LITMIR.BIZ

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she scolded. Then, without taking a breath, she added, “Don’t you be foolish like your brother, Andrew. Don’t put any in your mouth.” She had learned that what one twin did, the other often copied.

      “Which races will I enter?” I wondered aloud. “I don’t know.” I had a vision of entering them all, winning them all, and presenting Jenny with an armful of silver cups and ten-dollar bills, while she smiled and once more kissed me on the cheek. Then I shook away the thought. I wasn’t a swift runner and had only won the Merchant Race the previous year because most of the other merchants were older than I. “I’ll think on it,” I finally said.

      “Well, I’ll enter the Sack Race and the Hop, Skip, and Jump,” Jenny said. “I’m light on my feet and good at skipping. I’m sure I can win one of those events. Perhaps I’ll also take part in a foot race. After all, I’ve become a fast runner chasing the twins. Yes, I’ll try a foot race, as well.”

      Pa and I exchanged glances.

      “Best tell her, son,” he said, crouching on the floor and suddenly becoming very busy helping the twins stack their bits of wood.

      “Tell me what?” Jenny asked.

      “Pa, please?” I had hoped my father would do it, but he shook his head and kept his back turned. So I knew I had to be the one to give her the news.

      “Urn, Jenny, you see...well, those races are only for men. Not for girls like you...I mean, women,” I added hastily.

      Suddenly it grew quiet. Even the twins stopped what they were doing and peered up at Jenny. Pa had his back to her, but I knew he was listening intently, the way people do when they think they hear a thunderstorm approaching. It seemed to me that he bowed his head and hunched his shoulders, almost as if he were expecting rain, not words, to fall.

      “Only for whom?” Jenny demanded in a quiet voice. “The races are only for whom?”

      I gulped. “For men. Or boys who are nearly men.”

      “I see. So women can come to this dreadful country, cook meals, wash clothes, tend to the bairns, and keep the fires going through the winter nights, but they are nae good enough to run in a silly race?”

      “No, it isn’t like that—” I began.

      “So, no woman at all can enter? Nae a single one?” She took a deep breath and began to speak. Five minutes later, the squirming twins tightly tucked under her arms, their forgotten leashes dangling from her waist, she swept from the store. Jenny had said a great deal in those five minutes, but what I remember most were her final words.

      “Men! Why did God create such eejit creatures?”

       Eight

      It was almost a week before I saw Jenny again. I heard her and the twins as they dashed along the boardwalks—often they would run right outside the carpentry shop—but they didn’t come in.

      Twice I left what I was working on and casually stepped to the door, opening it only to see her retreating back. Once Robert—or maybe it was Andrew—who was trying to travel in the opposite direction, caught a glimpse of me and yelled, “Huncle Ted! Want to play blocks with Huncle Ted, Jenny!” But she ignored him and continued her rapid progress down the street, dragging the protesting child behind her.

      “So, do you think your Scottish lassie will return?” Pa asked me one day.

      “Who? Oh, you mean Jenny. Why, I hadn’t noticed, but she hasn’t visited us lately, has she? We’ve been so busy I really haven’t had time to think about her.”

      “Aye,” my father replied. “So you say, lad. So you say.” Yes, that was what I said, but it wasn’t what I meant, not at all. I missed her, and I was more than delighted when, a few days later, the thundering feet and laughter halted at the carpentry shop, the door opened, and Jenny and her charges came in.

      “Good afternoon, Mr. MacIntosh,” she said brightly. “The boys were asking if they might have a wee visit, if you have time.”

      “We shall always make time for you, lass,” Pa said, setting the box of wood scraps in the centre of the floor. “Ted, put the kettle on and we’ll have tea.”

      “Why, Ted, I didn’t notice you,” Jenny said. “But, no, thank you. I nae have time for tea today.” She bent to untie the twins, then straightened, their leashes in her hand, watching them as they gleefully dug into their box of “toys.” “But it’s a good thing you’re here, Ted, for I have a request for you from a new friend of mine.”

      “Of course, Jenny. I’ll be pleased to help any friend of yours. What’s her name?”

      She smiled. “His name is Joseph.”

      “Oh, I see. Joseph. What’s his last name?”

      “His last name? Morrison, yes, Morrison.”

      “Oh,” I said again. “I’ve never heard of him.”

      “He works with Mr. Fraser at the claim in Lightning Creek. He’s newly arrived in the gold fields and as yet knows very few people, which is why he asked me to request a favour of you.”

      “What is it?”

      “He’s heard that you won the Merchant Race last Dominion Day, and he begs that you’ll do him the honour of being his partner in the Three-Legged Race this year.”

      “I hadn’t planned on entering that event,” I said. “Besides, I don’t know this Joseph. If our heights are uneven, then we’ll be poorly matched for that race. I regret that I must decline.” I picked up the sanding block and began to push it vigorously across the cupboard door I was working on.

      “Oh, Ted, that saddens me greatly,” Jenny said. She came to me and put her hand on my arm. “I thought we were friends, you and I. I believed you’d be glad to help a new friend of mine.”

      “Of course we’re friends, but—”

      “It would be a great personal favour, Ted, if you’d agree to partner Joseph. See, here’s the dollar he gave me. He’ll pay the entire entry fee himself. It will nae cost you a penny. I assure you he’s a very swift runner. He’s only a tad shorter than you. I know he can match his strides to yours perfectly.”

      “But I don’t want—”

      “Please, Ted? Mrs. Fraser has assured me she’ll care for the twins that day so I can enjoy the celebrations. I’ll be staying to watch the fireworks at night. I would nae enjoy them so much if I were to watch them alone. Perhaps you’d honour me with your company and we can watch them together? After you and Joseph win the Three-Legged Race, of course.” She smiled again.

      “Well,” I said reluctantly, “in that case I’ll do it. But how will Joseph and I practise? We’ll need to practise together if we’re to win.”

      “Joseph won’t return to Barkerville until the morning of the races,” Jenny said. “But I’m almost Joseph’s height, so I’ll practise with you.”

      “So will you practise with this Joseph, as well?” My voice sounded angry, though I wasn’t sure why.

      “Don’t be cross. I’ll only practise with you.”

      “Oh, well, in that case...” Then I blushed as I thought about what practising the Three-Legged Race with Jenny would entail. “But...but...that wouldn’t be fitting. We’d have to tie our legs together.”

      “Aye, that’s what happens in a Three-Legged Race. Or is it different here than at home?”

      “No, it’s the same. But, Jenny, you can’t practise for that race in your skirt.”

      “Of course not. I’ll wear my pantaloons, Ted. They’re very respectable, see?” She hiked up her skirt a few inches to show the dainty lace nestled around her boot tops.

      “Miss

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