A transcript of the episode can be found in the Selected Episode Transcripts section of this site. References are also made to events from “The Wedding”, “The Fix-it Man” and “Yesterday’s Vendetta” as well to the Fan Fiction story “Questions of Brotherhood.”
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How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book?
---Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Reading, 1854
"MELISSA and THE MAINE WOODS"
“On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Massachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maine, by way of the railroad and steamboat, as far as a dam on the west branch of the Penobscot. From this place, I proposed to make excursions to Mount Ktaadn . . . and to some of the lakes of the Penobscot, either alone or with such company as I might pick up there. . . The mountain may be approached more easily and directly on horseback and on foot from the northeast side, but in that case you see much less of the wilderness . . . ”
After another long day of cattle and fence lines, Scott Lancer had just settled down in a comfortable chair with an unread book--Henry David Thoreau was one of his favorite authors. Although he was usually reading something, his days in California were so full, and often so tiring, that some evenings Scott only managed to get through a few pages, if that. He had been looking forward to The Maine Woods; it was the last of the volumes in the package which had arrived on the day of his fateful encounter with the Velasquez brothers and Gordon.
Although he had rarely ventured as far as Bangor, in his youth Scott had traveled north from Massachusetts to spend summers in Maine. Aunt Cecilia, “Aunt Cee”-- his grandfather’s much younger sister, had lived there, in the mid-state coastal town of Brunswick. The former Cecilia Garrett and her husband had resided in one of the large homes on Federal Street, not far from the grounds of Bowdoin College. In fact, young Scott had made the acquaintance of several members of the college faculty, including Joshua Chamberlain, later one of the Union heroes at Gettysburg and the current Governor of the state of Maine. Upon his release from Libby Prison at the war’s end, Scott had learned that it had been Chamberlain who had been chosen by General Grant to receive the formal surrender of colors at Appomattox. Scott had been most impressed to hear that General Chamberlain had instructed his men to salute their defeated opponents as they marched past, as a means of honoring their valor. In fact, Scott had named his spirited chestnut horse “Brunswick” in honor of the general, as well as his own pleasant memories of the Maine town.
As he read, Scott absently stroked his forehead with his left hand, one finger rubbing the small scar above his left eye. It was a barely visible momento of his capture by the Velasquez brothers. They had planned to kill Scott in order to avenge their own sibling’s death at the hands of Johnny Madrid. In order to gain time, his new-found brother had pretended not to care what the Velasquez’ might do to Scott. Unfortunately, Scott hadn’t been entirely certain of what Johnny was attempting to do. In the course of their “discussion”, Johnny had interpreted a comment from Scott as being much more insulting than it had been intended to be--whereupon his younger brother had delivered a solid punch to Scott’s face, opening up a cut over his already half closed left eye. And, since Scott had been tied to a chair at the time, the Easterner had lost his balance and toppled hard to the floor. .
Now, as Scott was losing himself in a distant wilderness of pine forests, Jelly was close to offering up his surrender to Johnny in their chess game. Nearby, Teresa was rubbing her own forehead and frowning while paging through a rather thick book, one that Scott had recommended. Murdoch Lancer was at his desk, going through some papers and working his way through an accumulation of mail. Picking up an envelope posted from San Francisco, he sliced it open and quickly read the two pages inside. The Lancer patriarch had made a trip to the city a month earlier, specifically to visit Melissa Harper and her Aunt Kate. Melissa was the daughter of an old friend and Murdoch had promised that he would at some point “check on” Melissa. The young woman had seemed to be enjoying her time in San Francisco immensely. Now it appeared that Miss Harper had accepted Murdoch’s invitation to pay a return visit to Lancer.
Murdoch announced the contents of the letter to the group. “Well, it looks like we’re going to be having a guest,” he said.
Teresa brightened: “Who?” she asked him, swiftly closing her book. “Melissa Harper is coming from San Francisco,” was his response.
Jelly welcomed the distraction from the approaching checkmate: “She that gal that Johnny ’n Scott had to rescue from those miner fellas?”
