New Beginnings: Life Changes
ch. 36
Decisions
As Ethan is meeting and arranging to help Amelia get to Paradise, Rob has decided it is time to leave Boston.
"Alex, Claire, I've been thinking about Amelia. We didn't hear anything from Mitch and the letter has had time to get to him. Alex, I am not happy about you sending it without telling me first but I forgive you. I feel I need to go home and talk to Pa and Delphie. Something has to be done to help her and I know not to try to do anything alone. What do the two of you think?"
"I don't want to have you leave yet but I know you are right. Something needs to be done to help her. You can not handle that evil man alone. Go home, talk to Pa, have him go with you to Texas. he will know what the best plan will be." Claire replies.
"I understand how you feel. I would do anything to protect Claire. You don't worry about her being here without you. My family and I will keep her safe. I apologize again for sending that letter without at least telling you first. I got caught up in the plans and just wrote and sent it. I wonder if Mitch even received it as he didn't call. I specified he phone here to the house when he got the letter. He did not."
"It is possible the letter was lost in transit. I'll go talk to him when I get back. I will be happy to deliver a letter to him for you, Alex. You just get it written by day after tomorrow. Mitch just may not want to use the new telephone. You know he misses having you there." Rob reassures, being able to understand what Alex is not saying.
"So, we only have tomorrow and then you need to have one more special event together. Claire, can you leave school at lunch tomorrow? I want us all to go to the shore at the Massachusetts Bay. We will have to take a train to get there though. It will only be about an hour trip."
"Tomorrow is Wednesday, yes, that will work. I have late classes Monday and Thursday. That means I can't see you off home though, Rob."
"We'll say our goodbyes tomorrow night. I will catch an early train. I have the schedule and there is one heading to Pennsylvania leaving at eight Thursday morning." Rob tells his sister with a smile.
The following day, the three young people arrive at the shore just after one o'clock.
"Just look at the size of those boulders! They are twice the size of all three of our heads together! I don't see much clear sand here. I expected from what I have read of beaches, for this to be a wide space of sand. This is very rocky instead."
"There is a clearer section up ahead. The water will be cold but you can wade if you wish." Alex replies, leading them past the many boulders.
"What do you have in this mysterious knapsack you brought?" Rob questions teasingly.
"I brought everything we need for a clambake except for what the beach will provide. Help me locate some large pieces of driftwood for our fire. Claire? If you would gather a few armfuls of the dry seaweed from the boulders. We will use it for cooking."
"Have you done this before, Alex?" Claire asks.
"No, but a friend I work with explained how to do it. The only thing I did differently is boiled the clams first. I couldn't bring them raw or they would spoil. It will cut the cooking time for us."
After arranging the wood over rocks and surrounding that with larger rocks, Alex uses matches to light the fire. Some of the dried seaweed being the starter.
"Now that this wood has burned down to mostly embers, it is time to put the clams on. We cover them with a thick layer of wet seaweed and put the corn and potatoes on top. We layer more wet seaweed on over them. It will take about an hour maybe a little longer, to cook." Alex explains.
While waiting for the meal to cook, the three friends enjoy uninterrupted time to talk.
"It would be so special to have photographs of everything we are seeing. All during our trip here, I was wishing there were cameras small enough to take with us. I want to share what we see with the family. Someday maybe it will be possible for everyday people to have their own camera to record with. The photographer's large cameras are not handy to take along on trips." Claire comments looking around at the sand, boulders, water, and fire.
"Not only that but you have to have some way to expose the film to create the photographs." Rob reminds her.
"I read an advertisement for just that type of camera last spring. It was called a Brownie. You know like the little household spirits we learned from reading in school?" Alex asks.
"The ones who were supposed to come out during the night to do household chores? They never showed up at the ranch. It was all of us who did the work." Rob grumbles.
Ignoring her irritated brother, Claire asks "Do you know how expensive those cameras are?"
"Yes, it listed the price as four to five dollars. There were different models, some more expensive than others."
