Summary: Part nine of Home
Word Count: 9500
Home
Chapter 1
Ponderosa Ranch
February 1873
“Did your brother say any thing to you?” Ben Cartwright looked straight at his oldest son. Adam had come by to show his father the completed railroad contracts and get his opinion of the sketches he had made for the trestle. Adam also brought Elizabeth along to visit with her grandfather.
After a pleasant afternoon visiting, Hop Sing served the dark haired little girl an early supper in the kitchen while the men worked at Ben’s desk. When Elizabeth thought no one was listening, she sang songs to her dolls. The two men, knowing that she would clam up if she knew they were enjoying her tunes, pretended to work. In reality, Adam and Ben paused to enjoy her performance of “Darling Darling Darling Clementine” that Sam had taught her, and a long drawn out song Kate had taught her about a frog courting a mouse. Eventually Elizabeth fell sound asleep on the floor by the fireplace playing with her dolls and the old box of little wooden horses that originally had be Joe’s, Ben had gently picked her up. He took off her shoes, placed her on the settee and tucked an afghan around her.
“Did your brother say any thing to you?” Ben repeated as they moved into the dining room. Adam was carrying the hot cup of coffee that Hop Sing had kept refilled all afternoon as they worked.
“No Pa, Joe didn’t say anything, not a thing. Fact is, yesterday he was pretty quiet on the way home from the auction. Maybe he was just very tired.” Adam quickly picked up his coffee and took a long pull on it. He was trying to have his supper and change the topic of conversation before his father caught wind that he wasn’t being completely forthcoming with all that he knew. “Now that I think about it he was really pretty tired.” Adam chuckled to himself knowing his brother had been up late with Meg Thackery the entire time they were on their visit.
Adam wasn’t quite sure how his father would feel about all that was going on between Joe and Meg. His brother was a grown man and Meg was a grown woman. It certainly wasn’t his business to tell Joe what to do. And even if Adam did tell him what to do, his brother would never listen to him. Then again, it wasn’t very ordinary for Adam Cartwright to wake up and find a very pretty half naked woman pushed into his hotel room by his brother.
The front door blared open, bringing with it a harsh blast of icy wet wind and Joe coated with a dusting of sparkling snow. From his chair at the head of the dining room table, Ben looked up at his son and softly ordered him to close the door.
“Shut the door Joe! Don’t let the baby get cold. Don’t slam the door and wake her up.” He gestured at Elizabeth sound asleep on the settee.
Joe smiled as he hung up his coat and hat on the rack near the door. “Can’t believe we are getting snow. I didn’t expect any company either.”
He unbuckled his gun belt and coiled it on the cabinet
“We were just having dinner, Joe,” Ben added.
“Got those new horses taken care of Pa. They look fine. The gelding should rest that hoof for a few days but it will be ok.” He walked over to the settee and gave his sleeping niece a kiss on her forehead. “Elizabeth sure is sweet Adam.” He tucked the soft cover around her. Delighted that his niece was enjoying his old toys, Joe picked up the wooden horses from the floor and put them on the table. Then he went upstairs to wash up.
“Hop Sing saved you some dinner. Its delicious.” Adam pointed to Joe’s place when he came back downstairs.
”Thanks” Joe sat down and looked at what was in the serving dishes.
“Joseph, What’s going on between you and Miss Meg Thackery?” Ben asked not even waiting to ease into the topic. He stared at his youngest son and waited for an answer.
Joe swallowed hard. “I don’t rightly know, Pa. We sure have a good time when we are together though.” A carefree smile lit up his face as he surveyed the food on the table.
He reached for the platter of bread and slowly sliced off a piece. As much as Meg had finally agreed to marry him, they had decided not to make any specific plans right away. They both agreed that those things could wait indefinitely. “Indefinitely or longer,” was the exact term Meg had used. They were engaged but neither felt any need to make any more formal plans than that. They were having lots of fun just the way things were. Joe realized that being with Meg was the most fun he had since Hoss was killed and there was absolutely no reason to make any changes.
He was quite happy and so was Meg. That seemed like more than enough right now for him. Joe shrugged. “Did Adam say something to you?” He looked over at his brother and tried to catch his eye.
Adam ducked his head and started shovelling food into his mouth. “Good dinner Hop Sing!” he shouted into the kitchen. No need for him to get in the middle between his father and his little brother on this topic.
”Should he have? “ Ben stared at his youngest son.
Joe looked his father straight in the eye and repeated, “Did Adam say anything? “
Ben shook his head. “I just don’t want you getting into…”
”Into what Pa.” Joe grinned. This was getting to be loads of fun. First he and Meg woke up his brother and gave Adam the shock of his life and now his Pa was getting all excited. He hadn’t seen Pa so riled up in a while and Joe was having a grand time teasing him.
”Joseph! Are you going to tell me what is going on?”
”What’s going on? Pa, I think Meggie may just want to marry me. “ Joe smiled widely and looked across the table to his father. “Matter of fact we are sort of engaged.”
Ben shook his head and dropped his fork. “Marry you? You are engaged to be married? I thought she was going to have you arrested or horse whip you or have Pierce Winslow shoot you the last time you told me about this woman. What is this ‘sort of’ engaged?”
”Guess she changed her mind, Pa about the shooting me and all. She must figure I’m too handsome and charming to waste a bullet or a jail cell on right now. Pierce knows she won’t see him any more and he should leave her alone.” He smiled at Adam who winked back and continued eating.
“What in the world happened when you were up there?”
”I tried to buy some livestock and Adam had a really productive meeting with the railroad men. Did he show you that trestle he drew? It looks mighty fine. I got the Ponderosa some nice horses. Even that gelding should do fine for us. We had a very nice trip.” Joe laughed looking at Adam again. “Didn’t we, Older Brother?”
