Through Tender Thorns

by Barbara Morriss

  “Maizie, I accidentally left my hat ’cause I was visiting a girl in the alcove. A lot of the boys do it down at the backside. No one means anything bad about it. It’s just for fun. I figured you’d be hearing about it soon. Wanted you to know it didn’t mean nothing.” Capp reached for her hand before he continued: “Look, Maizie, I still want to be friends with you. I want to give you riding lessons and teach you about the horses. Have you help train that new colt. I feel terrible that you will think less of me ’cause of what happened in there.”

  “It’s all right, Capp. It was just small favors is all. I know about those.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My mama done them, when we were real hungry and had no money.”

  “Your mama fooled with men?”

  “Fooled? I don’t know. My mama would say, ‘Maizie, you watch for me while I do a small favor. Anyone come around the corner, you cry out real loud. Like you is lost. And I’ll come runnin’.’ So I did my job, while Mama did hers.” Maizie put her hands on the rail near Capp and leaned out looking toward the backside. “She’d say to me, ‘Just small favors, Maizie, so we can eat. I won’t be long.’”

  “I’m sorry for you and your mama. A little girl shouldn’t have to stand guard for her mama. And a mama shouldn’t have to give… favors.”

  “When you are hungry, sometimes you got to do things you don’t want to do. That’s all there is to it.”

  “Have you ever… ?”

  “Small favors?”

  “Did your mama ask you to do ’em?”

  “Capp, no. Never.”

  Capp suddenly realized how young and innocent she was. She looked so beautiful with her dark brown mane of tight waves, but not savvy. Maybe to Maizie there was nothing wrong with a man playing with a woman.

  “You loved your mama?”

  “I did, I do. She did her best. Some times were good, some times wasn’t, but I always knew my mama would care for me. The small favors was just part of it. Only when we hadn’t eaten for a while would she do it.”

  “So you don’t think I’m bad?”

  “Just small favors, Capp. People do stuff like that when they’re hungry.”

  “Well, this gal wasn’t hungry for food,” said Capp.

  “I know. I wasn’t talking about her.” Maizie looked up at him with a sweet smile he didn’t feel he deserved. “You don’t always know what makes people do things. Who was she?”

  Capp hesitated. “Josie. But when my dad and Mr. Glidewell know she is still foolin’, she’ll be gone.”

  “Really? Do you think that fair?”

  “I don’t know. Will you tell the Glidewells about the linen closet?”

  “If they ask me, I will. But if they don’t, I won’t. I promised Mrs. Glidewell I’d never lie.”

  “Don’t think it matters really if you tell. Josie will be found out soon enough.”

  “Will you tell, Capp?”

  “And have all the boys at the backside mad at me?” Capp laughed. “I’ll have to give it some thought.” Capp looked down at his boots, remembering the girl with the gum at the horse auction. He would have done it with her too, if he could have found a way. Seemed natural. That’s what guys do, he thought. He looked up at Maizie’s sweet face. She was different. It wouldn’t seem right with her. Not right now.

  Chapter 17

  A Revelation

  Mary did not sleep well after Monday’s dinner. The news about Josie’s behavior gave her pause. Josie wasn’t all to blame, she knew that. The men at the backside needed to bear some of the responsibility. She sensed that Wil disagreed, that the men were just doing what came naturally. “Give a hog slop and he’ll eat, even if he ain’t hungry. Can’t blame the hog,” Wil had said. Mary almost laughed out loud at the simplicity of his thinking, but she remained mum. Josie’s illicit behavior was one thing, but it was her attitude toward Maizie that bothered Mary the most.

  James had agreed with her, but when she mentioned that she was planning to dismiss her, he countered, “Wil promised that if she quit her ‘fun and games,’ she wouldn’t be fired. Until we are sure she is still acting inappropriately, I think we better respect Wil’s handling of it.”

