Moving from Maryland

by Christine Sterling

Barrett pulled out his coin purse. “How much do I owe you?”

  “It will be one cent. The stage comes by tomorrow afternoon, so it will go out then.” Mrs. Handley held her hand out.

  Barrett shook his head. “Sorry.” He placed the coin in her hand and made his escape from the store before she could ask any more questions.

  He made his way over to the City Hall and walked into the mayor’s office. Jacob Winthrop sat behind his desk flipping through papers.

  “Winthrop,” Barrett said, flopping into the seat in front of the desk and resting one ankle on his knee.

  “Take that hat off, Wright.” Jacob didn’t look up from his papers. Barrett tossed his hat onto the mayor’s desk, covering the papers the man was reading. Jacob looked at him with a big grin, offering his hat back. “I heard your boys got into some mischief in school today.”

  Barrett took the hat and hung it on the tip of his boot. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

  “What did they do this time?”

  “John decided to fill Daisy Rockford’s desk with dirt and worms.” Barrett rubbed his eyes. Some days it was too much to deal with. “I honestly don’t know what to do with them.”

  “They are just boys.”

  “Yeah. They are also a handful.” He looked at Jacob. “I didn’t stop by to lament the boys. Has the town decided on a permanent offer to keep Daisy as the town teacher?”

  “I know it was in her contract that she couldn’t get married, but the parents think she is a fabulous teacher.” Jacob tapped his chin. “In fact, once word got out that she was going to have to leave, I’ve had more parents coming through requesting her contract be changed.”

  Barrett raised his eyebrow. “So, it is done?”

  “As far as I’m concerned.” Jacob placed his elbows on the desk and leaned forward towards Barrett. “I know you have your hesitations about women working, but the times are changing. The town is growing. Frankly, we could use more women here in town.”

  Barrett chose to ignore him. It wouldn’t make any difference to Jacob, or the town council what Barrett thought about the situation. He was glad he didn’t have to handle the hiring of the teacher.

  Barrett tapped his boot while waiting for Jacob to continue. When it was apparent that there was nothing else to say, Barrett asked him, “What came in?”

  Jacob pulled a thick stack of papers from underneath a book on his desk. “We received more than I was expecting. I thought we would be lucky if we received five or six, given how remote we are. Instead, we got about three dozen.”

  Barrett raised his eyebrow. “Thirty-six?”

  Jacob nodded. “I guess the offer of room and board included with the salary was enticing enough. I glanced through all the letters and put the ten candidates I thought were best qualified, on top.”

  Barrett took the stack and started flipping through the pages. He stopped on one. The letter was written by a Dr. Sarah Williams.

  “Women? You had women apply?”

  “Over half of them are female doctors.”

  “And I know none of those made the top of the list.”

  “You have final say. Everyone is included in there.”

  “Women doctors?” Barrett shook his head. “Teachers? Okay, I can see that. But doctors? What’s next?” He stuffed the papers into his hat. He’d put them in his saddle bag later. “I’ll take these and look over them tonight. When is the next meeting?”

  He was referring to the Town Council that created the advertisement for the physician after Doc Wicks decided to leave on the stage without a word to anyone. After that, the town folks traveled to Virginia City to see the doctor there, but travel was difficult through the wet and cold winter months.

  They protested to the mayor and that protest was heard loudly. Jacob insisted on finding someone to replace the wayward doctor.

  The Town Council was comprised of many men from the various business sectors in town. Barrett represented the ranchers. Moses Stewart stood in for the miners. Phillip Dobson and Liston Garrett represented their own interests – the saloon and the bank, respectively. Rounding out the council was Sam Langhorne, a newspaper reporter with the ability to spin a yarn or two.

  Once Jacob made his decision to find a doctor, the council wasted no time drafting an advertisement that Jacob placed in the newspapers nationwide. The ad read like a laundry list of the most desirable qualifications. Jacob received and sorted the responses. He then turned them over to Barrett, who was unanimously voted by the Council to review and analyze the letters. Barrett would select the top two candidates and present them to the Council for the final decision.

