by Zina Abbott
“Like that man who attacked you downstairs didn’t bother you? You think he’s going to leave you alone? From what I hear, if your cowboy and his crew didn’t come to your rescue, you might have found yourself seriously injured before it was all over.”
Beth stared hard at Flora. She hated it that the madam was right. While most men in town treated her with courtesy once they realized she was a respectable widow, Jeb and his cohorts had been the exception. She chose her next words carefully.
“Ain’t no doubt that Jeb’s a mean one, full of pizen like a snake. Miss Flora, you done told me once you take care of your girls. If you ain’t just tellin’ tall tales, you best tell Albert to keep a close eye on that man. Don’t give him no chance or he’ll hurt one of your girls bad.”
Silence reigned in the room as Flora studied Beth.
At the quiet knock on the door, Flora answered it. When she saw who was there, she stepped out into the hallway and closed the door silently behind her.
“You’d do all that for me, Mrs. Dodd? You’d help me so I can keep Sophie Ann?”
Beth turned back to the young woman in the bed.
“Yes, ma’am. I’d of done anything to keep my baby, so I aim to offer the same to you. Reckon it’s up to you how bad you want to keep Sophie Ann.”
“You have a baby? Where is it?”
“Done died. Born early with bad lungs.”
“I’m sorry,” came the whispered response.
“Thank you kindly, Lulu. Ain’t nothin’ I can do about it now. But, mind my words. If you come to me lookin’ for help to keep Sophie Ann and start a new life, I promise I’ll help you. But I won’t abide no whorin’.”
Flora slipped back into the room.
“I have Albert out front ready to escort you back, Mrs. Dodd.”
Beth refused to meet Flora’s eyes as she began to gather things up.
“Soon as I clean up, I’ll be ready.”
“We’ll take care of the laundry.”
“What’s in this here slop bucket ain’t fittin’ for a man to see. I’ll empty it in the necessary directly and be on my way.” Beth turned to face Flora, her voice sincere. “In spite of it bein’ discomfitin’ for a spell, I was right pleased to help Lulu with her birthin’. I’m beholdin’ to you for sendin’ for me.”
Flora smirked.
“I always had a soft spot for Lulu. If I give you what you want, though, it will all be for nothing.”
“It don’t matter what I want, but what she wants. If she’s fixin’ to keep Sophie Ann, I hope you’ll be willin’ to let her go without no trouble.”
Flora gave Beth another one of her cryptic smiles.
“Just leave the empty bucket at the bottom of the stairs, Mrs. Dodd. I’ll have Albert or Hal clean it out and bring it back to the room.”
CHAPTER 7
Once Beth returned to her room, she looked down at her apron and surveyed the stains and smudges she had collected helping to bring little Sophie Ann into the world. She pulled the apron over her head and placed it into her bowl with some cold water to soak.
After Beth made sure her clothes were presentable, she adjusted a few hairpins in hopes that she looked fairly put together. She grabbed her gray shawl and returned to work.
Gus scowled at her as she entered the kitchen and donned her work apron.
“Baby geboren?” Born?
“She surely was. A right comely little girl.”
“Ist de mutter gesund?” Is the mother healthy?
“Ya, Gus. Both are doin’ right smart.
“Mutter and baby at Blue Feather still live?”
“For now.”
“Gut!” Good. “Need biscuits.”
Beth moved to the table to start a large patch of biscuit dough just as Josh returned from the spring with a bucket of water. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Gus what she had promised Lulu. She decided she would wait to see if Lulu actually left the brothel first. She had no doubt that Gus’s initial response to her asking him to hire a former prostitute with a baby would be one of anger and refusal.
“Do you want me to cut up another one of the rounds of bread into pieces the same size as biscuits, Mrs. Dodd? I already used one loaf. The men really liked it.”
“Only one more loaf, Josh. I’m fixin’ more biscuits directly.”