Scott responded: “That’s right Jelly. And I seem to recall that you were almost as taken with her father as Johnny was with the elusive Miss Harper.“
Johnny and Teresa laughed, Murdoch shook his head and Jelly sputtered. Scott grinned--he’d been teasing Jelly. Murdoch’s “old friend”-- Mr. James Harper of Boston had been a pompous ass, to put it mildly. No one at Lancer had been much taken with him, probably not even Murdoch. Scott had felt somewhat embarrassed by the fact that the man was a fellow Bostonian. But Harper’s lack of endearing qualities was far from the only thing that Scott recalled.
Harper had arrived at the ranch, claiming that his daughter, who was, in his words, “a frail and delicate creature“, had been kidnapped by a “whiskey swilling illiterate”. Murdoch Lancer had insisted that his two sons ride north into the lawless mining country to track down Melissa. Neither of them had wanted to go, but Scott’s protests had ceased once Murdoch had indicated that he owed a debt to Harper and that the debt was somehow related to Scott’s mother.
He and Johnny had headed north the next day, his brother still adamant in his objections: Johnny believed that the further that Melissa Harper stayed from her father, the better off the young woman would be and that it would serve Harper right if his precious daughter was already married to the drunkest, dirtiest miner in all of Humboldt Country. Scott had tended to agree, but had kept his own counsel. The further that they’d traveled from home, the more the trip had started to seem like a welcome escape from the endless chores of the ranch. And in great contrast to the very first time that Murdoch Lancer had sent his sons out on the trail, the brothers had found themselves appreciating each other’s company. Once they had bribed their way into renting a hotel room in mining territory, it had been Scott’s intention to indulge in some rest and relaxation. Still enjoying an easy camaraderie, neither brother had been in any hurry whatsoever to track down the “elusive Miss Harper“. Scott had been contentedly contemplating the delights most likely available in the local Chinese restaurant when the “infamous” Cooper brothers had burst into the Lancers’ room. At least, the Coopers had been under the impression that they were infamous--and they hadn’t taken kindly to learning otherwise. Following the ensuing fight, Scott and Johnny had made the acquaintance of the third Cooper, Bobby, who turned out to be Melissa Harper’s fiancé. They had also been treated to a quaint local custom involving paint.
Having located the Coopers’ mining camp, the Lancers had found it relatively easy to make contact with Melissa. In hindsight, perhaps too easy, since, as it turned out, the young lady had led them into a trap. It appeared that, contrary to her father’s assertions, Melissa Harper was not a prisoner and she certainly did not wish to be “rescued” by the Lancers or anyone else. And she did want very much to marry Bobby Cooper. Apparently the town Marshal was a ‘friend’ of the Coopers, because he had obligingly put Scott and Johnny in jail for safe keeping. Scott smiled to himself as he remembered how the two of them had staged a “fight”----this time without incurring any actual injuries--- in order to lure the Marshal into the cell and free themselves.
Then the first real problem had arisen: Scott had been determined to go back after Melissa Harper, while Johnny had been equally intent on heading for home. His younger brother had pointed out that the girl was not a prisoner, saying that if she wanted to marry Bobby Cooper, that was her business. Scott had felt strongly that the girl was somehow unable to see what kind of man she was about to marry in Cooper and that she was about to make a terrible mistake. Besides, she was under twenty-one and her father wanted her back. As did Murdoch. Scott had felt that there was no other choice but to go back after her. When he’d asked Johnny if he was coming with him, his brother had uttered a flat “No.” But Scott hadn’t ridden too far down the road before Johnny had caught up with him. Scott had been glad that his brother had changed his mind, had been careful not to say anything about it, but Johnny had offered an explanation anyway: “If you’re really gonna do this, I figured I’d better come along and keep you out of trouble.” Still refraining from comment, Scott had thought to himself <<Yes, of course, and it has nothing to do with your reluctance to return home to face Murdoch---- alone and empty-handed.>>
Scott’s plan to draw the wedding guests away from the tents by causing an explosion had worked perfectly. The Lancers had been able to grab the girl and had made their escape on horseback. It had been a fairly silent ride; evidently Johnny was still not in favor of taking Melissa Harper. To Scott’s suggestion that they stop for the night at an old barn, Johnny had replied with a careless “its your party.“ Scott had been rather annoyed that Johnny would reveal their disagreement in front of Miss Harper. Scott suspected that while he was outside the barn looking around, something of a romantic nature had taken place between Johnny and Melissa inside. When the Coopers showed up the next morning, Melissa had warned Johnny, possibly saving his younger brother’s life. Scott had shot and wounded Bobby Cooper and whisked Melissa off, riding double. They hadn’t gone too far down the road before Melissa had changed horses and remained with Johnny on Barranca until the three of them had arrived at the ranch.
