Chapter Four
Everyone slept in an extra hour the next morning before waking to the delicious smells of Hop Sing cooking pancakes and bacon. As she dressed, Josie felt the unique sensation of her stomach rumbling with hunger while simultaneously lurching with sadness as she remembered that this would be her first Fourth of July in Nevada without Simon. She again considered staying home, but she knew the townspeople would figure out sooner or later than she and Simon were no longer together, so she might as well get it over with. At least she would have Ben close by.
Since Josie was wearing one of her nicest day dresses and Little Joe still had the cast on his left leg for one more day, Ben drove one of the buggies while Adam and Hoss rode alongside and Pip trotted behind them. Little Joe reclined in the back seat and kept himself entertained for the first part of the long ride by occasionally poking Josie in the ribs with the end of one of his crutches. He gave it up, however, when Josie whipped around and threatened to leave him in his cast until Christmas.
The meadow on the edge of town was bustling with people when the Cartwrights arrived, and after settling Little Joe on a blanket under a large oak tree, Adam and Hoss wandered off to find Molly and Patience. Ben took Josie and Pip with him on his rounds to greet everyone, and Sheriff Coffee told them that the Confederates had turned tail at Gettysburg and were retreating across the Mason-Dixon Line.
"Now that's some good Independence Day news," Ben said, squeezing Josie's shoulders with one arm. She smiled up at him, pleased that the battle was over, though she shuddered to think how many names would be on the casualty reports.
Josie spent a pleasant morning strolling around the meadow with Ben and greeting their friends and neighbors. It felt strange being there without Simon, but she did her best to push him from her mind and enjoy the day. Ben had a close call with Widow Hawkins, but just as Clementine was about to launch into an ode to silver-haired, barrel-chested men, Josie pretended to spot one of Ben's old friends on the other side of the meadow and dragged him away.
Shortly before lunch, Hoss, Patience, Adam, Molly, and Fionn met back up with Ben and Josie near Little Joe's pallet in the shade. Fionn initially kept a careful distance from Josie, but then, realizing Simon Croft was nowhere in sight, he leaned over and kissed the back of Josie's hand.
"Please don't misjudge my intentions," he teased, his eyes twinkling up at her. "I'm just bein' polite."
Josie giggled involuntarily, and Fionn flashed her a wide grin. Adam and Hoss caught each other's gazes over Fionn's and Josie's heads. Adam raised one eyebrow, and Hoss replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
The large group sat down together across several picnic blankets, and everyone spread out the food they had brought to create one giant meal for the entire ensemble. Fionn took a second helping of Hop Sing's fried chicken, while Hoss praised the heavens for Patience's chocolate cookies. Ben congratulated Molly on her potato salad and elbowed Adam sharply in the ribs as he pontificated on the wonders of women who knew how to cook.
Tiring of his father's not-so-subtle hints, Adam piped up, "You've got a good point, Pa. You know, I hear Widow Hawkins makes a mean roast duck."
That shut Ben up.
Later that afternoon, Adam was waiting in line to buy lemonade for Molly when she turned to him to ask about a topic that had been bothering her all day.
"Where's Simon?" She said this almost accusingly.
Adam didn't process what Molly had just said. She was wearing a comely new dress she had crafted from the blue-and-lavender gingham Adam had bought for her, so he had been in a state of mild distraction all day. The dress had a full, flowing skirt, but it fit snugly in all the right places, and Adam had to keep reminding himself not to run his hands all over Molly in the middle of the Fourth of July festival. Adam grinned and threaded his arm around Molly's waist. She rolled her eyes, grabbed his chin, and turned his face so he was gazing across the meadow to where Josie sat on the blanket with Little Joe. The rest of the lunch group had dispersed, and Josie now sat leaned up against Little Joe, both of them fighting drowsiness.
"Where's Simon?" Molly repeated. Having heard nothing to the contrary, she had assumed Josie and Simon had made up by now.
Adam sighed as Molly's question sank in. As they inched forward in line, Adam related what had happened between Josie and Simon a week earlier. Molly's face took on a horrified expression, and she fished a dime out of her pocket. When they reached the front of the queue and Adam ordered two lemonades, Molly slapped her dime onto the table and asked for two more. She snatched up the little cups and hustled over to where Josie reclined under the tree with Little Joe.
"Adam told me what happened," Molly said to Josie as she sat down on the blanket. "I am so sorry Fionn caused all this trouble for you. I ought to fix his flint." She handed one of her lemonades to Josie and the other to Little Joe.
