New Beginnings: Life Changes

ch. 63

The Reason Why

Arriving home, relieved to have this over, Ethan enters the house to find it quiet. He finds Delphie in Emerson's room rocking the baby.

"Is she asleep?" He asks softly, trying not to disturb the baby.

"Yes, I was just enjoying the quiet and doing some thinking. Everyone is asleep but us. The boys went to bed early tonight. You look exhausted. Would you like some coffee and a plate of supper?"

"Food and coffee sound delicious. Everything is over, the trouble has ceased. I know you have questions and I appreciate how you didn't push for answers to those questions. I'll explain everything as we eat. You'll eat with me, won't you?"

"I'll have a cup of tea with you but I've already eaten."

"So you see, all of this worry was for nothing. The telegrams were just a prank sent by some boys who thought telling random law officers they were targets was entertaining. It turns out the boys traveled with their father as he is a traveling salesman. That is how they learned the names of the law in the towns they targeted. The parents have been contacted and will take measures to see this type of prank is never repeated. It's a good thing one of them didn't try to come and pretend to be the aggressor. There were ten armed men staked out around the area of town watching and ready if a threat was seen."

"How did the children get caught and where do they live?"

"The U.S. Marshal's office in Colorado Springs investigated as there were four of these threats. Paradise, Pueblo, and two other small-town sheriff's offices. I don't know how they solved this but they did. We can relax and know everyone is safe now."

"You need more coffee, let me refill that for you, dear," Delphie says taking his cup.

"What is it you are not telling me? There's something upsetting you and it isn't the trouble in town. Out with it. Which one of our boys caused you to be upset?"

"What makes you think it was our children?"

"Delphie, stop stalling. Tell me what has happened."

Finishing the tale of Rob and Joseph, Delphie says "I think the fact that he deliberately misled me to be able to try to carry out his plan is what upset me the most. I thought Joseph and I had a close relationship and I trusted him. He's been especially helpful in the past few months. I felt he was maturing but I suppose I was wrong. Then the carrying of the loaded revolver was also upsetting. You carry one but you have it secured in a holster under the seat of the wagon. Joseph had it stuffed in the back waist of his trousers!"

Shaking his head and muttering to himself, Ethan takes several deep breaths before speaking.

"I will certainly address this with Joseph! He knows and has known for years, not to handle the revolvers! Deliberately lying to you and his mistreatment of Rob are inexcusable as well. It's been some time since I've had to physically correct him but it seems he is in need of it now. You take the children to visit your friends in the morning. I'll stay and have a conversation with our fifteen-year-old miscreant."

"I will do just that. I'll visit Savannah and possibly Linnea. I already corrected Joseph physically, you should know. I surprised him by paddling him with a wooden spoon. I didn't go lightly with him either."

"I thought you abhor physical punishment. You're often upset when I use it." Ethan remarks.

"I've come to see how your method is needed at times. I have seen when you use it, only for serious offenses. I consider lying to me and disrespectful behavior towards his brother a serious offense."

The morning after the disastrous day at Rob's home, Joseph wakes to a very quiet house. Remembering his mother sending everyone to bed directly after the early supper, he realizes he's hungry. Since he was told not to get up for early morning chores, he has slept quite a long time. Deciding it is time to face his mother and apologize again for his behavior the day before, he pulls on his clothes and goes downstairs.

Walking into the kitchen he quickly fixes himself some bread and cheese to eat while gathering the eggs, milk, and frying pan needed for scrambling eggs. Eggs, toast, and maybe some sliced ham or bacon seem like a good breakfast. As he finishes eating, the front door opens and Ethan walks in.

Seeing his son, Ethan greets him "Good morning, Joseph. Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Pa. No, I didn't sleep too well, actually. I had a hard time going to sleep and staying asleep. I am SO glad to see you here! Is the trouble in town over? You're here and everyone else is not so I'm thinking it must be. Is everyone in town safe? Mitch, Chris, Uncle Matthew, and everyone who was helping?"

