by Zina Abbott
Annie shook her head. “That would set tongues to wagging, now wouldn’t it? I’ll be making extra when I cook for the Nighys Sunday next and be serving you here like today.”
“All right. Perhaps, if the weather is better, I can take you over to see the houses where I’ll be living once I’m married. I’ve told Kate about them, but maybe she would enjoy having you describe them from your point of view as a woman.”
“I’d be finding that acceptable, Mr. O’Hare. I’ll be planning on it. Until next Sunday, then.”
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Chapter 9
~o0o~
November 27, 1881
A nnie pulled the knit wool muffler up to cover more of her nose and cheeks. She then placed a hand on top of her winter hat as a gust of wind threatened to tear it loose from the wide ribbons tied under her chin to hold it in place. She reflected on the more practical bonnets of an earlier era. The one her mother wore that she had owned since Annie was a small girl covered almost all of her head, including her ears, and was much warmer than the stylish millenary confection Delly had purchased for her which now perched mostly on top of her head. She tugged the ribbons over her ears in an effort to protect them from the wind.
“Are you warm enough, Miss Flanagan?”
Annie turned and smiled at Michael walking next to her. “As well as one can be, considering the weather. With it storming like it was last week, pleased I am the weather is allowing us to see the houses today.”
“As much as I enjoy your meals, I enjoyed eating Mrs. Howard’s Sunday brunch this afternoon. I’m glad Mr. and Mrs. Nighy decided to eat at the River Valley Inn instead of at home. It allowed you to have a break from cooking.”
Annie turned her face forward. She refused to consider how comforting it felt when this man, who now courted her sister, covered her hand resting on his forearm with his, and pulled her closer to him so their bodies touched as they walked. She realized that she was a good height in comparison to Michael. With Kate being slightly taller and bigger-boned than she was, Michael would be a comfortable height for her sister, too.
Without conscious thought, Annie balked as she reached the edge of the bridge crossing the Arkansas River. Leery of what she might discover on the wooden slats secured on each side to the wooden crosspieces, she studied it for hidden patches of ice. In lower Manhattan, where she had come from, it had been common knowledge that bridges with nothing but air beneath them tended to freeze more quickly than roadways where the heat of the earth moderated the temperature.
“We’ll be fine, Miss Flanagan. Hold tight to my arm, with both hands, if you need to. I’ll hold the handrail and see us safely across.”
Annie did as Michael suggested. As they walked across the flat boards to the center of the bridge, she made every effort to place her feet on patches of snow, which she hoped would give her better purchase. She stopped and stared through the bare branches of the aspen trees that lined the river at the double row of long, narrow houses lined up like dominos. Some of them she could tell were lived in. A few remained dark and empty. One of them would soon be the home of her sister and the man standing next to her.
“What do you think, Miss Flanagan? Not bad for laborers’ houses, are they?”
“They’re grander than anything we’ve been living in back home. It’s strange, seeing them standing alone, surrounded by all that land instead of next to each other. You and Kate can be talking without your neighbors pressing their ears to the walls, hoping to catch every word. Except, there’s nothing to be blocking the wind, now is there?” She turned to Michael when she heard his laugh.
“True. However, I seem to recall from the time I lived in Chicago, even though the buildings were right on top of each other, the wind still blew through the streets and froze everything in its path. At least here, a man can plant trees around his place to create a windbreak.”
“I’d not be knowing about that. There was no room to be growing trees, or much of anything else, there in Manhattan’s lower east side.” Annie followed as Michael once again began walking.
“Speaking of wind, let’s get off the middle of this bridge. You see that house straight ahead of us next to the river, the one with the small pine trees covered with snow? That’s Harold’s house. He planted those when he moved in last July. In a few years, they, along with the aspens along the riverbank, will help block the wind. I’ll do the same with my place, which is the over there, closest to the mine works. Unfortunately, the family that lives there after I leave will get the most benefit out of the trees.”
Annie breathed a sigh of relief once they reached solid ground. She continued to look around her as he turned right and walked past the house Michael identified as also being vacant. Her gaze followed Michael’s pointing finger. “It’s a short walk to work for me. Backing up to the river like it does, it has a pretty backyard—if one doesn’t mind the sight of the brewery across the river. Kate will also be able to see what takes place in the back of the River Valley Inn.”
Annie turned her head to look where Michael pointed. “If Kate can be seeing what’s going on in the back of the inn, they’ll be seeing her laundry, too.”
Michael laughed, unconcerned.
“Other than not hanging the unmentionables on the line closest to the river, I don’t think it will be a problem. Those that visit the back grounds of the inn tend to do so in the summer when the trees on both banks of the river are in full leaf.”
