"I know. Pa took it. Mama said you were a good girl to remember your mama. She said that, Sallie."
"Did you walk all the way out here, Peggy?"
Peggy nodded. "I don't mind the coming part. Going back is hard because I'm leaving Mama. I want to cry so bad, Sallie."
"Me too. Let's sit here by the graves and have us a real good cry. We have each other, Peggy. I'm glad you stayed. I don't know what I would have done if no one was here."
The sisters clung to one another, their tears mingling. They sobbed great heart-wrenching sounds, for their past and for the mother they both loved. When there were no more tears, Sallie helped Peggy to her feet. "I'm going to try and make this right for all of us."
"How, Sallie?"
"We're going to settle you in a house and open a bank account for you. I want you to get some learning so you can write me letters. I need to get some learning myself. I don't want either one of us to be ignorant. I'm going to buy you the fmest of everything, and then I'm going to take you to the best restaurant. We're going to eat and eat and talk and talk until we're talked out. Would you like that, Peggy?"
"Oh, yes, Sallie, I purely would."
"Do you say your prayers every night and go to church? I sound like Mama, don't I?"
Peggy smiled. "You sound just like her, Sallie. I think that's good. I don't feel so sad anymore."
Sallie wrapped her arms around her sister. "We have a lot of things to do, so the sooner we get busy, the sooner I can get you settled. Do you like to shop?"
Peggy looked down at her faded dress. "I don't know. Everything I have is a hand-me-down."
"That's changing right now. Get in the wagon, Peggy."
The next five days passed in a flurry of shopping. A small three-bedroom house was purchased on a pretty tree-lined street. Furniture and rocking chairs for every room in the house and the front porch were placed reverently by both young women. The mercantile company delivered two loads of boxes—shoes, dresses, shawls, coats, hats, household goods, curtains, pillows, carpeting and anything else that appealed to young Peggy.
Sallie dusted her hands dramatically. "I think Mama would have loved this little house. I know she's in heaven smiling down on us. I feel her, don't you, Peggy?"
"I purely do, Sallie. Every time I sit in one of these rocking chairs I'm going to imagine Mama sitting across from me. I'll talk to her and tell her how good you are. I want to plant a garden, the kind Mama always said she wanted, with vegetables in the middle and
flowers on the borders. I want to put some flowers in the window boxes, too. Can we do that, Sallie?"
"Of course we can. We'll go right now to get the plants and seeds and some buckets for you to water everything. I hope you don't love this place so much you won't want to come to Nevada."
"I'll come to visit. With all that money you put in the bank for me, I can visit you anytime I want."
"Sallie, if the others come back, you let me know right away, so I can do the same for them. Promise me."
"I promise," Peggy said solemnly.
The two young women worked side by side during the following days. Sallie finally asked in a hushed whisper for the details of her mother's death.
"She was worn-out, Sallie. Too many years of getting by with nothing so the rest of us could survive took its toll. When Pa died, she didn't care no more. She just plain gave up. Each day I could see a change in her. The little ones, they didn't... they cried all the time. That's why Maggie took them away. Mr. Rivers, he gave me my pay ahead of time so I could get a pine box and a dress for Mama. It was plain and she wouldn't of liked it, but it was the best I could do. All she talked about at the end was Seth. She kept asking if he was coming, and I kept saying he was delayed. She tried to hold on because she believed me. Mothers must love their firstborn sons more than the others. It broke my heart, Sallie. Maggie and me, even the little ones, we're the ones who did for her just like you did. She didn't say one word about us, just Seth and Josh. Seth broke her heart. She was dying, ready to go to heaven, and all she wanted was Seth. You best remember that, SaUie. Your firstborn son will break your heart if you let him."
Sallie's throat squeezed shut. "Did she ever say anything about me?"
"Only that you were a good girl for remembering your mama."
Sallie's voice was fierce when she said, "I'm hiring the Pinkertons to find Seth and Josh. And, when they do, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind. They never sent a penny home, never came back, not even once. That makes them no-accounts in my eyes." Ssillie's voice grew more fierce when she said, "Mama loved us, I know she did. Pa loved us, too, in his own besotted way. If they didn't, I'd feel something in my heart."