“Very amusing,” Adam smiled back at Joe. “Enlightening and entertaining but mostly quite amusing.”
“What is going on right now? Not about the horses or Adam. What is going on between you and Meg Thackery? And what does this ‘sort of’ engaged business mean, Joseph?” Ben repeated loudly. He stared at his son and waved his fork in the air.
Even Adam couldn’t hold in his laughter any more. “Pa, maybe in a few years, Meg will tell you all about what happened up there but you raised us to be mannerly gentlemen and I don’t think Joe here is going to say another word.” He wiped his chin with his checkered napkin and tried to memorize his father’s expression. Adam couldn’t wait to share this story with Katie when he got back home. He was very glad Sam hadn’t come along because there was no way he wanted to be explaining Uncle Joe’s rambunctious behavior to his son, but he knew Kate would find the story very amusing, entertaining and enlightening.
Joe tried to look innocent and nodded. He took another slice of roast off the platter and poured some hot gravy over it. “You are right Adam, this is really delicious!”
Ben stared at him, mouth open. He rose half out of his seat, and then sat back in it, heavily. His hands spread out flat on the table. “I suppose at some point you’ll tell me when you are ready.” He slowly let out his breath with an angry hiss. Both of his son’s looked up at him expecting steam to be spouting from Pa’s ears. Ben aggressively stabbed his fork into his dinner and ate a bite.
”Pa, it’s not about being ready. Its about my little brother here figuring out what the heck is going on between him and the lady who has stolen his heart.” Adam took the platter from Joe and took a second portion. It wasn’t often that both he and Joe ganged up on their father and the poor man didn’t know what to make of it. Usually Ben found himself pulling his sons apart and now they were conspiring against him.
Joe nodded and took another spoon of potatoes from the bowl in the middle of the table.
”Looks like Meg has my little brother pretty much confused. Happy, but confused.”
“Very, very happy.” Joe smiled like the cat who had eaten the canary. Adam laughed. He glanced over at his raven-haired daughter who was still soundly sleeping in the other room. Adam decided he was never going to let his sweet daughter ever have a beau or get married until she was at least sixty years old, maybe seventy or eighty.
“So have you set a date for this wedding?” Ben looked from Adam to Joe and back again.
”No sir, I guess Meg needs to work things out a bit. I don’t think she is looking to do a big fancy wedding or do it very soon either. She says she has quite a few auction sales coming up. You know how Fred and her brothers count on Meg to handle things. And then it will get to be snowing and then spring round up here and we have some lumber contracts that we need to supervise for the rail road that Adam just did and….”
”But who knows about next week or next month, Little Brother? How about next year or the year after?” Adam laughed knowing how mercurial both the bride and the groom were. “Maybe she’ll or ask you to elope or want the fanciest wedding in the territory. Or have you shot for stealing that pony you wanted for Eric.”
Ben looked at his two sons and started to say something but decided to remain silent. He was glad that Joe was so happy after the last few difficult years. Ben was delighted that his youngest son had finally found a woman who was returning his affections and wanted to marry him but he had an uncomfortable feeling about this wild, unsettled Meg Thackery.
Chapter 2
Feb. 8,1873
Dearest Meg,
I can’t believe what you did, Meg! You may look like an angel with your pretty blonde hair and sweet face but you sure act like a little devil.
We were at Rev. Felcher’s funeral and I hadn’t worn my good suit since we almost went to the fancy restaurant with the violin player. You remember when I am talking about.
Billy Felcher, who took over his father’s pulpit, was giving a really fine eulogy. He even said that his father was probably giving one of his real long boring sermon to the angels in heaven and finally no one would even be complaining or squirming. Everyone was laughing and crying at the same time. I reached in my pocket to give Katie my handkerchief and pulled out those pink silk unmentionables that you put in there. Good thing Adam saw and grabbed my wrist real hard before the whole church saw me waving your property around. Adam turned purple and I thought his eyes were going to pop right out of his head.
To say the least he had a few choice words for me later on in private behind the church but I was laughing so hard that I didn’t hear a thing he said in his sober sides older brother lecture.
Can’t believe you tucked that little surprise in my jacket pocket and I didn’t have a clue, you little devil. Doesn’t anything embarrass you Meg? Can’t believe what you did.
It sure would have livened up the funeral and possibly been the cause of mine if Pa saw the scene I caused. He was too busy listening to the eulogy and looking sad to pay me much mind. Meggie, I can’t believe you did that! Guess I will have to come see you soon and return what you “accidentally “ left in my pocket.
So now you really have to do the honorable thing and marry me seeing as you nearly got me publicly humiliated.
Love,
Joe
Feb.21, 1873
Dear Joe, thanks for bringing me back my property. I’ll see you in a few weeks. Quit talking about getting married. Things are quite fine just the way they are for me. And if you don’t like it that is just too bad for you.
Kisses Meg
Chapter 3
March 1873
Joe had spent the afternoon with Meg Thackery looking at a string of horses that she had found for him out a the auction yard. At first he was not impressed but she pointed out the breeding potential and reminded him that he had been looking for some cutting horses for the hands tending the cattle. Despite himself, Joe had to admit she was right and the horseflesh she had found exactly what the Ponderosa needed before he had even thought of it himself.
“That chestnut over there, the one with the long legs is just what you need for those horses you are always selling to the cavalry. I bet there is at least a half quarter horse in her. And look at the stride on the other chestnut, the one that is almost black.” She pointed to a lively animal in the far side of the corral.
