“Quiet!” He hissed, and silence gathered in the room once more. “How do I know? The paddock this morning. There were only supposed to be a couple of cows loosed and chased to the far end of the property. One of Edmund’s men “accidentally” left the gate open. And just now, I went to check on my fish traps. Every single rope had been cut with a knife. Not frayed or frazzled with wear. Cut. I lost a few baskets from sabotage as well. I moved them much farther down the line and hid them underwater this time.”
Which explained why he was still soaking wet, Johanna realized.
“I think we’re going to have to expect this with every single challenge, which is why I’m talking to you. He said I could use help, so I’m asking for it. I think it’s the only way we have a chance at winning this thing, and if it comes out in the end that he cheated in every event, it may be enough to disqualify him, if we don’t beat him outright.” He turned to his brothers. “Can you boys help me with the more physical challenges? Anything that requires major body usage? I’m still healing up and it slows me down.”
William and Matthew didn’t look at each other, but both of them nodded. He glanced up at his pa, who nodded as well. The look of relief on his face was brief, but intense.
He then turned his attention to the women. “Part of the challenge is cooking, which means harvesting. Is there any chance you and the kids could take over on that front? I can come in at the last and add a few touches so my hand is in it as well.”
The women looked grim but determined. His ma, Nancy, answered for all of them. “Of course we will. You just tell us what you want done and when, and we’ll make it happen.”
Now the relief in his face stayed. “Thank you, everyone.” He put his arm around Johanna, which surprised her, but she melted a bit at his touch. “I may not have known this young lady for long, but I truly love her, and I want her to stay.” He looked at his brothers. “And don’t you dare go making fun of me with this or I’ll box the both of you, injured or not.”
They laughed and put up hands as if to ward him off. “We wouldn’t dream of it, little brother.” William sobered. “It’s obvious this is real, not a childhood crush. We’re behind you.”
Benjamin nodded, then turned toward her, and she saw him bite back tears. That he let her see and not his family made her feel all the more humbled and grateful to be a part of the Jarretts. They were the best kind of people. Better than her own clan in so many ways.
Nancy stood and went to the stove. “All right, with so much to do, we’re going to need our strength. Who’s hungry?”
Everyone answered in the affirmative.
* * *
Benjamin had just finished his second sandwich when a cry went up from the children outside. One of the older boys stuck his head in the door. “I think your second surprise test just arrived,” he said, looking at Benjamin, then shutting the door behind him.
Johanna felt nothing but dread for her husband at that moment. What would it be now? Serpents loose in the hen house? A band of marauders? Surprisingly, it was none of those. A mule with two barrels on each side and led by one of her father’s men approached the door, and the man knocked.
Benjamin opened it nearly as soon as his fist was lowered. He stepped back in surprise, then delivered his message. “I’m here with your second challenge, Mr. Jarrett. The water on this mule here is supposed to represent the water in your well, and it’s been polluted. Your job is to clean it and make it drinkable. You’ve got two hours.”
Benjamin walked to the mule, then turned. “All of it?” He'd dealt with bad drinking water before, so this should be no problem. Especially with his family helping him.
“As much as you can. One barrel’s for you, the other's for Mr. Berkeley.”
Benjamin looked relieved. “Fine then. William, Matthew, will you help me get this down?” The brothers nodded and between the three of them and the man who’d brought the mule, they got the barrel to just outside the doorway. The mule and man left, and Benjamin broke the lid on the cask.
It stank like rotten eggs and a compost heap, and the color was disgusting. It didn’t seem to bother him. “As long as they didn’t put a dead animal in it, this should be recoverable.”
Johanna was shocked. “Really? I hadn’t thought it possible.”
Benjamin grinned at her. “It’s amazing the things you learn how to do when it’s a matter of life or death. Water is essential. Let’s use the big wash tub and go from there. I’ll show you how it’s done."
Johanna smiled. Even with such a dirty, smelly task ahead of her, she loved learning from Benjamin. She loved just being at his side.
