by Merry Farmer
Pete turned bright red and scuffed his boot against the dirt of the path. “No. Myrtle, I’d like you to meet Miss Josephine Lewis, from Philadelphia.”
“But not anymore,” Josephine added. “I’m…I’m on my way to Denver City to move in with my niece and her husband.”
For some reason, that felt like a lie. Even more so when Myrtle quirked her eyebrow.
“Oregon City isn’t exactly on the way to Denver City,” she said.
“Well, you see, there are the orphans to consider.” Josephine nodded to the swing, where the four young ones were giggling and shrieking as they played. “It’s a long story, but the important part is that Pete and I have taken the care of these children on our shoulders. It was only right to see them through to the end of their journey.”
“I see.” Myrtle did little to hide the grin that tightened her lips, glancing from Josephine to Pete and back. “So you’ll be looking for homes for them?”
A sudden, unaccountable stab of pain pierced Josephine’s heart. “Well…I…yes, yes we will.”
Myrtle hummed, crossed her arms, and turned to look at the children. “One or two of the churches in town might know of some families who would be willing to take them. There’s a couple of establishments that call themselves orphanages nearby, but they’re nothing official.”
“Any direction you could point us in would help,” Pete said. “And if you could find it in your heart to put Josephine and the kids up, for tonight, at least…”
He let his request taper off when Myrtle glanced pointedly at him. “I’m almost filled to capacity right now.”
It wasn’t a denial, but it wasn’t welcoming them with open arms either.
“I’m sure we’d be willing to help out in any way you need us to,” Josephine rushed to say. “We’ve just come off of three months on the trail, and we’re all as strong as the oxen that pulled our carts.”
Myrtle’s expression softened. “I didn’t mean to imply I was turning you away. I’m just trying to reorganize the rooms in my mind. You wouldn’t mind sharing all together, would you?”
Heavens. Sharing a room with six children…four of them rambunctious and two almost old enough to be considered adults.
In spite of her reservations, Josephine said, “Yes, of course.”
Myrtle nodded. “Then I can shift the Montrose brothers into one of the back rooms for now. They’re heading out tomorrow anyhow. And old George Montgomery won’t mind bunking with Hoover Joplin for a night or two.”
“Thanks, Myrtle.” Pete grinned and patted Myrtle on the back. “I knew we could rely on you.”
“You might not say that when I tell you that if I take them, I absolutely don’t have room for you.” Myrtle arched her brow.
Pete shrugged. “There’s always the hotel. And if worse comes to worst, I’m sure I’ve still got a friend or two around here who would put up with me.”
“Yeah, but can you put up with them, Mr. Set-In-Your-Ways.”
A chill raced down Josephine’s back. Pete was set in his ways. Too set to make any major life changes?
“It’s settled then.” Josephine ignored her fears and clapped her hands together, glad they were finally getting somewhere…even if it meant she and Pete wouldn’t share a camp or a roof over their heads for the first time in months.
But where she was smiling, Pete had suddenly broken out in a fit of gloom. “You’re sure you’ll be all right here?” he asked, his voice unusually gruff.
“Yes,” Josephine said hesitantly. “I suppose so.” She looked to Myrtle. Myrtle still wore her sly grin.
Pete rubbed his chin. “If Luke causes any trouble, you let me know. That boy’s close enough to being a man that he gets ideas in his head, but he’s not close enough to handle the responsibilities that come along with those ideas.”
“I know.” Josephine nodded pointedly to Myrtle to let her know Pete spoke the truth and Luke should be watched with both eyes.
“And Libby seems a bit moony after meeting that Teddy Simms earlier,” Pete went on.
“Teddy Simms?” Myrtle brightened. “He’s a fine young man with good prospects.” She turned to study Libby, who had taken a seat on a stump at the corner of the property and was now plucking the petals off of a wildflower with a far-away smile. “And that young lady of yours looks of an age to notice and appreciate a fine young man.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Pete grumbled. He rolled his shoulders, then glanced to the younger children on the swing. “That lot has more energy than a pack of prairie dogs in the sun.”
