Calico Christmas at Dry Creek

by Janet Tronstad

  Elizabeth put her hand back on her lap. She liked the feel of the wedding band on her finger, although she was no longer sure if the ring reminded her of Matthew or of Jake. Not that it mattered. She planned to give Matthew the widow’s respect that he was due. Not that she wanted women flirting with her other husband, either.

  Oh, dear. She winced as she heard herself thinking. Was she that confused?

  “I suppose you’d like to read some this winter,” Jake said.

  “What?” Elizabeth looked up from her plate. Why would he ask that? “I’ve always worked hard. Summer or winter.”

  She couldn’t blame the waitress for noticing that Jake was the most handsome man in the room. He’d shaved again this morning and his short hair was falling into place nicely. The waitress was probably not the only woman here who had wondered about him.

  Right now, he was leaning toward her, though. “I’m just saying that we could buy a book or two at the mercantile. This might be a good time to see what they have in stock. A home should have a few books for reading.”

  “Oh.” Elizabeth guessed that made sense. She’d never had any leisure for reading anything but the Bible. “Maybe there’d be a book we could read with Spotted Fawn.”

  “And poetry. We could get some poetry, too—that is, if you’d like it. I know women like their words.”

  “Yes, yes, of course.” Elizabeth tried not to let her dismay show. She had learned how to read here and there in her life, but she’d never sat down with a book of poetry. She wasn’t even sure she could read all those fancy words if she saw them. “If that’s what you’d like.”

  “I…” Jake opened his mouth and then closed it again.

  Elizabeth thought he looked frustrated. “I suppose you’re worried about…things.”

  “What things?”

  “Well, I imagine me and the girls are keeping you from your work.”

  “It’s winter. I don’t prospect in the winter. I think the Black Hills are pretty well played out anyway.”

  “Well, that’s too bad.” Elizabeth reached for the water glass at the top of her plate. “I guess.”

  Just then the waitress came to ask if they’d like some apple pie. At least this time she offered both of them cream on their pie.

  They ate for a few minutes in silence.

  Jake lingered over his dessert. He was trying to think of ways to court Elizabeth and he wasn’t being too successful. He tried to remember if there had been any romantic gestures between his parents. He knew his father had gone to great trouble to bring a few of his mother’s possessions out West with them. It was her rocking chair that Jake had in his cabin now. His mother had been very grateful to his father for keeping the chair with them. And his father had sent back East once for some lilac perfume that had delighted his mother. She said a lady needed her perfume. Even if his mother returned to her unhappiness, those presents brightened her life for a time.

  Maybe that’s something he could do. “Is rose your favorite scent, too?”

  Elizabeth looked up from her plate. She’d just taken the last bite of her pie.

  “I mean, I know you’re partial to the flower,” Jake continued. “I was just wondering about the smell of them. Like in perfume.”

  “Rose water is lovely,” Elizabeth said hesitantly.

  Jake nodded. “We’ll get some of that, too, then.”

  Elizabeth looked puzzled now. “You mean for Spotted Fawn? I’m not sure girls would wear rose water. Especially not to school. Mostly they just wash up good.”

  “No, I mean for you.”

  “Me? But I—I—”

  Jake could tell he’d gone about this wrong. “You smell wonderful all by yourself. I just thought you’d like a present.”

  Now Elizabeth was looking at him suspiciously. “You already got me a present. The teapot.”

  “Well, but Christmas is coming up. The teapot is your wedding present. It can’t be your Christmas present, too.”

  “Oh, I forgot. Yes, Christmas. It must almost be December.”

  All of Elizabeth’s reserve melted away and she beamed at him with pure delight on her face.

  “It’s December third.” He wondered what she’d be like on Christmas Day if the mere thought of the holiday brought out such sparkle to her eyes.

  “Well, some rose water would be very nice then,” she agreed. “I’ll need to get you a present, too. And the girls, of course.”

  Jake nodded. He wished someone had told him how hard this courting business would be. He suddenly had a lot of sympathy with his father as he tried to please his wife. He wondered if he should warn Higgins.