Chapter Eighteen
Benjamin was in the process of separating the rancid contents of the barrel from the water it contained when the man who’d delivered it came running up. “I forgot to tell you something. Your third challenge is to use the water from that barrel to cook your meal tonight, the one that’s part of the test.”
Benjamin gritted his teeth, fighting a groan. “All right. Thanks.” Was all he said, continuing to tip the barrel into the screen covered wash tub. The screen caught all the muck, or at least most of it. It took out the vegetation and some of the chunks of mud, but not all. Some of the mud seeped through the screen to color the water below.
“All right, boys. Let’s get this garbage back in the barrel so we can see what we have left.” William and Matthew picked up the screen and used it like a funnel to put things back in the barrel. Benjamin looked at the mucky water left behind and fought the urge to vomit. He knew what needed to be done, but had little time to do it. He stepped into the house. “Ma? Can you and the children go and harvest now? And if anyone can help William and Matthew clean up this water that would be wonderful. We’ve got to use it for our meal.”
Nancy stepped out the door and looked down, her nose wrinkling. “You can’t be serious.”
Benjamin nodded. “I wish I wasn’t, but it’s true, and I’ve got to go and collect the traps. I need your help here. A pair of hands would sure speed things up on my end, but there aren’t any to spare." He'd have given anything to have just one more brother then. Of course, he knew he'd regret even thinking that later when they were teasing him about something.
“I can go with you,” Johanna offered. “I’m no use here. I don’t know how to do any of this, but I can ride, and I can hold things.” She looked like she’d cry if he said no, so he nodded. He probably could use her. He couldn't figure out why he hadn't thought of her to begin with.
“It won’t be pretty. Traps can sometimes go wrong and then I’ve got mercy killings to do. Plus I’ll be shooting some bigger game, I hope. Can you handle that?”
She nodded. “Of course. I skinned the rabbits. I've lived in the West for too long to be squeamish.”
He didn’t even look back, he took off running for the barns, surprised to find her right behind him when he turned at the door. He saddled his horse and two others while she dealt with her own. “Do I need anything?” she asked.
“Rope and wire,” he answered, gathering it, then hanging it on one of the special saddles for pack animals he and his brothers had designed and made. He made sure his rifle was secured, then pulled himself into the saddle with barely a grimace, though his ribs still hurt a great deal, before leading the way into the woods.
Not far in, they turned off the regular path and into territory that looked untraveled, but it was meant to look that way. He knew Johanna had to be surprised, but she was smart not to say anything and followed his lead. The first few traps were nearby, and thankfully they all had caught animals. He ended the animals’ lives painlessly before hanging them on the pack horse's saddle.
Their trek to recover the trapped animals went quickly. Some of the traps were disappointingly empty, but most had brought much needed food.
Before they reached the last trap, he heard yipping and growls, which was never a good sign. He approached cautiously. A young wolf cub, not much more than six weeks ol
d, had gotten his leg caught in the trap just above his knee and had tried gnawing the wire off, which meant mostly gnawing at his leg. He got off his horse, his heart aching to see the poor animal hurting so badly. Benjamin pulled his knife from his sheath, preparing to end the wolf pup’s suffering, when Johanna darted past him and threw herself toward the pup, looking at Benjamin, her eyes swimming with tears.
“Don’t do it. Please, don’t kill him. I understand the need to kill the others for food, but this poor baby hasn’t done anything but get caught in a trap—a trap that you set!” She looked ready to fight for the right to keep the wolf and raise it as her own.
Benjamin shook his head. “I have to. He’s suffering, can’t you see that?” He wanted to save the wolf as badly as she did, but he just couldn't see how.
“Of course, I see it! But we can patch him up. He’d make a great guard dog. Please, Benjamin. Let him live. I’ll care for him.” A single tear fell and rolled down her cheek.
How could he say 'no' to that? Shaking his head, he tried to move past her to cut the wire. She yelled and grabbed his arm holding the knife. “No! You can’t kill him!” Her tears were falling freely now.
“I wasn’t going to!” he told her. “I need to free him from the wire.”
