by Nancy Radke
“Will you stay for a while?”
“I should get back and help. Your friend and you can catch up on your visiting.”
Lizzie had gone inside the house. I spoke, keeping my voice low. “I hope to see you again, while I’m here. I know it’s your busy time. Maybe I could bring Lizzie and come out.”
“You’re always welcome.”
“Thank you. I’d like to see Sir Galahad once more,” I said with a smile.
“Oh, yes.” He laughed. “You must definitely come visit him. And me. We’d love to have you.”
“I’ll tell Lizzie I must go visit him.”
“Do that.” His eyes sparkled, amused. “Do you remember the way out?”
“Head toward the mountains on the crooked road.”
“Most folks know where we live.”
Lizzie stuck her head out the door. “Brynn? Come inside.”
“I’ll water them out back,” James said.
“Will you come in?”
“Not this time.”
“Another time?”
“Yes.”
I patted the near horse on the flank and went through the gate and down the walk. Another time. That sounded like a promise and James struck me as a man who would keep his promises.
Inside, I stepped back into Baltimore. Lizzie had brought out chairs and tables and other furnishings, so it was exactly like going into her mother’s parlor.
“I don’t see why you miss Baltimore,” I said. “You brought it with you.”
“I miss the parties,” she said. “We used to have such marvelous parties.”
“Yes, we did. But you are married now, Lizzie. That would change whether you were in Baltimore or not.”
“Well, I planned a party for you. I invited everyone I know. The young people.”
“When?”
“This Saturday night. Starting at seven. I hired a group from San Franciso to come play music for us.”
Lizzie never did things on a small scale. I couldn’t imagine a crowd in this house, so asked her, “Where at?”
“At the inn. It has a courtyard.”
“I’d like to invite James and his sister,” I said.
“I’ve sent out all my invitations.” She looked put out.
“That’s all right.” I walked through her house and out the back door.
James was still there, watering the team. He was getting ready to leave, backing them away from the trough.
I flew out the back door and down the steps.
“James!” I had to emit a very unladylike yell to make him hear me, but he stopped the team, and looked over at me.
I hurried down the small winding pathway Lizzie had made in her back yard.
“Lizzie just told me she’s planned a party for me.” I gave him the details. “Could you come, you and Catherine?”
“Certainly. I’ll bring Kelly too, if he’s home in time. He’s Catherine’s twin.”
“I’d love to meet him.”
“See you Saturday, then.” He chirruped to the horses and they trotted down the alley at a good clip.
I looked about me. With all the land around, the people here had still built their houses lined up, back to back with an alley in between, like a small New England town. Some of the streets were straight, but a few wound around, or took off at odd angles, like paths on a village green.
I went back inside.
“Brynn, you barely know those folks. How could you invite them to the party?” Lizzy said.
“I like them.”
“But I only invited people who are something in this community.”
I looked at her in wonder. “Lizzie, are you a snob?”
“No.”
“Well, you’re talking like your mother. And she is.”
“She is, isn’t she?”
“Yes. And so is your brother.”
“Victor has been educated at Harvard. He’s already joined a prestigious law firm. I invited him to come.”
I had been sidestepping Victor’s wandering hands for several years. His weren’t the only hands, so I didn’t think too much of it. “To the party?”
“Yes.”
“They are coming across the entire country to a party?”
“Yes. Mother thought it was a good idea. He can accompany you back, so you won’t be traveling alone on the train. When mother heard that your companions had to leave you the first day, she was very upset. Your mother reminded her that you did have a car to yourself, so that you would not have to mingle with the other passengers.”
“Yes. I did have the car to myself.” And I didn’t want to return with Victor. He viewed himself as God’s gift to women. I didn’t. He might have changed in the last year while at college, but I doubted it.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you married Victor? Then you and I could be sisters.”
Lizzie had put out two teacups and some little cakes. She brought a teapot and its cozy out from the kitchen and set them down, ready to pour.
“I need to wash up,” I said.
“Oh. Of course. Through that door.”
I poured some water in the basin and washed, using the sweet-smelling soap Lizzie had placed there. It had glycerin in it, making my hands smooth again. The towel was tiny and clean, reminding me of the furnishings in my private car. Lizzie had indeed moved Baltimore with her.
I joined her at the table and answered all her questions about the friends she had left behind. Most of our friends were mutual friends, so I was able to give her the latest news.
“How was your trip out here?” she asked me.
“Uneventful.”
“Uneventful? Ours was terrible.”
“What happened to you?”
“A dust storm blew though and delayed us several hours. The engineer refused to move the train when he couldn’t see the tracks. But you lost your luggage. Aren’t you worried about your things?”
“I wonder if they sent my luggage back to Baltimore, or if it’s waiting for me here at the train station. If not, I’m going to need a dress for your party.”
“I’ve found a wonderful dressmaker here. I’ll send Thomas to check for your cases when he gets home tonight. Have you been wearing that dress all this time?”
“Not all the time.”
