by Mary May
“Good to meet you, Eddie,” he offers while looking at me hard.
“Umm…Sonny, you will never guess who Eddie’s uncle is.”
Eli cocks his head at me, flashing a super-fast and super-fake smile. “Oh? Do tell.” I pat Mabel on the nose before I answer. “Robert Mitchell.”
I feel Eli’s eyes boring a hole in my back as I pet Mabel. “Isn’t that something?” I say brightly. I have no idea what Eli’s expression is since I am not looking at him, but judging from the tone of his voice when he speaks, he is most likely frowning…hard!
“Oh, that’s most definitely something. I wasn’t aware that Robert has a brother.”
Eddie’s face falls. “My pa died when I was little. I live in town with my ma,” he explains.
I exchange a long look with Eli before laying my hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’m real sorry about your pa, Eddie.” He nods but doesn’t say anything. I can tell he really misses his dad. Clearly not all Mitchells are emotionally withdrawn.
“Well, Eddie, it was really good to meet you; however, we need to get back to camp.” Eli holds out his hand and I take the hint, placing mine in his. Eddie watches as Eli practically drags me back down the path. Right before we lose sight of him, he raises his hand and waves.
“Bye, Sonny! Bye, Cher! Be seeing you!” Then he mounts Mabel, spinning the mountain of horseflesh around before kicking her into a hard gallop that shakes the ground.
After all is silent once more, Eli looks down at me with eyebrows raised into his hair line. “Bye, Sonny? Bye, Cher?”
I yank my hand from his and walk back down the path to our cave. “Don’t ask.”
A couple of hours later, Martha arrives with a large basket in her hands. I can smell the heavenly aroma of fresh-baked bread. It is all I can do not to snatch the basket right out of her hands and tear into the bread. She smiles at me and I think she knows what has crossed my mind.
“I’m sorry it took me so long. I had to come up with a plausible story for my father.” She sets the basket down and starts taking things out. Checkered tablecloth, plates, cups, some silverware, a large container of lemonade, and then a large loaf of bread wrapped in a towel. After she has set all it down and arranged it like a picnic, she motions for us to join her on the tablecloth. I drop to my knees and Eli sits next to me. Martha hands us each a plate with a thick slab of bread that she has slathered in butter and some sort of dark preserves. Then she pours some lemonade into the cups. My hands shake as I lift the bread to my mouth for my first bite. I close my eyes and groan as my teeth sink into the still warm bread. It is beyond describing! The crust is flaky and has a stronger wheat flavor to it than the softer inside. The butter is a little odd. It has more of a sour taste than I was expecting, but blended with the sweet preserves it is nirvana for my taste buds. I take several bites before reaching for my cup. It is while I am taking a drink that I notice Eli watching me.
“What? I know I’m a pig. You can say it. I don’t even care at the moment. I have totally embraced my inner swine. Oink! Oink!”
He laughs before reaching for his own slice of bread. “I’m not calling you a pig, Shelby; you’re too slim for that. I have just never seen anyone, and most especially a girl, enjoy her food so much.” I know he says more but my mind seizes on one word in particular.
“You think I’m slim? Really?”
He looks at me again with narrowed eyes as he chews his bread thoughtfully. “Well, you’re not exactly skinny, but you’re not fat either. I guess you’re just curvy.”
I glance over at him. “Curvy?”
He nods his head. “Yeah, you know, shaped nice. With curves where there should be curves. I have never understood what other guys saw in girls that starved themselves to point of looking like they just emerged from a concentration camp.”
I honestly have no idea how to respond to that! I think that Eli just said he likes my body! Unwilling to test that theory any further, I just smile then turn to Martha.
“So where is Jesse? I’m surprised he didn’t come back with you.”
After carefully blotting her lips on a napkin, Martha smiles. “Oh, he is finishing up some work and will be joining us shortly.”
Eli finishes his meal, announcing that he is going for a quick walk, which is code for having to go potty. As soon as he is out of ear shot, I ask Martha what Jesse thinks about the baby. This is the first chance I have to ask her without the guys around.
“He is very excited and very worried,” she says with a shy smile.
