Mercy
Chapter 20
Kate especially found out what it cost to buy food in Houston as they hunted for what to make for dinner their first night. It gave her a new appreciation for having Rick hunt for food for her kitchen. If she had to pay these prices she would have to charge a whole lot more to compensate and she wasn't sure her little town could support that kind of price.
"How about pizza, babe? I just need to make the crust, find cheese and toppings, and the sauce," Kate said. She needed enough to make two pizzas to feed her family and that cost a lot less. It was something they could afford.
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Kate saw the owner walk into her kitchen as Kate was waiting for the first pizza to finish baking before putting in the second one. "It's pizza," Kate told her and watched her look over the one waiting to go into the oven.
"You serve this in your restaurant?" One of the things that had convinced her to let Kate do this was that she owned and cooked in her own restaurant in her town.
"People love it. You and your husband want a slice? I think I'll have enough." Lilly only ever ate one slice and James couldn't really finish two. She stopped at two and the only real reason she needed a second pie was for Rick.
"I think we can try a little if you don't mind." She was willing to taste test it.
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They were all eating in their dining room and the owner watched as her husband ate his slice in record time. He hadn't eaten anything that fast since they were a lot younger.
Even she loved pizza. "Where is your restaurant again?" She was thinking they were going to just have to visit it if Kate could cook like this.
"Our town is called Mercy. It's a little town on the border with Mexico," Kate said and smiled since her two pies were disappearing like magic.
Mercy sounded a little far just to taste more of her cooking. "I think I'll let you cook for as long as you want to stay." Kate was clearly better than she was.
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James got his wish first as the carriage took them to a train station and waited for them. "WOW!" James was in love. There were eight tracks and each of them had a train on it. Two of them had flat car after flat car that were filled with cotton from the southern states since it was no longer a banned substance that the North burned to stop the South from selling it to the British to pay for weapons to keep the war going.
"MAMA, LOOK!" Lilly had spotted one train as smoke came out the top and the side, then started to move.
Rick was a little impressed that they at least had trains even if they were incredibly ancient in how they worked. Steam was very old and inefficient.
The train was long gone and they were still watching as late bails of cotton were lifted off of the flat cars and loaded onto large wagons to be taken somewhere else.
James was sold but he followed his parents back out to the carriage. Houston was just the city he was looking forward to seeing.
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Their next stop had been something to make the kids happy and maybe they could afford to buy them something to remember Houston by.
"Oh, MAMA!" Lilly breathed as she left her mother and walked toward a wall filled with dolls of all kinds and sizes. Her eyes were open wide and she was in awe. She had never seen a place like this in her life. The General Store in Mercy didn't have anything like this. It wasn't that she didn't like the dolls that she did have, but these were so very much different.
Kate watched her walk that way and was smiling. Her little girl was happy. Then she heard James.
"PAPA!" He was walking a different direction and had his eyes open wide and was amazed at what he was seeing. Kate was now doubly happy.
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Lilly walked out with the most perfect doll she had ever seen in her life. It had a china head with blonde hair and a dark blue headband. She wore a red jacket with scallops on the front along with gold buttons and a calf length cornflower blue dress. She also wore a brown belt that said US on the on the buckle. Attached to the belt was a scabbard that held a pair of embroidery scissors. About knee length on an embroidered red belt, a little drum pincushion was attached. On the left side, attached to the brown belt, was a leather bag that was used to hold shot for a rifle like Kate's old rifle.
James didn't leave with what he saw because it was far too big to take home. Rick couldn't get it and them home. But that didn't stop them from buying it and having it shipped to the General Store for them to pick up after it arrived.
"Thank you, Mama!" Lilly was beyond happy as she clutched her doll and loved her mama just that much more.
"You're welcome, sweetie." Kate kissed her head and was glad her little girl was happy.
Next up was grocery shopping for dinner tonight. Thanks to costs Kate chose to do one of her soups.
