To Sleep . . . Perchance to Dream

By Marion

[This story came about because I love the character of Marie in Nancy's stories, and I wondered what kind of relationship Annie and Marie would have. This was the only way I could think of to get the two together…]

"Anna, Anna, it is time to wake up. Your uncle and aunt will be here today. You must get up."

"Oh, Concetta, just a few more minutes, please?"

"No, you must get out of bed now. You do not want them to think you are lazy." Laziness was the worst of sins in Concetta's eyes.

"All right, Concetta." Annie Cartwright stretched and got out of bed as soon as her father's housekeeper left the room. Today her father's brother and his wife would come to take Annie away from the only home she remembered. She splashed some water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. What would they think of her, she wondered, what would they be like? She thought that Uncle Ben would probably be very much like Papa. Tante Marie will be wonderful, she thought. She had been writing to her aunt for several years and Tante Marie sounded warm and loving. She only hoped that would be true.

Annie pulled on her black dress. She hated wearing it, and she knew that her father would hate it, too. He liked her to wear light colors; he wanted her to be happy. She wondered what he would have thought about all this. No, she knew it was what he wanted. It was in his will that if anything should happen to him that she would go to live with her Uncle Ben and his family. She dragged the brush through her hair and quickly braided it. What were they like, her cousins? From her aunt's letters, she thought they would be boisterous, but fun. She hoped they would like her. She couldn't imagine living with people who didn't like her. But, Tante Marie liked her, if only from the letters. Then Annie started to worry. What if Tante Marie didn't like her once they finally met face to face?

Annie spent the morning divided between knowing that her uncle and aunt would love her, and worrying that they would not really want her, that they were taking her only because they were obliged to. She could barely eat her lunch, and she couldn't keep her mind on her lessons when she sat in the parlor studying. She knew Papa would want her to keep up with her lessons even though he wasn't here to teach her anymore. Tears began to form as she thought that her father would no longer sit beside her while she did her math, or that they would no longer read Shakespeare's plays together. She wiped the tears away, only to have more take their place. She was so lost in her sorrow that she did not hear the front door open and she did not hear footsteps approach the parlor.

"Anna?" A soft, accented voice startled Annie and she looked up. The most beautiful woman Annie had ever seen stood in the doorway, a tall man who looked a lot like Annie's father stood behind her. Annie stood up, wiped more tears from her eyes, and rushed into her aunt's outstretched arms.

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"Annie, Annie, wake up, ma petite. Your uncle and cousins will want breakfast and I need your help."

"Oh, Tante Marie, just a few more minutes?"

"Mais non, you must get up now."

Annie struggled from her bed. She had been living on the Ponderosa for two months now. She and Joe had gotten into mischief a week earlier and both had been restricted to the yard with extra chores to do. Today was the last day of their restriction and they were looking forward to being done with it. She got dressed in a hurry and headed out to help her aunt.

"Now, Annie, you remember that Oncle Ben and I will be going to town and Adam and Eric will be working on fences. You and Joseph will remain in the yard and finish your chores."

"Tante Marie, please can't we go to town with you? We've been restricted for so long!"

Marie had to hide a smile from her niece. "Your restriction was for seven days, and that ends today. It did not end yesterday. Do you not think your uncle can count days?"

"Please? You could ask Uncle Ben, he'd listen to you."

Marie wagged her finger at Annie and tried to look stern. "If your Uncle Benjamin were in here, I do not think you would be pleading so." Annie blushed and shrugged.

A few hours later, everyone was gone and Joe and Annie were looking at Jove, the rambunctious stallion that Annie had brought from California. Uncle Ben had forbidden them to go near the horse because he was worried they would get hurt. Annie thought of the tanning her father had given her the one time she had ridden Jove. It had been well worth the punishment, she thought and that's what she had told Joe. Now they were planning to go for a ride while no one else was around.

"Joe, you're sure they won't be home soon?"

Her cousin shook his head. "Nah, when Ma gets talking with Mrs. Orowitz, they talk for hours."

They knew they wouldn’t be able to saddle the horse, so they decided to ride him bareback. Joe was in front, hanging onto the reins. Annie sat behind, hanging onto Joe. They had been gone about an hour when they decided to return home. As they were racing down the hill towards home, Annie heard Joe gasp. Looking over his shoulder, she could see her uncle and aunt standing on the porch.

To say Ben and Marie were angry was an understatement. Annie took one look at her uncle's face, so like her own father's, and wished she could ride away forever. As soon as they rode the horse into the corral and dismounted, Ben strode over and grabbed them both. He practically dragged them back to the porch and gave them a none-too-gentle push towards the door.

"I want both of you in your rooms in two seconds." They both looked in mute appealed to Marie but realized that she was as angry as her husband. They turned tail and ran into the house.

Marie turned to Ben. "Benjamin, you must be gentle."

Ben shook his head. "Marie, they both disobeyed me, and they could have been killed while doing so. They will be punished." He headed towards the door, unbuckling his belt as he went. Marie hurried to his side and placed her hand on his arm.

"Benjamin, you must not do this thing to Annie. She is a little girl."

