[Canadian West 02] - When Comes the Spring (2 page)

33. Spring
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When well-bred, sophisticated Elizabeth Thatcher, a city girl from
Toronto, agreed to a term of teaching in the newly formed province of
Alberta, it was more to please her mother and to become reacquainted
with her half-brother Jonathan than from a sense of adventure on her
own part. Elizabeth was more than a bit hesitant to leave the comfort
and security of her father's house to mix with the rough and uncultured
people of the new frontier.

But upon arrival in the West, Elizabeth soon learned to love her
big brother and his wife Mary and their four small children. She also
was captivated by families and students of the small, one-room school
and by the West itself.

Then into Elizabeth's life came Wynn, the tall, handsome, and dedicated member of the Royal North West Mounted Police. Elizabeth, previously determined never to marry a westerner, began to have second
thoughts. Wynn was the one who now resisted. He was adamant in his
belief that the rigors of the Mountie's life were too demanding to be shared
by a wife, particularly a woman as lovely and cultured as Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, feeling rejected and hurt by Wynn's apparent lack of feeling for her, decided to return to Toronto where she belonged. But
Wynn knew he could not let her go-at least not without expressing
to her his deep feelings of love and giving her the opportunity to
respond. A proposal at the train depot brought Elizabeth into Wynn's
arms with her assurance that she was more than willing to face whatever the future held-for them together.

ELIZABETH THATCHER-young eastern schoolteacher who loved
her God, her family and her pupils. Pretty, sheltered, yet with a
mind of her own, Elizabeth was quick to respond to the promptings of her God and the needs of others.

JONATHAN, MARY, WILLIAM, SARAH, KATHLEEN, BABY
ELIZABETH-Elizabeth's western family. Jonathan was a halfbrother from her mother's first marriage. The West had drawn him
from Toronto as a young man. There he met and married the redhaired Mary, and their home was blessed with one son and three
daughters. Little Kathleen was especially fond of her Aunt Beth.

JULIE-the attractive, rather flighty, but much-loved younger sister of
Elizabeth.

MATTHEW-Elizabeth's younger brother. Matthew was the youngest, rather pampered member of the Thatcher family.

Elizabeth's Toronto family also included two older married sisters, Margaret and Ruthie.

WYNN DELANEY-nicknamed "Dee" by Jon's children. Wynn was
a dedicated, competent member of the Royal North West Mounted
Police. He had already spent some time at a northern Post and
knew the difficulties and loneliness that such a Post presented.

"Is it done yet?"

It must have been at least the tenth time that my young niece,
Kathleen, had asked the question in the last few days.

"No," I answered patiently, "not yet."

She stood silently beside me, her favorite doll dangling lopsidedly
from her arms.

"How come it takes so many times to make a wedding dress?" she
asked again.

Much time, the schoolteacher in me silently corrected her. Aloud I
said without lifting my eyes from the needle moving smoothly in and
out of the creamy white satin, "Because a wedding dress must be perfect."

"Per-fect?" queried Kathleen.

"Um-hum. That means `just right'-for the man I'm going to
marry."

"Dee's not gonna wear it." Her voice boded no argument.

I lifted my head and chuckled softly at Kathleen's perplexed look.
It sounded as if Wynn's nickname was still firmly in place.

"No, be won't wear it. But he is going to see me wear it, and I want
it to be just right."

Kathleen stood there stubbornly, now a look of frustration on her
pixie face.

"He won't care," she said with feeling. "Daddy said that Mama
would'a looked beau'ful in an old 'tata sack."

I laughed and drew Kathleen to me. "Maybe you're right," I said,
pushing back a soft curl from her forehead. Her eyes told me that
something else was troubling her. I decided the dress could wait for a few minutes. Checking to see that I had left the sewing machine foot
in proper position and the precious folds of satin material carefully
placed on the tissue paper spread beneath them, I rose from the chair.
My back ached and my shoulders felt cramped. I needed a break. Perhaps I should have done as Mother had suggested and arranged for
Madam Tanier to sew my dress after all. I had wanted to sew my wedding gown myself, but I had had no idea what a big job it was going
to be. I took Kathleen's tiny, somewhat sticky, hand in mine and led
her to the door.