  Just then the man himself appeared.

  “Annabelle told me where to find the two of you,” the man said as he drew up a chair and sat down at the table with them. “She also told me what those kids did. Those boys should be turned over someone’s knee. And I wouldn’t mind doing the turning.”

  “Reverend Olson will handle it,” Jake said.

  Higgins snorted. “The Reverend doesn’t stand a chance with boys like that. I know, I used to be one of them. They’ll convince him to forgive them and then they’ll be at it again.”

  Jake didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure if the reverend would be able to persuade the boys to behave or not. The reverend was a peacemaker and sometimes that didn’t work so well with bullies.

  “At least Annabelle asked her boy, Thomas, to look out for Spotted Fawn,” Higgins said. “He told her what had happened when he came home for lunch.”

  “Thomas isn’t big enough to face those boys,” Elizabeth said. “He’s only ten. Some of those older boys are thirteen or fourteen.”

  Jake stood up. “Then maybe we should go see for ourselves.”

  The schoolhouse door was closed when Jake, Elizabeth, and Higgins walked down the street toward it. It was midafternoon and the sky was gray. The streets of Miles City were quiet. There weren’t even any riders coming into town.

  “We’ll just peek in the window,” Elizabeth said. None of them had gone up the steps yet. “I don’t want the children to tease Spotted Fawn.”

  “Sounds to me like those boys already did that.” Higgins grumbled.

  “But no one has teased her about her parents yet,” Elizabeth said. “And I don’t want them to tease her about me.”

  Jake turned in astonishment and pushed his hat up so he could see his wife more clearly. She shouldn’t be worried about people thinking badly of her because of him and the children. “How in the world could they tease her about you?”

  Elizabeth raised her chin just a little. “The children might know I’m the woman who was supposed to die of the fever. And, I was camped out in that tent by the fort. Who knows what people are saying about me? They probably think I’m crazy. And no girl that age wants anyone to think she can’t make a move without her parents watching her. “

  Jake jammed his hat back down on his head. Now, if that didn’t beat all. “Well, I’m going to be watching no matter what she wants.”

  “Of course,” Elizabeth said as she stepped up on the porch and slid closer to the window. “I never said we shouldn’t watch over her. We just need to do it so no one notices. You know, tactfully.”

  “I can be tactful,” Jake growled as he followed her up the steps.

  Higgins snorted.

  Elizabeth was the first one to peek in the window of the schoolhouse. Jake and Higgins stood to the side of her.

  “Oh,” she breathed softly when she got a clear view.

  Elizabeth’s heart sank. Spotted Fawn and Thomas were sitting all alone on one side of the classroom. The other children were all pushed together on the benches on the other side. The Reverend Olson was not looking happy, but he was pointing to something on the map.

  Elizabeth stepped away from the window.

  Jake didn’t even ask what she’d seen. He just took a look himself. His face was grim when he stepped back to where Elizabeth was standing.

  “It’ll ge
t better,” Elizabeth whispered hopefully.

  “It will after I go in there and talk some sense to those kids.”

  “That might make it worse. It’s Friday today. By Monday the children will probably have forgotten all about this. But if we stir it up even more, it’ll take longer to fix it.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Jake said softly as he rubbed a hand over his head.

  Neither one of them had noticed that Higgins had stepped away until they heard him knocking on the school door.

  “What’s he doing?” Jake turned to whisper.

  Elizabeth could only shake her head. Whatever it was, they were too late to stop it.

  “Hello, everyone,” Higgins said as he opened the door to the schoolhouse. Elizabeth and Jake could hear him clearly as he walked into the room. “I’m here to sign up. I figure it’s time I learned to read.”

  Elizabeth and Jake were silent for a moment.

  “Well, at least he’s not her parent,” Jake finally said.

  “And she’ll be safe,” Elizabeth added.

  They just looked at each other for a moment before they turned and walked back to the mercantile.

  They didn’t talk much as they rode back home in the wagon. Then Jake went to check the animals and Elizabeth brought out the yellow calico she was going to use in Spotted Fawn’s new dress. If she worked on it this evening and all of Saturday, she should have the dress ready for the girl to wear Sunday morning.