She reddened. “Oh. Sorry.” She took a step back. She was obviously embarrassed she'd jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Benjamin squatted over the wolf pup, then went back to the animals he’d trapped and sawed the foot off of one of the rabbits with his knife before giving it to the critter. He stopped whining and used a paw to pull it toward him, then began to gnaw. It was a good distraction while Benjamin tried to free him without doing any more damage. He got one low growl out of the pup when Benjamin pulled the wire from his leg, but aside from that, all went well.
As soon as he was free, Johanna moved in and scooped up the wild animal wrapping him in her apron. Benjamin was going to warn her, but he didn’t have a chance, and the pup, aside from freezing for a moment, showed no fear, only curiosity. He looked up at her and she looked back at him, then scratched his chest. His eyes rolled back in his head a little. She giggled.
It was one of the most beautiful sounds Benjamin had ever heard. With a smile, he left her there with her new friend and walked quietly into the woods hoping to find some larger game. He spotted a good sized stag.
Benjamin went slowly to one knee, his ribs twinging, but hands almost normal. He put the rifle to his shoulder and sighted down the barrel, breathing in and out slowly, then held his breath as the stag walked slowly into his sight. His finger itched to pull the trigger, but it had to be exactly right. A little closer. A little closer, he chanted in his head, and as if the stag could hear him, it moved more in his direction, head first. When it was the distance from one side of his paddock to the other, he released his breath and pulled.
The stag went down without a sound. Benjamin stood and walked to the beautiful animal. He always hated to kill like this. The shot was clean, right in the head, so the animal never suffered. He still hated it.
* * *
Back at the property, he found Mr. McDonough and showed him his kills, so they could be tallied up. This whole scenario was making him angrier by the second. As soon as the tally was done, he went with Johanna to collect the fish traps. This time they were intact and rather full. He didn’t bother to empty them, just hung the traps on the horses and went back to Mr. McDonough to show more of his kills. It sickened him even more that the man seemed impressed.
After taking his catches to his parents' house for their evening meal, Benjamin headed for the barn, where his brothers had already started the project he’d asked them to help him with. Evidently they’d gotten the water clean enough to be boiled, or they wouldn’t be here.
Pulling out his carving tools, Benjamin went to work on the curved headboard, smoothing it out before dipping into more detail. He had an idea and began to carve a forest scene with howling wolves all along the length of the log. She obviously loved the animals as much as her horses. It was the bedframe he’d promised himself he’d make for them when he first arrived, and now it was part of this blasted contest. That didn’t make it any less special, nor did he put any less work into it, but it sure did make him resentful. As the sun began lowering in the west, William and Matthew whistled for their kids. When Little Isaiah came running, his father yelled out. “Get all the boys. We need help to get this finished.”
Benjamin smiled as he worked. He really had the best family in the world
Chapter Nineteen
All the boys had disappeared hours before, and Johanna was useless in a kitchen, but Nancy put her to work anyway. “You may not be much for cookin’ , but anybody can scrub potatoes and wash greens." She’d washed up shortly after arrival, and though the women talked her into putting the pup down, there was no way she was going to let it out of her sight. At the moment it sat on her feet and slept while she scrubbed and chopped potatoes, until she thought her fingers would bleed. Once finished with that, she washed asparagus to be boiled, then washed salad greens to get the grit from them.
Benjamin came through the door, his sleeves rolled up and arms dripping wet. He must have washed up outside. He didn’t say much, but moved quickly around the kitchen adding a bit of this and a bit of that to everything cooking. He looked at the water with the potatoes, then looked at his Ma. “You guys cleaned this up real good. I don’t see a speck of dirt.”
Nancy smiled. “It helps having had so many years of practice.”
Benjamin chuckled, kissing his mother's cheek in appreciation for her help.
A knock sounded on the door. He answered it and Johanna was surprised to see her father there with one of his men, who looked prepared to take notes. “Hello, Mr. Jarrett. Might I come in?”
Benjamin swept an arm in as if being gracious, but Johanna saw the hint of sarcasm and resentment in his stiffness. It might not show on his face, but it was there.
