by doreliz
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program
"Big Valley" are the creations of Four Star/Republic Pictures and
have been used without permission. No
copyright infringement is intended by the author. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted to the author.
Gene’s mysterious
visit to Sacramento was to keep a promise made on impulse some weeks before, to
escort his friend Charlie Mitchell’s shy stepsister Flossie Barnes to a social
event. He liked the girl and had felt
sorry for her, but he was not in love, and he did not want to be interrogated
by his mother and Jarrod, or teased by Nick and Audra, as if he were.
Over a late
breakfast Saturday morning Charlie said, “Why rush back to Stockton? Stay till Monday. We can take the girls boating tomorrow.” At another time it would have been a welcome
invitation.
“Thank you, but I
really ought to go home today.”
“Do stay. You’re always welcome here, Eugene,” Mrs.
Mitchell assured him, so warmly he suspected her of hoping that his friendship
with her daughter would develop into something more. It was not an idea he wanted to encourage.
“You’re very kind,
ma’am, but I’m afraid I can’t stay, not this time.”
Ed Mitchell, a
well-informed merchant, asked, “Is there likely to be more trouble with the
railroad?”
“There might be, I
suppose, but I haven’t heard of anything since the fight Tuesday.” He had already explained that affair on his
arrival. “The fact is, you might as
well know – ” he looked around the table and saw various children listening –
“something of -- of another kind happened, that makes me want to be home while
I can. I’ll tell you about it after
breakfast, if I may.”
The senior Mitchells
took the hint and changed the subject.
When they had finished eating and the children had scattered, Mr. and
Mrs. Mitchell and Charlie accompanied Gene into the library.
“Your folks are all
well, I hope?” Ed Mitchell had done
some business with the Barkleys over the years, though Gene was the first to
come in social contact with his family.
“Oh, yes, quite
well.” He reminded himself that Jarrod
had done this in Stockton. “What
happened, our half-brother turned up – one we never knew we had.” He blushed at Mrs. Mitchell’s look of
inquiry. “My father’s natural son. His name’s Heath. He’s going to live with us now.”
They asked the
questions he had known they would ask, and he answered as he supposed Jarrod
had done. No, they hadn’t known, they
presumed their father hadn’t known but they couldn’t be sure of that, they
still didn’t know just what had happened all those years ago. Heath was between Nick and himself in age, a
cowboy who had worked here and there, and his mother was dead. His own mother was determined Heath should
stay, so that they could begin to make up for the wrong done to him.
“No use saying I’m
surprised, because you must’ve been surprised yourselves. From what I remember of your father, it
doesn’t sound like him – but who knows?
I had some adventures myself, when I was young, though you wouldn’t
think so to look at me now.” Ed
Mitchell winked at his wife.
She was twenty years
younger than he, the youngest of their three joint children was about four, and
she had six by two previous marriages.
She spoke from her own experience.
“It’s never easy to make one family out of children – or young people –
who grew up apart. Your mother will
find that. Tell her from me, if you
like, that she’ll have to be patient while you all learn to rub on together.”
“Yes, ma’am, I see
what you mean – Heath will have to change to get on with us, but we’ll have to
change too, to adapt to him.”
“Will it make a
difference to your own prospects?”
“It might, sir. My brother Nick has been saying he needs me
to help him run the ranch, but now if he has Heath to do that – if it works out
that way – he won’t. I might study
medicine. – But that’s not decided yet, of course.”
Charlie saved his
questions until they were up in his room again. “How did your brothers take it?
Don’t tell me they put out the welcome mat!”
“Well, not at
first. They accused him of being a
fraud, and worse. Tried to buy him off
so Mother wouldn’t have to hear about it – they should’ve known that wouldn’t work. But Jarrod started to think there was
something in it, and then Mother put her foot down. Nick wasn’t happy, but he can’t stand up to Mother, and now he’s
coming around.”
“Your mother sounds
like a – a formidable character.”
“She is.”
“But what convinced
her he was telling the truth?”
“She says as soon as
she had a good look at him. Of course
she knew Father when he was young, she’d see a resemblance easier than the rest
of us. Now I’ve seen it, he’s more like
Father than any of us, unless it’s Audra.”
“I thought you told
me you look like your father.”
“Well, I do – at
least, more than like Mother. But not
as much as Heath does. – Father was a big man, too, and Heath’s nearly as
big. I’ll never be that.”
Charlie
laughed. “Poor little runt! You’re a good two inches taller than me!”
“Well, you are a runt!”
“Come on, then. See if you can beat me at tennis!”
-------------
Saturday – at the
ranch
Victoria left Audra
and Silas doing the Saturday work and walked out past the corrals, letting
herself through the gate and going on to the little house where they had lived
before the big house was built. Where
they had lived when Tom went to Strawberry.
She had brought the
key to the front door, but before she opened it she walked all the way around
the house, remembering. There had been
her garden; there Tom had made the bench under the oak tree; there Jarrod and
Nick had mounted their ponies. There
had been the old stable, long ago torn down, where she and two Mexican cowboys
had taken care of the livestock while Tom was away. Memories crowded on her as she looked around.
She unlocked the
door and went in. There was some
furniture, plain beds and tables furnished to a married foreman some years ago
and left behind when he departed. That
family’s traces were all over the house, but she could see past them to her own
time there, even to the time before that when Tom had built the house with the
help of a couple of neighbors.
After Tom’s death
she had come here in her grief, and found some comfort, as if he were closer to
her there. But now she found nothing
that helped much. He had gone away from
here, and come back after she had all but given him up, and he had not told her
the truth about what had kept him so long.
She gave way to
tears for a few minutes, here where she would not be disturbed. When she went back to the big house she was
once again calm and in control.
-------------
Saturday – Stockton
On Saturday Jarrod
was in court until late afternoon.
Remembering that Gene was due back on the 8:45 that night, he decided to
have dinner at the hotel, perhaps play some poker at his favorite saloon, and
meet the train. A little relaxation
among his own friends, that was what he wanted, a diversion from concentration
on family affairs.
Jim Scanlon, who
would have been his first choice as a companion, was a happily married man who
always went home as early as he could.
Phil Archer, who was a stimulating companion if not often a friendly
one, was out of town. However, Dick
Walters and Isaiah Tillman, lawyers who had been representing the other side in
the civil case, were happy to join him for dinner. It turned out that they were no less curious about Barkley family
business than the rest of the town, and not shy about offering free advice.
“So it seems your
father wasn’t the perfect husband after all,” Isaiah Tillman began as soon as
they had given their orders, attempting to pass off as a joke what might have
been on offensive remark.
“Did anyone ever say
he was? He was a good man, but he
wasn’t any more perfect than the rest of us.”
Jarrod spoke lightly in his turn, though he sighed inwardly; he was
tired of saying the same things over and over.
“So he was involved
with a woman in a mining camp – ?”
“We don’t know
exactly what happened. We do know Heath
is here now.”
“A stranger who
rides in and claims to be your brother?
And where has he been all this time?”
“You’d have to ask
him.” He hoped they would not. He tried to talk of other things.
“I’d hire Pinkertons
if I were you, Jarrod,” Dick Walters declared over the soup. “They’d get to the bottom of it soon
enough!”
“The bottom of what,
exactly?”
“Where this Heath
came from, what he’s done, if he has any record as a criminal – ”
“For all you know,”
added Isaiah Tillman, “he could be a cold-blooded killer.”
“Oh, I don’t think
so.”
“Pinkertons could
tell you for certain.”
