Walk Away West

by J. F. Collen

  “No, no. We must defer entrance to another day when we have more time. It is foolhardy to pay full price for a half-day admission. Fifty cents saved is fifty cents earned. Furthermore, in this case, two admissions are a dollar saved,” Obadiah concluded.

  “Yes, Mr. Wright, but Emma’s entrance is free, and the low attendance in the afternoon shall facilitate ease of exploration. We may well view more than we could that entire first day, when our movement was often impeded by the crowd.” Cornelia was ever reluctant to question Obadiah’s decisions, preferences, or opinions. But the Fair beckoned, from right across the street! Her tug of the stray strand of hair, perpetually escaping the cluster of curls at the nape of her neck, evidenced her determination to plead her cause.

  She said nothing as they wound around and around down the stairway, all the way to the street.

  When they were again outside, looking at the entrance to the Fair, she said, “We shall save the transportation costs of another trip into The City if we attend the Fair now, whilst we stand at its front entrance.”

  Obadiah hesitated. Cornelia stretched her neck and leaned close enough to his ear to kiss him. Obadiah’s mouth softened in anticipation. But instead she whispered, “Let us not quarrel over husbandry. My omnipotent love for you makes my heart soar to the heavens every day I dwell with you. Let not our difference of opinion check its flight.”

  Obadiah blinked, looking hurt. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a soft, sensuous kiss on the cheek. She stepped back.

  Obadiah cleared his throat, looking down at her, and their baby nestled in her arms. “Of course. Howsoever, sometimes we must draw that veil of love aside and get down to brass tacks.” Nellie frowned, Cast our love aside? To better enable acrimonious argument? But our love should always be foremost in our minds to sidestep the confrontation.

  Obadiah gave her a perfunctory peck on her cheek. “Parsimony shall never be your virtue,” Obadiah proclaimed, stepping back.

  He looked as if he were to begin a lecture on the value of money, when suddenly Anastasia and Zetus distinguished themselves from the small group of people purchasing tickets.

  “Nellie, how fortuitous to find you here,” Anastasia called out, rushing over and embracing her sister.

  “Equally fortuitous for me!” exclaimed Nellie. At the precise time I crave a smiling, loving face.

  Obadiah shook Zetus’ hand. “Neighbor. Is it not enough that we live across the street from you newlyweds? Must we cross paths with you here as well?”

  Cornelia and Anastasia looked at each other, miffed.

  Hot words rose to Cornelia’s mouth. I must counteract Obadiah’s rudeness, “The talk is of nothing but the Crystal Palace Exhibition! We are all entitled....” But both men broke out in huge guffaws, apparently enjoying the same sense of humor.

  “Evidently, we cannot view the phenomena of modern innovation without accompaniment by some member of your family or another,” growled Obadiah, but his laughing eyes betrayed his jest.

  “Are we not most blessed with good fortune—living in this grand city, full of economic promise and the wonders of convenience, surrounded by a large, loving family?” said Nellie.

  “Stasia,” she said, taking her sister’s hand. “Let the men purchase our tickets, we women....” Nellie hugged the sleeping Emma tighter in her arms. “...shall walk ahead. Thus, when we gain entry we shall make a beeline for the most dazzling of all treasuries at the fair, Phalon’s Bowery of Perfume.”

  Anastasia giggled. “Once we are, quite literally, smelling like roses, we shall feast our eyes again on Phalon’s hanging bowers and garlands of flowers and ogle the gold-capped glass wonders dubbed flasks of toilette water. Properly fêted, we shall float like princesses to Genin’s fashion bazaar to marvel at the ready-made creations of the latest fashion in women’s dress. Merely turning within the display shall allow us to next peruse the darling baby furniture, for our princess-in-waiting.” She kissed the little hand of Emma, lying on top of her bunting, as the baby slept on. She raised her head and looked at Nellie. “Come, sister, our agenda is set.”

  The men now exchanged looks. “Perhaps the Fair entrance fee will be best spent if we part ways with the fairer sex upon entry of the building,” Obadiah said.

  “Indubitably!” seconded Zetus. “The newest combine harvesters and cotton gins hold far more appeal to me than a bunch of fancy olfactory bottles filled with sinus irritating perfume. After all, we are obliged to tender fifty cents for our entrance, thus we must ensure we examine every gadget in the machine arcade to garner our money’s worth.”