  Barrett was pleased there were many to choose from. He wasn’t so pleased that so many of them were female. It wasn’t that he was opposed to a woman working. Mrs. Handley supported her husband at the mercantile, after all.

  He simply thought that women should be home raising a family, not traipsing across the country to be a doctor for a small mining town.

  “Once you decide, we’ll call the meeting. It is just a matter of letting everyone know where and when.”

  Barrett nodded and stood, removing the papers from his hat before placing it on top of his head. “I’ll bring you my decision at church on Sunday. Do you want to go ahead and call the meeting for Monday?”

  “That sounds fine,” Jacob concurred.

  Barrett left the mayor’s office, the papers heavy in his hand. He prayed that there was at least one qualified doctor in the stack that wasn’t a woman.

  It was going to be a long evening, reviewing the papers and dealing with John. He forgot about John! The boy was still at school, and Barrett needed to fetch him before heading home.

  John was sitting outside the door on the steps leading up into the schoolhouse. His hands cupped his chin as he looked down at the ground. Barrett could see that his pants were wet and covered with chalk dust.

  “Ready to go, son?” Barrett asked, placing his hand on John’s shoulder.

  “Yes, Pa.”

  “Go tell Mrs. Daisy you are leaving.”

  “Do I have to?”

  Barrett pointed to the door and John scrambled up from the step. He popped his head inside the door and Barrett heard him yell, “My Pa is here. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Barrett heard the teacher reply, but her response was muted by the heavy wooden door. John closed the door and ran down the steps, passing Barrett in a flash. Barrett watched him run as fast as he could to where the horse was tied up.

  Barrett took his time, allowing John to spend a few moments nuzzling his favorite horse. As a rancher, there were plenty of horses on the farm, but John took to Poe as soon as he could be lifted up on the saddle. The black mare was named after Eliza’s favorite author. Barrett had a copy of his poems somewhere in the house.

  “Need me to help you up?” Barrett asked the boy.

  John nodded and handed Barrett the reins. He tried to lift one foot into the stirrup. Barrett gave him a little push and John swung his leg over the large animal. Barrett stuffed his papers in the saddlebag and then climbed on the horse behind John.

  “Can I hold the reins?”

  “As soon as we get out of town, you can.” Barrett gave a low whistle and tugged the reins to lead Poe out of town. Once they were past the bank, Barrett handed over the reins to his youngest son.

  “Let’s go, Poe!” John said, giving the reins a little slap. The horse picked up to a canter and led them back towards home.

  Barrett knew that Poe could get back to the stables without guidance. The animal’s dinner would be waiting for him. So, he was confident in letting John guide the horse.

  “Keep her at a trot.”

  John nodded. “I love Poe,” he said, reaching down to pat the horse’s shoulder.

  “I know you do.” John shifted in his seat. A quiet John was not usual. “What’s on your mind, son?”

  John gave a little sigh. “I miss Momma.”

  “Do you remember her? You w
ere very young when she died.”

  “I remember bits and pieces. I remember she loved Poe. And she had long yellow hair.” John rubbed his nose. “I don’t remember too much else.”

  “She did. Her hair was the color of wheat growing out in the field. Sometimes the sun would hit it just right and it almost looked gold.”

  “Do you think she’s in Heaven?”

  “I do, John. Where else could an angel like your momma be?”

  “I know I didn’t have much time with her, but I miss her just the same.” John went quiet, consumed in whatever thoughts ran through his seven-year-old mind.

  Barrett had just pulled out the stack of letters and was about to go through them when he caught Jasper standing in the doorway to the sitting room.

  Barrett loved his ranch house. It was an open floor plan. His father had built it when they first moved to the area in the 1850s. It was comprised of hand sawed logs and rustic beams holding up a wooden shingled roof.

  He remembered running through the house when he was a boy, and now his sons ran through those same rooms. Folks tried to convince his father to sell when the landslide blocked the mine in 1858, crippling the town.