"Marie, she was as disobedient as Joseph. It won't be the first time she is punished for riding that horse. I know that Eddie gave her a tanning for the very thing. She knew what the consequences were when she decided to go for that ride."

Marie sighed. She knew she wouldn't be able to change Ben's mind once he decided on a punishment.

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Annie rode home from school with Joe at her side. The note from her teacher weighed heavily in her pocket and she wondered how she would present it to her aunt and uncle.

"Ya'd better give it to them as soon as ya get home. They get real mad if they think you're hiding something."

Annie looked at her cousin, who looked at her sympathetically. He'd been in this position many times, and he knew how his father would react. Annie wouldn't be sitting comfortably at dinner tonight.

Annie bit on her lip, considering her options. She knew that Tante Marie would be very angry; she had felt her aunt's hairbrush on more than one occasion in the year since she had moved to the Ponderosa. Uncle Ben was sometimes strict, sometimes not, but the only times he ever spanked her was if Joe was in trouble also. Since Annie and Joe usually got into trouble together, Ben thought they should share the punishment. She decided to take her chances with her uncle.

Joe stabled Annie's horse while Annie went to give Ben the note. He read it quickly, then frowned at Annie.

"Is this the way you are to behave in school?"

"No, Uncle Ben. I'm sorry. I've already apologized to Mr. Taylor."

Ben nodded. "And does that mean you don't deserve to be punished?"

Annie started to sniff. "Mr. Taylor has punished me, Uncle Ben. I have to write an essay tonight and I'm not to go to recess for the entire week."

"I supposed you think that is enough?"

Tears started to roll down Annie's cheeks. "I was hoping it would be, sir." She practically whispered her answer.

Ben could feel himself start to melt. "Well, don't let it happen again, or I might just decide an essay and no recess is not enough punishment. I want to see that essay before you go to bed."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, Uncle Ben."

Ben watched Annie go into her bedroom, then turned to see his wife starting at him, shaking her head. "What?"

"You are too lenient, Benjamin. I think that if one of our sons brought you this note, he would not sit at the dinner table tonight."

"She was sorry, Marie, I could tell." Marie just rolled her eyes.

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Annie and Marie trudged through the bushes. Their buckets were full of berries, but they were hot and dirty. They had buckets loaded with berries in the buggy near the road, and were just going to fill these last two. They came out of the bushes and stood in front of the lake.

"Oh, that water looks so cool right now." Annie practically sighed as she stared at the water.

Marie looked around, a glint of mischief forming in her eye. "Perhaps, ma petite, we should do what your Oncle Benjamin and your cousins would do if they were alone in this spot."

Annie looked at her aunt, then smiled. She had been living with her aunt and uncle for more than two years, and she had gotten to know her aunt pretty well. She looked around. "But what if someone comes?"

Marie dismissed Annie's concern with a wave. "Who is to come? We are alone in this wilderness." She reached behind Annie and started undoing the buttons of her dress. When Annie had slipped off her dress, she helped Marie with her buttons. She gasped as Marie slipped out of her chemise and drawers, then giggled as she too took off all her clothes.

"Tante Marie, you are scandalous! Next you'll be wearing those bloomers we've been reading about."

Marie slipped into the water. "Your Oncle Benjamin is not here to say that I am scandalous. I think he might have something to say about the bloomers, n'est pas?"

Annie dove in next to her aunt. "Mais oui!!"

The two women splashed about, shrieking as the cold water hit their faces. In a quiet moment, they hear a crashing in the brush near them. Annie froze, thinking it was a bear.

"Marie, Marie? Are you all right?"

"Benjamin! You must stop! I am just swimming." Annie looked panicked as her aunt warned her uncle.

They heard nothing, then a soft laughing. "Well, then, wife, perhaps we should swim together." Annie sank so low that only her nose and eyes were above water. Ben came walking out of the bushes, his shirt already off, unbuttoning his pants as he walked. He stopped short as he realized Marie was not alone. "Oh" was all he said.

"Hello, Uncle Ben." Annie could feel a blush starting at her toes and going out the roots of her hair. She thought that was nothing compared to the blush on Uncle Ben's face. He spun around quickly.

Marie just watched the two, struggling to not giggle. Ben shouted over his shoulder that he would meet them at the buggy when they were ready to go. As soon as he was out of sight, the two women started giggling uncontrollably.

"I am afraid, Tante Marie, that I spoiled my uncle's swim." Marie and Annie had talked long ago about the "birds and the bees" and, unlike most of Annie's friends' mothers, Marie had been surprisingly frank about the pleasures of marriage, although she had also been very clear that those pleasures were to be enjoyed by married couples only.

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Ben pulled the wagon to a halt in front of the house. He leaped down and helped Marie from her seat. Annie climbed out the back, taking care to stay out her uncle's reach. He looked at her and pointed to the house; Annie ran up the steps as he turned to Marie.

"Marie, I shall leave this to you, this time." Annie grimaced – she knew what he meant by "this time." Her ride on Jove almost four years earlier had convinced her that her uncle's belt was something to be avoided and she vowed there would be no next time. She was surprised she wasn't going to get a tanning today, but she was grateful that Uncle Ben left her to Tante Marie.

