Chip Shatto (Perry County Series)

by Roy F. Chandler

  Carter Roth thought about that often, but it was only imagining. In November, the sea would be vicious with cutting wind that ripped sails and flayed skin. His deck would be rolling and pitching and he would be grinding his guts over poor food, shifting cargo, and deteriorating weather. Though he sometimes failed to admit it, C. E. Roth was done with the sea.

  Why he chose to ride in Chip Shatto's shadow was more difficult to explain. Though vastly different in many ways, he and Chip shared a peculiar empathy about most things. He usually knew what Chip would say or how he would react, and he detected that Chip anticipated him the same way.

  That closeness alone might have held him, but the roots he was putting down made it more certain that he would not stray. There had been a woman, of course, a fine and loving English girl from the fort at Gibraltar, but he had been gone for too long. He remembered, but nothing could come of those memories. The Shattos and even the boy gave him family. The beauty of the ridges and valleys provided peace of soul and a sense of sanctuary from the idiocy of the sprawling seaboard cities he had known. He had bought land and would build a house that could in time become a home. With the right woman he could make a farm that would give them comfort and security for all of their days. The dreams felt even more real than the sea life he once had.

  There was the war of course. It raged with obstinate ferocity, but he had never been a part of it and Chip's desire to serve had dwindled with his single taste. There was no hint that Lieutenant Shatto would be called again.

  At old Rob's request a short commendation issued by the Secretary of War had been published in the local papers, so Chip's service was not unknown. If it was not understood, it was also not demeaned and mutterings against him appeared ended.

  Chip would have to quit telling those lies about him being a pirate, a slaver, a smuggler, and, on occasion, a Mexican bandit. Chip was always making up a new one to tell some community gossip and, once told, there was no way to get the stories headed off.

  Bumping along at the rear of their short column, Carter Roth forgot his riding miseries in plans to tell Tinker Shuler about the Arapaho squaws Chip took into his dugout all one winter. It wasn't true, but he didn't see where that mattered.

  ++++

  Amy Shatto too was thinking about Tinker. Until Chip began talking about old Tad and how he had known the first Rob Shatto, none of them had heard of Tinker, but lately ... well, the girl appeared often in Chip's conversations, and although there was no hint of romance in her son's talk, Amy suspected it would be wise to see whatever was to be seen.

  Born to wealth, Ami-ta-chena Cummens had turned her back on Philadelphian society to live rural in distant Perry County. She and Widow Oakes had educated her sons and seen them ride off, young but ready. Ted had settled in Texas and Chip was moving toward it at home in Perry County. He would need a good woman beside him, and if his heart turned toward the nearest, Amy wished to be sure of her own position whether advising or only observing.

  At the moment she harbored severe reservations. Basically illiterate woodsy women were everywhere.

  One raised in a mountain cabin by an old woods runner was unlikely to offer much permanent solace to a traveled man who enjoyed books and, when he so chose, spoke proper King's English. Amy Shatto was not one to sit back and let things happen as they might. She kept her mind open enough to be fair with Tinker Shuler but that was about all.

  Old Rob rode with deep anticipation. It seemed a century since the first Rob Shatto had died back in 1820.

  To meet a stranger who had known him, whom he could share memories with was balm for an old man's soul. Odd how two men could live this long only a day's ride apart and never have heard of the other. Made you wonder who else might be out there that would be rewarding to know.

  ++++

  With his peg foot, Rob did not walk as well as he once had, but watching the four men disappear along the ridge, Amy judged he did at least as well as Carter and a lot better than Tad Shuler. In fact, Tad moved so slowly and seemed so bent that Amy spent a moment watching and thinking about how old he was and how precarious his health might be. Then she turned her horse and nudged it toward the Shuler cabin.

  Tinker Shuler saw her coming and felt excitement lift her breathing. Since Chip had appeared in the valley she had asked around about the Shatto family and all that she heard entranced her just as a tale of kings and queens might have. Now Amy Shatto herself was riding right up to her cabin and to Tinker it was almost as though royalty had come to visit. Breathlessly she smoothed her dress, wishing she had cleaned better and perhaps spruced up the yard a little.