"Hmmm, way too expensive for me then. I was hoping fifty cents or a dollar at the most. Four dollars is above the amount I would be willing to pay. Someday though, I want to own a camera. Do you? Either of you?"
"I will be with you so I can use yours." Alex answers reaching for her hand.
"I would not know how to develop the film. We saw how it was done the time we had photographs taken by our newspaper friend. It seems difficult."
"Rob, I did not know you had a friend made of newspaper." Claire teases.
"Very funny, Claire. Our friend who works for a newspaper. Is that better, Ma'am? Maybe you should have become a teacher, not a medical person."
"Yes, much better, thank you. I don't want to teach. I want to be a medical person as you called it. I want to help children and adults live better."
"What are your plans for when you get home, Rob?" Alex asks, sensing the tension between the brother/sister pair.
"I want to work on that property of Uncle Vernon's. It is mine so I would like to get it habitable. I am positive Pa will have chores around the ranch for me to do. First, though, I want to get Amelia to Paradise. She needs a safe place to live."
"It is amazing how you and Amelia formed such a close bond after only knowing each other for less than five days. Sometimes you just know when you meet, this is the person for you to spend the rest of your life with! Just think we could both be married by this time next year. You never know what life decisions will bring your way. If you had not joined the cattle drive last summer you would not have met Amelia. It was fate!"
"Look out Alex, we are about to hear sappy love talk." Rob warns with a wink to his best friend.
"Get used to hearing it, Rob. They like to reminisce about how you met and how it was fate that brought you together." Alex replies with a gentle squeeze to Claire's hand
The school day after his confrontation with Ben was difficult for Joseph He hadn't been able to settle his mind until late the night before causing himself to get very little sleep.
Listening to Mr. Davis, he struggles to follow along in the lesson. Feeling his eyes start to close, Joseph puts his pencil down to rub his finger across each one. This helps for some time before his eyes close and the pencil drops from his hand.
Feeling himself being shaken by the shoulder, Joseph mumbles "GO 'WAY, Ben!"
Hearing the stern voice reply " I am not Ben! Wake up, Joseph! Open your eyes!" Joseph's eyes snap open to reveal a frowning teacher and an empty classroom.
"What is the meaning of this behavior?" Mr. Davis questions in the same stern tone.
"Where's everyone else? Is it time to go home?"
"That is your response? You fall asleep in class and you ask where everyone is and the time?! They are outside for lunch. What reason do you have to explain falling asleep? Is my teaching mathematics boring you? Perhaps it was literature as you slept through that class as well! What is your reply, young man? Do I need to speak to your father about this problem?"
Swallowing to wet his throat, Joseph answers "Pa has been away since last weekend, sir. I apologize for sleeping during your lessons. It is not boring, it is just me. I have been doing school, homework, regular and extra chores, helping Mama, and trying to run the ranch too. I could not sleep well last night. I am sorry, sir. It won't happen again."
"I accept your apology. I will let it go this once but not again. You find a way to get the rest you need before you come to school! Take yourself off for lunch break. Before you come back inside, you may wish to run the pump over your head. That cold water will surely wake you!"
"Yessir, Thank You, sir."
After quickly finishing the contents of his lunch pail, Joseph visits the privy. Walking back to the school he finds Frank waiting by the steps but everyone else seems to be already inside.
"Hello, Frank. Did someone ring the handbell to go inside already?"
"Yep. Looks like you are late. I guess you will have to have tardiness added to your report sent home about sleeping in school." Frank sneers.
"Sorry to disappoint you but I don't have a note being sent home. Let's go inside."
"So, the Perfect Sheriff's Kid gets by with sleeping in school! Teacher's pet aren't you? It must be that the teacher enjoys nighttime favors with your nursey! What about it? Does he visit your house while your sheriff's away?"
Having passed the other boy, Joseph turns at the sound of his voice to look at him. Hearing the ugly insinuating talk about Delphie, he reacts. Launching himself off the fourth step he lands chest first on Frank. Both have fists landing punches to each other before Joseph feels himself lifted and his arms locked in a strong grip.
