Chapter 9
Even though Gertie was curled up in a ball she was still peeking through the small sliver between her arm and her leg. She watched as Hoss ushered Mr. Cartwright out the door. She had heard very clearly what Hoss said about needing to come see something, was that something Ephraim she wondered? Was he alright? Has he possibly taken a turn for the worst she thought? Gertie couldn't allow herself to sit in the corner and feel sorry for herself any longer, she needed to check on Ephraim. She needed to be there for her big brother. It was her fault after all for not speaking up to Mr. Cartwright that morning about the truth with Ephraim not feeling well the night before. She had caused this. For if she would have just spoken up than Ephraim wouldn't have been able to go out with Adam and Little Joe. He wouldn't have ended up in bed with whatever it was that he had, and just maybe Mr. Cartwright wouldn't have warmed her bottom with that spanking, for Ephraim would have taken care of it himself. Gertie pulled her aching bottom up from the cold floor and swiped at the remaining tears that were still silently falling with the back of her hand. She then walked over to the armoire and opened the door and took a quick look inside at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like she had just rolled in an open field. Her dress was all wrinkled up and her hair had come loose from the braids that HopSing had put in earlier. She quickly tugged and pulled at her dress to smooth it out, than she decided to take both braids out. She ran a brush through the tangles and tied it back into a low ponytail. She now thought she no longer looked like a little girl in distress. She now looked like a perfectly normal little girl that had caused absolutely no trouble at all. She closed the door to the armoire and held her head high and moved toward her door. She graciously opened it and poked her head outside. She looked down the hall and heard small murmurs coming from Ephraim's room so she moved over towards it and noticed the door was cracked open. She stopped herself from entering when she saw who was in there. Mr. Cartwright was sitting on the edge of the bed leaning over her brother, while Hoss and Adam were standing on the other side of the bed looking on. Gertie could hear their low voices, and to her surprise she actually heard some soft chuckles coming from the men. What? How could this be? She needed to get closer, she needed to find out why and what was actually making them chuckle. She shuffled her feet so that now she was pressed right up against the frame and watched on as the scene unfolded in front her. Mr. Cartwright was lovingly caressing Ephraim's arm and talking in a very different tone than she had just experienced ten minutes prior. Gertie watched on with envy creeping into every inch of her body. Her eyes moved on from one Cartwright to the next, noticing how their eyes sparkled with delight that Ephraim was now awake. But it was when Gertie's eyes landed on that of her brother, she could see that he had a weak smile on his still pale and grayish face. Mr. Cartwright shifted his body some on the bed which made Gertie jump back from the door. She didn't want them to know of her presence, but she didn't move so far back that she couldn't see what was going on inside the bedroom still. Adam had moved closer to Ephraim and was assisting him into an upright position. The men were being so gentle and kind with her brother that it was tugging on her heart like guitar strings. Maybe the Cartwright men really did care about her brother, maybe he was more than just a guest in their home, but Gertie didn't feel the same reception towards her. She felt like she was holding Ephraim back from creating a permanent home here with the Cartwrights and that wasn't fair. She took one last look into the warm bedroom and caught Mr. Cartwright actually spoon feeding Ephraim with some of HopSing's broth. The tenderness that Mr. Cartwright was using while carefully bringing the warm broth up to her brother's lips was the sweetest moment Gertie had seen in days. She could feel the hot tears burning at her eyes. She couldn't let them fall though, for she didn't want to give herself away.
In a weak voice she heard her brother speak. "Really Mr. Cartwright I can do it myself." Ephraim tried to plead his case feeling like a baby being hand fed by a man of such stature as Mr. Cartwright.
"Now, Ephraim, if I thought you were well enough to do so, don't you think I would be letting you do it on your own?" When Ephraim gave a nod of agreement Mr. Cartwright grinned and scooped up another spoonful of broth. "Only a few more spoonfuls though. We don't want to overdo it. Doc Martin will have my hide." Mr. Cartwright joked with Ephraim, which brought another round of smiles from all in the room.