  Riding in, Amy gave the place a good looking over.

  It was a decent cabin, tight and reasonably windowed. The yard was picked up and the porch was not clogged with assorted junk, the way many were.

  The girl stepped out to meet her and Amy liked that. Some would have waited inside, pretending surprise, when anyone not stone deaf would have heard the horse coming.

  Amy swung down, feather light, with grace that belied her sixty years. Her eyes were almost level with those of Tinker Shuler standing on the porch a full step higher. She extended a strong hand as a man would and stated simply, "I'm Amy Shatto, Chip's mother, and I've come especially to see you." She softened her words with a smile that crinkled her eyes and made the girl smile back with appropriate shyness.

  Tinker felt a trifle mesmerized. She took Amy's hand in her own firm grip and was pleased by the strength and sincerity of the clasp. Here was no posturing silver- spooned horse woman. Amy Shatto was said to stand on her own and do things as she saw best. Tinker Shuler could believe it.

  The cabin was neat as a pin and smelled sweet with odors of wood smoke and lye soap. The puncheon floor had been painted with a rug design in the old way and the fireplace hearth was free of dead ashes. If she had been expected, Amy would have supposed the place specially cleaned, but the Shulers could not have anticipated their arrival so what she saw was close to the cabin's normal condition and Amy was favorably impressed.

  Tinker Shuler also had a good look about her. Small, but strong and rounded, she stood squarely and appeared open and disarmingly friendly. An uneducated squatter she might be, but the girl had grace and poise that most of far better circumstances could not hope for. Her dark hair and eyes were Shatto-like and Amy suffered a small twinge seeing her for an instant as the daughter she had never had.

  At first they talked about small things, Amy about Chip's hopes for the land and Tinker about her inexperience around horses and a little about her father's decreasing abilities. It was undoubtedly a feeling out and measuring interlude but both enjoyed it and that made it easier for Amy to begin the more serious discussion.

  "Tinker, my Chip is a man full grown with experience beyond anything most men will encounter. While certainly not a rich man, he will not suffer poverty and he is educated as fully as his years and continual traveling allow.

  "Yet, as his mother, I remain concerned for his well-being and nothing a man does can be more important than his choice of a wife to share all that he is or will become." She paused to allow for mutual acceptance of the subject. She saw Tinker's heightened color and a small pulse beat along her throat, but there was no nervous hand wringing and her eyes did not become shifty or withdrawn.

  "I mention these things because I believe Chip is strongly attracted to you and I wish to understand his interest and be able to intelligently advise my son, if he requests it." Again she hesitated, this time to smile, again softening her words.

  "It would be dishonest to deny my own interest and concern as well. I wonder what you can offer a man like Chip, and I wonder if you are one to become a part of our family. Will you help me discover these things, Tinker? The knowledge might benefit us both."

  For the first time Tinker displayed agitation and rose to stand nervously behind her chair as though using it as a sort of bulwark. She began to speak before checking herself to bite her lip in concentration while
Amy waited with understanding and undeniable interest in how the girl would respond. To be bluntly asked to describe yourself could never be easy. To do so to one she must see as an exalted older person would be that much more difficult.

  Finally Tinker slipped back into her chair, as though anxious to project absolute sincerity. Her fine dark eyes seemed saucers of swirling emotions and Amy could appreciate Chip's perhaps still barely recognized attraction.

  "Mrs. Shatto, I think it is right for you to ask me your questions." Her small chin jutted bravely. "If I had a son I would wish to know about any woman he ... liked." She blushed furiously and touched her cheeks in embarrassment before continuing.

  "That Chip thinks well of me is ... oh, just wonderful!" Her eyes lighted and her words speeded with enthusiasm. "Why Chip is the most marvelous man that's ever come into this valley. Why he'd more'n match any two men I've ever seen and the way he looks an' all...." She hesitated and proceeded more sedately.