After commenting, predictably, on how long they’d taken, Murdoch Lancer had actually complimented his sons on a job well done. He’d asked specifically if there had been any problems. Scott had recited a lengthy list, including the jailing and being shot at, but he hadn’t been about to reveal that he and Johnny had had a difference of opinion. Not that it had mattered, because it hadn’t taken long for his younger brother to express his displeasure at having “kidnapped” Melissa--the young woman had wanted to marry Cooper and she should have been allowed to do so, in Johnny’s book. But when Murdoch had responded that the girl was underage--the same rationale that Johnny had already heard from Scott, well, his brother, typically, had just stalked off.
Scott supposed that that was easily the least desirable feature of their three way partnership----it seemed that someone was always the “odd man out“, usually Johnny. Scott and Murdoch tended to think alike--both were very logical, given to making decisions dispassionately. Additionally, Scott respected Murdoch’s age and experience and when he was at all uncertain, Scott did not hesitate to go along with the older man’s views. Johnny was more emotional; most often it was Johnny and Murdoch who were at loggerheads about something and Scott who was left to attempt to be the arbitrator. Sometimes an effective compromise was possible, but not always, and in that case Scott had to cast a vote, inevitably being perceived as siding against one or the other. If Johnny was in the minority, he might seem angry or resentful, but rarely bothered to protest. Murdoch would be irritated if he found himself outnumbered, and would often continue to press his point, or, as in the case of the “decision” to go after Miss Harper, simply declare a dictatorship. When Scott was outvoted, in those rare cases when Murdoch found to his surprise that Johnny had sided with him, the older man would simply say “well, that settles it” in a pleased tone and leave Scott standing there without any opportunity to continue the debate. What with major business decisions about the ranch that the three of them had to make, as well as the daily accommodations which had to be reached, Scott was getting more practice in diplomacy and negotiating tactics than he would have liked. Sometimes he felt that he spent more time trying to improve the situation between Johnny and Murdoch than he did in developing his own relationship with either of them. At least in the events involving Melissa Harper, he and Johnny had been able to “agree to disagree.” Of course, it had helped that, despite his own reservations, Johnny had gone along with Scott’s plan.
Or, at least his brother had gone along with Scott’s plan until they’d gotten the young lady back to the ranch and then Johnny had decided to “help” Melissa by providing her with a horse, provisions and the opportunity to return to Bobby Cooper. A major error of judgment on his part and Scott had been angry that Johnny had done this after all they’d gone through; surprised that Johnny hadn’t seen that Cooper was just completely wrong for Melissa, even potentially dangerous. Fortunately, the Lancers had arrived on the scene in time to prevent Cooper from harming the young woman. Melissa had been forcefully confronted with Bobby Cooper’s unsavory character. Everything had worked out well in the end, even for Melissa, since, with some intervention from Murdoch, James Harper had acquiesced in his daughter’s wish to spend time with her aunt in San Francisco, rather than return immediately to Boston.
That his younger brother had fallen hard for the girl had been obvious, ----and Johnny certainly hadn’t “handled” it very well, at least not if his misguided attempt to help Melissa return to Cooper was any indication.
Shaking his head, Scott glanced down at Thoreau and decided that he wouldn’t be venturing further into the Maine woods this evening. Slowly closing the book, he thought <<“A visit from Melissa Harper . . . This could be . . . interesting.“>>
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Murdoch noticed his elder son give his head a small shake and close the cover of the book that he had been sitting and holding. <<And that’s what he is to me . . . A closed book. >> he thought, shaking his own large white head. The cover of-- --what was Scott reading now?,---- The Maine Woods??----- had shut softly but firmly. Not unlike the volume entitled Scott Lancer, though the latter would have to be termed a mystery, rather than any sort of a biography. And that book might just as well have a padlock attached to the front cover.
Murdoch Lancer was not typically given to such imagery--the man did not possess a “poetic soul“, by any means. What he did possess was a great doubt that he would ever be able to “read” Scott . . . Even after so many months, his Boston-bred son, with his masked expressions and neutral tones, remained an unfailingly polite stranger.
