Prudence
Caroline Clemmons
Copyright 2017 Caroline Clemmons
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.
Chapter One
Dry Water Crossing, Virginia 1873
Prudence Lynch darted inside her family’s cabin and slammed the door behind her. She yanked the latch string inside to hinder anyone from gaining entrance. After setting her medical bag on the floor, she dropped a few coins into the bean pot they used as their cash jar and replaced the lid.
“That you, Pru?” Granny’s voice had grown faint.
“Coming, Granny.” She fought for calm as she covered the short distance to the bedroom, weaving her way among drying and dried plants hanging from the rafters.
“You bein’ pestered again?”
“Nothing bad, just annoying. I sure hated to leave you. Have you been all right while I was gone?” The odor greeted her of sickness, a particular scent she’d been unable to chase from Granny’s room.
“Mamie McGee came by and stayed last night after you told her you were goin’ to the Boggs’ place. Widow Abbott stopped off today and only left a few minutes ago. I’ve been looked after fine enough.”
Prudence smoothed her hand over her grandmother’s lined face. “I delivered Tillie Boggs’ baby boy safe and healthy. They wanted you and acted real disappointed I came instead. Granny, people think I’m too young to be a healer and midwife.”
“They’ll get over that. You didn’t tell them how bad off I am, did you?”
“No, you said to keep it a secret except for Mrs. McGee and Widow Abbott.”
“No one else needs to know, and that’s a fact.”
“I said you had something you needed to do and wanted me to take over for you yesterday. That’s the truth because you sorely needed to rest.”
“Did they pay you?”
“Sure did, in real money and I put it in the jar. Doesn’t sound like there’s much in there.”
“There’s enough. Isn’t like you to slam the door like that. Why did you?”
“I was in a hurry.” Prudence lied and bent to straighten the cover over her beloved grandmother.
Granny’s cloudy eyes saw too well. “Um-hmm. Fools still followin’ you and lookin’ to find trouble?”
Prudence sighed and confessed, “No matter what I say, those pesky Jensens and Winfields won’t believe we have no gold. They ought to see we don’t have any money to speak of from the way we live. Who started that awful rumor?”
“When I pass, more than those four will take this place apart lookin’ for it. You got to leave before they know I’m gone.”
“Please don’t talk about dying.” Looking at the frail lady lying in bed, Prudence couldn’t deny that dreaded day would arrive soon. She shut her eyes against the pain of losing her beloved grandmother, her only remaining kin.
“I’ve been makin’ arrangements with those who visit me and I have things to tell you. Take a dollar and four bits and go to Widow Abbot’s. Now that she’s livin’ with her daughter, she’s got two big trunks and a valise she wants to sell. Bring them here and pack everythin’ you want to take with you.”
“What will I do with trunks? I can’t carry a loaded one anywhere and our pony cart won’t be much use.”
“Child, I’ve already made arrangements to take care of that. Mamie McGee’s son, Ricky, will take you to Richmond in their wagon. Even though he’s simple, he’s strong and trustworthy. Poor boy loves going places.”
“He might talk when he gets home. He’s easily tricked by the likes of the Jensen and Winfield bunch.” In fact the foursome teased Ricky mercilessly. The only thing that saved him from worse was his large size and strength.
“What he says won’t matter by then. In return, I promised to give him the pony and cart.”
Prudence sighed with relief, knowing her pony would be cared for when she was no longer there. “Ricky’s crazy about them. He’ll take good care of both.”
“I’m sure he will. Otherwise, I would have given them to someone else. Now, go on and get the trunks like I said.”
“Oh, Granny.” She dropped to her knees beside the bed and cradled her grandmother’s hand against her cheek. A knife pierced her heart at the thought of losing the wonderful grandmother who’d raised her and taught her so much about healing and herbs and life.
Granny pulled loose and stroked Prudence’s hair. “Now, none of that, Pru. You know the Good Book says we each have our time to be born and our time to die. I’ve been longin’ to see your grandfather and my sweet daughter again, the Good Lord willin’.”
Prudence sniffed and wiped tears from her cheeks. “You’ve often mentioned seeing them once more, especially the past few weeks. Are you pining for them?”
“Reckon I am. Concentrate on your future. I sure wish you would’ve gone away to school like I wanted so you’d know more about the world outside of this little spot in the road.”
“I wanted to learn from you, Granny.”
That was true, but sometimes she wondered what her life would have been like had she gone away to study. The little one-room school she’d attended didn’t teach her much. Granny had furnished a better education at home. She often wondered where her grandmother had learned all she’d taught but Granny wouldn’t tell.
“Besides, think of the cost of me going away to school. Unless you really do have gold hidden, we couldn’t afford that.”
“Same thin’ your mama said when I wanted her to go to school in Richmond. I’d have managed to pay for hers and for your schoolin’. Once she met your papa, she wouldn’t have left for anythin’.”
The dear lady flicked her bony hand. “It’s too late to worry about that. There’s no point in you being stuck in this pitiful crossroads to waste away. You’re my darlin’ girl, but there’s nothing here for a gentle soul and an intelligent woman like you. You go on and do as I say.”