"THAT. WILL. BE. ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU INSIDE AND AT MY DESK IMMEDIATELY!" The boys hear Mr. Davis' command.
A long time later or so it seems to Joseph, he is trudging home early. The note in his pocket stating he has been dismissed for the rest of the day for fighting. To be allowed back into school, the note must be signed by a parent and returned.
'At least Frank was dismissed as well! Perhaps he won't be returning! The other good part of this is Pa is not going to be home yet.' Joseph tells himself as he walks into the ranch yard.
Entering the house he finds Delphie coming from the boy's bedroom after changing the bed linens. Her arms full of dirty bedclothes she stares at him.
"Joseph? Has something happened? Are you ill? It is not time for school to be dismissed is it?"
"No Ma'am. I was provoked into clobbering that horrible Frank Palmer! Mr. Davis refused to hear me out on why I had to clobber him. He just dismissed us both for fighting. I have a note to be signed to be able to return to school."
"Come, let's sit at the table. Let me just put these linens in the washtub and I will join you."
After putting the wash in to soak, she joins the forlorn boy at the table.
"You have a black eye forming. Is it painful? Let me get a salve and a wet cloth to clean you up. I can see your lip is beginning to bleed again. The wash job you did on your face earlier helped the swelling at the time. Now, however, it is beginning to swell again."
"How do you know I washed my face?" Joseph asks after Delphie finishes cleaning and doctoring him.
"Your shirt collar is wet. Now let me see the note Mr. Davis sent. We'll talk after I have read it."
After reading what Mr. Davis had to say, Delphie asks "Did you not sleep well last night? He reports you fell asleep in class this morning. I know you have been going to bed in time to get enough rest. Have you been staying awake reading instead of going to sleep on time?"
"No Mama, I haven't been staying up reading. I just can't go to sleep some nights." Joseph answers between eating the cookies she placed next to his glass of fresh buttermilk.
"What would your Pa say about this note, Joseph?"
Shifting uneasily in the chair at that question, Joseph answers "Pa has strict rules about fighting. He also has strict rules about not causing any trouble at school. Being sent home from school for both of those is not good. Then, he would not be happy I started the fight. He expects us to walk away from tormenting words. I did not do that."
"Would he punish you? You did say you were provoked. You and Frank Palmer have tussled before. He irritates you and you retaliate. You need to ignore him."
"Yes I was provoked but I'm going to be in big trouble over this. Maybe he will be understanding about it. I do try to ignore him, Mama. It's difficult."
"You don't sound very convinced your Pa will understand. Ethan is a fair man, don't you think? He doesn't punish you children unfairly."
"That is true but I do not wish to be punished fairly by him either! His fair punishment for this will sting a whole lot, Mama! At least I have a day before he may get home. Will you please sign the note for me?"
"I will and I will talk to your Pa. Tonight, you will go to bed two hours earlier. No homework or reading, just straight to sleep. You have the rest of the afternoon for homework and the apology letter you will write to Mr. Davis. I will need you to lift the bed linens from the washtub to the rinse water when it is time. Then hang them out to dry. That will be an hour or more from now. You have time for homework and to do afternoon chores early today."
"Yes Ma'am. It's going to be hard to see to do the work now that my eye has swollen."
"Sometimes the consequences for our decisions are not what we anticipated. Begin your work now."
After their evening meal and supervising the boy's homework, Delphie gathers them by the fire.
"Before we have our nightly reading, let's have another story session. I enjoy hearing of your early days with Ethan. Joseph? What is something you remember?"
"Not long after we arrived, Uncle Ethan taught me and Claire how to ride. She got to learn on a nice even tempered grey mare named Maggie. Maggie cooperated and did whatever was asked of her. I had a not so nice gelding named Midnight. Every time I would get my foot in the stirrup to mount, he would start walking. I would have to hop along on one foot until Pa stopped him."
The mental picture of Joseph hopping makes George burst out laughing. Ignoring him, Joseph continues.
