Wanted: Shopkeeper (Silverpines Book 4)

by Sophie Dawson

  “I’ve got a bite,” Ben hollered.

  Ryder turned his attention from the man to Ben who was pulling up on his pole. He helped Ben land the fish.

  “Wow, that’s a fine one,” Nate said. Reuben agreed.

  Once they’d freed the fish from the hook, Ben tossed it back in the water. Ryder turned to look at the man. He was gone. As he helped Ben thread another worm on his hook, Ryder decided to tell his pa about the encounter.

  Clay stood looking down at Millie. She was still sleeping. Her face gave evidence of the stress and fear of the events of the morning. They’d only been married about a week. She was still recovering from the pressures she’d been under after the disaster. This would set her back he was sure.

  Clay hoped Ida and Abe slept longer. That would give her more rest. He didn’t want her to have to cook supper so he planned to send Ryder and Nate to the cafe to purchase their meal.

  Checking on Abe, Clay found him sound asleep sucking on his thumb. Not wanting to wake him he refrained from stroking the soft cheek. Abe was such a sweet, easy baby. Not at all like any of his boys. They’d all been active, demanding, fussbudgets. He smiled at the memories.

  He peeked in on Ida. She was sleeping too. Checking his pocket watch, he figured she might sleep another hour. He’d be sure to come back up in plenty of time so she wouldn’t wake Millie if she were still asleep.

  Clay went down into the mercantile. The canned goods Ben and Reuben were shelving when Abe fell were all neatly placed with their labels facing forward. Well done. He’d have to remember to compliment them.

  Moving behind the counter Clay noticed a black splotch on the floorboard that hadn’t been there before. Smaller spots were scattered around it. What had happened here? He looked around. Everything seemed to be in order. What was that?

  On the shelf where tobacco products were held sat one pouch of chewing tobacco and three neat rows of small brown paper bags closed with Hotchkiss staples. The bags were spotted with ink, crooked letters, and an uneven crown.

  Glancing around, Clay saw a box next to the cigar cutter. He picked it up. The weight told him it was empty.

  Clay didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry. Seems a couple of boys tried to help with the lack of chew available for sale. Too bad they chose to cut up the most expensive cigars in the store.

  His mouth stretched into a huge grin. He set the box down and picked up one of the bags. A chuckle burst forth. The ingenuity Ben and Reuben showed made Clay wonder what their teenage years would be like. He hoped Millie saw it in the same light as he did.

  She was certainly a beautiful woman. He loved when she brushed out her hair. It was the color of fine dark mahogany wood and flowed in waves down her back. He longed to run his hands through it to see if it was as soft as it looked.

  Clay knew it was too soon. Her husband had only been gone two months. Plus she was still worn out from those two months. Lucy had been gone six months now and all he’d done was move his family from Colorado to Oregon. Clay was going to have to wait to reveal his attraction to her.

  Forcing those thoughts from his mind, Clay pulled the ledgers out and placed them on the counter. He hadn’t had time to look at them yet. He and Millie had gone to the bank opening a new account with both their names. They were changing the name of the store to Silverpines Mercantile. Both wanted to provide for their children. With the money he brought from his sale of his portion of Cutler General Store they would be able to expand when Ryder was ready and then Nate. If things worked well there should be opportunities for all the children.

  Opening the ledger marked Credit Accounts he found what Millie had told him. The entries on each page before the earthquakes were itemized with totals for each date and payments listed in a neat hand. After they continued for several entries neat but in a different handwriting, Millie’s. Then the writing became sloppy. Finally only the date and total purchase was listed.

  There were pages that had no entries after the middle of April. Clay realized these families either died or had left Silverpines. Only a few showed that there had been a payment made on the account. As sympathetic as he was to the people who had suffered so drastically, Clay knew he would have to begin asking for payments on the accounts. He’d speak to Millie about who could pay the complete amount and those who would be helped by partial payments on their account.