  Mary did respect Wil’s effort, but she knew that most people don’t change. After breakfast, she put on her boots and cowboy hat and headed for the track. She had expected to find James there watching quarter horses go through their morning workout, but instead, she saw Claire, the other backside maid, walking toward the Wembleys’ cottage with cleaning materials in hand. Mary ran to catch up. Claire put down her bucket, mop, and rags to chat. “Everyone is excited about the match races, Mrs. Glidewell. We are getting things ready. Mr. Wembley wants the place to shine.”

  “That’s good, Claire. We depend on Mr. Wembley to do just that. Keep things running smoothly and looking nice. We want our horses and employees happy and hardworking.”

  “Why, you should see our ponies run. My, they are fast. We all think it sure excitin’, and Mr. Wembley says Josie and I can watch, if our work is done.”

  “Yes, you must watch. Just one question. You think anyone here is not carrying their workload? I mean is there anyone lookin’ to others to lighten their load?”

  “Well, it’s kind of just Josie and me. I stay out of Thelma’s way. No, I think we get our work done.”

  “I’d like to talk with Josie too. Do you know where she is?” asked Mary.

  “She’s in the men’s bunkhouse changing some of the beds,” Claire said. “Listen, if she says I ain’t doin’ my load, she’s lyin’.”

  “She lie a lot, Claire?”

  “Shouldn’t have said nothin’, but yes, she lies.”

  “About what?”

  “Some nights she sneaks out. I hear her. She thinks I’m asleep, but I’m not. When I ask her where she goes, she says she never sneaks out. I must be dreamin’, she says. Now that is a lie. I ain’t lyin’ or dreamin’, Mrs. Glidewell.”

  “I know you’re honest.”

  “Truth is, I wish I was workin’ with Ruby.”

  “Maybe we can move you up to the ranch house. Ruby needs some help.”

  “Oh Mrs. Glidewell, I would be pleased. Ruby and I were a good team.”

  “I bet you were. I’ll consider it.” Mary smiled and left for the men’s bunkhouse. She found Josie finishing up one of the beds in the large rectangular room that held twenty cots. Josie looked up in surprise.

  “Josie, I’m glad you’re here. I’m making preliminary notes for the match-race weekend.”

  “Notes?”

  Mary ignored the question. “Is the linen room unlocked?”

  “Yes, but there’s nothing in there but a few towels.”

  “I hope there are more than just a few. I sent towels over the other day.” Mary walked to the door that led into the linen closet. Josie followed hesitantly behind.

  Mary examined all the shelves and counted the hand towels. There were only fifteen. Her curiosity about the missing towels deepened. “Josie, you take towels from here recently?”

  “No, Mrs. Glidewell.”

  Mary then walked to the door of the alcove room adjacent to the linen shelves. As she reached for the handle, she noticed a green bandana tied around the brass knob. “Now, why in the world?”

  “Let me take that.” Josie attempted to grab the bandana, but Mary quickly untied it, opened the door, and looked around the small rectangular alcove. Looking into the sink she was surprised to see many soiled hand towels thrown in the basin. Draped over the faucet was a red bandana. Mary picked it up. Turning toward the end of the room, she saw a neatly folded horse blanket and an old pillow on the floor. “Josie, what’s all this?”

  “Don’t know, ma’am.”

  “I was in here inspecting early spring and there wasn’t any of this.” Josie’s eyes beg
an to dart nervously, her face a bit flushed. She picked up the pillow and horse blanket and clutched them to her chest.

  “Bet some wrangler got sick in the night and came in here for privacy. They done it before. I’ll see to these right now.”

  “No. Not now. Put the bedding down. This is your area to clean, right?” Mary noticed a look of panic on Josie’s face.

  “Yes ma’am.” Josie moved toward the shelves and attempted to restack a few towels.

  “You never saw this mess before?”

  “Never!” Reaching for Mary’s hand she added, “If you give me the bandanas, I’ll find out who owns them.”

  “One more chance, Josie, to tell me the truth. You really know nothing about the towels and what they are being used for? You never saw a heap of dirty hand towels in the sink before?”