  Elizabeth picked the sharpest one of her needles and set it beside the fabric. Then she bowed her head. She hadn’t been praying much lately. But she felt helpless in light of what she’d seen today. Dear Father, she prayed. Help me to know what to do. Help me know what to say to Spotted Fawn. Don’t let the bullies win.

  Elizabeth knew that the heartache she felt over Spotted Fawn was an echo of the things she had suffered in her own life as a child. The Bible said that God took care of the orphans, but she wasn’t so sure. If He really cared so much, there wouldn’t be any orphans to begin with. Or widows, either. Or mothers who lost their babies.

  Her anger at God felt like ashes in her mouth. How could she be angry and need Him so much at the same time? She shook her head. She had no answers.

  Spotted Fawn looked tired when she came home from school. Higgins walked her to the door and Elizabeth thanked him.

  “My pleasure, ma’am,” he said as he tipped his hat to her.

  “How was the rest of the day at school?” Elizabeth asked Spotted Fawn after Higgins left.

  The girl didn’t say anything.

  “Well, it’ll be better on Monday,” Elizabeth finally said. “Would you like some biscuits? We have some left from breakfast.”

  Spotted Fawn nodded as she sat down at the table. Elizabeth opened a jar of rhubarb jam and set it beside the girl with her biscuits. The girl made no move to eat, so Elizabeth sat down beside her.

  Only then did Spotted Fawn pick up the biscuit.

  Dinner was late because they were waiting for Jake. Elizabeth had fried some potatoes and salt pork.

  “I want to go home,” Spotted Fawn announced after they had all finished eating.

  “But you are home,” Jake protested.

  “I want to be with my people.”

  “Oh, dear,” Elizabeth said. She looked up and met Jake’s gaze.

  Jake cleared his throat softly. “I know it was hard for you today, but you can’t go back to your people.”

  “The Crying One and I will go,” the girl insisted. “I have my pony. My father taught me like the son he did not have.”

  “Well, you’re certainly not just going off by yourself,” Elizabeth said. That much she knew. “Who knows what kind of people you’d meet out there.”

  “I’d meet my people,” Spotted Fawn said. “I’m not afraid.”

  “Your father knew you’d need to be brave to live in the white man’s world,” Jake said. “But he wanted you to live. Both you and your sister.”

  Spotted Fawn was silent.

  “Please, give it another chance,” Elizabeth said. “I know it’s hard, but we’ll think of a way.”

  Spotted Fawn nodded and left the table. She went to sit by where her sister was lying in the crib. The girl picked up the baby and hugged her before returning her to the crib.

  “There’s church on Sunday,” Jake said as his niece walked toward her rope ladder. “Maybe by then people will have calmed down a bit. The kids will forget all about which side of the room they’re sitting on.”

  Elizabeth nodded as she looked over at Jake. She wondered if he really believed that or if he was just saying it to give Spotted Fawn hope. Elizabeth knew how it felt to be unwelcome in a place. She had needed to work hard in some households to find any measure of acceptance. Of course, she had always softened people’s hearts first with the food she cooked. People always seemed friendlier if they were biting into a biscuit or a fried apple doughnut.

  Jake had been in the lean-to repairing his traps and, when he came next door, he smelled a mouthwatering aroma. There were jars on the table and the smell of cinnamon in the air. And something else.

  “Doughnuts!” Jake couldn’t believe it. Sometimes for breakfast, one of the restaurants in Miles City served doughnuts but they weren’t anything like the perfectly round golden things that were sitting on several plates on the table. Spotted Fawn was standing beside the doughnuts, her dress covered by a large white apron that was too big for her. She had a cup of what looked like sugar in her hand and a streak of flour on her face.

  She reached for a plate and held it out to him. Jake took one of the doughnuts and bit into it. He’d never tasted anything so good. There were pieces of apple in the dough. And the cinnamon and sugar that his niece was sprinkling on them gave each one an extra something. They were wonderful.

  “We’re making fried apple doughnuts,” Spotted Fawn said proudly.

