by Beth Bennett
Jackson opened one eye. “Olivia, I want you to stop using that moniker for me. It could get you into trouble where you’re going, and, it’s rude.”
“Humpf.” She crossed her arms.
“My mother and sister live in the house I am sending you to. They’ve been notified of your arrival. My mother’s name is Anna Bea Daniels and my sister is Hettie Lee. You may call her, Hettie.”
“Is your sister an old maid?” Olivia thought she caught a hint of a smile from behind that beard of his.
“My sister is not yet twenty-one, Olivia. Hardly an old maid.”
“Well, what did you tell them about me?”
Jackson sat up and removed his leg from Olivia’s seat. He pushed his hat brim slightly back and set his bright blue eyes upon her face. “Why all the questions now, little rebel? You didn’t seem interested before.”
“I asked a million questions, you just wouldn’t answer them, that’s all. You don’t pay attention.” Olivia frowned at him and tried to convey her disapproval. She didn’t think she liked being called, ‘little rebel’ and she certainly didn’t want any high and mighty Yankees thinking she was a charity case. She just didn’t know how to tell Jackson Daniels that. “I…I wondered what you told them. About…me.
Jackson took his pocket watch out of his vest and popped it open. “Won’t be too much longer and we’ll be in Staunton.” Snip went the watch as he closed it and put it back. “I told my family, that you were a lovely young woman from the mountains of Virginia and that my company was responsible for putting you out of your home. I told them, I wanted to help you.”
She crumpled back against the carriage seat. Despite her efforts to the contrary, Olivia’s eyes welled up with tears. So, they would think her a charity case because, the simple truth was, she was one. Of course he told them that. What else would he have said? Olivia was quiet for the rest of the trip. She longed to ask Jackson more questions about New York but she felt far too much shame to say anything else. A feeling of dread began to take hold. The initial excitement of an unimaginable trip to far-away New York City was replaced by the sure feeling that she was traveling toward her doom.
The carriage finally pulled up to the depot in Staunton. Olivia gazed wide-eyed at the town that lay spread out before her. She’d never seen such a crowded place. Dray wagons loaded with barrels pulled up to the station to load and unload cargo. Men on horseback and women with children in tow, crossed the street. Passengers stood on the train station platform, their traveling trunks beside them.
Olivia scanned the area. She was looking for the grumpy old widow woman, Harriet Holland. She had no idea what the woman looked like, but felt sure, as soon as she laid eyes on her she would recognize her. The picture of a wizened old crone came to mind. She was tired from the long trip and the thought of Harriet Holland, aggravated her. The thought of Jackson Daniels’ family taking her in as a charity case was even worse.
Jackson was busy helping Sam unload her trunk. He pointed at her. “Olivia, wait here with Sam. I’m going in to check the train schedule. You’ll not be leaving for Charlottesville till in the morning. Mrs. Holland will be here then.” Dismissing her, he disappeared into the depot.
So! The old crone wouldn’t appear till tomorrow. Sam came to stand nearby. The look of pity on his face was more than she could bear. “We gonna miss you, Ollie. Powerful bad. I’m going over to the Jones’ farm to hep out. Their hired hand took sick. Shore do hate to leave you here though.” He scuffed his boot in the dirt and looked down.
Olivia swallowed the lump in her throat. “Oh, poo, Sam. This ain’t nothing. I’m gonna be all right.”
He nodded and took his cue. She didn’t want to talk about it. Olivia turned her back and called over her shoulder. “I’m going to sit a spell up here on the platform. Tell that Yankee where I am.” She couldn’t stand to say good-bye. She found a bench and sat down. Why did she wear her favorite pink checked dress on the very first day of the trip? It was already dirty and rumpled from the ride. The matching bows tied at the ends of her braids drooped pitifully. Shoot! One was missing. Angrily, she reached up and yanked the other one off and threw it in the dirt.
A snotty little boy came to stand right in front of her. His mother was chattering away about nothing to another woman. He stared at her and picked his nose. Olivia bugged her eyes at him. “What are you lookin at?”