"It wasn't Fionn's fault," Josie said, accepting and thanking Molly for the lemonade. "Simon would have gone away for this apprenticeship even without the incident with Fionn." None of the Cartwrights breathed a word to Molly of Simon's original intention. That wasn't Fionn's fault, either, and it just would have made Molly feel worse.
Adam sat down next to Josie and put an arm around her. "You want me to kill him?" he asked, echoing his offer from the previous month.
Josie let out a small puff of air that was very nearly a chuckle. "No. He's halfway to San Francisco by now. Besides, if I decide he needs killing, I get to do that honor myself." She pulled up the hem of her dress to reveal her trusty Derringer on her right ankle.
Adam grinned, but Molly exclaimed, "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" as her right hand flew to her bosom.
"It's all right, Molly," Adam assured her. "Josie knows how to handle a gun."
"It isn't that," Molly said, her eyes never leaving Josie's weapon. "That's amazin', that is! Where did you get it?"
Josie finally cracked a small smile at Molly's excitement over the little gun. "It was a gift from my father when I finished medical school. I always have it on me when I'm not carrying my Colt."
"Brilliant," Molly declared, and Josie took note of the covetous gleam in Molly's eye and resolved to find out when the seamstress's birthday was.
Unfortunately, the lighter mood faded, and the now-familiar heaviness swept over Josie, and she wanted nothing more than to rest her head against Joe's chest and fall asleep. Adam sensed his cousin's fatigue and shifted behind her a bit so she could lean against him and give Joe a break.
"Hey," he said gently. "You want me to take you home?"
Josie considered this for a moment. Her initial thought was "Absolutely!" but the idea of sitting at home alone – or worse yet, sitting at home with Adam and knowing she was keeping him from spending a magical evening with Molly – was worse than the thought of muddling through the rest of the day at the festival.
"No, I'll stay. Can't leave Little Joe here all by himself, can I?"
Little Joe kissed Josie's cheek and then grinned smugly up at Adam. It wasn't often Josie chose him over his oldest brother, and Joe intended to rub it in as much as he could.
"If you need anything, come find me. Promise?" Adam said.
Josie nodded. "I promise."
"Ok." Adam kissed her cheek and, feeling horrifically guilty, led Molly back into the throng of people. They had been gone only a few moments, however, when they returned, each of them bearing a bowl teetering with several scoops of freshly churned ice cream. Adam smiled as Josie's eyes lit up at the sight of the treat.
"Thank you!" she and Little Joe chimed in unison as Adam and Molly handed them the bowls.
"I promised you, didn't I?" Adam replied with a grin. Seeing that Josie really was content with Little Joe and a bowl of ice cream, he once more offered Molly his arm and led her away, this time feeling much more comfortable leaving Josie behind in the shade of the oak tree.
Josie and Little Joe sat back-to-back and leaned against one another as they dug into their ice cream.
"Ohhhhh, they made chocolate this year!" Josie groaned with pleasure and dropped her head back to rest against Joe's.
"Strawberry, too!" Little Joe exclaimed as he unearthed a new flavor in the depths of his bowl.
They ate happily for several minutes, Josie giggling when Joe hollered in pain and clutched at the bridge of his nose.
"Don't eat it so fast, Greedy!" she chastised him.
Little Joe finished his ice cream first and stared forlornly into his empty bowl. He sensed the darkness settling over Josie again as she, too, finished off her ice cream, and he cast about for something to distract her.
"Hey, Josie!" he said brightly. "You want to read David Copperfield? I brought it along. It's under the back seat of the buggy."
Josie wanted to do nothing but sleep away the rest of the afternoon under the oak tree, but she forced a smile and retrieved the book from the wagon. She stretched out on the blanket next to Joe, turned to the page where they had left off, and began to read. Before long, Josie's gentle narration attracted Sally Cass and Fionn, who both settled on the blanket with them to listen to the story, Fionn occasionally handing Josie a canteen to keep her throat from drying out as she read. After two chapters, Josie's voice began to give out, so she tucked the bookmark between the pages and set the hefty novel down.
"I always liked that book," Sally sighed. "David has so much courage."
"I've never read it, but now I think I'd like to hear the whole thing," Fionn added. "I'm not much for readin', but I like hearin' stories told out loud."
"It's too bad it's so hard to get books out here," Josie lamented. "We have to order them in from San Francisco, and sometimes New York, depending on the book. That hasn't been easy, either, with the war on."
"What this town really needs is a library," Little Joe muttered, half to himself.
Josie, Sally, and Fionn turned and stared at him, mouths agape.
Josie spoke first, a little hoarsely from reading aloud for so long. "Joe, that's brilliant!"
"What is?" Joe asked. "A library? That ain't brilliant. They got hundreds of 'em back east."