  Next he looked in the Orders ledger. Again, order entries went from itemized neatly and totaled to sloppy with just a total. Stuffed in the book were packing slips and order invoices. Some were cross-checked. Others just put together.

  Clay realized more fully what Millie had been going through having to run the store as well as tend her children. The entries in the Credit Accounts showed how busy the store had been in the days following the disaster.

  So many household items were being replaced. Millie had ordered dishes, glasses, many items that would have been damaged or broken during the earthquakes. Few had arrived before June when the railroad began running again. There were empty crates still in the back room when he arrived. Clay, Ryder, and Nate broke them down the first few days.

  Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, Clay looked up seeing Millie carrying Abe with Ida next to her coming from the back room. Ida ran to him with a smile. She reached up so he gathered her into his arms.

  “Did you have a good nap, missy?”

  “And snack. We had applesauce and toast.”

  “Sounds good.” Clay looked at Millie and Abe. He had his head on her shoulder. “Hi, buddy. How are you feeling?”

  Abe pointed to his head. “Owie.”

  “I’ll bet.” He looked at Millie then at the jar with lollipops. She nodded with a smile. He pulled two from the jar. “Here.” He gave one to each child, even getting a smile from Abe.

  “Tank you,” Ida said around the candy in her mouth.

  Millie set Abe on his feet. He and Ida went to the low windows on the front of the store and looked at the passing traffic.

  “Come look at this. We have a couple of precocious eight-year-olds.” Clay moved and pointed at the floor. Millie came around the counter.

  “What?”

  “Seems they wanted to help by supplying us with chewing tobacco to sell.” Clay picked up the empty cigar box then pointed to the shelf of brown bags.

  Millie looked from the floor to the box and the shelf. Her lips twitched. Then she began laughing. Clay realized it was the first time he’d ever heard her laugh. The beautiful sound flipped his heart over. He vowed it wouldn’t be the last.

  The next morning Clay was mixing plaster while Nate and Ryder nailed lath to the studs in the room that would be Fern’s. He sent Nate for another bucket of water as he stirred the stiff mixture.

  “Pa,” Ryder said as he came to stand next to him.

  Clay looked up and raised an eyebrow.

  “Yesterday when we were fishing that man who spoke to you when we were eating after you married Mama came up. He— well, I just had a funny feeling about him.”

  “What kind of feeling?”

  “That I didn’t like him. That what he said wasn’t what he thought.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He told us to be careful. That you wouldn’t want anything to happen to us. That you’d be real sad if anything happened.”

  “All that’s true.”

  “I know, but I don’t think that’s what he meant. I think he wants something to happen. That he’d like something to happen.” Ryder paused. “I think he might even want to hurt one or more of us.”

  Clay stopped stirring. “I think you’re right. That’s Mr. Terhall. He’s not a good man. He’s asking people to pay him so nothing bad happens. If they don’t he’s likely to damage their homes or businesses.”

  “Did he do that to Mama?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did she pay?”

  “No.”

  “Will something bad happen to us?”

  “Not if I can help it. I had
the same feeling about the man as you had when I first saw him. It was the feeling of a Calling. I think you just had your first Calling.”

  Ryder’s eyes lit up. “You think so?”

  “Yes, I do. It’s not something you need to do anything about. It was just a feeling of distrust, am I right?” Clay watched his son carefully.

  “Yes, just a feeling.”

  “You remember that feeling. It’ll come when God wants to warn you about someone. Usually it’s not a good person. If He wants you to act you’ll know. It’ll draw you and you’ll know where to go and maybe what’s going to happen. I can’t really explain it better than that. You’ll just know God wants you to act on it. If you doubt it then do nothing. Consider it a warning.”

  Ryder nodded.

  “Have you told anyone else about your feeling?”

  “No. I wanted to talk with you first. You told us, Nate, Ben, and me, not to talk about the Callings and if we ever felt one to talk to you.”