Joe agreed. He had never met a woman who out thought him when it came to horses. They stood close to each other in the warm sunlight by the horse corral at the Thackery Auction Yard.
“Isn’t that just what you need for the Ponderosa?” she said proudly looking Joe right in the eye.
“That and one other thing, Meg.” Joe grinned and put his arm around her waist pulling her closer.
“And what is that you need, sir? More horses?”
”You, Meggie.”Joe leaned into her and gave her a kiss. She laughed and pulled away.
“Stop fooling around, this is my job here. How am I going to keep my wranglers in line and make sure they obey my orders when my father or brothers aren’t around if they see you kissing me all the time? Not that I don’t enjoy it,” Meg smiled and rested the flat of her palm on his chest.
“So marry me?” Joe teased her with the same sparring game they were continually playing and replaying. He put both his hands on top of hers and took a step closer to her.
She kissed him on the cheek and shook her head. Her honey colored hair untucked from her hat. “No, this is much too much fun. So are you going to buy those horses? I’ll bring the papers back to the house. “
Joe nodded and tried to steal another kiss like a school boy but she ducked to the side. “I’ll buy them all if you throw in some more kisses?’ He snatched off her hat and held it over his head until she grabbed it back and jammed it down on her head.
”And that old saddle? And two oxen and a goat? And some blankets and some hard tack and a jar of peaches. And a hunting knife too. What is this a treaty negotiation with the Paiutes?“ She laughed tucking her hair up under the hat.” Go back to my house and I’ll meet you there in a couple of hours and I’ll even let you take me out for a night on the town. I bet my mother has a pot of hot coffee and a cake coming out of the oven just about now to tide you over until dinner. Then we will be alone with out an audience of my wranglers to watch us kissing. ”
”You have a deal.” Joe winked and tipped his hat.
“Just don’t go knocking over anything in my parents parlor!” she hollered as he rode off on Cochise.
Joe threw his head back and laughed thinking about the cozy Thackery house. Unlike the Ponderosa ranch house that was large and spacious and furnished on a massive sturdy scale, the Thackery house was crowded with ornate spindly furniture and flowery fabrics and wallpaper. Every surface was covered with doilies or knick-knacks or both. Even Peter’s bedroom was crowded with stacks of books and his collections of woodcarvings and butterflies and insects in jars all neatly arranged on shelves.
Every time Joe visited, he knocked over something. It always reminded him of Adam’s complaint about the little house he and Kate lived in when they first married. Adam walked around with bruised shins and bumps on his head until the house he designed for Kate and Sammy was finally built.
As cluttered as the Thackery house was, Joe always felt comfortable and welcomed there as long as he paid attention to his elbows and feet. Mrs. Thackery made a fuss over him and prepared special treats for him to eat. She and her husband encouraged Joe to pursue Meg hoping that someday Meg would finally give in and marry Joe.
“She is too wild and stubborn for her own good. “Mrs. Thackery told him as she poured him a second cup of coffee. She set a warm slice of fragrant coffee cake next to the cup. “Don’t let her chase you away, Joseph.”
After finishing his coffee, Joe sprawled completely relaxed and apparently asleep with his tan hat tilted well down over his face in a chair on the sunny porch of the Thackery house. It was a warm spring day and out of the wind gusts, it was quite comfortable sitting outside. Joe had leaned the chair back on two legs and his feet were propped up on the white painted railing. The last two days had passed pleasantly and he was hoping that he would catch Meg in a weak moment and they would set up a firm wedding date. On the other hand if they didn’t, it was fun teasing her about getting married and enjoying their time together. Joe was in truly no rush to settle down and neither was Meg.
Just as Joe’s eyes were about to close, Peter Thackery, Meg’s younger brother came clattering up on the porch and slapped Joe’s boots off the porch rail. Joe woke up with a start. Peter was holding two hammers in his hand and he put them down on the porch table.
”My sister wore you out, Joseph?” Peter laughed. “Don’t want you snoring again like last night. If you are gonna share my room, you better not snore Joe. Otherwise go bunk with Michael and Simon upstairs.”
”How about my bunking with Meg?” Joe teased. “Bet she won’t mind if I snore? Not one bit.”
”Bet my father will be real happy to fill your tail with buck shot in that case, Partner.” Peter sat down on the chair next to his friend. “Or make the two of you get married.”
It was obviously a conscious decision on Mr. Thackery’s part to maintain some propriety in his houseshold. Every time Joe visited Meg her parents insisted that their daughter’s suitor share Peter’s first floor rear bedroom. Every one knew Peter was a light sleeper. To get to Meg’s attic bedroom in the front side of the house, Joseph would have to get past guard dog Peter, climb the squeaky flight of stairs, pass the second floor bedrooms of her parents and other two brothers and climb the squeaky attic stairs.
”Sounds good to me… the getting married part that is. Not the getting shot part. Maybe you can tell your sister to marry me?” Joe grinned and tipped his hat to the back of his head. Both men laughed.
”I tell her all the time. But my sister Meg won’t listen to no one. Not Mama or Daddy or even us boys. Never did, never will. She always goes her own way; ” Peter tipped his own chair back and put his own boots on the porch railing. “Joe while you are here gives me a hand with that loose clapboard up on the third floor. It gonna get windy tonight and Daddy doesn’t want them blowing off altogether.”
Joe agreed, “Where is the ladder? Have one long enough to reach up there?” Joe lazily pointed with his chin.
“Don’t need a ladder,” Peter answered.
“What are you planning, Peter? Want me to hold you up on my shoulders? Don’t think either of are tall enough to reach the third floor like circus acrobats.”
“No, we can go up to the attic and go out the window and stand on the porch roof. Come on, if we do it now, you will be done by the time Meg gets back.”