"So glad to see you're doing better there Little Cowboy!" Adam remarked as he ruffled the boy's hair. "But next time you know you're not feeling good, just tell us." Ephraim dipped his head in shame. He knew that he should have spoken up at breakfast, but his desire to go riding with Adam and Little Joe was so much greater than staying home in bed.
Adam, Hoss and Mr. Cartwright shared a look between the three of them before Ben lifted Ephraim's chin. "It's nothing to be ashamed of Ephraim. No one likes to admit when they did wrong, but Adam's right. When I asked you about it this morning, you should have mentioned something instead of trying to cover it up."
"Yes, Sir. It's just I wanted to go with Adam and Little Joe." Ephraim stated softly.
Hoss's deep laughter echoed through the room causing Gertie to jump in surprise. "Ephraim, boy, there is gonna be plenty of riding happening before the snow arrives. You wouldn't of missed out on anything that wasn't gonna be happening again here in a week or so." When Gertie jumped from the surprise of Hoss' laughter she bumped into the door making it open a bit more. It was at that moment that Ephraim noticed Gertie standing in the doorway. He went to smile at her, but before he knew it, Gertie spun away from the door and ran off down the hall.
"Gertie!" Ephraim coughed. Ben slowly turned towards the door. The door was slightly opened but no one was there. Ephraim was still coughing pretty hard and Adam handed him his hanky to spit out the junk that he was getting up. Once he got it up the poor child looked exhausted.
"I think that's enough for now. Ephraim, why don't you lie back down and get some sleep. I'll be back in again in a little bit." Ben helped the boy get comfortable and pulled the covers back up over his tiny shoulders. "Get some rest, Son."
"But Gertie." Ephraim weakly called. Adam raised an eyebrow up at his Pa noticing that there was no sign of Gertie. The two older Cartwright's wonder if the boy's fever was sinking back in.
"She's fine Ephraim. Don't worry about the child. You just get some rest so that you can be back to chasing her around here again soon." Ben laid his hand on the boy's forehead to see if indeed the fever was back. It was clammy, but not as high as it was earlier. Ben sighed with relief and motioned for his Sons to move on out. When they were about to the door they heard Ephraim's weak voice again.
"Mr. Cartwright, will you tell her goodnight for me?" Ben forced a smile towards the boy.
"I will, Son. Get some rest now." And before Ben had closed the door the young boy had shut his eyes and Ben could hear soft breathing from the lad. Ben shooed the boys towards the stairs. They did as he asked and leisurely moved on down to the warmth of the great room. Ben moved towards his desk while Hoss and Adam followed. They watched their tired looking Pa take a seat in his big leather chair. Ben started fumbling through some paperwork on his desk until the stares of his boys made him stop. "Isn't there something you boys could be doing right now?" The two men looked at each other and shook their heads no. "I'm sure there's something boys." He repeated.
"Speaking of something Pa, what about that half pint of a something upstairs? How did it go?" Hoss asked picking up a materials list for the new out building Ben was thinking about constructing.
"I really don't want to talk about that right now Son." Ben pulled his focus back onto the lumber contract that he had been putting off for a few days now. Hoss and Adam exchanged another look between the two of them, knowing that things must have not gone that well, or their Pa wouldn't be dead set against talking about it.
"Alright Pa. I think I'll go take a look at that bridle Benny sent over to help with that new philly." Hoss said heading towards the door and grabbing his coat and hat. Ben just nodded and went back to the contract. He was afraid that this contract wouldn't be settled until he went off to Sacramento. If he went to Sacramento he would need to take one of the boys with him, which would probably be Little Joe or Hoss. Adam would need to stay behind to oversee the timber camp and the ranch. Then there were the Callahan children. He'd have to look into a new placement for them sooner than later. As he was deep in thought he noticed that Adam was still sitting in the chair in front of him.
"Adam?"
"Yeah Pa?"
"I think I'm going to need to go to Sacramento and deal with this contract between us and Turkee & Valley Lumber Company. We just can't seem to come to a solution about how much we're willing to give them and how much they're willing to pay." Adam gave a slight nod, understanding fully the predicament of the contract. "I'll probably ask Little Joe to come along. You think you and Hoss can hold down the fort?"
