1897 | 1898 Pt 1

1897-8 Interlude (End of Winter)

The days were still cold, and apparently the world had decided to throw one more big snowstorm at them before the spring began. Stefan straightened his jacket, and peered out through the frosty window to see a well-dressed man walking up to the door. Good. he was here.

After the introductions, Stefan led Henry Millhouse into the house, and settled the two of them in the parlor. Then, without missing a beat, Stefan started extolling the virtues of this property and the farm in general. Poor Mr. Millhouse couldn't get a word in edgewise.

There was just so much to say. He talked of the additions that had recently been added onto the house, and tried not to be annoyed when Henry mentioned his newly pregnant wife while Stefan took a breath to start in on the money that could be made with the crops already in the ground.

Stefan then led the man into the currently-empty parlor (the entire family had gone on into town to church without him today), and showed him the modern conveniences that were found within. Counting his blessings that Juliet was so good at keeping the house tidy no matter the time, he showed the man the ample storage, and the newfangled icebox.

Then, proudly, he led the man outside, and showed him the farm. The expansive orchard and fully planted farmland made the man gasp, and nearly rub his palms together with greed. Stefan was careful to explain the lack of money coming in during the winter, and caught the man's frown out of the corner of his eye. Quickly, Stefan detailed the money that the farm made during the year, and, to his credit, the man didn't exactly start drooling, but the light was definitely back in his eyes.

"So, what do you think, Mr. Millhouse?" Stefan finished, and could feel his palms sweating in his gloves.

The man stretched his arms out, and replied, "I think this place sounds like heaven." Then, the smile disappeared, and he continued, "I would, however, like to see the rest of the house before I make my decision."

"Most certainly!" replied Stefan, "I wouldn't expect any less!" He then led him through the rest of the house, including Abraham's small bedroom in the back. Luckily the only thing left out in Abraham's room were the schoolbooks, and, trying not to grit his teeth, Stefan pointed out that his brother-in-law was studying for university entrance exams, and quickly led the man upstairs.

"Entrance exams, eh? Which University?" Henry asked as Stefan finished the tour in the master bedroom.

"Britechester, I believe. He aims to be a teacher." Stefan just managed to not snort in disgust, and was glad that he hadn't when the man replied.

"Ah, my father is a professor there, Perhaps your brother-in-law will end up in one of his classes. He's a fair man, but a demanding teacher." Henry took one more look around the cozy, fire-lit room, and finally nodded. "I think you have found a buyer, Mr. Tangle."

"Excellent!" Stefan replied, barely restraining a crow of victory. "How about we adjourn to downstairs, and I'll show you the papers I had my solicitor draw up. We will, obviously, both need to sign it, and then we can transfer the funds."

"How long until you will be able to vacate the house?" Mr. Millhouse asked as they walked down the stairs.

"Oh, we can be out by the first of the month." Stefan replied certainly, thinking of the new farm, and not the logistics of moving his large family so fast.

"Excellent!" Henry replied, and sat down to look at the papers in the light of the oil lamps.

Moments later, Stefan was staring in elation at a checque that was larger than he had even hoped for. Not enough, obviously, to buy the bigger farm outright, but certainly enough to guarantee that his mortgage would be considerably lower. With a satisfied smile, he tucked the paper into his Bible, so he could take it to the solicitor tomorrow.

Only a couple days later, Stefan found himself, once again, in the bucolic town of Henford-on-Bagley. He walked into the bank and looked around with a confident air. What a lovely place! The bank spoke volumes of the prosperity this small town had, because the bank was larger even that the bank had been back in his childhood home.

The man behind the barricade cleared his throat with annoyance, clearly having said something previously that Stefan had missed in his wool-gathering. "Can I help you, sir?" The man asked, tapping an impatient finger on his typewriter.

"Ah. Yes, I apologize. I was admiring the decor." Stefan replied, slightly embarrassed to have been caught unprepared. "I need to arrange for a mortgage on a farm I am buying in the area. I have my down payment with me, and I have and appointment with..." Stefan stumbled in his words, and looked down at the paper in his hands, ".. a Mr. Wadsworth?"

The man behind the counter immediately brightened considerably, and glanced down the hall to what was clearly the bank manager's office. A frown stole across his face, and he replied, "I'm afraid I was asked to hold all appointments for Mr. Wadsworth today. Something very important came up. Perhaps I can interest you in an appointment tomorrow?"

Stefan glanced at the office in question, noting the man typing on a typewriter, completely alone. Stefan frowned, disliking being treated like this, "I'm afraid I must insist on being seen today, sir. I am only here for today, and must take the train back to Willow Creek before then end of the day."

