by Jaclyn Hardy
“That may be the case, but if I don’t go with you, my wife will probably finish what Gregory started.”
The man laughed, but it turned into a groan. “I suppose you’re right.”
The door opened and Charlotte rushed out. “What’s going on—is that blood?”
“Help him in and I’ll be back. Start some hot water so we can clean their wounds.” Joshua made sure that the man could walk before he turned and ran back to help with the others. He passed Gregory with two of his men leaning against him. “Charlotte is inside getting hot water. I’ll be back.”
Gregory simply nodded and continued on his way, grunting with each step. By that time darkness had completely fallen, and he had to listen for the cries of pain so he knew where to find the others.
“Can any of you walk?” Joshua picked up one of the men. “If so, I need you to help the others. I don’t care which side of the argument you’re on. There are enough wild animals out here, that I don’t want anyone to be left behind.”
He hefted the man over one of the horses and turned to find two other men helping with the wounded. When they had gathered everyone, Joshua led the horses back to the house, hoping the scent of blood in the area wouldn’t bring mountain lions down.
The door to the house was still open, allowing light outside. By the time everyone was in, their small living room was filled. There were plenty of glares to go around as they worked in silence to bandage the wounded.
An argument broke out over the last couple of bandages, and Charlotte stepped in, snatching it from the two men. “That’s enough. I won’t have any more fighting tonight. You help each other, or I’ll ask you to leave.”
One man stood and stalked toward the door. “I don’t want to be here with this filth anyway.”
The house was silent as soon as he left. Joshua followed him to make sure he didn’t steal any of the other horses. As soon as the man was off his property, Joshua went back inside the house, his heart still pounding. He pushed away the fear and anger and got to work. Plenty needed to be said to fix what happened, but that would wait until tomorrow. For now, there were injuries to bandage. It was going to be a long night.
Charlotte stared up at the ceiling, trying to will herself to sleep. Her mind kept running through everything that happened the night before, but she still couldn’t believe she’d actually been part of the whole gunfight. Well, not the fight itself, but it had been real enough.
She’d never been so terrified in her life, and after the first fight had broken out, she was scared to death that they’d start up again.
Charlotte rolled over to find that Joshua was already gone. She sat up and stretched, her muscles screaming from overuse. Her messy dresses were piled up in the corner, but she wouldn’t be able to wash them until all the men were gone. She changed quickly and opened the door to find the men still sleeping.
The bread was almost gone, and their supplies were already low, but Charlotte knew everyone would need their strength before they could leave. She started some soup and cut the bread as thin as possible. Ten men in all. Ten men who had needed to be treated after a fight over land. Charlotte shook her head. Men.
Joshua came in a few minutes later and set the bucket of milk on the counter. He filled cups with milk and set them on the table. “Good morning.”
Charlotte sniffed. “It’ll be a better morning once everyone is gone.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Joshua chuckled. “I’m going to check on them and see if I can get them up and moving.”
Charlotte nodded and went back to the soup on the stove. No need to burn another dish while they had company. Some were up by the time the food was ready, others were lying still. Joshua tended to them, but by the look on his face, things didn’t look good.
“Thank you for taking us in.” A young man held the bowl he’d been given. “You saved our lives last night.”
“You’re welcome.” Charlotte smiled at him and filled another bowl with soup. As upset as she was that they were here, she couldn’t help worrying about the wives who didn’t have their husbands come home the night before. “We can have a doctor come out to check on you as soon as breakfast is done.”
The man shook his head. “We won’t inconvenience you any more than we have to, ma’am. You’ve already done enough.”
“It’s Charlotte. Not ma’am.” Charlotte handed him a cup of milk.
“William.” He balanced his bowl so he could reach out to take her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Charlotte nodded. “Too bad it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
It was another couple of hours by the time her house was finally empty. Her floor was a mess from boots, and other things she didn’t want to think about. She grabbed a scrub brush and dumped water onto the floor to clean it. Joshua came in a few minutes later and got down on his knees and used one of the bars of soap to clean behind her.
“You did well last night.” Joshua’s voice broke the silence. “I apologize for bringing the wounded here.”
“There was nowhere else to take them. And they’re lucky I knew how to do embroidery, or I wouldn’t have known how to help.” She shuddered at the memory of having to use her needle and thread the night before. She would have to get new ones before she could sew again.
Once they’d gone over the floor a couple more times, Charlotte was finally satisfied that it was clean. The image from last night would be etched into her brain, but at least for now, her house smelled of soap, and her floors sparkled. Well, they didn’t sparkle, but they were much cleaner.
Charlotte threw out the last of the dirty water and washed her hands. Joshua stood on the back porch, pouring milk into the butter churn.
“Will you teach me how to do it? I’ve seen my cook and a few of the other servants make it, but I’ve never done it myself.”