“Much as I respect
the capabilities of Pinkertons, Isaiah, I don’t think I’ll send them on a
fishing expedition into my brother’s past life.”
“I suppose you know
all the facts about his birth, who his mother was, and so on?”
“Not everything I
might like to know, but enough for present purposes. And what we would most like to find out, Pinkertons can’t help us
with.” Again he changed the subject.
When they had done some
justice to the main course, Tillman asked, “Do you know for a fact this Heath is your father’s son, or
are you only going on resemblance and plausibility?”
“What do any of us
have to go on but resemblance and plausibility? It’s not something that can be scientifically proved, even in
this day and age.” Jarrod had thought
about that, what would constitute proof beyond a shadow of a doubt, but there
was no answer in the science of the eighteen-seventies.
“You and I have our
mothers’ characters to go on.”
It wasn’t quite the
situation he had talked about with Nick and Heath in his office; no fists would
be engaged here over the tablecloth.
Still, it was close enough. He
smiled falsely. “As does Heath. I’ll defend his mother’s character too.”
“In short, the
answer is no. You don’t know it for a
fact.”
“I think it so
likely, then, that it’s beyond debate.
The more I see of him the more I believe it.”
“Even if it’s true,”
said Dick Walters, taking another tack as he pushed his plate aside, “you’re
under no obligation to take him in. A
bastard has no rights.”
“I’m aware of the
legal situation. We, as a family,
consider he has moral rights and we have a moral obligation.”
“Oh, well, if you’re
going to talk of moral obligations! The
law has nothing to say to moral obligations.”
“Then look at it
this way, gentlemen – and I hope you would give this advice to someone else in
a similar situation. Nothing could be
more disastrous for the Barkleys, as a family, than deep disagreement among us
over something that goes to the heart of who we are and what we stand for. It’s in our best interest to pursue a course
of action that we can all agree on, to do what we think right. That happens to be what we are doing.”
Dessert was
served. “You may live to regret it,”
said Isaiah Tillman, tucking into his pie.
“Possibly. Or possibly I may live to be very glad of
it. Heath impresses me as a good man to
have at my back.”
“Well, you’re taking
a risk.”
“Life is full of
risks. This seems to me a relatively good
one.” But while he spoke confidently,
he pictured these same men someday reminding him that they had warned him.
He was not sorry when they were interrupted.
Martin Erskine, the
newspaperman, came into the dining room alone, waved at someone he evidently
meant to join, but took a detour to Jarrod’s table first. After checking some facts about the case
they had been involved in that day, he remarked casually, “I see your brothers
are in town too, Jarrod.”
Jarrod, distracted,
started to object, “Gene won’t be here till the train comes in,” and then
remembered and covered himself by finishing, “but Nick and Heath may well be
here. Where’d you see them?”
“Harry’s, where
else? Wasn’t speakin’ to them, though;
was already late for dinner. Have to go
now.” He ambled off to join his
friends.
Jarrod reconsidered
his plans and decided he should join his brothers at Harry’s saloon instead of
playing poker with fellow lawyers.
Fortunately he had not committed himself beyond dinner.
When he had extricated
himself from his unsatisfactory companions, he made his way up and across the
street, enjoying his cigar in the open air.
The centre of Stockton had already altered from its usual weekday bustle
to the dangerous unpredictability of Saturday night, as cowboys with pay in
their pockets began to spend it in the saloons and the brothels. In the couple of hours before train time,
anything might happen.
He saw a number of
Barkley hands on the street, but the sight was not as reassuring as usual. They could generally be counted on to back
Nick, and obey Nick, but though no one had said so, Jarrod had an impression
that many of them were resentful of Heath.
Raucous noise
spilled from Harry’s saloon. Somewhere
inside someone was playing the tinny piano, but no one seemed to be
listening. Men in working clothes
looked askance at Jarrod’s well-cut suit, but most of them knew who he was and
left him alone.
Nick and Heath were
drinking beer at a table with three other Valley ranchers and a stranger. They looked up in surprise when he joined
them.
“This isn’t your
normal hangout, lawyer,” shouted Nick over the din.
“Tired of the
company I was in,” said Jarrod as he sat down opposite his brothers. “Evening, Mr. Hamilton. Caleb.
George. Don’t go on my account,
gentlemen. I’m only waiting for the
train; Gene’s coming back from Sacramento.”
He turned to the fourth man, who had sat down just ahead of him. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Jarrod Barkley.”
“Another Barkley
brother? My name is Fredericks.” He looked like a gambler, and proved he was,
producing a deck and shuffling professionally.
“I was asking these gentlemen if they’d care for a few hands of
poker. You have time to join us before
the train comes in.”
Jarrod caught Nick’s
eye. It was not exactly what they would
have chosen for that poker game they had talked of, but it might do. Heath produced a few dollars as the others
did, without comment, and looked at his cards as if he knew what they were
worth. His face was unreadable, his
eyes quietly watchful, his bets prudent.
After half an hour Caleb Smith had lost twenty dollars and left the
game. Before an hour was up Ebenezer
Hamilton departed five dollars ahead.
Unlike them, George Roper did not know when to quit; he was soon out of
cash and writing an IOU to Nick, who had taken the pot. Fredericks and Heath were both a little
ahead, Nick was leading, and Jarrod had lost ten dollars.
George Roper pushed
back reluctantly. “Reckon I’m done for
tonight.”
Fredericks said,
“Long’s your credit’s good with these gentlemen, it’s good with me.”
“The luck’s bound to
turn soon, George,” Nick encouraged him.
“Naw. Never gamble on borrowed money, that’s what
my pa always told me. Time I was
headin’ for home anyways.” But he hung
around to watch the next few hands from the sidelines.
After two or three
more hands, Jarrod looked at his watch.
“I’ll be going after the next one,” he told them. But the next hand turned out to be the most
interesting of the game.
Nick saw a chance to
win a big stake at some risk, and characteristically took the risk. Jarrod folded, but Fredericks raised and
Heath stayed in. At the showdown, Nick
showed three of a kind, Fredericks had a flush, but Heath laid down four threes
to take the pot, which put him in the lead overall. Jarrod caught Nick’s eye again as he rose to go. “Don’t bet the ranch, boys,” he told them on
his way out.
He collected his rig
and Gene’s saddle horse from the livery and reached the station just ahead of
the train. Gene was not surprised to
see him.
“Figured somebody’d
be in town tonight.”
“Nick and Heath are
here too. Left ’em playing poker at
Harry’s.”
“Did you? Why don’t we join them?”
“I’ve already lost
fourteen dollars, and I’ve had enough of Harry’s.”
Gene laughed. “And you don’t want to corrupt your little
brother, right? How are Heath and Nick
doing?”
“When I left, they
were doing fine. Heath plays pretty
well – there was a professional gambler at the table, and I didn’t think he
played any better than Heath. Nick had
some good cards, but he’ll likely come home a loser, he doesn’t know when to
quit.”
They had to drive
the length of the main street again on their way out of town. As they passed Harry’s, a man mounted his
horse and came to join them. They
recognized Heath.
“Howdy, Gene,” he
said, turning to ride alongside.
“Howdy, Heath. Jarrod said you were winning at poker.”
“Won enough.”
“Nick still
playing?” asked Jarrod.
“Reckon he got other
plans.”
This seemed very
likely. Nick often did not come home
until Sunday morning, and never explained what he had been doing. Either he had not invited Heath to join him
in his wilder amusements, or Heath had seen fit to decline – Jarrod and Gene
could only guess which.