Peter scooped hammers and nails and Joe followed him into the house.
“You boys going upstairs to fix that siding like Daddy asked, Peter?”
”Yes, Mama.”
”Let me go up with you. I need to bring these things up to the attic.” Mrs. Thackery had a crate of books in her hands. Joe took the heavy box from her and followed them up to the second floor. This floor, like the ground floor of the house was cheerful and cozy. From the hallway, Joe could see Michael and Simon’s bedrooms. Like Peter’s bedroom down stairs, the rooms had neatly arranged shelves of books and collections. Simon’s room had a plaid comforter and heavy matching drapes. Michaels room had a bright patchwork quilt on the bed and striped drapes.” I made that quilt,” Mrs. Thackery boasted.
“It’s really nice,” Joe smiled.
Peter chuckled behind him. ”Mama, Joe don’t care much about sewing.”
Then, with Mrs. Thackery in the lead they went up the attic stairs. Joe was careful not to bang the wide crate into the cabbage rose wallpaper as they went up the narrower, creaking stairs.
“You’ve never been up here, have you Joseph? “ Mrs. Thackery asked. “You never saw my daughter’s bedroom.”
”Oh no M’am,” Joe smiled. “Only in my dreams”. This time both Mrs. Thackery and Peter laughed at Joe’s remark.
“See, what a good watch dog I am?” Peter teased. “Last two times Joe was here Simon and Michael slept across the door step too. Right Joe?”
”Yes M’am they sure did.” Both young men laughed. “They bit my ankles each time I tried to go to the outhouse.”
Mrs. Thackery pushed open the door to Meg’s room. “Peter, climb out Meg’s window. You can reach the boards better from here than the other room.”
Joe walked into Meg’s room. He was terribly surprised at how the room looked. Unlike the rest of the cozy, colorful house it was bare and white. It reminded him of the austere servant’s room in the O’Mara house in Boston or a modest hotel room, neat, clean but plain and totally utilitarian and impersonal.
The floor was bare shiny yellow pine. The only rug was a small blue braided rug near the side of the narrow single bed covered with a crisp white coverlet. The dresser was painted shiny white and matched the small wardrobe cupboard. There were no pictures on the white washed walls or knickknacks on the almost completely filled bookshelves.
The only spot of color in the entire room was a chipped teapot holding a red geranium on the top of the dresser near Meg’s brush and toiletries.
“I grew those geraniums from cuttings on the kitchen window sill. They bloom all winter. They are so cheery.” Mrs. Thackery pinched off the spent bloom of a flower in the teapot. “I told Meg that I have so many more pretty things for this plant, but she insists on using this old battered crockery.”
“Meg doesn’t believe in owning much besides what she thinks she needs,” Peter commented. “She thinks she can’t loose nothing if she doesn’t have anything.”
”Peter, don’t pick on your sister.”
”It’s the pure honest truth, Mama. And you know it. Just what she needs and not anything more.” Peter pointed to the filled bookshelves. “All her ledgers with the live stock records, her books and papers.
Joe put the crate down on the floor. He stood near the bookcase and looked at the titles of the books gently running his index finger along the spines. There were a few books that Joe remembered Adam lending him, Dickens, Shakespeare and one thin book of poetry. Most of the other books were serious scientific works about biology and animal husbandry and agriculture and business.
One thick battered volume looked vaguely familiar to Joe. He gently pulled it off the shelf and turned it over in his hands. He saw the book was scorched around the edges and immediately understood why it looked so familiar. He gently smoothed his hands over the dirty green cover. The book was one of the few things Joe and Hoss had found to save in the burned rubble of the Circle D ranch house years earlier. Joe even remembered the name of the book “Scientific Horse Breeding in America- Volume One”. The book and the chipped teapot were ancient relics from the Circle D.
Chapter 4
March 24, 1873
Carson City Hotel
All she could think of was to run for the hills. Meg had come to manage a two day sale at a ranch outside of Carson City with her brothers and Joe had arrived that afternoon. She had been looking forward to seeing him but all they had done for the last hour was argue. “I’m going. I’m not going to talk about this any more. You are just being mean to me,” she shouted irrationally.
That is one thing she never had said to him before. She had called him bossy and stupid or an entire constellation of rude names wranglers used on cows with bad dispositions but never that he was mean to her.
“Mean? I called you Buttercup. That’s mean? Meg, you have called names that would make a Barbary Coast saloon bouncer blush.” Joe hollered. His face was turning red with fury.
“Only my mother can call me Buttercup!” she hollered irrationally. “I’m leaving.”
He took a deep breath, and then turned to Meg grabbing her arm. “Are you coming back?”
“No I’m leaving. I’m leaving right now because you are so, so mean and cruel to me.” She yanked her hand away from his grasp. “You are just a big jerk, Joe Cartwright. You are the meanest, nastiest cowboy in the world!”
He stood up and walked over to the doorway. Joe crossed his arms across his chest and blocked her from opening the door. “If you are leaving then you are taking me with you, Meg Thackery.”
She stood suddenly silent. She couldn’t believe how Joe was behaving. No one had ever behaved like that when Meg gave them both barrels of one her infamous rages. Pierce and any other beau had just cowered when she yelled. Mostly they just ran away and she didn’t have to deal with them ever again. Joe Cartwright was acting cool and calm and not leaving or pleading with her.
He squeezed past her and walked over to the dresser. Joe calmly picked up his wallet from where he had left it and started counting out the money. He was not going to let her walk out on him, not yet he wasn’t. Joe Cartwright didn’t back off so easily. Maybe Pierce Winslow would have been cowered by her rage but not Joe Cartwright. He didn’t care if this Meg’s gust of wind was turning into a tornado. Joe would tie his rope to that tornado and lasso her. Joe dug in his heels and hung on tight.
