Maggie Shifts Her Gent

by Linda Hubalek

  “What about you. Miss Beasley? Will you go back to New York with the agents on their return trip?”

  “No. This is my last trip, and I was traveling west to retire. I had my trunks on the train, which I hope were pulled off since I won't be going anywhere for a while.”

  “Yes, your trunks are in the storage room of the depot for now.”

  “Thank you. I'll need to find a place to stay in town for a while until I can use my arms again. Is there an inexpensive boarding house in town? I can't stay here in the doctor's office.”

  If they could help Miss Beasley up their steps, she could stay with her and her sisters while she recuperated. With one arm in a full cast and the other in a cast to her elbow, Miss Beasley was going to need help with everything from dressing to eating.

  It would help the children too if they were with the older woman. Christian and Bonita had eased out of Peter's grasp and stood touching Miss Beasley's shoulder now. Maggie felt a twinge of jealousy, but the children had been with the women for several days. They had only been with Maggie overnight.

  “Maggie, Marshal, can we step out in the hallway a moment?” Peter asked as he touched Maggie's elbow, meaning for her to follow him.

  “What's wrong, Peter?” Maggie whispered as soon as they were out of hearing distance of the children.

  “Nothing is wrong. I was just thinking about Miss Beasley's situation. There are two rooms in the back of the barbershop that aren't being used. The old bathing room hasn't been used much after the cattle drive era, and it has a stove and running water. If we could round up a few pieces of furniture, Miss Beasley, and her trunks could stay there until she's ready to travel.”

  “But she'll need constant care, just like the children,” Maggie warned him.

  “You and the children could move in the back rooms too. The kids are comfortable with the former agent, and you'd be there to help Miss Beasley. You can prepare food upstairs at my place, and then bring the meal downstairs to eat.”

  “And a constant stream of company will stop in the barbershop to help you too, Maggie. I like Peter's idea,” her uncle replied.

  “But we'd need beds, bedding, chairs, and a table...” Maggie said out loud as she thought of everything they'd need to furnish the rooms on such short notice.

  “I'll tell Millie it's their next Peashooter project, and I bet the rooms will be furnished and a vase of flowers on the table before it's suppertime,” Marshal stated with assurance.

  “They can't get the rooms ready that fast. Miss Beasley will have to come up to our apartment for a few days first.”

  “Nope. Even though it was twenty years ago when Millie and toddler Tate moved in with me, I can still picture in my mind Kaitlyn Reagan—along with her six young boys trailing behind like baby ducks—walking down the middle of the street carrying stuff to my house I needed for little Tate. Highchair, potty, diapers, and all.”

  “All right, if Miss Beasley agrees,” Maggie relented. “Let's talk to Doctor Pansy to see if Miss Beasley can stay here until her temporary home is furnished.”

  She started walking back to the exam room but stopped and turned to Peter.

  “You realize your barbershop and apartment are going to be filled with crying children, people’s outcast furniture, and too many busy-bodies for the next week?”

  “What better way to be part of the community…and not have to cook my own meals,” Peter replied with a grin. “Let’s go tell Miss Beasley the good news.”

  Chapter 11

  Peter went back to the barbershop—with Christian in tow—determined to open the shop for a few hours today. And his first customer would be Christian. He badly needed a decent haircut.

  Four men, including Pastor Reagan, holding a pan of cinnamon rolls, were waiting for him to open the door.

  Peter usually had the stove stoked and the place warmed up for the men by the time they arrived. But they didn’t grumble, just set about cleaning the ashes out of the stove and adding new wood to the fire themselves.

  “Heard you’re having visitors living in the back rooms for a while,” Pastor stated.

  “Now how did you hear that, when I just left the doctor’s office?”

  “Marshal left when you were still talking to Miss Beasley. He told Millie, and Millie came over to tell Kaitlyn. I’m to meet Tobin and his wagon at the parsonage in an hour, and we’ll go down the street picking up the donations. She should have the temporary home ready for the agent by noon.”

