Donners Bend (16 page)

Leah shook her head, “But then he could get killed.”

“Oh yeah,” Demi realized, “Well th
e
n
,
I think you should eliminate that choice.”

“Alright,” Jamie crossed it off.

Gracie raised her hand, “Well you should definitely cross off street bum.”

“If you say so,” Jamie made a line through it.

Gracie added, “And personally I agree with mummy.  I think you should go back to school.”

“Okay, okay, an honest answer.  Anyone else?”

No one raised their hand.

“Well then, let us focus on the subject of getting a job.  Any ideas?”

Wesley shouted out, “I think you should be a pirate.”

Instead of laughing or even smiling, as Ellie thought he would, Jamie acted like it was a true option for him and pondered on the
idea a moment before replying, “Very nice suggestion, Wes-man.  Thanks for the input.”

Leah raised her hand, “I think you should run for Governor.”

Demi raised her hand, “I say you ought to be a cowboy.  You could ride around on horsies all day!”

Jamie smiled, “Sounds good to me.”

A true horse then came running up the way outside and, after peering out the window
,
Jamie declared he really must be going. 
H
e apologized for leaving so quickly.  The sad children sighed for they knew their break from school was over as Jamie packed up his things.  Ellie talked to him a moment just outside the schoolroom door.

“So, have you made a decision?  For your next “prospect in life”, I mean.”

Jamie smiled and his dark eyes glittered behind the thick frames of his glasses, “Well, as far as the children are concerned, my only choices in life are going back to school, becoming a pirate, governor, or cowboy.”

“Well, a pirate would be fun.”

He laughed, “Yes, a pirate would be fun.”

“Why did it have to end so soon?  The children were really enjoying the break.”

“Well, I’ve got some other business to take
care
of.”

He left then
, w
alked down the stairs and greeted his drenched guest.  Ellie returned to teach the children for a bit longer, but after some time had passed
,
she went downstairs to fetch herself a drink and le
ft
Gracie
with the task of
watch
ing
over her siblings.

Passing by the billiard room, Ellie glanced in to see Jamie and
Phillip
Browning, the friend Emily and Ellie had seen Jamie triumph over in fencing.  They each had a glass of alcohol sitting beside them and Jamie was smoking a cigar.  He still wore the glasses, but the bright tie lay on the ground beside his chair.  His feet were perched up on the table as he read over some sort of letter.

“She’s mad about ya, mate,”
Phillip
was saying, “Always has been, always will be.”

“I know, I know,” Jamie replied, rubbing his head as though he felt uneasy toward the whole situation, “And it’s torture for me to refuse her when she’s such a sweet girl.  I just wish she’d find someone who could return her affections and adoration instead of focusing them on one who isn’t able to love her back.”

“Well, of course you’re able to love her back, you just don’t want to.”

“
It’s
not true.  She’s a wonderful girl and it’d be an honor to return her sentiments, but I just can’t,” Jamie returned, taking another puff of his cigar, “You can’t make yourself love someone.”

“I heard
Sarah
was ecstatic when she heard you’d returned.  She dumped that Frank guy she’d been seeing lately, and her heart was instantly set back on you again.  From what I heard, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh were
,
and still are
,
furious,”
Phillip
smiled, “For some
odd
reason they don’t think you’re the type of man they want hanging around their precious
Sarah
.  They aren’t too happy that you’ve been thrown out of school again, I suppose.”

Jamie didn’t return the grin, “Maybe she should listen to her parents.  She could do a lot better than me, I’m sure.”

“I don’t know why she hasn’t ended this silly chase already.  It’s been like ten years, hasn’t it?”

“
That
’
s
right.”

“You know what?  I’ll bet it’s because you took her to her debutante ball.  She probably got some silly notion in her head after that that you loved her back and she hasn’t been able to realize the truth since.”

“I didn’t even want to go to the darn ball,” Jamie said, massaging his eyes and running a hand through his hair, “My mother made me.  She said it’d be horribly rude to refuse a girl to her own ball and that if
Sarah
asked me I had to say yes, and of course,
Sarah
asked.”

Phillip
ignored Jamie’s misery, laughed, and said, “Well you’d better keep an eye out, Jamie boy.  Before you know it she’ll be begging you to accompany her to another ball or somethin’.  I’ve never seen a girl so crazy about a man, and for you, nonetheless.”

