Hoss, My Son
Chapter 3
The following week Joseph took Andy and Gertie into town. He had supplies to pick up and she had made up her mind to speak with Dr. Martin about reading medicine with him and at least becoming a trained midwife.
The buckboard was hitched outside the Virginia City Mercantile and General Store and Joe left Andy on the seat.
"Now, be a good boy and stay there. I'll only be a few minutes. I want you to tell me if you see any of our friends, like Sheriff Coffey, okay?" Andy nodded with happiness. He liked Roy Coffey, who let him finger the tin star on the older man's vest and who could tell him stories about Baba when he was little, like him. In a few minutes, Joe had deposited several bushels of corn, flour and sugar in the buckboard and then scooped his son up in his arms. "You were a good boy, Andy. How about a piece of candy for sitting there so well?"
"Yes! I goo' boy!"
His father carried him inside to look at the jars filled with colorful candies. Mr. Baxter came over with another jar of deep red slices of some sort of jellies. "The missus just made these this morning. She's been making them for a couple of weeks now. They're called 'Cherry Jellies'; pretty popular, too. Just the thing for the little ones, cause they can chew 'em and they melt. Can't get stuck in their throats."
"I think we'll take a penny's worth, then. Put them in the box with the other small things, please. Now," he said to Andy, "you've also been very good at not soiling your diapers during the day. I think it's time we got you a real pair of pants, and a few shirts, too." Like most children at the time, Andy had been in baby dresses until recently, but he had started to rebel against them and also wanted to be like the others in the family who used the outhouse, so he and Gertie had started toilet training. She and Sally Ann had made the child some loose-fitting pants that accommodated his diaper and some shirts to go with them. The outfits looked a little like Hop Sing's usual wardrobe and because they both tended to waddle when they walked, it was quite funny to see them hand in hand.
Joe picked out some clothes with Andy still on his hip. The boy wasn't terribly interested in what his father was doing. It was more interesting to see all the other things that were hung on the walls or displayed on the shelves. Suddenly, he patted his father vigorously on the shoulder.
"Baba, Auntie G'rTee!" Joseph looked around, expecting to see the young woman in the store.
"She's not here, Andy. She's still talking to Dr. Martin."
"No, no Baba. For Auntie G'rTee."
"Oh, you mean we should get something for Auntie Gertie also? Like a gift?"
"Yes, yes! G'ft. Auntie G'rTee need g'ft. Szee good girl!" His father laughed.
"She sure is." They went to the notions counter where there was an impressive collection of ribbons. "What do you think about a nice blue ribbon, Andy? Do you think it would look pretty in Auntie Gertie's hair?"
The child wasn't paying any attention to the light blue Gros Graine ribbon in his father's hand. Instead, his eyes were locked on something in a far cabinet with a standing mirror on it.
"Look, p'ease?" he asked.
Joe put down the ribbon and carried the boy to the cabinet he was pointing to. He thought that perhaps Andy had been attracted by the light bouncing off the mirror or that he had seen himself in it, but as they approached, he realized that his son had seen the reflection of a very beautiful tortoiseshell hair barrette with mother-of-pearl inlay on it.
"That is very pretty, Andy," Joe said. But was it perhaps a little too much? How could he present it to her without saying something like, "It's for you because it would look so beautiful in your dark hair," or "I think this would be just perfect in your hair. It looks so pretty when you pull it back." Still, after seeing it, he knew that a ribbon wouldn't suffice at all.
Gertie sat across from the doctor, trying her best not to be nervous. She had met him several times that summer when one of the children needed attention, and of course, she'd met him at Sally Ann and Adam's wedding. She'd heard many stories about his near constant attendance on everyone on the Ponderosa and the jokes about how Ben had simply put him on a retainer to make the billing for all the injuries the ranch created simpler.
"What can I do for you today, Miss Whitman? You don't look ill, at first glance."
"Oh, no doctor! I am quite healthy. I'd like to talk to you about furthering my education."
"I see. You're interested in nursing, I presume?"
"No. Actually, I am interested in medicine. I know it is still very difficult for a woman to get a medical education and a formal medical college more expensive than my family could afford. But there are still many men who read medicine with a qualified practitioner and apprentice with him. I'd like that opportunity if you're willing." Martin was about to respond but Gertie held up her hand. "I understand that you and the townspeople would likely have many objections. Perhaps, if I undertake to become a midwife first, that will make it more acceptable to everyone. Prudence has told me that there is no qualified midwife in the area, just some older mothers who've informally learned to help."
The doctor leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. It was true; as long as he'd been in Virginia City, there had been no trained woman to assist with the births. And as the town continued to grow, it had become a real problem. It seemed like from late summer through mid-autumn, he was delivering more babies conceived in the cold of winter than he could manage. And he remembered how Gertie's sister had delivered Joseph and Eleanor's premature baby all by herself and how many hours it was before someone could even let him know he was needed.
"But you'd want to read medical texts as well?"
"Yes. I'd need to read female and newborn anatomy anyway. I don't see the point in stopping there."
"I see. Well, I suppose you have a point. I heard that you intend to stay at Hoss's place. That might not be the most convenient arrangement."