"Then I would get in the saddle, cluck to him and he would turn stubborn. He refused to move. After two weeks of trying to get him to move every day, I did exactly what Pa had told me not to do. I lost patience. I was mad because Claire could now ride without being led by Pa. My horse wouldn't move unless he was being led. I got in the saddle did the gentle pressure with my knees and clucked to him just as I did every day. He would not budge. I got mad and kicked him hard in the sides. He did this shimmy shaking thing with his body and I found myself on the ground with my horse running down the pasture!"
Both of his younger brothers burst into giggles at the last sentence.
"Joseph! How could you hurt an animal! What did Ethan do?"
"He helped me up asking if I was hurt. I said I wasn't so he started brushing the grass off of me. He brushed rather strongly on the seat of my pants several times! He told me if he ever saw or heard of me deliberately hurting an animal again, he would see to it I was too sore to sit down! He made me go get the horse and continue practicing. I learned to recognize the horse's signals. He would let me guide him but not command he do something. Eventually, Midnight and I became friends. He was my horse for about a year but he got sick and died when I was twelve."
"I remember him. He was dark black. If we went into the barn at night, you couldn't see him without a lantern." George says.
The following day Joseph gives his signed note to Mr. Davis along with the letter of apology his Mama had insisted he write. He is grateful no more is said about the fight. To his delight, Frank is absent.
Around eleven thirty AM, Mr. Davis answers a knock on the classroom door. Reading the note the child delivers, he calls Joseph to the back of the room.
"Joseph, George has reported Ben has still not arrived in school. He says Ben was not kept home this morning but was going to go back because he left something. Do you know anything about him not coming today?" Mr. Davis asks keeping his voice low so other students can't hear.
"No sir. Ben was dawdling and making us run late with getting chores done before school. I left without them so I could get here a little early. I haven't seen the boys since I left. Should I go get Mitch to look for him? He's doing the night shift so won't have to leave the Sheriff's office unattended. I don't know what Ben might have gotten into this time! He's been a terror to manage all week!"
"That would be best. We don't want to worry Delphie in her condition if we don't need to. He may just be trying his luck at a pond. It's a favorite thing for youngsters who are avoiding school. Try not to worry, we'll find him." Mr. Davis reassures the boy.
(Two hours later. Around the time the men in Paradise have started a thorough search.)
"We are slowing down Ben. We have to hide behind the woodpile again just in case someone comes to get wood."
"Yes. Do you think we made it to Colorado Springs? It seems we've been in this car for a very long time. I need the outhouse and something to drink. I could eat something too."
"Yeah, me too. I just knew we would get caught climbing into this car! We might be in trouble for not going to school if we get reported on. Maybe we won't if we stay gone long enough. Everyone will be so happy we are back, we will just be scolded."
"Yeah, good idea, Caleb. Let's look around and stay awhile. We can pretend we are with other people so no one gets suspicious. When we get back on a train let's find the sleeper car. I want to see the fold out beds. Claire and Rob got to sleep in train beds. I just want to see some."
"Remember what we learned on our trip to the train station. The train going back is not the same one as the one you ride to somewhere. It doesn't just turn around and go home like you do in a wagon."
"I remember. We have to find the one pointing in the opposite direction as this one. We can do that after we find an outhouse and food."
Having completed their banking business of sending Amelia's money to the Bank of Paradise, Ethan assists Amelia into the waiting carriage.
"Driver, please take us to the train station."
Looking at the young woman beside him, Ethan asks "How are you feeling? The last few days have been busy. Arriving early this morning and now another train trip ahead of us. This one is much shorter."
"I admit I am enjoying being off the train. I had no idea train travel was so taxing."
"This one has been but most trips are more pleasant. I am not one who enjoys night travel."
Checking his pocket watch for the time, Ethan sees they have at least thirty minutes before boarding will begin.
"Would you like to walk around outside the station some? We can get fresh air and maybe snag a basket of lunch to take along."
"I would like that and to get something hot to drink. It is quite chilly here."