”What are you doing, you mean thing you?” She hollered at him. She stomped her foot and jutted out her chin. Meg walked over to the corner of the room and snatched her carpetbag from the corner and pulled her coat from the hook near the door. “I am leaving right now, Joseph you mean, cruel thing!”
He shook his head watching her stomp from one side of the room to the other and then walked over to the dresser.
”Well, Meg, if you are leaving, I’m going with you. I need to see if I have enough money to buy two stage tickets back to Denver. That’s where your next auction is going to be. Denver? You can’t leave the cattle buyers in the lurch. Even if I am mean to you. Cruel and mean, you say? Extremely mean and very mean and awfully mean. The cattle and the horses need you more than I ever will.”
She looked at him like he was totally insane. “You said that you will see me then go to Denver for your auction. That is what you said when we made plans to get together.”
“You called me a name.”
”Meg, I called you Buttercup! Your mother calls you Buttercup all the time.”
“Buttercup! That is why I am going. I never gave you permission to call me Buttercup. Only Mama can call me that name. Not you, Joe. I am going back to Denver! You are just too bossy and mean and I’m leaving. Right now!” Her blue eyes glared at him.
“So Meg, if you are leaving me, I’m going with you.” He said shouted back at her the same insane comment he had made a minute before. “Only your MOTHER can call you Buttercup?” His hazel eyes were flashing as he started packing his bag. He tossed in his shirt and the socks he had yanked out of the dresser. He had to bite his lip not to laugh hysterically at her ridiculous behavior.
Then he regained his self control and said quietly and calmly ” And don’t forget, your brother Michael took your rig so you better let me take you back on the stage. Simon is waiting with the cattle for a big auction and he won’t take you. And you know Peter will side with me over you in any disagreement we have. Your Mama too. I’ll leave Cochise at the livery and come back through here on my way home to the Ponderosa.”
Meg looked at him methodically packing up his belongings.
”Don’t forget I have to get you some new shoes for the pretty purple ones that I accidentally kicked out of the window that time when Pierce broke in on us. You know which time I mean don’t you Meg? The time Adam was sleeping in the next room and Pierce came knocking….”
”I know the time,” Meg interrupted flushing a very pretty shade of pink. “I definitely remember that time.”
“And maybe you should have dinner first, Meg. I’m really hungry and so are you. Starving. Lunch was hours ago. Let’s go to that café across the street. Or maybe some place that is nicer or more romantic. Maybe someplace that has some music and we can dance. You like to dance. Don’t you, Buttercup? I really like dancing with you.”
He walked over to her and took her in his arms as if they were dancing and twirled her around the room a few times. Then he bowed and kissed her hand like he was some fairy tale prince. “Thanks for the dance, Buttercup.”
She stood frozen looking at how calmly he said all this craziness. Joseph Francis Cartwright was totally insane. He was calmly telling her that he was buying two stage tickets to Denver and making dinner plans and she was telling him she was leaving him for good. She was leaving him forever. He couldn’t do any thing to make her stay.
“I’m going Joe,” she repeated with as much force as she could. She put her blue wool coat on and glanced over her shoulder at what he was doing.
”And let me check if I have enough money in my wallet to pay for the stage tickets or if we need to go by the bank first.” He ran a hand through his tangled hair. He pulled some money from his coat pocket and placed it on the white marble dresser top. “Maybe I should get a hair cut before we go. What do you think?” He leaned over so she should rake her hands through his hair.
“Haircut?” She started to laugh and rubbed her slender fingers through his hair. She loved his curls and Joe knew it.
“A shave too. Don’t want to scratch up your face with my whiskers.”
Meg giggled. Joe knew he got her with that remark.
”I sort of need to stop by the telegraph office and send a wire too.” He reached out and put his arms around her and pulled her close to him. “We’ll have so much fun in Denver, Meggie.”
”Do you think we should kiss and make up? Before and after you shave so I have a comparison.” Meg wrapped her arms around Joe’s neck.
”Here and in Denver too.” Joe smiled.
”Sounds like a good plan to me, Joe, you mean man.”
”OK, Buttercup.”
She kissed him. They didn’t go out for dinner that night until almost eight o’clock.
Chapter 5
Western Union Telegram
Adam Cartwright,
Virginia City, Nevada,
Won’t be home Tuesday as planned. STOP will be home in one or two weeks. STOP Am in Denver. STOP All is very fine. STOP Please tell Pa.
Thanks
Joe and Buttercup
Chapter 6
May 1873
“Come sit down and have dinner,” Adam invited his guests cordially with a sweep of his hand He walked into the sun lit dining room of his house behind Clem and Nancy Foster. The sun streamed through the stained glass window and made a rich colored pattern reflect on the wood paneled walls.
Their boys had eaten earlier and had rushed off to do chores and to spend time with Nancy’s father, Roy Coffee who was under the weather. Roy had sold his house a few months earlier and moved in with Nancy and Clem. The boys loved hearing his stories about being the Virginia City Sheriff and he enjoyed having their company. Nancy and Kate had packed up dinner for Sam and Clemmie to carry down to him and Ben planned on spending the evening with his old friend after dinner with Adam and Katie.
Joe had been gone all week marking timber and would be heading up to visit Meg when he was done. Adam secretly had his fingers crossed that his brother would show up back home when he promised as the last time Joe went to visit Meg he wound up disappearing for an extra week and a half. Ben was not at all pleased when Adam had to tell him about the wire Joe sent from Denver.