Reluctantly, Prudence rose and prepared to go out again. What Granny said was true. This place offered no future promise for her or for anyone else.
By now, maybe the worthless young men who dogged her had gone. She opened the door slowly and peeked out. No sign of those lazy Jensens or Winfields. They’d probably gone drinking moonshine in the woods.
She hitched their pony, Sunny, to the cart and drove to Widow Abbot’s. The day had turned off fine and the sun warmed her skin. Flowers lent their fragrance at the cottage the widow shared with her daughter’s family.
With the two large trunks she purchased, there was no room for her to ride. She balanced the valise on the larger pieces and walked her pony home. Longing for the freedom from her pinching shoes, she wished she’d come barefoot.
Near the cabin the Jensen and Winfield men surrounded her. She dared not show fear with these sorry excuses for humans or they’d taunt her relentlessly. They might even do her harm.
Otto Jensen nudged her. The overpowering odor of liquor surrounding his sweating, unwashed body almost gagged her. “What you got in them trunks?”
She stepped away to give herself some air. “Not that it’s any of your business, Otto, but they’re empty.”
Rufe Winfield danced a little jig beside her. “I bet you’re gonna load your granny’s gold in ’em.”
Prudence had tolerated these idiotic louts long enough. “Dexter, when Granny took care of your pa’s hurt shoulder, what did he pay her?”
Dexter puffed up his chest. “Pa gave her his best hen.”
“Otto, when Granny helped deliver your baby brother, what was she paid?” That had been child number fourteen for the Jensen family, who seemed better at producing children than income.
Otto scratched his head and scrunched up his porcine face. “As I ’member, Pa give her a bushel o’ turnips. Ain’t that right, Maynard?”
“I reckon he done that the last three babies.”
Prudence kept hold of Sunny’s reins but she fisted her hands at her hips. “Since everyone around here except the McGees and Frasers pay in food, how can you think Granny accumulated gold? The few coins we get go to buy flour and meal and coffee.”
The four young men stared at her as if she’d spoken a foreign language. Indeed, common sense was foreign to all four of them. She set Sunny walking toward home again.
Otto persisted, his face screwed into a frown. “Then why does she need them trunks?”
“She wants me to pack away our family’s good quilts. Some are old and mean a lot to Granny and me. My mama made two of them and we don’t want them getting dirty or mouse-eaten.”
Dexter leaned over the seat. “You can’t get a quilt in that there valise.”
“But Granny or I can carry healing herbs and such when we go see a body that’s ailing.”
She needed to distract them before they recalled she already had a valise for herbs. “Say, why aren’t you four working? There’s things we need doing around the cabin if you’re looking for work.”
Work was the magic word. Nothing put fear in the four worthless young men like being asked to do honest labor. They hemmed and hawed as they backed up then turned to speed into the woods where they had a still.
After wrestling the luggage into the cabin, she unhitched Sunny. Prudence took special care to give him a good rubdown before turning him loose in the small pasture behind the cabin. Inside her home, she dragged the trunks and left scuff marks on the hard-packed dirt floor.
She’d sweep again later. “What do you want in these, Granny?”
Her first time out of bed in more than a week except to use the chamber pot, Granny hobbled into the room, moving as if each step pained her entire body. She lowered herself slowly to the rocker and pointed with her cane. “Start with the best quilts. Roll them as tight as you can so they don’t take up too much room.”
Prudence thought at least she hadn’t lied to the men who’d stopped her. Over the years, her family had used up most of their bedding. They’d saved six special quilts. She divided them between the two trunks.
“Now what shall I pack, Granny?”
“Everything that was your mama’s.” She used her cane to point to the shelf over the fireplace. “Add the little portraits of your grandfather and me that we had painted when we were courting and the ones of your mama and papa. Don’t forget the family Bible.”
“I wouldn’t leave it. I like to look back at the names recorded of births and deaths and marriages.” She’d counted six generations.
“Now, Pru, don’t you forget to read the Scriptures and not just those family names.”
“I won’t and I’ll go to church every Sunday, too, I promise.”
“Put in anything you don’t want torn up when I’m dead and you’ve gone. Add all the herbs we’ve dried. In the valise, put what you’ll need on the trip so you don’t have to open the trunks. Get the cash in the bean pot and store some of it in the valise and the rest in your purse.”
Prudence longed to sit with her head on Granny’s lap—or curl into a ball on her own little bed and weep. How could she leave her sweet grandmother and the only home she’d ever known? Yet, the thought of living here for the rest of her life was too depressing to consider. Without Granny, she couldn’t bear this awful place.
She forced herself to add one thing after another to the trunks until they were filled. To the valise, she added her other two dresses, spare petticoat, unmentionables, and her toiletries. When she’d packed her herbs and tinctures into the trunk, she’d saved out a few packets of herbs for her trip in the event she had a headache or upset stomach. In case she had a more serious injury, she added a jar of the special ointment Granny and she had concocted but the rest went into a trunk along with all their recipes.