I nod my head. With everything going on I can certainly understand his concern. I pat her hand softly. “Don’t worry, we will fix everything so that you and Jesse get to raise Jackson as a family like you were meant to.” I realize my blunder as soon as the name leaves my mouth! Shoot! I wasn’t supposed to tell her! Martha’s smile grows even bigger as she stares at me with wide blue eyes.
“Oh, Shelby, I love it! Jackson what? What middle name did I give him?” I shake my head as I scrub my hand over my face. I feel gritty…yuck.
“I’m glad I actually don’t know the answer to that question because, knowing me and my big mouth, I would spill it and you wouldn’t have any surprises!” I really did feel bad about blurting out the baby’s name.
Martha puts her arm around my shoulder. “Shelby, it’s alright. I can’t imagine being in your shoes and having to watch every word that I say. It must be incredibly hard. Not just the situation with Jesse and myself, but your own situation. Not knowing if you will be able to return to your own time and your family? I could never be as brave as you are.”
I turn my head so she can’t see the tears that suddenly fill my eyes. I try to hold them back, I really do, but within seconds I know that it’s useless. My shoulders heave as a sob rips up from my stomach. Martha, bless her heart, doesn’t say a word. She just pulls me into her arms and lets me cry. A few minutes later I’m finally down to soft hiccupping.
“Would you mind ripping off a piece of your skirt? I need a tissue.” When she looks at me like I am crazy, I laugh. “Sorry, I was thinking of the other you.”
Now she looks startled. I sigh and lay my head down on my knees. “It’s complicated, Martha, really complicated. Forget I said anything, ok?” Fortunately, she seems to do just that, or at least she doesn’t say anything else and we sit quietly until Eli returns.
CHAPTER 7
After Eli returns, Martha reaches in her basket and pulls out a fresh dress for me and another shirt for Eli. Next she pulls out a bar of soap, at least I think it’s soap. I barely dare to breathe as I wait for her to actually tell me what the lumpy grayish white blob is. My face must reveal my thoughts because she busts out laughing.
“Yes, Shelby, it is soap. I’m sure the soap you have in the future is a lot different, but this works, too.”
I snatch the “bar” from her hand with a quick swipe. “You have no idea how wonderful this looks to me right now! I feel so skanky!”
“I imagine I would feel pretty umm…skanky myself. We can go down to the creek so you can bathe. I know a spot where the water is deep enough to work just fine.” She turns and gives Eli a stern look. “Now you stay right here. Jesse will be along shortly. We will be gone for a good little bit, but don’t worry. I know my way around.”
Eli gives us a skeptical look and I have a feeling I know what he is thinking; with his next words he confirms it. “Oh, it’s not you I worry about.” He says with a grin and a wink. I frown at him while pulling on Martha’s arm, dragging her toward the trail. “I think I can take a quick bath without the sky falling down, Eli.” I throw him a dirty look as I continue to pull a protesting Martha down the trail. Finally, after a few steps, she yanks her arm from my grasp. “Shelby!”
“What?”
“The path we need to take is that way!” She points her arm back toward the camp where Eli is watching us. I don’t even look at Eli as we walk back past him, but his laughter follows us down the trail…
We walk a good distance before we reach the bathing spot. Martha drapes the fresh dress over some bushes to keep it off of the ground. I stand around uncertain of what is expected. Did I just strip down to my birthday suit in front of her? Martha must have seen the discomfort on my face.
“I’m just going to walk down the path a little ways and give you some privacy.”
As she walks away, I call after her. “Hey! You’re coming back, right?” As much as I want the bath, and believe me I want, I don’t like the idea of being left alone.
Martha smiles. “Of course. I will be right back in a few minutes.”
I waste little time getting out of my dusty clothes. I grab my undies, intending to wash them while I have the chance. I stick a toe into the water and goose-bumps erupt over my skin. Oh, this is going to be fun, I think to myself. Walking on into the cold water, I suck in my breath as it hits my upper thighs then the lower part of my tummy.