  “No ma’am, I didn’t, but I’ll get right to the dirty towels. Do them up nice and clean. Hang them in the sun this afternoon.”

  Mary sensed that Josie was bargaining with her, but Mary wasn’t finished. She looked at the two bandanas again and then shoved them into her pocket. “Josie, when you are through with your work, I want you to come up to the house. We need to talk.”

  Josie’s shoulders slumped; she sighed deeply and went back to her chores.

  “James!” Mary yelled as she approached the track. James was leaning on the fence talking with Chief Jack as she approached. Lifting his brim to see who was running, he patted the chief on the back and turned to walk toward her.

  “I need to talk with you in private. I need to have your assurance that you’ll support me.”

  “Let me guess. This is about Josie, right?” Mary nodded and the two walked from the track and found a bench outside one of the horse stables.

  “I just came from the men’s bunkhouse. I found these two bandanas in the linen alcove. The green one tied to the doorknob; the red one, draped over the sink faucet. Josie didn’t like me being there.”

  “So what? She’s afraid of you, Mary.”

  “I asked Josie if she knew about them. She said no but she seemed alarmed. She wanted me to give them to her.”

  “And? I’m not sure where you’re going with this, Mary.”

  “There was a bunch of soiled hand towels in the sink. And there was a quilted horse blanket folded in the corner with a pillow on it.”

  “I’m sure there is a harmless explanation.”

  “I’m thinking that the linen closet is being used. By whom or for what, I don’t know.”

  “I’m not seeing the urgency like you. Two bandanas are hardly worth worrying about.”

  “James, the pillow, the horse blanket, the dirty towels, the bandanas are all related to what’s going on.”

  “Maybe a squatter? You think that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’m busy, Mary.”

  “You won’t support me? I need to find out what is going on.”

  James sighed. “All right, but I only have a few minutes.”

  Mary and James walked to the horse barn, where three of the stable hands were mucking out stalls. Tommy O’Rourke, a handsome kid from Ebenezer, Missouri—hard worker, small boned and honest—had been handpicked to be a jockey one day. “Tommy, will you step over to the barn entrance with me and Mrs. Glidewell?” Tommy nodded and laid his shovel on the wheelbarrow. Once Tommy secured the stall gate, he approached the couple.

  “I found these in the bunkhouse linen closet,” Mary presented the bandanas, holding them in one hand. “Do you know who these might belong to?” Tommy looked into the distance, clearly uncomfortable with the question.

  “Tommy, do you know why these may have been left there? One was tied to the doorknob,” James explained.

  “Well sir, it shames me to say.”

  “It’s important that we hear the truth,” said Mary.

  Tommy removed his hat and nervously fingered the brim. “Yes, ma’am and Mr. Glidewell, those are the bandanas that the boys use. So they know when things are clear.”

  “Forgive me, but that makes no sense,” said Mary. She looked at James, who was clearly sympathetic to Tommy.

  “Please don’t tell nobody I said, but there is foolin’ in the linen closet just about every night.”

  “Foolin’ in the linen closet?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Tommy admitted placing his hat back on his head.

  “Foolin’ with girls?” asked James.

  With his hands in his pockets, his head down, and his left boot scraping marks into the dirt, Tommy replied, “No sir, not girls. I do believe just one girl. See, I never done it.”

  “I see. So the red bandana means… ?” asked Mary.

  “Means don’t go in the alcove. The green one means she ain’t busy. That’s what they tell me.”

  “I see. Thank you, Tommy. You go back to your mucking,” said James.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Mary and James walked over to one of the circular corrals where the trainer was working a young quarter horse with long ropes. The water wagon and draft horses were parked at the edge of the corral. “Good morning, Jeb,” said James. “Looks like you are about ready to water down the track.”

