Thenceforward and Forever Free
Book 3 of A HOUSE UNITED series
By pulitzer2016
Ponderosa Ranch
Nevada Territory
October – December 1861
October passed happily for the Cartwrights. The men enjoyed the autumn lag in their workload, and apart from treating a few bad colds, Josie's work was light, too, leaving her plenty of time to spend with Sally, Patience, and Margaret, who often rode out to the Ponderosa together. Josie also began teaching Hoss more about medicine whenever patients sought her out at the ranch. Her oversized cousin had a natural gift for healing, and he quickly learned to determine how much quinine to give someone for a fever and how to discern between a sprain and a fracture.
One day in early November, however, Hoss became the patient. He had been helping to open a new mine, and he returned home covered in rock dust from head to toe. Josie was sitting in her bedroom and writing a letter to Michaela when she heard him clomp his way up the stairs and into the washroom. She heard him pump water into the tub as she finished her letter and addressed the envelope. She headed down the hallway to put the letter inside her hat next to the front door so she wouldn't forget to take it to town later that week, and just as she passed the washroom's closed door, she heard Hoss suck in a sharp, loud breath. Concerned, she knocked on the door.
"You all right?" she called.
"Yeah," came the muffled reply.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Josie shrugged and continued downstairs, figuring he must have popped a nasty blister or pulled out a splinter. When Hoss sat down to supper that evening, however, he sported handkerchiefs tied around the knuckles of both hands.
"What happened to your hands?" she asked, reaching out to inspect them.
Hoss pulled out of Josie's reach. "Ain't nothin'."
"Then you won't mind if I look at them." She stood and reached for his hands again.
Hoss sighed and laid his hands on the table for inspection. Josie removed the handkerchiefs and saw that every one of his knuckles on both hands was split to the bone. Dried blood crusted over the wounds, which cracked and bled anew every time he flexed the joints.
"Good heavens!" Ben exclaimed. "What happened?"
"I was working over at that new mine, and some of them rocks are real sharp. Tore right through my old work gloves."
"There wasn't much left of those gloves to begin with," Adam said, shaking his head.
Josie dashed to her bedroom for her medical bag. She soon returned with a bottle of iodine, a small jar of salve, and a fistful of bandages. Hoss winced as the first drops of iodine soaked into the wounds.
"This must have hurt like crazy when you got into that hot bath earlier," Josie said.
"Yeah, it stung a bit," Hoss said, biting his lower lip against the burning iodine.
Josie made quick work of disinfecting his knuckles and slathered them with a generous amount of the soothing salve before bandaging them properly.
"Thanks," Hoss said sheepishly.
"No charge. But stay out of that mine until you heal up. I don't want those knuckles getting infected."
"Why didn't you get new gloves if yours were so worn out?" Little Joe asked.
Hoss blushed. "Aw, Joe, you know it ain't easy finding gloves to fit these big ol' mitts of mine. I'll have to wait until I can get to San Francisco again."
Josie caught Little Joe's eye and grinned. After supper, she pulled him aside.
"Who in Virginia City does leatherwork?" she asked him.
"Josh Grayson," Joe said. "He mostly makes saddles—he did the one Adam and Hoss gave me for Christmas last year—but he does other leatherwork, too, if you ask him. Why?"
"You think he could make a pair of sturdy work gloves for Hoss's Christmas present?"
Little Joe grinned. "I think he could."
"Excellent. I'm going to need your help. We'll have to measure Hoss's hands so Josh can make the gloves the right size, but I don't want Hoss to know."
Joe finished the thought for her. "So, we wait until he's asleep," he said, rubbing his hands together as his green eyes sparkled.
"Exactly!"
That night, Josie lay awake in her dark bedroom, waiting for Little Joe to summon her. His bedroom was next to Hoss's, so he would know first when Hoss fell asleep. She had begun to worry that Joe had fallen asleep himself when she heard her door creak open.
"Josie?" Little Joe whispered.