"Everyone is safe, the trouble is now over. It was all a prank, made up by some naughty children." Ethan replies emphasizing the word naughty.

"Pa? I have something I need to talk to you about. Will you please sit and listen to what I need to tell you?"

Taking a seat across the table from the rather nervous boy, Ethan waits.

"Yesterday, I couldn't stay home any longer. I was so scared, Pa. I just couldn't take not knowing what was happening in town. I convinced Mama to let us all go to Rob's house. We went the back way, not through town. Pa, I lied to Mama. She asked me if I was planning to get involved in what was happening in town, and I told her I wasn't. I kind of was, but not really. I wanted Rob to get involved and for me to maybe go along to stake out on the road to town. I took one of the revolvers from the barrel in the barn along to Robs. I hid it in my back waistband so Mama and the boys couldn't see it. I know you're going to be angry about this but I took it for protection. I was afraid whoever was coming to Paradise might be on our back way to Rob's. I know you allow me to use a shotgun but I couldn't hide the shotgun. Mama would never have let me take it in the wagon so I took a revolver."

Stopping to take some deep breaths as he's said all of this rather quickly, Joseph eyes his father hoping not to see "the look" as the boys call it. The same expression he gets when he's very irritated and ready to punish someone.

Having listened to the boys' explanation so far, Ethan remains calm at least as far as his expression shows.

"Are you finished with what you wanted to say to me or is there more?"

"There is more you need to hear. When we got to Rob's I tried to get him to go to town and let me go too. He wouldn't hear of it. I got really angry and said some horrible things to him. I accused him of not caring about you and not thinking of you as his father. I said he must not love you because he had an uncle to raise him or something like that. It's hard to remember as I was so upset with him for not doing what I thought needed to be done. I wanted to go protect you, Pa! I thought you were going to be killed! I thought we would lose you and we'd be orphaned again! I know what I did was wrong and awful and hateful. I'm so sorry! I will apologize to Rob and accept what punishment you decide I deserve. I'm through talking now."

Taking in the state of the young man sitting across from him, Ethan slides his chair back and calls the boy to him. "Come here, Joseph."

Swallowing and briefly closing his eyes, Joseph obeys slowly. Warily watching his father as one would a snake ready to strike. In his mind, he knows there is severe punishment for breaking the rule of NEVER TOUCH THE GUNS.

When the boy reaches him, Ethan stands and pulls him into his arms, wrapping them around the shaking boy.

"It's alright, Joseph. I'm not hurt. No one is hurt. You and your brothers and sisters are all safe. Son, you have a mother and two sets of older siblings who love all four of you children. If something ever did happen to me, you would not be orphaned. Never ever worry about such a thing."

"Are you angry?"

"No son, I'm not angry with you if that's what you are asking. I'm angry at those foolish children who began this entire escapade with their taunting telegrams. I'm saddened that my work causes the family to have to be afraid and worried. If I could change anything to keep those feelings from happening, I would but unfortunately, my line of work is often dangerous. You've known this for quite some time though so you know there isn't much I can do to change."

"Yes sir, I know. Are you going to do to me what you did to Rob when he went after the evil bast_ err I mean evil bat who attacked me that time?" Joseph asks catching himself just in time to change his words.

"I'm not sure what you mean, son. Good stop by the way. No need to use the forbidden word."

"Rob told me of how you punished him when he took a gun and confronted the evil man, Kincaid. How you put him through shooting sessions to teach him he was not prepared to handle a shootout. Then you whipped him. I'm asking if you are going to do that with me."

"I remember that now. He told you of that, did he? Well, Joseph let me ask a few questions. Did you take the gun from this property with a plan to hunt down someone to shoot them?"

"No sir"

"Did you aim that gun you took to Rob's at anyone?"

"No sir"

"Did you threaten in words to shoot anyone?"