Annie turned around to look at the houses to the west, five on each side of the road. Although some of them appeared to have developed character as a result of their inhabitants making improvements, a couple of houses, like the one Michael said would be his, looked stark—bare boxes in the wilderness. Only the whitewash applied to the outsides kept them from resembling smaller versions of the tenement building she had left behind back east. “Kate will be used to living in a long, narrow house. In our apartment back home, it was like living in a long hallway with windows on each end, but better than having no windows, now wasn’t it? We enter the front room, the main living area and where the boys are sleeping at nights. Just behind is the kitchen with the stove, sink, and Ma’s cabinet against the narrow wall separating the two rooms. Behind that, you’ll be finding the girls’ bedroom, us all sleeping in one bed or on a pallet on the floor, there being four of us—three, now I’m here. The other side of that is the door leading to Da and Ma’s room. With us having one of the center apartments, there’s no window where I was sleeping with the girls.”
“If I recall, these houses have three rooms downstairs. The loft in the attic can be used for a bedroom—maybe divided in two, one for boys and one for girls. I guess you could say four downstairs, since, off the kitchen, there’s a separate bathing room. From what I understand, Kate can also use it for doing laundry in the winter.”
“Katie will be liking that.” Annie turned and studied the yard to Michael’s house and the one next door. “And, sure, there’s plenty of room to be planting a garden. Someone would need to be showing Kate how to do that. So many things she can be doing while keeping her feet on solid ground. It will be different than leaning out the third-floor window in Da and Ma’s room to be running the clothes along a line strung across the back alley, now won’t it?”
“I don’t think the snow is too deep to prevent us from looking in the back of the house. Let’s start at the front and work our way around. If we can see inside all right, maybe you can tell me what I’ll need to buy to fix up the home so it will look nice for your sister.”
“Pleased I’d be helping Kate with her house. She and I having always been close, I’d be knowing what she’d like.” As Annie approached the house, she shook her head in amazement. “Oh, Michael, Kate will be loving all those windows—one on each of two walls in the front room alone. With so much light coming inside, she’ll be needing curtains. I can be helping her with that.” Annie walked over to the window next to t
he front porch and looked inside. “I’m guessing this to be the main living room. I’m seeing a nice fireplace along with a sofa and such.”
“Yes. I understand the Bainbridge brother who oversaw this project decided to provide some basic furniture that will stay with the house. If we who move in want anything else, it’s up to us to buy it.”
Annie turned to Michael with a knowing grin. “And it was Mr. Nighy who was providing some of the furniture, now wasn’t it? The table we’ve been eating on in his warehouse is like the ones he was making for these houses. He’s been telling me, he’s also been building several sideboards, kitchen cabinets, and extra chairs as mates to the tables and chairs already bought, and he’s been selling them to several of the people in town, as well as the miners.” Annie stepped to the west corner of the house where the sun, peeking through patchy clouds, reflected off the whitewash. She studied the side wall. “I’m seeing a higher window in the middle. I’m guessing that would be the kitchen.”
“I’m not sure. I thought one of the men said the kitchen is in the back, next to the rear door. Let’s go check.”
Between the raised foundation and the higher window, Annie was only able to see the upper half of the room. One thing she didn’t see was a stovepipe. She brushed the snow off the window ledge and stood on the tips of her toes to look inside.
“Here, Miss Flanagan, put your foot in my hands and let me boost you up to get a better view.”
Surprised, Annie turned and stared at Michael’s interlaced fingers he held about a foot above the ground. “I’m not thinking that would be proper, Mr. O’Hare.” She felt a flush of embarrassment color her face as she listened to his laugh and watched him shake his head.
“Trust me, it’s proper. For centuries, men have been helping boost ladies up onto their saddles so they could go horseback riding.”
Annie stiffened her spine and tipped her chin up. “Well, not coming from the quality, I’d not be knowing about horseback riding and women placing their boots in a man’s hands to be boosted in a saddle, now would I?” Annie could tell Michael swallowed his mirth as he held his position and said nothing. She turned to again look at the window. Finally, her desire to see the inside of the middle room overcame her concern. She placed her boot in his palms, and, giving a short hop with the other foot, straightened her leg as Michael lifted her foot several inches higher. Grasping the window ledge with her gloved fingers, Annie gasped in surprise as she surveyed the contents of the middle room. “Why, it’s a bedroom, complete with an iron bedstead, now isn’t it?”
Annie bent her knee to signal Michael she wished to get both her feet back on the ground. As he stood up and brushed the snow and mud off his gloves, she turned to him. “It’s different than the tenement. True it was, our bedroom was before Da’s and Ma’s, but we passed through the kitchen first.”
“I’m pretty sure this is the main bedroom. Any children, once they are old enough, will sleep in the loft.”
Her lips twisted in contemplation, Annie turned back to study the window. “Katie will be needing nice curtains for the bedroom, now won’t she? I’ll be checking at the mercantile for what Mrs. Brinks has. She’ll be wanting blue, and she’ll be liking some flowers, maybe pink, purple, or white.” Annie turned to Michael. “With us not having a place to grow things, Ma was always choosing florals for our curtains and tablecloths. I’ll be having some curtains sewn so you can be hanging them for her the day you’re moving in.”
“If you’d like to do that for your sister, I’ll gladly pay for the fabric. Curtains are one thing I don’t know anything about. Out of curiosity, since you and your sister like so many of the same things, are those also the same colors you would choose for your bedroom?”