“That’s good. It looks terrible. I had hoped you could bring me up on all the fashions. Your mother always had you dressed in the latest.”
“You’ll see them in my trunk, if it arrived. Mother ordered several before I left.” To show me off. She liked to dress similar to me, so that people would tell her that we looked like sisters.
We chatted on about nothing much. I decided Lizzie would always find something to turn into a great event.
My coming had inspired her to put on a large party. She wanted me and herself to be wearing the new fashions, so all the ladies she invited could see what was the rage right now.
“Could you show me how to cook, Lizzie?” I asked. I figured she had learned something by now.
“Not me. When Thomas saw I couldn’t cook, he hired us a woman to come in and fix our breakfast and dinners. I usually have leftovers for lunch.”
Finally, her husband, Thomas, came home, cheerful from his work at the Baker Boyer Bank. A friendly young man, he greeted me, asked after my health, and quickly agreed to take me to the station. He had always seemed happy-go-lucky to me, but now I saw that he had figured out how to handle his wife. The first thing he had done was to get her far away from her mother. The second thing was to hire a part time cook and housecleaner, but no extra horse and buggy or live-in servants. That kept her from going to the stores and shopping constantly, which would have eaten up his salary immediately.
It was a good thing I went along, because the car was there. My things were inside, still unpacked, as I had left them.
“This is going to take me a few minutes, Thomas.”
“No bother. Take your time.”
I packed as quickly as I could, stuffi
ng the clothes into my cases and steamer trunk. I couldn’t believe I had brought all of this out here for a few weeks stay. I almost threw the hated corsets into the trash, but knew I would want at least one to wear to the party. Some of the dresses didn’t fit right without the corset molding my body underneath.
I shuddered to think that I could have spent the days wearing one of the tight, fashionable dresses, a corset, and high-topped shoes. I would probably have been in agony. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to ride on the back of James’ horse. By dressing comfortably enough to take care of Sir Galahad, I had worn the right clothes to last a week in.
Once packed, I called Thomas in. He had a station man with him and the cases were soon loaded.
“So, how are you faring in our land?” Thomas asked, as we drove off.
“Quite well. Had you been here, before you and Lizzie were married?”
“No. A cousin of mine had come. I don’t know how long Lizzie will last. I plan to work here for at least a year, then see if I can get a transfer to San Francisco. I think she’ll be happier there.”
“You need to give her a baby to keep her busy.”
He laughed, looked at me. “Do you know, a lady at our church here told me the exact same thing. She said Lizzie had time on her hands and didn’t know what to do with it. A baby would keep her out of mischief.”
“It would,” I said, remembering Annabelle.
We arrived back at their house and Thomas carried in the trunk and other luggage. “Were you planning to stay permanently?” he asked as he carried the last one to my room.
“No. I just couldn’t decide what to bring. Lizzie and I are the same size. I think I’ll leave her most of this. If she wants it.”
Lizzie came in carrying the last bag, a small valise. She couldn’t wait for me to open the trunk, so did so herself. “Oh. You have to model these for me,” she said.
“Not today, Lizzie. Wait until tomorrow. Better yet, you try them on and take whatever you want. Right now all I want is to have supper and rest. I am still tired from the trip out.”
“You can’t mean to give these to me?”
“Whatever fits you. We’ll see if you still have your girlish shape.”
It was funny seeing her cinch up a corset to get herself able to fit into my clothes. I had always been a little thinner, so wore the corset more as fashion than of necessity. She was able to put on several of the new dresses Mother had just got me. I looked at them and decided that I really didn’t want them. They were uncomfortable to wear and looked out of place here.
While she was trying them on, I chose three for myself plus a party dress that I had always liked. When I got back to Baltimore, I would go shopping and buy clothes that suited my tastes instead of my mother’s.
Baltimore seemed far away right now. I felt freed of my mother’s constant control.
“Are you happy here?” I asked Lizzie.
“I missed you,” she said.
“But we never did that many things together. What else do you miss?”
“The parties. The plays. The social scene. They try to do some of that here, but it is just not as grand. They bring in entertainers from the east. There is plenty of money being made in this town. But it just isn’t the same crowd.”
“You need to make new friends.”
“That’s what Thomas tells me. And I try. But everything’s so different.”
We had supper with Thomas. Lizzie’s cook brought the food by, then left.
“Doesn’t she eat?” I asked.
“She has her own family to feed. I think she buys extra, cooks it all, then brings us some and goes home and eats the rest with her family.”
I tasted it. “This is good.”
“It has too much salt,” Lizzie said. “I told her to use less salt, but she doesn’t seem to listen.”
By the next day, I had had enough of Lizzie’s complaints. I put on my comfortable dress and shoes and told her I was going to walk around town. She protested, but I said she could either go with me or stay at home, but I was going.
She offered me a sunbonnet, and I put it on, as I didn’t want a sunburn.
Once outside I strode off, headed toward the city park that James and I came through the other day. Pioneer Park. The trees were still young, but big enough to furnish shade and I took off the bonnet, shook out my hair and just walked around for a while, enjoying the warm fresh air.