"Yeah, but none here!" Sally pointed out. "The closest one is Sacramento, and you have to pay to use it."
"So what are you suggestin'?" Fionn asked. "Settin' up a free library in Virginia City?"
"Why not?" Josie replied. "We probably have enough books on the Ponderosa alone to start one. I have a few I'd be willing to part with, and I'm sure Adam and Uncle Ben do, too."
"Adam part with a book?" Joe asked, one skeptical eyebrow soaring skyward.
"All right, so I'll steal a few while he's asleep," Josie teased. "He doesn't need two copies of The Song of Hiawatha anyway."
"Adam's a pretty light sleeper."
"I've got chloroform."
"We'd need donors," Sally broke in. "People who would be willing to give us either books or money to order more."
"I'm sure Pa would help," Joe said.
"And I could write to Aunt Rachel," Josie added, nearly bubbling over with enthusiasm now. "She donates lots of money to the Boston library, and I think she'd be thrilled that I was doing something to help civilize our little 'hamlet,' as she calls it."
"We'd need a space," Fionn mentioned. "Can't rightly set all the books out in the street, can we?"
"That's easy," Sally said, waving a hand dismissively. "Daddy owns the storefront next to ours. He'd planned to expand a little and start carrying more tack, maybe even some saddles, but our grocery business picked up so much he hasn't had the time or the help. He's been talking about renting it out, but I could probably talk him into letting us have it."
"We'd need people to run it, though," Josie mused, locking gazes with Sally as if her friend's blue eyes might provide an answer. "I've got my clinic, Joe works on the ranch, Fionn's got his farm, and you help your father."
"If the library's right next to the store, there's no reason I couldn't have it open for people during our store's hours when I'm there anyway," Sally pointed out. "And I bet Patience would help us, too."
"I'd feel bad leaving you with all the work," Josie said.
Sally laughed. "Are you kidding?! I'd be delighted! I'd finally have something more interesting to discuss than calico and hair ribbons!"
Josie grinned, her eyes shining with excitement. "We could really make this happen," she marveled.
"We sure could," Little Joe agreed.
The four friends spent the rest of the afternoon hashing out plans for their library. Fionn scampered off and soon returned with several sheets of paper and four pencils. He and Sally began brainstorming fundraising ideas while Josie and Little Joe drew up lists of books they would like to include in their collection. When Adam, Molly, Hoss, Patience, and Ben reappeared at dinnertime, the quartet had a list of nearly one hundred titles along with plans for Virginia City's first Fall Festival to support the free public library. When Ben asked what they were plotting, Josie started babbling so quickly that Ben had to hold up a hand to stop her and ask her to take a breath and start over. Fionn, Little Joe, and Sally chimed in here and there, and Ben's eyebrows rose a little higher with each new idea the young people threw at him.
Adam grinned, thoroughly impressed with Josie, Little Joe, and their friends, and also pleased that Josie had found an activity to distract her.
"You know, Pa," Hoss said, skimming Sally's neatly written plans for the Fall Festival. "These plans are really good. This could work."
"Of course it will work!" Sally huffed, snatching her plans back from Hoss. "We've had Virginia City's four best minds working on it all afternoon!"
Adam read the plans over Sally's shoulder. "It's intriguing, all right. But what about the people who can't read? A lot of the miners and small farmers around here can barely sign their own names."
Josie and Sally shared an amused, maternal smile, as if Adam were a toddler who had just said something adorable.
"What about the people who can't read?' he asks," Sally cooed. "Bless him."
"We already thought of that," Josie said, handing Adam another page. "Abigail Myers quit teaching when she got married, but she's mentioned to Sally how much she misses it. We thought we'd ask her if she'd like to teach literacy classes once a week in the library. We couldn't pay her, but perhaps she'd do it for free."
"And if she won't, there's plenty of other people we can ask," Little Joe added. "Believe it or not, Widow Hawkins was a school teacher, once upon a time in England."
Ben's skin crawled at the mention of the widow's name, but he shook it off and focused on the proposal before him. "Well," he said, "I think it's a terrific idea! You can count on the Ponderosa for some of your backing, on one condition."
"What's that, Pa?" Joe asked.
"This library must be open to everyone, and I do mean everyone: men, women, children, Mexicans, Chinese, Jews, Negroes, everyone." A few years back, there had been a problem with a town schoolmaster who had been expelling Mexican, Jewish, and Indian boys, claiming they were "insubordinate." Ben had helped bring the man's true intolerant motivations to light, and he certainly didn't want his niece and son's new library to ever be accused of similar sentiments.
The four friends exchanged befuddled expressions.
"Well, of course it will be, Pa," Joe replied, scratching his head.
