Threads of Change

by Jodi Barrows

  “Liz!” Megan exclaimed. “Tell me what you and Thomas were talking so seriously about. He was acting strange over there with Mr. Smith when we first arrived and now while we were eating it looked like the two of you were having a very intense conversation. Did you really agree to marry him?”

  “We discussed it. But I’m tired, and it’s been a long day. My emotions have been up and down. Thomas was upset with me. He said we need to be more careful in this new place.”

  “Lizzie!”

  Megan’s expression told Liz she had no intention of allowing deflection.

  “Well,” she hesitated. “Thomas wants to marry me.”

  Megan looked confounded for a moment, and she looked off after Thomas for a moment before she sighed and offered her hand to pull Liz up from the wooden step where she’d parked. “See, I told you if you showed a little interest, he would tell you how he felt. Everyone could see it but you.”

  Megan stopped and stared at her for a moment. “But you sure don’t seem very excited.”

  “This morning when we were riding in the wagon, it just happened,” she told her. “We discussed how deeply I loved Caleb, and Thomas said that he knew and it was fine. He is going into business with Grandpa Lucas and … and he said that he has loved me since he first came to the Riverton Mill all those years ago, Megan.” Liz paused with disbelief as she went over it again. She had never thought about marriage for any other reason than love, and she hadn’t had time to fall in love yet. “Megan, he has waited all these years for me.”

  Megan gave her sister a hug and told her the truth. “Thomas is a good man and he loves you more than you know. Give him a chance, Liz. I don’t think you’ll be sorry. It will be good, you wait and see.”

  Liz listened to her younger sister and wanted her to be right. She would try, really try.

  “I’m going upstairs to get Thomas moved in,” Liz said. “Can you sweet talk any of those men into getting the rest of our things to the house?”

  Megan grinned. “Oh, I think I can manage that.”

  Liz continued on with her mental checklist of getting settled, pushing Thomas from her thoughts for the time being.

  “Megan, the house looked fairly clean, but we need some wood chopped. And while you’re at it, see if you can find out how to get the water, too.”

  Megan chuckled again at her sister. “You’re always giving orders, Elizabeth Bromont.”

  “And you’re so good at seeing that they’re followed. Now go and flutter your eyelashes at someone, will you? It’s going to be cold enough for a fire in our new home tonight.”

  “Tex said at lunch that we should make a habit of carrying our guns, too,” Megan said as they strolled down the street toward the wagons.

  “Does he think we don’t just because he can’t see them?” Liz teased.

  “Maybe,” Megan said. “I like him … he … well, he’s very fatherly, don’t you think so?”

  “I can see that.”

  “Liz, I don’t remember our father.”

  Liz stopped and looked at her younger sister, stunned at the abrupt admission.

  “He was a good man. He loved us a lot. He called you his wildflower. You were a feisty little thing then, too.”

  Megan smiled as her sister talked, looping her arm through Liz’s, enrapt.

  “I will be over to the house when I finish with the upstairs.” Liz gave her sister a wink as she turned to walk into her new shop and up the back staircase to Thomas’s room.

  At the end of the building, with easy access to a back door that went across to the main house where the Mailly women would live, stairs climbed up to a nice, open space just above the mercantile. From the windows, Thomas would have a full view of the house, and that would make Liz feel more secure.

  His spacious living quarters were furnished quite nicely with a good bed, washstand, and a chest of drawers. One lamp had been left on a table with several books on the bottom shelf, and a rocking chair sat angled into the corner by the window. She dusted everything and opened the crates that had been brought up with the belongings of the man she was to marry.

  It felt strange to Liz. But they were in the West now, where protocol would be set aside for necessity. Workloads were to be shared by all. She had gotten used to a variety of tasks over the weeks while managing the journey. The way west had taught her many things, and she felt pretty certain there was still plenty left to learn.

