Calico Christmas at Dry Creek

by Janet Tronstad

  The boy started running down the aisle.

  “Tommy!” his mother scolded him. “No running in church.”

  By then the boy was already outside. Annabelle turned to the reverend, “I’m sorry about that. I try to teach him better, but…without a father, I—”

  Jake noticed Higgins go red in the face. No one else seemed to see it, though.

  “After what this church has seen today, a boy running in the aisles is refreshing,” the reverend said as he held up a half-eaten doughnut. “These are wonderful, by the way.”

  “They were going to be our peace offering,” Elizabeth said as she quietly asked Spotted Fawn to pass the basket back to the man. “We thought maybe people would…” Her voice trailed off. “Well, I guess it didn’t work.”

  Reverend Olson shook his head. “Now, we don’t know that. It’s still an act of faith. Sometimes faith takes time.”

  Just then Tommy burst back into the church. “They’re coming.”

  “Who’s coming?” his mother asked as she stood up, looking a little alarmed.

  Tommy just turned to grin. He still had sugar on his face. “I told them there were doughnuts and that Miss Virginia was going to sing. They like to hear her sing.”

  Jake’s heart lifted when he saw who was coming through the door. The first man had the look of a hard-luck miner. The second was a soldier from the fort. The third was a drifter and the fourth looked like a trapper. None of them wore suits and they all needed a shave. But, they all stepped into the room with reverence, taking off what hats they had on their heads.

  The last two through the door were Colter and the boy, Danny. Apparently, the boy had been released from jail. His light brown hair was newly cut and the wool pants on his lanky frame looked clean. Colter still had a hold on his collar, as though he didn’t quite trust the boy yet.

  Jake didn’t blame him. The boy looked a little older than Spotted Fawn and full of vinegar. Colter appeared as bewildered about parenthood as Jake felt. Maybe more.

  “Welcome,” Jake said.

  “Come have a doughnut—or two,” Elizabeth said as she moved so Spotted Fawn could get to the aisle to pass the basket.

  Jake watched over Elizabeth and Spotted Fawn until they had given out all of the doughnuts and grains of sugar was all that was left at the bottom of the basket. But by then, there were a good forty people in the church and none of them cared which side of the room they sat on.

  When Elizabeth settled in next to him, Jake was content. Now that the folks who worried about appearances were gone, he could relax. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to put his hand over Elizabeth’s hand as it lay on her lap. He snuggled the hand a little closer to him and she didn’t object. He decided she was beginning to accept him as her husband and it made him feel good inside. He’d never expected being married would feel like this—as if the world was a better place just because someone else was in it.

  Chapter Ten

  Elizabeth felt the heat rush to her face. She supposed Annabelle meant well with her comments, but Elizabeth felt strange talking about Jake. So she bent her head to concentrate on the scrub brush she had in her hand. The church service was over and the women were all down on their knees trying to get rid of that black line while the men were out cutting firewood for the upcoming school week. The reverend had started to feel unwell and he was home now, hopefully eating some of the soup Annabelle had sent over for him and his wife.

  “Well, anyway, I thought it was sweet,” Annabelle finished up her thought as she leaned back. “The way your husband was holding your hand in church.”

  Elizabeth suddenly realized that Annabelle had been saying the word husband for the past ten minutes and the only face that had come into her mind had been Jake’s.

  “My husband’s dead,” she said in a twist of guilt.

  “Oh,” Annabelle said in surprise.

  “Oh,” Virginia echoed. Her blue eyes were wide with confusion, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Besides, it was chilly,” Elizabeth finally added as she leaned into her scrubbing.

  The women were silent after that.

  Annabelle had lent both Elizabeth and Virginia old dresses to wear while they cleaned. The dresses hung a little loose on both Elizabeth and Virginia so they’d tied them tight with the strings of the aprons she’d also given them. They’d started by washing the mud off the entire floor so by now they were wet and dirty as they worked on the black line.

  Spotted Fawn sat in the back of the room, playing with the baby.