She snapped shut the lid of the last chest. “What shall I do now?”
“Nothin’. Now we wait. I can tell it won’t be long, Pru. I felt this terrible thing growing inside me for a while.” Bent almost double, Granny shuffled back to the other room.
Prudence followed her and helped her into bed then covered her gently. “I won’t know what to do without you to guide me. In Richmond, they might not need another midwife and healer.”
Granny settled with a weary sigh. “You’re smart enough to see opportunity when it arrives. You’ll find a place where you fit in and maybe a good man also. That’s what I hope for you, that you marry a man who will love you as much as you deserve.”
Doubt shrouded Prudence. Was there such a man? Would she ever find a place where she belonged?
***
Prudence wiped her eyes with her handkerchief then blew her nose. Leaving Granny laid out on her bed was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. Lovingly, she’d washed her dear grandmother’s body and dressed her in her favorite dress. Following Granny’s instructions, she’d waited until almost sunset to go for Mamie.
The good woman had hugged her and instructed Ricky to load her luggage onto the wagon. Excited to be given an important job that meant traveling to Richmond, he hadn’t lingered. After a last tearful goodbye to Granny, Prudence had climbed on the wagon.
By morning, they were at the edge of the city. Shading her eyes with her hand against the sunlight peeking over the horizon, she couldn’t help staring.
“I’m sorry for being a watering pot most of the way to Richmond. You’re nice to drive me.”
“Mama told me to. She said if I do a good job and see you don’t get hurt or nothin’ and I get home all right, I get your pony Sunny and the cart. I sure would like to have ’em for my own.”
“I know you’ll take real good care of Sunny. He likes to be rubbed down and given an apple or a carrot as a treat.”
“I’ve seen you takin’ care of him. I’ll do just like you done.”
Prudence tried not to stare, but everything was a wonder. She’d never seen so many people in one place. Having Ricky drive her was a blessing.
Ricky turned onto a side street. “What you gonna do now?”
Prudence had worried about that very question. “I’m not sure. Good thing your mother knows of a boarding house for women. I’d be lost for sure on my own.”
“My aunt Edna lives near here and we come see her. Mama sure knows a lot, though. Don’t know how she fits it all in her head.” Ricky stopped the wagon and set the brake.
The sign in front of the unimpressive two-story house said they were at Purvis Boarding House for Women of Quality. Prudence wasn’t sure what quality referred to. From the peeling paint, she doubted it meant wealthy but figured this would be all right for her. She’d have to watch her money carefully until she found work.
Aromas of bacon and sausage reminded her she hadn’t had breakfast. The landlady, Mrs. Muriel Purvis, gave her a key. “Meal’s in twenty minutes.”
When Ricky had unloaded her trunks and stored them in the office downstairs, he told her goodbye. “I’ll be stayin’ with Aunt Edna tonight and go home in the mornin’.”
Prudence offered her hand. “Thank you, Ricky. I appreciate you and your mama being so good to Granny and me.”
Misgivings gnawed at her as she watched the last link to her old home disappear down the street. She couldn�
��t deny being adrift but she’d just have to get on with things. She took her valise to her room.
After combing her hair and washing her face and hands, she hurried to the dining room. Five other women of varying ages filed in and took a place. Prudence sat in one of the remaining chairs.
A brash looking redhead stuck out her hand. “I’m Tillie Marks. Are you looking for work or a man?”
An older woman across the table sent Tillie a glare. “Doesn’t have to be either or, Tillie. And that’s a rude way to introduce yourself.”
Not wishing to be drawn into a feud, Prudence sent a smile to the others. “I’m Prudence Lynch. I’ve just arrived in Richmond and I’ll be looking for work.”
Tillie pulled a torn piece of newspaper from her pocket. “Not me. I’m going to get one of these interviews. No one worth marrying left hereabouts.”
Prudence read the advertisement with interest.
“Young women of good character desiring to go west for the purpose of marriage may apply for an interview between ten and four o’clock in the afternoon from April 5th to 10th at the Grand Hotel, Richmond, care of Mrs. Lydia Harrison.”
She mulled the offer over. That might be an option. What had Granny said?—be open to opportunity when it knocks. She wondered if Tillie qualified as a “woman of good character”. Not Prudence’s place to question, especially since Tillie had shared this chance.
Mind whirring with possibilities, Prudence returned the newsprint to Tillie. “Sounds interesting. Today is the 10th. You’ve almost waited too long.”
The other woman held the scrap of paper in front of her. “I only saw this last night. I figure today’s as good as any other day.”
“Do you mind if I tag along?”
Tillie gave an indifferent shrug. “Why not?” With a smug smile, she shoved the paper back into her jacket pocket.
Watching those at the table, Prudence noticed a variety of dining etiquette but she used her best manners. Pretending attention to the mealtime chatter, instead she considered the advertisement she’d read. Could she go west?
Nothing anchored her to Richmond. Nothing anchored her to Virginia. What if this was a scheme to staff a brothel? Since the newspaper had said women of good character, she doubted that would be the case.
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