Murdoch slid a glance to the small portrait on the corner of his desk. There was no question that Scott resembled his mother, though it seemed to Murdoch that he could remember that young woman smiling much more readily. But Catherine seemed such a distant memory sometimes. “Catherine“----how long had it been since he’d said her name aloud?? Spoken of her? Never to her son, he admitted reluctantly to himself. At least not yet . . .. << Catherine. My wife. Scott’s mother. . . Harlan Garrett’s daughter. >> It had been simply inconceivable that she would be willing to defy her father and leave her home in Boston so far behind her----all for the love of Murdoch Lancer. But that had been exactly what she had done. Miss Catherine Garrett of Boston had been a gentle, trusting, delicate beauty with the strength to know her own mind.
Melissa’s father, Jim Harper had helped make it all possible, when he’d befriended Murdoch, “just off the boat from Inverness.” A young man on the way up, Harper had worked long and hard to make himself a success in Boston, just as Murdoch Lancer had driven himself to do so out here in the west. There was no question that his old friend had changed over the years, but if he now seemed too concerned with status and position, well, that wasn’t all that unusual in those who had struggled as Harper had to attain it. And Murdoch certainly had no doubt that Jim, in his heart, wanted only the best for Melissa; he had after all, relented and allowed the girl to continue on to San Francisco rather than insisting that she return with him to Boston. Murdoch wondered how much it had cost the man, to agree to be separated from his daughter by those thousands of miles. He recalled that prior to his departure, James had not been able to resist pointing out the irony of Murdoch Lancer dispensing parenting advice . . . Jim’s chastisement had been the prerogative of an old friend, regardless of how little contact there had been between the two men over the years-- --and there could be no question that Harper had had a point.
When James Harper had appeared at the ranch, well, clearly the Bostonian had immediately said or done something to get Jelly’s dander up. But when he’d related the story of his kidnapped daughter, Murdoch had been instantly determined to help, or, rather, to enlist his two sons to do so. Scott and Johnny going to the aid of Melissa Harper had seemed a fitting return on the debt which he himself owed to the young woman’s father. No question that Jim had been a little hard to take, with his disparaging comments about some westerners and his certainty that none of them would be fit companions for his daughter. But the man was understandably distressed and worried about the girl-- and given what the Lancers had learned about Melissa’s presumptive fiancé, Bobby Cooper, well, in his case at least, Jim’s concerns had been pretty well founded.
Johnny had been most offended by Harper’s remarks and vocal in his dislike of the man, even going so far as to express the view that for her sake, he hoped that Harper never located his daughter. Murdoch had turned to Scott, sure that he would immediately grasp the importance of repaying a favor to an old friend, but, to be certain, had revealed something of the significance of the help which he had received. When Murdoch had said of Harper that “this ranch wouldn’t even be here without him, as a matter of fact, your mother“--he’d gestured to Scott----“you wouldn’t be here without him,” Scott had allowed himself a small smile but hadn’t asked any questions. Johnny had let the remark pass without comment as well, but had continued to argue the difficulty of tracking down one girl up in the mining country.
Despite Murdoch’s hint as to what the debt to Jim Harper had entailed, Scott had never returned to the topic or made any inquiries. Of course, Murdoch reflected, there really hadn’t been time. After a few hours in his guest room, Harper had reappeared to dominate the conversation at dinner and the next morning the boys had set off to find Melissa. When they’d returned, there hadn’t been much time for talk either, at least not until the Harpers had departed, setting off in their separate directions. Then it had been time for the Lancers to turn their attention once more to the many details of running a ranch.
Now, Melissa Harper was coming to visit. It was inevitable that the word “Boston” would crop up in conversation. It was possible that those conversations might stir up questions about the past. Murdoch Lancer was a man who wished everything in the past to remain there, who wanted to avoid dredging up old memories up at all costs---most especially when it came to the subject of his son Scott and the city of Boston . . .