“Hope there is no big ‘to do’ between Joseph and Pierce Winslow this time when he is visiting with Meg. “ Ben Cartwright said as he walked into his son’s dining room for Sunday dinner. He was carrying Elizabeth in his arms.
Clem laughed thinking of the wire he had received from the sheriff up in Genoa months earlier. “Fred Thackery swore out a warrant on the both of them for fighting over at the auction yard a while back. The sheriff there wired me to check if I knew Joseph Cartwright of the Ponderosa and if he was some sort of troublemaker or vagabond or gunslinger. Bet it was more like a year ago now that I think on it.” Nancy nodded remembering the incident.
”And what did you say to the other sheriff? Lock him up and throw away the key? Hang him? “ Adam laughed.
”Adam Cartwright! I am sure Pierce started the fisticuffs!” Kate defended Joe as she had been for as long as she knew him. “I hope they remember to drop the charges so there won’t be any warrants for either of them for such childish behavior. Don’t want some bounty hunter or gunslinger mistakenly thinking Joe or Pierce needs to be captured for a reward.”
Clem, never one to talk a lot shrugged and sat down next to his wife, Nancy.
Remembering Pierce Winslow from their childhood, Katie felt that he was a nice enough sort as long as he got his own way or people made a fuss over him. She also knew that any time Joe and Pierce were together it was like putting coal oil and a lighted match on the hay stack in the middle of a dry August heat wave. Now that Joe had won Meg’s heart, Pierce was even more jealous.
“Maybe if Pierce found another lady to court, he would stop bothering with Meg and leave her to Joe.” She suggested with a smile. Nancy nodded in agreement but all the men looked at her like she was insane.
Adam laughed from the head of the table. “Who would that be Katie Bird? Are you going to buy him a mail order bride for Christmas? Don’t go putting your pretty nose into everyone’s business.”
”No, Adam. This will work. Pierce is not all that bad a fellow deep down. It’s just how he and Joe have always battled. Pierce has a nice ranch and would make some one a decent husband if they were easy going and pampered him a bit.”
”Kate Cartwright, maybe Meg likes the two of them to be fighting over her.” Adam helped himself to the platter of fried chicken that the cook put next to him. He knew it was pointless to argue once his wife got an idea in her head. And if Nancy Foster was involved with the deal, he was just spitting into the wind and wasting his breath against the two women.
“What do you think, Nancy?” Kate totally ignored Adam’s remark as he expected. The cook walked back in the room and put a bowl of potato salad next to Clem and moved back into the kitchen to start cleaning up.
“One of the Hall girls? Or how about Clem’s cousin Myrtle?”
”Hmmm, too young or too old on the Halls. The middle one just got married to some fellow from California. Myrtle is too far away.”
“Kate! Nancy! Stop this nonsense.” Adam repeated passing the chicken down the table.
Clem laughed at Adam’s efforts to interrupt the two matchmaking women and just filled his plate with his dinner. He was enjoying a nice quiet Sunday dinner without out his two sons poking at each other or some interruption by trouble in Virginia City.
”I will not! Do you want Little Joe to come home shot the next time he goes visiting his lady friend or do you want him to beat on Pierce so bad he winds up in jail?”
”Joe is in love with Meg and Meg is in love with him and they just won’t admit it. “ Nancy observed taking the platter from Adam. She too had known both Joe and Pierce since they were all children together.
“I agree. Meg is just perfect for Joe,” Kate said sitting down in her seat opposite Adam.
“You think everyone is perfect for my brother. You thought Emily O’Mara was perfect for Joe too.”
”She was just more perfect for Philip Bartlett, that’s all. I just never thought of the two of them together. Emily and Philip will do fine in Washington going to political functions and fancy state dinners. She really was too quiet for Little Joe. She could never be a ranch wife and Joe would never live back east.”
”Maybe Katie does has something there,” Ben smiled. He put Elizabeth in her high chair and sat down next to Adam.
“See, Adam. Your father agrees with me,” Kate tied the bib around Elizabeth’s neck and handed her a spoon. Elizabeth looked at her own upside down reflection in the shiny spoon and smiled. “Pretty baby!” She turned the shiny silver spoon around and around in her hand trying to find the little girl in the reflection.
” Ben, how about Bonnie Newkirk for Pierce? She and the children will be visiting Hays and Rebecca next month? She’s been a widow for a few years and would make a fine wife for him. And those children do need a father.”
“And Pierce is coming to the Ponderosa to sign that lumber deal around that time,” Ben smiled. Kate’s cleverness always delighted him.
Before Adam could utter a word, Kate made her decision to introduce Pierce to Bonnie Newkirk. “And if we can make Pierce think Joe is interested in Bonnie, he will be all the more interested in her. He always coveted anything and everything Joe had.”
“Even the measles, snake bite or a broken arm,” Adam said sarcastically. “If Joe had a sore throat, Pierce Winslow would slash his own with a rusty hunting knife just to compete.”
”Adam we are eating dinner!” Kate shook her head and gave him a harsh look as if he was Sam.
”Bonnie and Pierce? Perfect! “ Nancy agreed. She passed the green beans to Adam who just sat silently in awe of how quickly the two women had rearranged people’s lives as if they were squares on a patch work quilt and his dining room table was a quilting bee.
“Any one else you want to pair up, ladies?”
”Well, Joe should get married instead of all this visiting back and forth and Billy Felcher needs a wife too.” Kate smiled and buttered a piece of bread for Elizabeth.
Clem and Adam looked at each other. “Adam, if you have any sense you won’t get in their way. It just will be a waste of your time.” He continued to shovel food in his mouth.
Ben nodded in agreement. He secretly wished Joe would settle down but he was not so sure if Meg wasn’t a bit too wild for his son to have as a suitable wife. She seemed to avoid spending any time with him even though Adam and Kate thought highly of her.