Peggy's face set into stubborn lines. "They loved Seth and Josh
best. Girls don't amount to anything. Mama said the sun rises and sets on boy babies. She said that, SaUie."
"That's not true, Peggy. You listen to me good now, you hear. I am going to amount to something, and so are you. Before that can happen we have to get some learning. We can go to college if we want. You know those wiUow trees that soak up water? Well, you and me, we're going to be like those trees, soaking up our learning till we are so . . . educated, we will be able to do whatever we want. Girls do account for something, and don't you ever forget it. I'm the richest woman in the state of Nevada. What do you think of that?"
"I think," Peggy said, throwing her dirty arms around Sallie, "Mama is in heaven giving you her blessing. Will being the richest woman in Nevada make you the happiest woman in Nevada?"
Sallie plucked a climip of marigolds from the box next to her. "I don't know. I was happy when I was at the bingo palace singing for my friends. It makes my heart feel good to help you. I don't know if that's the same thing as being happy. Look, we're done. It's going to be beautiftil when the vegetables sprout and the flowers bloom. You be sure to always put flowers on the table the way Mama wanted."
"I don't know how to thank you, Sallie."
"You don't have to thank me, Peggy. I'm your sister. I just want one promise from you, that you and I will never drift apart. Can you make that promise?"
"I promise. I'm so glad you kept your promise to come back here."
"And I'm so glad that you had the good sense to stay on here to wait for me. Let's make dinner in your new house and then sit on the front porch and talk to Mama in heaven. Tomorrow I have to leave. I'll be back, though."
"I'm going to miss you, Sallie."
"For a little while. You're going to be busy now with all your schooling and taking care of this little house. Soon as you can, write me long letters."
Hand in hand, the two sisters walked through the garden to the little white house nesded behind a white picket fence.
On a clear summer day filled with blue skies and golden sunshine, Sallie Coleman laid to rest her parents, and her best friend, Cotton Easter, in the small cemetery that Joseph, her houseman, had pre-
pared. It would be a special place with green grass and borders of flowers. A whitewashed rail fence surrounded the special place that rested under an ageless umbrellalike tree, with leaves greener than emeralds.
Sallie knew very htde about death and dying. "Do you think they'll be happy here, Joseph? It's warm and sunny and the tree ... the tree shades the ... the plots. When the earth setdes, you can plant the grass and flowers. This is ... this is a family cemetery. It's my family. Someday, a long time from now, when it's time for me to join Mama and Pa, I can... I can be... planted here, too. That's a long way away, so I probably shouldn't be thinking about that right now. I want to say a prayer for my parents and one for Cotton, too. I am not going to think of this as a sad place. It's too pretty to be sad. It comforts me to know I can come here and talk to Mama anytime I want. The preacher said his words in town, so this is .. . private."
The burden of moving Cotton's body to this tranquil place rested heavily on her shoulders. She added a third prayer, asking God to make it right with Cotton.
"Should I start now, miss?" Joseph asked.
"Yes. Please, Joseph, you have to plant the sagebrush before the end of the day. Don't tire yourself"
"My two sons will be along soon to help me. They'll be bringing the brush with them. It will be finished by sundown, just the way you want."
"Do you believe in angels, Joseph?" Sallie's voice was fretfiil, uncertain.
The old man stared at her a moment. "I do, miss."
"So do I. I truly do. I do believe, Joseph, we have three angels here who are going to look after us. I worry sometimes that I might make a mistake. I don't want to do that. I feel... great comfort today knowing my parents and friend are here, so that must mean I was supposed to be doing this. Do you agree with me, Joseph?"
"Yes, miss, I do. It's a pretty place. I think now old Mr. Easter must have known you were going to do this when he had them people come to make his sutesian well."
"How can that be, Joseph? Cotton's daddy didn't know me?"
"If he's an angel, he knows you. Angels see and know everything. He knew his son, Cotton, was going to be leaving you this place someday. He prepared it for you."
Sallie flushed a bright pink. She didn't know angels could see and
hear everything. She was truly ignorant. She turned to leave. "Everything?"