  Elizabeth didn’t want either woman to think she was unfriendly. She paused in her scrubbing and leaned back to wipe her forehead.

  “Have you noticed this isn’t milk paint?” Elizabeth finally asked. That seemed like a safe topic. “I wish it was—it’d be easier to get off.”

  Milk paint was what poor people generally used. Elizabeth hadn’t stirred up any for a few years, but she knew how to search out the right clays to give the mixture color. But she doubted many people here still made the lime and milk paint. It was too messy. And, like dyeing one’s own cloth, it was going out of fashion.

  “I suppose everyone buys that new oil paint now,” Elizabeth continued. “I miss the colors of the milk paint, though. It makes such lovely soft, rich colors.”

  “I know what you mean,” Annabelle said. She tucked a few strands of her hair back into place. “We have some of that oil paint at the store, of course, but it’s not the same. I forgot you’d mentioned you made your own colors. With that and the dyeing both. I’ve never done that.”

  “You do your own dyeing?” Virginia asked.

  Elizabeth nodded. “I even made my own Turkish red calico last year. Oil-boiled, of course, and with wax for the pattern on the cloth. That was just extra, though. What I wanted most was to dye enough yarn for a small blanket.”

  “Really?” Virginia said. “I was thinking I might try to dye some of my old dresses.” She flushed. “Nothing as complicated as an oil-boiled dye, of course. They’re just getting faded and—well, I can’t…”

  The young woman let her voice trail off.

  “No need to be shy about money with us,” Annabelle said as she put her brush back in the rinse water. “Both of us are widows. We understand it’s not easy for a woman to make her way without a man.”

  “That’s true,” Elizabeth added.

  “I don’t know what I would have done when my brother died if I hadn’t gotten that job at Colter’s saloon.” Virginia wiped her reddened hands on her apron. “I wrote to my other brother, but I don’t really know where he is. He hasn’t written in years. And I couldn’t stay at the fort. I’d applied everywhere else for a job and didn’t find anything except with Colter.”

  “Well, I hear the man runs an honest place,” Elizabeth said. Jake had told her that much.

  “The men there respect him.”

  “Well, I’m glad he has the good sense to send you home before dark. That’s all I’ve got to say,” Annabelle declared.

  Elizabeth noticed the light in Virginia’s eyes when they talked about the saloon owner. She wondered if the young woman had any idea that she was in love with the man. It was too bad, really, Elizabeth thought. She didn’t suppose there was much to recommend a marriage between the two. Not even the way they looked together.

  Virginia looked like a seashell, all white and pink and shiny clean. Colter was dark and lean. Elizabeth supposed he was handsome enough, but he reminded her more of a stormy day than a sunny one.

  “I was pleased to see him come to church this morning.” Elizabeth thought she should say what positive things she could about the man. Everyone deserved a chance. “And he brought the young boy with him—Danny.”

  Virginia nodded. “He keeps telling Danny to improve himself so he doesn’t get sent back to that jail. That’s why he brought him, I’m sure.” She looked at Annabelle. “I’m glad Danny has made friends with your Thomas.”

  “If he wants t
o improve himself, Danny should be going to school, too.” Annabelle put her brush down. “I know he doesn’t, but Tommy must know him from somewhere and—” She stood up suddenly and put her hand to her heart. “Don’t tell me Danny’s been hanging around that—that place!”

  “No, no,” Virginia reassured her. “Colter doesn’t let boys near the saloon. Well, except for Danny and he’s in the back room washing dishes. I think the boys met at the sheriff’s when Danny was in jail. The sheriff let them play checkers through the bars.”

  “In the jail. My baby’s been going to the jail!” Annabelle walked over and sat down on the nearest bench. “I’m sorry. I just had no idea it would be so hard to raise a boy without a man to help. And me working all day.”

  “Higgins might help you out,” Elizabeth said, a slight smile on her face.

  “Why I’d never—” Annabelle started and then looked at Elizabeth. “No fair. I never said I was interested in Mr. Higgins. He’s just a—a friend.”