A man behind him cleared his throat, and spoke up, "Perhaps I can help, sir. What is it you need again?"

With relief, Stefan turned around to see a smiling face behind a pile of paperwork and a typewriter. "I need to set up a mortgage on the Heyward's farm. I have a meeting with the solici.. I mean the agents upstairs in an hour or so, and I would like to have some of the details already hashed out before I go up there." Stefan stumbled over his words a bit. Real Estate agents were still very much a new thing, and he felt weird not dealing directly with a solicitor.

"Please, sit. What's your name? Mine is Mr. Thomas."

Stefan smoothed his suit jacket down, and sat down in one of the open chairs. "Mr. Stefan Tangle, sir."

"Alright, Mr. Tangle, may I see your deposit, and any paperwork you have?" Mr. Thomas asked, reaching a hand out to collect the papers.

Stefan nodded, and reluctantly handed the rather large checque over to the man.

The man took the checque, noted the amount, and his smile quickly returned. "Well then, Mr. Tangle, was it?... I'm very sure we can get this settled today for you. I know the Heywards had to move quite suddenly, and without the benefit of having sold the farm. They will be very glad to know the farm will be taken care of again soon. Have you a family, sir?"

Stefan smiled proudly, and replied, "I do. I have two daughters and three strong young sons. I hope to someday pass the farm on down to one of them."

The man's eyebrow raised, and he replied, "Quite a brood there. I suppose the boys will be helping you on the farm?"

Stefan chuckled to himself, and replied wryly, "Well, certainly, but they're but toddlers now. It may be a while. I will have to hire help for a while. Luckily my brother-in-law will be around to help with the initial planting before he heads off to University. Provided he passes the entrance exams, that is."

"Oh! In that case, I'm very sure you will be able to find some help in the area. A good number of the families in this area have sons who may be willing to put in some hours on your farm as well as helping out their fathers. In fact, I believe I can even get you a few names of lads who might be willing to help before we're done here today."

"Oh! That would be fabulously helpful!" Stefan replied, a smile breaking across his face.

"Certainly." Mr. Thomas replied, then cleared his throat, "Shall we see if we can set up an account for you here, then?"

From that moment on, it was all business. Stefan tried to answer every question honestly, and the man seemed quite nice. Within an hour, most of the details had been hashed out, and he had been approved for the account and the mortgage.

The only thing left to do was to get the upstairs real estate agent in on the rest of the paperwork. So, resolutely, Stefan shook Mr. Thomas' hand and headed toward the other entrance of this building. As soon as he got to the door, he could smell what the downstairs store on this side was.

Peering in the door for a moment, Stefan tried not to drool. The bakery was clearly well-stocked, and popular with the locals.

Not giving into temptation, Stefan straightened his suit, dusted off some invisible specks of dust, and headed up the stairs.

The real estate office seemed well-appointed, and there was a nice blonde woman at the reception desk, alleviating Stefan's fears that this new real estate thing was just a hoax somewhat.

"Can I help you, sir? Do you have an appointment?" the woman asked, as Stefan looked curiously at the river boat on the desk.

"I do, ma'am. What a lovely model you have here. I am supposed to see Mr. Masterson about the Heyward farm?" Stefan said, having a hard time looking away from the model.

"Oh! You must be Mr. Tangle! I am so glad to see you. I'm Abe Masterson's wife, and I help out around the office, since we don't have children yet. Welcome in!" the woman replied with a smile. "I thank you for the compliment on the model. Abe does like to make models of things, he also has several house models in his office as you'll see."

"Oh. That's an odd hobby." Stefan commented off-handedly, still engrossed in looking at the tiny paddlewheeler.

"I don't think it's odd at all, he hopes to eventually get into designing real houses, but for now he just buys and sells property. May I ask what your hobby is, if you think model-building is odd?" the woman replied.

"I can't say as I have one. Working on a farm is all-encompassing, and when I'm not doing that I'm taking care of my growing family. I have five children, and my wife's teenage brother lives with us, as well. At least, for now. He is due to take University entrance exams soon." Stefan replied, a bit abashed that he didn't have a hobby. Should he have one? he wondered, Is it strange that I don't have one?

Stefan's sudden self-examination was interrupted by an older woman scooting past him on the way deeper into the office, and he quickly came back to himself, and apologized for being in the way. She assured him that there was nothing to apologize for, and continued down the windowed hallway.

"Ah. I am sorry, Mr. Tangle. Perhaps when your children are older, you will have time for a hobby again?" Mrs. Masterson asked kindly.