"Of course we can Pa. You probably won't be gone more than a week or two. We're just getting things ready for the winter. I think we can manage. What do you want me to do about the Callahan's? Are you going to enroll them into school?" Ben ran his hand over his face and let out a low moan.
"I'll ride into town tomorrow and book my ticket on the stagecoach and then ask Roy if there's a local family that can take them for a bit."
This statement caught Adam completely off guide, since when was his Pa planning or moving them onto another family? Adam couldn't let this happen. He could manage the two until his return. "No, Pa, you can't do that, they can stay here. They'll be no problem. Ephraim will love working beside us. I mean as much as he can." Adam had now moved so that his hands were firmly placed on his knees and he sat on the edge of the leather chair sitting across his father's desk.
"Adam, they can't stay here forever. We were just a temporary placement. You and Hoss will be too busy and they'll just be underfoot. Plus Widow Spencer was right. We can't raise children, especially a girl." Ben put the paper on the pile to the right and shook his head. "No Son, I think Roy has some families in mind that can help provide a proper place until we hear about their family back in Maine."
"I'm sorry Pa, but I don't agree. I think we're a perfect place for them until we hear about their family back east. I mean Ephraim seems well adjusted and Gertie is slowly coming around. They won't be any problem while you're gone. Between HopSing, Hoss and I, they'll be fine. Plus Ephraim is still recovering. You can't just uproot him while he's sick." By this time Adam was out of his chair standing in front of his father, and questioning his decision.
"Adam, I appreciate your opinion, but I'm the one that has taken temporary custody and I'll be the one that makes the final decision about their well-being."
"But Pa…" Adam wasn't giving up on this, for he didn't agree one bit with his father's decision.
Ben now stood up and held up a hand to Adam. "Please Adam. This conversation is not up for debate. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to grab some rum cake and coffee. If you'd like to join me, I'd appreciate your company, but only if this topic of conversation is over."
"Nah, I think I've lost my appetite." Adam shoved at the chair he had occupied and made his way over to the grand staircase. He took one more glance at his Pa and when Ben just shrugged his shoulders Adam took the stairs two at a time. He was fuming with his father's decision about the Callahan children. They were really starting to grow on him. At first he thought they were going to be a total nuisance but it was nice to have them around and it was nice to have a young boy following him around like Hoss and Joe did just years earlier. It brought a small smirk to his face. As he moved down the quiet hallway he stopped in front of one of the children's room and squeaked open the door. He poked his head in and noticed the covers had fallen off of the ill boy. Adam quietly moved in and picked up the covers off the floor and placed them back on the boy's small figure. Once the weight of the blankets hit the boy he rolled over a bit and coughed slightly but remained sleeping. Adam could see some small beads of sweat on the boy's forehead. He reached for the washcloth that was still in the basin on the nightstand. Adam rang out the cloth and wiped the boy's forehead. It made the boy stir again, but his eyes still remained closed. After Adam got most of the sweat he placed the cloth back in the basin. He watched on for a minute and once he heard that Ephraim's breathing sounded pretty good, not as labored as it was earlier in the day he moved towards the large window in the boy's room. Adam noticed that the sun had completely gone down for the evening. He lowered the wick on the small lamp on the nightstand and pulled the dark green shades on the windows. He then moved his way out of the room. He was happy and relieved to see the boy in better condition than he was this afternoon. He closed the door and moved on towards his room. But before he got to his door he stopped at the other door next to his. He leaned his ear up to the door trying to catch something from within. When he couldn't hear a pin drop he decided that if his Pa wasn't going to talk about what happen between him and Gertie, Adam would try to get some answers from the other party. He knocked lightly on the door and called out. "Gertie?" When there wasn't any response, Adam knocked again. "Gertie? It's me Adam. Can I come in?" Again when there wasn't a response Adam tried again. "Gertie, I'm coming in." Adam slowly turned the brass doorknob and pushed the door open. When he opened the door it was dark inside, but not so that he