Chapter Text
December 15th 1901
Calpurnia Tate often complained that she had one too many brothers. One brother or even two would have been alright, but she had six and each one of those six had managed to drive her around the bend more than once. Some of them did it more than others. Of course there were a few of her brothers that she was especially fond of and Harry-the oldest- was one of them.
Harry was six years older than her and as such when Callie was born, he was immediately protective of her. This was a nice contrast against her other two older brothers as Sam Houston didn’t seem to know what to do at the age of three and Lamar(who had just been about to turn two) took her arrival as a personal slight against him.
Harry however was her favorite and he had always been a natural presence in her life. Or he had for a while. Ever since he was seventeen, he started becoming a lot more interested in girls. The worst time was when he fell for that insufferable Minerva Goodacre. It wasn’t nearly as bad as when Sam Houston, Lamar, and Travis all decided to become sweet on Lula Gates(that had been a frustrating time), but Harry had been entirely soppy and then of course he ended up with his heart broken.
Now Harry had been courting Fern Spitty(Lula Gates’ cousin) for the past year or so and Callie had to privately admit that she approved of the girl. Fern was sweet tempered and sensible and wasn’t all that put off by Callie’s Science experiences. Science was one of Callie’s greatest passions and she was often writing down her observations in her Notebook or learning about the natural world from her grandfather Walter Tate.
Even if Fern clearly didn’t share her same love for Science, she at least was kind enough to not say anything cruel to her about it. Perhaps it was this aspect of Fern that made Callie more likely to help out Harry when he came into the house in a panic. Callie had been working on knitting one of her many Christmas gloves(she was finally on the last person—Granddaddy—and then she could put this project to rest until the next year) in the parlor and she looked up in confusion.
“Harry?” She asked concerned. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s Fern’s present,” Harry explained. “I thought I was able to order it from Mr. Sears weeks ago, but I realized that I forgot to send in the order form.” He rubbed his forehead in frustration.
“What was it?” Callie asked him.
“She saw this little snow ornament in the Sears magazine catalog and spoke about wanting it,” Harry replied. “But now, I don’t think I have time to place an order.” Her oldest brother looked dejected and stared at the floor.
Callie hesitated. As much as she complained about being stuck with six brothers at times, she wasn’t so heartless as to find it amusing when they were so clearly downcast. Well she would've found it harder to feel sympathetic towards Lamar, but Harry was most definitely not him. In fact he was her favorite and although she still had her reservations about him being married one day, she could tell that he genuinely cared for Fern Spitty.
“You know Harry,” Callie said slowly. “I think I saw a snow ornament in the general store in Lockhart. I was there with Granddaddy a few weeks ago and I saw one that looked really pretty.”
Her brother looked up and she saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “You did?” He asked her.
Callie nodded and eyed her half finished glove. Perhaps, there was a way she could get out of knitting early. She certainly wanted a break, that was true. “You know I could help you find it,” She said.
“I don’t know,” Harry said slowly. “I mean you have your knitting to do.”
“I’m almost done and Mother likes Fern too, I know she does. I’m sure she won’t mind if I go to Lockhart just to help you.”
“Well, if she says yes, I’m all for it,” Harry said and Callie beamed at him. Normally, Mother would be in the parlor as to supervise Callie’s knitting and to perhaps work on some sewing of her own. However, she had stepped outside briefly to speak to the maid, SanJuanna, about something and Callie was waiting for her return.
As soon as Mother came back in the room, she noticed that Callie wasn’t knitting anymore and that Harry was standing next to her.
“Is everything alright?” She asked the two of them with a touch of concern in her eyes. “Harry?” She inquired.
“Everything is fine ma’am,” Harry said and he quickly explained the situation.
“Please Mother?” Callie pleaded when Harry was done. “I really am almost done with my knitting and I’m really only going to Lockhart to help out Harry. Plus, it’s almost Christmas and I know you like Fern Spitty too. She’ll deserve to have nice gifts for it and this snow ornament is quite pretty.”
Perhaps it was because it was so close to Christmas, but Mother sighed and said, “Do you promise to finish as soon as you get back?”
Callie nodded. “I promise,” she said and hoped desperately that her mother would allow her to go. It took a few seconds more, but her mother finally appeared to relent.
“Very well then,“ Mother said. “You two may go.”
“Thank you Mother,” Harry said quickly. “We should be back soon.”
Callie grinned at her mother who managed a small smile in return, before Callie was following Harry out the door.
As soon as Harry had hitched up King Arthur to the wagon, he helped Callie up on the seat next to him and then he got on next to her.
“Alright,” Harry said. “We’re just going to get the snow ornament alright?”
“Of course,” Callie said. Truthfully, she was just glad to be taking a break from her knitting. To be more honest, she was also just glad to be spending time with her oldest brother. She didn’t see him as much as she would like these days and had to admit that she had been missing him.
“So, what have you been up to pet?” Harry asked her idly as they officially set on their way. Harry had taken to calling her his own “pet” ever since Callie was very little and it was honestly an endearing nickname.