The woman gasped, incensed, and dragged the boy away. He grinned at Olivia. Little turd. Jackson appeared and immediately began to berate her. “I told you to stay with Sam! What are you doing over here all alone?”
Olivia crossed her arms and leaned back against the bench. “Waiting for you.”
Jackson reached down and pulled her up by the arm. “You are without a doubt, the most trouble in the smallest package I have ever seen.” Still holding her, he led her toward a large building only two streets over from the depot. “We’re going to the Hotel. Your trunk will be delivered to your room. You’ll have time to freshen up before dinner.”
Olivia saw Sam climb on top of the rig and drive away. She knew in her heart it was the last time she would ever see him. Jackson would dump her off on old Harriet Holland and he and Sam would go back home. She’d be sent to live with strangers because Jackson Daniels felt sorry for her. She would have nobody, anywhere, in the whole wide world. She might just as well be a piece of packing paper for all Jackson Daniels cared. She thought of Paw lying dead in the grave and she thought of Aunt Bessie, who would, no doubt, soon be lying beside him.
Pulling against him as hard as she could, Olivia dug her heels into the ground. “I ain’t going nowhere with you, Yankee. Let me go.” She jerked her arm out of his hold. It hurt.
“What in the devil has gotten into you, little girl? You just march yourself straight to that hotel and stop acting like a wild street urchin.” He looked embarrassed and she saw him glance around as people began to stare.
A wild street urchin? He hadn’t seen anything. Olivia balled her small hand into a fist, remembering to tuck her thumb under, just as Jimmy had taught her. She reared her arm back and punched Jackson Daniels right between the eyes. It wasn’t much of a punch. Still, the shock of it stunned him for a moment. Before he could do anything, a flurry of noise and confusion sounded down the street. Olivia turned to see what was going on when she suddenly felt her back being jerked up against Jackson’s solid chest. Her feet dangled from the ground. A huge dray wagon, filled with heavy barrels roared by. It was so close, it nearly took Olivia’s eyelashes off with it. Jackson had wrapped his arms tightly around her and had just managed to pull her out of harm’s way. She felt his wiry beard brush against her neck when he leaned down and growled into her ear.
“If you so much as move a muscle, it shall be the last time you ever do so. Do you understand me?”
Olivia slowly nodded. Her heart pounded in fear at the near miss. Jackson had saved her life. The feel of his broad chest against her back sent a shiver down her spine. She leaned her head against him and tried to catch her breath. He held her for several long minutes then finally set her down. Seizing her gently by the shoulders, he whispered. “Are you all right?” Olivia gulped and looked up into his deep blue eyes. They were filled with concern and his perusal made her heart flutter.
The moment was ruined, however, when he continued. “I hope you learned your lesson. Stubborn insolence leads to destruction. You can expect to be punished after we get checked in.” Taking her by the wrist, he walked her over to the hotel. Olivia felt like a stupid little girl. She was much too old to have him leading her by the hand. He was going to spank her again, just like a baby. He didn’t really give a fig about her. She was nothing but a backward farm girl to him. They walked up the wooden steps and Olivia gazed at the red letters emblazoned across the front of the building. American Hotel. Though it was made of wood like all the other structures in town, it was rather fancy. A big desk with a clerk dressed in black met them in the entryway. Ornately carved, red vel
vet covered chairs, sat in the foyer. She could see a restaurant adjacent to the lobby.
Jackson dragged her up to the front desk. “Two rooms, adjoining please, with outside locks.”
The clerk gave a stately bow. “Yes, sir.”
Jackson signed the registry book and grasped the large brass keys in his hand. The clerk shook his head and looked over his spectacles at Olivia. She knew she must look a fright. The ribbons had fallen off her hair and she was sure her braids were coming loose. Her dress was wrinkled and dust had settled in the creases. How Jackson managed to look as bright as a new penny she didn’t know. She only knew she wanted to get away from him. His irritating grasp of her wrist made her want to slap him. She did one better.