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James was sold on big city living. He just needed to figure out what city to live in when he grew up. Lilly, though, was happy right where she was. It wasn't ugly and it didn't stink and she knew almost everyone that lived there. She was comfortable there.
Lilly was trying to clutch her new doll and her mama who had hold of her papa while James was wrapped around her papa as he jumped them in a series of jumps for home.
Being home only reinforced James's desire to live in a big city when he was older and Lilly never wanted to leave.
The restaurant remained closed for one more day and they spent the day at the pond after learning it hadn't rained in several days, meaning it was safe.
Lilly had never seen her papa this undressed before since he was going to go swimming with them. "OH…" She reached up to touch his back. She had never seen his bare back before and his spine felt just like his arm. "Does it hurt, Papa?" She was ready to begin crying since his back looked like it should hurt something fierce.
"It doesn't hurt him, sweetie. He doesn't even feel it," Kate assured her and lifted her up so she could run her fingers over it much like Kate did. Even she knew he didn't feel her fingers when she touched his spine.
Lilly had seen and gotten used to seeing everything else including his bald head under the hat he almost always wore. But this was something new.
Rick turned around and Lilly did her best to try to wrap herself around his neck. Kate thought it was sweet and covered her mouth with both hands as she watched Rick's one eye blink back tears. It told her just how much he loved their little girl.
The rest of the day was spent at the pond until it was time to jump home so Kate could make dinner for the family then open the restaurant for breakfast the next day.
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James had not forgotten what they had bought for him and questioned his papa each and every day he went into town to do his job as sheriff.
Then finally one day… "James?" Rick called after he entered the kitchen. He took him out back and watched him run to it and jump for joy.
Rick knew having it was one thing. Now his son needed to learn how to ride it. Riding a bicycle with pedals on the big front wheel was going to take some practice.
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Kate was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch when James came in after being outside. She had learned from her husband that his Penny Farthing bicycle had arrived from Houston as promised. So she was happy for him.
"JAMES!" Kate screeched when she saw him come inside. All she really saw was blood. "BABE!" She was going to need help cleaning him up.
His arms were scratched and bloodied as were his legs. His elbows and knees were the worst parts. "You sure this doesn't hurt?" To Kate it looked like it should hurt like hell.
James shook his head. He was still on cloud nine from having a bicycle and didn't feel a thing. He still wasn't really that good at riding it but he was getting there, he was sure.
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Kate was resting that night after making love to her husband. "You still think getting him that thing was a good idea?" Her son was killing himself as he figured out how to ride it.
"Ask me again after he breaks his arm or leg and I'll let you know." Rick knew boys got themselves injured and most times didn't feel a thing.
"OH GOD! Don't say that!" Kate swatted his chest. Scratches and cuts were bad enough. She didn't need her son breaking a bone. "Don't tell me – you broke bones in your body when he was your age."
"You mean my left arm and my left leg?" Rick replied and felt Kate bury her face in his chest. The idea that her husband had broken himself when he was little was a bit much to take. Still he was alive and perfect.
"Just so long as he doesn't break his neck trying to ride that...that thing," Kate said into his chest. She wanted her son to be happy but not at the cost of breaking bones in his body.
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Weeks later and Kate had made a change to lunch so she was making changes to the sign out front when she heard her son. "MAMA!" Kate looked out into the street and watched her son screaming down the street on his bicycle, going much faster than she was comfortable with. However, he was smiling wide as he went past her.
"CAREFUL!" Kate yelled at him, but he just kept going at breakneck speed and didn't fall or crash. Moaning that her son was trying to kill himself, she went back inside so she could start work on lunch.
"Your son is out front trying to kill himself," Kate informed Rick who was back early today after doing his daily tour of the town looking for bad things.
"My son?" Rick thought James was their son.
"Yes, your son. When he's trying to kill himself, he's your son. When he's behaving himself and not trying to kill himself, he's my son," Kate informed him tartly and began loading her wood stove with wood so she could warm it up.
