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Chapter 23
The day was turning into evening and the Chinese lanterns were lit; it was a beautiful sight, the multi-colored paper shapes illumined against the darkening sky. Fiona had been told earlier that afternoon to put Ezra down for a nap so that he could stay awake longer but like usual, the child fought sleeping; he cried and fussed and rubbed his eyes and called for "papa," a word he now said clearly. Fiona wondered if the child could sense her own nervousness and if it upset him and kept him from settling down.
Nevertheless, Ezra finally exhausted himself and fell asleep and Fiona sat quietly after she put him in his crib, watching him sleep. She comforted herself with the thought that no matter what happened, the child was safe. She had meant what she had told Darby and Judd—she would tell the sheriff about them if they harmed a single silky strand on the babe's head—or she would kill the two men herself. Darby had chuckled but by the look in his sister's eyes, he knew she meant it.
Darkness had fallen and the house was lit by lamps, the fire in the hearth and all the children had been taken home, full of cake and cookies and each given a gift of their own; Ezra's birthday party was now only for adults minus the birthday boy—he had been tucked in for the night.
Early that afternoon, the nearby ranchers and the invited families from town brought their small children who had spent the afternoon playing party games and enjoying the birthday cake and treats Hop Sing had made. Hoss supervised the game of horseshoes and he was accused by some of the boys at helping the girls cheat. "Now there ain't no reason why a gentleman can't allow a lady some liberties with the rules." The boys did not agree.
When his decorated birthday cake was put before him, Ezra had wielded a silver spoon but only banged it on the table top until Sylvia gently took it from him and scooped up a piece of cake and held it out for him to open his mouth. Instead, Ezra grabbed the bowl of the spoon and then ate the crumbs and icing stuck to his fingers, much to everyone's amusement. Ezra smiled at their laughter and his "papa's" kiss on the top of his head.
There were also many gifts of pull-toys, stuffed animals, rag dolls and embroidered baby gowns and knitted socks. At breakfast that morning, Hop Sing had presented a red envelope trimmed in gold paint that contained nine coins. "Lucky number for long life." But the biggest gift Ezra received was a pony that Ben Cartwright had bought for his grandson and had brought home that day before. "I know Ezra's too young to ride but he does love horses. Let me tell you, Adam, I took him for a ride with me the other day and he crowed so happily, well, I knew then that I had bought the right gift." It was a stubby-legged dappled pony with a black mane and tail. Hoss had saddled the pony and supervised the other children in riding "Salty" around the paddock, Hoss having to lead the pony upon occasion. The pony docilely ignored the cries of "Giddy up!" from the children on his back and the jerks on his reins and plodded on unlike many of his ilk who were known for having nasty dispositions and were prone to biting.
The whole time the guests were riding, Ezra fussed and waved his hands in the air and cried "Up! Up!" so eagerly that he lost his precarious balance and dropped to the ground on his bottom. Adam who was grinning, picked up the squirming child who practically fell from his arms as he was so eager for the pony. After the next child, Adam sat his son on the pony's back and Ezra immediately grabbed the pony's mane.
"Easy, easy," Adam said, disentangling his small fingers and placing the child's hands on the saddle horn. Then he nodded to Hoss who started Salty walking while Adam gripped the back of Ezra's clothing and walked alongside.
"Adam, be careful," Sylvia said while she watched. "Don't let him fall."
Fiona herself was anxious but Ezra laughed joyously even though he looked a bit uncertain about his grip on the saddle horn.
But now the families with children had left after the lanterns were lit so that they could see the beauty of the lanterns once they were illumined and the many red and gold colored paper lanterns moved slowly in the breeze making dancing shadows on the ground.
Two days earlier, Hop Sing had gone to Chinatown on the edge of Virginia City and shopped for all the items that were good luck and would ensure a long life for the child whom he had grown to love "Must be red," Hop Sing had insisted. "Gold as well. Hop Sing buy lanterns and make lard cakes with red currants for Ezra's day of birth. Child two years old soon."
Fiona had been puzzled until Adam had explained to her that in China, a baby is one year old at birth so the fact that he had reached two years was a time of great celebration.
"I don't know about that, Mr. Cartwright," Fiona had said, "but I suppose it does no harm to the child to let the man follow what he believes but I would think that as Ezra grows you will tell him about the ungodliness of following superstitions."
"Hop Sing acts from love and although I'm not a superstitious man nor an especially religious one, I see no harm in it either," Adam had said. "Besides, the egg and noodle soup was good, don't you agree?" Hop Sing had insisted that they have noodles for their early lunch, that and sliced eggs floated on top of the broth. Ezra had fed himself, picking up the noodles from the bowl and awkwardly feeding them into his mouth.
"Noodles mean long life and eggs as well. Beginnings are hard so we celebrate," Hops Sing had said as they all slurped up noodles. Fiona ate them less enthusiastically than the others.
"If it's not bein' prying, sir, why did you allow the man to play that game about the child's future?"
Adam laughed. "Oh, the birthday grab. It's harmless. I remember when Hoss turned a year old and according to the prediction, Hoss should have been a hired cook for others as he reached for the spoon and promptly put it in his mouth but now I see that Hop Sing interpreted it wrong; it meant that Hoss would love to eat but we already knew that from the moment he was born. If Ezra becomes a rich man, well, that's fine but since he's set to inherit part of the Ponderosa from me, it really is no news."
"Well, I think it lets in the devil," Fiona had murmured.
Hop Sing had sat Ezra in the middle of the table where he was surrounded by certain objects, a much searched for orange, a stalk of thin celery, a coin, a pencil, an empty pill vial, a cook spoon and a green onion. Each object represented a profession or goal in life.