Still, she did roll her eyes mildly and say, “I’m fourteen now Harry.” But, there was no heat behind her words and both siblings were well aware of it. “Granddaddy and I have started studying the ocean more. We’re learning more about the creatures of the deep-dolphins and such.”
She had become particularly interested in the ocean ever since the Galveston Storm occurred only last year. She had been fascinated to learn about exactly how powerful the ocean could be at times. As she continued learning about the ocean, she and Granddaddy also made sure that she learned more about the creatures within the ocean as well. Her cousin Aggie Finch—who despite being rather stiff for the most part—had been kind enough to send her a collection of items from the sea when she finally moved away from the Tate’s home. She had been staying with them after her house was destroyed by the storm, but now she was married and living in Beaumont. Sometimes Callie wondered how she was doing. It had been quite the scandal when Aggie ran off with her secret lover, Layfayette Lumpkin, and Aggie’s parents were still absolutely furious with Callie’s own parents. Aggie hadn’t really kept in touch(besides sending Callie the gift), but from what Callie had learned since then, her cousin was doing fine.
“Harry?” She asked slowly. “Do you ever hear anything about Cousin Aggie?”
Harry looked at her curiously. “Why are you asking about her?”
“I was just wondering,” She said. “So, do you?”
“Not anymore than you do I imagine,” Harry said. “And anyway Callie, that was a whole lot of trouble. Do you really want to open all that up again?”
“I guess not,” Callie said. “She must really love him,” She remarked as a bit of an afterthought. She herself wasn’t fancying any boys, but plenty of her peers had seemed to go down that path and Callie knew enough about romance to know that running off the way Aggie did was an extremely significant move.
“Is there finally a boy you’re sweet on?” Harry asked her with a small smile on his lips.
Callie’s face flushed—out of general embarrassment and not any sort of admission—and said, “No, of course not! The only boys I’m meeting are the ones at school and I do not want to marry any of them.”
“I didn’t want to marry any of the girls I met at school either,” Harry said with a small laugh and the subject(thankfully) was dropped then and there.
Eventually they finally reached Lockhart and Callie was somewhat relieved when Harry finally hitched up the wagon and she was able to step off it. Callie always enjoyed going to Lockhart. It was much bigger than her tiny Fentress town and it had an abundance of stores, a library, and even electricity. There was also a portrait parlor, but Callie knew they were just going into one of the general stores today.
“Alright,” Harry said. “Do you remember where you found it?”
“Yes,” Callie said. She had been getting an ice cream soda the day she saw it and after she was done, she saw it in the shop next door. “You know where we normally get our ice cream sodas? It was in the shop next door to it.”
“I just hope she’ll like it,” Harry said worriedly as they walked over to the aforementioned store.
“She’ll like anything you give her,” Callie declared. “And if she doesn’t, she’s just being silly.”
Harry smiled a bit at her. “Thanks Callie,” he said as the two siblings stepped inside the shop. As always, Callie couldn’t help but marvel over how big the stores were compared to the ones back home. The general store in Fentress was nice enough, but this store had ever so much more trinkets.
“Look!” Callie said after she was searching around for a moment. “That's the one I found. I think it looks just right don't you?” She pointed at a glass snow ornament near the middle of the store. When Callie looked at it closely, it appeared to shimmer in a way that was rather becoming. It was a simple ornament, but Callie couldn’t help but feel somewhat mesmerized at the sight of it.
"I do actually," Harry said and he gave Callie's arm a warm squeeze. "Thanks a bunch Cal."
Callie beamed.
December 26th 1901
Eleven days later, Callie was busy sketching out some shells in her Notebook on her bed, when someone knocked on her door.
“Come in,” She said. She expected it to be Travis-wanting to show her another trick he had taught Scruffy(their coydog) or J.B.—wanting Callie to play with him—and was slightly surprised when it was Harry.
“Oh! Harry, come in.” She said.
“I gave Fern Spitty her gift yesterday,” Harry said. “She was very appreciative.”
“Well it was a nice ornament,” Callie agreed.
“And I should thank you too,” Harry said. “I really didn’t know what to do after I realized I forgot to order it.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Callie said. “And I’m even more glad it gave me a break from knitting.”
Harry laughed. “Honestly, this may have been your best attempt yet.”
“Don’t let Mother catch you saying that,” Callie said. “I’ll have to knit you all pants next.” Even though she was joking, she still shuddered a bit at the thought.
Harry smiled and gestured to her notebook. “So what have you been observing today, pet?”
Callie didn’t even bother to say anything about the nickname. Instead, she smiled at Harry and flipped through the pages of her notebook as she spoke about what she was learning over the past few weeks. Like always, she appreciated these ever more fleeting moments with her eldest brother and she knew she would keep them close in her heart.
It was still of course true that having six brothers could be rather exhausting, but at least when it came to an oldest brother, Harry was a very solid contender.