"Perhaps. Although a bigger farm is only likely to compound the work." Stefan replied wryly, then continued, "Which is why I'm here. To buy the Heyward farm, that is."

"Yes, of course. Let me show you to Abe's office. He was waiting for you." she replied, and stood up gracefully, then led him to the big office at the end of the hallway. Stefan looked around on the way there, wondering at the other offices being empty. Perhaps real estate wasn't as profitable as people think it ought to be. Maybe they should go back to letting solicitors take care of that.

Putting those thoughts aside, Stefan sat down in the chair the woman indicated, right in front of Mr. Masterson's desk, and greeted the man pleasantly.

"Welcome! Mr. Tangle, I presume?" the man asked, then continued before Stefan could do more than nod, "I have been so excited to meet you. The Heywards had to leave to go back east in a hurry, and they mourned the loss of their farm quite heavily. Leaving it in such a state was not in their plans, I assure you."

"They left it in a state?" Stefan replied, concerned. "I was told the farm was in good condition and ready for planting?"

"Oh, the farm is in great shape, the house needs a good bit of cleaning, however. I do have a couple of locals who are willing to clean everything up - for a fee, of course - but we can make sure it will be truly ready for you whenever you need to move in. I believe the barn also needs a good clean-out and some repairs, as well. They had not been able to keep animals for quite a while, due to Mrs. Heyward's wife being sickly."

"Oh." Stefan said, taken aback slightly by the man's flood of words, "The house is habitable, then? And I'm sorry to hear about Mrs. Heyward. Will she be all right?"

"They have found a nice house on the coast that will hopefully help her condition. One with enough room for the children. No farm land, unfortunately, but Mr. Heyward spends most of his time caring for them and his wife, anyway." Mr. Masterson looked down at his files, shuffled some papers, then looked up again.

"As for your question, the house is just dirty. It is in good repair, however - it has been thoroughly inspected for soundness. The barn is the one that needs repair, as it hasn't been used in more than 8 years. I believe the fences could use repair, as well, but again, we can find someone to do that for you before you move in if that's what you would like." the man answered candidly.

"Ah. Yes, I would like the farm to be in good repair. Do you think it could all be completed by the first on next month? Being that we have already sold our current farm, we need to be out of there as quickly as possible to allow for the new owners to move in." Stefan replied, with his concern showing in his voice.

"Oh, for sure, it can be done by then. It will be costly, however." the man replied, unsure of how Stefan would take that news.

"Whatever it takes. I can't have the place in disrepair with small children around. The planting will need to be done as soon as possible, so completing the repairs myself is out of the question," Stefan expressed his main concern frankly, and waited to hear what the reply would be.

"Absolutely. I completely understand." Mr. Masterson replied, "Now, onto business. I understand you have already sold your previous farm, so am I to assume you have a hefty down payment for this purchase?"

"Yes." Stefan replied, "I just finished talking to the bank man downstairs, they have approved the mortgage, and we just need to go downstairs with the final paperwork when we're ready to finalize the deal."

"Excellent!" the man replied, and immediately pulled out a file folder and began placing documents out for Stefan to sign, "Let's get these signatures out of the way, then we can head downstairs to the bank so we can get you on your way back to your family as quickly as we can."

The time passed quickly, and, eventually, all the paperwork was signed appropriately. Mr. Masterson collected all the papers neatly, and looked back up to Stefan, "Shall we head downstairs, then?"

"Of course." Stefan replied, and stood up to follow the realtor down the stairs past the decadent smells from the bakery.

A few moments later, the two of them were back in the bank, and Stefan graciously introduced the two men. After hand shakes and greetings, the two were finally shown to their seats for the final part of this whole land deal.

The three men exchanged pleasantries, then settled down to business.

There were questions to ask, papers to sign, money to officially change hands, and arrangements to be made for the repair of the farm.

Eventually, however, they finally finished all the business and Mr. Thomas congratulated them all on a job well done. With a quick check of the time, however, he had to move things along, however, or Stefan could have missed the final train back to Willow Creek of the day.

The whole ride home, Stefan couldn't erase the smile from his face. Finally. Things were truly falling into place for him. He had known his whole life he wasn't meant to be in an office, but being a farmer had never crossed his mind. Now, he could think of nothing better... and he longed to be able to share his new passion with his growing family, and hopefully bring his sons into the business. The fact that his sons may have other ideas about their life never occurred to Stefan, of course... and he continued happily with his little dreams of countryside farm bliss for the rest of the train ride home.

The train station was virtually abandoned by the time he arrived home due to the late hour, and Stefan quickly hired a carriage from the last man left in the lobby, and headed out on the last leg of the trip home.