  Anastasia giggled. Nellie leaned her head in closer and whispered, “Two peas in a pod. Although I must admit, I am impressed with your husband’s clever expansion of his lexicon. The new word gadget, from the French gâchette, meaning a lock mechanism, has only recently appeared in newspapers and heard in circulation only in the most learned of society.”

  “Truly, he is rather intelligent, just the right sentimentality for his professorial duties at Sing Sing’s Vireum Academy. Howsoever, there is still a boyishness to his nature that is quite endearing.” She called to the men. “Do not forget, the world’s largest known alligator is exhibited somewhere inside. You gentlemen shall not likely want to neglect that curiosity, howsoever mesmerized by the mechanical contrivances you become,” taunted Anastasia.

  “You will first have to forcibly remove us from the thirty-one classes of exhibits from the United States Mineral Department,” countered Obadiah with a warm laugh.

  “Wonders never cease,” laughed Cornelia. In a swirl of petticoats and bustles, the giggling ladies swept off to see the marvels of the modern world.

  Chapter 15 – Magic Time

  Sing Sing, New York, February 1855

  “Wonderful! The site for this year’s Sisters of Charity Orphan Aid Ball is the Crystal Palace,” exclaimed Nellie, looking up from a beautiful, embossed invitation. “How I have longed to return to that fairytale place the renowned poet Walt Whitman called ‘...Loftier, fairer, ampler than any yet, Earth’s modern wonder, History’s Seven out stripping...’ in his Song of The Exposition.”

  “What date is the event?” inquired Obadiah.

  “In a fortnight’s time, on the twentieth of February,” Nellie replied, and her face twisted into a wry grimace.

  Putting his hand on her shoulder in a gentle restraint, Obadiah said, “I do believe Midwife Rafferty advised extensive travel should be curtailed after this week. The time of your confinement is too near; I am afraid we shall have to decline.”

  “But the grand charity soiree is held in The City, not in the midst of the wilderness. There shall be no dearth of aid, no lack of resources if suddenly my confinement were to end,” exclaimed Nellie. She snapped her mouth shut and grit her teeth.

  “Why you wish to socialize with a bunch of businessmen and their valetudinarian wives in the first place, I cannot fathom,” Obadiah countered, his head back behind the evening Republican newspaper.

  “Hypochondriac wives are constantly seeking medical remedies from midwives,” retorted Nellie. “I give consultations, earn their confidence, and attain them as my best patients.”

  Obadiah’s temper flared. “Your words force me to infer you find my income lacking and must supplement your household allowance by selling your concoctions of eye of newt and devil’s claw!”

  Nellie’s eyes flashed in return. “At last, you reveal your true opinion of my scientific knowledge.”

  Obadiah laughed and drew her into his arms, “I knew that would raise your dander.” Nellie looked surprised, but still hurt. “My jab was in jest, as revenge for the evident insufficiency of my income, my sweet Rose.”

  Nellie pulled her lips up in a tight smile, in spite of her anger. Once again, Obadiah had disarmed her and distracted her from the main topic.

  “If you merely jest, then you recognize my qualifications for determining my own state of being.” Her eyes were set in determination. She tugged on
a strand of her hair. “I believe I am in a superior position to discern whether it will be safe to travel at the time of the Ball.”

  Obadiah took a long look at her, and then squeezed her tighter in his arms. “That determination in your jawline, that set of your face is all too familiar to me,” he said softly. “I suppose at this juncture, I have acquired enough wisdom to refrain from contradicting. You possess the knowledge of midwifery; if you think it is safe to stray so far from your home and the womenfolk you know when this birth is imminent, I shall defer to your judgment.”

  Nellie opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. “Do not permit this isolated incident to spawn a big head. I shall defer to your judgment in this single, solitary, arena only.” He sat back down, picked up his newspaper, threw back his head and laughed again. Shaking out the paper’s creases, he disappeared behind the news again.

  Even though Nellie was quite certain he was dead serious about this last statement, she laughed it off and tried to make the last word on the subject positive. “Then we shall attend the ball for this most worthy charity and enjoy ourselves to the fullest.”