When they were well
out of town, secure from interruption or eavesdroppers, and their way clear in
the moonlight, Jarrod asked, “Heath, did you ever make your living playing
poker?”
Heath did not answer
immediately, Gene muttered a protest, and Jarrod began to think it had been a
mistake to ask. “Not that it’s any of
my business,” he added smoothly, “but I was impressed. You play very well.”
Heath said at last,
“Been times I was down on my luck, winnin’ some money helped out. So you might say I did.”
“But you never took
it up as a professional,” Gene surmised.
“No way to live.”
“How did you learn?”
asked Jarrod, taking care to keep his tone light.
“Here and there.”
“It’s not so much
learning,” Gene argued, “as having the ability to figure the odds.”
Jarrod did not think
so. Heath’s skill was not in
calculating odds – though he probably could do that as well as most – but in
reading men while concealing his own thoughts.
But that was a lesson Gene would have to learn for himself.
It was not only over
poker that Heath concealed his thoughts.
Would he ever become more open with the family?
At home, while Heath
looked after the horses, Jarrod and Gene went inside, where they found Victoria
and Audra busy with their sewing. They
welcomed Gene as if he had been gone much more than a day and a half. Evading Audra’s questions, he said, “Mother,
I have a message for you from Mrs. Mitchell.”
“Oh? I don’t believe I’ve met Mrs. Mitchell. What’s the message?”
“Well, I explained
about Heath, you see – ”
Jarrod broke
in. “Was that necessary? Granted these people are your friends, but they don’t know the
rest of us, and if they ever meet Heath they might not even realize his
position in the family is, er, unusual – if you hadn’t told them.”
“I was explaining why I didn’t want to stay
longer – I thought it wouldn’t do any harm for them to know, and Charlie is
just about my best friend.”
“All right. But you needn’t explain about Heath to
everyone at Berkeley.”
“I suppose not!”
“But what is the
message?” Victoria returned to the main
point.
“Oh, yes. You see, Mrs. Mitchell was married twice
before Mr. Mitchell, she has children by all three marriages, as well as five
stepchildren by Mr. Mitchell’s first marriage.”
“Oh, my.”
“How interesting!”
exclaimed Audra.
“So she said, from
her own experience, that it’s not easy to make one family out of people who
grew up apart, and you’ll have to be patient while we all learn to get along.”
“With a family like
that, she should know. Thank you,
Eugene, I will think about it.”
She did think about
it, when she had gone to bed, and realized that the peculiarity of her own
situation had made her overlook all the parallel cases. If the unknown Mrs. Mitchell had coped
successfully with three marriages and five stepchildren, surely Victoria
Barkley could cope with the arrival of her husband’s son.
-------------
Nick returned
sometime in the early hours of the morning, so silently that Audra teased him
at breakfast. “You can be quiet when you want to, Nick. Why don’t you do it more often?”
Nick grumpily
muttered something about not wanting to spoil her beauty sleep.
Jarrod, deducing
that the night had not gone well, distracted their sister’s attention by asking
who was going to church. Victoria went
almost every Sunday, had formerly taught a Sunday School class, and was
currently the only woman on the board of stewards. Usually Audra went too, and took turns teaching a class of tiny
tots. Jarrod, having been asked to take
a class of his own and declined, went about half the time, while Nick and Gene
went when they felt like it or could not find an excuse. But today, it turned out, they would all go,
to present a solid front around Heath on this occasion at least.
Or, as Gene
suggested while he waited with Jarrod and Nick in the foyer, not to miss the
fun.
“Fun!” Nick snorted. “Not much fun if you ask me!”
“Well, I missed
whatever happened Friday. I’m not going
to miss this. – What did happen?”
Jarrod had only
begun to tell him when their mother appeared, followed by Audra. “Later.”
Heath came
downstairs behind the ladies, in his new brown suit with a white shirt and
collar and a slightly crooked tie.
“You look like a
cowboy dressed up for his weddin’,” Nick told him unkindly.
“Nonsense, Nick!”
said Victoria. “Heath, you look very
nice.”
“Did I get the tie
on proper?” Heath asked anxiously.
Audra went to his
rescue. “It’s decent, but I can fix it
better if you like.” Her deft fingers
rearranged the tie and the handkerchief in his pocket. “There, you’re just fine.”
He smiled at her,
and Jarrod noticed for the first time that he had a rather endearing
smile. “You’re mighty fine yourself,
little sister.”
Unlike Nick, Jarrod
did not comment on the suit, but he wondered privately how soon he would be
able to get his new brother to visit his own tailor, and what that visit would
be like.
The Stockton
Community Church was a modest white building on a quiet side street, not the
largest or handsomest church in town, but, on the whole, the one with the
richest and most influential supporters.
It had been established before the Gold Rush by early Protestant
settlers, who had agreed then to sink their denominational differences and form
a single congregation. In more recent
years newcomers of various denominations had built churches of their own, and
often quarreled bitterly with one another over tiny differences, while the
Community Church stood for broad-minded charity to all. It was only to be expected that it also had
snob appeal that brought to it some who did not share those views.
Tom and Victoria
Barkley, who had been raised in different denominations, had found the
Community Church a good compromise in which to raise their children. Especially since Tom’s death, Victoria had
gone even further in broad-mindedness, making many friends among the Catholic
missionaries of the area and supporting their work, like the orphanage with
which Audra was so involved – an attitude most Protestants found
incomprehensible.
Jeremiah Travis too
had been an early settler, though Amelia, his childhood sweetheart, had only
come out from Boston to marry him some years after the Gold Rush. Jeremiah was now part owner of a shipping
line that plied between Stockton and San Francisco; his partner at the San
Francisco end did the greater part of the work, but relied on Jeremiah to keep
things running smoothly in Stockton, a job well suited to an elderly man who
liked nothing better than to talk to other men. He was a familiar sight on the street or the wharf, a jolly fat
man with huge side-whiskers. Whether on
purpose or by accident, he had not encountered the Barkley brothers in town on
Friday. Amelia would not have liked it.
Today, however, all
the Travises appeared at church, filing in after the Barkleys were already
seated. Gene whispered in Heath’s ear
who they were. Jarrod, at the outside
end of the pew, looked up hoping to catch Meg’s eye as they went by, but she
was not looking at him. In fact, she
sat through the entire service, two rows ahead on the other side, without once
looking around. Meg’s younger sisters,
Pauline and Violet, were not so restrained, however, and stole a good many
peeps at the Barkley pew. They were not
the only young ladies who did so, and Audra, keenly aware, thought they liked what
they saw.
Mr. Tebbett preached
on the theme that all have sinned, all need forgiveness, and forgiveness
benefits the forgiver as well as the one forgiven. The application was clear enough to everyone who paid attention. When it became clear to Nick, he very nearly
made a scene, but his mother’s fingers gripping his arm kept him quiet. Audra blinked back tears. None of the others reacted visibly – Gene,
at the inside end next to Heath, could not decide if Heath had not quite
understood or if he was hiding his feelings.
When the service was
over, Audra took Heath’s arm and began introducing him to her friends as they
made their way out. Some of the young
ladies were barely polite, others made a point of welcoming him and hoping he
would like Stockton, mostly reflecting the attitudes taken by their
parents. The younger Travis girls did
not come near, but Meg, a little flushed, pushed ahead of her family to shake
Heath’s hand and say she hoped to know him better.
Jarrod was beside
his mother as she faced her community, brushing off shows of sympathy and
evading intrusive questions.