  “That soon?”

  “Yep. And Kaitlyn said they’ll bring food to feed the workers too.”

  “But there’s still old stuff piled in the back room, including Mack’s scaffolding.”

  “Mack and Squires are on their way over here to clean that out. I’m sure someone’s in charge of sweeping up the rooms after them too,” Pastor added, apparently not worried like Peter was.

  Knowing how the Peashooters worked, Peter just as well let the women take over.

  “Alright, Christian, looks like we'll have lots of activity here soon. Let's get your hair cut,” Peter announced as he picked up a small crate tucked under a nearby table. He set it in the barber's chair and then lifted Christian to sit on top, which made the child sit higher in the chair and made it easier for Peter to cut his hair.

  Peter shook out the haircutting cape and swirled it around Christian in a flourish, trying to entertain the boy as well as keeping him from crawling out of the chair.

  “Miss Beasley's moving into the back of the barbershop today, and you need to spiff up before she arrives,” Peter tried to answer Christian's questioning facial expressions.

  “You, your siblings, and Miss Maggie will be living with her too this week.”

  Christian timidly pointed at Peter.

  “I live upstairs, so I'll be close by to help you all.”

  “Pretty handy, don't you think?” Bernard had walked up to lay his hand on Christian's knee to keep the boy in the seat. “You can run up and down the stairs between Peter's home and Miss Beasley's rooms.”

  “Oftentimes Miss Maggie bakes cookies and shares them with us here in the barbershop. I bet she'll bake upstairs in Peter's kitchen now that you're all living here, and you can help out,” Charlie noted from his seat by the stove.

  Peter gave Charlie a pointed stare. Charlie shouldn't be suggesting the child would be living here when they all knew the Gatti children would be picked up by an agent next week.

  *

  Peter turned toward the back door when he heard voices in the alley behind the barbershop. He was still sweeping up the back room, which took longer than expected because Christian wanted to “help” him by holding the dustpan. Which meant he'd swept the same dust and dirt off the floor three times because Christian kept dropping the pile back onto the floor instead of into the trash bucket.

  The back door opened, and a small board was pushed under the door to hold it up. There was a wagon parked in the alley, piled high with furniture. What all was being brought in for a few days' use for heaven's sake?

  Peter saw Squires lift a chair out of the pile and walk toward the open door.

  “Wait!” Kaitlyn yelled as she ran in front of Squires, almost getting hit by the chair. From his inside view, all he saw was Kaitlyn's backside, her arms, and legs spread wide.

  “We have to put down the rugs first. They're in the next wagon.”

  Peter took the dustpan from Christian and swept up the final dirt.

  “Let's get out of the woman's way, Christian. Please bring the dustpan to the front room,” Peter requested of Christian, and he followed with the broom and bucket. He usually kept these supplies in the back room, but they were safer in the front room for now. The barbershop building was divided into three sections downstairs; the shop itself, then what Peter called the front room, and the back room.

  Christian tugged at Peter's pant leg and pointed to the back.

  Peter picked him up, thinking it would be safer for them to investigate t
he goings-on with Christian in his arms.

  Peter moved out of the way when Ethan and Wesley stumbled through the door with a large rolled-up carpet.

  “Where did that come from?” Peter asked as they dropped it on the floor, raising dust, from either the floor or the carpet.

  “Attic of the hotel, down three flights of steps,” Ethan huffed. “When we replaced the lobby rug, Helen insisted we save the old one. And you are not going to give it back to Helen, understood?”

  “Pick it up because it’s going into the front room,” Kaitlyn called out.

  “But I thought you were going to use the back room…” Peter asked as he trailed behind the rug haulers.

  “No, the front room will be better for Miss Beasley.”

  The men moved and dropped the rug again, and Wesley gave the rug a push with his foot to unroll. It was almost the size of the room.

  “Why did I need a rug for a temporary place for the children to stay?” Peter asked, somewhat worried about how Kaitlyn was going to take over his room.