  But his father decided that the land was perfect for raising beef cattle, so he along with a few others stayed to weather the storm.

  Barrett was in San Francisco when his father passed in 1859. He was negotiating beef prices for the sailors, hoping to expand his father’s ranching further West. It would be less expensive to send beef to San Francisco than to head towards the Mississippi.

  It was there he met Eliza when she was about to set sail for the Orient with her uncle, who was a merchandiser. He convinced her not to go with her uncle and instead return with him to Rattlesnake Ridge. She said yes and they were married that afternoon.

  He returned to the ranch and picked up where his father had left off. The 3W Ranch became one of the larger beef operations in Nevada. George was born nine months later, and life was perfect.

  They were never in love, marrying within hours of meeting, but instead, had a quiet companionship that suited him just fine. He missed her company now.

  The sound of a knock on the doorframe pulled him back to the present, and he looked to see Jasper coming in the room.

  Jasper Williams was the lead ranch hand and Barrett’s partner in the ranch. He gave Jasper a small share in the ranch after Eliza passed. Truth be told, he was more afraid of the Williams brothers leaving.

  Jasper was the man Barrett relied on to get the job done. Jasper’s big brother, Blue, also worked on the ranch. He assisted Barrett with the day to day record keeping, sales and birth records. Jasper was the one that Barrett counted on for taking care of the livestock and assisting him in making sure the ranch hands were doing what they should.

  “Got a few minutes, boss?” he said, turning a chair around before straddling it.

  “If Mrs. Parker catches you treating the chair like that, you know she’ll have a fit.”

  “I’ll only be here a minute. ‘Sides, it is more comfortable this way.”

  Barrett chuckled. “What’s on your mind? I have to go through the letters tonight, but I can spare a few minutes.”

  “What’re those letters for?” Jasper asked, pointing to the pile.

  “They are for the new doc. The town is starting to grow, so the council thought it would be good to replace Doc Wicks before we have too many people and really need one.”

  “Yeah, Virginia City is too far to go.”

  “It isn’t too far,” Barrett disagreed. “Just inconvenient.”

  “You get a lot of responses?”

  Barrett nodded. “Yes, we did. From all over the country. Even as far away as New York.”

  “Gosh.” Jasper scratched his head. “I don’t know why someone from New York would want to come all the way out here.”

  “A variety of reasons. Maybe they want a change of pace. Perhaps they need a move so they can have their own medical practice.”

  “Perhaps they are a criminal and running from something?” Jasper offered.

  “Let’s hope not.” Barrett chuckled again. “Do you want to help go through these letters?”

  Jasper put his hands up in mock surrender. “You know I can’t read.”

  “You can always learn.”

  “Not this cowboy. I’m too old. Besides, what do I need all that book learning for. Blue keeps track of everything. He’s the numbers man.”

  “Ah, yes. But you take care of all the animals.” Jasper nodded. Barrett scratched his chin. “So, tell me, what’s on your mind?”

  “We have about five momma heifers that are going to give birth soon.”

  “Should you discuss that with Blue?”

  “Yeah. And I did. It is just that we need to get them from the grazing pasture back over to the field below the barn so we can watch them.”

  “What’s the issue?”

  “Well the numbers were wrong. We weren’t planning on bringing any of them back for another few weeks. Turns out they are going to have their babies sooner.”

  “Well, go get ‘em.”

  “We don’t have enough men right now. Tuck and McGee went to Reno and Smithy can’t ride on account of his leg being broke. That just leaves me and Blue. But if we go…”

  “Then there isn’t anyone to watch the herd,” Barrett finished for him.

  “Do you need more men?”

  “I’m thinking at least two. Then one can stay here with Blue and the other can go with me to drive these little mommas home.”

  “Do it. Keep expenses to a minimum. We can’t afford much, but don’t be getting some questionable men either.”

  Before Jasper could respond, Mrs. Parker came in carrying a tray with two mugs and a plate of sugar cookies. Mrs. Parker had worked for the Wrights since she was just a young woman. Her husband was the foreman before he passed.

