Donners Bend (8 page)

The dark, mysterious forest surrounding her didn’t seem too inviting
. 
Plus, she was afraid
Jon
wouldn’t be able to see where they were going, and Penny would trip ove
r something, sending them all tumbling
to the ground
. 

The wind whipped cold drops of rain into her face and
Jon
’s
. 
First she tried to protect herself by holding her hat back on her head, but when that became too troublesome,
Ellie
buried her head in
Jon
’s back and tried to hide from the rain, which was beginning to come down harder
. 
The ride home was longer than
both
Jon
and
Ellie
had expected, and by the time they reached
Ellie
’s house both were soaking wet
. 
Ellie
’s skirts clung to her legs and she could feel her hair sticking to the back of her neck.

Jon
hopped off Penny and helped
Ellie
down
. 
Taking her hand, he ran with her to the front porch and immediately began apologizing:

“I’m so sorry, Mae,” he said, taking off his sopping tweed hat, and running his hand through
his
dripping whitish blond locks, “If I’d known it was to start raining tonight
,
I’d have never taken you out
. 
And now I’ve probably ruined your dress, and your hat, and I really didn’t mean to
. 
Honest.”

Ellie
smiled and placed her hand on the side of his face, “It’s alright,
Johnny
. 
You don’t need to apologize to me
. 
My dress and hat will dry out; don’t worry
. 
And I assure you I had a wonderful time, despite the rain.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Jon
smiled and wrapped his arms around
Ellie
in a friendly hug
. 
She smiled and hugged him back.

“Well, I’d best be off now,” said
Jon
as they broke apart, “I’m sure Penny’s plenty angry at me.”

Ellie
looked over at the drenched horse and agreed, “Yes
. 
You should probably be getting her home
. 
Thanks for the wonderful evening
. 
Goodbye
,
Johnny
.”

He gave her a quick, amiable kiss on her damp cheek and replied, “
Goodbye
, Mae.”

Setting back on his tweed newsboy cap,
Jon
ran back out into the rain, jumped on Penny’s back, tipped his hat, and rode off
through the rain back to his house
. 
Ellie
smiled and went inside to dry off.

The next afternoon,
Ellie
and the children sat inside the
Rhodes house
up in the children’s schoolroom
. 
They’d just finished a day full of studies including reading, writing, history, math, and French
. 
And now, it was finally time to play
. 
Because of the wet grass outside, the children were allowed only to play with their toys indoors in the playroom today
. 
Gracie, the leader of the group, came up to
Ellie
with a new plan for today’s playtime
. 

“Can we invite Katie and Jeremy over?” she asked.

“Who are Katie and Jeremy?”

“They’re our neighbors
, t
he
Thompson
’
s,” Gracie explained.

“And our friends,” added Leah.

“Well, I suppose they can come over for a few hours or so,”
Ellie
agreed, “But how exactly does this work
? 
Do we all have to walk over and invite them?”

“No, no,” Leah shook her head, “We send over Matty.”

“You mean Matthew
? 
The carriage driver?”

“Yeah, Matty
. 
He rides over and invites them for us,” said Gracie, “He likes to go.”

“Yeah,” Demi agreed, “Because he likes to go see Miss Emy.”

“Miss Emy
? 
Who is Miss Emy?”

“Miss Emily is the
Thompson
’s nanny
. 
Matty’s in love with her,” Leah said with a giggle.

“May I go ask Matty to invite them over please,
Ellie
?” Gracie asked.

“Yes, you may.”

Gracie ran down, and when she’d returned the children went to the window to watch Matthew ride over to the
Thompson
’
s on a silky black horse
. 
Around fifteen minutes later Juliet knocked on the playroom door and the children exclaimed, “They’re here
! 
They’re here!”

Demi opened the door and in walked two children and their nanny
. 
The children looked very alike, and one could tell they were sib
lings
instantly
. 
The girl, who looked to be around Leah’s age, had long auburn hair that she wore in a braided bun with long coral-colored ribbons hanging out the bottom
. 
She wore a coral gingham dress with a square-cut white collar and white stockings
. 
The boy, a little older than Demi, had smooth auburn hair and wore a black sweater, white oxford shirt, gray tie, and khaki pants
. 

The two children immediately ran in
to join their friends and began playing
with
either dolls with Gracie and Leah, or trains with Demi and Wesley
. 
The nanny walked over with a bright smile on her friendly face and introduced
her
self
,
and the children.

