Crossing the Wide Forever

by Missouri Vaun

  Near the main entry vestibule, there was a large map of the United States framed on the wall, and she paused and stepped closer to examine it. The map was intricate and detailed, listing cities and towns all the way from the East Coast to the Missouri and Arkansas borders. Beyond that demarcation were notations about rivers and little else except the sketched topography of hills and mountains.

  Kansas and Nebraska occupied the central region of a vast plain from the Canadian border to the northern boundary of Indian lands. For all that was noted on this map, they may as well have added dragons and sea serpents warning travelers of the unknown that lay in the uncharted West.

  “Ah, men’s love affair with the illusions about the frontier.”

  “Excuse me, sir?” A gentleman was standing behind her. She hadn’t known he was there until he spoke.

  “The frontier dwells in tempting obscurity. Neither so well known as to dampen the imagination nor so darkly unknown as to intimidate the less courageous.” He playfully smiled at Lillie. “Edward Franklin, at your service.” He bowed politely.

  “Lillie Ellis.” She turned back to the map. “You’ve traveled west then?”

  “No farther than Independence, and trust me, madam, when I tell you that is quite far enough.” He glanced over his shoulder into the dining hall. “May I share your company for the evening meal? It’s so much more pleasing not to dine alone.” She didn’t respond immediately. “That’s assuming you aren’t otherwise engaged for the evening?”

  Lillie considered Edward’s invitation. He seemed harmless enough. Based on his use of word play, he was educated, and based on his clothing, well off. He was probably in his late twenties, maybe thirty, tall and slimly elegant in a dark tailored suit. She decided she might as well make the most of her time in St. Louis and learn what she could from anyone who’d traveled farther west than she had. Edward Franklin seemed inclined to share his observations freely.

  “Thank you. I’d be delighted to join you.”

  He extended his arm to her and she accepted it, lightly resting her hand at his elbow.

  A matronly hostess wearing a long skirt and apron showed them to a table near a front window. The dining room was pleasingly appointed. Each table was covered with white linen, and several servers bustled about the tables crowded with patrons.

  Edward and Lillie both ordered the evening special, beef stew with biscuits. Lillie also ordered hot tea, while Edward sipped coffee.

  “Might I inquire as to why such a lovely maiden as yourself might find herself in St. Louis?”

  “I’m traveling to Independence. I’m only here briefly.” Lillie ignored the compliment. She was used to compliments and found most of them annoyingly patronizing. Men never seemed to see past a woman’s outward appearance. They had somehow all been instructed that the best way to woo a woman was to tell her how beautiful she was. In Lillie’s case, that sort of flattery inspired her not to take the fellow very seriously.

  “What a coincidence. Independence is where I’m bound also. I’m taking a position as an attorney in a land grant office there.” Edward moved his coffee aside to make room for a heaping bowl of stew.

  It smelled delicious, and Lillie realized she was starving. They were both quiet for a few minutes as they sampled the food. She took small bites, allowing the broth to cool a bit.

  “Are you traveling upriver by steamship?”

  “Yes, although I haven’t purchased passage yet.” Lillie broke off a piece of biscuit and savored it.

  “I could assist you in the morning if you like. I need to book passage as well.” Edward took a long swig of his coffee and then chased it with water. “I’ve had a couple of the boats recommended to me. Some offer better accommodations than others.”

  “I’d appreciate your guidance in selecting the best one.” Lillie hadn’t realized that there was any great difference between the boats aside from the more glamorous boats styled as floating palaces. She’d assumed that basic steamships were all pretty much the same. Maybe Edward would come in handy after all. She hadn’t really been looking forward to navigating the docks on her own anyway.

  “Shall we meet for breakfast and then walk to the levee to evaluate our options?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She didn’t necessarily want to share another meal with him and possibly give him the wrong impression, but it seemed rude to refuse the invitation if he was going to help her book passage on the best steamer.

  After dinner, Lillie left Edward to follow other men into the study to smoke. He’d been tolerable company during the meal, but now with a full stomach all she wanted to do was crawl into bed. It was barely eight thirty, but her eyelids acted as if it were midnight.