She dug her fingernails into his wrist. He let her go with an outraged shout. Curious onlookers craned their necks to see what was happening. Olivia took a step back. The black look on Jackson’s face did not bode well. Without saying a word, he bent over and tossed her up and over his shoulder. Taking the stairs two at a time, the entire lobby watched them go. A little girl pointed a fat finger and pronounced judgment. “That’s a bad, bad, girl.”
“I am not a bad girl, you little guttersnipe!” Olivia yelled back. A gasp rose up from the crowd. She pounded Jackson’s back. “Put me down, right now!”
A burning sting seared her backside as Jackson’s hand gave her a warning smack. He struggled to unlock the room and she struggled to get down. The door banged open and Jackson tossed her on the bed. He slammed the door closed with his foot.
Like a fire breathing dragon, Jackson turned and pointed an accusatory finger. “You and I, young lady, are going to have it out. Bend over the bed and lift your skirts.”
Olivia was mortified. “I can’t show you my bloomers.”
“You will obey me this instant or I will take you back to Goldsboro. We shall part ways and this whole thing will be done with.”
Olivia stared at the floor. She wanted to go home but not like this. Bessie would be so disappointed. This was her only chance to get an education and make a better life. Not just for herself but for her Aunt as well. She was damned if she did, and damned if she didn’t. Slowly she got up from the bed and turned around. Her face turned scarlet as she lifted her skirts. She reluctantly bent across the bed. The sound of Jackson’s belt coming off made a whirring noise.
“You will obey me, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
Whack. Olivia winced as the belt cracked across her backside. It stung but in her opinion, it wasn’t as bad as his hand. She changed her mind on the second smack.
“Ouch!” she yelled.
Before Olivia could say another word, three more, quick, sharp smacks rained down on her bottom. She bit her bottom lip. Surely he was done. She started to move.
A sharp bark from Jackson stilled her movement. “You stay right where you are until I give you permission to move.”
Three more cracks with the belt came across the tops of her thighs.
“You will tell me what has gotten into you.” Another crack. Olivia was sure this searing smack had left a mark. “I thought I was sending Olivia Overton, a sensible girl, to stay with my family in New York. I have no intention of sending a hooligan.” The belt rained down again and Olivia couldn’t hold back her tears. She lay her face on the mattress and sobbed.
“I’m not a hooligan,” she howled.
Several minutes passed but no more smacks came across her bottom. Jackson’s deep voice finally spoke. “You may stand.”
She dropped her dress and stood.
“Turn around.”
She looked up in abject misery.
“Can you give an accounting for your behavior, young lady?” His brows were furrowed but there was a bit of pity in his voice.
Olivia sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I can’t go to New York. That’s all. You can leave me here. There ain’t nothing for me back at home, neither. I’ll figure something out.”
Jackson threaded his belt through the loops on his pants. When he finished, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I’m very sorry I had to punish you like that but now you are talking nonsense. Can you please tell me what has gotten you so upset? Just hours ago, you were fine with going to New York, even excited maybe. Now, you don’t want to go at all. You know I can’t just leave you here in Staunton.”
She scraped her feet across the floor. Telling him she couldn’t stand to be a charity case was nearly worse than being one. “I’m ashamed.” Big choking tears threatened to spill over again. She swallowed hard, trying to keep them in. “I don’t want to be a charity case. My family always took care of their own, and it just goes against my grit. I’d rather stay here alone than be the pity of your family in New York. I’m sorry I put you to so much trouble.”
Olivia watched as Jackson went to sit at the small table beside the window. He rested one arm on the top, then crossed his legs. His eyes seemed to look in her soul. She swallowed hard again. A tear managed to escape but she quickly wiped it away in frustration.
“Well, Olivia, it all makes sense now. Being nothing more than a recipient of pity would be hard for anyone to take, much less a stalwart girl from the mountains of Virginia. I want to ask you a question and I expect the truth. Do you understand?”
She nodded and turned her eyes back to the floor.