“We have several other children and their families boarding here at the moment,” Myrtle told him. “They won’t lack for playmates or adults with the energy to keep up with them.”
Josephine’s heart beat with bittersweet pride at the concerns Pete was expressing. He may have fancied himself a tough old dog, but he had a kind, fatherly heart under it all. It was a mystery why the man had never taken a wife and had children of his own.
“Stop your fussing, Pete,” Myrtle laughed. “A body would think you were ready to swoop in and adopt this lot yourself, what with the way you’re going on.”
Pete’s back was stiff in an instant. “I’m too old to start a family.” He snapped a sideways glance at Josephine.
“Well, don’t look at me.” Josephine was determined to call him out. “I’m far past the family age myself.”
“You’re still younger than all that,” Pete insisted.
“Then so are you.”
“I—” Pete thought better of whatever argument he was going to make. His shoulders loosened, and he tugged at the bottom of his vest. “I’m going to be late for supper at the hotel if I don’t get a move on.”
Without another word, he turned and marched away. Josephine watched his retreating back, mouth opened in scolding indignation. And yet, she couldn’t think of anything to call after him.
To top it off, Myrtle clamped a hand to her mouth. That did nothing to hide her smile. But all she said was, “Well, well.”
All hope Josephine had of things settling down and an answer to the dilemma of the children’s futures dropping out of the sky was dashed by the next morning.
“I’m a pi-rate, I’m a pi-rate!” Freddy chanted at the top of his lungs, marching around Myrtle’s large dining room table. He’d made a sword out of the broom Josephine had been using earlier to help Myrtle tidy up.
“I’m a pirate to-oo, I’m a pirate to-oo!” Herbert shouted along with him, circling in the opposite direction. He wore a salad bowl on his head.
“And tell her I’ll come as soon as I can get free.” Josephine dictated a telegram to Libby, who sat across the corner of the table from her, pencil in hand. Josephine sent an irritated look at the boys. “If you’re so intent on playing, why don’t you go outside?”
“Pirates do not go outside,” Herbert announced.
“Yeah, not on the high seas,” Freddy agreed.
“Besides, Muriel and Judith and those other smelly girls are out there having a tea party.”
Josephine sighed. “Surely you can share the yard with them.”
“Pirates don’t share!” Freddy banged the end of the broom on the floor.
It was a battle Josephine wasn’t going to win. At least not until she finished dictating the telegram Libby was to take to the telegraph office in town. The message was for Callie, letting her know that she wouldn’t be able to join her in Denver City until the orphans had all found homes. Unfortunately, Libby had other things on her mind.
“Land sakes, pay attention, Libby.”
“What?” Libby snapped her eyes away from the window. She seemed surprised that she had a pencil in her hand at all. “Oh. You’ll go with the orphans as soon as you’re free.” She rushed to scribble on her scrap of paper.
“No, no, dear, I’ll go to my niece Callie in Denver City as soon as I’m free.”
Libby put her pencil down with a distracted sigh. “Do you think I
have time to find the telegraph office? Teddy—I mean, Mr. Simms said he would be here soon to finish the transaction for the wagon.”
Josephine winced. That was another thing she had to worry about. The wagon was all the way over at the hotel…with the bulk of her belongings in it.
“Let’s finish this first.” She tapped the table to drag Libby’s attention away from the window. “The next line should say ‘Updates to follow.’”
“I can take that message to the telegraph office for you,” Luke said as he sauntered into the room. “I’ll take the message and the fee and everything right down to the train station, where the telegraph office is.”
Josephine eyed the boy suspiciously. “How do you know that’s where the telegraph office is?”
Luke shrugged, staring at the floor. “I dunno.”
“He snuck out last night.” Libby ratted on him.
“Hush,” Luke hissed.