"Yeah, Uncle Ben," Josie added. "Why wouldn't it be?"
Hoss and Adam exchanged amused glances while Ben marveled at the young people and felt a burst of hope that their generation would make the world a more tolerant place.
The group dug into their picnic baskets again and feasted themselves silly. Adam shot frequent glances over at Josie, and while he could sense her lingering sadness, she at least seemed to be finding a little happiness in her friends and their plans. She wasn't eating quite as heartily as usual, but she polished off a chicken leg and some of the remaining potato salad that Molly had brought, so Adam was satisfied.
Josie was, indeed, taking comfort in her friends and their hopes for the library, but as supper wound down and the paper lanterns hanging over the dance floor were lit, her spirits dropped again. She could feel Adam's eyes on her, so she plastered a smile on her face and tried to pretend that she was looking forward to the dancing as much as she always did. When the band struck up the first reel, she gave Adam and Molly a little push toward the dance floor as Fionn grabbed Sally's hand and raced away with her. She started to sink back onto the blanket next to Little Joe when Ben took her hand.
"You promised to protect me, remember?" he said, smiling at her.
Josie gave her uncle a half-hearted smile and let him lead her into the throng of reeling couples. Though her feet were as light as ever, Josie's heart was not committed to the dancing; she felt an empty space around her where Simon ought to have been. Ben noticed her melancholia and did his best to cheer her up by cracking silly jokes, though he knew his efforts would make little difference; he understood grief all too well and remembered just how physically exhausting maintaining a cheerful countenance in a crowd of people could be. After a few dances, he gave Josie a break and suggested she sit down for a few moments while he got them some water. Josie agreed and sank onto a bench at the edge of the dance floor, grateful for the respite.
She was thinking that perhaps she should have let Adam take her home after all, when Fionn collapsed onto the bench next to her.
"Whew!" he exclaimed, brushing a sweaty lock of auburn hair off his forehead. "Those reels will wear a body out."
Not feeling much like talking, Josie merely nodded in agreement, but Fionn soldiered on.
"Feel bad for poor Joe. Missin' out on all this fine dancin.'"
Josie glanced over her shoulder at Little Joe, who was reclined on his blanket and surrounded by several young ladies. His head rested in the lap of a comely blonde who was stroking his hair, and a brunette was spoon-feeding him ice cream while a bevy of four or five other young ladies jostled each other for positions closer to him. Josie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, he looks like he's really suffering." She rolled her eyes again as she saw Sally Cass join the crush of girls around Joe.
"Aye, and now he's taken me dance partner!" Fionn added, shaking his head. "The girls all think he's some pumpkins, don't they?"
"It's the cast. They think he's brave."
"So brave you had to drug him to get the cast on him, from what Hoss tells me."
Josie giggled despite herself. "Yeah, it was a bit mean."
Fionn grinned at her, his teeth flashing in the light from the paper lanterns. "You want to be a bit meaner to him?" Josie raised an eyebrow in reply, and Fionn leapt to his feet and extended his right hand. "Let's show him how much more fun it is to have two working legs."
Josie hesitated, not sure she wanted to dance again, but Fionn stuck his hand out a little farther in her direction. "Come on, Dr. Cartwright. I promise there will be no misinterpretations." He smiled at her with his entire face like he had the night of the earthquake, his eyes scrunching nearly closed and his nose wrinkling in that endearing way that made all his freckles squish together.
"All right," Josie conceded, taking his hand. "But if we're going to be friends, you really have to stop the 'Dr. Cartwright' thing. Call me 'Josie,' 'Josephine,' or, if you must, 'Hey, You,' but 'Dr. Cartwright' just has to go."
Fionn's face smiled again. "I can do that, Hey, You," he teased, and he gave Josie's hand a little squeeze. Josie groaned and shook her head. If Molly's persistent use of "Just Adam" was any indication, Josie had a feeling Fionn would be calling her "Hey, You" forever. But she let him lead her onto the dance floor all the same.
Fionn wasn't quite as light on his feet as Simon, but he and Josie soon fell into step, and Josie broke into a smile as they whirled around the dance floor. Adam and Molly took a little break from dancing and watched their siblings spin around.
"I'm glad they made up," Molly said. "Fionn felt terrible about the whole thing."
"I think everyone did," Adam added, slipping his arms around Molly's waist from behind. She leaned into his chest and smiled as she continued to watch Fionn flit Josie around the dance floor.
Though her heart still ached, Josie could not help but enjoy herself a bit. She was glad she and Fionn were friends again. His happy-go-lucky nature reminded her a lot of Little Joe, and the familiarity set her at ease. She barely even noticed the time passing, and before it seemed possible, Adam was whisking her away for their final waltz.