"Everything," Joseph said sagely. "I hear an automobile, miss."
"That's Mr. Waring. Don't work too hard, Joseph. The sun is brutal today. Don't you have a hat?"
Joseph pointed to the tree and the shade it created. Ssillie nodded as she made her way to the front entrance of the house. She arrived just as Alvin Waring climbed from his auto.
"The day's almost as pretty as you are, Miss Sallie."
"I do like to hear pretty words, Mr. Waring. Would you like to sit in the garden or in the house?"
"The garden is fme. I like to see all this green grass and flowers. Don't get to see much of it in town. This place is an oasis."
Sallie made a mental note to ask the old lawyer what an oasis was after their business was completed. "You must be parched. You get all your papers ready, and I'll fetch us some lemonade." She was jittery, her hands wrinkling the sash on her dress, then smoothing it out.
A long time later, Sallie looked first at her empty glass, then at the pile of papers in front of her. It could ail be in some foreign language as far as she was concerned.
"Now, Sallie, we need to discuss your trip to California and the lady I spoke to you about. When do you think you can leave?"
Sallie licked at her dry lips. "I've changed my mind, Mr. Waring. I don't want someone teaching me to be a lady. I am what I am. What I would like is for you to find me someone who will come here and work with me on my reading, writing, and numbers. I want to learn to read the whole newspaper. I want to learn about the stock market and how that works. I want book learning. I want that person to come here and live in my house and teach me here. I can pay whatever they want. Can you arrange that?"
"Are you sure, Sallie? What about your business in town?"
"I'm never going to give that up. When my town house is finished, I'll stay there during the week and come up here on the weekends or. . . during the week if I decide to stay open on the weekends. I'm not sure yet. I have a friend who might be interested in working at the palace until I make my fmal decisions. I just have so many things in my head right now. Sometimes I think this is all a dream, and I'm going to wake up back in the shanty. I'm not smart enough to make good decisions yet."
"I think you've done amazingly well, considering the circumstances," Waring said dryly.
The summer blue eyes sparked and then blazed. "I don't think I need to make explanations or apologize for anything I do as long as my heart is pure."
"I think that about covers all our business, Miss Sallie. The church is coming along nicely. Another month or so if the weather holds, and it will be finished. Your town house should be ready by September. Oh, the help you asked for will be brought up here in a few weeks. The young girl had to find someone to take her place. She and her brother are most grateful for your job offer."
"I'm grateful to you for coming all the way up here. Do you know, Mr. Waring, where Cotton's daddy and granddaddy are buried?"
"In the church cemetery not far from town. Why?"
"Do you think I should bring them up here? For Cotton."
"Bless your heart, child. I think it can be arranged."
A bubble of hysterical laughter crept into Sallie's voice. "I keep digging up all these dead people—Mama, Pa, Cotton, and now his daddy and granddaddy. I just think everybody belongs together. What do you think, NIr. Waring?"
"You're right, child, families belong together. Now, Miss SaUie, are you sure you don't want to—"
Anticipating what the attorney was about to say, Sallie said, "No, I don't want to go to CaUfomia. I don't want some teaching lady trying to make me into someone I'm not. I don't want to be a society lady. My mama, she'd purely turn over in her grave if I did that. She would, Mr. Waring. She wouldn't mind at all for me to get some learning, though. I haven't been able to sleep at night worrying about this. My mind's made up."
"Then it's setded," Alvin Waring said. "I applaud you. Miss Sallie, for standing by your convictions." At her puzzled look he said, "It means I'm proud of you."
Sallie's smile rivaled the sun for brighmess. "Nobody ever said that to me, Mr. Waring. Even Cotton never said he was proud of me. It was a fme thing for you to say. Would you like to stay for lunch? Anna makes a meat pie that fair melts in your mouth. I saw fresh shelled peas and carrots no bigger than your finger. Her biscuits are the best I ever tasted."
"I wish I could, Miss Sallie, but after today's visit there is much work to be done. The next time I come up I'd be grateful if you'd invite me to stay over for the night. It's a long ride back to town. Now, is there anything else you can think of that you'd like me to do?"