  The room was small, especially with her two trunks taking up any free floor space, but the bed was clean and the mattress softly embraced her stiff muscles. She pulled the covers up under her chin and let out a long sigh.

  Tomorrow she’d send a letter by post to her mother and sisters to let them know she’d arrive safely in St. Louis. The easiest part of the trip was behind her. Now the true adventure would begin.

  As she let her mind drift over the events of the day she was reminded of the young man who’d helped her with her luggage at the train, Cody Walsh.

  Cody Walsh was very intriguing indeed. So uniquely different from the young men Lillie was acquainted with in New York, and so different from Edward Franklin. There was something distinctive about Cody that Lillie couldn’t quite put her finger on. As she pictured Cody’s handsome features, her cheeks heated. Maybe Caroline had been right. Maybe she’d find the men on the frontier much more appealing.

  *

  Cody unhitched the buckboard, fed the horse, and sauntered to the back side of the livery where a few other young men were gathered around a cook fire.

  The livery was on the south end of the city, not far from the river, but well away from the central business district of St. Louis.

  There were cots for rent by the day in the loft of the barn. Cody and a few other day laborers had taken shelter there, but it meant that they had to cook outside. Cody didn’t mind. She’d contributed a can of beans to the effort, and someone else had added bacon and some potatoes.

  Norton Lee stirred the contents of a cast iron pot sunk into the hot coals. Norton was from Tennessee and was a fairly good cook. He’d clearly had lots of experience cooking over an open fire.

  Cody met Norton Lee her first day in St. Louis. Norton, who liked to be called Lee, had clearly felt some kinship for Cody, a fellow Southerner, and had taken her under his wing. She figured Lee was close to her age, but he seemed to be more worldly in terms of how to find work and get paid for it. He’d likely been on his own longer than she had. In any case, she was grateful for his tutelage and friendship.

  Cody dropped to a stump near the fire. There were a couple of other fellows gathering. None of them seemed to suspect that she was a girl in boy’s clothing.

  She didn’t know all their names. Most everyone seemed to keep to themselves except Lee. They were here the same as her, to make a few dollars and move on.

  Lee spooned some food into a bowl and handed it to Cody.

  “Thanks.” She touched the tip of her tongue to a spoonful of beans. They were piping hot. She blew on them and then sucked a few into her mouth, pulling in air to further cool the food on her tongue.

  “How’d you do today?” Lee talked around a mouthful of food. The sun had set, and with no moon it was fully dark except from a few lanterns visible in windows farther up the main road and the light from the fire.

  “I did all right.” Cody’s goal was to earn enough for passage to Independence. A ticket was close to twelve dollars, depending on the boat and the grade of ticket you bought.

  Aunt Hannah had insisted she take all the money she’d liberated from her father’s box under the floor. Between that money and what she’d earned since she arrived, she had enough for the ticket and for Shadow. She wanted to work one more day just
to have a little extra for when she reached the other side of Missouri.

  She’d debated selling Shadow for cash, but then she wasn’t sure how hard or expensive it would be to buy a horse once she reached Independence. Plus, she was attached to him. After deliberating for several days about it, she decided to keep Shadow. She could always sell him later if she couldn’t afford to feed him.

  The fellas she’d met in St. Louis had talked of some folks who’d walked all the way to California. She’d do it if there were no other option, but traveling by foot for that distance didn’t sound at all appealing.

  Sam Rankin, one other guy Cody knew by name, scraped his bowl clean and rubbed it with sand from near the fire pit.

  “Well, fellas, I’m goin’ for a drink. You coming?” He turned his bowl over on a rock in preparation for the morning meal, stood, and brushed his trousers with his hands.

  There was a tavern a few buildings down from the livery. As yet, Cody hadn’t ventured in, but a drink sounded appealing tonight. Her new life as a boy had been rather liberating thus far. She knew how to roll a cigarette because she’d done so for her father many times in her youth, but she’d not yet taken to drinking. Maybe because she’d seen its effect on her father. She was wary of the temptations of whiskey, but at the same time she didn’t want to blow her cover by not appearing to be one of the boys. And apparently, boys liked to drink.