Annie felt her face warm as she laughed and shook her head. “Certain, I’d be liking the flowers, same as Kate, but I’d be choosing greens and yellows, maybe mixing in some orange or red. I’ll be needing to know how big the windows are so I can be sewing the curtains of a size to be covering the glass.”
Annie flicked her eyes in Michael’s direction. Why did he ask what colors she would choose for fabric to make curtains if the house was to be hers? She could not think of the house as hers. As much as she would love to have a fine house like this, it was Katie’s house. The man standing next to her that she realized she not only liked very well, but she felt a growing attraction for, was to be her sister’s husband. She must focus on Kate and insist Michael not ask personal questions about her. He must only talk about his future wife—Kate.
Michael’s voice interrupted her self-chiding and brought her back to the present.
“I’ll ask one of the other men to write down the window dimensions for me.”
Annie looked down, and then off to the side. She bit her lip in consternation. If Kate were already there, having the numbers written down would not present a problem. However, for her, a list of numbers would be meaningless. “Could you be asking them to tie knots in some string to be showing the height and width? I’ll not be knowing how to read the numbers.” She waited for several seconds before she turned to gaze into Michael’s eyes.
“I’ll do both, Miss Flanagan. I can always read the figures for you, but I’ll buy some string and tie the knots so you know how much window needs to be covered. Let’s check the back room which, if I’m not mistaken, is the kitchen and eating area.”
Annie sucked in her breath as they rounded the corner to the back of the house. “You were speaking the truth about there being a back door. And, there’s a back stoop. That’s a luxury, sure.” Annie rushed up several steps, over to the door, and placed her hands on each side of the doorjamb, as if to make sure the door was real. She next turned to study the view from the back of the house. “Kate will enjoy sitting out back and working on her sewing or writing letters home without neighbors from across the alley watching her every move. And, if what you’re saying is true, the trees by the river will be blocking the view from the brewery and the inn, she can be doing so in privacy. She can be washing her laundry out back here in good weather without hauling clothes up and down three flights of stairs before hanging them.” A pleased smile on her face, she turned toward Michael, who had joined her on the stoop the width of almost half of the back wall.
“I’ll see about putting up a larger back porch for her in the spring. I don’t know much about carpentry, but I’ll find someone who can help me build it.”
“She’d be liking that. Sure, a porch in front would be nice, too, for keeping the rain off guests waiting at the door. I’m guessing she’d choose the bigger one in back first, like having her own special sitting room in good weather.” Annie sighed wistfully, hoping to someday also have a home with a back porch for working outside. “When first I came, before the colder weather was setting in so hard, I was spending some time on Mrs. Howard’s back step working on a new gown I’m making for Kate. Seeing the horses in the livery corral across the way was better than staring at the warped wood of the tenements across the alley at home, but not as grand as the view from a large back porch like this.”
As Annie stared at the expanse of snow-covered yard behind the house, the smile slipped from her face as a disturbing thought jabbed her conscience. She found the idea of a private back porch appealing. However, Kate might not be as impressed about living in this house on the far edge of town surrounded by wilderness and the mine. Kate preferred to be around people. Where Annie had often sought out the solitude of a sunny spot by her parents’ bedroom window for her needlework, when it came to Kate, whether it was sewing, baking, or her school lessons, her sister had preferred to stay in the main living area, surrounded by people. Hopefully, the woman who eventually moved in next door would enjoy visiting.
At Michael’s next words, she turned to him, again wearing a reassuring smile.
“You said, ‘back home.’ I hope you’ll soon think of Jubilee Springs as your home.”
“Sure it is I’ll be feeling this is home someday, but with
my family being in Manhattan, my heart’s still there. When Kate’s here, it will be feeling even more like home.”
Annie turned and sought out the windows in back. “I need to be seeing what kind of kitchen you’ll be providing Kate. Lucky you are she likes spending her time cooking and baking.” Annie rushed down the back stairs, reaching her hand to the wall to steady herself as she almost slipped on a thin sheet of ice that coated one of the steps. She looked through the back window, and then jerked her head away, a look of dismay on her face. “I’m seeing nothing but a wall with a door opening to it.” Annie waited until Michael joined her at the window and looked inside.
“Maybe that’s the bathing room I heard about. Let’s try another window.”
Annie turned, continued around the corner and, allowing Michael to boost her up, peered through the window. To cut the glare of the sun behind her, she bracketed her face with both hands as she looked inside. “This one’s the bathing room, certain.” She all but jumped out of his intertwined fingers and ran around to the east side of the house. She turned back to see Michael shaking his head as he followed behind.
“You need to slow down in weather like this, Annie. At the rate you’re going, Kate’s going to arrive to find her sister laid up with broken bones.”
“You have the right of it. I’m just so excited for Kate. It’s a grand house, sure.” Annie found the window, which was low enough she could see in without needing help. She pressed her face against the glass and looked side to side. It’s a nice kitchen, sure. I can see enough of the stove to be knowing it’s nicer than the one Ma’s cooking on at home. And there’s the table across the way…” Annie leaned back, a puzzled expression on her face. “I’m seeing only two chairs. I’m not seeing extras for company.” She waited until Michael joined her at the window.