Overwhelmed in Oklahoma

by Elissa Strati

  Hank was looking at his sister with a great deal of approval. She really had a head on her shoulders and a flair for designing houses. Of course she’d learned at the hand of their father and he knew she would pass any of her plans over to him for approval before even clearing the land. But this was where she really excelled—helping folks find their own thoughts and ideas so they ended up with what they really wanted. And, he thought to himself, Joe’s just jumped up a notch in my estimation, wanting to get his bride’s approval. He might just make a good husband!

  “Once you have chosen your final site, then we can talk about the weather, and where the breezes are, and how many rooms you want. You want to make sure you have water nearby. If I were Cindy, I would want a pump right in the kitchen! And you need to think about whether you will be getting her a stove so she doesn’t have to cook over the fire. Makes a difference on how we build the fireplace, too.”

  As they got back to the house outline still lying forlornly near the barn, Charlie began chuckling.

  “Now what?” asked Joe.

  “Come with me,” she replied.

  “Now, where did you want to put the bedroom?”

  “Hadn't really thought much about it. I thought you'd take care of all that.”

  “Okay, I tell you what. Let's pretend you decided to have your bedroom right there,” and she pointed to the far corner. “Why don't you lie down about where you would want your bed?”

  Giving her a puzzled look, he went over to the area she’d pointed at and crouched down, then stretched out. His brothers and Hank started laughing uproariously and he sat up abruptly.

  “What is so bees’n’honey funny?” Then he looked around and realized that his feet were nearly touching the far wall and he started laughing himself. “Why, this whole cabin what we laid out isn’t no bigger than a bedroom, is it? See here, it's a good thing you came Charlie Sue. Now I see why you were looking at me so peculiar when you first stood here.” He grinned hugely at her.

  “Joe, as smart as you are with horses and as handy as you are with tools, it is clear that designing houses is not your favorite thing to do.”

  The fellows all guffawed.

  “Before we do anything permanent, we will also want your bride out here to help in arranging the spaces after she helps you choose where to put the house. I can guarantee you she has some ideas of her own and if you want a happy marriage you had best pay attention to them.”

  The boys were now hanging on her every word.

  “Okay, let's do this logically. We know most houses have about this shape because it's about the easiest to build. But now we need to think about the size, and that is going to depend on what you want inside. If you need a ballroom you’ll need a few more feet.”

  That jape was greeted with more guffaws and no one saw Roberta and Josephine standing at the door looking at them forlornly. Although they were all standing there right in plain sight, Roberta reached out and gave the dinner bell a vicious clang, grabbing their attention.

  Joe offered Charlie a courtly bow and his elbow as he escorted her over to the pump. Jeff gave it a few strokes to bring up some fresh water and she placed her hands in the stream and rinsed them, accepting the towel John handed her and drying off daintily before passing it on to the next in line as each of them washed up for dinner.

  They all sniffed appreciatively as they walked in and gathered around the table in a circle and clasped hands. It fell to Zebadiah to lead them in prayer:

  “Lord, I stand before You today in the place of our beloved Uncle Jedidiah who You has taken to Your keeping. We are all thankful to You for giving a safe journey to my brother-in-law, Hank, and his youngsters, Little Hank and Charlie Sue. We offer praise to You for Your love and comfort in this time of our loss and ask Your blessing on this food we have on the table through Your Grace and Goodness. Amen.”

  Each called out his own “Amen” and they all sat down to enjoy the chicken and dumplings Bobbie June and Josie had put together for them. The girls had managed to conjure a dried apple pie for dessert, and all left the table well satisfied.

  Realizing how much her male cousins valued her opinions and knowledge gave Charlie Sue a jolt of confidence and, to the obvious annoyance of Josie and Bobbie June, she largely ignored their sarcastic and demeaning commentary and began to treat them as if they were saying the most pleasant things. Seeing their frustration at not being able to get a rise out of her made her feel as if she had finally made it to adulthood.