An hour later, Annie wasn't sure how grateful she really was. Adam had always said he'd rather get in trouble with his father than with his mother, and certainly Tante Marie had been the one to discipline Annie, but nothing prepared Annie for her aunt's anger. Tante Marie had dragged Annie to the kitchen sink and scrubbed the painted color off her face, taking, Annie was positive, most of Annie's skin along with it. She struggled in the beginning, but a stinging slap to her bottom quieted her. Tante Marie was a lot stronger than she looked! When Marie was satisfied she had scrubbed all the paint off, she sent Annie to her room. Annie threw herself on the bed in tears, grateful to be away from her aunt. She was so absorbed in her woes that she didn't know that Marie had entered the room until she felt herself being dragged from her bed.

"Explain yourself!"

Annie was confused – what did Tante Marie mean? "Ma'am?"

"What were you thinking when you painted your face?"

Annie just looked at her feet. She couldn't explain it when she didn't really understand why she did it in the first place. It had seemed like a good idea when Peggy proposed it. She shrugged, which only made her aunt angrier.

"Do you ask the permission for this?" Marie stood directly in front of Annie; as tiny as she was, Marie seemed to tower over Annie.

"No, Tante Marie."

"Do you think I would give the permission? Do you think your Oncle Benjamin would give the permission?"

"No, ma'am."

"You are sixteen. Perhaps you think you do not need the permission?"

"No, ma'am." Annie thought that unlike Uncle Ben's voice, which got lower and deeper when he was angry, Tante Marie's voice got louder and higher.

"Non, you do not ask this of us because you know that I would not permit this, that your oncle would not permit this. You decide to act like a woman of the sporting house and parade yourself for the entire town to see you. I am ashamed of you." Annie wasn't sure what a woman of the sporting house was, but she could guess. She shifted nervously under her aunt's glare. Tante Marie was really angry. Her accent was getting thicker, which was never a good sign. "Perhaps you wish to work for Monsieur Wolfe? Is that why you behave so?"

Annie could feel the tears running down her face. "No, ma'am!"

"Stop with the tears. I am not your Oncle Benjamin, with me they will do you no good. You will stay in your room tonight and all day tomorrow, except for church. For the next week, if you are not in school or doing chores, you will stay in your room. You will not have the books; you will just sit in this chair. I am understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You understand also that the next time this happens, you will be discussing this with Oncle Benjamin?"

"Yes, ma'am, but there won't be a next time."

"That would be wise indeed."

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Annie looked at the woman sleeping in the chair next to her bed. In the almost nine years since she had come to live at the Ponderosa, Annie and Marie had become incredibly close, as only two women in a house of men could be. Sometimes their relationship had been turbulent – they were both strong-willed, passionate and hot tempered – but both considered themselves blessed to have the other.

Annie thought back to her nineteenth birthday. She remembered looking out the window as she and her aunt were baking.

"Mitch is here. Oh, Tante Marie, look at me, I'm a mess!" Annie started brushing flour off her hands and her dress. She hurried into her room to wash up and to brush her hair. She came out of her room just as her uncle came into the house and Annie heard a horse trotting away.

"Uncle Ben, wasn't that Mitch?" Ben smiled and nodded. Annie looked confused. "Why did he leave before I could see him?"

"He came to see me, not you, Annie. Don't worry, he said he would pick you up for the dance this evening." Marie had smiled but said nothing. She didn't act surprised, however, when later that evening Annie had come home from the dance wearing a new ring.

Annie smiled as she thought of her wedding day. She had insisted that they wait until Adam came home from college. Nine months had seemed like such a long time then, but Annie wanted her whole family with her. How Marie had fussed as she fixed Annie's mother's veil on Annie's head that morning. She had given Annie her own wedding dress to wear. Marie had sighed as she buttoned the last button.

"Ma cheri, I hope you will be as happy as I have been with your Oncle Benjamin."

Annie had started to cry then. "Tante Marie, if I am half as happy with Mitch as you have been with Uncle Ben, I shall be the luckiest girl in all Nevada."

A noise from beyond the chair brought Annie back to the present. Nine months didn't seem very long this time, especially once Doctor Martin had told Annie that she was carrying twins. She thought of all the times she and Marie had sat together, knitting and sewing and how many times Marie had patiently answered her questions and calmed her fears. Marie had come to stay with Annie as her time drew near and she never left Annie's side during the long day and night of labor. She had assured Annie that she would always take care of Annie's babies, she calmed Annie's fears, and she held Annie's hand.

The baby's soft cries woke Marie who picked up the child tenderly and kissed his head before placing him in Annie's outstretched arms. Marie smiled down at the little one's brother, still sleeping in his cradle.

"You are blessed, ma petite. You have two fine sons."

Annie looked up at her aunt. "Voila votre grandfils, Tante Marie. What do you think of them?" She leaned back and dozed as the baby nursed, reassured that her aunt would watch over her.

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"Annie, Annie, time to wake up sleepy-head! Hop Sing needs your help with breakfast. Your cousins have already started their chores." Annie's eyes fluttered open and she saw her uncle looking down at her. "That must have been some dream! I thought you were going to sleep all day!"