“Okay, Shelby, just do it!” I drop quickly into the water up to my neck as a squeal leaves my lips. “Oh, cold…cold…stupid cold!” I start scrubbing my undies with the lumpy soap, scrubbing and rinsing, then scrubbing once more before wringing them out and tossing them on the bank. Now to scrub myself. By the time I have soaped up a couple of times, I have gotten used to the chill of the water and it is actually feeling nice. Diving under, I scrub my fingers over my scalp as I wash my hair. Finally feeling relatively clean, I splash around just for the pure enjoyment of it. I hear Martha singing as she walks back. Of course, she has a high soprano voice that rivals the angelic choirs in the heavens. Feeling my face wrinkle up once more, I reach down and scoop up some mud from the bottom of the creek. Smearing it over my face, I hope it has some of the rejuvenating qualities that the expensive mud treatments in Paris have.
“Shelby! What on earth are doing with mud on your face? The whole idea of a bath is to get cleaner, not dirtier!”
I quickly dunk back under and wash the mud off my face. When I come back to the surface, she is holding out a towel for me. I grab it, wrapping it around me as I walk out of the creek. “It’s ummm….well, some people use mud to help prevent wrinkles and….” At Martha’s look of complete confusion, I just shake my head. Walking past her to go dry off, I mutter. “Oh, never mind!”
By the time we get back from my bath, Jesse has, in fact, made it to camp. They are discussing the plan for our arrival into town. Jesse tosses Eli a bundle of fresh clothing. “I think it would be more believable if people see you actually get off the stage, so I bought two tickets from Clinton, which is about seven miles west of here. After you get cleaned up, I’ll take both of you by wagon to where you will stay the night and then catch the early morning stage.” Jesse raises his hand when Eli opens his mouth. “I have it all arranged, Eli, a place to stay, the stage, all of it. The way I see it, if you can travel back more than two hundred years to save my neck, the least I can do is arrange your arrival.” I can’t argue with Jesse’s logic…for once!
Eli holds out his hand and Jesse shakes it. “Thank you, Jesse, I don’t know what your financial situation is, but we appreciate it and I’ll try to find a way to reimburse you.” At Jesse’s look of confusion, Eli grins slightly then amends his choice of words. “I’ll find a way to pay you back.”
Jesse nods then points down the trail that Martha and I have just walked up. “It’s getting late, and it will take a good two to three hours to travel to Clinton. You need to get a move on.” Taking the bundle of clothing and the bar of soap, Eli walks down the trail without further comment.
Martha has me sit down on a stump and starts to work on my hair. Within a few minutes she has twisted and pinned it into a fashionable up do. The new dress she brought has a dark blue skirt with a white button-up blouse. I feel like an old- fashioned school teacher; all I need is the round spectacles! Martha is slimmer through the hips and backside, so the skirt is a bit snug, but other than that it fits perfectly.
“Won’t it look strange if we arrive in town empty-handed? Shouldn’t we have bags or luggage or something?” I try to consider every angle to make our arrival look as normal as possible.
Martha looks to Jesse with a frown. “She is right. They do need luggage of some sort.”
Jesse nods. “I hadn’t thought about that.” He runs his fingers through his dark hair and for a moment he looks so much like my Jesse that I feel a wave of homesickness. “We can stop by my house before we head out to Clinton and grab at least one bag. Martha, I’ll drop you off at home then, too. I don’t want your Pa coming after me.”
Two and half very long hours later, we arrive in a small settlement called Clinton. It isn’t here in the future, so I guess it must have died out. Looking around as Jesse guides the buckboard, I can see why it didn’t survive -- there isn’t anything here. A few ram-shackled buildings line what passes for main street. Some rawboned tired-looking mules are hitched in front of one of the bigger buildings. They stomp and swish halfheartedly at the cloud of flies that are buzzing and biting at their long ears.
“Well, clearly they rolled out the red carpet for us,” Eli jokes.
I laugh while poor Jesse looks at us for a moment before shaking his head, looking forward again. “I’m not even going to ask,” he mutters under his breath.
Eli winks at me, which of course makes me giggle even harder. Jesse stops in front of what looks like a private home. As we climb down, I see the small sign at the front door that reads “Rooms available.”