  Never mind that at her age she was already on the shelf, a confirmed, middle-aged spinster of 29.

  CHAPTER 4 – Sweet Dreams

  Things were tense when Roberta and Charlotte crawled into bed. Bobbie Sue's was probably the smallest in the house, and Charlie understood that this was just Josie's way of further needling her, but she had not done herself any favors in her sister's eyes.

  Lying in the cramped bed, Charlie willed herself to fall asleep and was actually starting to drift off when she felt a blow to her ribs. That’s going to leave a bruise, she thought, and figured it had come from her cousin’s elbow as she was rolling over. But the blows kept coming as Josie rolled back and forth in the narrow bed. Charlie lost count at seven, but by what she figured was a dozen or more she’d had enough, and rolled over herself, delivering a fairly heavy blow with an elbow into Josie stomach and pinning her down. Josie squawked and then started pushing but her cousin didn't budge.

  “Get off me, you big cow,” she huffed.

  “That’s Viking to you. Or maybe Amazon,” replied Charlie. “I think we might need to have a little talk first.” She paused to consider her words. “You may have grown older but you certainly haven't grown up. You are still the same mean sack of dung you were as a child and probably even more hateful than you were then. But I have grown up and have no intention of taking your attitude any longer.

  “I am suggesting to you that you be polite to me from now on, under all circumstances, and behave as a hostess does to a guest, instead of like a weevil trying to destroy a boll of cotton. Now I further suggest you either sleep on the floor or go to sleep with your sister. Her bed is bigger anyway and that's how your maw would have set things up were she still here.”

  Charlie could hear that Bobbie was starting to gasp for breath, and rolled back off her, then gave a little shove which pushed her cousin onto the floor.

  “Well I never!” exclaimed Roberta.

  “And you had better never again,” replied Charlie and, settling herself comfortably into the middle of the bed, prepared to fall asleep. Bobbie forgot herself far enough to slam the door on her way out.

  Charlie could hear her cousins snickering in the next room. Well, that had been a long time coming and although Paw would probably take her to task in the morning, tonight she would just smile herself to sleep.

  CHAPTER 5 – Farewell, Uncle Jed

  The next morning Charlie dressed herself in her black dress, the one she saved for funerals, and decorated it with the lace collar her mother had made for her. This was a skill that had been passed on from mother to daughter, so the lace cuffs she added at her wrists had been made by herself. Otherwise the dress was plain and fitted a bit loosely even though she wasn't wearing a corset. Even for her uncle she had no intention of putting one on and in fact didn't own the garment.

  Although she could do exquisite needlework, plain sewing was not one of her skills, so she'd purchased the dress ready-made and had Barbara Stuart and her partner, Harmony Cooper, add some flounces to the bottom to cover the rest of her legs, which had hung out a good six inches below the dress. The ladies were accomplished dressmakers who had their own shop in Green River, La Belle Mode, and if she ever needed another dress, that's who Charlie would go to. She was tired of just making do and was making enough now as a builder and designer to afford the occasional splurge.

  Having finished her toilette, she joined the others at the kitchen table for breakfast before they set out to the church.

>   ~~~

  Because the family had waited for the Kansas relatives to arrive before having the funeral service, the casket was kept closed, with lots of extra flowers and candles near it. Respects were paid from a respectable distance.

  The pastor preached a fine sermon, reminding the congregation of their origins as dust and their ultimate return thereto. And then he spoke about the deceased, her great-uncle, and found things to praise about him that she had never known.

  Great Uncle Jed had always just seemed to her be kind of a mean old man who didn't smell very good and snapped at the children when they came too near. They had never known he’d suffered wounds, apparently fairly severe ones, fighting in Texas for independence and fighting the Spanish and Indians before that. Listening to the preacher made her wish she’d gotten to know him better, but she realized that he wouldn't have talked to her as a little girl—and she never saw him once she became an adult.