  Elizabeth looked up from where she stood by the stove. “I thought we could take a big basket of them to church tomorrow to pass around. It might, you know, help people get along better.”

  Jake decided the doughnuts were not the sweetest thing in this room.

  “I think that’s a fine idea,” he said, grining.

  Even Mrs. Barker wouldn’t be able to make progress against a campaign like this. The adults in Miles City, most of them men, would rather eat a doughnut than sign a petition any day. And the children—Jake would bet even Elias might be willing to sit on the same side of the schoolroom with Spotted Fawn if he got to eat these doughnuts.

  Chapter Nine

  Jake reined in his team of horses, pulling the wagon off the street near the schoolhouse. When they had built the schoolhouse, they had placed it on the edge of Miles City so there would be room behind it for the children to play. It was Sunday morning and he, Elizabeth and the girls were preparing to go inside for the usual preaching service. It had snowed a little last night and the air was still moist, but he could already see smoke coming out of the chimney on the building’s roof so it should be warm enough inside.

  Someday, Miles City hoped to have its own church, but for now everyone sat on the benches the children used during the week for school. It was a little crowded and occasionally someone would get ink on their clothes, but no one seriously complained. It was better than meeting in a saloon as some of the churches in other small towns had to do.

  Jake walked around the wagon and lifted his niece to the ground before giving the baby to Spotted Fawn so he could help Elizabeth climb down.

  “Wait,” Elizabeth said after she shook out her skirts and took the baby back. “I want to be sure everyone is buttoned up and spotless.”

  Elizabeth gave Jake and his niece a final inspection that would have made the sergeants at the fort proud.

  Jake had shaved earlier and he was wearing the blue shirt Elizabeth had washed and ironed for him. Spotted Fawn had a red ribbon neatly tied in her hair. The girl’s new dress wasn’t ready, but Jake thought the made-over
calico looked respectable enough on her thin frame. And the bruise on her face barely showed now. She didn’t have a coat, but Elizabeth had given her his best blanket to wrap around like a shawl.

  In Jake’s opinion his niece looked pretty good. She would look even better, of course, if she didn’t have that haunted look in her eyes. Earlier, when they had sat around the table before eating breakfast, he’d prayed for all of them. He asked God to make the doughnuts a true peace offering to the children and parents in Miles City.

  Jake said another quick prayer now. Spotted Fawn had seen too much violence in her young life. Any kind of anger made her withdraw; he prayed God would help her feel safe.

  Right now, his niece was standing very still while Elizabeth did her inspection. It was clear Spotted Fawn wanted to please the woman who was helping them all.

  Elizabeth brushed a speck of something off Spotted Fawn’s shoulder and then bent quickly to give the young girl a kiss on her forehead.

  Spotted Fawn smiled slightly.

  “We look fine,” Elizabeth announced as she stood back up and gave a nod to Jake.

  Jake couldn’t agree more and he was only looking at one person. Elizabeth’s gray dress made her eyes turn a deeper green and the resolve on her face moved his heart. He’d been wrong about her. She was nothing like his mother. She was already teaching Spotted Fawn some important lessons on how to face adversity. Elizabeth leaned into life, she didn’t back away from it the way his mother had.

  Jake took the baby so Elizabeth could carry the basket. He was proud of his family as they all walked up the steps of the schoolhouse. The sounds of voices reached them so he guessed a fair number of people were already gathering for the service. Normally, people kept their voices more subdued as they readied themselves for church, but it might be best if people were more relaxed today.

  Even in the damp air, Jake could smell the doughnuts that Elizabeth was carrying in the basket. She had put a piece of red gingham on the bottom of the wicker basket and another one over the top. With her gray dress, it made everything look like a picnic.

  When they reached the door, something about the voices inside the schoolhouse made Jake pause. The Reverend Olson had an early service for the soldiers at the fort so he wouldn’t be here yet to do his civilian service. Generally, people did talk before he came, but these voices sounded sharper than usual. Instead of ushering Elizabeth in as he normally would, he stood in front of her as he opened the door.