As time flew by, months began to pass, and seasons changed,
Ellie
grew even closer to some of her new friends and further from an old one
. 

To the four
Rhodes children
,
Ellie
was regarded like an older sister
. 
They’d never had a nanny so young before and she wasn’t at all strict or orderly like their past governesses
.

Emily and
Ellie
grew even closer for they were busy in their spare time preparing for Emily’s quickly approaching wedding, which would be held in the
Thompson
’s backyard
. 
While the children played, they’d sit and sew Emily’s gown every day it rained.

Jamie and
Ellie
quickly became “friends”, though
Ellie
wasn’t exactly sure that was the correct term to describe their
relationship
. 
They saw one another each and every day for hours at a time, and had great fun together, but
Ellie
never knew if Jamie came down to the schoolroom to see his sib
lings
, or if he actually liked to talk to her
. 
W
hen they
,
and the children played pirates, or Peter Pan, hide-n-seek in the orchard, or fencing,
Ellie
never knew if this was the way Jamie had acted with all the children’s past nannies when he’d been home from school, or if their special sort of closeness was just that- special
. 

Not surprising, b
ut
Ellie
’s friendship with Jamie wasn’t an ordinary one
. 
She felt strange towards him sometimes when they were together- like he was technically, sort of, almost, her boss and that she had to obey him
. 
Sometimes it seemed like a dictator-friendship
. 
Almost as if she were playing checkers with a
professor
and if she lost she’d fail the class
. 
Jamie didn’t know this though, and he certainly hadn’t done anything to propel such a notion.

Jon
and
Ellie
, though they’d had a strong relationship from the beginning, grew so close they were practically inseparable
. 
Best friends were they, but most of
Donners Bend
’s townspeople couldn’t help but wonder, and hope, that they would soon grow deeper affections than friendship for one another
. 
They wanted them to fall in love
. 
Of course, neither
Jon
nor
Ellie
were aware of this fact, and if they somehow found out
,
they’d probably only laugh at the absurdity of such a statement
. 
 

Marcelle
though, had slowly begun to fade from
Ellie
’s life
. 
So much so that
Ellie
wasn’t even aware that
Marcelle
had a new beau
. 
She also wasn’t aware
that this was what
Marcelle
wanted,
not the part about them fading from each other’s lives, but the fact that
Ellie
didn’t know her new sweetheart
. 
Marcelle
had been hiding a rather surprising secret for some time now and she wasn’t ready to share it with
Ellie
, nor anyone else, yet.

* * * * *

Matthew and Emily’s wedding day soon arrived and everyone in town, though that wasn’t many, dressed in their best and came to
celebrate and congratulate the happy couple at the reception in the
Thompson
’s backyard
. 

Ellie
arrived with the
Rhodes.
 
She was technically working, but with very flexible hours
. 
Jamie came along too, of course, and whenever
Ellie
felt like running off with Emily for a second, drifting through the crowds, or dancing with
Jon
, Jamie was ready and wil
ling
to take over watching the children.

The sun
was shining
brightly, not a cloud in sight, that mid-afternoon as the bride and groom danced happily in one another’s arms
. 
Ellie
played dolls with Gracie and Leah on a blanket, though her eyes couldn’t help but continually drift up to Jamie and his friend
Phillip
. 
They were practicing their fencing skills with Demi and Wesley, and their jackets and hats lay forgotten on the floor
. 
Sarah
Walsh,
Ellie
noticed, hadn’t taken her eyes off Jamie all night
. 

After some time, and as other couples approached the wooden dance floor set up on the back porch,
Sarah
gathered up her courage and interrupted Jamie and Demi’s ongoing match
. 

“Please excuse me,
Mr.
Rhodes
, but might I speak to you for a,
a
m-moment?”
Sarah
stammered as she looked into Jamie’s eyes as though he was a saint
. 
She then turned to Demi, “I’m terribly sorry to disturb your game, Miss
Demi Louise
,
and I hope you don’t mind that I steal your elder brother for a moment.”

Demi, acting like a little lady, gave a curtsy and said, “Not at
‘
t’all.”

“
Mr.
Rhodes
?”
Sarah
asked again, her voice almost quivering.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Jamie said as he grabbed his jacket
. 
He did his best to put on a merry face, but
Ellie
knew just by looking into his eyes that he wasn’t merry at all
. 
He hated to act so cheerful and bring
Sarah
’s hopes up, but he couldn’t be rude and arrogant and hurt her either
.