  She unpacked Thomas’s clothes and shook them out to air. She checked for any needed repairs and found they were all in fairly good shape. In fact, they all looked practically new. She refolded and placed them in the chest of drawers and on a few pegs that lined one wall by the washstand.

  The next crate she opened contained a well-worn family Bible. She opened the cover and saw the family names written on the faded inside page. Thomas William Bratcher, the third son to Susan and William Bratcher. Liz discovered that one son had died of infection at age three. The eldest of Thomas’s brothers was still living. She had met him once at the mill.

  Then she saw it again, the beautiful log cabin quilt. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, with triangles surrounding the outside edges of the four cabin blocks. Liz quickly fluffed the mattress made of straw and put fresh, clean sheets on the bed. She removed the quilt from the box and smoothed it over the mattress. The colors looked stunning with brown- and cream-colored logs matching up to the deep red triangles surrounding the cabins. This pattern made a large block and Liz could hardly take her eyes away from it. As she ran her hand across it, admiring the stitches, she noticed that the letter that had been folded into the quilt had fallen to the floor. As she picked it up, a page fell open.

  His mother had written, “Thomas, we miss you so much and wish you would come closer to home, especially now that Caleb has passed. Your father and I know how close you two were and we are saddened for you. I hope you enjoy the quilt I made for you. The log cabin blocks represent your life of working with the logs at the mill and the longing for a home of your own. You will be a great father and husband when the time is right, son. The red center of each cabin is the love you have for the woman who won’t or can’t return it. Somehow you have kept that love alive in your heart. She must be very a special woman, Thomas.”

  Liz stopped reading for a moment and gulped around a dry spot in her throat. Curious now, she read on. “The red triangles or claws are the troubles we all have finding our own home and happiness. Thomas, please don’t be upset for me speaking my mind and caring about my youngest son. Please consider coming back home. We have many fine young women who would be honored to be your wife and would make a loving home for you. I have prayed for you endlessly as I worked on this quilt. I hope you can feel your mother’s love and my desire for you to be happy, and I hope this quilt brings you what you wish for the most. Love always, your Mother.”

  Liz folded the letter and slipped it into the Bible and closed the worn book into the table drawer next to the bed. She sat down in the rocker across from it and mulled over what she had just read.

  Thomas had loved her for years and she hadn’t even known it. He had waited for her, not knowing if he would ever have a chance to express his love. She would have to be far more respectful of his feelings, even though she was not at the same point emotionally. Thomas was a good friend and she certainly didn’t want to hurt him. How would she feel if this were her own son, Luke? She would want him to be happy with a family of his own. But she wasn’t sure she wanted the fine women back home waiting for Thomas either.

  Liz looked back at the beautiful quilt, shaking her head.

  I didn’t mean to read it, she thought, immediately acknowledging the partial fib.

  She surveyed the room and it looked almost cozy. It would need a rug on the floor and some fresh curtains as soon as she could get to them.

  Sounds were now coming from below and she started to rise from the rocking chair just as Megan appeared at the top of the stairs.

 
“Liz? Oh my, where did that quilt come from? Does it belong to Thomas?” Megan was as drawn to the quilt as Liz was when she pulled it from the box. She started to inspect the pattern and workmanship. “Who made this? I don’t recognize the work. It’s very good.”

  “Thomas’s mother made it and gave it to him as a gift. It’s lovely, isn’t it?” Liz answered her sister.

  “Yes, it’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen a log cabin like this before.”

  “The red triangles.” Liz paused. “I like them but they almost look like they are keeping something out.”

  Megan looked about the room and said, “It looks nice up here. The furniture will work well. Not quite as homey as it should be. What do you suggest, Liz?”

  Liz thought Megan sized up the room and the quilt quickly. She watched as her sister continued to look around the room, taking it all in.

  “I think some new curtains and a rug will work fine!”

  Liz looked the room over again and tried to see Thomas living there while Megan stood at the window to inspect the view.