Nevertheless he saw Meg’s gesture and was glad; it seemed to justify his
good opinion of her. A few minutes
later, when the congregation spread into the churchyard and Victoria took
Gene’s arm instead of his, he had a chance to say, “Thanks for welcoming
Heath.”
Meg’s dark eyes did
not quite meet his. “I wasn’t going
to. Mother won’t. But it – it isn’t his fault, is it? He must have suffered enough.”
“Will your mother be
angry?”
“It doesn’t matter.
– Oh, Jarrod, what a dreadful thing to have happened! It must be agony for your poor mother!”
“It was a shock, of
course, but it may turn out well enough in the end.”
“I don’t see how you
can be so calm about it – such a disgrace, everyone talking! – Excuse me,
there’s Father with the buggy; I must be going.”
He watched her
go. She had not quite disappointed him,
but she had not quite measured up to his hopes either. “Disgrace,” she had said. Maybe it was hard to find the right word,
but he was sure “disgrace” was not it, not nearly strong enough, even missing
the main point. As if being found out
were what troubled them!
Victoria steered
Gene over to some of the friends she really valued, Mayor Wallace and his wife,
a woman as tiny as he was massive – Victoria sometimes joked that one reason
she liked Sophie Wallace was that Sophie made her feel so tall – who had been a
leader of Stockton society since the town was founded. Two of her grandsons were among Audra’s
numerous beaus.
“So is this the
Heath I’ve been hearing about?” asked Sophie, peering up at Gene. She refused to wear glasses in public.
“This is Eugene,”
Victoria answered, speaking distinctly, for Sophie’s hearing was not too good
either. “You haven’t seen him since
last winter, I think.”
“Oh, yes, the
youngest boy. You behaving yourself at
college, Eugene?”
“As best I can, Mrs.
Wallace.”
“But I know
you. It’s Heath I want to meet. Where is he?”
“Eugene, find Heath
and bring him here. He’s likely with
Audra. – Audra’s taken him under her wing, Sophie. I believe they’ve become good friends already.”
“Take care,
Victoria! Take care where that could
lead!”
Victoria noted that
her friend’s mind was still as sharp as ever.
“I know, Sophie. Nothing could
be worse. But I think it’s all right.”
Sophie’s gloved hand
touched her arm. “Are you all right, dear? Can I help?”
“Thank you. I will
be all right.”
“Jarrod told Dave,
you’re sure.”
“Yes. I’ve been sure since I first saw him
clearly.”
Sophie’s husband had
drifted away a little while the women talked in low voices, but he came back
when Gene, Heath, and Audra approached, and held out his hand to Heath. “Met you at the hotel the other day, Heath –
Dave Wallace. My wife wants to meet
you.”
“Howdy, Mrs.
Wallace.” No doubt forewarned of her
deafness, Heath spoke a little louder than usual.
“Bend down, young
man. Let me see you without cricking my
neck.”
Heath went down on
one knee to bring his eyes level with the old lady’s. “That better?”
She looked at him
until he blushed red. “A Barkley, sure
enough,” she pronounced at last. “Get
up, get up. So you’ll be the third son
now, and Eugene will be the fourth. Do
I have that right, Victoria?”
“That’s right,”
Victoria confirmed the count, but her thoughts were in a whirl. She had not begun to think of Heath as her
own son, only as Tom’s, but suddenly Sophie’s words made it seem possible.
Sophie turned back
to Heath. “I have a word of advice for
you, young man. Give as good as you
get, good or bad – that’s the only way.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Be off with you
now, meet some more of the pretty girls.”
When he had gone, with Gene and Audra disputing over which of their
friends to approach next, Sophie winked at Victoria. “He’s worth some trouble, dear, or I miss my guess. Make him your own, you’ll never be sorry.”
“I’ll try. Yes, I will try.”
“Another thing, I
hear Amelia Travis doesn’t approve of you taking him in.”
“Oh, my. I’m afraid I wasn’t very nice to Amelia the
other day, so she has some reason to be angry.
I’m not quite ready to make up with her, either, though Mr. Tebbett
would say I should.”
“I expect you had
provocation. You leave Amelia to me,
dear. I’ll bring her around. –
Victoria, get that boy to bring you to tea someday.”
“I will – I don’t
know when, though. The plan is, he’ll
go with Nick week after next when they drive cattle to San Diego – they’ll be
gone about five weeks. I doubt it will
be before that.”
“How is Nick taking
this?”
“Not easily, but I
think he’s beginning to see how much help Heath will be to him.”
“Hm! – I won’t keep
you any longer, dear, but I wish you well.”
They kissed cheeks
and parted.
“Sure enough,
Pauline didn’t ask me to her birthday party – in fact, I wasn’t speaking to
Pauline at all – but Rosie Parker invited me to help plan the fall social, and
that’s much better. And the Stullmans
are giving a private dance on Friday, they have some cousins visiting from
Denver, and they not only asked me to bring all the brothers I can, they asked
Heath specially and he accepted. You
know what nice folks they are. So
that’s a start….”
Victoria had given
Audra the reins to drive home, and replied only vaguely to her chatter. She was busy with her thoughts. It seemed to her that she had been in pain
ever since she had seen Heath, that she had been functioning only because she
needed to do her duty, to make things right for him, while her own heart was
aching sorely. And now, thanks to
Sophie, or perhaps simply to the passing of time, she believed she would love
Heath and he would love her.
She remembered how
she had felt when Tom Barkley first came into her life. They had met in midwinter, at a house party
in the country. She had been the new
schoolteacher, he had been working some miles away. They had danced to fiddle music on the crowded floor, she had
perched on one end of a table while he bent over her talking, they had arranged
to meet again. In the big sleigh going
back to her boarding-house under the winter stars, while her companions sang
away the miles, she had been silent, but her silence had masked exhilaration as
she made new plans for her life, plans that included a tall fair man and a home
in the faraway West.
It was not the same,
of course it was not the same. Heath
could never be more to her than a son – but she had found so much joy in her
sons, the chance to have another was a joy in itself. It was odd, that she found herself thinking of how to woo and win
a son.
Oh, she would have
her times yet, of jealousy and anger.
She was not reconciled to the situation. But she could begin to think of Heath as Tom’s last gift to her.
-------------
On Sundays Silas
always went to his own church, a tiny building some miles beyond Stockton,
setting off shortly after breakfast with the buggy that was Jarrod’s on
weekdays and a quiet old horse, and returning late in the afternoon. As soon as Victoria reached home, she left
it to her sons to put away her own carriage and went to the kitchen, putting a
big apron over her Sunday dress. With
some help from Audra, she quickly prepared a plentiful and appetizing cold
lunch.
Jarrod and Gene sat
down in the suits they had worn to church, but Nick and Heath had lost no time
in changing to their working clothes.
Victoria eyed them sternly. “I
hope you two aren’t planning to do ranch work this afternoon.”
The Barkleys were
not strict Sabbath-keepers on principle, but it was the ranchhands’ day off and
except in emergencies they usually did only the necessary chores. It was a day for visiting, for quiet
amusements, or for catching up on lost sleep.
“Thought we might
ride up to the high pasture. Heath
hasn’t seen it yet, and we gotta drive cattle down from there next week.”
“Nicholas, you know
very well it’s a two hour ride each way, just to get there and back, and it’s
past one o’clock now. Go on a day when
you can leave early in the morning.”
“Well, we might have
a look at the water holes over on the south side.”