"Compared to Texas, it is at that. Colorado winters can be beautiful but very cold. Where we live, in a valley, it usually is not as fierce as it is here. Have you seen snow before? My niece and nephews lived in St. Louis, Missouri until their mother died. The first winter they were with me, we had a snowstorm. The children had never seen snow and enjoyed playing in it very much."
"When I was in finishing school in Connecticut, I saw snow. We were never allowed to play because 'proper young ladies did not do such things' as the Matron would say." Amelia replies as they enter a small cafe.
Armed with a basket containing their purchase of egg sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, apples, two thermoses of coffee and a thermos of milk, they walk back towards the train.
Catching sight of two little boys near a boxcar, Amelia gasps aloud as they climb inside.
"Is there something wrong?"
"I just saw two little boys climb up into that red boxcar. Isn't it dangerous to play there?"
"It is, let me go roust them out and we will go find our seats."
Hoisting himself up into the car, Ethan hears two familiar voices from behind a group of stacked crates.
"Boys! Come here NOW!" He demands sternly.
Watching from outside, Amelia sees two boys slowly approach the man standing feet apart, hands on hips. Even from where she is standing, his voice and stance cause her to feel a sliver of uneasiness.
Eying the two boys approaching with their heads hanging, Ethan has to refrain from jerking his belt off to apply it right then!
"What are you doing here? Do you not know how dangerous your stunt is? There must be many people worrying and searching for you! What do you have to say for yourselves?"
Seeing that neither boy is even looking at him much less answering, he commands "Eyes Up! What Are You Doing Here? Answer me right now!"
"It was just a bit of fun." Caleb replies first, sounding defensive.
"I just wanted to get to see the sleeping car Claire told about." Ben answers, chin beginning to tremble at the look on his Pa's face.
"What you have done deserves severe punishment! You left without permission, played truant from school, broke the law by riding a train without paying, put yourselves in danger, undoubtedly caused much anguish and searching for you. We WILL have further discussion about your actions later."
The two boys watch as he moves a long crate out from the stack and proceeds to sit on it.
"Benjamin come here!" Ben hears. Biting his lip he slowly obeys.
"Bend over my lap and stay still. No kicking, young man!"
Stretched face down over his Pa's knees feet dangling, Ben feels every one of the ten strong smacks applied to his increasingly stinging behind.
Letting the boy up, Ethan says "Caleb, over my lap! Do not move! No biting or kicking. You do and you will feel my belt!" Recalling a story from Rob on a time Caleb acted this way, Ethan gives fair warning. Applying his hand just as hard as he did for Ben leaves Caleb hopping and rubbing his backside when it is over.
"Come with me. We are going to purchase tickets and you will apologize to the station master! Do not even think of moving from my side! One bit of trouble out of either of you and we will have a stronger conversation between me, my belt, and your bare bottom! That is a promise!"
Climbing down from the boxcar, Ethan lifts each sniffling child down before noticing the look of shock on Amelia's face.
"Amelia, this is my son, Ben and this is my adopted nephew, Caleb. I do not make a habit of whaling on stranger's children as you may be thinking. These two incorrigible boys belong to me and my family. They hopped a train from Paradise to get here."
"Benjamin, Caleb, this is Amelia. She is a friend of Rob's who is moving to Paradise. Greet her properly."
"Hello, it is nice to meet you." Ben responds first.
"Hello Ma'am. You will like Paradise. It is a nice town except for the wicked sheriff."
"Caleb, 'the wicked sheriff' is standing right here. Watch yourself, son." Ethan fake growls causing Amelia to smile.
"Come, let's get those tickets and get settled. We bought food and drink if you boys are hungry." Ethan says.
"We are hungry, Pa. We haven't eaten since breakfast. Did you buy cinnamon rolls?" Ben asks stopping in place, suddenly remembering having had some in a hotel here in Colorado Springs.
"There are no cinnamon rolls. If there were I wouldn't be passing them out to children who decide to hop trains putting their lives in danger! Be happy you are able to sit somewhat comfortably young man!" Ethan tells him with a look that causes Ben to quickly begin walking. His fun exciting day has become a lot less fun.