"For the moment, at least, I am most comfortable there. My parents' house doesn't have much room for more horses or a buggy. On the Ponderosa I have access to good, fast horses and it's nearer to some of the other ranches."
"Point taken," responded Dr. Martin. "All right, I'll take you on." He stood up and walked over to a book case. He withdrew a fairly heavy book. "Read the chapter on Female Anatomy. When you're thoroughly satisfied that you know it, come back to me. I will evaluate you on it. If you can answer all my questions about the material correctly, we'll proceed. If you can't, we will just say that this experiment didn't work and leave it be and no one else has to know."
When Gertie exited the doctor's office, the Cartwright buckboard was sitting in front of the building.
Looking at the large book in Gertie's hand, Joe remarked as he helped her up, "I take it you've been accepted as Doc's medical student?"
"Well, student midwife to start with, but that's the arrangement I made with him knowing that it was the only way I'd have the opportunity."
"Well then, this is doubly appropriate. Andy, give Auntie Gertie the package."
"Dis for you," the boy said proudly, putting the paper-wrapped barrette on top of the medical book. "Isz g'ft."
"A gift?" she asked puzzled.
"Yes. We wanted to thank you for all you've done for us, and now to celebrate your next step in life. Open it up," said Joseph.
Andy did his best to help her unwrap her present, which made the whole operation take a little longer, but when the tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl piece was revealed she gasped. "Oh, no! I can't accept this! It's much too expensive, Joe. And you know that I love Andy and we have so much fun together. I don't need a gift when being with him already is one!"
"Nonsense! We want you to have it. And especially now, when you'll have to keep your hair out of your face while tending to your patients, it will come in very handy. Here, let me put it in your hair." Joseph was surprisingly adept at placing it in her rich brown locks, even in that awkward position on the buckboard and then he chastely kissed her cheek when he was through. Before Gertie could say anything, Andy, in imitation of his father, gave her a big, wet kiss right where Joe had, leaving everyone laughing.
XXXXX
Hoss was still thinking of his adolescent years again days later. About how it was when Adam left and went to Boston for college. Adam had been another father to him, and sometimes a mother as well. It was Adam who cleaned up his scraped knees and fed him soup when he was sick, Adam who had taught him to spell out his name and held him tight on the pony when they went to the lake, and it was Adam who was the first one who helped him into the saddle of the self-same pony when it was his turn to learn to ride. Pa had to leave for days for business, but Adam was always there. His rock, his surety that he'd always be safe and cared for. But now Adam had left for college, his world was unpinned. He felt abandoned. Why had his big brother left him, especially when his adolescent world was becoming so confused and unpredictable?
Pa had told him that watching out for Little Joe was now his responsibility. That was kind of funny, because he'd already become Joe's brother of choice. After Mama had died, Adam had stepped in with the little boy just as he had with Hoss and in the beginning, when Pa had to leave to save his sanity, it was Adam who was there in the middle of the night when the curly-haired child cried out in terror, warm and consoling. But once Pa was back and was Pa again, something shifted between the two brothers. They became oil and water, totally unable to understand each other. Joe held onto his southern heritage as if it would keep a bit of Marie alive in him. Adam reverted to the personification of the coldly reserved New Englander, so when the youngster needed someone to comfort him, an ally, a playmate, it was Hoss he turned to. He also learned quickly enough that he could manipulate his middle brother much more easily than he could his eldest. For his part, Adam confided in Hoss that he was finding it difficult to love his youngest sibling. He didn't ask Hoss to take over with Little Joe, but it was understood that was what Adam really wanted.
"Well," Hoss rationalized at the time his brother left for Boston, "if Adam's going to become a New England gentleman, he'll have no time anymore for the likes of me." He couldn't stop loving his older brother, but it was clear that they'd never again have the same bond they had growing up. He could honor and respect Adam, like he did his father; but like his father, Adam couldn't stay on the Ponderosa while his soul yearned for something else. It was heartbreaking when he left at age eighteen, but when he did again at age thirty-two it was different. They were different. Hoss had filled the void with something he didn't share with Adam; the friendship he and Little Joe had.
As a child, Little Joe did everything possible to draw attention to himself. He knew that as the youngest, the cutest, the most daring and the most charming of the brothers, he walked on pavements of gold and was clothed in silks. And if outsiders didn't recognize his qualities, he always had Hoss to defend him. And somehow, no matter how much he imposed on Hoss's time and activities, no matter how often he blatantly used him for his own ends, he never was able to exhaust his brother's love. In Joe, Hoss had found a friend. It was because underneath his bravado and swagger, the young boy was in awe of his brother's capacity to love, not just him, but the whole world, no matter what. And he was what his brother loved most, and he gave his adoration freely. As they grew into men, their friendship deepened and endured. The first time he returned to the family fold, Adam found their closeness impenetrable, and it both hurt and annoyed him. In those first months back, he took it out on Joseph, but never really on Hoss. Their bond, buried as it might be, was still there. Little Joe, on the other hand, resented the return of his oldest brother. The annoying six-year-old he'd left behind had turned into a ten-year-old who was jealous of any relationship his two older brothers wanted to renew. Not only was Adam a threat to the bond he'd created with Hoss, but he was also a damned abolitionist New Englander to boot!