  “It's better for the floor to be covered when the children play on the floor. Plus, Miss Beasley will be living here several weeks,” Kaitlyn answered Peter as she looked around the room. “Pull the rug to the right, boys. It's not straight.”

  “What all are you bringing in?” Peter asked, still thinking of all he'd have to return when the children and Miss Beasley left town.

  “Beds, table and chairs,” Kaitlyn said as she shrugged.

  But it was much more than that when the men started unloading the wagons and putting them where Kaitlyn said to put them. As soon as the three beds were in place, Kaitlyn's daughters-in-law, Daisy and Iris, carried in bedding. While the women made up the three beds, the men followed with a dresser, a wardrobe, and two side tables.

  “This won't all fit. Get the other rug, lay it down in the other room and move two of the beds back there,” Kaitlyn said as she pointed to the two beds she wanted to be moved.

  The women were taking over his backroom too?

  Millie, Helen, and Darcie walked in carrying lamps and looked around, studying the layout of the furniture.

  “I think the remaining bed needs to go to the right side of the room and the upholstered chair in that spot,” Helen pointed out. “When Peter has the door open between the barbershop and this room, Miss Beasley can see people. Too bad this building doesn't have downstairs windows.”

  “True. And the settee can sit next to the chair for her visitors,” Millie agreed.

  Settee? Upholstered chair?

  “Then the rocker can sit on the other side of the chair,” Kaitlyn agreed.

  “Will that leave enough space for the table and chairs?” Helen asked as she paced around the area, apparently measuring it with her footsteps. “No, it won’t. Better move this bed back too.”

  “That will make a nice arrangement. Visiting and meals in the front room, with a back bedroom. Mack and Squires move the bed before you bring in the table and chairs,” Kaitlyn instructed.

  When Christian patted his shoulder, Peter looked for the boy’s question. Everything was still by motioning, not speaking. Christian pointed around the room, trying to figure out what was going on, Mack assumed.

  “They’re fixing up my rooms for Miss Beasley to live here while she recuperates from her injuries.”

  Christian thought a moment and then pointed to himself.

  “Yes, you’ll live here instead of the dress shop apartment. Maggie and your sisters will be with you and Miss Beasley,” Peter didn’t add “for now” so as not to upset the boy.

  “Hey, Peter. You've got customers in the shop who need haircuts. You available?” Bernard called from the open shop door.

  “Of course,” Peter answered but looked around the front room again before he left. He was afraid he wouldn't recognize the room when he saw it next time.

  “Christian, come sit with us. I went over to the library and picked up some books for us to read to you,” Bernard said and patted at the space between him and Charlie on a wooden bench along one wall.

  Christian looked up at Peter when he took the boy off his hip and set him on his feet.

  “That will be fine. You can watch me cut hair from the bench.”

  Peter watched the older men's faces light up when Christian joined them.

  “Looky here what Mrs. Rose picked out for us to read,” Bernard showed the book cover featuring a circus clown to Christian.

  “Have you met Mrs. Rose Reagan, my daughter-in-law yet? She used to perform in the circus as a trapeze artist,” Charlie told the boy, whose eyes lit up in wonder. Had Charlie attended a circus while living in New York City? He seemed to know what a circus was.

  Peter turned to see who was needing haircuts and saw three identical young men. Maggie's triplet brothers, Matthew, Mark, and Micah Brenner. He'd met them at church and socials but couldn't tell them apart.

  “Who's first?” Peter asked as he indicated to someone to take a seat in the barber's chair.

  “Me, Matthew, if you haven't figured us out yet,” Matthew said, smiling as he took the seat.

  His hair wasn't really in need of a haircut, but maybe he liked to keep it short.

  “Did you bring a wagon of furniture into town this morning? Seems like everyone else did to furnish the back rooms for the agent and orphans,” Peter asked as he tied the cape around the man's neck.

  “Yes, a bedroom set, and three cases of canned produce from this summer's garden,” Matthew added as he sat up straight.

  “They already have three beds set up back there.”

