about that later," he said. "First, I want you to do something."