Joining Hearts-Chapter 1 -REWRITE

Chapter 1

         As Katie looked out the window of her home, she noticed it was snowing quite hard. The day had started as a bright one, full of sun and blue skies until the heavy grey clouds had moved in bringing the snow with them. She lived in a large brick house in rural Massachusetts with her father William and her older brother John. Many large maple and oak trees surrounded the property with a barn off in the short distance that housed several animals. It was the end of January, and the weather had finally set in to its routine of being very cold and snowy. Turning away from the window, she frowned as she noticed her father limping and using his cane as he entered the room.
          “Father, I wish you would stay home tonight. The weather is quite dreadful and I see your arthritis is acting up. Please don’t go.”
          “Katie, you know that I must attend this function.” Her father stated apologetically. Now, please hand me my hat and step aside so I may leave. I will most likely be home late so don‘t bother waiting up.” William bent down and kissed his daughter on her forehead.
          Katie handed her father his hat and watched him walk out the door. She felt bad for trying to talk him into staying home and realized too late that her father left before she could apologize. She went to sit down in the study and read for a little while before she retired for the night.
          Sometime during the night, she awoke to heavy pounding. Sitting up in her bed, she realized that someone was knocking on the front door. Quickly lighting a candle inside a lamp, she put on her robe and slippers and rushed down the stairs. “Someone sure is persistent.” She noticed, as the knocking was becoming relentless. Quickly glancing at a clock hanging on a wall by the door, she saw that it was just a little past midnight. “No wonder I am still so tired.” She raised her lamp to try to see who it was that woke her so abruptly as she opened the door. She blinked and rubbed her eyes so she could see more clearly and upon opening them, found a police officer standing on her front porch.
          “Miss Logan?” The officer asked.
          “Yes Sir, what can I do for you?” she replied.
          “Miss, I am afraid there has been an accident,” the officer continued. “Your father, Mr. Logan was killed.” he said solemnly. Katie stood motionless for a moment seeming to be in shock.
          “Miss?”
          “Excuse me, I need to get my brother.” Katie left the officer at the front door and ran up the stairs to find John. She reached her brother’s room and opened the door to find him sitting in a chair reading. Looking up from his book, he could see instantly that something was terribly wrong with his sister.
          “Katie, what’s wrong? What has happened?” Before he could get an answer out of her, she started shaking uncontrollably. He reached out and pulled her to him, wrapping his large arms around her.
          “I… told… him… not… to… go.” She managed between sobs.
          “Katie, can you tell me what is wrong?” He gently asked.
          “What is going on, officer? Katie tried to talk to me but she was too upset.”
          “There has been an accident, Sir and your father was killed.”
          “Oh my God. Are you sure?”
          “Unfortunately I am positive Sir. There were many witnesses who saw it happen and identified him for us. The physicians tried to save him but it was too late.
          “It’s not true!” Katie cried out as she returned to the room having composed herself the best she could. “I want to go see him! Where is my coat? I want you to take me to him.” She turned to go look for her coat and mittens.
          “Katie.” John said carefully, as he wasn’t sure how delicate his sister was at the moment. “It is snowing too hard to go anywhere and I am sure this officer is telling us the truth.” Katie sobbed as she collapsed in his arms.
          “He has to be alive. He just has to!”
          “Katie, everything will be okay but I need to finish talking to this officer.” John said as he helped Katie steady herself.
          “I’m sorry about that Sir. Please tell me what we need to do now? Who do need to contact?” John queried.
          “That is okay, I completely understand. As it happens, your father’s lawyer was with the dinner party and saw the accident. He asked me to inform you that he should be arriving some time tomorrow morning and he will be able to assist you. I am sorry for your loss but I must go now.”
          “What are we going to do, John?” sobbed Katie, closing the front door behind the officer.
          “I don’t know.” replied John, drawing Katie to him in a comforting hug. “Maybe we will have some answers in the morning. It’s late now. Why don’t you go upstairs and try to get rest if you can.”
          “There is no way I will be able to rest. I think I will go sit in front of the fire.”
          “Okay. I am going to warm you up some milk. That should help you relax a little.”