“Find something else
to do, dear. I’m going to have a talk
with Heath.” Heath looked at her,
startled, and she gave him a friendly smile.
“Yes, Heath. You’ve been here
almost a week, and we haven’t had a chance to talk privately.”
After lunch Audra
and Gene did the dishes, Jarrod retired to the library, and Nick went riding
alone, he did not say where. Victoria
took Heath out to the garden swing, where two people could sit opposite each
other in comfort and sway gently back and forth with only a little effort,
under the shade of a large tree.
“Mighty nice spot,”
he offered when he had taken it in.
“Your father built
this swing, about ten years ago. He
liked to sit where you’re sitting, on warm days like this. And twenty years ago he planted the tree.”
Heath said
nothing. After a short hesitation, he
went on pushing the swing steadily.
“Does it bother you
when we talk about him that way?”
“Can’t ‘spect you
not to. Don’t ‘spect me to answer, is
all.”
“We understand,
you’ll never be able to feel about him as we do who knew him. I hope that in time you’ll find it in your
heart to forgive him – I can’t ask for more than that.”
“Like the Reverend
said in church.”
“Yes. – I have to
forgive him too, and so do his other children – and we will, in our different
ways, because we loved him. It’s you,
and your mother, who have – who had – the most to forgive. It’s you who had no reason – no chance – to
love him.”
She had hoped he
might tell her something about his mother in response, but he did not. After a pause she continued, “Heath, I can’t
take your mother’s place in your life, but I would like you to think of me as a
second mother. I would like to think of
you as one of my sons.”
“Dunno why you
should.”
“‘Should’ hasn’t
much to do with feelings. That is how I feel – that I want you to be
one of my family.” He was silent again,
and she realized she was pushing too hard.
“We have time, Heath. Only a few
days now, before you and Nick leave on the drive to San Diego, but after you
come back, as much time as we need. I’m
not asking you for anything today, but I want you to know how I feel.”
“Thanks.” He did not sound very grateful, and she
began to wonder if she had frightened him off.
If he chose not to come back from San Diego, what would she do? She cast around for something else to say.
“How is it going
between you and Nick?”
“All right.”
At least, she knew,
they had worked together for four days without coming to blows. Nick was still torn between devotion to his
father’s memory and growing respect for Heath, and their relationship was still
full of rocks and pitfalls, but it was improving.
“And the
hands?” She had been aware that all was
not well there, but no one had told her details.
He shrugged. “Not too bad.”
She needed to have
him trust her, and he was still far from doing that. Or was it only the way men had of not bringing women into
differences among themselves? She had
tried to train her own sons out of it, but with little success.
“Some of the men
have been with us a long time, we know them well, and trust them. Others – they come and go.” She named some of the old-timers. “Sam Williams has been here for seventeen or
eighteen years – he’s not fit now for a long trail drive, so he’ll be in charge
of the four men I have left when you all go away…. John McColl – ‘Mac’, they call him – came as foreman two years
ago, from near Sacramento. He’s
reliable in details, and he knows his work, but I can’t say how he will act in
a crisis. The men obey Nick, and in
Nick’s absence they obey McColl, but I don’t know how loyal they are to him –
their loyalty is to Nick. That’s something
you should keep in mind – don’t rely on. McColl too far.”
“Mm.”
She smiled. “Now what does that mean?”
He took his time
finding words. “You’re talkin’ to me
like I was one o’ the family.”
“Heath, you are one of the family.”
“Mm.”
“Don’t the others
talk to you as if you are?”
“Some. Reckon it takes time.”
“Of course it
does. Part of being a family is shared
experience – the things we’ve done together, the things we remember, the jokes,
the arguments, the tears. It will take
time for you to share enough experiences with us, or we with you. In the meantime, we’ll share stories with
you. – And we’ll listen to any stories you feel like sharing with us.”
“Mm.”
“And of course we’ll
never be able to share all the
stories. There’ll always be things you
and Nick, say, don’t know about each other, that you would know if you’d grown
up together. But – if I ever have
daughters-in-law, or a son-in-law, they would start off as strangers, and grow
into the family. So I know you can
too.”
He nodded as if he
understood that analogy, and a wry little smile appeared on his face – the
first smile he had offered her. “It is sorta like gettin’ married. Movin’ in with folks that was brought up
different.”
“But without some of
the nicer parts of getting married.”
That actually made
him laugh, and prompted him to tell a little story about a cowboy acquaintance
of his who had got married and been quite shocked to find he had to change his
bachelor habits. “Ward, he never changed
his socks more’n once a month, and Nora, she made him change twice a week at
least. – Real nice woman – too good for him.”
“What became of
them?” She wondered if he had been in love with the woman he called Nora.
“Dunno. Been a while.”
No, he had not been
in love with Nora. “Did you ever think
of getting married yourself? – That’s quite a personal question, you don’t have
to answer if you’d rather not.”
“Thought of it,” he
admitted. “Never worked out
right.”
“There’s no one
right now, you want to marry?”
“If there was,” he
said simply, “I wouldn’t’ve come here.”
“It wasn’t an easy
decision for you – to come here.”
“Never meant to tell
none o’you – just wanted to have a look, see what sort o’folks you was. This ain’t what I planned at all. Only Nick got me so riled, that night – ”
“Heath, I’m glad we found out. And even if you hadn’t said a word, I would
have – asked questions, at least, if I
ever saw you clearly. Though I suppose
you couldn’t know that.”
He said nothing,
only rocked the swing a little harder.
She saw that she had been pressing him too hard again, and moved on to
easier topics, talking about the orchards that were her special interest – some
of the trees she had planted with her own hands – and the promising dairy
operation she sponsored on some land nearer town. When the sun came around to cut into their shade, they went
indoors for chilled lemonade, and then she let him go and went up to her room
to lie on the bed and think it all over again.
Jarrod looked up
from his book when Heath entered the library.
“You and Mother have a good talk?”
Heath nodded without
speaking and took up Natural Wealth of
California. Jarrod had already
noted that his bookmark was some fifty pages in, so he must have done more
reading than had appeared. “How are you
finding the book?”
“All right. – Some
o’ the places, I been there, and it’s nice to read about ‘em.”
“And easier to
remember than the ones you never heard of before.”
“Yeah.”
“You skipping over
some of it?”
“Some.”
They both read for a
while. Jarrod, observing covertly, saw
Heath’s lips moving as he read, saw him flip back a couple of pages and read
them over again, saw him actually move forward three or four pages at a stretch
without apparent skipping, saw him take out a well-worn notebook and a pencil
stub to make a note of something.
Evidently his half-brother was literate and capable of absorbing
information from a book, but was not a fluent reader – most likely long words
and complex sentences gave him trouble.
Looking for a tactful way to help, he noticed in his own book a word he
was not sure about, and got up to consult the big dictionary.
“Ah. – I’m glad we
have the dictionary here, I sometimes run across a word I don’t know.”
“Didn’t see that
afore. I got some words to look for
too.” He looked for five or six words,
fumbling a little in finding them, but evidently succeeding. Jarrod was pleased with himself.
-------------
After finishing the
dishes, Audra and Gene had seen that Heath was still with their mother. “We shouldn’t get in the way,” Audra
decided. “Let’s go for a ride.”
“Where to?”
“I haven’t been to
Father’s grave since the day I met Heath there. I should go – see to the flowers.”
“I haven’t been
there since I got home. All right. Let’s get changed.”
When they were on
their way, Audra said, “I’ve been so angry at Father. I didn’t want to do
anything for him. But Mother would want
me to.”