  “What arrangements shall you make for Emma’s care?” asked Obadiah, flicking down a corner of the newsprint to see her face.

  Nellie blushed. Tarnation, I had not considered.... “Why I can leave her with....” Nellie hesitated. Her mother and sisters had all been invited; who would stay with the children? Inspiration struck. “We shall make a grand adventure. The whole family shall spend the night in The City and all the cousins can keep each other company while the adults attend the ball. Surely Theodora is old enough now to shoulder some responsibility, along with the Long’s nanny. I’ll wear my new hat from John Genin, the award-winning milliner who displayed at the Exhibition. Mercy me! Recalling the Exhibition, the raison d’être for the existence of the Crystal Palace, brings to mind a thought of poor Mr. Horace Greeley.” This time Cornelia distracted herself.

  “Good ‘Old Honesty’ himself?” asked Obadiah with a wry face. “Greeley proves himself a pillar of morality; the only one of those scallywags financing and promoting the Industrial Exhibition that stood by his deeds and offered accountability to the Fair’s participating displayers.”

  Nellie stamped her foot. “Tarnation, those hornswoggling Frenchmen tricked him into coming to France to make ‘repairs’ for some minor damage to an exhibitor’s displays. What did his honesty gain him? Incarceration in a France jail for lack of payment of some exhibitor’s alleged losses!”

  “Spoken like a true Philadelphia Lawyer, my Rose.” Obadiah smiled in appreciation of Cornelia’s passionate defense of one of their heroes.

  “You don’t see that humbug, Phineas T. Barnum making reparation for anyone’s losses, much less than bearing imprisonment. Mercy, Mr. Greeley suffers wrongful imprisonment, simply for accepting responsibility. Through all his undertakings his honor and principles shine. How utterly unjust, the treatment of this noble man!” Nellie wrung her hands in compassion and frustration.

  “Mark my words,” consoled Obadiah with a quick hug. “Even the French cannot keep our good man down. Once again, Greeley’s actions shout his integrity, obviating the necessity for words. Horace Greeley will return, just as honest but more powerful and effective than ever. By gum, I foresee him one day standing for the highest office of our country.”

  “Truly Obadiah—Mr. Horace Greeley, our President?” asked Nellie with wide eyes.

  “His is the voice of reason and morality. Persuasive and influential, ‘Old Uncle Horace’ stands out as a bona fide leader,” Obadiah replied.

  Two days before the ball, as Nellie, her sisters, and her friends made final alterations to their newly tailored dresses, she looked out the window and saw a few snowflakes falling.

  By the time Obadiah got home for his noontime dinner, a fair coating blanketed the landscape, muffling sounds, and enchanting the view.

  The impending storm held no threat for Nellie. She already knew she would miss the Crystal Palace and the fancy charity soiree tomorrow. That message had come from her queasy stomach, roiling from sporadic contractions.

  “Obadiah, what say you to a grand adventure at my mother’s house for the duration of the snowstorm? I judge it will be quite the tempest.”

  “Do your midwifery skills also include weather forecasting?” Obadiah joked. But Nellie could see he gleaned her meaning. As Obadiah ate his meal with Emma giggling and nibbling too, Nellie packed some supplies and asked their stable boy to bring around the carriage.

  “May we postpone our trip to the Entwhistles’ until this evening? Some research requires my immediate attention for a new case before Judge Urmy.”

  Nellie shook her head no.

  Obadiah raised his eyebrows. “At the very least, permit me a foray to Barlow Brother’s Hardware store for a sturdier shovel. I must arm myself or lose the battle of a clear path during these perpetual snow storms.”

  “I fear not,” said Nellie, rubbing her protruding abdomen and looking at the rapidly accumulating snow with apprehension. Obadiah shook his head and sauntered to their bedroom to gather some clothing. Nellie tapped her foot, nervous about the storm and, anticipating baby number two might make a more rapid appearance than Emma had, wondered when she should send for Midwife Rafferty.

  Why does our horse’s step appear so tentative? Nellie looked at Obadiah, wiping snow from his eyes at frequent intervals, clutching the reins and leaning his head over the edge of their buggy to stare ahead. Nellie wrapped the blanket around Emma tighter and fretted, The trip across Sing Sing may already be too arduous! I prithee Lord, may the full force of the storm remain at bay until we arrive safely at Mutter and Papa’s house.