          “That would be great.” replied Katie as she walked to living room. She sat down on the sofa, still clutching the handkerchief, and proceeded to stare blankly into the fire. “What now?” thought Katie. John was still in school so he didn’t have a job and Katie was just in the beginning stages of trying to fill out college paperwork herself. They didn’t have any family in the city. In fact, if they had any family at all, Katie wasn’t aware of it. She sure hoped John could come up with some answers. John returned to the room, handed Katie her milk and sat beside her. After taking a sip from the warm cup, Katie took John’s hand.
          “I miss him so much already. Why did this have to happen John?”
          “I don’t know the answer to that Katie. Give me some time to figure things out. No matter what happens we will be okay. I promise”
Both Katie and John sat in silence comforting each other, continuing to look at the fire for the next hour until they both agreed to at least try and get some sleep and wait for the visit from their father’s lawyer.
          As John came down the stairs the next morning, there was a knock on the door. Opening it, he found Mr. Johansson, just the man the officer said would be coming by. He was a short, stout man with beady little eyes and a handlebar mustache. Most people would be wary of him based on his looks but John knew better. In fact, the few times they had met before, John had found Mr. Johansson to be quite knowledgeable and personable.
          “Thank you for coming by. Did you manage to find out the details of what happened to our father?” inquired John as he stepped aside to let Mr. Johansson into the parlor.
          “Yes, unfortunately I witnessed the whole thing. Your father was crossing the street to get into his carriage to return home for the evening. There was a runaway carriage coming down the street and no one was able to stop it. Of course the driver and his passenger survived with minimal injuries. Sadly, your father was the only casualty. This morning, I was told that the driver of the other carriage had imbibed a little too much whiskey before he got behind the reins. In addition, with the snow coming down like it was, he lost control of both the horse and the carriage. I am so sorry for your loss.”
          “Thank you for your condolences, would you like to sit down?” John asked.
          “No thank you, I can’t stay very long. I regrettably have a prior arrangement that I must keep.
          “I understand. Mr. Johansson, I don’t want Katie to know these details.” said John in a hushed tone. “It would just be too much for her.”
          “I agree.” Mr. Johansson replied. “I am afraid, however, that I must add to your bad news .”
          “Our father is dead and you say there is more?” Katie cried as she came walking into the room. Looking at Katie, anyone could she that she had had a terrible night. Her normally vibrant green eyes had dark circles under them and her beautiful auburn hair looked as though it hadn‘t been brushed in days. Her face was flushed and she was still wearing the clothes she wore to bed. She had, in fact, tossed and turned all night, never truly getting any sleep and she was not in the mood for more bad news.
“How could anything possibly be worse than this!”
          “Calm down Katie.” John said softly, as he wrapped an arm around her. “I will take care of this. Mr. Johansson, what are you trying to tell us?”
          “After the accident, I went through Mr. Logan’s private papers. I found that your father had been involved in some risky investment opportunities. It turns out that he has gambled away all of his money.”
          “What are you saying?” Katie exclaimed.
          “He is saying we are broke.” John stated disappointedly.
          “Well, not quite.” Mr. Johansson piped up as he opened his satchel. “It seems that there was one investment that did pay off a small sum.” Mr. Johansson took out a small stack of papers and handed them to John. Looking at them, John shook his head.
          “This is not much money at all. Are you sure there isn’t more somewhere? Maybe he had a profitable investment ...”
          “No.” Mr. Johansson interrupted. “There is no more.”
          “I can’t take any more of this!” Katie cried running out of the room.
          “Katie!” John called out unsuccessfully to his sister as she disappeared. “I‘m sorry about that Mr. Johansson” John apologized. “This is just too much for her and I was just hoping that somehow you knew of more money somewhere else. Something to give us hope.”
          “I understand and I am sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. It is the worst part of my job. I am afraid I must leave you now as I must get to my other appointment. Can I call on you tomorrow about arrangements for your fathers’ funeral?”
          “Please do. Good-bye, Mr. Johansson.” bid John as he started to close the door.
          “Oh, I almost forgot.” Mr. Johansson said quickly. “I have something for you in my carriage. I will be right back.” He returned a moment later carrying their father’s hat and cane. These were left behind at the scene. I thought you might want them.”