“He did wrong,” Gene
agreed, “but he was our father all the same – and we had nothing to complain of.”
“Gene, will you tell
me the truth about something?”
“Maybe.”
“You said, he did
wrong. What do you think he did wrong, exactly?”
Gene was flustered
by the question. “He – er—he shouldn’t
– he should – Well, at any rate, he should’ve checked, he should’ve found out
about Heath, and taken care of him.”
“And that’s your
answer? Is that all?”
“Obviously he
shouldn’t have – have gone with her in the first place! But if he hadn’t, there wouldn’t be any
Heath at all. Is that what you want?”
“Not – not in
hindsight, no. But you don’t have
hindsight when things happen. You can only think of what’s right at the
time. Who knows what the consequences
of any act might be in twenty years?
– If you, or Jarrod, or Nick – if you fathered a child out of wedlock, we might
be glad later, but it would still be wrong at the time. So – I wish Father hadn’t done wrong, for
his sake, even though if wishes came true, I wouldn’t wish that now, for
Heath’s sake. Did that make sense?”
Gene was impressed;
he was not used to his sister thinking so seriously. “It made a lot of sense.
And I, for one, will take it to heart.”
Whatever that meant.
“As for the other
part, I do wish he’d taken care of
Heath. I wish Heath had always been
here.”
“Who knows what that
would have led to?”
When they came in
sight of the trees near the grave, they were surprised to see a saddled horse
grazing nearby, and then they recognized Coco.
“Nick’s here,” they told each other at the same moment.
Nick was sitting
under a tree with his hat tipped over his eyes, chewing on a stem of grass and
looking almost asleep, though it was a safe guess that he had known exactly who
was coming before they saw him. Without
moving he drawled, “Don’t let me get in your way.”
“I came to see to
the flowers,” said Audra sweetly, and went to work. The flowers that had bloomed so well only a week ago were now
suffering from the hot dry weather, more than from her neglect. There was no convenient source of water
close enough to use in the dry season.
Gene removed his hat
and stood for a minute or two in an attitude of respect, but it did him no
good. He put his hat back on and went
to join Nick. Presently he said, too
softly for Audra to hear, “Wonder what he would’ve told us if he’d been alive
when Heath came.”
Nick took a minute
before he answered. “Whatever it was,
it’d have to be good. He’d have a lotta
explainin’ to do.”
“So you believe
it? That Heath’s our brother? You didn’t, at first.”
“Can’t see any way
round it. God knows I’ve tried.”
“Then you have to
make the best of it, don’t you? He’ll
be a help to you on the ranch – more than I would ever be.”
“Most likely,
yeah. Not sure yet – he’s made some
mistakes you’d never make. – Why, what’re you gonna do instead?”
“Go into medicine,
maybe. Be a doctor.”
“I hope I never have
to be your patient!”
“We can agree on
that, big brother! I’ve seen what sort
of a patient you are!”
Nick’s lips
twitched, a shadow of a laugh, but he spoke soberly. “About Heath. He’s a good
worker, as good a cowhand as I ever hired, and he knows horses as well as I do
– maybe better. He don’t know much
about the farmin’ side, but like Jarrod says, he might know more about minin’
than any of us.”
“I don’t see a
problem with that.”
“He’s not doin’ so
well with the men.”
“Has he ever been in
charge of men before? Won’t he have to
learn that, same as I still have to learn the right way to swing a rope?”
“Could be. But I don’t know how to teach him. – Hell, I
don’t know how to talk to him!”
“And some of the men
are – resentful, you might say. They
don’t like it that he’s put over them.”
“It’s none of their
business to like it or not like it! I
say who gives the orders on this ranch!”
“You, Nick. You
give the orders.”
“You’re damn right I
do!”
“And you give orders
to Heath. You don’t act like you
respect him.”
“Don’t you start tellin’ me how to do my job,
little brother!” Nick got up and
whistled to Coco.
When he had ridden
away, Gene went back to Audra, who had almost finished her plant-tending.
“Why did Nick go
away in a huff?” she asked.
“He thought I was
trying to criticize the way he does things.
Well, I was. But I wish once in
a while he’d listen to me!”
“Talk to
Jarrod. Or Mother. He listens to them -- sometimes.”
“Wonder if he’ll
ever learn to listen to Heath?”
“Heath doesn’t say
much, but what he does say is worth hearing, I think.” Audra
looked around. “That’s all I can
do now. Let’s go.” They started toward their horses, and then
she turned back again. Gene looked
around in time to see her press her hands to her mouth, and heard a sob.
“Audra – ?”
She gave way,
clutching at him. “Oh, Gene!”
“Now, now.” He held her, patted her back. “There, there.”
Presently she became
a little calmer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to – Oh, Gene, it was as if I’d
lost him all over again!”
“Because he wasn’t
all you thought he was. I know.”
They sat down
together under the tree where Nick had sat.
“Don’t you feel that way?”
“Maybe I was more
prepared for it. Audra, it’s a lot to
ask of anyone, to be perfect.”
“Perfect? – I knew
he was – loud, sometimes, and rough – like Nick – and I knew he had a temper if
things didn’t go his way. I didn’t
think he was perfect! But I never
thought he’d – ”
“I know. I know.”
“Heath must have
thought he was so wicked!”
“Heath never had a
chance to know how much he cared about things.
He would’ve cared about this – nobody would’ve cared more, if he’d
known. He couldn’t have known.”
“No. He couldn’t have known.” Drying her eyes, she went back to the grave
and knelt long enough to whisper a prayer.
-------------
When Gene and Audra
rode back into the yard they saw that visitors had just arrived. Wally and Jenny Miles had been neighbours
and friends of the Barkleys from the earliest days, and it was not really surprising
that they had come, shortly before Sunday dinner and confident of their
welcome, to inspect the newcomer.
“Oh, dear!” Audra
exclaimed, knowing that Mrs. Miles would be shocked to see her in
trousers. “Wait here, let them get
inside.” When the coast was clear she
slipped in the back door and upstairs to change. Gene went on into the living room in time to find introductions
in progress.
Wally Miles looked
sideways at Jarrod as if to check on his attitude first, then shook hands with
Heath, and said, “Well, you are like Tom when he was young, no mistake there.”
“So they tell
me.” They all sat down except Heath,
who stood leaning on the mantelpiece.
“Hear you was born
at Strawberry.”
“That’s right. You been there?”
“Just passed through
a few times, never had no dealings there.
Wouldn’t know nobody.”
When she saw he had
no more to add, Victoria asked, “Wally, did you know anything of this? Tom would’ve been as likely to tell you as
anyone.”
Wally shook his
head. “He never told me a word nor a
hint, Victoria, I swear. I had no idea
there’d been another woman since you were married. Before that, well, I remember him talkin’ once about a girl he
nearly married back East.”
“The one who married
the blacksmith instead?”
“Oh, you know ‘bout
that.”
“She was his first
love. He told me she – ” Her voice caught, and she started
again. “He said she was the only other
woman he ever cared for. But that was
soon after we were married. I don’t
remember him saying the same thing later on, now I think of it. Not after – ”
Jarrod could not
remember that he had ever heard the story of his father’s first love. “When did he tell you about her, Mr. Miles?”
“Oh, lemme see,
can’t say exactly. When we used to run
our herds together takin’ ‘em to market in Sacramento, sometimes we camped
together. More’n twenty years ago,
that’s all I can say for sure, before Evan was born – that’s our son, Heath,
he’s away at school. – Well, it just shows, no matter how well you think you
know a man – ! – Sorry, Victoria, I got
no business sayin’ that.”