Gus turned back to the stove and, grabbing a folded rag, picked up the pan with the cooked chops. Shaking his head, he started out to the eating area, almost running into Val who chose that moment to enter the kitchen.
Val stepped back to let Gus pass and for a few seconds, following the German cook’s movements with his eyes. He turned back and smiled at the sight of Beth.
Beth turned to Josh.
“Josh, get you a rag so your hand don’t burn and follow Gus with that there pan of fried potatoes. Throw enough of them bread pieces on top for...” Beth walked over and peeked through the doorway to see how many men Gus was serving. “...three men.”
Beth turned back to Val with a smile.
“You look mighty clean for a man been diggin’ graves.”
“Oh, I already cleaned up before I came for you. I had to. There were several of us willing to dig, but Mr. Barnes needed to hire a wagon to haul the coffins down there. I volunteered to take two. He was right about the bodies needing more ice. He provided some oil cloths to keep the smell off the wood, and we wrapped the coffins the best we could, but the mules were still skittish about pulling the load. Thank goodness I changed back into my dirty clothes from yesterday before I got started.”
“Reckon I need to pay you for haulin’ Jim Dodd to his final resting place. Val, I’m almighty beholden to you for doin’ this.”
Val grinned at Beth, his voice teasing.
“Well, there is a way to repay me, but we’ll talk about it later. You have no idea how much it was worth it to me to get your late husband buried.”
Beth looked into his eyes, but said nothing. As grateful as she was to know Jim Dodd was buried, she still needed to get his estate settled. Then she would know what she had to work with for the rest of her life.
Val interrupted her thoughts.
“Beth, Mr. Lundy is going to be there just before the sun goes down to say some final words over the graves. I know it will be suppertime soon and Gus will want you back here, but do you want to go and pay your final respects?”
“Reckon so.”
“It’s only about a mile. We can walk if you’d like, but we’ll have to hurry.”
CHAPTER 8
Beth once again took off her apron and hung it on the peg by the back door of the kitchen. Gus would not be happy that she was leaving again, but at least he would understand this better than he had understood her leaving to serve as a midwife.
On the way down, Beth stopped at her room long enough to change. She had pressed her white dress in anticipation of Easter the following weekend, but decided to wear it that day.
Back in Ohio, without a lot of money to work with, her sister had taken a bolt of white muslin available to them and fashioned a dress for Beth full of pleats, ruffles and flounced where the blouse was draped back to gathers for a bustle. Beth only had the travel bustle she wore on the trip out from Ohio, but she hoped it was full enough for the dress. Beth found all the draping and ruffles of the current style cumbersome in the kitchen, so she had stuck to shirtwaist blouses with narrow sleeves and simple skirts.
Beth had retired her winter hat for the summer season. After making a half-hearted effort to fluff the silk flowers, she donned her straw bonnet that had been slightly crushed during the trip out. Wearing tan kidskin gloves, she grabbed her gray wool shawl and placed it over her arm before she met Val in the parlor of the Pioneer House.
“You look very nice this afternoon,” Val said as he opened the door for her. “Although, I wouldn’t exactly say you’re dressed for a funeral.”
“Who says I’m mournin’? This here’s a celebration day, and I aim to put a close to Jim Dodd
bein’ in my life. Ain’t no call for you to go repeatin’ that, though. Reckon there’s them who think fondly on Jim Dodd who might take offense.”
Unable to suppress his grin, Val tucked Beth’s hand onto the crook his arm and pulled her closer.
“I must admit, Beth, I am grateful to the man in one respect.”
Beth jerked her head to glare at him. Val looked down at Beth for her reaction. As if reading her thoughts, he chuckled.
“If Jim Dodd hadn’t been such a rascal, he never would have left you. If you hadn’t followed him out here, I never would have found you.”
Val stopped walking and turned to Beth. He gently placed both of his hands on her shoulders.
“Beth, I have been looking for the right woman for me for years. I never would have figured out I had to go to Ohio to find you. But, because of Jim Dodd, you’re here. I hope I can persuade you to stay and marry me so we can build a life together.”