Of course, Hoss mused, eventually his brothers came to understand each other better. Working together can often do that, and he was usually there as peace maker. Their Pa becoming more settled, less irascible and more communicative helped as well. But Adam leaving again was a body-blow to Joseph. They'd eventually developed their own form of close bond. Even though Joe was twenty, he could be self-centered and cocky sometimes beyond all cause. That was reason he took his brother's second departure as a sign that Adam thought that he stood in the way of his relationship with the rest of the family. At twenty, Joe didn't have a way to tell Adam that he was needed and loved as much as Hoss and their father were.
And now, finally, they were all united again and growing their own families. Adolescence was far in the past for the three of them. There would be disagreements. That was the way of things. But maybe they had gained enough understanding of themselves and each other that they could trust in their bond and just be loving brothers.
XXXXX
Adam arrived home as Sally Ann was ready to put the food on the table. He'd spent part of the day at the sawmill and the rest conferring with his father about a timber contract.
"Wash up and sit down and eat," Sally Ann called to him.
"No."
"No?" She knew what was coming.
He pulled her to him roughly. "I've been out all day and I want my wife." His hands went to her face and held it as he kissed her without any preliminaries.
When he released her at last she turned to the oven. Over her shoulder she said, "Don't blame me then if the food is cold." As she bent down to take the meat out of the oven, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to a chair and over his knee. He flipped her skirts up and gave her a solid slap over her drawers.
"You know better than to talk back to me, my vixen. Go upstairs, get some warm water ready to wash me with and take off all your clothes except your corset. I'll take your damn roast out of the oven!"
Neither one ever got tired of this love-play. Now in their own home there was no need to be quiet or inhibited. One day they'd run all over the house without a stitch of clothing on, with Adam trying to catch Sally Ann. His bad leg was a disadvantage in running up and down the stairs and around the furniture, but she eventually was "caught" and he laid her on the dining room table, pleasuring them both.
He climbed the stairs to find her waiting for him, a sponge, soft towels, and warm water waiting for him. "Undress me," he commanded, and Sally Ann silently approached him and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Impatiently, he pushed her hands away, removed his pants and his own drawers before pulling her to him once more. After he filled her mouth with demanding kisses he pushed her away and lay down on the waiting bed. "It's time you got to washing me, woman," he declared, but as she approached him with the wetted sponge, he reached up to tenderly caress her face. "I love you, wife of my heart," he whispered.
XXXXX
Weaning little Inger was not a pleasant event. Prudence bound up her sore breasts and hoped to endure until the pain passed. Unfortunately, whenever the child saw her, she began to wail and Pru's milk would let down again. Inger wouldn't take a bottle from her mother, Rachel Torkelson or even Gertie. She would scream bloody murder and even said what seemed to be a shouted "No!" as her first word when they tried. The only one who could calm her down and get her to drink from the hated bottle was her father. Morning, noon, late afternoon and before bedtime, he stopped what he was doing to feed her. Hoss crooned to her, rocked her in his arms and soothed her until she was full and finally fell into an exhausted sleep after he burped her. It was a terrible, tiring week and a half, but finally Inger was weaned, and she took her bottle from anyone.
She was growing quickly, too. She could crawl like a flash and was thrilled to find any little corner or cubby to explore. Woe to anyone who left a door even the slightest bit unlatched because she would happily crawl outside into the dirt of the yard. Prudence swore that they needed to put a little bell on the girl to keep track of her and more than once Hoss had to come running to rescue the child before she got too close to the horses' corral. Inger and her cousin Andy were close, and he understood her before any of the adults could detect any clear words. When the family gathered for Sunday supper, the grownups would sit and enjoy watching the two children chatter away in their baby talk.
"What's Inger saying to you, Andy?" Joseph asked once.
"We talk 'bout the big, big horsies Unk'l H'ssss has. They Eender's frenz. I like 'em, too. Why don' you and G' Ba have big, big horsies, Baba?"
After one such visit, Hoss and Prudence were lying in bed, curled up together. It was definitely autumn, and just as the almanacs had predicted the cold, dry air was coming in earlier than usual. Inger's crib was close by the fireplace where she could stay warm. Her father looked over at her, asleep, with her fist curled up under her chin where it had dropped after she had sucked on it a bit.
"It won't be too long before she's too big for that old crib," remarked Hoss.
"But she's too young for a regular bed, Eric. She'd either fall out or she'd get out and go exploring."
"Yeah, I know, Pru. Maybe I can make railings to go around a small bed to keep her safe."
His wife laughed. "If you do, you better make them plenty tall, because you know she'll try to climb them."
"Yeah, I guess so," Hoss admitted. "I kinda miss the arm-baby stage, ya know? She's getting to be so grown, before you know it, she'll be ready for school. Just this morning she almost pulled herself to standing at the kitchen table. Pru? Think it's time to start thinking about another baby?"
"Oh, Eric! I love you. I want to give you all the children you want. But can't we wait until after Inger's first birthday? I'm still exhausted from these first eight months!"