"Why don't we take a little walk around the garden?" I asked her.

The shine in her eyes was her answer. She wedged her flopping
doll under one arm and skipped along beside me.

We walked through the garden together. The early flowers were
already in bloom. As I looked at them, I found my mind rushing ahead
to the wedding planned for the first part of September, and I wondered
what flowers would be available. That was another decision that had to
be made. Oh, my! Was there no end to them? It seemed that ever since
Wynn had asked me to become his wife, I had been making one decision after the other-some big and some not-so-big. As my thoughts
turned to Wynn, I smiled to myself. How.fortunate I was to be
engaged to marry such a man. He was everything a girl could ever
desire-his height, his bearing, his smile, his quiet self-assurance, his
caring. And he loved me! I would have `gone on and on daydreaming
but Kathleen interrupted me.

"Mamas gonna make my dress."

I nodded.

"Have you seen the color?"

I nodded again, remembering the hours Mary and I had spent poring over materials and styles, debating and deciding. Both Kathleen
and Sarah were to be in my wedding party.

"It's gonna be perfect, too," insisted Kathleen.

"Yes," I agreed. "With your mama doing the sewing, it's going to
be perfect, too."

"Mama is already done Sarah's dress."

There was silence while I studied the soft shades of a garden rose.
These colors would be just right, I was thinking, but will they still be blooming in September? I must ask Mary.' But again Kathleen interrupted
my thoughts.

"How come I'm last?"

"Pardon?" My busy mind had not followed Kathleen's line of wondering.

"How come I'm last? Sarah's dress is already made, but Mama has
just started mine."

I looked at her anxious face. It was an honest question but, for
such a small girl, a troubling one.

"Well," I stammered, reaching for some satisfactory explanation.
"Well ... your dress will be ready in no time. Your mama is a very
good seamstress and a very efficient one. It doesn't take her long at all
to sew a dress-even a fancy dress like she will be making for you.
Your dress will be ready long, long before September gets here. In fact,
your dress will be ready long before mine will, I'm sure. So yours won't
be last ... mine will."

Kathleen's eyes had not left my face as I spoke. She seemed to relax
with my final words. Her breath escaped in a soft little sigh.

"You're slow, all right," she agreed solemnly. "I'm glad Mamas fast."

Then her thoughts turned in another direction.

"Why is Mama making the dresses so quick?"

"So soon? Because your mama has so many things that she wants
to do, and the dresses are one thing that she can do now."

"What things?"

"Well, she is planning the reception dinner. And she wants lots of
time to get ready for Grandma and Grandpa. And she has some redecorating she wants to do. And she plans to give the house a thorough
cleaning. ."

I continued thinking of poor Mary and all of the work that my
coming wedding was causing her. How I loved her! It wasn't one bit
necessary for her to fuss so, but she insisted. After all, it would be the
first time her in-laws would be in her home and she, too, wanted everything to be perfect.

"Is Grandma fuzzy?" asked Kathleen seriously.

"Fussy?" I smiled but did not let Kathleen know her word had
come out wrong. "Well, yes and no. Grandma likes nice things, and when she is in charge she tries very hard to see that everything is just
right. But she does not judge other people by the same rules she uses
on herself."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that Grandma loves people as they are. She doesn't ask
for everyone to be perfect or to live in perfect houses."

"It's gonna be fun to see Grandma," Kathleen enthused.

My eyes misted and I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Yes, it
will," I said softly. "It will be just wonderful."

But it still seemed such a long way off. The folks would not be
arriving in Calgary until just before our September tenth wedding, and
this was only the middle of July.

"Would you like to swing for a minute?" I asked the now quiet
Kathleen, to get my thoughts back to safer ground.

She grinned at me, and I took that for her answer. Kathleen loved
the swing.

"The tree swing or the porch swing?" I asked her.

"The porch swing," she quickly decided. "Then you can sit by
me."