“It’s very true,
Wally.”
“So you’re takin’
Heath into your family. That’s like the
generous woman you are.”
Jarrod said, “We’re
just recognizing the facts, Mr. Miles.”
“You’re lucky,” Mrs.
Miles said abruptly, not speaking to Heath.
“You don’t know how lucky you are.”
No one responded directly; Mrs. Miles often said inexplicable
things. Instead Wally launched into
small talk that lasted until Audra came downstairs dressed for dinner, and Nick
came in from outside.
-------------
During the following
week the Barkley Ranch returned almost to normal. Neighbors visited again, business was done, horses were
trained. Jarrod was immersed in a case,
and Gene stole all the time he could reading for his course. Audra sewed shirts for Heath, while Victoria
resumed her usual activities. Nick and
Heath were busy bringing in cattle for the drive south, and if Heath had
difficulties with the hands, or anyone else, he did not talk about them. He did not seem much more comfortable with
the family than he had at first, but he was beginning to know their ways, and
they were getting used to his quiet presence.
Monday morning
Victoria went upstairs collecting laundry.
The boys were supposed to put theirs into the hamper in the bathroom,
but often they forgot. And today there
was Heath’s clothing to be identified and washed.
She found Gene in
his room, stretched out with a book.
“Laundry?” she asked.
“All in the hamper.
– Oh, no, there’s what I brought back from Sacramento.” He jumped up to open his valise, which he
had not yet unpacked, and removed from it several articles, including a dress
shirt.
“You should unpack
as soon as you can – look how wrinkled this is,” she scolded. “And what were you doing with a dress shirt in Sacramento?”
“Nothing
disreputable. I’m sorry, Mother, but
I’d rather not tell you.” He watched
her with a mixture of anxiety and defiance.
Victoria looked at
him sternly. He had always been the
least demanding of her children, and had the least attention as a result. It surprised her a little that he had
suddenly made this demand for independence.
But perhaps it was time. She
made a gesture of surrender. “You’re a
man now, Eugene. I have to trust you to
regulate your own conduct.”
“I will,
Mother. I’ll behave myself, I promise.”
“I know.” She gave him a motherly hug. “You’ll be a good man.”
“Mother, since we’re
talking – I’ve been thinking about what I’ll do when I graduate.”
“Do you have some
new ideas?”
“I think I’d like to
study medicine. With Heath here, Nick
won’t need me on the ranch, and I never was really cut out for ranch work
anyway. But I like the science I’ve
been studying, anatomy and physiology, and I really believe I’d like medicine.”
“It means years of
studying hard.”
“I know. I like studying. And it’s a chance to do some good in the world.”
She had some more
practical questions, but at last she said, “Then why not? My dear, that’s a fine ambition and I’m very
proud of you.”
Afterwards she
thought, she ought to have known that of all her children it would be Eugene
who would have to leave home in order to become what he was meant to be. There was something satisfying about the
symmetry that set him free to go by the arrival of Heath, who wanted and needed
a home.
-------------
On Wednesday Jarrod
brought home a letter for Victoria from her brother-in-law. After dinner she read it aloud to them all,
while Audra sewed buttons on a shirt, Nick polished the stock of his favorite
rifle, Jarrod and Gene played chess and Heath watched.
My dear Victoria,
I was very shocked by your letter. I never had any idea Tom ever thought of
another woman besides you. But if
you’re sure there’s no more to say about it, is there? It’s too bad Tom never knew about this boy,
or he would have helped out raising him for sure. I know that much about my big brother.
Ellen has not been too well this last while,
so we can’t come for a visit. Tell this
boy Heath he’s welcome to come and get to know us when the fall work is
done. If he don’t get along with Nick,
maybe he’ll get along with me and stay to be the son I never had, if he’s a
nice good-tempered boy that will be grateful and do what he’s told and not
think he knows better than an old man.
You know how I used to fight with Tom sometimes so it was better we
didn’t live too close together.
“That’s true
enough,” Victoria interrupted herself.
“Your father and Uncle Jim loved each other as brothers should, but they
fought like brothers too. Uncle Jim
came here first when he came out from the East, for a few months, but it didn’t
work out; he wanted to be independent.”
“Him and me,” said
Nick, “we don’t pull together very well either. I went there for a while one winter when Father was still livin’,
to help him out when he was sick, but he didn’t like anything I did. A good man, but not such a good rancher.”
There was more in
the letter, family news and remarks on the weather, before it ended,
Thinking of you and
praying for your comfort, I remain
Yr loving bro., Jim Barkley
Audra said
worriedly, “He says Aunt Ellen hasn’t been well, but he doesn’t say what’s
wrong. I hope it’s nothing too
serious.”
“I’ll ask when I
write back.”
Jarrod said, “I had
just the slightest hope that he might know something we didn’t, but apparently
not. Well, Heath, you have an
invitation.”
“Tell him thanks,
I’ll come sometime. When Nick says I
should.”
“Maybe I better
not,” said Nick. “He might lure you
away from us.”
“He ain’t tryin’
real hard. You be sorry if he did?”
Nick frowned as he
realized what he had said. “I don’t
know. I need to know you better’n I do
yet, before I know if I’d be sorry or not.”
Gene said, “That’s a
long way from where you were a week ago.
Eight days, tonight, since – ”
“It’s only a week,
like Gene says. I need more time to
know how I feel about you.”
“Goes for me too.”
“Time will help us
all,” observed Jarrod smoothly. “This
has been an eventful ten days one way and another – I call it ten days, since
Heath first rode in, and the railroad business was coming to a head.”
“Speakin’ of which,
why haven’t we heard any more from the
railroad?”
“Seems they’ve
decided to lie low for a while. They
have to take into account what their shareholders back East are saying – they
don't want stories in the papers about murder and mayhem in California.”
Nick glowered. “Or could be they’re just waitin’ for a good
chance to hit the farmers again.”
“Possible. But I think unlikely. – If they do, I will
personally write to every newspaper in New York, Philadelphia, Boston,
Washington, and a few other places, describing what’s happened here.”
“Hmph! Don’t get yourself killed, then. Nobody else on our side can write such good
letters.”
“Believe me, Nick, I
have no intention of getting myself killed.”
“You’re not even
gonna be here while we’re on the drive – didn’t I hear you’re goin’ back to
Frisco?”
“For a week or two,
yes, and then I’ll be here again.
You’ll be gone five weeks at least.”
“Twenty-four days to
get there, for the premium in the contract, three days there to rest up – it
shouldn’t take more’n a week comin’ back, usin’ the main roads and no cattle to
slow us down. Five weeks, if all goes
well.”
“Send us a telegram
when you get a chance, tell us how it’s going.”
“Don’t figure on
bein’ near any towns – gotta stay on public land if we can, not go drivin’ our
herd on some other man’s pasture. Send
you one from San Diego.”
Victoria said, “It
sounds almost like the early days when we first came here. No roads, no towns, no reliable maps.”
“Nick should be as
happy as a lark,” put in Audra.
“While you’re
sleepin’ in your soft warm bed, little girl, we’ll be lyin’ on the cold hard
ground!”
“I’ve slept
out. I liked it, and I’ll do it again
any time!”
“That was on a
family campin’ trip, one or two nights at a time! How’d you like to sleep out with thirty cowhands all around you,
five weeks at a stretch?”
“Why, Nick, I didn’t
know you’d let me!”
