July 8, 1912
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Jack's POV
The days were warmer, the skies were clearer, and the countryside was rich with flowers and wildlife. Summer had finally arrived. Summer in Chippewa Falls was a time when the market was full of fresh produce and people would swim in Lake Wissota. It was everyone's favorite season, except for Mr. Thompson. He would complain that the heat was costing him a fortune in water for his crops and was spoiling his meat. Stubborn old git.
He had been acting strangely around us recently. He would give a triumphant smirk whenever he saw us, particularly when he saw Rose. I kept wondering what he was thinking, but I never guessed. Rose seemed nervous when she saw him, too, but she insisted nothing was wrong when I asked her.
Honey was the only other living thing besides Mr. Thompson who despised the heat. Poor dog--she was stuck in her golden fur, which Rose was about ready to cut off after removing the amount of golden hair that had littered the house while Honey shed her winter coat. Honey would lay in the shade all day, gulp down bowl after bowl of water, and pant for all she was worth. She only ran around at dusk, the coolest time of day. Even so, Honey still tired more quickly because of the steadily rising temperatures.
The other animals suffered from the heat, too. Despite having sheared the sheep, they still crammed under the shade of the trees at the edge of their pasture. Rose and I built a makeshift shelter for them, a hastily built thing, but at least it created enough shade for all the sheep to shelter under. We also built one for the cattle and the horses when the first one proved a success.
A week ago, we purchased several hens and a rooster from a nearby farm, and we began to sell some of the eggs to the grocery store. This extra money was welcome; we wanted to save as much as possible for when Rose had the baby. The money from both of our jobs and from selling the eggs added to a fair amount. We wouldn't be rich, but we wouldn't go hungry, either.
The day before, Nathan, Selina, and Lucy had arrived for the wedding, which would be in two days. They had brought Rosie with them, too, so she and Honey could see each other again. Lucy was amazed to see how Honey had grown, but she still loved playing with both dogs. Rosie seemed surprised to see how her daughter had grown, as well, but they still recognized each other and were almost inseparable for the time they were together.
After breakfast that morning, I went to the station with the two dogs to meet Fabrizio and Helga. It was a fairly warm morning, and the temperature was set to increase, but it would still be below the temperature they had gotten used to in Florida.
I waited on the platform until their train finally pulled into view. I looked for them in the crowd until I spotted them.
"Fabrizio! Helga!" I shouted, getting their attention. They hurried over, each of them carrying a suitcase.
"Jack! It is good to be seeing you again!" Fabrizio said delightedly, embracing me tightly.
"Good to see you, too," I replied. "Hello, Helga." I decided to test her English.
"Hello, Jack," she replied clearly. In spite of her thick French accent, she was clearly at ease with speaking basic English.
As we walked back, they told me about Florida.
"It is a wonderful place," Fabrizio said as we walked up the dirt road. "It has wonderful long beaches and clear blue waters and the people are very nice, too."
"Yes, they are very...er...funny," Helga added, looking around at the wide pastures and the animals inside them.
"It was nice to be back in the sun," Fabri mentioned. I knew he had missed the sun while we were traveling through Europe. "That is the only thing I miss from Italia--the warm sun."
"Well, it's pretty warm here, too, at the moment. The dogs hate it, though," I added.
"Ah…yes. I still haven't been introduced to your dogs," Fabri said, patting Honey's head, who licked his hand back.
"Well, this is Honey, the pup we got from Nathan in New York. You'll meet him soon. He's already here with his wife, Selina, and their daughter, Lucy," I explained, giving Honey a scratch behind her ears. She licked my hand, too and nuzzled against my leg, loving the attention. "And this is Rosie," I continued, giving Rosie a stroke along her sleek black back. "She's Nathan's dog, and Honey's mother." Fabri looked surprised.
"I did not guess that. They are so different!" he said.
"Well, Labs can come in three different colors--yellow, like Honey, black, like Rosie, or chocolate brown."
"Ah…that is interesting," Helga chimed in. "I am liking dogs much, but I am liking cats more. They are...er...easier."
She had a point. Honey was hard work. A cat would be so much easier. But you couldn't take a cat out for a walk and wrestle with it on the floor. They took themselves out and did as they pleased. Dogs were much more sociable.
When we finally reached the house, Rose was in the chicken coop, collecting the morning's eggs, with Lucy helping by holding the basket for her. When she saw us, she put the last of the eggs in the basket and came over to us, Lucy running along in her wake.
"Ah…Rose! How are you?" Fabri asked, hugging her.
"I'm fine, thanks," she replied, going to hug Helga. "How are you two?"
"We are fine, thank you," Fabri replied. "This is a nice farm you have." He was looking at the house and barn.
"Thank you," Rose said. She loved people complimenting the house and farm.
Lucy, who had been occupying herself with the dogs until now, finally noticed the two strangers. She looked up at them suspiciously.
"Hello," Helga said, smiling at her. "What's your name?" Without answering, Lucy turned and ran back inside the house as fast as she could.
"That was odd," Rose said. "She's usually a lot friendlier than that."
"Maybe she's shy," Fabri suggested. "I remember my little sister in Italy used to be like that. She barely talked to anyone."