  Walking out of the church behind the coffin, Charlie let the rest of the family get ahead of her as she contemplated some of the things she’d learned today about her great-uncle. She remembered complaining one time about him to her mother, who’d just brushed her off saying, “He’s gruff because he’s in a lot of pain. Just leave him be.”

  But Ma had never really explained why, and she’d never thought to ask. Now she wondered if even Ma had known of his exploits. Someone must have, because Reverend Stone wasn’t old enough to have remembered on his own. Funny how you never knew about people.

  As she stepped onto the grass in the churchyard she felt her ankle turn in the seldom-worn heeled shoes that completed her formal funeral ensemble. She put out her arm to balance herself and felt it grasped gently but firmly, setting her firmly back upright so smoothly it was as if she hadn’t tripped. Glancing up she saw the handsome cowboy from the yard yesterday. The surprising thing for her was that she was glancing up. At nearly six feet tall, she dwarfed most men, but even in her heels she was slightly shorter than he!

  “Thank you,” she murmured as she started to pull her hand away.

  “Allow me to escort you,” he replied softly as he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm as if it belonged there. It sort of felt as if it did!

  He said nothing further as he walked her to her spot alongside the casket for the final funerary honors and prayers and, pressing her hand slightly as he released it, stepped back. Something about him, she thought, something about him seems familiar. Mentally shaking her head, she returned her focus ahead.

  Reverend Stone said his final prayers over the casket, and then, at a nod from the pastor, a uniformed soldier, whom she hadn’t noticed standing back from the congregants, raised a bugle and played taps. The plaintive melody added to her melancholy and she fished a handkerchief from her reticule and dabbed at her eyes.

  Off to her right, Josefina elbowed Roberta and whispered in outrage, nodding toward Cousin Charlotte, “That’s real lace!”

  One of her brothers standing behind her leaned forward and glared. No one else appeared to have noticed the byplay, but getting into the buckboard carriage on the way back to the house Josie simpered at Charlie Sue, “Would you happen to have a handkerchief on you? I seem to have gotten something in my eye.”

  Yes, envy, thought Charlotte, whose hearing was excellent. “I’m sorry, but I’ve already used mine so it is soiled. I’m surprised, especially given the occasion, that you neglected to bring yours.”

  She smiled to herself at the sour look on her dear cousin’s face. She was beginning to enjoy herself more than she should.

  Roberta spoke up, no longer able to contain her curiosity, “That’s a very fine collar and cuffs you’re wearing.”

  “This collar is one of the few things I have from my mother. She gave it to me on my twelfth birthday. She made beautiful lace and taught me how, too. I finished these cuffs in a matching pattern after she died.” She stroked the right cuff lightly. “I can still tell which stitches were hers—they were much more delicate than I could achieve then.”