          “Thank you very much, Sir.” John replied “That means a lot to us.” John closed the door behind Mr. Johansson and put the items on the table next to the door. He walked through the house to find where Katie had wandered off to. He found her a few moments later sitting on the bottom of the stairs holding her head in her hands.
          “Now what?” asked Katie, looking up at her brother with tears streaming down her face. “You said everything would be okay.”
          “I am just as upset as you are Katie. It will work out, I promise.” John said as he sat down beside her. “I will come up with a plan somehow.”
          The following day, Katie slept as late as she possibly could to avoid having to face her day. When she did finally wake up, she opened her curtains to look outside. “Still snowing.” she said glumly. Normally Katie loved the snow. She could sit for long periods of time and watch the flakes fall. She especially liked to stand in it and look up to watch it drift down towards her face. Today, being mad at the world, she flung the curtains closed and entered the hallway to go towards the stairs. As she started to pass her father’s room, reality set in. He was never coming home, he was gone forever. That thought alone crushed her and almost took her to her knees. She started to go into his room and paused. It seemed so wrong to even consider going in there. It was almost as if it were a sacred place not to be disturbed. Everything was just as he had left it with one exception. She noticed her father’s hat and cane were lying on the bed. She knew that he had taken them with him and wondered how they had ended up on his bed. Katie took her curiosity and went down the stairs to find John to ask him about it. She completely forgot what she was going to do when she found him sitting in the study. Her fathers study had always been a place of comfort for Katie. She loved to come in and sit in front of a blazing fire, snuggle up under a blanket and read a good book. Aside from spending time in here reading, any given day she could find her father in here sitting at his mahogany desk surrounded by all his law books and papers smoking his pipe. Now it only held memories, fresh ones at that being she could still smell the slight hint of tobacco in the air. Oh how she already missed him so much.
          “I’ve sold the house.” John announced as held up a telegram, bringing Katie back from her trance.
          “What!” Katie exclaimed throwing her hands in the air. “How could you do that? We have lived here our whole lives!”
          “I know that, Katie. I agonized long and hard about this decision all night. If you will take a moment to listen to me, I have come up with a plan.”
          “Fine.” Katie said despondently, plopping herself down in the nearest chair. “Let me hear it.”
          “We are going to go West.” John said simply.
          “Are you crazy? There is nothing for us out in that dry, barren land. I don’t want to go. I want to stay here in Boston. It is our home”
          “It is too late. The paperwork for the house is being drawn up as I speak. I have also made arrangements for everything to be auctioned off next week. Once the auction is complete, we will buy the provisions we need for our trip and prepare to leave.”
          “First you sell the house without consulting me and then you tell me you are selling everything we own! We are going to be out on the street begging for food within a month! This is your idea of making everything alright? Katie took a moment to look around the room at all that was about to be taken away from her. Sitting down on the sofa to gather her thoughts and comprehend everything that was happening, a few moments later she looked over at John and eyed him suspiciously, “It seems to me that you came up with this plan awfully quick.. Something this grand doesn’t come to a person overnight, John.”
          “Actually, you’re right. This particular idea had come to me a couple of months ago. I had started getting bored with Law School but I was afraid to tell Father. I was afraid of the disappointment I would be to him. I am sorry he is gone but because of that, there is really no reason for us to stay here any more. We have a perfect opportunity to leave and start over fresh.” he finished.
          “What were you going to do if Father hadn’t died? It’s not like his death was planned ...John, NO!”
          “Stop it right there Katie! I can’t believe you would even think that. That is just your grief talking. I loved Father as much as you did. Why do you think I wanted to be a lawyer? He was my hero and I wanted to be just like him.”
          “I’m sorry”, Katie apologized as she started to cry. “ I had no right to even say that to you. This is just all so overwhelming.”
          “It’s okay Katie,” John said as he went to hug her. “I know you are having a rough time, I am too. It just turns out that I am not suited for law. I will decide on something else when I am ready. In the meantime, let me tell you what I have found out. This could be a good thing for us. I have been hearing about people heading out West to start new lives, farm their own land and...” John hesitated.