  “Yep, soon as I am done with this little fella. Just a minute.” Jeb gripped the lunge line with his crippled, arthritic hands, yelled “whoa,” and the foal came to a stop. The old trainer led the horse back to the fence, tied him to a rail and walked back to the Glidewells. Jeb chuckled, exposing his tobacco stained teeth, when Mary showed him the two bandanas. “I heard about these from the younger ones. Why, the stories of these bandanas keeps us in stitches.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, I don’t see no harm in tellin’. Josie ain’t too careful with her bandanas and sometimes the signals get wrong. Just funny, I guess. I ain’t never done nothin’ with her, just hear about it. Guess she got kicked out of the stable and tack room by Wembley. Now she’s set up right in the bunkhouse linen closet.” Jeb laughed again. “Good place, ’cause Wembley don’t go there.”

  “Thank you, Jeb,” said James.

  Jeb scratched his scraggly beard and said, “No crime to it. Right, boss?”

  “No crime telling the truth,” James said. He reached to shake the horse trainer’s gnarled hand. “We are disappointed to learn about the linen closet. Just isn’t how we like to run our horse center.”

  “Seems a hard thing to keep down when you got a willin’ girl,” said Jeb. Mary looked at James, raised her eyebrows and nodded as she and James left Jeb to his work.

  “Guess you were right. Seems Josie is back in business.”

  “We need one more witness.”

  Just then Capp walked up. Mary showed him the bandanas. Capp looked at the pieces of cloth for a moment, sighed loudly. “I wasn’t honest last night.” Pointing to the bandanas he said, “I know about those bandanas, about the linen closet, the stable and the tack room. I’ve been foolin’ with her since she started. Seems she took a liking to me. I was her first,” said Capp. “She never charged me. I sure am feelin’ bad about it. Told my dad. He took me down pretty good.”

  “Capp, you have an important position here. I don’t know why you would do such a thing. Things are going to change. Josie will be leaving soon,” Mary said. “Why, if you weren’t Wil’s son, you’d be gone too.”

  “Mary, please don’t say such a thing,” interrupted James. “We will write some rules, Capp. It will make it easier for you to stay out of trouble and for Wil to enforce the rules,” said James.

  Before Capp turned to leave, Mary said, “Maizie won’t be seeing you anymore.” There was no doubting her resolve, her eyes said it all.

  “Yes ma’am. I’m truly sorry. But I didn’t do nothing wrong.” Mary caught James nodding his head in response, necessitating her to conclude, “Seems you aren’t the only one that
feels that way. But I see plenty wrong with it.”

  Chapter 18

  The Leaving

  Leon ushered Josie into Mary’s office. Josie, gripping a piece of paper, took a seat in the chair across from Mary’s orderly desk. Mary put down her pen and looked up. “Good morning, Josie. Thank you for coming.” Josie didn’t answer; she only stared at Mary.

  “Josie, do you have a list of things you do to make Glidewell a better place?”

  “Hard for me to go give myself compliments. Seems too prideful.” Josie handed the small piece of paper to Mary.

  “Guess that’s why your list is so short.”

  “Guess it is.” Mary held Josie’s short list in her hand. After reading it quickly, she looked up and said, “I see here you feel you do all your work.”

  “Oh yes, Mrs. Glidewell.”

  “I have heard no complaints about your housekeeping or your laundering. Thank you for doing all your work.” Josie shoulders relaxed and her face softened for the first time since the interview started. However, Mary had more to say. “Is the linen closet alcove part of all your work?”

  “Yes, it is. I keep all my areas clean and tidy.”

  “Then how is it the area was not clean and tidy today?”

  Josie hesitated. “I was just about to clean and organize in there, when you came in.”

  Mary looked down at the small piece of paper in her hand. “I see here you are friendly to all people who work at the backside.”

  “I do believe that is enough, Mrs. Glidewell. I would think that would be a real good employee, what I do,” Josie said with a hint of irritation. Mary unlocked and opened the small drawer above the kneehole of her desk. She pulled out the two bandanas. Josie straightened her back and waited.

  “I think it would be wise to tell me what you know. If you tell me the truth, I may be more inclined to write you a better reference.” Josie still wasn’t talking as she nervously wrung her hands. She began to dislike Mary.