She sprang out of bed and nearly collided with Joe, who had stepped into the room. She groped around on her night table and lit a small candle; she dared not produce more light than that. She handed the candle to Joe and grabbed a tape measure, a slip of paper, and a pencil. Together, the cousins crept out of her bedroom and down the hall to Hoss's, neatly sidestepping the squeaky board outside Adam's room.
Hoss was snoring when they slipped in. Joe set the candle on Hoss's bureau and took the tape measure from Josie, who sat cross-legged on the floor. Hoss lay flat on his back with his left arm sticking straight out off the side of the bed. Little Joe approached his brother and delicately measured the width of Hoss's hand and the length of each finger. He whispered the measurements to Josie so she could write them down on the paper. Joe had just finished measuring the span from Hoss's thumb to the tip of his pinky when he accidentally brushed his brother's palm. Hoss snorted and rolled forcefully onto his left side. As he rolled, his right arm flew around, and his curled hand struck Joe hard just under his left eye. Little Joe fell backwards into Josie's lap, knocking them both to the floor. She threw a hand around and clapped it over Joe's mouth to stifle his cry of surprise. They lay stock-still for several moments until they were certain Hoss wouldn't wake up. At long last, Josie rolled Little Joe off her and drew a deep breath. If one of her cousins was going to land in her lap, thank goodness it was the smallest one.
"Did you get that last measurement?" she hissed.
Clutching his face where Hoss had hit him, Joe whispered a final figure, which Josie recorded. They gathered their supplies and exited the room as quietly as they could. Back in the hallway, Josie held the candle close to Joe's face so she could inspect the damage.
"You'll live," she reassured him. They bid each other goodnight and slipped into their own bedrooms.
Little Joe was the last down to breakfast the next morning, and Josie noticed he kept his head down. Halfway through his grits, he looked up just enough to catch Josie's eye and reveal a small bruise on his left cheekbone. Josie pursed her lips to suppress a smile and looked down at her plate. Adam nudged her and raised his eyebrows, but she shook her head, not about to tell him in front of Hoss what she and Joe had been up to. He shrugged and poured himself another cup of coffee.
"Pa," Hoss said as he finished his pancakes, "darnedest thing happened last night."
"Oh?"
"Yeah." Hoss knit his brow. "I coulda sworn I had a skeeter in my room last night. Darn thing walked right across my hand."
Josie and Little Joe shot each other another look and swallowed hard to contain their laughter.
"It's the wrong time of year for mosquitoes, Hoss," Ben said.
"I know. That's why it was so strange."
"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" Adam asked.
Hoss shrugged, and Josie decided she had better change the subject.
"Little Joe and I are riding into town today. Does anyone need anything?"
Ben and Hoss shook their heads, but Adam spoke up.
"I'll come with you. I've got something I need to check on."
Josie grinned, pleased that Adam would come along. They finished their breakfast in short order, and Josie, Little Joe, and Adam bundled up against the cold November air and set out for the barn to saddle their horses.
As the trio rode to Virginia City, Little Joe and Josie told Adam about the previous night's adventure. Adam threw back his head and laughed.
"Mosquito, thy name is Joseph," he chuckled. "It's kind of you to get him new gloves. Hoss hides it well, but he can be self-conscious about his size."
When they reached the livery stable in town, Little Joe invited Adam to come along to Josh Grayson's with them, but Adam declined, saying he had "important business to see to." They agreed to meet at the International House in a couple of hours for a hot lunch. Josie watched Adam set off down the street alone and wondered what he was up to. Little Joe followed her gaze.
"Leave it alone, Josie," he said. "Older Brother has strange ways."
Josie left it and followed Joe to Josh Grayson's shop. Their business there took only a few moments. Josh was pleased with the measurements they provided and said he could have the gloves ready in two weeks.
As they stepped out of the shop, Little Joe suggested they should think about Christmas presents for Adam and Ben as well.
"Oh, I've got Adam taken care of," Josie said. "But if you need an idea, you could order him a copy of Charles Dickens' new novel Great Expectations. He missed part of the serial, and I know he'd love to read the whole story."