  “What d’ya say, Cody?” Lee looked over in Cody’s direction.

  “I reckon I’d like a drink.”

  “Me too. This pot will keep till we get back.”

  Cody felt for coins in her pocket. She’d limit herself to one drink. She didn’t want to waste money that would be her passage out of town, but she certainly had earned one libation after working from sunup to sundown.

  The air in the tavern was filled with smoke and noise. Cody followed Lee and Sam to the bar, paying close attention to how they conducted themselves. She tried her best to mimic their behavior. It wasn’t that hard. Sam was a bit of a joker and an oaf. Lee was more reserved and quiet.

  One of the surprising things Cody had discovered since starting her expedition wearing Charlie’s clothes was that she apparently already acted like a boy and hadn’t realized it. Probably because her mother had been gone for so many years. She’d have been the only one to encourage Cody to act more feminine. Her father seemed to pay no attention or couldn’t have cared less.

  Sam, the most gregarious of them, was the first to get the bartender’s attention. He ordered three pints of beer, and they each slapped a coin on the shiny wood surface. Sam chugged a third of his drink before Cody had even tasted hers. She knew she shouldn’t sip it. That would be a dead giveaway, so she gathered courage and took a huge gulp. She held the beer in her cheeks for an instant, like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter, and then forced herself to swallow.

  “Damn, boy, you were thirsty!” Lee slapped her on the back. Cody laughed and made sure the second swig was a smaller one. She was afraid to drink too much too fast not knowing what sort of tolerance she had for alcohol.

  Chapter Nine

  “On some days, as many as a hundred and seventy steamboats can be counted along the levee.” Edward was clearly doing his best to impress Lillie with his knowledge of St. Louis. She let him talk while she enjoyed the view of the bustling river port. “Some of which are like floating palaces, complete with chandeliers, lush carpets, and fine furnishings.”

  Lillie was fairly sure the ticket she planned to purchase would be for more modest accommodations. Lillie continued to listen politely as Edward detailed the merits of the steamship named The Mary MacDonald, but she’d already made her decision.

  Call of Freedom seemed the perfect moniker for the steamer that would carry Lillie up the Missouri, to the frontier, where land was cheap and there were opportunities for all, no matter what your previous station in life had been in the East.

  The boat was docked near Quincy Packet Landing, which was surrounded by stacked burlap packets of grain, stone rubble, timber, and barrels of things waiting for transport.

  Riverboats lined the shipyard that stretched all along the boardwalk, but this particular steamer had been the one that caught Lillie’s eye. Luckily, this was a ship that had also received a favorable review from one of Edward’s contacts, so they purchased tickets for room and board for the entire passage.

  St. Louis had a special sort of urban pulse. In the previous decades, the city on the river had transitioned from a center for trappers and fur traders to a hub of commerce. The city was filling up with warehouses and factories all along its northern boundary. St. Louis had become one of the nation’s preeminent cities, ranked right after New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago.

  Spreading out from the epicenter of the riverfront were houses, storefronts, brass and iron foundries, and a mill.

  As they strolled up the rutted roads from the levee, they passed by a photography studio, a druggist, a grocer, a saloon, a confectioner, and a cigar manufacturer.

  Edward excused himself to replenish his cigar box prior to heading upriver. Lillie remained outside on the street for only a moment before the lure of the confectioner across the street got the better of her. The street was busy. A wagon lumbered past and then several men pushing carts full of firewood. She waited for them to pass before stepping into the road.

  *

  Cody rounded the corner and strode onto the dirty, busy throughway. Shouting behind her caught her attention. She saw right away what all the commotion was about. A runaway mule was careening down the crowded street overturning handcarts and smashing crates as the small wagon hitched to the animal bounced behind the mule’s frenzied dash.

