Donners Bend (10 page)

Jon returned with two drinks and after handing one to Ellie he asked, “What’s Marcelle been up to?”

“Dancing with our host.  She says he’s the most arrogant man she’s ever met.”

“Well he’s got a right to be, doesn’t he?” Jon said with laugh.

“My God,” a frustrated
Marcelle
said as she,
Ellie
, and
Jon
walked back to
Ellie
’s place that evening, “I can’t believe he would speak that way to a lady
! 
He’s certainly not a good host if he speaks that way to all his guests.”

“But I don’t believe he did speak that way to all his guests
. 
Only to you, my dear,”
Jon
replied as he wrapped his arm playfully around
Ellie
’s shoulders and pulled her to him.

Ellie
laughed as she leaned into
Jon
, “He’s right,
Marcelle
. 
Once you’d met,
Benjamin
spoke to you and only you the rest of the night.”

“Well I wish he hadn’t
. 
He was rude and arrogant and completely impolite and I hope I never have to see him ever again
. 
Ever.”

Ellie
raised her eyebrows up at
Jon
and he smiled.

“He seemed so m
annerly
at first, that you wouldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth just moments later
. 
And do you know what he told me?”
Marcelle
didn’t wait for an answer, “He said that
I
was impolite
. 
Who’s
he
ca
lling
impolite
? 
My God, I can’t believe him
. 
And do you know what else he said
? 
He said that
although
I may be beautiful, I was certainly no lady.”

Jon
came up behind
Ellie
and wrapped his arms around hers, causing her to giggle uncontrollably
. 
Marcelle
walked quickly ahead of them, completely unaware of their friendly playing.

She shook her head and clenched her fists madly, “Can you believe he said that to me?”

Jon
rocked
Ellie
back and forth from behind as she answered
Marcelle
between
laughs, “No, I most certainly cannot.”

Breaking free of
Jon
,
Ellie
caught up to
Marcelle
as she was saying, “He said that no true lady would ever talk the way I did.”

Jon
ran up to the girls again, “Well, he’s got a point there.”

“
Johnny
!”
Ellie
said as she hit
Jon
lightly in the arm.

“You agree with him,
Jon
?”
Marcelle
asked in shock.

Both girls had stopped walking and waited impatiently for
Jon
’s answer
. 

He ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably, “Well, you weren’t exactly nice to him either, were you
Marcelle?”

Marcelle
shook her head and began walking again, “My God, have all men turned against me?”

Jon
shrugged at
Ellie
and they jogged back up to
Marcelle.
 
Because she’d removed her shoes at the beginning of the trip, the
soft green grass of the fields they were walking through dusted
Ellie
’s ankles
. 

The warm breeze blew
Marcelle’s
curls gently, “If
Benjamin
wasn’t going to be a true gentleman, why should I have to be a lady
? 
I think I had a right to speak the way I did
. 
Don’t you,
Ellie
?”

Ellie
scratched her head, “
Well
...”

“Well what
? 
Come on, out with it!”

“Well, you didn’t have to lose your courtesy just because he lost his
. 
You could have chosen to be a lady if you’d wanted
to
...
”

Marcelle
sighed, “I just don’t want to talk about it anymore
. 
I’m going to forget all about that horrible
Benjamin
Fanning and this awful night and move on.”

They’d reached the house by this time
. 
Jon
smiled and gave
Marcelle
a small hug, “That’s the way to be
. 
Forget
Mr.
Fanning.”

He then moved over and gave
Ellie
a hug and kiss on the head.

“
Good night
girls!” he called, taking Penny off the post he’d tied
her
to for the night
. 
He hopped on
.
“Til
l
tomorrow!” 

“
Good night
!” they called back as he rode away.

Luckily for
Marcelle,
she didn’t see
Benjamin
for many weeks after that night
, but
he wouldn’t be out of her life forever.

Jon
and
Ellie
became closer and closer till they were inseparable
. 
The hours
Ellie
wasn’t working at the
Rhodes
she spent either with
Jon
at Ol’
Smith
’s, his
felicity
, her house, his house, or somewhere else around town
, but
wherever she went it seemed
Jon
was always at her side
. 

On this particular day though,
Ellie
wouldn’t be able to see
Jon
because she had to work all day
. 
Robert
and
Louise
were home, but they would be working for most of the day, so
Ellie
still came to watch and teach the children
. 
She and they sat upstairs in the schoolroom
. 
Gracie and Leah were practicing their writing while
Ellie
read to Demi and Wesley
. 
They sat on the window seat that looked out over the front yard
. 
Rain poured down from the flat, gray clouds above as thunder boomed and lightning flashed
. 
Every so often, when they heard a loud crash from the sky, Demi and Wesley would lean closer into
Ellie
’s shoulders as she read
. 
The constant noise continually startled Gracie and Leah’s work.

Leah looked up slowly; she’d heard something and it hadn’t been the thunder
. 
Gracie heard it too
. 
They both stopped their work and looked to the window, but they couldn’t see anything for their nanny and younger sib
lings
were blocking it.

“
Ellie
?” Gracie asked, “What’s that noise?”

Ellie
, Wesley, and Demi looked out the window
. 

“It’s a horse,” said
Ellie
. 
Thinking it was Penny, she became rather excited, but upon further inquiry she saw that this horse was darker than Penny and the rider was definitely not
Jon
.

Gracie and Leah left their work and came to look at the rider, but they also could not tell who it was
. 
It was hard to distinguish the man for his head was held low, so as to protect it from the rain, a dark fedora covered his head, and he wore a large coat
. 
Quickly, the horse came up the way to the front of the house
. 

The children ran to the door, wondering who this mystery guest was.

Ellie
watched a moment as the man handed off his horse to Matthew before running after the children
. 
She found them perched on the top of the steps, crouched down low, and looking through the rai
lings
.

“Shhh
...
” they whispered when she appeared
. 
Ellie
crouched down to join them.

The man greeted the maid and as soon as Juliet had replied, “It’s nice seeing you again,
Mr.
James,” all the children jumped up and ran down the stairs screaming, “Jamie
! 
Jamie
! 
Jamie!”

Ellie
followed, but in a far slower fashion, down the staircase
. 
She watched as the children raced to the man with wide smiles upon their little faces
. 
He greeted them each in turn.

“Gracie J,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders, “My, how you’ve grown
! 
You’re quite the little lady, just like mother
. 
Surely you’re far too big to play pirates with me anymore, right?”

“No, no,” she assured him, “I’ll never be too big.”

He gave her a hug, “Good
. 
I’m glad.”

“I’ve gotten big too, haven’t I Jame?” said Leah, coming forward next.

“You certainly have, Lee
. 
If I wait too much longer you’ll rise right above me, won’t you my little
bean stock
?”

Leah laughed and hugged her brother around the legs
. 
Ellie
stopped walking and leaned onto the rai
ling
with a smile, for it was quite obvious Leah would never reach the man’s height
. 
He stood above six feet.

“Demi baby, how’re you doin’?” he asked, picking up his youngest sister, perching her on his waist, and placing his fedora on her head.

“Quite fine, thank you.”

He laughed with a bright white smile and kneeled down, “And what about you, Wes?”

Wesley walked up and hugged his brother tight about the waist, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, little man.”

“You’re all wet!”

“I know
, but
hey, what can you expect when riding all the way from the train station to home in this kind of weather?”

“Why are you home so soon?” asked Leah, “Mother told us you wouldn’t be home for another few weeks.”

He stood up, still holding Demi on his waist, and scratched his head uneasily, “Yeah, well, school got out early, alright?”

“But that’s what you told us last time,” said Gracie.