Gene slapped his
thigh. “She’s got you there, Nick!”
-------------
Heath might have
tried to back out of his agreement to attend the Stullmans’ party, but Audra
gave him no chance. Gene had readily
agreed to go, and even Nick was persuaded.
Privately, Nick told
Gene, “Things can get rough, you know that, when men get drinkin’ and carryin’
on. Best you and I are there with him
in case anything breaks out.”
“To protect
him?” Gene might be flattered by the
implication that he would be some use in a brawl, but he could not help
sounding skeptical.
“It’s Audra needs
protectin’. Can’t have her dependin’ on
just him.”
“Oh! Of course we have to protect Audra!”
Victoria chose to
stay at home. “It sounds like a young
people’s dance, dear. And I’m sure Mrs.
Stullman won’t need any more chaperones.
Give her my regards, and Silas is making a cake for you to take along.”
Audra sighed. “I would have made it myself, but Silas
doesn’t have enough confidence in my cooking.
I’ll never hear the last of that disaster when I left out the baking
powder!”
“You know your cakes
turn out nicely, when you pay attention to what you’re doing. But you still have Heath’s shirts to finish,
don’t you?”
“Only two left, and
I’ll be done with this lot. He was so
pleased when I gave him the first ones – I don’t suppose he’s ever had so many
shirts at one time before in his whole life. – I’ll make him some nice white
ones while he’s away, too, so he can dress up if he wants.”
“That’s a good idea.
– But I wonder if he might start to feel smothered, if we give him too much all
at once. He’s not used to having much,
as you say.”
“He’ll like what I make for him.” Audra could not really believe that anyone
could have too many clothes.
Jarrod too had
declined to go to the dance. “Let them
dance the night away in a room sixteen feet square,” he said when the others
had gone. “I prefer an evening in your
company.”
“I expect they’ll
dance on the verandah too. I do hope
Heath makes some friends.”
“Why wouldn’t
he? Granted that he lacks the finer
social graces, those aren’t required in the Stullmans’ circles, are they? His manners may be, one might say, rustic,
but they aren’t bad.”
“Not at all. He’s considerate and modest – more than I
can always say for Nick.”
“Our Nick has his
good points, but no, modesty isn’t one of them.”
“He seems to be
coming around to accepting Heath, at least.”
“Within reason, yes,
I think so. It’s not comfortable yet,
for either of them.”
“Maybe during the
cattle drive – they’ll depend on each other there.”
“I hope so.” Jarrod did not sound entirely
confident. “Changing the subject,
Mother, has Gene spoken to you about his future?”
“Studying
medicine? Yes, he did. So he talked to you earlier?”
“Last week. What do you think?”
“‘Dr. Barkley’. I like the sound of it. But it will mean years of study yet.”
“I warned him it
will be very hard work. He didn’t seem
to be afraid of that. – So we’ll see how he does this coming year, if he can
study hard enough.”
“I’m proud of
him. I’m proud of all my children – and
that includes Heath.”
“You really are
adopting him as one of your own, aren’t you?”
“If he’ll let me, I
will. Oh, I won’t forget, and neither
will he, that Leah Thomson was his mother.
But I mean to make him my own as far as I can.”
“Are you going to
ask him to call you ‘Mother’ instead of ‘ma’am’?”
“Would you mind if I
did?”
“Not I.”
“I’ll ask him when
I’m fairly sure he’ll agree to it. Not
yet.”
Later Silas brought
in a fresh pot of coffee, which he knew Victoria liked when she sat up later
than usual. Jarrod put his book aside
to join her in a cup, and remarked on another matter that had come as a relief,
even as an occasion for laughter.
“We’ve had one mercy anyway.
Doolin chose to devote his yellow rag to the fight with the railway and
overlooked our private affairs, all but that one story.”
“Which no one who
knows us would believe.”
“Who but Doolin
would ever imagine we’d bring in a hired gun and try to pass him off as our
brother? Nobody would believe anything so patently ridiculous. – Even Doolin
gave up on it after one story.”
“There are likely
other spiteful stories going around, of course. Have you heard any?”
“Report has it, Mrs.
Travis is saying Nick and I have forced you to accept Heath’s presence because
he’s needed on the ranch. To replace
Gene, possibly – my informant didn’t say so.”
“Oh, poor little
me!” She shook her head in
amazement. “I wonder if she would
understand the truth if we did try to
explain it to her. – But, Jarrod, I do have one reason to be sorry I’ve
quarreled with Amelia.”
“Are you thinking of
Meg?”
“I know you squired
her to that picnic, and a couple of other times. I don’t know how serious you were, but I was beginning to think –
”
“I don’t know
myself. I think perhaps not very. Oh, an estimable young lady, handsome and
well-mannered, and more intelligent than most – but I think, not quite – ”
“Not good enough for
you?”
“What I’m trying to
say is, not quite measuring up to the standard you have set, dear lady.”
“An old mother is a
poor substitute for a young wife, Jarrod, in the long run.”
“That may be so – in
the long run. Though the wrong young
wife would be worse than none at all.
In the short run, I rather think we have enough going on in the family
without introducing another new member anytime very soon.”
“Perhaps. If one of you – Nick, say, or Audra – falls
deep in love, all that could change overnight.”
It was nearly
midnight when the party-goers returned, all appearing reasonably
undamaged. The men went straight up to
bed, but Audra came in to where her mother was reading. “Are we terribly late? I’m sorry – when I go with my brothers, why
do you wait up for me?”
“Because I’d rather
see you come in. How did it go?”
“Oh, pretty
well. Heath didn’t dance much, but he
met a lot of people – well, there were forty or fifty people there, I suppose
he met half of them at least – and they seemed to get along all right. He’s so quiet, you know, he let them do most
of the talking, and most folks like that.
Nick danced three times with the prettiest of the cousins from Denver,
but I don’t think he’ll follow her back there.
And Gene danced every dance – he’s much better than I thought he was, he
must have been practicing at college. – And guess what? Lucy Stullman is engaged to Ralph Cooper,
he’s their foreman, and they’re going to be married as soon as they build a
house just across the yard from the ranchhouse. Isn’t that nice? She
won’t even be leaving home, not really. – I promised to help her with her
wedding dress, once she gets the material.”
“That is nice for Lucy, and her mother too. I hope you said all the proper things.”
Jarrod asked, “Would
you like to marry our foreman and live in a house across the yard?”
“I don’t quite think I’d like to marry Mr. McColl
– he’s twice my age for one thing! But
if you hired a nice one – ”
“Oh, you’ll have to
see Nick about that!”
“And, Mother, guess
what else I heard? Pauline’s birthday
party fell flat – only about six people went to it, and they left early!”
“Oh, really? – And
what about you, dear? Did you enjoy the
dance tonight?”
“Oh, there were just
the local boys there, no one exciting.
The only male cousin from Denver is younger than me. I had a good time, but that’s all.”
“That’s as much as
you can expect, Audra. Clem and Carl
and the other local boys may not be exciting, but they’re decent young men, and
you could do much worse than decide to spend your life with one of them. If an ‘exciting’ man comes along, well,
we’ll have to see what he’s like.”
“Mother, don’t you
remember how you met Father at a dance like the one tonight? I can’t help hoping that the same will
happen to me. – Oh, it doesn’t have to be at a dance, but somewhere, sometime,
a man will sweep me off my feet as Father did you.”
“Did I say I was
swept off my feet? Well, perhaps. But love doesn’t always come that way. –
Let’s go to bed, dear.”
Continued…