  "It'd be a terrible lie to say I haven't thought about Chip, Mrs. Shatto, but I knowed right away that he wasn't for me. I don't own hardly a thing, I can't read real good, an' I ain't never been anywhere a'tall.

  Why a man like Chip could pick the finest lady he wants—way down to Harrisburg if he likes. So even though I get all pins an' needles an' don't think real clear when he comes by, I know he's just bein' kind and neighborly.

  "I don't reckon Chip's took with the likes of me, Mrs. Shatto...." She paused before fixing Amy with those eyes of bottomless depth and speaking with a heart-lifting lilt. "But if he ever was—why I'd grab onto him so tight he'd think I was sewed there—and I'd make him the best wife a man ever had, if it wore me to a nubbin'—an I'd...." She broke off to giggle into her cupped hands in utter but unrepentant embarrassment.

  Amy joined her in unabashed laughter and after a moment Tinker placed a hand within Amy's outstretched across the table. They remained that way for a few moments, sharing empathy for Chip Shatto before Amy broke the spell. Patting Tinker's work-worn hand between her own rein-hardened fingers, Amy smiled ruefully.

  "You are an honest child, Tinker, and lovable for that alone. I can appreciate some of what Chip feels, so we must go on from here and determine, if we can, what is best for the man we both care about."

  Most would consider it wise if she discouraged Tinker Shuler and diverted Chip's attentions to the best of her ability, but Ami-ta-chena Shatto shared more than a little of her grandfather's perception and, if she had thought to consider the long departed Blue Moccasin's probable evaluation of Tad Shuler's cabin raised offspring, she might have heard him say, "Unpolished gold has more value than the shiniest of common stone" or something of that nature. As it was, Amy chose to value the mountain girl's honest appraisal and avoid passing judgment. She had also to consider that Chip would probably ignore any unrequested advice and do just as he wished anyway. She had to smile inwardly at that evaluation of the Shatto way.

  As they talked, Amy made it plain that Chip had not spoken to her and her interpretations of his feelings had not been discussed, but for Tinker, an almost inconceivable possibility had blossomed and a hope she had never dared nourish surged so powerfully she found it difficult not to wriggle or bubble with excitement.

  Amy continued questioning, but Tinker felt the friendliness of it and could answer with enthusiastic interest even as she wondered how she must sound to this wealthy and beautiful older woman.

  Without restraint, she told of her life with her aging father. Where once he had chopped the wood and helped with many things, he was now able to do little more than doze in his chair and walk familiar woods paths.

  Most cabin dwellers leaned toward the slovenly with small regard for appearances. That the girl was sufficiently self-disciplined to maintain the cabin's orderliness while performing all of the household duties was itself unusual.

  Amy found Tinker to be quick-witted and frank. Her ability to see realistically did not seem to dampen a vivid imagination that expressed itself when she talked of things she would like to do or see. Yet, even in her imaginings, Amy detected Tinker's inherent solid outlook. There were no flights of fancy involving social splendors or wildly impractical adventures. Tinker's dreams involved rich farmland, solid houses, and loving families.

  When Amy spoke, she listened raptly, nodding interest as though fearful the story might suddenly end. Tinker Shuler was engaging and Amy found herself wondering what the almost tiny girl could become—given sufficient opportunities.

  Before the men came wandering in, they had gone to the spring for water and prepared a simple meal. Mostly Amy watched as Tinker worked with practiced efficiency among her familiar things. Undisturbed by another's presence, she was able to continue their conversation and hummed contentedly to herself during the silences. The arrival of the men ended the intimacy of their talk, and as Amy listened for the sound of Rob's voice and the touch of his peg foot on the porch, she saw Tinker's head tip in listening and wondered if she sought the sounds of both Chip and her father?

  ++++

  Having them all together seemed especially nice to Chip. He knew why his mother had come of course. She had closely examined the farm and had asked the kind of questions he had expected, but her readiness to spend the hours with Tinker was obvious enough to make conversation among the men as they walked the woods and ridge-line.