Chapter 7
September 8, 1873
Dear Levi,
Thank you for making the arrangements with Andrea. With winter coming on a sanctuary at the Massey Ranch will be an invaluable lifesaver for Kapusta and all of the men.
Barbara
September 30,1873
Dear B
Doc Martin will send up the medicines for Ka-Pusta and the other Indians that Dr. Smith listed. Ben said Joseph would bring them and all the supplies when he goes up to see Andrea and Eric in a week or two. Please be careful. Philip Bartlett said that he is trying to arrange with the president to request a pardon for Kapusta.
If anyone can do it, Philip has the contacts but it is very difficult to prove his innocence or gain sympathy for him unless there are witnesses to support his stories. With Flanagan and Major Chadwick dead or missing and all the investigations going on I don’t know how effective Philip will be. Hopefully he will convince the president.
Levi
October 1, 1873
Dear Ben,
I have been trying hard to make arrangements for a Presidential Pardon for Kapusta and his men. The President will often do these things at Christmas or at New Years or at Easter. I will keep trying for as long as I can.
Philip
Chapter 8
Virginia City
October 1873
”Adam, do you think we should invite them here for dinner?” Kate slid under the covers next to her husband. The house was very cold and Kate was freezing.
He was snoring and she repeated herself and touched cheek. “Adam, I said, do you think we should invite them to the house for dinner?” She jerked one of the pillows out from under his head.
Adam shook himself” Huh? What did you say?” He opened one eye and turned groggily to his wife.
“Do you think we should invite them here for dinner?” Kate repeated for the third time.
“Who? Who should we invite?”
”Joe and Meg. Joe said she is coming to Virginia City next week. I asked you if you thought we should have them here for dinner so we can get to know her better. Ben too. They have been seeing each other for over a year now. Longer maybe. What do you think?” Kate had decided angrily if she was awake, Adam should be too.
Adam squinted his eye and blinked. He rubbed his hand over his whiskery face. He sat up on one elbow and looked at her. She was wearing a soft pink nightgown that was tied at the throat with thin pink ribbons. Kate looked very pretty but some how different than he expected. “Weren’t you just wearing that yellow night gown when we went to sleep? “
“When I went to bed the first time I was. I just changed it.” She slid closer to him under the covers and put her icy cold feet against his bare warm legs.
“Katie, what are you talking about? Holy cow you are like ice. Where are you slippers?”
”The same place as the yellow nightgown. Elizabeth was sick on them both. “
”What time is it?”
”Five.”
”Five in the morning? Elizabeth is sick? “ Adam woke up a bit more and tucked the covers around his shivering wife.
“Sam too. Both of them were, Adam, You slept through the whole night with out hearing anything.” She was really mad. Adam had slept soundly all night and she had tended two sick children. It was all his doing and he had snored through all the trouble.
He looked at her sleepily still not hearing everything she was saying. “Both of them are sick?” His wife was not in the least bit happy.
”Adam, did you give them dinner while I was at the city counsel meeting? I left you all dinner. Adam?”
She put her icy feet completely on his bare legs. “Kate, you are like ice! Sure I gave them dinner.”
”What did you give them for dinner Adam?” Kate shivered and he pulled her closer.
“The house is cold, come closer. I gave them whatever you left.” He lied. He was busy finalizing some sketches for Stoddard and Bruce at his drafting table. He was in his study most of the evening working and couldn’t quite remember much about dinner. Adam remembered drinking a cup of coffee but had no memory of any dinner. Why was his wife waking him up in the middle of the night and discussing dinner?
”Chicken and potatoes? And green beans? “
Adam nodded. He was still half asleep and couldn’t think very straight. “Sure chicken and what ever else you just said.”
“That is not what the children said. And that is not what wound up all over my slippers and my night gown and the bedding of two very sick children’s beds, Adam Cartwright.”
Adam smiled guiltily “No?” He blinked his dark eyes and was finally more fully awake.
”They both said they ate delicious pie. Each of them ate Mama’s delicious pie for dinner. Not chicken. Adam how did you let a three year old eat four portions of blueberry pie and get so sick? Sammy ate half a pie for dinner! And washed it down with root beer.”
”You make delicious pie, Katie. That blueberry was especially good this time,” Adam smiled and then yelped as she put her cold feet on his knees and her cold hands on his bare chest.
“You made them so sick and I was up all night with children who had blue berry belly aches and had to change the bedding full of disgusting blue berry…”
”I get the picture. I’m truly sorry, Katie-bird. Let me warm you up. You must be freezing.“ He pulled her close. “Go to sleep.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest. “Cozy?”
”Uh huh, just don’t give them pie for dinner Adam.” She snuggled closer and put her face into his chest. “Now I’m finally warming up.” She sighed comfortably. “I can’t ever stay angry at you, Adam. Even when I try.”
”No M’am. No pie for dinner. Never again. What time is it? I don’t have to get up for work for an hour” He was totally awake now. Kate felt so nice lying in his arms. He kissed her hair and he pulled her closer.
“Won’t give them pie ever again, Katie.” He whispered in her ear.
Their third child was named Eleanor Jessica but no one but Katie could ever understand why Adam Cartwright always called his second daughter his little Sweet Blueberry Pie baby.
Chapter 9
Elm Grove, Nevada
Late November 1873
The morning haze was beginning to burn off as two riders lazily started down the trail. They were both older men with gray hair. The first, riding a black gelding sat tall and straight in the saddle reflecting his years of military service commanding troops at Fort Mead. His wife, Irma had left him years earlier for a life with one of the handsome, virile young officers she had been trifling with. They had lived in San Francisco but had both died in what the San Francisco police recorded as an unsuccessful robbery attempt. The newspapers described the murder as having been done with “military precision”.