"If something comes to me, I'll send Joseph to town." "Always remember, you make the decisions, no one else. When you pay someone to do something for you, when you hire them, it's what you want. You can say or do whatever you want because you are in control. Control, Sallie. That's the key to success. Money gives you power. Power gives you control. Don't ever, for one minute, forget my words."
"I'll remember, Mr. Waring. Be careful going down the road." Sallie stood in the bright sunshine watching Alvin Waring's car until it was out of sight. His words ricocheted inside her head. Money. Power. Control. She repeated the words over and over, until she was certain she would never, ever forget them.
Sallie walked out of the telegraph office with Alvin Waring at her side. "Thank you for sending the message to my sister Peggy. I can't wait for the day when I can come here and write the message myself."
"All in good time, young lady. Your sister is going to be just fine. With your help she will make her entrance in today's world just the way you want her to. Trust me on this, Sallie."
"I know, I know. It's just so hard. All this money is a yoke on my back. Some days, Mr. Waring, I'm sorry I ever met you and Cotton. I swear before God that's a true saying."
"Speaking of Cotton. The church will be ready in about two weeks. The preacher wants to know if you'll sing the opening and closing hymn."
"Me! You want me to sing in church! Lordy, Lordy, I'll have to give that some thought, Mr. Waring."
"Think of it as your dedication to Cotton. I think he'll be mighty pleased."
"I think he'll laugh his head off. Sallie Coleman, saloon singer, singing hymns in church." Tears burned her eyes for a second time.
"Sallie, look at me." The old attorney gendy tapped Sallie's chest with the tips of his fingers. "It's what's inside a person that counts, not the outer trappings. You are as beautiful inside as you are outside. Cotton knew that. He saw your goodness. I see it. You need to believe in yourself and put your past behind you. I'm not saying you should forget about your roots and all the bad things that happened to you. You've gone beyond that wit
h Cotton's help. Now, you owe
it to him to be the best you can be. Don't look back. Whatever came before is history."
"I'U try harder."
"Good. Come, Sallie, let's see how St. Cotton Easter is fgiring. I believe the pews were to be installed today. The stained glass windows are so beautiful they take your breath away. I'm sure the church will be full when the doors are c^n to the public. Think ahead, Sallie."
"I'm trying, Mr. Waring."
Overhead, a bird rusded in the branches of a tree. For a second, Sallie thought it was Cotton. She actually stopped in mid-stride, fully expecting to hear the tinkling sound of a bell. She blushed furiously when nothing happened. The midmoming sun seemed to drape Sallie in a golden light, while her shadow cloaked Alvin Waring.
Later, when Sallie was on her way home, Alvin Waring spoke with the preacher. "I swear to you, on my mother, I saw a halo around SaUie Coleman's head. It wasn't a trick of the sun and it wasn't because my eyes are old and tired. I saw it. It was radiant. I need you to explain what I saw. Preacher."
"God moves in mysterious ways, Mr. Waring. If you saw what you say you saw. He wanted you to see it. I guess this means I can expect to see you in the front pew with Miss Sallie when the church opens. Accept what you saw and go on from there."
Alvin Waring thought the preacher's voice mysterious, as though he knew something he had no intention of sharing. Goose bumps dotted the old attorney's arms. Cotton had said, on more than one occasion, that SaUie Coleman was an angel. Alvin tried to shake off his goose bumps as he headed for his automobile. Was it possible that a nearly twenty-year-old saloon singer and self-professed whore was an angel in disguise? He cleared his throat and decided the sun had tricked his eyes. A feeling of sadness washed over him. The few minutes he'd spent believing Sallie Coleman was an angel were happy moments. Now he felt like the crusty curmudgeon that he was.
Twice, on the drive to his offices, Alvin Waring thought he heard bells. He took his eyes off the road both times to see where the sound was coming from. He snorted, a manly sound of disgust. His hearing, like every other part of his body, was starting to deteriorate. He knew in that minute, had the devil appeared on the hood of his auto to bargain for his soul in return for his youth, he would have traded without a second thought.
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