Awareness of Val’s sincerity and depth of feeling left Beth speechless. Spouting pretty words to flatter a woman was one thing. But, Beth realized that was not the case with Val. He was baring his heart and soul to her. Her mind found it difficult to comprehend that any man could truly have that depth of feeling for a woman. She feared that she would be incapable of returning it. She finally turned her head to face the road they were taking to the cemetery and spoke so softly Val barely heard her.
“Reckon I best pay my last respects to Jim Dodd first.”
They finished the walk in silence, the only sound in Beth’s ears being the pounding of her heart. She knew she was only delaying things. Val wanted a commitment. Her heart told her one thing; her head told her something different. She still needed to figure out which one she would listen to.
They were not alone when they arrived at the cemetery. In the absence of clergy, Mr. O.J. Lundy had just finished speaking some final words of comfort to those who had come to grieve. The family of the child who had died remained huddled around the grave, the mother weeping while the children fidgeted.
At the sight of the father’s face suffused with grief, Beth had to turn away. What a contrast between the sorrow this heartbroken family expressed and her own feelings.
Val pointed out the fresh mound of dirt that covered the remains of Jim Dodd. Grateful for Val’s presence next to her, solid as a rock wall, Beth stood at the foot of the grave. Beth stared at the grave without seeing it in detail, marveling in her own mind at her sense of indifference.
Mr. Lundy joined them.
“My condolences, Mrs. Dodd, on the loss of your husband. I am sorry that learning of his passing was your introduction to Lundy. I hope you are finding your sojourn with us to your liking.”
“Thank you kindly, Mr. Lundy. I find living here right agreeable.”
Mr. Lundy nodded his farewell. After noting the quick glance in Val’s direction, Beth realized that he had made the assumption that she wouldn’t be a widow for long. She wasn’t so sure.
Can’t never go through another marriage again like that with Jim Dodd, not with any man.
A small bouquet of early wildflowers tied with a blue ribbon lay off to the side. Beth guessed that Flora sent someone from the Blue Feather down there with them. She smiled at her lack of feeling offended by the gesture. The madam who had kept her husband in her room the last two days of his life and whose employee, probably Albert, had found him frozen behind the bordello, had paid her last respects. Beth did not believe that Flora loved Jim Dodd. Beth suspected that Flora made it a point to not fall in love with any man. Yet, she must have had a soft spot in her heart for the man, just like she did for Lulu.
Val leaned over to whisper in her ear, his face so close the hairs of his moustache tickled her cheek.
“Are you ready to go?”
Beth nodded and they turned silently to leave, walking into the glow of the sun that had already dipped behind Mt. Scowden. The reddish brown snow-streaked mountain, the same one with slopes that were dotted with gold mines including the May Lundy, fell into shadows. The swath of evergreens against the white proved to be a pretty picture that changed from day to day, more enticing to Beth than the riches within its bowels. Val’s question brought her out of her musings and back to the present.
“Things go well with the woman who had the baby?”
Beth related the story of Sophie Ann’s birth and how she had promised to help the new mother keep her baby.
♥♥♥
Val shook his head with the realization that, in spite of Beth’s tough exterior, she was as nurturing as those mother hens she loved so dearly. He had witnessed it in the way she had taken in Josh.
Although she had refused to say much about her to Val, he knew that one of her primary focuses was to rescue her little sister from Jim Dodd’s aunt back east and provide a good home for her out west.
Now, against great odds, Beth had determined to help the young prostitute who wanted nothing more than to be a mother to her new baby. And, although he would never say so to the man, Val realized Gus was also one Beth had taken under her wing. As much as she argued with her boss and frustrated him to no end, any decision she had bullied him into accepting had ultimately been for his own good.
The thought stabbed Val with an unsettled feeling. He hoped that Beth did not see him as one of her chicks she gathered under her wing to nurture and protect from the world. When it came to this little mother hen whose hard-working hand now clung to his arm, he had an entirely different role in mind for himself.