  “Good. You did right. Don’t tell Nate. Don’t tell any of the others. I’ll tell your mama when the time is right. She’ll need to know eventually, but until I get the Call from God to tell her I won’t. She’s got enough to handle right now without that.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m proud of you, son. Know one thing. No matter how you feel about a Calling, it’s a blessing from God and to be taken seriously. At times you won’t think it’s a blessing but it is. It enables us to help others, keeping evil people from their deeds, and good people from harm.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IDA HELD THE rail as she followed Opal, Fern, and Grace down the stairs. She thought about Opal’s birthday that was in a few days. She didn’t know how but Ida wanted to give her something.

  Opal was a good new sister. She didn’t mind playing with Ida. Not like Grace who always wanted to look at things with her magnifying glass. Especially bugs. Yuck. Grace turned them over with her finger and watched their legs wobble. Ida didn’t like bugs. And Grace didn’t let her look through the glass.

  Maybe she could take a lollipop out of the jar and give it to Opal. No, the jar was too high for her to reach. They sure were good though and she knew Opal really liked candy. She got in trouble a lot for taking a lemon drop. At least when she wasn’t caught she’d give one to Ida too. And Grace, but she didn’t count.

  “Take my hand, Ida,” Fern said as they stepped into the street. They were headed to the park. Ida was glad today was sunny. It had rained for several days and they’d had to stay in the apartment. Fern got crabby when that happened. She was okay as a sister but not as good as Opal.

  Mama was good too but she was busy a lot. She went down to the store most mornings and didn’t come up until it was time to fix lunch. Then she put Ida and Abe to bed for their naps. That’s when Pa went to the store. In the mornings he was upstairs but banged in the new rooms they were building for Fern and the older boys.

  Ida missed her ma. She had always had time to read to Ida and Grace. She sewed them dresses that were alike and made ones for their dolls too. Pa had brought Ma’s sewing machine when they moved but Mama didn’t sew. At least Ida didn’t think she did. Mama worked in the store, the kitchen, and washed clothes. Ida wished Mama had time to just hold her. She held Abe more but he was still a baby really. And he had cut his head open. He still had a bandage wrapped around his head.

  “There’s my friend Betty. You all go play under the tree. I’m going to play with Betty over there.” Fern pointed across the park.

  Ida watched her go. She didn’t want to play dolls. She wanted to run. She ran to the tree and seated her doll against the trunk. Opal and Grace sat down and began to play. Ida ran to the bushes and back. Then she ran all the way across to where Fern was and back.

  “It was really nice of Reuben to try to get me a kitty but it was bad at the same time. Reuben almost died. I want a kitty but not so anybody would die. He was real upset about it.” Ida listened to Opal. She could tell Opal wanted a kitty really badly.

  Ida turned and ran across the park again. The sun was warm and white flowers were blooming on the bushes. She ran to them wanting to smell their sweet scent.

  “Mew, mew, mew.”

  Ida bent down to see under the branches.

  “Mew, mew, mew.”

  She got down on her knees. A kitten came forward on wobbly legs. It was grey and black striped with white chest and legs. It rubbed against Ida, purring loudly. She looked at Opal and Grace. They were playing with their dolls. Grace took her magnifying glass from her pocket and looked at something in the grass. She had Opal look too.

  Ida petted the kitten. She smiled. She had the perfect thing for Opal for her birthday. Picking up the kitten, Ida crossed the street and slowly climbed the stairs. It was hard since she couldn’t hold the railing. When she opened the door the kitten nearly escaped from her arms, but Ida managed to get it into the apartment.

  The door to the storeroom where Pa, Ryder, and Nate were working on the new bedrooms was closed. Mama didn’t want the plaster dust making a mess in the apartment. She knew Ben and Reuben were doing chores in the store and Mama was keeping Abe close while he still had his head wrapped up. Ida was alone. She could put the kitty under her bed and keep it there until Opal’s birthday.

  In the bedroom, she put the kitty down. It began looking around, then ran under Opal’s bed. Ida thought that was okay since no one could see it. Now she needed to find some food. She closed the door and went to the kitchen.