          “And what?” questioned Katie.
          “Well ... people are finding gold out West.” John said quietly.
          “Gold! This is all about the gold isn’t it!” she demanded. “Well, you can just leave me out of this grand scheme you have planned. I’m not going to cross this country to go to uncivilized territory where God knows who or what is living. There are ... there are outlaws and savages out there. Neither of which is something I want to be friends or enemies with.”
          “Give it up Katie.” John interrupted. “This is a battle you won’t win and I told you I have already sold the house. I know you don’t want to leave. I don’t either but we have no family to stay with. We are on our own now, just you and me.”
          “But where exactly will we go John? The West is a big place.”
“I haven’t pinpointed an exact location yet.” John explained. “I have heard that a few settlers have found gold in a place called Pikes Peak in Colorado Territory. I figured somewhere near there maybe.”
          “How long before we leave?” Katie asked.
          “Probably some time in the next month or so. We still need to auction everything off so if there is anything sentimental you would like to keep, you might ought to choose what you want. Make sure it is nothing too big though as we will have limited space on our trip. Anyway, I will need to make a list and buy everything we need so it will take some time to get it all done.” John noticed Katie’s downhearted expression and decided to put a positive spin on the situation. “Come on Katie, look at it this way, it could be like old times. You and me on one of our crazy adventures together. Who knows, maybe we will even find some of that gold everyone is talking about.”
          “Okay, John“, Katie said hesitantly, “You could be right. We have always been able to find grand adventure together and we do make a good team. Let’s do it!”
          The next few weeks passed and Katie survived her fathers’ funeral, the selling of the house and watching all but a few cherished possessions be sold to complete strangers. She was hoping that John was right. She would rather this be a great adventure than a huge mistake.
………………………………..............

          The trip to Central City had begun just like John said it would. The auction was completed and John went shopping. He originally had some difficulty obtaining all of the supplies he was looking for. This had delayed their leaving a little but John finally managed to find everything they needed. They left what once had been their home and
began the long journey west. Somewhere along the trip they managed to join up with some other settlers crossing the country. Among the people in their group, Katie met Thomas and Laura Kincaid. The Kincaid's had two little boys named Carson and Elijah. Laura had recently found out she was expecting their third child. Katie also found out that Thomas and Laura were forced from their home by greedy land developers and decided to go West to try their luck there. Thomas had figured that between farming and maybe finding some gold, they had great reasons to look forward to a bright future for their family. Friendships had been formed and everyone decided that once they reached their destination, they would find some land available that would allow them to live near each other. That destination ended up here, in Central City, Colorado
          “This is what John was looking for?” Katie asked herself silently as they had finally reached their long awaited destination. Central City was not a huge town, in fact, compared to Boston it was very small but it seemed just as noisy. As they entered the town she saw that it wasn’t quite as primitive as she expected. It wasn’t as modern a town as Boston was, being new and crudely built but she assumed it would modernize itself over time. There were a few stores that she would definitely be frequenting once she got settled. There was a general store and a millinery shop where she could buy material and try her hand at making clothes. She didn’t have much experience at sewing but figured it shouldn’t be too hard. Could it? There was a hotel, a shoemaker and a blacksmith. She noticed a busy livery stable and that there was even a post office. Now if only she had someone to send mail. The memory of her father sent her into a temporary melancholic mood, knowing she would never see him again. She composed herself and continued looking on. Katie couldn’t help but notice all of the other people that had come to this area. There was a great deal of people milling around and they seemed to be mostly men. At this point, Katie noticed not one but several saloons. She couldn’t possibly miss them because it seemed all the men in town were either coming or going from these evil places. Katie never had an opinion on saloons until her father’s accident. Now, she couldn’t stand the sight of them Katie turned her focus from the saloons back to the people in the street. She didn’t see very many women at all and that concerned her. She also noticed that Thomas and Laura had stopped at the general store that she had seen a ways back so she was all alone with John for the moment. She would have felt better if the Kincaid's had been nearby.
          “Are we staying here in town?” Katie asked John uncomfortably as she noticed a few men leering at her as they passed by.