While Ezra sat in the middle of the table, Adam stood behind Sylvia, his arms about her waist. He almost burst with pride and kissed the back of Sylvia's neck. The child looked around him and went to the pill vial, picking it up as he leaned on one knee. He dropped back down on the table top and examined the vial as he held it. Then Adam went to the table and Era crawled to him and held up the pill vial for his father to see.
"Him be doctor," Hop Sing said, pleased with the child's choice of object.
Adam scooped up his child. "A doctor, huh? Well, that's fine by me. Ezra Cartwright, M.D. has a nice ring to it."
"Yeah, Pa," Joe had said. "Maybe you can get free medical care in your old age now."
"If you don't start being more respectful," Ben said, wagging his finger at Joe, "you might need medical care right now."
Only the five adults without children remained behind and they sat in the great room and Ben poured brandy and Jamaican rum, whatever the preference, for the men and for the ladies, Mrs. Bryce and Mrs. Reynard, he poured a light sherry. Sylvia was about to take a sip from her sherry when Fiona came to the head of the stairwell wearing her robe.
"Sylvia," Adam said quietly to her while the others talked and laughed. "I think Fiona needs you. I'll come up later to say goodnight to Ezra."
"He's so tired," Sylvia said. "Today wore him out –and me-he'll probably be asleep in a few minutes if he isn't already. You don't want to go in and see him if Fiona's in bed; it wouldn't look right and might make her uncomfortable—you know, to have you there while she's in bed."
"Now don't start on her again, Sylvia. I told you, I gave her permission to go in and get any book she wanted—the fact that she was looking at my old blueprints, well, that's simple curiosity. I don't know why it bothers you so much. But," Adam said, "I won't go in later then. Kiss Ezra goodnight for me, would you?"
Sylvia nodded and after placing her sherry on the table, left to go up the stairs to the landing. Adam returned to the conversation with the other men about spring branding and the trouble they'd had all winter with wolves and bears since it had been a hard winter.
"What is it?" Sylvia asked Fiona. "Is something wrong with Ezra?" Fiona looked nervous and anxious and that worried Sylvia. "Is he ill?" Panic began to swell in her breast. She had heard stories of children dying overnight, children who had been perfectly healthy one day and dead the next. She knew that she always jumped to the worst case scenario and Adam had often chastised her about worrying too soon but she couldn't help herself.
"No, nothing like that. His lovey must be outside. He was playing with it early on outside and it must have been forgotten in all the folderol and such. He's fussin' and askin' for the thing. I was wonderin' if you had seen it or brought it in." Ezra's "lovey" was an old unidentifiable stuffed animal of sorts-perhaps a dog or a pig, something with four legs and big ears-one that Mamie had tucked in beside him one night at Cassie's when he had been particularly fussy and it had stayed with the child. He often held it and ran his thumb over the comforting softness as he fell asleep.
"Oh," Sylvia said, relieved. "You go back and I'll look for it outside."
Fiona watched as Sylvia went down the stairs; she wanted to call the woman back, tell her not to go outside but the thought of worse consequences stopped her. Darby had promised that neither he nor Judd would harm the woman as long as she didn't try to escape. "It may take the back o' my hand to convince the bitch that we're serious but other than that—no harm, that is, as long as Adam Cartwright pays the ransom on time. I'm tellin' you now, if he don't pay us within the time we ask, well, Judd and me might as well get somethin' from it and she's a nice-lookin' woman. Judd was just talkin' earlier how nice she'd be to taste."
Fiona watched until Sylvia went out the front door and then she went back to the room, her knees almost giving out on her. She pressed the door closed and leaned against it, regaining her composure. Her head spun and the room seemed to tilt. Ezra was sleeping peacefully and the room was warm and friendly with the child's things on the shelves and his toys filling up a whole chest in the corner. Fiona sat down in the rocking chair and wondered if she would be kept on if Mrs. Cartwright was never returned to them or found alive. It wasn't what she wanted; Fiona truly didn't want to see Mrs. Cartwright hurt despite her own feelings for the Mister. Fiona wanted none of it but she could see no other way to satisfy her brother and his friend's avarice and keep the child safe. Fiona would gladly sacrifice Sylvia to save the babe, sacrifice herself if need be, and if the Missus disappeared forever, well, that would be a shame, surely. Fiona knew that what she had done was wrong and the tears fell down her cheeks. She wondered if Darby and Judd had grabbed Sylvia yet, and when they did, if she would scream for help. Fiona stopped rocking and listened, straining for any sound from outside.
And then it occurred to her that perhaps Darby and his friend Judd weren't waiting outside, had given up on the whole idea. Fiona suddenly decided that it would be such a great relief if they had abandoned the plan. Perhaps her brother had changed his mind-perhaps. If so, then Mrs. Cartwright would soon be back with the dolly that had been intentionally left outside. Fiona barely breathed, expecting to hear Sylvia's tread on the uncarpeted stairs but they didn't come. Fiona kept glancing at the nursery clock and after twenty minutes, Fiona knew that Darby had kept his word. They had stolen away with Sylvia Cartwright and left a note in her place on the front porch as he had said he would. A feeling of dread overwhelmed the girl for she felt that she had damned her soul by being part of it. Even though she had been unwilling, she had been an accomplice to their crime.
"Oh, Holy Mother, help me to do what I must." Fiona covered her face with her hands and noticed how hot and flushed she was and suddenly she was struck with vertigo. Her head spun and she became nauseated; she staggered to the bed and lay down to stave off fainting but the room spun around her. She was truly miserable now in both body and spirit.