Little Joe liked this idea, so the pair visited the telegraph office, where Joe wired a bookstore in San Francisco. Afterward, they spent the rest of their time in Cass's General Store, where they chatted with Sally and debated the merits of different gift ideas for Ben. They eventually settled on a handsome tobacco pouch that Will Cass offered to monogram. Christmas presents taken care of, Joe and Josie set off arm-in-arm down the street for the International House.
The month leading up to Christmas was a happy time for all five Cartwrights. There was no real movement on the warfront, and they received holiday letters from Jacob, Hannah, and Rachel. They had their first light snowfall the second week of December, and Josie thought she had never seen anything more beautiful than the Ponderosa covered in a delicate film of snow.
The Ponderosa was famous for hosting the best Christmas party in the territory, and one afternoon a week before Christmas, Hoss and Adam came home with their arms laden with fresh pine boughs for decorating the house. The family spent the remainder of the time before supper decorating the living room for the party. Little Joe and Hoss broke into a mock sword fight, each brandishing a pine branch, while Ben and Josie strung the remaining branches, intertwined with wide red ribbon, from the staircase banister. Adam stood below the stairs, giving directions.
"More to the right," he said.
"My right or your right?" Josie asked.
"My right. No, your right. No, I'm sorry, back the other way."
Josie sighed as she and Ben readjusted the branches.
"Joseph, you and Hoss are going to sweep up all those pine needles," Ben advised his youngest sons, who were still attacking one another with pine boughs.
At long last, the branches were hung with enough precision to suit Adam, and Hoss and Joe had swept up the detritus from their battle with enough care to suit Ben. The four cousins collapsed on the settee while Ben reclined in his armchair.
"All we need now is the tree," Joe said.
Two days later, Hoss and Little Joe led a pair of sturdy draft horses dragging an enormous pine tree into the yard. Josie's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She had never seen such a large Christmas tree.
"We got a great, big one, just like you wanted, Pa!" Hoss announced.
"Great job, boys," Ben said. "Just one little problem."
"What's that?"
"How do you plan to fit that into the house?"
Hoss and Joe stared at each other for a second before turning back to look at their tree. It was a colossal Douglas fir, at least twenty feet tall and eight feet across. Adam laughed aloud. There was no way that tree was fitting through the front door. After a great deal of arguing in which each brother accused the other of selecting the tree, Little Joe and Hoss procured a saw and hacked eight feet off the bottom. They bound the branches with ropes, hefted the tree onto their shoulders, and, with some direction from Adam and Ben, guided it through the front door and into the great room. Once the tree was secured next to the fireplace and the armchairs, coffee table, and settee had been scooted back to accommodate its girth, Adam and Ben hauled down boxes of trimmings from the attic, and the family spent the rest of the afternoon decorating. They thought they would have to get the ladder from the barn to place the star on top, but Hoss and Josie figured out that if they stood on the landing of the staircase, Josie could climb onto Hoss's shoulders and lean out to reach the treetop. Neither Ben nor Adam could watch as Josie leaned precariously over the staircase railing, and both men sighed in relief when they heard her feet land safely back on the ground.
That night after supper, the four men sat in the living room admiring their work, when Josie and Hop Sing emerged from the kitchen, each of them bearing three steaming coffee mugs.
"We made hot chocolate!" Josie announced with a grin.
Four sets of eyes, one deep brown, one hazel, one blue, and one green, lit up. Josie and Hop Sing passed around the mugs to exclamations of thanks. Before settling onto the settee between Adam and Little Joe, Josie grabbed a small book off an end table. She handed it to Adam.
"Would you read this?" she asked.
Adam glanced at the cover. It was Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. He smiled.
"You always used to read this to me at Christmas," Josie reminded him.
"While drinking hot chocolate, if my memory serves me correctly."
Josie nodded. Adam patted the empty space next to him on the settee, and Josie curled up next to him, her stocking feet tucked up under her skirt and her hands curled around her mug. She rested her head on Adam's shoulder as he opened the book and began to read.
"Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that…"
Adam made it through the first two staves of the story before heads began to nod. He tucked a slip of paper into the pages so they could pick it back up another night and then helped Hop Sing carry the now-empty mugs into the kitchen. After a goodnight peck on the cheek from Josie, he retired to his bedroom, feeling more in the Christmas spirit than he had for many years.
The Christmas party the next night was a great success. The Cartwrights moved the furniture to the edges of the great room so there was a wide space for dancing. Hop Sing had prepared heaping platters of hors d'oeuvres, and Ben had opened several bottles of the applejack he'd made in early autumn. Josie found the applejack only slightly less offensive than brandy, so she helped herself to extra cookies instead.
Neighbors and friends came from far and wide, and Josie was delighted to spend the evening with Sally, Patience, and Margaret, though Simon coaxed her away from her friends several times for dances. Simon, however, was a bit distracted that evening as he noticed how much time Little Joe was spending with his younger sister, Rebecca, and he suddenly understood Adam Cartwright a whole lot better.
At the end of the evening, as the Cartwrights said farewell to the last of their departing guests, Simon pulled Josie aside.
"Hang on a second, Josie," he said. "I have something for you."
Josie watched with interest as Simon skittered to his family's wagon and extracted a large, flat parcel wrapped in brown paper from beneath the front seat. He handed it to her.
"Merry Christmas," he mumbled, casting his gaze down to his boots.
Josie cocked an eyebrow and unwrapped the parcel. She pulled out a wooden slab about a foot square with perfectly beveled edges. On the front in large, black block letters were the words "Dr. Josephine Cartwright, MD." Her mouth dropped open.
"Oh my goodness! Did you make this?"
Simon nodded without looking back up at Josie. "Thought you could use a shingle," he murmured.
"It's beautiful! I can't believe you did this for me."
"Weren't nothin'." He finally looked up and giving her a small smile.
"Thank you so much."
He looked like he wanted to say something more, but his mother called that the rest of the family was ready to leave.
"I gotta go," he said with a defeated sigh.
"Merry Christmas, Simon," Josie said and pecked him on the cheek.
Simon was grateful it was dark outside so Josie couldn't see his face as it turned twenty shades of red. "M- merry Christmas," he stuttered and stumbled off the porch. Josie waved goodbye and skipped inside to show off her new shingle.
Ben, Adam, Hoss, Little Joe, and Hop Sing admired Simon's craftsmanship.
"That young man does nice work," Ben said. "I should see if he wants to do some carpentry for me. Make a little money on the side for himself."
Even Adam had to admit the shingle was exquisite. "I'll hang it next to the front door for you tomorrow," he offered.
Hoss and Little Joe, meanwhile, were shaking their heads.
"That boy's got it bad," Hoss said.
Josie's medical training immediately kicked in. "What has he got? He seemed fine to me."
The four men exchanged amused glances.
"It ain't physical, Josie," Little Joe said slyly. "Well, some of it is." He snorted with laughter, and Adam slapped him upside the head.
Josie glared at Little Joe, ready to slap him herself for not making sense, but Hoss intervened.
"He's lovesick, Josie," Hoss said, biting back a chortle.
"For whom?" Josie asked. Adam screwed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as Little Joe and Hoss erupted in laughter. Even Hop Sing shook his head in disbelief.
Trying not to laugh, too, Ben laid a hand on Josie's shoulder. "For you, my dear," he said gently.
Josie looked at her uncle incredulously. "Oh, Uncle Ben, be serious." She giggled. When his genuine expression didn't change, she flushed scarlet. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" she insisted. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed!" She tossed her head and flounced up the stairs to her bedroom, taking her new shingle with her.
As soon as they heard her door slam, Ben, Hoss, Little Joe, and Hop Sing laughed anew. Adam glowered at them with as much indignation as he could muster.
"It's not funny," he said firmly.
Hoss caught his breath. "If it ain't funny, how come you're smilin', Older Brother?"
Adam cursed himself as a goofy smile spread across his face. "All right, maybe it's a little funny. But keep it down, would you? Josie'll hear, and she's embarrassed enough already."
The other four stifled the rest of their laughter and set about cleaning up the party.