It was nearly midnight by the time he got home, and everyone was soundly asleep, including Juliet. Stefan tiptoed upstairs with a candle in hand, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake anyone up. There would be plenty of time to tell everyone the good news tomorrow.

The next week was a hive of activity. Boxes and trunks had to be packed, children had to be watched, and the chaos was real.

The final day arrived way too fast, and as the boxes piled up in the front yard, the house quickly emptied, and the toddlers tried so hard to be helpful and find something to do all at the same time.

Juliet was driven near to madness trying to keep track of all of them, and even found one of them taking his afternoon nap on a chair in the front yard. Wryly noting that his bed was already packed, she shrugged and left him sleeping there.

The piled-high carriages slowly emptied the front lawn, and Juliet and Stefan took one last look at the house, both with their thoughts churning. Juliet worried that the new house wouldn't be appropriate for her babies, that they were making a mistake by leaving this cozy little hamlet they had found.

Stefan, on the other hand, took one last moment to warm his hands, and sneer slightly at the tiny house. Good Riddance, he thought, and couldn't keep the satisfied smile from erupting on his face. Finally, things were going HIS way in this world. Nothing could go wrong at this point, he felt. His father's dire predictions had come to naught... and Stefan's success was well and truly going to his head.

As the last wave of carriages showed up to pick up the last of the family's belongings, Stefan met Juliet on the front porch. The worry lines were clear on her face, and he drew her into his arms reassuringly.

"Things will be alright, darling."he soothed, "You'll see. The house should be ready for us when we get there, and it's beautiful." (Of course, he had no way of knowing that, having only seen the specifications and the blueprints, but never the actual house... but what Juliet didn't know couldn't hurt her, right?)

Following in the wake of the line of dusty carriages, the family finally arrived at Willow Creek Train station.

The toddlers had a second wind going, and Juliet was constantly off to round one or the other of them up and try to keep them out of trouble.

High on his success, Stefan clapped Abraham on the back and invited the boy to follow him to the bar next door for a celebratory drink. Stefan ordered his drink, and chortled as the boy stumbled to figure out what to order for himself.

Eventually, Abraham managed to spit out what he wanted, and the bartender patiently poured the two drinks. "Heading out of town, are ye?" he asked pleasantly.

"Yes," Stefan replied, " I have recently acquired a large farm for my family, and figured on our way out of town we could celebrate with a drink or two."

"Oh? Whereabouts are ye headed?" the bartender asked, starting on pouring the dark-colored lager that Abraham had managed to order.

"Henford-on-Bagley." Stefan replied smugly, knowing the well-known prosperity of the town would impress the man.

The bartender was, suitably, impressed, and Abraham wisely stayed out of the conversation, sipping the strange tasting drink gingerly, hoping that Stefan wouldn't notice that he didn't care for the bitter drink much. The train whistle brought the whole conversation to an abrupt end about a half an hour later, and Abraham stood, slightly wobbly, and followed his brother-in-law out to the train platform.

Porters ran to and fro, putting the last of their parcels on the train, and Juliet managed to finally wrangle all of the toddlers into some sort of line, and they all climbed aboard the train. Everyone was exhausted by this point, and there were droopy eyes all around.

The train man came around, collected their tickets, and .. with their bags secured in the boxcars behind them, the train finally was ready to go. The coals were fired up, the whistle blew, and they were off.

Before long, the swaying of the train had lulled all of the toddlers to sleep, and Florence and Nellie were finally able to enjoy the view out the frosty windows. Poor Abraham, however, was feeling slightly ill, and the beauty of the countryside was lost on him.

In her seat, Juliet's stomach was churning, too... but for a different reason. Worries pricked at her mind, and each mile passed was another worry. She was going to be so far from home. So far from the friends she'd made at church, so far from anyone who could help her out. How would she handle this new, bigger home, all on her own? What if she hated it?

She would just have to be quiet. Stefan would never hear of her displeasure, of that she was certain. She would just have to make it work. The countryside sped past, and Juliet's thoughts continued in dizzying circles. Nothing could have calmed her nerves better than an encouraging word from Stefan, but he was too busy in his own head congratulating himself to notice her distress.

And so the train traveled on into the night. It would be near dawn by the time they arrived in Henford-on-Bagley, and that's when the real work would start.

Bonus Out-takes:

Apparently Stefan isn't overly impressed with Mr. Masterson's business manner... lol

...Mr. Thomas is shocked.

.. I have to wonder what, exactly Stefan said to him?!

1897 | 1898 Pt 1