  The swirling snow impeded visibility. The dark cloud of the storm sat low on the town, obliterating its usual glow from the gas-lit streetlights. The trip usually took less than ten minutes by carriage. In fact, it often seemed more expedient to walk, rather than take the time to harness the horse and tether it to the buggy. But not this afternoon. Pedestrians, heads bent low, made no headway in the gale-force wind, and the Wrights’ carriage slipped and slid all over the road.

  Within the hour, this road will only be navigable by sleigh.

  By the time they reached the house, the snow was coming as thickly and quickly as Nellie’s contractions.

  The Entwhistle valet helped them unload under the cover of the carriage entrance canopy.

  Gertrude Entwhistle appeared at the door. “To what do we owe the pleasure...?” she broke off when she saw Cornelia’s face. “Emma, meine kleines Mädchen, komt zu Oma. Come to your Grandmama, my little girl. I shall take your cloak, and bring you to the nursery, where your cousins are already playing.”

  “Oma, hello!” Emma said and skipped up the stairs to her grandmother.

  Mrs. Entwhistle turned to Nellie, struggling to lug a frozen basket of laundry into the house. “Ach du Liebe, let the men handle this.”

  “Do not fuss Mutter,” said Nellie, suddenly feeling as if she had jumped the gun on the immediacy of her baby’s arrival. “We are only here seeking shelter from the storm in a house equipped with legendary laundry kettles and a drying room. I must ensure a proper supply of clean linens will be at the ready when I feel the onset of true labor.”

  “Your instinct to travel in advance of this blizzard shall prove both sagacious and prudent. Your presence upon my doorstep already allays my fear that my new grandchild would appear in this world before I could arrive to assist.” Gertrude Entwhistle folded Nellie into her arms and scrutinized her daughter’s face. “But there will be no use of my laundry room.”

  Nellie pulled back from her mother’s embrace in surprise.

  “Daughter, the second child arrives more swiftly than the first, as the path has already been prepared.” Mrs. Entwhistle took another hard look at Cornelia and whispered, “Gott im Himmel, raus mit du. God in Heaven, we must make haste, we must prepare the birthing chamber immediately.”

  “Ta
rnation, I should have requested the midwife meet me here.

  “Matthias,” Cornelia called. “Send word right now to Midwife Rafferty. She must not delay, but come forthwith.”

  Mrs. Entwhistle shook her head. “I am afraid we have missed our opportunity. The roads, as you yourself attested, are treacherous. Matthias shall be hard-pressed to attain the Rafferty residence in this storm, much less than be able to bring the midwife back.”

  “Tarnation. We must send for her! It is nigh impossible to diagnose myself. Lord have mercy, what shall we do if the midwife cannot get here in time?” gasped Nellie, feeling another contraction, much stronger than the previous ones.

  “Your sisters and I are experienced and prepared,” said Mrs. Entwhistle. “Fret not you are in the bosom of your family.”

  Just five short hours later, Obadiah and Emma were invited to the room to meet the newest member of the family, Elizabeth Violet. Emma’s solemn eyes took in the squalling red creature Nellie held. She looked at her mother with doubt. “Baby not happy,” she said.

  Obadiah laughed as Nellie giggled. Obadiah scooped the big sister into his arms and they both sat down on the bed next to Nellie and the baby. “Come to your mama,” whispered Nellie. “Together, we shall welcome your new sister.”

  Obediently, Emma crawled into her mother’s outstretched arm and they both held the little baby. Nellie showed Emma how to rub the baby’s tummy, and the infant soothed and stopped crying. “Success!” Nellie smiled. She handed the sleeping baby to Obadiah, who held her gingerly, gazing down at the tiny creature in wonder. Nellie wrapped Emma in her arms and buried her nose in her soft lavender-scented hair. “My wonder of an offspring,” she whispered in her ear. “You never cease to bring me joy. I am so blessed to call you daughter.”

  Several hours later, Cornelia woke up from a nap at the baby’s cry. They nursed for a bit, and then she grew restless. With the help of her mother, she crept down the stairs, following her new daughter in the arms of Mrs. Entwhistle.