  "Reckon your daughter's getting looked at real close by my Amy, Tad."

  "Well, she'll handle it just fine, Rob. Huh, won't be no closer than that boy of yours has been lookin', anyhow."

  Chip flushed a little, grinning like a school boy. "Why, I thought you figured I was coming over to see you all the time, Tad."

  The old man snorted, leaning against a tree to gather air." Me? Why you ain't more'n hardly said 'Hello' in rushin' on past. Mostly, I been wastin' my words on 'Old Earring' here." He thrust a disdainful thumb in Carter Roth's direction.

  Chip laughed, pleased to have the conversation move on but as usual, Carter wasn't having it.

  "Might be wise to let me be, Tad, and keep a closer eye on Shatto. Did I ever tell you about the winter he lived in a sod hut with an eighty year old Mandan squaw? The woman left in February in a howling blizzard—just couldn't stand him no more and....

  Chip interrupted, "Dang it, Carter, nobody believes those dumb stories, so why don't you quit telling them?"

  "Oh yeah? I'm pretty sure Tinker believed 'em when I told her!"

  "Roth, you didn't...." He broke off hearing the other men's laughter.

  They were jammed in pretty tight around Tad Shuler's table but Chip enjoyed the closeness of it, at least until Carter began telling Tinker how he ought to carry a good cook like she was to a cave he knew about up on Tuscarora Mountain. He didn't have any cave and he was just joking anyway, but how could you tell about Carter Roth? Chip glared at him across the table. He wished he could be as free and easy around Tinker, but if he spoke up he wouldn't be funning and it left him without enough to say and that made him boil like a kettle and even the food didn't completely distract him.

  Then his mother made the cabin lighter and brought back his hunger with a rush. He didn't even mind when Carter hooked a particularly tender chicken part off his plate.

  All she said was, "I'm going to send Tinker some books I think she will enjoy and once winter settles down she and Tad are coming down to spend the Christmas with us."

  Old Tad was grumbling about this being the first he'd heard of it, but Chip didn't pay any attention. His mother had decided and he knew that was the way it would be. He neatly snatched Carter's buttered bread and took a good bite while Carter sputtered, "Darn it, Chip. Just for once...."

  Chapter 14

  After the Shulers' Christmas visit Chip knew it was time to begin serious courting. He hadn't been sitting around judging Tinker's performance exactly, but the way she pitched in and helped out with all the company that came and went was enlightening. Tinker Shuler could get more accomplished in a few minutes t
han most could in an hour.

  Then there was everyone's acceptance of her as a nice, enjoyable person. Abel Troop swore he was going to take her home to keep and some of the young and available men tried lurking around her as though she was some sort of special dessert. That made Chip unnaturally irritable, but Tinker fended them off without wounding their egos, just like Chip thought she ought to.

  Old Tad dozed by the living room stove most of the time and Chip expected to have more than enough time to sit with Tinker and tell her interesting stories. He did get some opportunities but they were short and seemed continually interrupted by Carter or some other fool who didn't know enough to stay away.

  Despite Chip's volunteering, old Rob had one of Sam Ruby's boys drive his coach and the Shulers back to Pfoutz Valley. The last minute Tinker stood on the first step of the horse mounting block, where her height was just right, and offered Chip a special rewarding kiss. It was chaste and circumspect and old Rob got one that looked about the same, but the touch of her warm lips and the scent of her up close almost turned Chip's knees to slush. The Shulers trotted away with her touch still warm on his face and a final memory of dancing eyes and brightest smile.

  Carter was snickering with Doug Fleming and talking too loud about how you could catch dumb old suckers and other trash fish with even the simplest of bait. His mother took him by the arm, almost as though she needed help on the slippery steps and said softly to him alone, "Tinker is a fine young woman, Chip."

  Chip agreed of course. Then he got to wondering how come everyone was singling him out? He hadn't let on one lick that he was interested in Tinker Shuler.