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Johnny was certainly looking forward to Melissa Harper’s arrival--he had been very much “taken” with her. With her expressed desire for the Freedom to “be herself, good or bad“, the young woman had seemed to share many of his own views of life. Johnny sure hadn’t been impressed with Melissa’s father and all of his talk about “standards” and “barriers“. It had been entirely Scott’s idea to comply with Harper’s wishes and retrieve Melissa from, as Jelly had put it, “those miner fellas”--not that Boston was the type to point that out to the old horse wrangler.
Johnny had felt strongly that Melissa Harper had the right to be with the man she loved. But his older brother, good ol’Scott “What about the Law?” Lancer, sure hadn’t seen it that way. The girl was “underage”, her father wanted her brought back, Murdoch too, so that’s just what Scott was determined to do. Although he hadn’t seen it the same way, Johnny had gone along to help Scott----he couldn’t let his brother try to take on the Cooper boys alone.
Once they’d gotten back to the ranch, Melissa had still been talking about her fears of being “buried” back in Boston and her resentment of feeling “caged”. Johnny certainly hadn’t enjoyed Melissa’s implication that he was like one of the keepers in the zoo because he had helped to bring her back to the ranch.
Truth be told, helping Melissa to return to Bobby Cooper had been a mistake, and Johnny was man enough to admit it. It had been a sizeable mistake in more ways than one. First, Cooper was just no good-- “a grade A candidate for the hangman” was the way that Scott had put it, and damn if he hadn’t turned out to be exactly right. Cooper would have done Melissa considerable harm-- <<Hell, Madrid, he was only ‘bout to horsewhip the woman >> -- if the Lancers hadn’t arrived when they did.
Second, his decision to send Melissa off into the night had made Murdoch, and Scott, pretty angry---Johnny was used to Murdoch’s temper, but he was hard pressed to think of too many other times when Boston had raised his voice to him--or anyone else for that matter. His brother was nothing if not self-contained. But in this instance, Johnny figured that he couldn’t really blame Scott. Johnny felt kind of guilty that he’d gone right along with helping Scott bring Melissa back, then turned around on him like that. When he’d tried to say something about it later, Scott had merely observed that it was probably a good thing that Melissa had seen the true Bobby--that otherwise she might have always thought herself in love with him. Still, Johnny wondered whether his brother would think twice about trusting him the next time.
Fortunately, the girl hadn’t seemed to hold it against Johnny either, that he’d helped put her at risk by sending her back to Bobby Cooper. Johnny certainly did “fancy” Melissa. <<She sure is something. >> But when he’d suggested that she might consider staying at the ranch for a while, she’d wanted none of it. The young woman had been very eager to hurry off to her aunt and San Francisco. Well, maybe she gotten tired of the place by now. Johnny hadn’t had time during her first visit to show Melissa all those places on the ranch “where a person could be alone“-----and he was very much looking forward to having the opportunity to do so.
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On the appointed day of Melissa Harper‘s arrival, Murdoch and Teresa set out in the buggy, accompanied by Johnny on Barranca. When they returned to the ranch, it was with various parcels and some letters, but without Melissa. They had found a wire waiting for them in Morro Coyo, indicating that the young woman’s stage had been delayed and it would be another day or possibly two before it arrived.
The next day, the threesome set out once more to meet the stage. Scott again remained behind, determined to tackle one of his “favorite” chores--lifting bales of hay into the loft above the stables.
When he had finished his afternoon’s work, Scott headed to his room to get cleaned up and change his clothes. Feeling much better, he wandered through the hacienda, relishing the quiet of the empty rooms. In his father’s study, he found a stack of mail on a small table, with one letter set aside--a letter addressed to Scott from his grandfather in Boston. << Odd that no one mentioned it. >> he thought, surmising that Murdoch and Teresa must have brought the items back with them the previous day. Scott sat down, opened the letter and read the news from Boston. Harlan Garrett provided information about the activities of various friends and acquaintances, and wrote of local events--politics, business. His grandfather inquired as to whether Scott had been keeping abreast of the ongoing military conflict on the Continent, between the nations of France and Prussia. Garrett politely asked after Murdoch, Johnny and Teresa. He also responded to information which Scott had shared in his own missives, in particular, Scott’s description of his horse, Brunswick. The older man speculated that the Maine town might have been named after the German state. An avid student of history, his grandfather had also written a few lines about the Duke of Brunswick, who had twice liberated his duchy from Napoleon Bonaparte and had himself fallen during the Waterloo campaign.