  Silence reigned among the ladies the rest of the way home.

  ~~~

  After the service everyone returned to the house for a modest spread, most of the women bringing cakes and pies, a few offering roasts to be served to the guests. She had just finished a slice of pie which had an unusual flavor, and was wondering who had made it. It was interesting but tasty and, she grinned to herself, she could make a decent pie now, thanks to Charles Barnett who had finally given lessons to a number of the women in town, starting with Mary Rogers, whom he later married. Mary still couldn’t make a pie or even cook much of anything, but didn't need to with Charles around.

  Setting her plate down, she turned around and nearly bumped into her cousin Joe. With him was a lovely young woman who was wearing an exquisitely cut black gown which appeared to be simplicity itself but that showed off her curvy figure to a nicety.

  “Charlie Sue,” smiled Joe, “I would be pleased for you to meet my fiancée, Cynthia Louise Knowles. Cindy, I am proud to introduce you to my cousin Charlotte Susan Monroe.”

  “Oh, I am so happy to finally meet you! Joe has been telling me about some of the things suggested to him yesterday.” Her voice was a soft, clear soprano. “I am really looking forward to working with you. I never thought I'd have a chance to have any say in how the house was built. Thank you so very, very much!”

  A bit embarrassed, Charlie was also very touched and a bit proud to be spoken to so by a stranger. This trip is doing great things for my self-confidence, she thought to herself. And think how much I'd been dreading it.

  Joe leaned toward her and whispered, “As soon as things have cleared out a bit here, let's go back up the hill to see if Cindy likes the spot you found for me.”

  Charlie smiled and nodded and turned to Cindy to get to know her a bit better. The more she knew, the easier it would be to lay out a house the couple would both enjoy. And besides, she rather liked the woman already.

  CHAPTER 6 – Old Friends

  Joe had returned to claim his fiancé and Charlie was heading towards the kitchen to get a drink when her eye caught motion to her left and she turned her head to see the tall, handsome rescuer from earlier walking toward her. Something about his eyes . . . A fleeting memory tugged at the corner of her mind and her eyes opened wide.

  “Clinton? Little Clint Evans?”

  He stopped abruptly but a huge smile lit his face.

  “I never thought you’d actually recognize me. I’ve changed a bit.”

  “You most certainly have,” she said softly to herself. Aloud she said, “I’ve seen you around the place several times, not just for the funeral.”

  “My brother and Pa are running the ranch now, but I'm the younger son and so while I help out at home for my keep, I've been hiring out to save some money to get my own place. I'm probably about halfway there,” he grinned.

  “The measure of a person's worth is not in inches,” commented Charlie, “but you have grown a few. I remember you as polite, respectful, and shy. You never once teased me about my size.”

  “And I remember you,” he replied, “as sweet, and beautiful, and you never once put me down for being a shrimp. When people were picking on me for my size, you’d just very casually stroll on by and give them ‘the eye’ and they would stop, without you having to embarrass either of us by actually stepping in. I've always loved and admired that strength of yours, but especially that kindness that comes from your soul.”

  “Well, at the time,” she quipped to lighten the mood, “we were pretty much the long and short of it!”

  They both laughed, then Clint added, “I got my growth spurt late. But while I’ve gotten taller, you have become even more beautiful!”

  She blushed rosily, unused to compliments. She didn’t consider herself ill-looking, but most folks didn’t seem to see beyond her height.

  “Well, if you’ve been talking with my cousins then you probably know I’m rarely seen in a dress except
Sundays. For that matter, you should remember that tidbit from our childhood! I was always happiest helping Paw with building things.”

  “Actually, Joe has been talking about you since he convinced Cindy to marry him. Said he was going to write you to come out and build him a house. And that was before old Jed took sick.”

  Her eyebrows soared. She hadn’t thought much about it when he’d asked her to look at his outline on the grass. She was always designing and building things as a child. She’d been downright tickled to see the henhouse was still standing. It had been so simple to slip into their childhood relationship, she hadn’t even thought about it.

  “Sounds like I’ll be needing a bit of a talk with my cousin Joe! I thought he just wanted a basic plan from which to build!”

  Charlie Sue got a faraway look on her face as she reminisced.

  “I remember when we were doing the barn-raising for Charles Barnett of the Tri Brand Ranch. Actually, this was before the ranches got together, not long after the war ended. I'd been working up on the roof so was in my pants, and of course had my hair tucked up under my hat. All the hands were called in to lunch and I ended up sitting next to Charlie Tom.

  “That was a joke between us. He called me Charlie Sue and I called him Charlie Tom. Of course he been away fighting, so I hadn't seen him in a few years—and he hadn't noticed me working.

  “You know, by the time I started school as a young’un, he was one of the older boys and we all looked up to him. Not only because he was smart and handsome but because he actually treated us little ones like people, not nuisances.

  “He didn't recognize me right away. Of course, I'd grown some, and I'm sure he took me for a boy, dressed as I was and working with the crew. But as soon as he realized who I was, it was like old friends and he treated me like an adult and one of the gang.