"No sir"

"Then what you did is far different from what Rob did that day. He deliberately set out to hunt down and kill the man. He was a boy only a few months older than you are now and had no business even thinking of doing what he did. Your brother is different than you. He doesn't often take time to reason out the consequences he just acts. You've learned to temper your impulsiveness and react differently. Joseph, taking the gun was wrong as you know handling revolvers is forbidden. I'm not excusing you of that but I do understand WHY you did it."

"Mama walloped and scolded me and Rob punished me as well," Joseph says as he feels the punishment phase is now upon him having been through confession, and discussion the next part would be punishment in his opinion.

"What did Rob do? Did he physically punish you as well?"

"He made me stand in the corner, yelled at me, went and told Mama who paddled me with a wooden spoon, then he took me to the barn and made me clean all five horses' hooves!"

The disgust in the boy's voice has Ethan fighting the smile threatening to break out.

"Those were suitable punishments. You broke your Mama's trust and frightened her as well. Rob reacted strongly to your carrying a loaded gun as he should have. Do you feel you were punished unjustly?"

"No, I guess not."

"Tell me, son, what punishment do you feel would be sufficient in light of what you did yesterday?"

Groaning inwardly, Joseph thinks 'Just as when I was twelve and had to think up my own punishments only to have him agree to everything I suggested and whip me on top of them. I'm not going to list so many this time as I've learned better."

"How about being restricted for a week and extra house plus ranch work? I will also go to Rob's and do extra chores there if you allow it." Joseph suggests hopefully.

"What of your job?"

"Well, we had an agreement that I would work one month to start the summer. You said you would think about letting me work more. I don't deserve it now. I also feel you need help here more than I need to work in town. Didn't you say we'd get a new set of horses to gentle this coming month? I'm needed here to help with those horses. If you allow me to go to the Harris ranch, I know a boy who could use work. I can go tell him and he can have my job. The Mortons, the new family working for the Harris's, have a boy, Charlie who is coming up on fifteen. He could do the Ice Cream Shoppe job. I've already talked to David about him."

"Alright Joseph, your punishment will be two weeks of confinement to the ranch after tomorrow. You will have tomorrow to settle your affairs in town with Mr. Abbott. During the two weeks, I will have a daily list of extra chores your Mother and I decide on together. I will decide about you working at Rob's later. An apology letter will be written tonight for me to deliver to your brother tomorrow and also one for you to give your Mother this evening."

"Yes sir, two weeks housebound, apology letters, and extra chores." Joseph replies noting the extra week his Pa added with a thought of "good thing I didn't suggest a month or it'd be two months as he always adds more!"

"Joseph, look at me and Listen Well!" Ethan commands sternly causing the boy to jerk his eyes up. "I'm letting you off with a warning concerning the handling of the revolver. I'd better not learn of you touching a revolver until you are of an age where I have given permission and I have trained you to handle one! You do and you'll be reacquainted with the strop! Am I understood, young man?"

"Yes Sir!"

Enjoying her visit with her lady friends, Delphie asks Savannah "How are you feeling now? Has the sickness begun to ease? By Amy's calculations, you are nearing the three to four month time period now so the daily morning sickness should ease if it hasn't."

"Yes, I stopped losing my breakfast about four weeks ago. Actually, it wasn't as bad this time as with my first two babies. With Nathaniel, I was ill for almost the entire time. I believe part of that was being under stress with his father leaving us right after I discovered I was expecting. I didn't find out until I was five months along. I suspected but wasn't positive. I finally managed to get out to visit a clinic and had it confirmed."

"I believe Amy is off in her timeline. I think from looking at you and from watching your symptoms these past months, you are going to be blessed with another baby before the end of December. So, now that you and Chris have decided to expand the family. What do the children think?"

"The girls are very excited. Aaron seems pleased but a little uneasy for some reason, and Nathaniel is worried he's not going to be the baby. He's torn about that as most of the time he's furious if someone refers to him as 'the baby' but now he seems to want to stay the youngest. I'm not sure what to think." Savannah replies.