“After you and the little kids went to bed,” Libby went on. “Said he wanted to see the town, find out where the saloon was.”
“Luke!”
“Yeah, and the only reason you know that is because I ran into you outside on the porch, waiting for a certain somebody to come courting.”
“I was not!”
“Were too.”
Josephine clamped her hands on the side of her head. Younger, rabble-rousing children were one thing. Almost grown-up children brought an entirely different set of problems with them.
“If you know where the telegraph office is—”
A shriek from outside cut through Josephine’s instructions for Luke. She and Libby both jumped up from the table. When the shrieking continued, followed by loud barking, Josephine, Libby, and the boys all dashed out of the dining room, through the kitchen, and into the yard.
“Heaven help us,” Josephine cried when she saw the mess in the yard.
The girls might have been having a tea party at some point, but at the moment it looked more like an Indian attack. The child-sized table had been knocked over and its contents scattered. A big, mangy dog sniffed through the carnage, eating left-overs. The girls had run—presumably from the dog—but in the process, one or more of them had snagged something on the clothesline or crashed into one of the poles or done something that had caused half of Myrtle’s laundry to spill onto the grass. That still didn’t explain why the girls were running this way and that, trampling the laundry and tearing up the flowerbeds.
“Girls, girls!” Josephine shouted to stop them. “Whatever is the matter?”
“Snake! Snake!” the girls shouted in reply.
“Pirates kill snakes!” Freddy yelled.
He and Herbert jumped into the mad fray of running and scattering. The dog had apparently had its fill of tea things and bounded after Freddy and Herbert as if playing some game. He was big enough that the girls only screamed louder and ran harder.
“Stop this at once,” Josephine called out.
Much to her dread, Myrtle popped her head out of an upstairs window at just that moment. “What’s going on here?”
“Snakes!” the boys yelled.
“Pirates!” half of the girls shouted.
“Dog! Dog!” the other half hollered over top of them.
“Teddy!” Libby exclaimed a moment later.
That was the last straw. Josephine threw up her hands and turned with a scowl to give young Teddy Simms a piece of her mind for adding to the chaos on hand.
“Pete!” Her scolding died on her lips as she found Pete walking beside Teddy into the chaotic scene.
Josephine wasn’t sure if she was relieved to see him or ready to give him what-for for leaving her to deal with so much drama on her own. Myrtle had pulled her head back into the house, which could only meant she would be joining the chaos any second.
Pete took one look at the noisy, screaming, topsy-turvy scene and shouted, “Quiet!”
In an instant, the children stopped where they were. Even the dog dropped to a crouch, tail wagging, head turned to Pete. Teddy jumped to the side at the force of Pete’s command. Libby looked distressed, but Luke was shaking with laughter. “What’s all this about?” Pete went on.
A long silence followed, and then all at once—
“There was a snake in the grass.”
“The dog jumped on our table.”
“I’m a pirate!”
“The wind blew the laundry over.”
“I didn’t mean to do it.”
“Really, I didn’t.”
Pete held up his hands, and the barrage of youthful excuses stopped. “Is that any way to act when you lot are guests here?”
More silence, and several heads lowered in contrition. A moment later, Myrtle blew through the kitchen door. She raised her hands in frustration, then dropped them to her sides with a loud puff. It was still another few seconds before she could say, “What happened to my laundry?”
“The kids here were just about to help you wash it again and hang it out to dry, right kids?” Pete asked.
Freddy and Muriel has the good grace to look guilty and mumble, “Yes, sir.”
“Luke, think you can get that pole standing and the laundry lines strung again?” Pete went on.
“Yessir.” Luke jumped into action.
“Girls, it looks like you need to clean up your tea party.” This time he addressed the other boarding house girls as well as Muriel and Judith.
The boarding house girls were too terrified to say anything, but Muriel and Judith said, “Yes, sir,” and got to work.