"Maybe," Rose said vaguely. "Let's go inside."
When we got inside, the dogs greeted us again by jumping up on us, something Honey was just about broken out of by now. I guess she thought she could get away with things with another dog in the house. I pushed her down and scolded her. Nathan, Selina, and Lucy were in the parlor, where we introduced them to Fabri and Helga. Lucy was sitting in the armchair by the window, happy to be left out of it. Selina noticed her withdrawal and asked her daughter what was wrong.
"They're strangers," she said, pointing at Fabri and Helga. "You said never to speak to strangers."
Selina couldn't help but smile at her daughter's common sense. "Yes, you must never speak to strangers, but these aren't strangers. These are our friends."
Lucy raised one eyebrow. "I don't know them"
"Well, this is Uncle Fabrizio and Aunt Helga," Selina continued, pointing to them both in turn.
"Oh, okay." Lucy was suddenly relaxed and took an instant liking to her two new friends.
Later that day, after lunch, Rose and I gave the others a tour of the farm and surrounding countryside. Lucy was wildly excited and had to be told to calm down several times. Being born and raised in New York, she was amazed at her new country surroundings. She was very disappointed when we had to go back home.
That evening, after dinner, we showed them around the small town and introduced them to some of the people we knew. We walked past Mr. Thompson along the way, who displayed the usual curious behavior he had adopted over the past few weeks. I told the others who he was, and then swiftly changed the topic. I was beginning to wonder about that man more and more.
We finally got back around ten, by which time everyone was tired, especially Lucy, who had to be carried home on her father's back. We were living in a crowded house now. Even with the room we had, it was still cramped at times. Especially at mealtimes, when extra chairs from upstairs had to be crammed around the table in the kitchen. Rose and I slept in the main bedroom, Nathan and Selina shared one of the smaller bedrooms with Lucy crammed in with them, and Fabrizio and Helga shared the last remaining bedroom. The two sofas were available downstairs to anyone who wanted them, as the smaller bedrooms were not really made for a pair of adults, especially not for two adults and a toddler thrown in.
The dogs slept downstairs. Honey had made herself a bed the first night we spent in the house, using the space below the shelves inside the linen cupboard as a sort of den. She took it upon herself to pull the sheets down from the lower shelves to use as her own bedding. When Rose took these sheets away to be washed, it was not uncommon for her to find a discarded bone hidden in there. Honey and Rosie shared the space quite comfortably together.
That night, when everyone was in bed, Rose finally told me the truth. I was just drifting off when Rose shook my shoulder, saying we needed to talk. I turned over and asked her what was wrong. I saw the look on her face. I could tell it was something that had her worried and their was fear in her eyes.
"What is it?" I asked, concerned now.
She took a deep breath. "It's about...Mr. Thompson."
I was suddenly wide awake. Perhaps she was about to tell me why he had been acting so strangely around us.
"I-I think he knows," she stammered, her voice shaking.
I felt my stomach twist. How could he know? "How could he know?" I asked her. I could see her eyes beginning to shine with tears, even in the near-darkness. I sat up and put my arm around her.
She leaned against me and continued. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this earlier, but I thought I was wrong. I thought he didn't know."
She was confusing me now. "Rose, tell me why. Why do you think he knows?"
She breathed out shakily and told me everything. "Well, when I went into town to buy some groceries about a month ago, I bumped into him and he sort of stared at me, like he recognized me. He just looked at me and then he left the shop, looking like he was in a hurry. And now, the way he looks at us, like he knows something we don't, it made me think that...that..." She had to stop and calm down for a minute. I could see that she was starting to panic. I hugged her tightly and comforted her as best I could until she could carry on. "When I saw the way he looked at me, I couldn't help thinking that maybe he knew Cal. He's always saying he has friends in high places. What if Cal is one of them? He could have told Cal where we are! Cal could be on his way here right now!" She burst into tears, overwhelmed with panic.
I hugged her tight, stroking her red curls. "Rose, it's okay," I said, trying to calm her. I didn't know what to say. What she said made sense. There was every chance that Mr. Thompson knew Cal and had told him of our whereabouts, but I couldn't tell Rose that. She was scared enough as it was.
"Oh, what are we going to do?" Rose asked, finally calming down. "We can't let him get us. We can't! If he makes me go back with him, I'll be trapped again, and he could kill our baby!" She broke into a fresh round of tears, her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.
I lifted her head and made her look at me. "Rose, he's not going to kill our baby, because that's not going to happen. I promise, I won't let that evil bastard anywhere near you. He'll have to kill me before I let him take you."
Rose smiled a little and hugged me again. "He already tried that, and he still didn't manage it," she said, giving a small laugh.
"See? If he couldn't separate us then, how could he do it again? Don't worry. You're safe here." I said it to reassure her, but secretly, I was as worried as she was.
If Mr. Thompson had given us away to Cal, then he could be on his way here right now. I immediately told myself that I would not let Rose out of my sight. I loved her with everything I had and I would protect her, with my life if I had to, though I hoped to God it wouldn't come to that. I fell asleep praying that Cal was a million miles away, as far away from us as possible.