Legacy

One

The newborn was swaddled tightly in a cotton blanket; her body still bore the evidence of her recent birth. Holding her firmly in his arms, Kingston Sharlow judged her weight to be equal to a five-pound sack of sugar.

Wally Sharlow stood next to the wood stove trying to ease the chill that caused his teeth to chatter. He figured he'd done his part for one night, and was looking forward to something warm in his stomach and then catching up on a little shuteye. His father had other ideas as he started barking out orders.

"Fill that there basin with hot water and take it into the doctor." He directed. Wally did as he was told, hoping when he came back into the kitchen he could attend to his own needs.

Task completed the boy returned and grabbed an empty mug and made a move to the coffee pot, but before he could fill his cup his father said, "Let's get this here little gal tidied up some, look under that there dry sink, see if'n there are some clean towels."

Dutifully, Wally did as directed and found a supply of freshly washed towels.

"Spread them out on the table so it's nice and soft fer the baby, then stoke up that there wood stove, so's it's good and warm in here." It took Wally a few minutes but he got the towels laid out and the wood stove going.

"Check under them cupboards fer another basin, then fill it with some of that warm water from the kettle and bring it over to the table here."

Finally Kingston had everything the way he wanted it. The room was so warm that the two Sharlow men had perspiration bubbling on their foreheads. Kingston had found the pile of baby garments and selected a gown and undershirt for the infant. He had arranged a diaper and was now set to bathe the baby.

"Pa," Wally questioned, "do you know what you're doing?

"That's the second time tonight someone asked if I knew what I was doing… let me tell you, I done this when you was born, and when each of your brothers was born. I was always there to help your Ma when you young'ins came into this here world."

Wally watched his father's gentle handling of the newborn in stunned surprise, he'd never have thought the old man had that much tenderness in him.

Maybe it was due to the fact, he'd never been a father to a daughter or just the fact he'd had a hand in bringing her into the world, but Kingston was awestruck by the little baby, "Ain't she a beauty son?" he asked. To Wally one baby looked like another although he had to admit she looked a considerable amount better now that she had been cleaned up. Kingston carried the baby to a chair and sat down. He studied the infant's face while his hand played with her miniature fingers. "Look at the grip this here little gal has! I don't reckon you nor any of your brothers had a stronger one."

Wally nodded but his mind had strayed to the sounds coming from the bedroom down the hall. He heard the man's voice offering encouragement to the woman and the sound of her cries as she labored.

Kingston smiled as he noted the look on his son's face, "Tis the way of the world, boy … we come into this life bringing pain and joy to them that loves us best."

"It don't seem right Pa, that a woman should have to suffer so to birth a baby."

"I ain't never heard a woman say it weren't worth what she went through once she was holding her babe in her arms." His eyes narrowed as a wistful smile crossed his face, "Leastways your Ma never did." His mind drew the pleasing picture the ol' woman had made holding each of their newborn sons, "My oh my, she'd been a pretty gal, and still is right handsome as I recollect." He spoke his thoughts out loud not even realizing it.

This was surely a new side to his father, and it left the youngest son bewildered. The old man had been sent to prison when Wally was just an infant and Elmer a toddler. He remembered seeing him only once in the first fifteen years of his life. When Kingston was released from prison, he'd come home and taken Elmer with him to join up with his much older brothers in Kansas.

Wally shook his head trying to make sense of things. How could this be the same man who rode side by side with outlaws Frank and Jessie James, William "Bloody Bill" Anderson and Archie Clement on William C. Quantrill's famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863? Wally still had his battered ten-cent copy of THE LAWRENCE MASACRE. The book claimed 150 men were shot down in cold blood, eighty women were made widows and 250 children were made orphans. Its pages detailed the final moments of each of the victims. Wally had found himself reading the book over and over in an effort to understand why his father would be part of this. He came to the conclusion that only a mad man could justify this kind of evil violence.

As a kid, books had been the only way he could find out about his father. He thought of the penny novels he and Elmer had read as boys about their father and brothers, the notorious Sharlow Gang. Wally had been drawn to the books in a struggle to learn about the man his mother refused to talk about; the father he never knew. It was the violence, which pulled Elmer to the stories. Elmer had always talked in those growing up years about joining their brothers. He would fantasize that his name would be included when they talked about the most feared gang in the West. To Elmer that dream came true when his father returned to Missouri to get him. Elmer had grown close to his older brothers, whom he worshipped as heroes. While he hadn't had the chance to ride with them, he was usually back at the hide out ready to help in anyway he could.

Wally had been happy to stay on the farm and help his Ma. She never spoke a word about the old man, but he could tell she had regrets about her life and the man she'd married. Eventually Pa had returned and when he left again it was with Wally riding reluctantly at his side. He'd hated every single day he'd been away from the land he'd grown up tending and had come to figure he'd never live to see it again.

Kingston looked up from the baby he was holding to his youngest son, "Boy, you look wore out. You go on in that there fancy parlor and catch yourself a little shut-eye, we'll be riding on to Dodge in the morning."

Kingston listened as he heard the sounds of his son settling down in the front room. The baby was fussing and he knew she was hungry, "Nothing I can do fer you little missy." He told the infant. But to soothe the child he stood up, walking around the kitchen making little rocking motions with his arms. It hadn't seemed that many years ago he'd held Wally in his arms. Where had those years gone, he thought? He'd missed so much of his boy's life. His older sons had been born before the war into a different world. It had seemed only natural they'd take up with Kingston as he followed the path set by Quantrill's Raiders. He'd figured he was doing the right thing when he brought Elmer and Wally with him to join up with the gang, but now, holding this new life in his arms he could only think how much he had missed of his life. With a vague sense of melancholy, he realized it was too late to set things right.