The letter concluded with what had become a habitual observation--- that surely Scott would eventually begin to miss “civilization”. However, rather than the usual demand that he give up this “quaint notion” of becoming a rancher, and “come back home to Boston where he belonged“, his grandfather had simply stated that he missed Scott and then had extended a gracious, heartfelt invitation to his grandson to pay him a visit in the very near future. <<Well, there, Boston, that’s certainly an improvement. >>
Scott had been rather offended by the appellation “Boston” when Johnny had first used it------it obviously hadn’t been meant as anything approaching a compliment. Since then, however, it had become a friendly nickname often employed by his younger brother. In fact, at some point, Scott had appropriated the moniker for use in his own internal monologues. Previously, he had referred to himself as “Lancer”, but now it was “Boston.” It seemed to fit. For twenty four years, he had not known any other “Lancers”, and now there were two more. He had, from time to time, encountered other individuals named “Scott”. But here, at the ranch, he was clearly the one and only “Boston.”
Scott thoughtfully refolded the pages and slipped them back into the envelope. Perhaps he should respond by extending his own invitation----suggesting that his grandfather make a journey west. << Murdoch and Grandfather in the same room >>, he thought. <<Now that would be more than merely interesting. >>
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For Melissa Harper, it had been a rather long and dusty trip. Fortunately, the stage had not been overly crowded; there had been only four other passengers. The Reverend Jeremiah Weeks and his wife Sarah had been pleasant and courteous traveling companions. Mr. Jamison, an elderly gentleman, had spent much of his time napping. The fourth passenger, a tall, scruffy- looking man named Rowe had identified himself as a miner, traveling north to Humboldt County to rejoin his cousin to work on their claim. The references to Humboldt County and miners had brought up all sorts of unpleasant memories of Melissa’s experience with the Cooper brothers, especially her one-time fiancé, Bobby. Melissa had the Lancers to thank for rescuing her from the Coopers, and while she was most grateful to have avoided a beating, she really did not wish to be reminded of the humiliating episode.
Melissa had been attracted to Bobby Cooper precisely because he was so different from any of the young men that she had known back in Boston. Now, when she thought about how close she had come to marrying a murderer . . . it made her shudder. Equally distressing was the realization that she had almost allowed herself to be trapped indefinitely in that remote mining camp-----although it had certainly seemed like a grand adventure at the time.
Melissa had been reluctant to leave behind the wonders of San Francisco to accept Murdoch Lancer’s invitation. She wasn’t especially eager to return to the ranch for a visit, but her father was beginning to press his daughter to come home to Boston. Daddy was funding her stay out West and Melissa hoped that her visit with his old friend would please him. <<And besides, I’ll get to see Johnny again. >>
When she emerged from the stage in Morro Coyo, Melissa was very pleased to see the Lancer party waiting for her. Murdoch greeted his old friend’s daughter warmly, escorting her to the waiting buggy in a proprietary manner. Teresa was also welcoming and full of concerned questions about the discomforts of the stage. And Johnny Lancer just smiled at her and drawled a greeting: “Melissa”. He was every bit as handsome as Melissa had remembered. She self consciously put a hand to her hair, which she had put up in a knot at the back of her neck for the trip.
Glancing around, Melissa noted that the other brother, Scott, did not seem to be present. She was somewhat relieved by that. When the Lancers had shown up to retrieve Melissa from the mining camp, Scott had been the one who had actually grabbed her and then practically thrown her onto a horse--twice. Later on, at the ranch, he had seemed to be somewhat----- was it amused? -----by Johnny’s attentiveness to her. Somehow Melissa had had the uncomfortable feeling that Scott hadn’t considered her to be entirely deserving of his brother’s regard.
“And where is . . . Scott today?” Melissa asked Teresa, once they were settled in the buggy. Teresa and Melissa occupied the back seat, with Murdoch Lancer as their driver.
“Oh, he had some chores to do at the ranch.”
“There’s a great deal of work to be done on a ranch, Melissa," Murdoch intoned.
Melissa smiled at her father’s old friend, large brown eyes widening under her dark bangs. “Well, I will try not to be too much of a distraction while I’m here, Mr. Lancer.”