  Elizabeth grinned. “I know.”

  Annabelle looked at her and started to smile back. “Okay, no more encouraging remarks for you, either. Although I am anxious to know how you and Jake are doing. I mean, I hope it’s okay. I feel guilty for trying to talk you out of it earlier.”

  “You were trying to be helpful,” Elizabeth said. She felt bad now for being so short with the woman earlier. If she’d known it was guilt that was prompting her comments, she would have assured her that things were fine.

  “Like we all know, it’s just hard for a woman alone,” Annabelle said. “I was worried about you.”

  “I appreciate that,” Elizabeth said. “But you can ease your mind. Jake is a perfect gentleman.”

  “I wish Colter were a perfect gentleman,” Virginia said, and then blushed. “I mean, he doesn’t even know I’m there and I’m playing the piano so everybody should know I’m there. Why I’ve played ‘Amazing Grace’ several times and he hasn’t even moved. Some of those men in there have wept when I’ve played that song, especially when I sing it, too. And he doesn’t even blink an eye.”

  The young woman bristled with such indignation that her smooth blond bun quivered slightly on the back of her neck.

  “I think he was half-asleep,” she continued. This time her voice wavered a little.

  “Well, he might not know the song,” Annabelle said kindly. “He’s wearing a suit now, but I’d guess Colter had a rough life before he got that saloon of his. He’s probably not too familiar with hymns.”

  “I guess,” the younger woman said and then sighed. “I just don’t understand men.”

  “If it’s any consolation, neither do I, dear, neither do I,” Annabelle said. “And I’ve been married twice before.”

  “Twice?” Elizabeth asked.

  Annabelle nodded. “I’ve buried two husbands. Tommy’s dad and then my last husband.”

  “I’m sorry,” Elizabeth murmured. It didn’t seem fair that a woman should have to bear that grief twice. And Annabelle was only ten or so years older than she was.

  The three women sat and looked at each other for a minute or so. Elizabeth thought it was a nice silence. It occurred to her that she was actually making some new friends. She wasn’t going to want to leave this place in the spring.

  “I could help you if you want to dye some things,” Elizabeth said as she turned to Virginia and then looked back at Annabelle. “And you probably have some things of Thomas’s that you’d like dyed.”

  Both women nodded.

  “I’d like that,” Virginia added.

  “Could we do it before Christmas?” Annabelle asked.

  “I don’t see why not,” Elizabeth declared. She had presents to make, as well. “Although we still need to figure out what to do here.”

  “I suppose we could paint the whole floor black,” Annabelle said dubiously. “But we only have one can of black paint in the store right now and that wouldn’t be enough. Besides, even if we could get it covered, it wouldn’t be dry before school tomorrow. Not with the amount of paint we’d need to use.”

  “I have the afternoon off,” Virginia offered, “but if the paint won’t dry…”

  “We don’t need to paint the whole floor,” Elizabeth said. “I have an idea.”

  Jake shifted the trunk of the tree he was carrying over his shoulder. He and the other men had walked toward the fort far enough to come to the wooded area that the soldiers used when they needed firewood. Higgins, Wells and Colter each had an old cottonwood on their shoulders, too. They’d only bothered to strip the bigger limbs off the trees and one of the remaining smaller branches of his tree was scratching Jake on the back of his neck.

  “Explain to me again why these trees will burn so slow the reverend will hardly ever need to feed the fire,” Jake said as he stopped to set his tree down so he could break off the offending branch. Then he turned to the men behind him. “You’re the one who said it, Higgins.”

  “Well, I didn’t say no one would ever need to feed the fire,” Higgins objected as he let his own tree slide to the ground. “I just said it should burn longer because these pieces will be so thick.”

  “They’re thick all right,” Wells said as he let his own tree fall to the ground. “And heavy.”

  Jake rubbed the back of his neck. He wouldn’t have those tree scratches if he’d kept all his hair. Oh, well. “I’m not sure anyone will show up for school Monday anyway so it might not even be worth it to have a fire.”