  “His view is good of our house. The large trees in the back are really in a perfect spot, don’t you think so?” she asked Liz. “We can get someone to build us a porch on the back and the house will work well. We must sleep two to a room, but they are a nice size. And the kitchen is convenient. We have a large wood-burning stove. Samuel … um, Mr. Smith is seeing to the wood that we need to get started.”

  Liz moved to the window where her sister stood.

  “Well, it looks like we are fortunate with our new home,” Megan continued. “To my surprise, our new house even comes with a garden. After the rain, it will need to be tended. The weeds are fully grown and the vegetables need to be picked. It seems that the lady of the home has been gone several weeks.”

  Liz could see the weeds from the upstairs window as they peered out. She chose to ignore Megan’s slip of the tongue calling Mr. Smith by his first name, but she’d noticed. Turning from the window, she said, “I’m finished here. Are you ready to see how the doors are coming along on the storefront?”

  The two sisters went down the staircase, along the back of the mercantile storeroom and through the storefront where Thomas and Jackson worked on enlarging the front entrance. Both men had smiles of admiration on their faces as they watched the women approach.

  “Miss Megan, how is it coming along at the new house?” Jackson asked.

  “Just fine, but we need an easier way to get water when Chet grows tired of hauling it for us. The river is so far away. Can we get a well or a pump?”

  Jackson looked puzzled. “Did you go to the building in the back? They had a pump put in and made a bathhouse there. It’s quite fancy. It seems the captain’s wife was always ready to pack up and go back East, so the captain kept doing things to get her to stay a little longer! I think you women will enjoy the luxury of the tub. You might be willing to rent it from time to time if you got a notion to run a bathhouse.”

  Liz and Megan were delighted by the prospects of a real bath and eager to see it. Megan picked up her skirt and almost ran toward the house.

  Liz lingered a moment longer by Thomas, looking at the new entrance. “The doorway is looking good. Do we have any red paint? The doors would be perfect painted red!”

  Thomas chuckled. “You would like red just about anywhere.”

  She grinned at Thomas and lengthened her step to catch her sibling. She’d nearly forgotten, but she stopped and turned to say, “The upstairs is all ready for you. I will bring you a rug in a few days when I finish it.”

  As she left, Liz heard Jackson suggest to Thomas, “I do know where some red paint is stored. Let’s finish these doors and get ready to go to Miss Anna’s supper. She’s a real fine cook.”

  As the two women came upon the little building that Jackson called a bathhouse, they found an outdoor pump to a well and a large flower garden. They admired the flowers in full bloom and picked a few to bring into the house, minus a few ants that Liz shook off.

  Liz turned the wooden latch on the door and pushed it open, not sure what she would find inside. Both women dropped their mouths open when they saw a large-footed tub in one corner with drying racks for towels beside it. They spied a simple heating system that would allow plenty of hot water required for bathing. It looked like a cookstove almost, with two open areas for the wood to be placed inside and burners above that held two very large containers of water. An indoor pump allowed the water to come right into the heating buckets! Next to the stove, a basket held an extra supply of wood for heating the water.

  Megan moved closer to the ornate tub and picked up one of the glass bottles on a shelf beside several others, and took off the lid. She placed it under her nose and breathed in the rich fragrance.

  “Can you believe all of this? It smells just like lilacs.” She took another deep sniff before offering it to Liz for a noseful.

  “I’m certainly surprised. I never expected anything like it. Do you think Abby or Emma have seen this?” Liz asked.

  “No, we thought it was a smokehouse and we didn’t see the pump or the flowers. Let’s keep it to ourselves!” Megan teased.

  Liz thought for only an instant that it would be much easier if they didn’t have to share with two others; however, she couldn’t keep something so special all for herself.

  “It would never work. They would find out and be really mad at us!” she reluctantly admitted, and she and Megan had a good laugh over it.