  “Shoot. Now we might have to haul it back to the ranch and up the stairs again.”

  “How did you know about the agent and the orphans?” Peter asked since the Brenner's lived several miles from town.

  “Aunt Millie sent our cousin Ben out to the ranch last evening. He gave Ma a letter explaining it.”

  “And just like that, our evening and today were planned,” one of the other triplets said as he snapped his fingers.

  “I don’t hear Sarah back there,” Peter said as he turned to listen to the women chatting in the room behind him.

  “She went to the dress shop. Had to meet the orphans and see how our sisters were handling them,” Matthew told Peter.

  “Your sisters, especially Maggie, are in complete control. The children are in good hands.”

  “Looks like you’ve adopted one of them already,” One of the young men said, Peter thought it was Micah, nodding to Christian, absorbed in the book Bernard was reading out loud.

  “He’s latched on to me because I look like his father, based on the photograph of his family, that was with the orphans’ things.”

  “He’s lucky to have a portrait of his family. Neither us six siblings, or Molly and Moses, have photographs of our birth parents,” Matthew mentioned, but it wasn’t with remorse. The triplets would have never met either of their parents. Maggie was probably the only sibling, last seeing them at age six, to remember them.

  “Which one of our sisters are you paired with for the Peashooter project?” Matthew asked.

  “Uh, Molly, but—” Peter answered, but he was quickly cut off.

  “Nope. Maggie’s the one for you. I can see you adopting this boy, and the two little girls Ben was telling us about. No offense, but Molly needs to marry a rancher. She needs to be around animals to be happy.”

  The idea of him and Maggie raising the orphans had crossed his mind last night, even if it had been a rough night for all of them. Life would settle into a routine, and they could be happy together. Or they could start their own family after they were married.

  Yes, Maggie was the Brenner sister he’d like to marry because he was falling in love with the kind, giving woman.

  “Ouch! Quit daydreaming about my sister! You about snipped off the top of my ear,” Matthew warned Peter as he leaned to the side.

  “Oops, sorry. I was, uh, listening to the women in the back,” Peter offered as
an excuse.

  Chapter 12

  “Thank you for helping me, Maggie. You and your family and friends have been a godsend in this nightmare,” Ann said after sniffing her nose, and then chuckling. “I can't use my hankie, so I better not cry.”

  Miss Beasley, or Ann as she insisted they call her, was settled into the converted barbershop rooms by late afternoon. Maggie thought Ann would like some quiet time to rest, but she wanted to visit instead of dwelling on her injuries, and Maggie suspected, think about the death of her fellow traveler.

  Her mother, Sarah, along with three of her brothers, had arrived before lunch with furniture, and with crates of food enough to feed Ann weeks past the time the children would leave. Townspeople had brought in furnishings to make the barbershop rooms a comfortable place to recover.

  Now Maggie, Molly, Sarah, and the Gatti girls sat with the woman in her temporary quarters. Christian was still with Peter in the barbershop. They’d closed the door for privacy, and so far, the boy had stayed with Peter, and whoever else was there for haircuts or visiting.

  “I still can't believe there are even scenery paintings on the walls,” Ann said as she looked around the room again.

  “Kaitlyn thought you needed something on the walls to look at since you don't have any windows in the front room,” Sarah told the woman.

  “Goodness. I've never lived in such nice quarters. I'm tempted to stay here permanently,” Ann smiled down at Bonita, who sat on the rug by Ann's chair.

  “Me too!” Bonita added to the conversation.

  If Maggie had her way, the children would stay in Clear Creek.

  “How long have you been an agent, Ann? I've thought about doing that myself,” Maggie asked. She had spoken to her parents about her thoughts a few years back, so she felt comfortable talking to Ann about it in front of her mother.

  “I've escorted groups on and off for a couple of decades. Oh, that seems so long ago when I say it like that. I started working at an orphanage, and after a few years, I was asked to accompany a group of children to Omaha. Since then, I've traveled through several mid-western states and dozens of towns.”