"He'll work it out for himself. Once the baby comes, he'll find out being a big brother is much nicer than being a baby. I'm sure of it."

"You were lucky as when you had this beauty I'm holding, all of the others were big children, two almost grown even. George dotes on little miss Emmy here. I've seen it. Ben can't stop parading her around to show his friends after church. He loves to tell the rest of the children how he is the best big brother she has. George corrects him of course."

"Ethan wouldn't approve of Ben bragging that way so Ben best stop doing that. I'll speak to him about it. I noticed at the lake, how Aaron seems to have taken on the big brother role with Charlotte and Nathaniel. He was helping them and also scolding Nathaniel sometimes."

"He has at that. He has become used to having the younger children here and seems to like getting to be more in charge when asked. He's adapted to his role quite well. Both of the twins are delightful children and extremely helpful around the home. I feel sorry for them for not having had a proper childhood when they were small. Why do so many children have to have problems in their growing up years? I want all of our children to feel loved, safe and have time for being a child not have to be young adults at the age of seven. Your older children also had rough early years from what I've heard from Chris. Claire and Joseph having to become caregivers for the young boys when they were small children themselves!"

"Yes, I feel the same way. Our youngest babies will not be submitted to that life. Emerson and the newest baby will have seven older brothers and sisters to spoil and love them."

"Wait, you just said 'the newest baby'. Are you expecting?" Savannah asks excitedly.

"I believe so. I have all the early symptoms, irritability, tiredness, sickness each morning, a fluttery feeling in my body. I haven't seen Amy yet to confirm but I believe we'll have a new baby to spoil sometime in the early summer. I'm just hoping it isn't twins. I saw Linnea before coming here. The littlest twins in town are fast moving tornados of destruction. Caleb and Linnea were constantly chasing down the twin terrors. I couldn't stay to visit as she was too busy with the toddlers."

Before Savannah could reply, the backdoor opens and six children appear.

"Mama?" Aaron asks, having been appointed spokesperson for the group, "We're hot and would like ice cream. Please, can we all go to the Parlor for some? I have my chore money to spend as does Alyssa."

"Please Mama, can George and I go along? Please? We'll look after the younger kids and you can have more time to visit." Ben asks.

"That will be fine, son. Here's a ten cent piece for your treat. You and George enjoy yourselves but don't go anywhere else. Straight there and straight back, understand?"

"Mama? We don't have money. May Nathaniel and I still go too?" Charlotte reminds her parent.

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry dear, I'm getting absentminded. Let me get ten cents for the two of you as well." Savannah answers rising to get her money pouch from the top of the Kitchen cabinet.

"Thank you, Mama." Both of her youngest say as she hands each a five cent piece,

"Hold on to it, children. Don't lose it. I don't have any more to spare."

"Yes, Mama."

"Run along now, we'll be waiting to hear all about your visit to the ice cream parlor," Savannah tells the group.

"Have any of the children been there? Ben and George have been asking to go but we haven't let them. We wanted Joseph to be able to enjoy his job without his younger brothers being nosy. We'd planned to take them as a special treat soon so I thought today would be a good day for them to go. Joseph is home today." Delphie explains.

"Aaron and Alyssa went one time with Chris but Charlotte and Nathaniel haven't been. Both were feeling a little sick that day and I kept them inside. I did promise they could go after they felt better. That was last week so I'm fulfilling my promise. Does store made ice cream taste as good as fresh homemade from the handle cranked ice cream maker? I've not bought ice cream in a parlor before, have you?"

"In my opinion, it tastes different in an ice cream parlor. I've had it on a trip to Denver once and also in Boston when Amy and I were students of Nursing. Homemade is so much creamier and tastes better. We'll have to get together at the ranch after church one Sunday and just have an ice cream social with our two families and maybe Linnea's."

"That sounds lovely! I could bring cookies or cake to have with the ice cream." Savannah replies.