We settled on the porch swing and set it in motion with the
rhythm of our bodies. Kathleen cuddled up closely against me and
rearranged the dangling doll into a more baby-like position. I realized
then that she had been missing personal attention. With my thoughts
all concentrated on the upcoming wedding, and even Mary wildly
involved in the preparations, we had both subconsciously pushed the
youngsters aside. I determined that in the days ahead I would be more
sensitive and considerate. I pulled Kathleen closer to me and held
her-such a precious little thing. We swung in silence for many
minutes. My mind went to the other children. Were they feeling the
strain of the busy household as well?

"Where is Sarah?" I asked Kathleen.

"She went to Molly's house. Molly's mama is letting them make
doll dresses out of the scraps from Sarah's new dress."

Good for Molly's mama, I thought, but no wonder Kathleen has been
wandering around feeling left out.

"And where's William?"

"Daddy took him down to the store. He's gonna help pile things.
He even gets money for it." Kathleen squirmed to look at me, her envy
showing on her face. "William thinks he's big," she said with some
disgust. "He's gonna save the money and buy a gun that shoots little
roun' things."

Kathleen curled up her short fingers to demonstrate the little round
things. Then she ventured some more information. "An' Baby 'Lisbeth
is sleepin'. She sleeps most all the time. An' Mama is sewing. Not for
me-for Baby 'Lisbeth. An' Stacy said that the cookie jar is already full,
so we can't bake any more cookies."

My arm tightened about her. Poor little dear, I thought, but I didn't
say it. Instead I said, "How would you like to take the streetcar uptown
and stop at the ice cream parlor?"

The shine was back. "Could we?" she cried. "Could we, Aunt
Beth?"

"I'll ask your mama."

Kathleen clapped her hands in her excitement and then threw her
arms around my neck. I felt the combs holding my hair in place being
pushed all askew

"Let's go check," I said. Kathleen jumped down and quickly ran
ahead of me to find Mary.

By the time I had entered Mary's sewing room, Kathleen was
already there and had excitedly posed the question. Could she go with
Aunt Beth uptown for ice cream? Mary looked at me with a question
in her eyes.

"Have you finished your dress?" she asked pointedly.

"No. I have quite a ways to go yet," I answered honestly, "but a
rest will do me good." I didn't add that I thought Kathleen needed
some special attention, too.

Mary nodded. "A little break would do me good, too," she said,
pushing back from the machine. "Come, Kathleen, I will clean you
up." Mary rubbed her tired neck and led Kathleen from the room.

I went back to my own room to change my dress and repair my
hair. My eyes wandered to the pile of lustrous satin. Part of me ached
to be there at the machine. I was so anxious to see the final product of
all my labors. But I pushed the dress from my mind. Kathleen was more important. Besides, I had been so busy with details of the wedding that I had felt myself becoming tense and edgy. I had not even
been able to relax and enjoy Wynn's company, and he would be coming
to call in the evening. An afternoon in the pleasant company of Kathleen might be just the thing to put me in a more relaxed frame of
mind. I picked up my small brocaded purse and left the room, shutting
my door on all the satin and lace. I took a deep breath and smiled as I
went to meet my excited niece.

Wynn arrived a little earlier than I had expected. I was still in my
room making last-minute preparations, so it was Sarah who let him in.
All afternoon she had been looking for people who would admire her
doll all dressed up in the finery of her new hand-stitched dress, a shimmery pale blue. Wynn gave it a proper inspection and complimented
the young seamstress on her fine work. Sarah beamed and deserted
Wynn to wait on the steps for the return home of her father. She was
most anxious to show him the new dress as well.

Kathleen took over entertaining Wynn, regaling him with all our
afternoon adventures. I'm sure Wynn must have been surprised that I
had found time in my rushed schedule to spend a rather leisurely afternoon with my niece. All he had heard from me recently was about the
plans and work and preparation and diligence I was giving to every
detail of the coming wedding. Kathleen had succeeded in bringing me
up short. People are more important than fussing over preparations. Whys
I haven't even been good company for Wynn, I realized, looking back in
humiliation over some of our last evenings spent together. \Vell, I
would change that. After all, a marriage was of far more importance
than a wedding.