The murderer was never caught.
The second man was heavy set but also sat a horse well. He wore a long tan leather duster and had a neatly trimmed silver beard. He had only been wearing a beard for a year or so and was amazed at how different his gray hair and the beard made him appear. He was glad it did now that he was back in Nevada, where he was extremely well known from his years in politics. Ted Flanagan did not want anyone to recognize him and know he was still alive.
They were both wanted men. Ever since Kate Cartwright and Phil Bartlett had started printed an expose of their decades long land frauds and the trail of murder they had left in their wake, Flanagan and Chadwick knew they had to lay low.
“If we get those documents and the money that Danny Lowell and his pal William hid up here, we can spend the rest of our lives in Mexico or South America or Europe as rich men. No one will ever find us.”
“Don’t let them see us,” The Indian told the white woman at his side. The two men hadn’t ridden very far when the man abruptly pulled his horse to a stop.
“What’s wrong?” asked Miss Barbara, pulling up her horse next to him.
“They don’t belong here. They are strangers.”
Miss Barbara pointed. “The one on the palomino, that’s Governor Flanagan. I thought he was dead. He almost killed the Cartwrights in Boston. Then he went after Philip Bartlett too.”
Ka-Pusta gave her an angry look. He respected Ben Cartwright but disdained his relationship with Barbara. He would not be saddened to see Ben Cartwright dead but would not tell Barbara. Ka Pusta held no grudge with Philip Bartlett who always wrote sympathetically about the plight of the Indians. He also wished no harm on the sons of Ben Cartwright. It was his jealousy for Miss Barbara that made Kapusta wish ill on Ben Cartwright.
The Indian peered at the figure riding ahead. The men were riding slowly, cautiously, looking around him. Suddenly, the man stopped. With one last look around, he dismounted his horse and disappeared into a thicket of trees and bushes.
“What would Flanagan be doing here? It can’t be him. The man drowned or is Europe. That’s what Ben said.” Barbara told her companion.
“Be still and watch.” Kapusta pulled up on the bridle of her horse. He did not want to hear one more mention of Ben Cartwright.
“No, that’s him,” said the woman. “I’m very certain. And if it isn’t, we still better check them out anyway. Ka-Pusta. He’s acting awful funny. Both of them are. Maybe we ought to go see what those two are doing.”
Ka-Pusta nodded silently. He was cold and very tired. Living on the run for decades had taken its toll on the rebellious Paiute leader. He was getting old and his shoulder length hair was totally white. He was thinner than Barbara had seen him in years and he had a constant dry cough.
“Maybe it is just two ordinary travelers passing through on their way to Virginia City.”
”It is not. Barbara, this is Elm Grove. No one comes here if they can manage not to pass any other way. The only thing up here is Massey Ranch.”
No one knew that Andrea Lowell, Hoss’s widow was allowing Ka-Pusta and the few of his last remaining braves to spend the winter on her ranch. The Indians had made a camp hidden high in the hills of the Massey Ranch. Miss Barbara had come from Virginia City and was living in the elaborately ornate house with Andrea and Eric.
Ka-Pusta was desperately ill and still wanted by the Cavalry for crimes he did not commit. He had spent decades running and hiding. Most of the remaining Paiutes had been driven onto reservations or high into the mountains. Ka-Pusta refused to come out of hiding despite Barbara’s pleas. He knew if he came forward, he would be shot down by white men or chased by bounty hunters like Fargo Taylor and brought to his execution by a firing squad at Fort Mead.
Barbara had convinced Andrea to offer the Indians shelter for the bitter winter that was upon the high Sierras. She had come to see them and bring Ka-Pusta medicine from Doc Martin and food and supplies that Ben Cartwright had sent to Ka-Pusta. Had Ka-Pusta known the things were from the Ponderosa, he would have starved before taking them. Joe Cartwright was going to bring more supplies in a few days.
Occasionally, the Indians would relent and come into Andrea’s house and eat a hot meal or accept clean clothing or fresh horses from Andrea. Doctor Smith gained their confidence and they allowed the elderly doctor to treat their illnesses and injuries. Despite the fact that Smith’s family had been killed in an Indian attack years earlier, the two men developed a deep respect for each other. Eric Cartwright was delighted with the visitors and would hang on Ka-Pusta’s side. It was rare that the Massey ranch had any company and the boy enjoyed meeting people. Despite himself, the Indian grew fond of the little blonde boy and would give him small gifts of carved animals and a leather pouch filled with colored pebbles or a basket of nuts that he had gathered on a hillside. He knew the child was Ben Cartwright’s grandson and frequently told his men that he had no anger at the sons of Ben Cartwright or the son of the sons. Ka-Pusta disdained Ben Cartwright and only the silver haired rancher and held no grudge with the rest of the Cartwrights.
Levi Victor was still trying desperately to find a legal way to help Ka-Pusta before the Indian was killed or died from the harshness of his existence. Barbara also remained silent on Levi’s interest, as Ka-Pusta hated Levi as much as he irrationally resented Ben Cartwright.
Barbara and Ka-Pusta rode cautiously down the trail to the thicket. They dismounted and tied their horses to a bush moving through the undergrowth as silently as possible. The Indian put his hand up to stop the graceful woman, and then he pointed to their left. Two men were standing in a small clearing. Barbara looked at the two men carefully from their hidden location. She was totally positive. One was surely Flanagan, the other Chadwick. Ka-Pusta crouched down and moved closer to the men through the underbrush.
WomenWritersBlock 