Forget Thee Not 1 of 3 (inspired by Victoria's confession to her children in "Thicker Than Water")
The light from the stars and the moon slid in through the window of the small one room home outside Strawberry. Tom lay on the bed burning with fever. "How is he Miss Leah?" Hannah, who was one of Leah Sawyer's good friends, asked as she watched Leah place yet another wet rag upon the stranger's face. A stranger the women called Jack out of the need to call him something.
"Holding his own," sighed Leah. "I wish the sheriff would find the men who jumped him. They belong in a cell." Leah added, as she thought over the past two weeks and on the man she'd only seen from a far. She'd wondered who he was, but never asked. Why should she? It wouldn't have been right to make inquiries. At least she knew that by so doing it would make her look no better than one of the saloon girls. That being the case, she'd simply admired the tall, blonde haired gentleman from a distance. That is, until two nights ago when she heard a commotion while standing in the hotel kitchen. The noise was coming from behind the hotel.
Leah grabbed her brother's pistol which sat on a nearby shelf and opened the back door. The moment she stepped out of the building, she saw two men standing over the blond haired gentleman. One look at the pistol in her hand and the two thugs fled. She'd run down the few steps in front of her, across the brown dirt below her feet and knelt down by his side. Then within minutes, she had put her foot down with her spineless brother and gotten him to help her move him to Hannah's house. She had known the black woman would not turn her or the wounded man away; Hannah hadn't disappointed her.
"You should find out who he be. Maybe his family is worried." Hannah said the umpteenth time. Though she didn't know why, Leah only gave her the same answer, only this time she added a bit and snapped as she did so.
"No need to ask, he'll tell us when his fever breaks. Now stop it! He needs our undivided attention!" Leah sighed as she ran her hand down the side of Tom's face. It had been fifteen months since she had a man in her life. Her husband, Charlie Sawyers, had drowned in the river. She'd grieved hard the first year, but now, the past three months, she'd simply felt alone. Right or wrong, she didn't want to know who he was yet. If she did, she just might find herself all alone again.
Hannah shook her head and went back to what she'd been doing. As she worked Leah kept her eyes on her patient and began to hum one of her favorite songs. Before either woman was really aware of it they were singing the song softly together.
I remember, I remember
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day,
But now, I often wish that night
Had bourne my breath away!
But now, I often wish that night
Had bourne my breath away!
I remember, I remember
The roses, red and white,
The vi'lets and the Lilly cups,
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacks where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The liburnum on his birthday,–
The tree is living yet!
The laburnum on his birthday,–
The tree is living yet!
I remember, I remember
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;
My spirits flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summers pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!
And summers pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!
I remember, I remember
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky,
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy
To know I'm farther off from heav'n
Than when I was a boy.
To know I'm farther off from heav'n
Than when I was a boy.
As Leah and Hannah quit singing, Tom stirred and opened his eyes. In his fevered state of mind it was Victoria he saw, instead of Leah and the look of look of concern he could not help but question. Hadn't she told him she could care less what happened to him as he'd robbed her of their infant sons? "I…I'm s…orry." The words slipped out of his mouth as he fought to keep his eyes open.
Of course, not knowing about Tom's past, or of his family in Stockton, Leah and Hannah were left to think he had been apologizing to them. They thought he feared he was a burden to them. "There's nothing to be sorry for. You'll be fine. Hannah and I will take care of you, sir." Leah's smile was full of kindness and compassion.
Hannah? Tom wondered who Hannah was. He knew no Hannah. What was his wife talking about? However, before he could ask, Tom's eyes closed and he lost his fight to stay awake. Once Leah was sure Tom had actually fallen into a deep sleep, she stood up and walked out the front door, feeling the need for fresh air.
It wasn't long before Hannah came out of the house and stood by her side. "Miss Rachel, she say she come by tomorrow. She bring more food for me." Hannah looked at Leah.
Leah turned her head, looked at Hannah and said quietly. "Every woman has the right to have a chance to dream, the right to hope. I'm not asking you or Rachel to like that man being here. I know once he's fully awake he can tell us what his name really is and that we will have to contact his family. Only, for now, please I ask only one thing. Let me dream just for a little while."
Because Hannah knew all that had happened in Leah's short twenty-three years and knew how it was to dream, she nodded slowly. "Okay." She then watched as Leah went back inside and sat back down by the unconscious man's side.
~oOo~
* "I Remember I Remember" (29 Sep 1828)
Written by
THOMAS HOOD
composed by
C. Meineke.
[Christopher Meineke (1782-1850])
Baltimore, MD: G. Willig Jr.
[Source: 064/036 Levy]