“Now, don’t you worry about that. And, between the four us, I’m sure we’ll be able to keep you entertained.”
<< And it looks as if Johnny is about to get a head start >> Teresa thought. Eager to interrogate Melissa Harper about her life with her aunt in San Francisco, Teresa watched with growing annoyance as Johnny kept riding ahead on Barranca and then coming back to interrupt the girls‘ conversation and “make eyes” at Melissa. In Teresa’s opinion, Johnny was only making a fool of himself with his silly smiles, grins and “puppy dog” expressions. <<I wonder what poor Barranca thinks of all this constant back and forth. >> Teresa would have liked to have let Johnny know exactly what she thought of his behavior, but Melissa seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention. Teresa predicted that once they got back to the house, she wasn’t going to have much opportunity to speak with Johnny alone. << I’ll just have to go find Scott. >> she decided.
When the buggy stopped at the door of the hacienda, Johnny slid off of Barranca and uncharacteristically allowed one of the hands to tend to his horse. When Johnny grabbed Melissa’s bags and announced that he would show their guest to her room, Teresa shook her head and set off in search of his brother. She found Scott seated in Murdoch’s study, just about to open a book. There was an envelope on the arm of the chair beside him. << Hmmm. Must be that letter from Boston. >> she thought. As Teresa came into the room, Scott looked up and smiled at her. <<He has such a nice smile, too bad we don’t see it more often. >>
Teresa also noted that when he’d looked up and seen her, Scott’s hands had reflexively moved to the arms of the chair. She recalled that when he’d first arrived, the well-mannered Easterner had had a most disconcerting habit of rising to his feet whenever Teresa entered a room----a behavior that she had very quickly broken him of---- or so she thought. But, judging from that motion, << Old habits do die hard, my father used to say. >> Funny, with all the worrying that she and everyone else had done about Johnny’s ability to adjustment to life at Lancer, no one had really seemed very much concerned about how much everything must have changed for Scott.
“Did Miss Harper arrive safely?” Scott asked.
Teresa crossed the room. She picked up Scott’s letter without really looking at it and perched on the arm of the chair. ”Yes, she certainly did,” she responded emphatically and launched into a detailed description of what she termed “Johnny’s antics”. Scott, characteristically, didn’t seem to be particularly surprised by anything that she had to say. “I gather that you‘re not impressed,“ he said with another smile. “But it would appear that Johnny is ‘in love.’”
“Well, he still doesn’t have to act like a complete . .” she sputtered, unable to come up with a fittingly disparaging term. “He’s just acting like a . . . a three-ways fool!”
“That’s one of Jenny’s expressions,“ Scott observed. Jenny had had a colorful array of insulting terms to describe Scott’s friend Josh, or at least she had until she‘d married him. The couple now lived some distance from the ranch. “I notice that you didn’t say ‘four-ways’, so perhaps there’s still some hope for Johnny yet.”
“Maybe . . “, Teresa said slowly. Then, added : “I’m sure that you’ve been in love with lots of girls, but you’d never carry on like that.”
”I can’t exactly say that I’ve been ‘in love’ with lots of women,” Scott responded good humouredly.
Teresa smiled at that. He was always so understated. And she’d picked up on the fact that he’d said women, rather than girls. “But I’m certain that lots of very elegant ladies have been in love with you.” << Well, not lately >>, he thought. “You must have been very popular back in Boston,” she added, waving the letter at him.
Unable to quickly come up with an appropriate response which was both modest and truthful, Scott chose not to reply. He did take the envelope from her, and used it to mark his place.
Teresa reached out and fingered his black string tie. Scott had obviously washed his hair--his bangs were nice and full. He’d put on a clean white shirt and the light caramel colored jacket that complimented his coloring. After a day’s work, he usually changed for dinner, but Scott had stopped “dressing up” as he had when he’d first arrived at the ranch. This jacket and tie were more formal than usual, even for him.
“We do have a guest,” he said, looking up at her. Teresa wanted very much to lean over and kiss the top of his head, but she didn‘t. She wondered how his hair smelled. Standing, she twirled around, although she was attired in her customary blouse and pants. “I think I’ll put on a dress,” she announced and headed towards the door.
“Teresa?”
“Hmm?“
“The rose colored one suits you very well.”
She smiled brightly and hurried from the room.
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