And thinking about James. He was a working man, one who was responsible for overseeing the farm as a partner with Trey. I had heard him discuss the next day’s schedule with Trey, giving his take on things.
He sounded like he knew what he was doing. Somewhat like when I gave the new boys their instructions on feeding the bulls. That was something I knew how to do well, but it was not a skill men looked for in a wife.
What would James want? I’m sure she’d have to be able to cook for him, and the haying crew. And how about harvest time? Mally said they had just as large a crew then.
I’d seen their large vegetable garden. Catherine said they canned some and dried the rest of it. The thought made me shudder. I could never do that.
She would have to know how to run the household. Maybe keep the books. I wasn’t able to do any of those things.
I’d never entertained such notions before. So why do it with someone I had barely met?
I admired him. But then I had admired the sailors I saw in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Perhaps I had those thoughts because I wouldn’t be seeing James again after this trip.
That made me sad, but I also had to be realistic. I wouldn’t survive as the wife of a farmer. There was too much I didn’t know.
I could learn. Given time.
Yes. I’d learn. I needed those skills, no matter who I married. Mother had talked about me attending classes on etiquette and deportment. Well, I’d take classes when I got back to Baltimore, but they would be ones I chose.
I wandered around the park, then walked down the streets of Walla Walla, looking into the stores as I went along. At a hardware store, the clerk saw me enter at the same time as a farmer in dirty clothes, and went to wait on the farmer. I was just looking, so didn’t mind. The farmer probably had a crop he was trying to get in. When he left, the clerk came over to me and apologized.
“Don’t,” I told him. “He was buying and I am just looking.”
“We have orders here to wait on the farmers first. You get some well-dressed gent comes in, they’re usually a salesman. So we let them wait.”
I asked him about the uses of some of the items I saw, but couldn’t figure out. He showed me around until another customer came in. I excused myself so he wouldn’t have to, and walked on down the street.
One store had readymade dresses, and I went inside and looked around. I found one that fit pretty well and bought it. It was a little large around the waist, but a belt would pull it in. I wanted a dress to wear back on the train, one I would be comfortable in.
I stopped at another store and bought a stick of sweet hard candy wrapped in paper, then at a saddle shop to look at the saddles and bridles and harnesses.
The saddle maker had two sidesaddles there that I admired.
He came out from the back. “May I help you?”
“I’m just admiring your work.”
“I make them to order, Miss. The tree will fit your size and the horse’s back. You’ll never ride on anything more comfortable.”
“I believe you. May I watch you work for awhile?”
“Haven’t seen a saddle made?”
“I’ve taken them in to be repaired, but never saw one made completely.”
“That one is for Mrs. Trahern.” He pointed at the saddle I’d been admiring. “She should be in soon to pick it up.”
He motioned me toward the back and I sat down and watched him for an hour.
“I’d better leave,” I said, and went out into the front of the store. Mally was there, stroking her hand across the new saddle.
>
“Hello, again,” I said. “That’s a beautiful saddle, you’ve got.”
“Thank you. And thank you for inviting Catherine to the party. She’d loved to go. She’s been all excited, picking out a dress.”
“Wonderful.”
“I think there’s some fellow she wants to meet, and is hoping he’ll be there. She won’t tell me.”
“One thing both she and the men need to know. Lizzie is planning this like it was in Baltimore. She’s told everyone to wear the latest in fashion. I don’t want Catherine embarrassed. Or James or Kelly, either.”
“Thank you, Brynn. That’s mighty thoughtful of you.”
“Personally, I think the latest fashions are ugly. And uncomfortable. I’m not going to wear the last dresses my mother bought for me. I can’t stand them.”
“Then don’t wear them. You won’t be ahead of some of the ladies in this town, who have a standing order with their dressmakers. They will have the latest. But you won’t be behind others. In this town, you can show up in most anything and be accepted. The latecomers are trying to change that. I hope they don’t. And James won’t put you to shame.”
“I wasn’t thinking of it that way.”
“He was.”
She paid the saddle maker for the saddle and he carried it outside and put it in her buckboard. “So long,” she said, waving. “Have fun at the party.”
I continued on back to Lizzie’s home.
“You’ve been gone four hours,” Lizzie said.
“Well, I told you to come with me.”
“Whatever did you find to do?”
“I walked around the park, bought a dress, and watched a saddle being made.” I pulled out the dress and showed it to her.
“How could you buy that when you have all these lovely ones from Baltimore?”
“I bought this for the train trip back. I want to be comfortable. I would think you’d want some to wear around your house when it’s hot.”
“I don’t think my mother would like it if I were wearing that.”
I looked around in mock surprise. “Is she hiding somewhere?”
“No.”
“Lizzie. You’re on the other side of the country from her. How is she going to know what you’re wearing? And what difference does it make? You’re married. You no longer have to please your mother. You’re supposed to please your husband. Does Thomas care what you wear?”