          “Not for very long Katie-bug”, replied John using an endearment that he hadn’t used in years. Katie took this to mean that he was probably as concerned as she was and used it to try and comfort her in a small way. She supposed it worked a little but couldn’t wait to get out of sight from these men.
          “Why are there so many strange men John?” Katie quizzed him looking warily up and down the street.
          “Unfortunately that type seems to follow wherever they are here mining for gold but I had no idea there would be so many of them. I am sure that there are a lot of decent men here that have families but they are probably up in the hotel or already have homes of their own. I promise you Katie that we will build our own home just as soon as we can.”
          “I hope so John, I am a little scared.” she said as she inched her way closer to her brothers side.
          “I know, this is not what I expected to see when we got here either. Apparently, a lot of people had the same idea. I guess I just figured that they would be going on to California instead of here.
          John pulled the wagon in front of a tent at the other end of town. It had a sign in front of it that said Land Office, though Katie didn’t know what that meant.
          “Katie-bug,” he said hesitantly.
          This time, Katie had a feeling that he used this endearment because he had something that he didn’t really want to tell her. She found out she was right with the next words out of his mouth.
          “I need to go into this tent for a few minutes to get some information about the land that is available. The people in here can tell me where we can build our home. I am also hoping to talk to someone who knows about the mining and if there are any laws I need to be aware of. Will you be okay waiting here in the wagon until I return?”
          “I suppose so,” Katie spoke slowly. “I guess I will be okay. Just hurry John.” Inwardly, Katie was scared to death but wanted to appear strong for her big brother. John got down from the wagon and disappeared inside the tent. Not long after he vanished, two scraggly looking men sauntered her way.
          “Hey sweet thing,” the first man drawled as he drank something from a bottle he was holding. “You looking for a good time?” he finished, laughing.
          “No way Charlie,” the other one responded as he playfully punched his buddy in the arm. “She’s mine. You interested in a roll in the hay beautiful?” he said as he reached for Katie.
          “Get away from me!” Katie yelled as she screamed for her brother. John came running out of the tent to see what the commotion was and found Katie shaking uncontrollably. Turning his anger towards the men, John’s temper flared over his protectiveness of his sister.
          “Leave her alone fella’s,” He demanded. “She’s with me so go on back to whatever you were doing and don’t bother her again. Do I make myself clear?”
          “Come on Gus,” Charlie said. “This one’s no fun. Let’s keep looking.” Katie and John watched the two men wander off down the road. John turned to comfort Katie, confident in the fact that she wouldn’t be bothered again.
          “I want to go back home to Boston.” Katie managed to say between sobs.
          “You know we can’t do that.” John said regretfully. It took almost all the money we had to get here. Look now, the men are gone. See? That was just one bad experience and they won’t bother you again. I promise. Just remember Katie, a lot of these men are either going to find what they are looking for and move on or get tired of coming up empty handed and move on. Either way, most of them will eventually leave. They are drifters, always looking for the next big thing. I did manage to get the information I need so we can go find our land and start building our new home. I promise we will have a good life. Now let’s go find the Kincaid’s.”
          “Okay John, I am going to trust you to be right on this.” Katie said.
          “Good. I will always be here for you and I will never let anything bad happen to you. I love you Katie-bug.”
          “I love you too John.” Katie smiled and settled comfortably next to him as they went to look for the Kincaid’s
          Katie jumped as a loud crack of thunder brought her back to the present. She looked out the window to see more dark clouds rolling in.
          “I can’t believe it is finally going to rain.” She smiled happily as she turned to focus away from the window. Katie crossed the room to sit down in her rocking chair. As she picked up a dress she was working on, she looked around the room to survey it.