  Mama had cooked chicken yesterday to make some kind of casserole today. It was all in small pieces since Mama had picked it already. Ida didn’t know how picking out a chicken to cook would make it into small bits, but it would make it easy to get some for the kitty.

  First she had to open the icebox. The handle was hard for her to lift but she pulled hard and it opened. The bowl with the chicken was on the bottom shelf covered with a plate. Ida was careful not to drop the plate when she took several bits of meat from the bowl. With the plate back on top, she closed the icebox, dropping the chicken as she pushed.

  When she got back to the bedroom, the kitty was at the door crying. It began purring when Ida entered. She put the chicken under her bed. The kitten ran over and started eating. Ida smiled. She had the perfect thing to give Opal for her birthday.

  Millie looked up when she heard footsteps clattering down the stairs. Clay was followed by Ryder and Nate. She grinned. The boys looked haggard.

  “I don’t ever want to plaster a ceiling again. My arms are nearly dead,” Nate complained.

  “Mine too.” Ryder plopped down on the chair sitting next to a barrel with a checkerboard on it.

  “One more to do, my boys. The one for your room unless you just want rafters above you.” Clay ruffled Ryder’s head. Nate ducked the hand that went for his head and flopped to the floor.

  “So Fern’s room is done, at least the plastering?” Millie asked.

  Clay came around the counter and placed his hand on her back. Warmth spread through her even though several layers including her corset separated his skin from hers. Millie didn’t want to admit it to herself but she was becoming attracted to her husband. She still wasn’t ready to move their relationship into a more physical range. She mourned Sherman and was just too tired at night. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep.

  She had to admit that having a man sleeping next to her felt good. More than good. Being able to reach out in the night and touch him brought comfort and security.

  “Yes. We’ll start plastering the boys’ room tomorrow. Doing that will give Fern’s time to dry before we paint it. It should be done and ready early next week if the weather holds. If it gets rainy or damp it will take longer.”

  “Rain or damp in western Oregon? Does it ever do that?” Millie chuckled. The boys joined her.

  “Why don’t you go see if the girls want to come home? You could use some sun and air yourself.” Clay touched her cheek, letting his finger slide dow
n her skin. Millie only just stopped the shiver threatening to run through her. She stepped away and looked at Clay. The twinkle in his eyes told her she hadn’t kept her reaction to herself.

  “I’ll do that. Then I’ll finish fixing lunch.” She stepped away and picked up the hat she kept behind the counter. Millie looked at the boys around the checkerboard. There were four now all looking at her with wide eyes. Heat flamed her cheeks and she hurried out the door.

  Scanning the park, Millie counted the girls. There were four but one wasn’t hers. It was Betty, Fern’s best friend. Where was Ida? Her heart began to race. Where was Ida? Millie hurried across the street and ran to where Fern and Betty were playing.

  “Where’s Ida?” she yelled.

  Fern and Betty looked up at her wide-eyed. “She’s playing with Opal and Grace,” Fern said.

  “No, she’s not. She’s not in the park. How could you be so careless? She’s not yet three. She has to be watched. I trusted you to do that.” Millie’s voice was tight with anger. She stomped across to Opal and Grace. The beating of her heart loud in her head.

  This was awful. To have one of her children missing terrified her. She’d gone through it with Reuben a few weeks after the earthquake. He’d nearly drowned trying to rescue a kitten he wanted to give Opal. Reverend Bates had died saving her son. Reuben had nightmares afterward and was riddled with guilt over the pastor’s death.

  Her stomach was in knots when she neared the girls. Why would such a thing happen to one of Clay’s children? How could she tell him his youngest daughter was missing?

  “Where’s Ida?” Millie fell to her knees searching Opal’s and Grace’s faces desperately hoping they had an answer for her.

  “I don’t know, Mama. She was running back and forth between us and Fern.” Opal’s eyes were wide with fear. Grace had tears running down her face.

  “Grace, run and get your pa. I’m going to keep looking.” As the girl jumped up and ran off Millie stood and began searching the bushes calling for Ida. Maybe she’d gotten tired and fallen asleep.