Kate was still having trouble listening when her son told her that he wanted to move to a big city when he was older. It meant he wanted to move away from her and she wasn't comfortable with that. Besides their town was still growing so it was getting bigger.
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Time seemed to fly and before Kate even realized her son was all grown up. He was sixteen years old but she had been just about his age when she had married her husband. Kate was approaching forty years old and that was only about twelve years from the age when her mother had died. She was beginning to feel old.
Kate had tasted her husband as he had climaxed in her mouth. "What are we going to do?" James was talking more and more about wanting to move to a big city and so far Kate had nothing to stop him with.
"We let him," Rick said and ran his good hand through her hair.
"Have you lost your mind?" She wanted his help to keep him home.
"My parents let me go when I wanted to join the Academy. If they can let me grow up and make my own mistakes, we can do the same for him."
Kate still didn't think this was such a good idea. His going to the Academy was what turned him into this. Of course she still loved him even like this, though she couldn't help but wonder what he had looked like before this.
"Do we have to?" He was her son. How could she not love him and want what was best for him?
"We give him half the money, let him go, and find his way. Lilly gets the other half and maybe the money from selling the restaurant." He wasn't going to run it and Kate wasn't going to live forever. Besides, James was the cook in this family after Kate.
Kate felt his fingers reach her core which had her sucking in a breath. Even after all this time she loved his touch and what his lips and tongue could do to her. No matter that she hadn't gotten pregnant again.
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Kate felt her heart breaking and it almost physically hurt. Her son was hugging her and she was crushing him in her arms. He had made his choice; he was moving and it was breaking her into pieces.
Lilly was there and she had already wished him well and had declined to join him. Mercy was her home and she had no desire to leave. Still she was crying; she was going to miss him. He was her brother and she loved him.
"I'll be fine, Mama." He knew what he wanted to do, he just needed to get there so he could begin living his life.
Kate finally let go of him but was still touching him. "Here, son, take this. It's half the money we have. Hopefully it will be enough to get you started." Rick handed over a bag of coins to him. Actually it was a little more than half. When the restaurant was sold Lilly would get that money plus whatever was left.
"Come and see me, please, Papa?" He knew his father could jump his way there easily.
"Count on it. With or without your mother," Rick promised.
"Oh, it will be with, count on it." Kate took hold of Rick's arm and watched her son step into the stage coach that was going to take him to far away Boston. Farther than Kate had ever dreamed she would ever go. Even Rick had told her it would take him hours to get that far but he could do it.
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Lilly was leaning up against her mother as they all watch the stage coach go away. "What do we do now, babe?" She had missed her mother ever since she had died. Today was one of those days. She needed someone to tell her what to do.
"We go back to making the restaurant a success and send him some money every month until he doesn't need it," Rick replied. He would take it personally for her along with any written letter she chose to send him. He might even kiss him for her but maybe not.
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Kate was in the kitchen a few weeks later all alone. James wasn't here being taught how to cook and even Lilly wasn't downstairs yet. She had her old room all to herself now and didn't have to share it with her brother.
Kate was even opening the restaurant with a new employee. Maria had died in a stupid accident which broke Kate's heart. She had liked that girl a lot. She and Rick had attended her funeral and promised to help her parents if they could. All they had to do was ask.
The new one was a skinny little thing with really long and curly red hair. Though for her size she had a fire under her and Kate was beginning to like her. She was headstrong and opinionated just like her.
"Miss Kate?" Penelope questioned her. Her parents had brought her to this restaurant a few times and she had learned that Kate was an excellent cook.
"Soup for lunch, Penelope. For an extra cost we can add a cheese sandwich," Kate said.
"Ooo, that melted cheese on almost burnt bread? I love that sandwich." Penelope knew what to put on the sign and knew what she was going to be having for lunch. Free food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was part of her pay. She in turn would give her money to her parents to help them.