  Barrett offered for her to stay as long as she liked, and she easily slipped into the role of surrogate grandmother to the boys. All of the boys – including the men who worked the ranch.

  “I thought I heard voices in here,” she said, sliding the tray on the table. “Jasper Williams, turn that chair around. This is not a barn.” Jasper quickly turned the chair around before sitting on it again. “Much better, young man.”

  “Yes’um.”

  “These just came out of the oven. The boys had theirs and are heading to bed.”

  Barrett nodded and grabbed one of the cookies. It was still warm. He took a bite allowing the sugar to dissolve on his tongue. They were so good. He polished off the cookie in three bites and grabbed another, along with one of the cups of coffee.

  “I have more for you to take to the bunkhouse. I know that Smithy and Blue would like some as well.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Jasper said, nodding to her between bites of cookie.

  “Did I hear you say that you were hiring a new doctor?”

  “You don’t miss a thing, do you, Mrs. P.?”

  “Not in this lifetime,” she laughed. “Have you found anyone interesting?”

  “Well most of them are ladies.”

  “Really?” Mrs. Parker exclaimed. “How forward thinking. Imagine, a lady doc here in Rattlesnake Ridge.”

  Barrett shook his head. “Well, don’t imagine it. The town won’t be getting a woman doc.”

  “Why for heaven sakes not?” Mrs. Parker placed her hand on her hip and looked at Barrett. “I think it is a brilliant plan.”

  “Yeah, why not, boss?” Jasper sat up a little straighter. “Might be nice to have a new lady in town.”

  “If it was a lady, and I’m saying it won’t be, do you think she really wants to come to a town filled with broken down miners and cowpokes?”

  “Ain’t nothing wrong with a cowpoke,” Jasper rebutted.

  “No,” Barrett agreed. “But a lady doc is educated. She isn’t going to want to spend her time around smelly animals and smelly men.”

  Mrs. Parker laughed
. “Well, I’m just thinking it might be a wonderful idea.” She patted Jasper on the shoulder. “I’m going to go make my tea and head to bed. Can you lock the door on your way out, Jasper?”

  “Yes ma’am.” After she left, Jasper reached for another cookie.

  “Hey!” Barrett teased. “She brought those for me. I have a lot of work to do.”

  Jasper waved his cookie in the air, ignoring Barrett. “I still think it would be a great idea to have a lady doc. Perhaps it might bring more women to the town.”

  “Maybe. But let me ask you this – do you really want a lady doc looking after you?”

  “Looking after me?”

  “How would you feel if she saw you in your all togethers?”

  “What?” Jasper patted himself to make sure all his buttons were in place. “I don’t think I’d like that at all.”

  “Exactly. Which is why the council would never approve of a lady doc. As forward thinking as it might be, it is too progressive for this small town.”

  “So whatcha gonna do?”

  “Go through and find the best fit for the town.”

  Jasper got up and grabbed one more cookie on his way out the door. “Good luck with that. I’ll start looking for a couple men to help me move the birthin’ cows tomorrow.”

  Barrett nodded and looked back at his papers. It didn’t take long for his coffee to be gone and his eyes to be swimming from looking at all the letters. Some were very impressive. Others not so much.

  He finally narrowed it down to the top three. One from New York, another from Texas and one from Maryland.

  He reached for the cookie plate, fumbling around trying to get one of the sweets. Not feeling any, he looked up. The plate was empty. Darn that Jasper! He must have taken the last cookie with him when he left.

  Barrett gathered the letters together, placing his choice, a Dr. G.R. Pickett on top. He’d present the top three letters to the council tomorrow along with his recommendations.

  As he went in search of more coffee and another cookie, he prayed that they were making the right decision.

  Chapter 3

  June 1872, Rattlesnake Ridge

  The train from Baltimore to Reno only took 4 days, but it was the longest 4 days of Gracie’s life. She didn’t even think that waiting to hear a response to the applications she sent out seemed as long as the train ride.