  They left the bathhouse and went through the back door of the kitchen. Liz commented again how a porch would be perfect on the back as they entered to find Abby and Emma getting ready to unpack the kitchen supplies. They had just finished moving into their bedrooms when Megan informed them, in detail, about the claw-footed tub, complete with beautiful, fragrant smelling jars to use in the bath.

  “Well, I have to see this to believe it,” Abby commented and walked out the back door with her sister.

  Liz took a quick survey of the house and found it all to her liking. It was really much better than she had ever hoped.

  The cousins returned, chattering on about the bathhouse and how thankful they felt toward the captain who loved his wife so much and wanted to provide such comforts for her.

  “Her blessing has turned into ours,” Abby said. “It certainly will make it more pleasant for us, won’t it?”

  “I think the good captain wanted his wife to be happy,” Emma said. “It’s so romantic, isn’t it?”

  Leave it to Emma to romanticize any situation, Liz thought, and she grinned at her cousin.

  “The marriage vows say for better or worse. I think you stay with them anywhere, if you really love them!” Megan returned. “She shouldn’t have moved back east without him.”

  “It has been a busy day. What do we do next?” Abby asked as she dropped onto a straight-back chair by a wooden table large enough to seat eight.

  “I think we should get out of these rags we’ve worn for weeks and put on something we haven’t seen since packing back home.”

  Emma had spoken the truth about their clothing. They were in rags, Liz realized.

  Abby picked up the edge of her skirt and said, “The next time I see this skirt, it better be at the end of the kitchen mop handle!”

  They all laughed and Megan added, “My dress is so thin that my arms have turned brown by the sun, even through the sleeves!”

  Laughter erupted again and Liz gently tugged at the well-worn waist of her dress, and it began to come apart in her very hand.

  “I had to keep my apron tied on tight or my dress would have fallen off days ago.” Liz held the waist up where the stitches had vanished.

  “I can’t believe I had this on when Thomas proposed to me.”

  Abby and Emma both straightened, looking to Megan for confirmation that they’d heard her right. At Megan’s nod of validation, Liz’s excited cousins lunged at her and encircled her with an exuberant embrace and a parade of questions.r />
  Anna opened her door wide and welcomed the Maillys and their escorts to her cozy home, which appeared to have many modern comforts. She wore a clean white apron over the same dark blue calico she had worn when she met them in town earlier in the day.

  Along the back wall, two doors opened to a wooded area where she’d set two tables end to end. Large trees canopied the tables, creating a cool spot for eating together. A breeze came through and kept the summer evening enjoyable.

  Two beautiful scrap patchwork quilts with single squares and thin triangles served as tablecloths, and crocks blooming with wildflowers decorated the centers of each table. Anna had enough benches and chairs set out to include all the people who came on the wagons, plus Smithy and Samuel Smith. Pastor Parker hadn’t made it home yet, but Anna told them she expected him at any moment.

  The women gathered together in the back of Anna’s house where she prepared to serve cold tea in tall metal cups.

  Emma approached Anna and said, “I simply can’t wait any longer. I have to find out how you control all of your curls; they look so nice, and mine are just a wild mess everywhere.”

  Liz chuckled, noticing that Emma’s curls had gotten the best of her in the humid heat.

  “Oh, it’s bearable with a little beeswax, and it’s grand when the wind blows too. I will show you how to do it and share some of mine with you until you can get some of your own.”

  Liz admired the tablecloth quilts, wondering if the women in Fort Worth were avid quilters or just the kind to make them as needed. These beautiful coverings were perfectly pieced and the color pattern carefully selected. They had grown worn over time, but each still showed the love stitched into its blocks.

  As she did with every quilt she came across, Liz ran her hand over the fabric and threads, hoping to soak up the story that could be told. Was a friendship strengthened as the stitches were sewn? Or was it possibly a new bride asking advice from her mother as they stitched? Or could tears have been shed over the hope for a future or the loss of one?

  “Oh, good! My dear husband,” Anna announced.