“Look at me, Olivia.” She turned her face toward him and could see the sincerity in his eyes. “You think I’m sending you to New York because I pity you? Because you are nothing more than a…how did you put it, charity case?”
“That’s what I am. I ain’t got nowhere to go and I’m ashamed. It goes against my grit.”
He leaned back in the chair. “If that’s what you think, I just bet it goes against your grit. Olivia, you are in this position through no fault of your own. The fault is mine. I am the one responsible for putting you in this difficult predicament. I am the one with the responsibility to right it. Do you think I would send a charity case to stay with my very own family in New York?”
Her chin raised just a little at his words. He continued. “No, I would not. You are smart and hard-working. If I did not have complete faith that you would rise to the occasion, difficult though the circumstances may be, I would never think of sending you to New York. If you were a charity case, I would have sent you to stay in the poor house, or left you to fend for yourself with Aunt Bessie. No, my dear, you are most definitely not, a charity case. Stubborn, yes, charity case, no.”
She jutted out her jaw and stood a little taller. Some of the spark came back as her heart absorbed his words. His answer had satisfied her. Her bottom still burned but she supposed she had deserved it.
“Well, in that case, I want me a steak for dinner. I’m going to get washed up.” She turned her back and marched to the wash stand. He shook his head and stepped out into the hall to go to his own room.
Dinner was delicious. Olivia rolled her eyes and savored every bite. He enjoyed watching her. She looked so young with her lovely brown hair in braids. A few stray curly wisps framed her attractive face. He noticed there were no ribbons present.
“Olivia, where are the ribbons we purchased? They would look nice with the dress.”
“One fell out on the trip and it made me mad as a fireball so I threw the other one away.”
Jackson shook his head and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “You could stand to learn a little more patience, young lady.”
She took a big bite of potatoes and a gulp of milk. “This is the damn, I mean darn best food I ever did eat. I always heard you could order a steak in fancy restaurants. I guess it’s true.”
Jackson considered his charge. He wondered how Mother and Hettie would react to Olivia. If Olivia thought the American Hotel was a fancy restaurant, he couldn’t imagine her reaction to the Astoria House Hotel. He watched as she attacked her steak with a knife. Finally, giving up, she stabbed it with her fork and raised the entire piece to h
er mouth. He wondered how Caroline Astor would like that.
“Olivia, I do not think I have properly prepared you for what you might expect in New York.”
She shrugged her shoulders and continued eating. He considered her pert little nose and big green eyes. She was not a child but she was not a woman yet, either. His mother had no idea what she was in for. “You are going to have to be very patient. People in New York expect…well…they demand…well, what I mean to say, there will be certain expectations that you may not be used to.” He took a sip of red wine. “My family travels rather high in the New York social circles. My father built a fine business during his career. Before his death a year ago, he provided very well for my mother, sister and myself.” Jackson didn’t know how to continue without sounding snobbish. “My mother will want to take you to places, introduce you to people, and that will require a certain type of behavior.”
“Don’t worry, Yankee, I’ll be fine.”
Jackson was tempted to take his napkin and wipe the sweat from his brow. Olivia was not easy to deal with. He would not be there to take her in hand.
His reply was stiff. “Mr. Daniels, if you please.” She frowned at him but nodded her head. “Olivia, I expect you to obey my mother and behave yourself.” His sister, Hettie, was a consummate mischief maker in her own right. He was beginning to grow concerned at placing the two of them together with only his mother to watch over them. If only Father were alive. “You understand, you must cooperate and do your best.”
“Mr. Daniels, I ain’t got a lot of options. I guess I’ll get along with that Yankee family of your’n just fine. Aunt Bessie wants me to go. I did good in school; I guess I can do good in a Yankee school too.”
“Fine, well, that is fine. One more thing, perhaps you could call it a northern school. That sounds a little less…combative.” He called for the check. Despite her diminutive size, Olivia had eaten an amazing amount of food. She never ceased to surprise him. He only hoped that she would indeed rise to the occasion. This was a good opportunity for her, still, the north may have won the war, but they had never had to deal directly with Ollie Overton before.