Linda Castle (23 page)
Authors: Temple's Prize
She grinned at his childish enthusiasm while her father elbowed his way nearer the crate. They were much alike, these two stubborn men she loved beyond reason.
“Go ahead, take a look.” Constance watched while her father, Temple and Thaddeus Ball pulled her crate out and pried open the lid.
“Remarkable, Honoria. I am very proud of you, darling,” C.H. said as he deposited a kiss to her forehead.
“I’ve never seen anything like them,” Thaddeus
Ball assured her, then he made more quick notes on his pad.
But Constance wasn’t listening to them. She was watching the look on Temple’s face. A feeling of dread crept up her spine while his brow furrowed deeper.
“Temple? What is wrong?”
He stood and raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t believe it.”
She climbed the steps until she was standing on the landing beside him. “What? What is wrong?” Constance leaned over and looked at her find. The long vertebrae that shaped the tail seemed intact. And the delicate bones in each of the wide splayed flippers had not been damaged during the trip home.
“Drag that crate of mine over so we can open them all up.”
Thaddeus stuck the pencil behind his ear and yanked one of the boxes over closer to C.H. while Temple moved the other. Thaddeus yanked off the lid and they all bent over to take a look at the bones.
“It is unbelievable,” Thaddeus said.
“Never saw anything like it in my life. Why, the odds against this happening must be astronomical,” C.H. said while he leaned on his cane.
“Now look at these.” Temple opened the last crate. All of them leaned over the box and stared inside.
Connie’s brows rose in surprise. “Amazing.”
“That’s one word for it”. Temple grinned. They both glanced back inside the crates. And then suddenly they broke into gales of laughter.
“We found the same dinosaur.” Connie chuckled. “All the time I was trying to keep my .find a secret
and you had the front half of the same extinct creature.”
“You. know what this means, dont you?” Temple asked.
“No.” Connie shoved her spectacles up on her nose and he caught himself smiling wider.
“It means we must collaborate—work together.”
Her expression fell, but she quickly recovered and schooled her features. “Of course, you are right. For the good of the universities we must join forces and claim Mr. Montague’s endowment.”
“Seems only sensible,” C.H. agreed.
“It will make a nice ending to my story.” Thaddeus pulled the pencil and pad out and once again began scribbling.
Temple grinned at Connie and pulled her closer. “That’s not exactly what I meant.” He gently lifted off her spectacles.
“I can’t see when you do that,” she objected halfheartedly, but he continued and ignored her.
“The kind of partnership I am interested in is a bit more permanent.” He pulled out the comb holding her hair and the great shiny mass tumbled to her shoulders.
“Temple, what on earth—?”
“I am asking you to collaborate with me forever, Connie. I want you to be my wife.” He folded her into his arms until they were standing almost nose to chin on the steps.
“Wife?” She blinked like a little owl. “You want to marry me?”
“That is the customary way in which one takes a wife, yes.” Temple stared into her eyes and found
himself counting the flecks of gold among the mahogany.
“Oh—I see,” she whispered.
“I knew all along that you didn’t need those spectacles,” he joked before he bent and kissed his fiancée.
“R
ead it again, Peter.” Bessie leaned her chin into her hands and sighed. She was sitting backward in a chair with her hands splayed across the wooden back. Peter smiled at the girlish look of contentment that clouded her eyes. The small crowd that had gathered at the mercantile to hear the account had all dwindled away except for Holt, who stood by the pickle barrel.
‘One more time and that is enough”. Peter tried to sound stern but it wasn’t easy with Bessie looking like that. “My throat is gettin’ dry.”
Holt snorted and shifted positions, clearly bored with both the newspaper article and the company. Peter cleared his throat and started to read.
“Temple Parish, noted scientist and explorer, stunned the scientific community today by unveiling a new species of ichthyosaur. The animal, which will be known as Filbertous montagueous-aquatus, was revealed at a press conference at Ashmont University. While accepting the endowment and personal award from philanthropist Filbert Montague, Parish continued to shock
the group by announcing the find was shared equally by his competitor, Miss Constance Honoria Cadwallender. While the assembly was speculating on the exact nature of their collaboration, Mr. Parish announced that he and Miss Cadwallender will be married immediately.”
Bessie sighed and Holt grumbled an epithet. Peter stifled a chuckle and read the rest of the article.
“When asked what he planned to do with the money he had earned, Mr. Parish replied that he was taking his wife on a trip around the world. His response to the question of what he would be seeking on that trip was the cryptic reply my wife’s laughter.’”
Peter turned the paper over. A small item caught his eye and he scanned it quickly. The article was a terse account of the arrest of Andrew Pollock, formerly professor of languages at Dandridge University. The article went on to say that Professor Pollock had been stealing from the university over a period of ten years.
“Miss Constance is too good for him. He doesn’t deserve her,” Holt mumbled sourly.
“Holt, if a woman waited to give her love to a deservin’ man, then we’d all be as extinct as those dinosaurs.” Bessie chuckled and stood up from the chair.
“Actually, the men who are the least deservin’ usually need love the most,” Peter commented while he folded away the newspaper.
Bessie turned and stared at him. A strange experession
rippled through her green eyes. “You know, Peter, there may be hope for you yet.”
Peter looked at her and grinned. A burst of excitement shot across the space between them. “I’m count in’ on that, Bessie.”
Holt moaned and looked toward the ceiling of the mercantile as if he were in pain. “Oh, no. Not again.”
* * * * *
eISBN 978-14592-6827-2
TEMPLE’S PRIZE
Copyright © 1997 by Linda L. Crockett
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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