Triple Creek Ranch - Part 8

 Good Morning FFFs!
It is hot again. Yesterday it was 103 degrees at 5:15 PM. But there have been a few signs of fall coming. 

This week has been such a whirlwind that the days are mixed and scrambled and I think today is Friday. I have managed to get a lot of things done this week. I spend about 4 1/2 hours with our local quilter's guild on Tuesday tying quilts. Yesterday I got my permit! Okay, so I could have gotten it years and years ago. I did actually have it five years ago, but didn't do much and it expired. This time I'm determined to change it into a license. (Some day.)
I have done some writing, but not much. It's been hard to settle to writing these past few days. And now I have so many things I could/should write that some evenings I spend quite a bit of time trying to decide which to write. *sigh*

Oh, Priscilla said to pass the word that there is a new update on the Traveling page. (Or there will be as soon as she can get to the computer.)
For now, enjoy the Triple Creek Ranch.

Part 8

For a moment, Orlena remained seated then rising, she found her voice. “I won’t go down! Bring my supper to me at once!” Orlena stamped her foot.
Jenelle merely shook her head with a soft smile.
“Do you realize who I am?” stormed the angry child with hands on her hips and glaring eyes. Then, without giving Jenelle time to answer had she wanted to, the haughty princess continued, “I am Orlena Mavrich, the only granddaughter and sole heir of the late Mrs. Marshall Mavrich of Blank City and as such I demand you respect my wishes!”
Long before this was over, Jenelle earnestly hoped her husband had finished his meal and gone out to speak to the foreman. He was already tired and didn’t need to deal with his sister right now.
When Orlena had finished, Jenelle sat down on the edge of the bed and began to speak quietly yet with a half amused, half determined voice. “Suppose you and I come to an understanding right now, Orlena. You are, as you say, the only granddaughter of the late Mrs. Marshall Mavrich. But it is also true that I am the wife of Norman Mavrich,who is your legal guardian, and the only son of the same Mrs. Marshall Mavrich and as such am the mistress of this house. When I tell you that unless you are sick, no meals will be served to your room, that is exactly what I mean. Now, should you choose to come down and eat, I would be most happy to have you. Otherwise, you can wait until breakfast. It is up to you.” Jenelle remained where she was sitting and watched her new young sister.
Never had Orlena had anyone speak to her in that manner. Norman would have become stern, Grandmother would have coaxed and pleaded, the servants would have trembled, and even the instructors of Madam Viscount’s Seminary would have given in, but here was this woman who showed none of the usual signs. For once in her life, Orlena was speechless.
Jenelle took advantage of this moment and added, rising and stepping to the door, “If you wish to eat with me, I will be downstairs. Or,” she added as a second thought, “you may eat in the kitchen if you prefer.” And before Orlena could find her tongue, Mrs. Norman Mavrich had slipped from the room and disappeared.
Downstairs, she found that Norman had eaten in haste and left the house. Feeling relieved, she sank into a chair and began slowly to eat her meal. This wouldn’t be as easy as she had expected. Her husband had been right when he said his little sister was a terror. What were they going to do with her? Suppose she wouldn’t come down to eat? Was she going to stay up in her room by herself? Sighing, Jenelle shook her head and began talking to herself, a habit she had when working through problems. “Obviously she can’t stay in that room for too long. She’ll have to eat, so she must come down. But what will Norman do? Jenelle Mavrich, stop worrying. This is only the first evening; the poor girl is probably so overcome by the newness of things and the sudden move and changes that she doesn’t really know what she wants.”
Here her low murmurings were interrupted. “Mrs. Mavrich?”
Jenelle turned. Flo Carmond stood in the doorway.
“My father is here to take me home if you don’t need me any longer.”
“No, I can handle the rest by myself. Thank you so much, Flo. You were a tremendous help. And be sure you tell your mother how much I appreciate her lending you to me.” Jenelle’s smile was bright as she watched the sturdy young girl hurry out to swing up behind her father on his horse and ride off across the fields towards the Carmond ranch.

When Norman came in from the barn later that evening, as the sun was beginning to sink in the horizon, he found his wife seated with her sewing in the cool front room of the house. Orlena was no where to be seen. “Where’s Orlena?”
Jenelle looked up. “Still in her room I presume.”
“Did she come down to supper?”
Jenelle turned her eyes back to her sewing and shook her head. “Did you have a talk with Hardrich?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
Norman sat down in an easy chair across from his wife. “Yes, and it looks like he has done a good job of things. What did my sister say when you told her her supper would not be served to her room?”
“Many things,” replied Jenelle evasively.
For a moment the rancher remained silent watching Jenelle’s fingers as they sewed tiny stitches in a colorful quilt. Then he spoke. “Aren’t you going to tell me what she said?”
Jenelle glanced up. “You are too tired to be bothered with your sister tonight. No,” she hastened to add as she saw Norman open his mouth to speak while his eyebrows drew together, “there is no need for you to try to come to my defense. I left her speechless when I came away and I haven’t heard anything from her since.”
Still Norman continued to frown. “If she has been impertinent to you--”
“Now Norman,” Jenelle interrupted him, and, laying aside her sewing, went and sat on the arm of his chair. “Orlena is young. There have been a lot of changes in her life in the last few weeks; she lost her grandmother with whom she spent nearly all of her life, she had to leave the city and come out to the middle of nowhere to live with a brother she hardly knows and his wife who is practically a complete stranger to her. She is tired and worn out. Give her a little time to adjust before you let yourself get worked up about her.” She kissed him and was pulled onto his knee.

Any new questions?