  Cody was just about to jump out of the way when she saw a young woman crossing the street looking in the wrong direction. The girl seemed completely unaware of the danger barreling down the street toward her. Cody launched herself across the rutted uneven roadway and lunged forward, sweeping the girl up in her arms as she went. Cody pinned the woman to the rough siding next to the candy shop, shielding her from flying dirt and debris with her body.

  More shouts sounded behind her as several men followed the crazed mule on horseback at a fast clip. Cody relaxed her hold on the woman and for the first time, looked at her face.

  “Lillie?” Cody almost whispered her name. Their faces were very close as Cody still had her arms protectively around Lillie’s shoulders.

  “Mr. Walsh?” Lillie regarded Cody with surprise.

  “I’m so sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you grabbing you the way I did, but you were about to…I mean, you almost…”

  “No, not at all. I’m fine. Thank you.” Lillie made no move to extricate herself from Cody’s embrace. She put one hand at the center of Cody’s chest. “Thank you. I…I didn’t even see the wagon coming.”

  “You’re okay then?” Cody placed her hands on Lillie’s arms. They were still standing very near, maybe closer than was necessary, but Cody couldn’t bring herself to step away. She leaned one shoulder against the plank siding of the shop to keep from swaying on her feet from the heavenly scent of lavender in Lillie’s perfume. Lillie’s slender pale hand on her chest was like a lure pulling her in. She was losing herself in Lillie’s warm caramel eyes.

  Lillie wanted to sink further into Cody’s embrace. Cody smelled so good, of hay, and earth and fresh air. She could almost feel the warmth of the sun coming off his tanned skin.

  “I’m so silly. I almost got you killed.”

  “I think it was the mule that almost got us killed.”

  Lillie felt herself relax. Cody’s Southern accent was soft and lazily melodic. Lillie could have listened to Cody talk for hours.

  “They can be right crazy when they’re green broke. I once knew a mule to take off on a run for three miles. Then when the fellow finally caught him the mule was so stubborn that he wouldn’t turn around. He walked backward all the way back to the barn.”

  “You’re making that
up.” Lillie couldn’t help smiling.

  “No, ma’am, that is a true story.”

  “Well, thank you. I feel much less—”

  “What’s this now? Take your hands off her!” Lillie was cut short by Edward’s shouting. Cody looked up and swiftly took a step away from Lillie, dropping his hands to his sides. Edward didn’t wait for a response. As soon as he was within reach, he shoved Cody.

  Cody stumbled backward but then took a step forward, obviously not afraid to stand his ground.

  “Edward! Stop! It’s not what you think. Mr. Walsh just saved me from a runaway wagon.” She stepped in front of Edward, forcing him to look at her. His outburst infuriated her. She hadn’t asked him to look out for her, and she certainly didn’t want him to shove Cody again, or worse.

  Lillie turned to face Cody. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Walsh.”

  “It’s all right. No harm done.”

  “My apologies, sir. I jumped to conclusions.” But he didn’t sound the least bit contrite. Edward cleared his throat and tugged at the lapels of his jacket. A box of cigars was tucked under one arm, and he offered his other arm to Lillie. “Shall I escort you back to the hotel?”

  Lillie wasn’t ready to leave, but she could see the moment with Cody had been ruined. It was written all over his face. And her desire for sweets had evaporated as well. At the moment all she craved was another encounter with Cody. One not interrupted by the self-important Edward Franklin.

  “I should get going. It was a pleasure to see you again, Lillie.” Cody shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and took a slow step backward, as if some unseen force was slowing his departure.

  “Thank you again, Mr. Walsh.” What she really wanted to do was ask him to stay, to ask Cody to escort her back to the hotel instead of Edward. “I owe you a debt.”

  “None that I’m aware of.” Cody tipped his hat and punctuated the statement with a heart-stopping smile.

  And then he was gone.

  Lillie stood frozen as she watched Cody recede and become swallowed up by the pedestrian traffic along the street. Slowly, her focus returned and she became aware of the jostling activity all around her along the roadway and of Edward standing beside her, waiting for her to accept his offer.