Pete turned to Josephine with a self-satisfied grin. That grin dropped when her steely scowl didn’t budge. Pete frowned as well, a silent questioning of why she was still upset. Josephine nodded past him. Pete glanced over his shoulder to find that Teddy and Libby had walked away from the rest of the group and now stood chatting by the corner of the house, Libby beaming.
“That young man showed up at the hotel looking for you,” Pete said.
Josephine arched one eyebrow. “Are you sure he was looking for me ?”
Pete rubbed the bottom of his face. “Well, either way, he’s come to negotiate a price for your wagon and supplies.”
“All right. I’ll just—”
“Hold on one second, Miss Josephine.” Myrtle stopped her, raising a hand. Josephine winced as she pivoted to face the woman. “It’s all well and good that Pete here has set the children to work cleaning up after themselves—”
“—But the fact that they made a mess in the first place is still a problem,” Josephine finished her thought.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Myrtle sighed. “I’m all in favor of helping children and families in need, but—and I’m sorry to say this—it seems to me as though you’ve taken on more than you can handle.”
Josephine opened her mouth to protest, but there really wasn’t much point. She shut her mouth and pressed her fingertips to her temples. “I should make finding homes for them a priority,” she sighed.
Myrtle nodded, not unsympathetically. “I ran across Rev. Martin of the Methodist church while running errands this morning, mentioned you might come see him. He says he knows of at least one family that might be willing to take a child in.”
“That’s good,” Pete said. It was clear he was trying hard to stay positive.
“It is,” Josephine agreed. At least, her lips agreed. Her heart wasn’t so sure. She watched Freddy and Luke as they worked fixing the clothesline, glanced across to Muriel as she and the other girls set the tea table to rights. She’d never imagined that the thought of finding homes for these children would wound her so deeply.
Pete must have seen the creases around her eyes and the tension in her mouth. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, “I’ll come with you to the church.”
“You will?” If there was one thing that could make the difficult task easier, that was it.
“Just as soon as I go talk to my buddy about my belongings.”
“You didn’t go see h
im last night?”
Pete shrugged. “Charlie and Graham kept me up talking late into the night.” By the tinge of red that came to his cheeks, there was probably a fair amount of drinking and cigar-smoking to that story too.
“I see.”
“After that, sleeping in the wagon again seemed like the best option,” Pete went on. Josephine suspected it’d been the least complicated resting place for a man who’d celebrated a too much. “I was just on my way to Ronny’s when Teddy showed up.”
“Ronny’s?” Myrtle cut in.
“Yeah.” Pete frowned. “Why? What is it?”
Myrtle was slow to reply. “Pete, Ronny up and left way back in April, right after you headed east to lead your wagon train.”
“He did?” Pete rubbed the back of his neck, face pinching. “That doesn’t sound like Ronny. What about Butch?”
“As far as I know, Butch is still there,” Myrtle answered.
“Who’s Butch?” Josephine asked.
“Ronny’s brother.” Without giving Josephine a chance to ask anything else, Pete went on. “I’d better get over there. Think you can handle overseeing these rascals as they clean up?”
“Yes,” Josephine and Myrtle answered at the same time.
They looked each other square in the eye in surprise. Myrtle bowed her head just enough to let Josephine know she wouldn’t get between her and Pete.
Pete nodded. “Right. I’d better go see what the situation is.” He started off, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned back to Josephine. “Keep your eye on those two,” he said, nodding to Libby and Teddy.
Josephine leaned to the side, catching the two young lovebirds as they slipped subtly around the corner of the house. Land sakes, young love happened fast. Why, it’d taken her weeks to admit that she was falling for—
She swallowed. “I’ll keep an eye on them.”
It was herself she was truly concerned about, though.
Chapter Three
N othing had turned out the way Pete expected it to since reaching the end of the trail. Not one single thing. So it was no surprise that prickles raced down his neck as he headed down the street and around the corner to the large, rectangular shed that Ronny and Butch Crawford ran as a warehouse for men who didn’t like to be burdened with belongings as they roamed the frontier.