She decided that she really liked her new home. It was smaller than the old one but that made it cozy. The main living room was her favorite area . Katie had been able to bring a few select pieces of furniture from her old home and from time to time it made her smile when she looked at them and recalled memories of her life in Boston. The room had a good sized fireplace and John had even added stone around it for a nice effect. He had also thought to put in big windows so she could look out and see the mountains off to the west. Laura had shown her some of the basics of sewing and Katie had picked up the skill fairly easy. Because of this she had been able to make some curtains for the windows. She had especially liked picking out the fabrics for them. The curtains in the living room were sky blue while the ones in the kitchen were a pale yellow, similar to the color of butter. She favored the pastel colors because they so brightened up a room on cloudy days. The kitchen was a little smaller than Katie would have liked. When she was growing up, she didn’t have much experience in the kitchen. Most of the time, her father would come home from work and make supper for the family. Occasionally, when he was late, John would put something together. Laura, however, helped change this. She had shown Katie a few basics along with some secrets and tricks and even gave her a recipe book. As a result, Katie realized that she enjoyed cooking and wished the kitchen was just a bit larger. She also found that she enjoyed creating new recipes and fortunately she had John to test her finished products. She smiled as she recalled the faces he made when some of the recipes didn’t quite work out. The ones that they liked, she put into a book of her own, hopefully to share with her own family someday.
          Katie and John had individual bedrooms of course but she missed having her indoor plumbing. Oh, how she hated having to use an outhouse. It was so inconvenient having to get dressed and put on shoes to go outside. Not to mention having to look out for any wild animal that could venture into the area. She had expressed her hesitancy about this to John. In return, he had suggested she use her father’s cane. It was the same cane their father had used when his arthritis acted up and Katie had brought it as a small reminder of him. She agreed and took the cane as a form of protection with her every time she would have to go outside, especially when it was dark.
          In addition to missing her bathroom, Katie greatly missed her bathtub.
Bathing was a luxury now. She was glad to have a creek not too far from the cabin. Having to warm up buckets of water just to take a bath in the washtub was so time consuming. Most days, she had to settle for sponging off at the end of the day. Saturday was the one day of the week that bathing was a necessity however. Since Katie and John had come to Central City, a small church had been built and Katie never missed her Sunday meetings.
          Katie realized that she truly enjoyed her new life out west more than she thought she would. It was much quieter and serene and the scenery was beautiful. Everywhere she looked she could see trees or mountains around her and it was so green. It was certainly not the dry, barren land to which she thought she was coming. She also hadn’t seen any outlaws or savages. She really only had to deal with half-drunk, miners and that was only when she went into town. On those days, she made sure John drove her. In fact, he had even purchased a gun for additional protection of his little sister.
          Katie found that though she occasionally still missed her father, she also missed her visits with Dr. Franklin. When she would think back to her experiences with him, she would sometimes become depressed. For all the reasons she enjoyed her new life, she knew that it would probably be many years before Central City caught up to where Boston was when she left it. She knew that her chances of becoming a nurse were now practically nil. Katie did remember to bring along that same anatomy book that had first sparked her interest in medicine and every once in a while, she still pulled it off the shelf to read it.
          Katie spent most of her time alone in the cabin these days. In the beginning, John and Thomas were busy building both cabins. The men did not want the women to stay in town alone during that time so a tent was set up on the land between the two home sites. Katie and Laura used that time to get to know each other better. Katie also loved playing games with Carson and Elijah. Having had no younger siblings or any family around, she had limited experience with children and never truly knew how much fun they could be. She couldn’t wait for the day when she could have a family of her own. Katie suddenly realized that she was getting older and hoped in retrospect, that all the time spent with Dr. Franklin hadn’t ruined her chances of marrying and having that family.
          Once both cabins were compete, Katie and Laura parted ways so they could go decorate their homes. Both men, being utterly disinterested in decorating left the women to their craft and spent time outside. Thomas used his experience with farming to show John how to plant crops and build pens for the animals, he would be purchasing .
          After a while, Katie started to notice that John had begun to disappear for hours at a time. One day, she looked out the window and watched him ride off on his horse, not to return until it was almost dark. When confronted with this, John confessed that he had started looking for gold. At this point, Katie gave her permission so that he wouldn’t feel he had to sneak away. Thus began Katie’s days of solitude.
          Katie put down her sewing and started a fire. From the sounds on the roof, the rain was really coming down now. Pleased that it was raining, she looked out the window and could see it was almost dark outside. Katie went to the kitchen to start supper wondering just where her brother was . She began to worry some. It was not like him to miss supper. She hoped he was okay and that he would return soon.