At the end of the evening, as Adam bid goodnight to Molly, Josie sought out Fionn.
"Thank you," she said, taking one of his hands warmly in both of hers. "Not only for the dancing, but your ideas for the library, too. And just for being a friend. I needed one today."
Fionn smiled at her, the ever-present mischief in his eyes softening into a warm fondness. "Anything for my Hey, You." He kissed the back of her right hand, winked at her, and sauntered toward his wagon to wait for Molly.
Josie watched him go, uncertain whether to roll her eyes, giggle, or burst into tears. She was rescued from having to decide by Ben, who appeared behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"She caught me."
"I'm sorry?" Josie turned around to face her uncle and gasped when she saw a bright red set of lips painted in the middle of Ben's right cheek. Her hand dived into her skirt pocket and extracted a handkerchief, which she used to wipe the lip print off Ben's face. "Man alive!" she exclaimed as she inspected Ben's face to make sure it was clean. "I don't believe this!"
"Me, either," Ben replied despondently. "I had no idea she could run so fast. I couldn't believe it when she cleared that hedge."
Josie stared at Ben for a couple seconds as she worked out his meaning, and then she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, Uncle Ben," she said when she at last brought herself under control. "That's not what I meant at all! I meant the Widow Hawkins wearing lip paint in public. My goodness, I thought she fancied herself a proper lady, not an… an adventuress!"
"Josephine!"
"Sorry, Uncle Ben. It's just so scandalous." Josie's eyes gleamed with a rascally delight that Ben was only too familiar with.
"You will not write to your Aunt Rachel about this!"
Josie cast him an expression of wide-eyed innocence. "But Uncle Ben, she should be aware what sort of person she's dealing with before she helps Clementine arrange a visit to Boston."
Ben glared skeptically down at Josie, one eyebrow raised. "If I thought your motivation was unimpeachable, Josephine, I would have no objection. However, I suspect it is not, and I'll not have you provoking your aunt. The last thing I need is two women breathing down my neck."
Josie laughed again and slipped her arm through Ben's. "Come on," she said. "Let's pull foot before Clementine can sink her claws into you again."
Ben escorted Josie back to the Cartwrights' wagon, which they drove close to the tree Joe was lounging under, still surrounded by half a dozen young women.
"I'm sorry, ladies," Joe said as Ben helped him to his feet and gave him his crutches. "This has been a splendid evening, but don't you worry. I get out of this cast tomorrow, and I promise I'll pay each of you a visit very soon."
The girls stuck out their lower lips and whined, but then lined up so each of them could give Little Joe a goodbye peck on the cheek. Josie and Ben rolled their eyes as they waited for the queue to dwindle, Josie throwing Sally a look of disappointment and dismay as she took her turn kissing Joe. Sally blushed and scampered off into the dark to find her own family.
When the young ladies had at last finished with Little Joe, Ben heaved him up into the back seat of the buggy.
"You know something, Pa?" Joe said as he settled onto the seat. "Today was a lot better than I'd expected."
"Bully for you," Ben grumbled as he helped Josie into the front seat and then trotted away to collect Hoss and Adam.
Slightly hurt, Little Joe turned to Josie. "What's his problem?"
"Little run-in with our favorite widow," Josie replied, her eyes twinkling merrily.
Joe laughed, but his hilarity was cut short by Ben's return. Adam and Hoss followed behind, and they did not miss the mirthful looks on Josie's and Joe's faces. Adam caught Josie's eye, and she silently mouthed the word "Later" to him. Adam grinned back, relieved to see that Josie seemed to have had a good day.
Everyone was quiet on the ride home. Little Joe dozed in the back seat of the buggy, Hoss was lost in deep thought, and Adam and Josie didn't want to annoy Ben, who wore a disgruntled look all the way home.
After they returned home and everyone was in bed, Adam slipped out of his bedroom and thumped softly on Josie's door. Knowing it would be Adam who was waiting in the hallway, Josie popped out of bed and pulled the door open just far enough for him to slide in without casting too much light from her oil lamp into the hall. They plopped down side-by-side on the edge of Josie's bed.
"Please tell me what happened," Adam begged, a huge smile already spreading across his face. Josie related how Widow Hawkins had left her brand on Ben, and Adam had to press his face into a pillow to keep his laughter from waking the rest of the house. It was a full two minutes before he emerged, red-faced.
"You know," he said, his eyes dancing with a very Little Joe-like mischief. "Pa didn't say I couldn't write to Aunt Rachel."
Josie ripped the pillow from Adam's hands and plunged her own face into it.