Penelope was gone when she heard Lilly running down the stairs. "Bye, Mama." Kate didn't even have a chance to say a word before Lilly was out the door.
Kate's old horse had died so she had bought a new one that either she used or Lilly used. Kate had learned from Rick that the new owner of Elias's old place had a number of new workers. One of them was the son of the new owner and Kate had found out that her daughter was quite taken with him even if she hadn't met him yet.
Rick thought he was handsome enough and that he had more muscles than even he had when he was that age. So long as he didn't hurt his daughter he was happy for her.
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Rick walked in through the back door carrying a batch of fresh fish for tonight. As was usual in town, fresh fish was still hard to come by and a big hit. They would fill their tables tonight.
"Thanks, babe." Kate kissed him as he dropped them off. Kate would ask him to take tonight's money to James and find out how he was doing. She really wanted a progress report and if he was doing bad Rick had orders to bring him home.
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Rick had jumped through the town the next morning since he was on a time crunch. Even for him Boston wasn't just around the corner.
Kate handed over a bag of coins, most of which came from fish night last night. "Kiss him for me and promise if he's hurting that you'll bring him home." Kate didn't wait for him to answer her. She wrapped her arms around him, kissed him soundly, then let go of him. She waited for him to jump away for the start of his trip.
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It was a lot of jumps and Rick was forced to wait for darkness to jump deeper into a large city. James had planned ahead and had sent him an address along with a tiny map to tell him where in the city he was located.
He ended up taking James by surprise for a moment before jumping away again. He had jumped in and caught James kissing a girl so Rick had to wait.
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Kate was about to lose her mind because her husband wasn't back yet. She knew even the Mexican army couldn't stop him but that didn't stop her from worrying. Then the back door opened and he walked in with two handfuls of fresh fish.
"Babe!" Kate was ready to rush him but he needed to put the fish down first. Then she had to wait for lunch to be over. He had been gone for three whole days and waiting just a few hours was hell.
Penelope was out front cleaning. "Talk to me." Kate would quiz him for even more tonight in bed but she would take a quick update now.
"He has a girl," Rick told her. At first Kate was thinking he had gotten someone pregnant and they'd had a baby, but he hadn't been gone that long.
"He has a girlfriend?" Kate was happy for him and now she wanted to know all about her as well.
"He has purchased a space and has begun renovating it to open his own restaurant. He is still a few months away from finishing, though. It's in a basement of a stone building. His walls are stone and the supports in the middle of his dining room and kitchen are also stone with stone floors." Rick had liked the look of it after hearing his plans.
Kate made a face of disgust. "Stone? Why stone?" Yes, she remembered stone buildings in Houston but did he have to buy one made of stone? "Basement?" It didn't even sound safe.
"He has a plan and his basement has a good number of windows so it isn't totally underground. He's living in this tiny little room on the roof of the same building. It saves him money." Rick was actually impressed. His son was thinking and planning ahead.
"Okay." Kate trusted her husband. "So…, a girlfriend?" She was ready to hear something about her now.
"Her name is Delphine Carpentier. She's French. She's about your height, really thin, and has really short blonde hair. Really short in the back and long on top. You might think she is very pretty. She sounds funny." He meant she had an accent.
He wasn't going to say she was pretty. His wife might take offense or get jealous.
"You met her?" Kate didn't really see his arm, eye, and ear any longer so it wasn't a concern to her.
"No, but I did catch them kissing." He had learned everything else from James.
Kate grinned wide. "Kissing, huh?"
"She's helping him with his restaurant. She's doing the interior design while he focuses on making the kitchen work."
Kate had stopped listening at the point when Rick had said, "kissing," and hadn't listened to anything else. She was still smiling and was thinking she wanted to go with him next time. She wanted to meet this girl.
"Money?" Kate questioned him.
"He did need the money I took with me and could use more. He has underestimated the costs in Boston."
That had Kate thinking how much Rick could take with him next time while not short changing Lilly's future or shorting themselves.