“Hello
! 
You must be the children’s new nanny, correct?”

“Yes,”
Ellie
said with a nod, “My name’s
Eliana
Mae
Henderson
, but I’m called
Ellie
.”

“It’s nice to meet you,
Ellie
,” the woman said as they shook hands, “I’m the
Thompson
’s nanny
. 
Their names are Katherine Paige and Jeremy Francis, though they go by Katie and Jeremy
. 
And my name is Emily Jean Hardesty.”

She was a pretty girl, with soft, light brown hair she let fall onto her shoulders instead of tying it up as
Ellie
did
. 
Her bright, green eyes were full of life, and she had a thin and innocent, yet
womanly, frame
. 
She wore a lavender gown with dark violet accents
. 

“Hello Emily, it’s nice to meet you,”
Ellie
returned
. 
Then, gesturing towards the chairs in the corner, she asked, “Would you like to sit down?”

“Love to.”

The two nannies sat and chatted in the corner while the children played all afternoon
. 

“So, how are you liking
Donners Bend
so far?” asked Emily.

“I love it,”
Ellie
answered, “It’s so comely and charming.”

“And the rain doesn’t bother you?”

“Not at all
, i
n fact, I rather enjoy the rainy days of
Donners Bend
.”

“Well I guess one has to if one lives here for long,” Emily laughed.

Ellie
gigg
l
ed along,
that’s
true.”

“And how are you enjoying your job?”

“It’s going quite well, I must say
. 
The children, though at times they can be a handful, are very sweet and playful.”

“I’m sure they are.”

Through their small talk,
Ellie
found out that Emily had lived in
Donners Bend
her whole life
. 
She’d been with the
Thompson
s since she was just a girl working as a maid, and she’d become the nanny about four
years
ago, for she was seventeen now
. 
By the end of the conversation
Ellie
just knew she and Emily would soon become friends.

A month quickly passed by.  Marcelle usually came every weekend for at least a day, though sometimes she’d only be able to make it every other weekend.  She’d already snagged up another beau to add to her list.  He stopped by one weekend with Marcelle so he could meet Jon and Ellie. 

His name was Ross Lancaster and he was just another one of Marcelle’s bumbling idiots in Ellie’s opinion. 

“But you have to admit he’s irresistibly handsome,” argued Marcelle.

“Yes, he is,” Ellie agreed.

And he was, but Ellie couldn’t help but hope that someday Marcelle would find a man worthy of her time.  A man that wasn’t just handsome, but sweet and loving and fun.  Ross was such a bore Jon could barely keep a conversation with him, but Marcelle assured Ellie he was an amazing kisser.  And if Marcelle was happy, what else could Ellie do?

Jon and Ellie successfully convinced Marcelle that they had begun a small romance, though they denied any statement that they had begun courting.  Ellie adored attended “outings” with Jon while Marcelle was in town.  And so did Jon.

Marcelle, though she wouldn’t admit it, still felt a bang of jealousy when she saw how happy Jon and Ellie were together.  Ross was great for a little fun, but Jon was still Marcelle’s heart’s true desire. 

Ellie’s time working as a nanny was going wonderfully.  She loved the children and they loved her.  Her hours also began increasing, which meant more income, as Mrs. Rhodes began expanding her florist shop in Rochester and staying away from home for longer periods.  Emily and Ellie became quick friends,
just as Ellie had imagined they would.  Almost all the rainy days they spent locked up in the house with the children.   

Ellie also began seeing Emily from time to time in other places: talking with the carriage driver Matthew in the stables, behind the house, hidden in the orchards.  All they’d ever do was talk, but Ellie knew someday that would turn into more. 

One Sunday when Ellie wasn’t working, she’d gone over to Ol’ Smith’s shop to see Jon.  Ellie sat cross-legged on the counter while Jon took an inventory of the random items filling the shelves.  The little bell rung on the door as a woman entered.

“Mr. Smithton?” she called, not seeing Jon, “Mr. Smithton, are you here?”

“Hello, Mrs. Kirk,” he replied with a friendly smile, “How can I help you on this fine, fine day?”

Ellie giggled.

“Fine day?” Mrs. Kirk laughed shortly, “Where have you been, boy?  Surely not in Donners Bend.  It’s been raining since the break a’ dawn.”