The two men stepped inside. “There is one final test. Might we sit someplace quiet?”
Benjamin laughed. “Quiet? Not in here. But you’re welcome to a spot at the table if you don’t mind people around to hear.”
Johanna’s father looked irritated, then seemed to relax. “The table would be fine then. Is there room for us?”
“We’ll make room,” Johanna said, pulling the items she worked on closer to her. The others did the same, with the final girl, Ruth’s oldest, pushing her stuff across the table and leaving an open space, which Nancy wiped down before they sat.
Father looked at her, surprised. “Thank you, madam. That was kind.”
“Nothing different than I’d do for any other, Mr. McDonough. Don’t you mind us. We’ll try to keep it quiet.” Nancy looked around the room, meeting everyone’s eye. They all nodded. She winked when she got to Johanna, and that’s when she realized the quiet was more so the women could hear than for the convenience of the men. Oh, how she loved this woman!
Father looked around the room, then at his helper, who readied himself, and finally at Benjamin. “In trying to discover who can best care for my daughter, I have a few questions. It seemed easier to ask than to set up instances for you to show them.” He cleared his throat. “If your child was ill, what would you do?”
Benjamin’s brows rose. “Well, I hadn’t expected that question, but I suppose I’d do the same thing Ma always did for me. Of course it would depend on the illness. Willow bark tea for aches and fevers, and a cool cloth for the head and neck. A cough is sometimes helped with a mustard plaster, but myself, I prefer peppermint tea and vapors, maybe some red clover. For—”
Mr. McDonough put up his hand, fighting a smile. “That’s enough. You know what you’re doing. Next question. With farming being such a large part of your life, what would you do if there was a bug infestation eating your crops?”
Benjamin grimaced. “You mean like the locusts last year?” At Father’s nod, he continued. “Well, at first we weren’
t sure what to do. We tried covering the crops with blankets, but they either ate the cloth or worked their way underneath. We got lucky in Father’s friend from Detroit sending out some screen. We built a structure around the part of the crops that stood the strongest and surrounded it with screen, even burying the bottoms several inches into the dirt. A few of the locust got in, but that saved us for the winter. Now we have two separate gardens. One for the crops, and one in a screened area to protect us from that kind of thing again.”
The helper wrote nearly the whole time. “Wonderful!” Father said, seeming genuinely happy. “Now, what about shoeing a horse?”
The questions went on and on and on about every aspect of life, both on the farm and off, with family, kids, wife—everything. It was so fascinating Johanna forgot to work until Ruth elbowed her. She quickly dipped her head and got back to work, carefully listening to every word. She was surprised her father was asking about how to do all these things.
After over an hour, her father stood, his helper closing his notebook and gathering his things. “Thank you, Mr. Jarrett. It has been enlightening.” He extended his hand and Benjamin took it with a half-smile.
“I’m glad you approve sir. We do our best. Knowledge is power, as they say.”
Mr. McDonough laughed and put a hand on Benjamin’s shoulder. “That it is, my boy. That it is.”
* * *
After carrying the tables out from the houses for the food, the Jarretts put their food on one side and Edmund Berkeley had people put his food on the other side. After that, everyone gathered—parents, children, servants, and all, and began to eat, then marking on two posts of the house, using chalk, to tally whose food they liked the best. It was a pretty even score, which made Johanna nervous.
Benjamin’s food was delicious. It was hot, seasoned perfectly, and had a nice variety of meats, vegetables, and fruit. Edmund’s food tasted delicious as well, but it was only warm, not hot, and Johanna began to grow suspicious. Her suspicions were confirmed when he brought her a piece of cherry cobbler. She didn’t care what he said—somehow he’d gotten this food from the dining room at the hotel and brought it here to pass off as his own. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, until she was absolutely fuming. The only reason he had so many tally marks on his pole was because his people put them there, or he’d paid them to. There is no way his food could have bested Benjamin’s.
Johanna (Dakota Bound Book 1) Page 10
