Chapter 9
Eliza woke early in the morning when the baby began to cry. She got up and dressed, and so did Grant while Abagail fed the baby. They all moved in silence, in unspoken grief for the parting that was coming today. Grant went off to do his morning chores while Eliza began to pack. He just couldn't watch her do that.
Abagail cuddled the baby and watched, and she finally said, "I don't know how we'll get along without you, Eliza."
Eliza smiled. "You won't have to get along without me. I'll always be your sister – and little Eliza's aunt – I just won't be Hebron's wife."
"I'm so sorry," Abagail said and teared up.
Eliza teared up too, but said, "Don't be. God takes us where we're supposed to go, and I've fought His direction for too long."
"Maybe you haven't," Abagail said. "Maybe Ceres is where He wanted you to be."
Eliza thought about that. "Perhaps you're right – though I'm sorry it took Mr. Barkley getting a bad bump in the head to get me to Ceres." She closed her bag up and picked it up. "I had better go check on him and his brother and get breakfast going. Little Eliza isn't the only one who's been hungry, I'm sure."
Eliza went into the living room to find the Barkley men coming in from outside. They were both still unshaven and looking scruffier than the day before, but Jarrod was up and moving around, even though Heath was saying, "We're not going anywhere until the doc comes and clears you to travel."
Eliza put her bag down by the sofa and said, "And I will be going into Ceres with you when he does. Let me get some breakfast on the table before we do anything else, though. Little Eliza is fed, but the rest of us need to eat."
"Mr. Grant is out fetching eggs and checking on things," Heath said. "He should be back in in a minute. Can I help you with anything?"
"No, as soon as he brings the eggs in I will start getting things ready."
Grant came in before long, bringing the eggs, delivering them to Eliza in the kitchen. Jarrod and Heath, in the living room, looked at each other, aware the man and his wife were spending their last hours together as man and wife, and they were doing it in silence. There was only rattling around in there. Grant came wordlessly through the living room and went into the bedroom to check on Abagail and the baby.
Everything was going on in silence, except for an occasional wail from little Eliza.
Dr. Blythe was there again not long after they finished breakfast and Eliza was cleaning up. Grant was helping her, speaking for the first time, saying, "I suppose I'd better get used to doing this myself for a while."
"I'll be checking up on you, Hebron," Eliza said, and that was all she said.
Heath let Dr. Blythe in, and the doctor saw right away that Jarrod was sitting up on the sofa. "Well, how is my first patient this morning?"
"Much better," Jarrod said.
The doctor came over and looked at him. "Well, that black eye is turning more yellow. How's the headache?"
"Pretty much gone," Jarrod said. "And I don't have any dizziness, and I ate a good breakfast."
"Excellent," Dr. Blythe said. He examined the patient and said, "All right. I think you can get up and around again now."
"We plan to go into town today, Doc," Heath said. "Jarrod wants to get the legal work started."
Dr. Blythe nodded. "Take it easy, though. Don't push it yet. Now, let me go have a look at the newcomer and her mother."
Dr. Blythe went into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Abagail and the baby both looked good and healthy to him, but he could see Abagail was upset. "About the other Mrs. Grant leaving?" he asked.
Abagail nodded. "I feel like it's all my fault."
"It's not your fault," Dr. Blythe said. "It's the way of the law, and I don't want you to go worrying too much. You will have a lot to do taking care of this baby and your husband and yourself."
"Can I get out of bed today?"
"Yes, you can, but don't overdo."
"I will have to. Eliza will be leaving."
Dr. Blythe could tell. Abagail's main concern wasn't that she was going to have to care for this whole family now. Her concern was for Eliza. "She won't be alone in this. I'm a devout Christian and never have been in favor of the Mormon plural marriage, but I'm not too happy about a law that works this kind of hardship. I will help to look out for Mrs. Grant – and she will help me and a lot of other people in town. She will also be available to help you. She just won't be able to live here anymore, and we've already found a place for her in Ceres."
"She's a very brave woman," Abagail said.
"She's a woman who knows what has to be," Dr. Blythe said. "And she's a woman who loves you and your baby and your husband. It will take effort and it will bring heartbreak, but it will all work out. I will help all I can."
Abagail finally smiled.
XXXXXXX
Heath followed the doctor outside as he left, thanking him again for his attention. "I'm gonna get the wagon hitched and bring Mrs. Grant – Eliza – and my brother into town this morning. We'll see the sheriff first."
"Good, then get Mrs. Grant settled at Mrs. Penner's house," Dr. Blythe said. "I'll be over there to see her this afternoon. We already have one mother-to-be at any time in waiting for her."
Heath smiled. "Ceres is a growing town, huh?"
"It wasn't platitude that made she suggest Mrs. Grant come be our midwife. It was necessity."
Jarrod came out as Heath was hitching the horses up to the Grant's wagon. Jarrod was steady on his feet now – "But you're riding in the back of the wagon, not on horseback," Heath ordered.
Heath hadn't gotten their horses together yet. "How is Big Louie this morning?" Jarrod asked.
"I'm gonna leave our horses here for a few more hours rest and get them after I bring the wagon back here," Heath said. "You and me better plan to spend our time in Ceres until you get Mrs. Grant's divorce squared away."
"I will," Jarrod said, "but I'd like you to go on to Turlock, fill the Mitchells in on why we're overdue and get done what you need to get done. I'll wire home from Ceres and let them know what's happened."
"Fine," Heath said, "but it's you and me in the hotel there for tonight. I'll go to Turlock tomorrow while you finish up your legal chores. Big Louie ought to be in good shape to be rode by then if you need him."
Jarrod rested his arm on the wagon Heath was hitching up. "You know, when I think about what's happened, how we ended up here – what a disaster it all could have been but it's not. At least not yet."
Heath nodded. "Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Did the Good Lord get us exactly where we needed to be for this family?"
"IF this time Grant sticks to the law," Jarrod said.
"I think he will," Heath said. "He's got a daughter now, and a young wife who needs care. He can't afford to go to jail."
"He never could. That didn't stop him from breaking the law."
They looked up at Eliza and Grant coming out the front door of the house. Eliza was carrying her bag, wearing her shawl. They were talking. They were squeezing hands, but they did not embrace.
"I think he'll straighten up this time," Heath said. "I don't think he wants to see another broken heart like this one."
"I'll give Eliza some money to get started on, if she'll take it," Jarrod said. "And I'll be available to her whenever she needs it. We'll do everything we can to get this to work out right this time."
"I think Grant will too," Heath said.
They watched as Eliza left her husband standing on the porch and came toward them, a resolute woman with even a slight smile on her face. She joined the Barkley men, asking, "Are we about ready?"
"Just about," Heath said.
"How are you doing?" Jarrod asked. "Are you ready?"
Eliza nodded. "I am. I have somewhere to go and some work to do. That's all I ever asked God to give me, and He has and He's taken care of the people I love, too. What more could I want?"
Jarrod and Heath both smiled. "I'm glad we could help God out on that," Jarrod said.
Grant watched from the porch, his heart aching but seeing the smiles on his wife and the Barkleys, he warmed too. He turned and went back into the house, to his wife and their daughter and the life to come next.
The End