Enjoying their vanilla ice cream while looking around the new room, Ben tells Aaron "Joseph helps Mr. David by picking up the ice from the ice house and by washing these glass bowls. He also cleans the tables after someone sits at one of them. He sometimes gets to eat ice cream free, for helping here."

"That's not what he said, Ben. He never said it was free. He said he used some of his pay to have a dish of ice cream a few times. He pays for it just like we did. These are called dishes even though they are more like bowls what with not being flat." George corrects his brother causing Ben to scowl at him across the table.

"If it was flat, the ice cream would fall off when you eat it," Nathaniel says as he chases his ice cream around trying to stab it with the spoon.

"Nathaniel, don't poke at it, scoop it up like you do when we eat soup," Charlotte instructs her little brother.

"I like ice cream! It's very good but it makes my tummy cold. Is ice cream from the home cranked bucket good like this?" Nathaniel asks George.

"You've never had any ice cream before?" Ben asks incredulously.

"No, when we lived at Grandpa's he didn't let us make ice cream. Charlotte had some at one of Mama's friend's places one time and told me about it. I was too little to go as I was three. I had to stay with the nursemaid."

George asks. "A nurse made of what? You said you stayed with the nurse made but didn't say what she was made of. People can't be made of anything except what God makes us out of, dust, so what are you talking about?"

"We're not made out of dust! I'm not dirty like dust is dirty." Nathaniel replies hotly.

"Nate, calm down. Remember what Reverend told us in church just last week? 'God created us from dust and to dust we shall return.' That is what George means. I don't think the dust God used is the same dust as what is on furniture we have to wipe clean. I think it must be some magic dust he has, don't you, Ben?"

"Huh? Oh, I guess so, Alyssa."

"Aaron, what does he mean by nurse made, though? I still don't understand what the nurse is made of." George says looking to the older boy for help.

"Nathaniel means a woman or girl who babysits them. She stayed in their home all the time and took care of them like a helper for their Mama. That's what a nursemaid does. A maid spelled *M* A* I* D* not *m *a* d *e*, is a helper. Mama explained this to me so that's how I know." Alyssa explains as Aaron has a mouthful of ice cream and can't answer.

"Claire and Joseph were our nursemaids then. They helped take care of Ben and me while our first Mama was on stage singing or practicing." George says nodding in understanding.

"I'm done, let's go walking on the tracks. We have time. Maybe we can find some shiny coal." Ben tells the group.

"You boys aren't to play on the tracks!" Alyssa reminds Aaron.

"We aren't going to play, just walk around. It'll be fine as long as certain girls keep quiet. The train doesn't run again until tomorrow because it's after twelve o'clock. See the clock on the wall? It says two thirty now. The train comes through at noon." Aaron reminds his twin.

Enjoying their exploration of the tracks, Ben and Aaron hear Nathaniel crying. Turning to look, they see George helping the little boy up.

"What's the matter, Nathaniel?" Aaron calls.

"I caught my shoe in the track and hurt my foot. George had to pull my foot out and now it's hurting so bad. I can't stand up, Aaron, it hurts."

"He put his shoe under the crack and it got stuck. When I pulled him loose he twisted his foot." George adds to the explanation.

"Come on, let's go back to where the girls are on the boardwalk. We'll let you rest a minute or two and see how you are then." Aaron says lifting his young brother to carry him.

Ten minutes later, the boys are dismayed to see Nathaniel still can't stand on his foot. He continues to cry when trying to stand.

"We're going to have to go to Dr. Amy," Aaron tells the little boy.

"Papa will find out we walked on the tracks if we do that." Nathaniel reminds him.

"Probably and then we'll get punished but it won't matter because he'll find out when you can't walk, anyway. Come on, I'll give you a piggyback ride." Aaron answers, stooping to let the boy climb on his back.

"We'll come too," Alyssa says taking Charlotte by the hand.

"Yes, we'll all go since we all have to go to your home together, anyway." Ben agrees.