Val pulled Beth toward the budding aspens to the north of the road. Although there was a hint of green in the emerging grass, the ground was still dominated by the light tan brittle strands of the previous year’s growth. It would soon be spring high up in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains in spite of the unusually heavy snow the previous winter.
“Come, Beth, just for a minute. It’s time we talk about something. Let’s get off the main trail in case the others decide to make their way back from the cemetery.”
Beth grabbed a handful of white skirt, resisting his tug to the relative privacy of a copse of trees.
“Ain’t never going to get this hem cleaned. Reckon it’s about suppertime. Gus’ll be lookin’ for me to get back and help.”
“Bethie Rose, this won’t take long. It’s Resurrection Day, sweetheart, and those men are still celebrating. Besides, Josh is there to help Gus until you get back.”
Once they were far enough from the Mill Creek Canyon road leading into Lundy to allow for a bit of privacy, Val turned to Beth and captured both of her hands in his.
“Beth, we’ve been courting these past several weeks and you know what I hope it will lead to. Luther refers to you as my intended. That is how I see it, too. I love you and intend to marry you if you will have me. Now that your late husband is buried, I feel right about asking you.”
Without releasing her hands, Val dropped down on one knee. “Will you marry me, Beth?”
♥♥♥
Beth could feel the panic surging up within her. She had known this time would come. But, she wasn’t ready to make a decision.
There was no man she wanted to be with more than Val Caldwell. But, did she really want to marry again? The way law and custom worked, marriage tied a woman up so she couldn’t move one way or another without a man’s say-so. Men argued that it was to protect women and children. Beth had already figured out it was for power and control over them. Was she willing to give up all her freedoms, even for Val?
Noting her hesitation, Val continued, “Now, Bethie Rose, I know we just barely buried Jim Dodd, but please don’t try to put me off by saying he isn’t cold in the ground yet. We both know he’s been frozen solid up at the mortuary for the past three months.”
“It ain’t that.”
Val rose to his feet, his eyes never leaving her face.
“What is it, then, Beth. I love you, sweetheart. Don’t you feel like you can love me just a little?”
I love you despe
rately with all my heart.
“Reckon I can’t love enough to be a good wife to no man.”
“Oh, you can love enough, Beth. I’ve seen how full of love you are for others. But, after what your father and Jim Dodd did to you, I think what you have a hard time with is trust.”
“When you’re talkin’ about marriage, ain’t they the same thing?”
Val gently cupped Beth’s face with his hands and sought the depths of her eyes with his.
“I agree, trust is extremely important, maybe in some ways it’s more important to trust your mate than to be madly in love with them. I’m hoping we can have both, Beth. I know I love you with all my heart and I would trust you with my life and everything I have. I’m hoping someday you can learn to trust me.”
Beth pulled her face free of his hands and turned away from his intense gaze. Staring at ground but seeing nothing, she swallowed, so full of emotion she felt incapable of rational thought. She fought to hold back tears.
“Beth, I hope I’m not asking you too soon. It is just that—well, I have something for you.”
Val pulled a leather poke bag free from the inside of his pants. After loosening the drawstrings on it, he pulled out a gold ring with a small round white stone mounted on it. He held it out to Beth.
“I truly hoped you were ready to promise yourself to me, Beth.”
Beth eyes bulged as she stared at the ring.
“I can’t take no wedding ring from you, Val Caldwell. Ain’t right, we not being married.”
“It’s a promise ring, Beth. A symbol of our engagement. You have no idea how much I want you to take off that gold band that says you’re Jim Dodd’s widow and put on this ring that says you have promised to marry me.”
Beth felt her heart pounding hard enough to escape the bounds of her chest. Breathing heavy to fight back the panic she felt, she stared at the ring, searching for a way to keep from giving Val an answer.
“What’s that there little white stone? Ain’t seen one of them before.”