  Jake knew all of those responsible citizens filing out of church this morning were bound to make some changes. He figured school is where they’d start.

  “Let me know if they don’t come.” Colter let down his own burden. “I’ll send Danny over if I know—” The man broke off.

  “I’m sure there’s room for Danny even if everyone else is there,” Jake said as he sat down on his tree just as Higgins and Wells had done with theirs. “The reverend invites all of the children to school.”

  Colter turned around. “I haven’t sent the boy before because I was worried the kids would make fun of him. His mother used to work in one of the other saloons, you know.”

  “And his father?” Jake asked.

  Colter snorted. “See, that’s the kind of thing he’d face. Some folks assume I’m his father—poor kid—but I only met his mother a couple of years ago. And then only to say hello. She died soon after and, well, there was no place for the boy to go so I figured working in a saloon was better than starving to death.”

  “Don’t worry about him,” Jake said. “Higgins will be there so he’ll see that things go okay for him.”

  Colter looked over at Higgins in surprise. “You’re teaching school?”

  “Not teaching. Going,” Higgins said proudly. “I aim to learn to read.”

  “A man doesn’t need to know how to read,” Wells protested. “Knowing how to read won’t get these logs to the school any faster, now will it?”

  “Well, maybe not,” Jake said as he stretched out his legs. “But it would be mighty nice to sit by the fire that comes from these logs and read a book some evening.”

  “Women like that, don’t they?” Colter asked. “Reading by the firelight?”

  Jake nodded. “Most women, I’d say. They think it’s romantic.”

  Jake was reminding himself to buy a book of poetry for Elizabeth. He kept remembering that the soldier at the fort had written his own poem for Elizabeth, but Jake didn’t know if he could do that. A nice leather-backed book of poems should convey his feelings just as well.

  Then Jake realized it was someone else who had thought of the romance of words first and he looked at the saloon keeper more closely. “You got some particular woman in mind for your firelight reading?”

  Colter shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Jake frowned. He shifted his weight on the tree in case he had to stand. “Well, I hope it’s not Virginia Parker. She’s a decent woman and—”

  “Don’t you think I don’t know that?” Colt
er interrupted in disgust. “Why do you think I make her leave my saloon before my business even starts?”

  “I don’t know. I never did understand why you hired her in the first place. The only kind of piano playing she can do is hymns.”

  “I know. She’s chased away most of my customers. And the ones who haven’t gone have either sworn off their whiskey or they sit there, sobbing into their drinks and talking to their dead mothers. Even my bartender is threatening to quit. He says it’s depressing to watch grown men behave that way.”

  “Well, there must be some other job for her in a town the size of Miles City.”

  “She’s already got a job,” Colter said as he stood up. “At my place.”

  So that’s the way it was, Jake thought as he stood, as well. “A woman like that deserves a home and marriage and—”

  “I know, I know,” Colter said as he walked ahead a bit and kicked a couple of rocks out of the way. Jake thought the man did it with more force than necessary, but he supposed it was just as well. It was a hard thing when a man set his eyes on a woman who was out of his reach.

  “Well, let’s get started again,” Jake said as Higgins and Wells both stood up. “We’ve got to get these trees back to the school so we can take an ax to them.”

  “Isn’t this Sunday?” Higgins grumbled as he lifted his tree. “It’s supposed to be a day of rest.”

  “Well, this Sunday isn’t,” Jake answered as he lifted his, too. He hoped the women were having an easier afternoon than the men were. “Whose idea was this to bring in these trees anyway?”

  No one owned up to it.

  By the time the men carried their old trees into the school yard, the afternoon was starting to fade. They pulled the trees around to the back of the schoolhouse to where the woodpile usually was.

  “Looks like the reverend has enough wood to keep the fire going for most of a day,” Jake said. “Maybe I’ll just wait until tomorrow to come around and chop this log up for him.”

  It would give him a chance to check on the students, Jake thought. Even Elizabeth couldn’t accuse him of not being tactful if he was chopping wood while he was looking around.