couldn't see a shadow of a certain little girl. He moved further into the room. "Gertie?" He called out a bit louder this time. Still no answer. He approached the bed and it looked as if it had not been touched. Her nightgown was still hanging over the footboard. "Gertie? It's me Adam." He moved around the bed and still nothing there. He shuffled over to the closet and swung open the door. "Boo!" He said as he opened it, expecting to find the little girl hiding inside. But to his surprise all that was in there still was Joe's old trunk and a few pillows and blankets. As he shut the door he thought of only two other places a young child would hide. He softly approached the armoire. "Can't hide from me!" He shouted as he flung open both doors. But all he found was two dresses, a shirt, another nightgown and a pair of pants. Where on earth could the child have gone to? The last place which used to be Little Joe's favorite was under the bed. He moved to the side closest to the door, bent down on both knees, placed his hands on the cold floor and dropped his head. Once he could clearly see under the bed there was nothing there except one lonely dust bunny. Huh, Adam thought. He had a hard time believing that his Pa would let her out of her room after what happened in town. He moved back out of the room, when another thought popped into his head, just maybe he thought. He moved back over to Ephraim's room and quietly checked all the spots that she could hide in there. When he came up empty handed he knew that he should inform his father that she couldn't be found. He exited Ephraim's room and headed directly towards the stairs. As he scrambled down them he spotted his father sitting in his blue chair by the fire enjoying HopSing's rum cake. From the landing Adam spoke to his father. "Pa, did you let Gertie leave the house?"
Ben picked his head up and looked up with surprise at his son. "No, why?"
"Umm, I just went to check on her, and I couldn't find her upstairs. I looked in her room and then looked in with Ephraim and she isn't in either one." Ben rose from his chair and placed his coffee cup down on the table.
"I told the child to put her nightshirt on and get ready for bed. Are you sure she wasn't hiding? She wasn't very happy with me after she received her discipline. She was curled up in the corner by the desk." Ben started making his way towards the stairs when Adam caught his father by the arm.
"You spanked her Pa?"
"Yes Adam. It was the appropriate punishment. Go out to the barn and ask Hoss or Joe if they've seen her." Adam obeyed his father and grabbed his coat off the hook. Just as he was about to reached for the door handle the door flung open. A laughing Joe and Hoss came bolting through the door, but stopped pretty quick when they noticed the expression on their big brother's face.
"Have either of you seen Gertie?" Adam asked.
"No." The two said in unison. Adam looked over his shoulder at his Pa who was still on the landing of the steps.
"Is she missing?" Hoss asked with concern. Adam just nodded his head up and down. By this time Ben went barreling up the stairs to the child's room. He flung open the door and hollered the girl's name. He scanned the room and when he found nothing he lit the lamp. The glow of the light showed every inch of the room and still no Gertie. Ben knew he needed to take this to the next step.
"Gertrude? Gertrude you best show yourself!" When there was no answer, Ben took it to the next level. "Gertrude, we're not playing games here. You've already caused enough trouble for a day, now show yourself!" By this time Adam, Hoss and Little Joe had arrived behind their Pa. The room was sill empty. There were no signs of Gertie anywhere.
"Pa, what now?" Little Joe asked.
"We search for her, that's what. She can't be far. Hoss, Joe, were there any sign of her while you were in the barn?"
"No Sir."
"Are all the horses in their stalls?" Ben asked pinching at the bridge of his nose trying to figure out other places she might be.
"Yes, Pa. They're all there. Plus Gertie wouldn't take a horse, she's afraid of riding." The three Cartwright's turned and looked at Little Joe with surprise.
"What?" He said throwing his hands up in the air.
"How do you know that?" Adam asked while folding his arms across his chest.
Joe shrugged his shoulders like it was common knowledge. "Ephraim told me. I thought everyone knew that?"
"Never mind that. Hoss go check with HopSing. See if he has seen the girl, if he hasn't tell him to keep an eye on the boy until we get back. Adam, go to the bunkhouse and gather the men up. We'll split up in teams. She can't be too far. Come along boys." Ben gestured to the Cartwright boys to get going." Everyone moved to do their job except for Ben. He looked up to the ceiling of the great room and whispered, "Heaven help us."