“Is this someone’s home?” I ask as Eli swings me down from the wagon. I smile my thanks as I turn to look closer at the house. It is a little nicer than the other buildings we passed, a basic two-story structure with a long porch and a couple of rocking chairs. The long-eared dog dozing on the porch completes the quaint picture. After reaching into the back of the wagon to retrieve our “luggage,” Jesse answers my question.
“Yes, this is old lady McCarthy’s house. She has a couple of rooms that she lets out when needed. As you can guess, it’s not needed very often, so she is happy to have the extra money. She is widowed and will likely yak your ears right off the side of your head, but she keeps a clean house and cooks pretty decent, so I figure you will be alright for one night.”
The front door opens and this little old lady with snow-white hair pulled up in a bun appears. Wearing a flowered apron over her plain black dress, she toddles to the steps. Smiling her welcome, she waves her little hands. “Welcome! Welcome! I just put supper on the table. It’s nothing fancy, mind you, but it’s fresh and hot! Ya’ll come on in and wash up and we’ll eat a bite.”
I stop as I reach the top step. “Hello, I’m…” I trail off as I look at Eli and Jesse. We still haven’t discussed whether we should use our real names or not.
Eli guesses my problem and steps up next to me, taking my arm. “Good evening, Mrs. McCarthy, I’m Sonny Bono and this is my sister Cher. We appreciate you letting us stay here tonight. I hope you didn’t go through a lot of trouble for us.” I hide my smile behind Eli’s shoulder as he goes with my Sonny and Cher idea.
The old lady’s smile grows even wider as Eli turns on the charm. “Posh! Weren’t no trouble at all. I’m happy to have the company! Now ya’ll come on in. I’ve got your rooms prepared with fresh bedding and wash water to clean some of the road dust off of ya. The rooms are up the stairs right across from each other. The first doors to the left and right. I’ll just go and set the table. Jesse Lee, there is some water in the kitchen for you to wash up.”
I follow Eli up the stairs and we stop at the first door to the left. He opens it and steps inside. The room is pretty basic -- a bed, a washstand and one small bedside table with an oil lamp. A string is hung across one corner that I guess is for hanging up clothing. Eli sets the bag on the bed then goes into the other room before coming back into mine. “Well, they are both pretty much the same, so take your pick.”
I shrug as I walk over to the washstand while rolling up my sleeves. “I’m already in this one, so I g
uess I’ll stay here.” I pour some water from a pitcher into a matching shallow bowl with blue roses edging the lip. I lather up the best I can with the lump of homemade soap. I long for my fruity-smelling body-wash! After drying off, I wait for Eli in the hallway.
A few minutes later we walk into the small kitchen where Jesse is already seated at the oblong table that is set with pretty china. I recognize the same blue rose pattern as the wash set upstairs.
“Oh, there ya are! Come now, let’s all sit down. I’m hungry enough to eat a bear. I’m sure you two must be nigh on to starvin’.” Of course, my tummy would choose that moment to heartily agree by growling just like the animal she has mentioned. Fighting yet another blush, I quickly sit down across from Jesse. Eli takes a seat next to me, after pulling out the chair for Mrs. McCarthy. Then with a pointed look at each of us, she folds her hands and bows her head. We quickly do the same.
“Dear Lord, we thank Thee for another day of livin. We pray that our hours today were apleasin’ to ya. We thank Thee for the blessin’ of good food shared with good company. Amen.” We all murmur amen; then we wait while Mrs. McCarthy dishes up the simple meal of potato soup with corn bread and fresh cow’s milk.
I dip my spoon into the thick soup and take a small careful bite. My eyes grow wide as I look at Eli, who does the same thing. The soup is delicious! It is the first hot meal we have eaten in two days. I force myself to take small ladylike bites. I decide to crumble some of the cornbread into my bowl and take another bite. Perfection! I reach for my glass and take my first swallow of cow’s milk. As soon as the watery liquid hits my tongue, I know I’m in trouble. There is no way I am going to be able to swallow the vile-tasting stuff and I fight to control my gag reflex! Oh, sweet monkeys! What am I going to do? I look at Eli with panic evident on my face, but he is pretty much face-down in his bowl of soup. I glance over at Jesse who surprisingly realizes my problem within a few seconds. He reaches for his own glass of milk and knocks it over in the process of picking it up.