“Yes. I’ll have you do this while I start the cheese. You can learn how to do that part later.”
Charlotte nodded. “You’ll have to teach me how.”
“It’s simple. You move this handle up and down until the butter is ready.” Joshua demonstrated and then backed up so Charlotte could try.
“You’re not going to boil it?”
Joshua pointed at the bucket. “I did while we were scrubbing. You didn’t notice the smell?”
“No. But then I was up to my elbows in soapy water.” Charlotte took a seat in front of the churn and pulled up. And then she yanked on it. Slowly, the plunger moved up, and then she had to push it back down. This was going to be a little harder than she thought.
“Would you like to trade places? I can make the butter if you want to do the cheese.”
Charlotte raised her eyebrows. “You really trust me with that? I’ll stick with this. See? This time it was easier for me. I just have to get used to it.”
Joshua stood there for a moment while Charlotte did her best to pretend like her arms weren’t already in agony from the few times she’d churned the butter. The pioneer women out here had to be pretty strongly built to be able to do this all day.
When he was satisfied that things were under control, Joshua went inside to start the cheese. Charlotte kept pushing and pulling, hoping that something was actually happening inside the churn. Surely there had to be an easier way to make butter.
Joshua came out a few times to check on her and when it was ready, he helped strain the milk and scrape the butter off the sides. “See what you did? You made butter.”
Charlotte grinned. “Yes, I did. What do we do next?”
“We’ll form it into squares. Some of this we’ll keep, and some we can take into town to trade or sell.”
Charlotte watched what Joshua was doing with his part of the butter, then she formed her part into a block as well. She couldn’t wait to try the butter on some bread. Butter she made all by herself. Well, with the help of Joshua. But still. She made this.
Once that was set and the rest of the sweet cream had been put away, Charlotte went to see what was
going on inside. On her way to the kitchen, she froze when she saw movement outside the front window. They couldn’t possibly start another battle, could they?
Joshua turned from the stove. “The cheese is—what’s wrong?”
“Outside.” It was all she could get out as fear clutched her heart.
Joshua stalked over to the front door and opened it. His glare turned to surprise as Gregory appeared on the front step. Joshua gestured for Charlotte to come closer.
Gregory held his hat in his hands, clutching it nervously. “We wanted to apologize for the inconvenience we caused you last night. You took us in when you had every right to turn us away. It won’t happen again.”
“We’re glad we could help.” Charlotte glanced behind Gregory. “Is there something else we can help you with? We don’t have much—”
“That’s actually why we’re here,” Gregory interrupted. He turned and gestured for the others to come closer.
The other men climbed off their horses or carts and came forward, each holding supplies in their arms. Some limped, and Charlotte was surprised to see that there were a few women among them.
One by one they came up the steps and handed Charlotte meats, cheese, flour, loaves of bread, and vegetables. Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears as she set the items on the table and went back to get more. Her pantry and the cellar would be filled with what they brought. And she could make something other than beans for dinner.
Charlotte set another loaf of bread on the counter and turned to find that Joshua had disappeared. She went to the door to find him helping some of the men pull boards out of the back of their cart. Their lumber must have arrived early. But then . . . why would these people have it?
She went out to where they were stacking the wood. Joshua gave her a shocked look and turned back to Gregory.
“Really, you have done so much. We can take it from here.” Joshua held out a hand, but Gregory laughed.
“You can’t put up a barn by yourself. Besides, you helped build ours. Show us what you want, and we’ll get started.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened. They were going to help with the barn? One of the women stepped up next to her.
“You must be Charlotte. I’m Gregory’s wife, Maggie.” She held out a hand.
“This is too much. You didn’t have to do all of this.” Charlotte fought back tears.
Maggie laughed. “We know, but we wanted to show our thanks. You saved a lot of people last night.”
Charlotte shook her head. “We just did what anyone would do. We couldn’t let them die out there.”
“Many would have.” Maggie frowned. “Tempers are high, and I fear this won’t be the last. I just know we won’t be part of it.”
The men walked along the borders Joshua had put together so they would know how big to build the barn. Others were already building walls or digging along the border.
Charlotte turned to Maggie. “What can I do? I don’t like just sitting here while others are working.”
“They’ll need food and water. But first let’s get everything put away.”
“Good idea.” Charlotte had to move things around in the pantry in order to fit more of the canned vegetables and baking necessities. Most of this must have been from the neighbors’ own storage. Her eyes again filled with tears seeing her once-empty cupboards stuffed full. She would make this up to them. As soon as she knew how to can. Or bake.
For now, she wanted to make something different. “Maggie, would you start on sandwiches? We should have enough bread and I believe I saw ham somewhere as well.”
“All right. They’re going to need water as well. Do you have something other than the milk can out there that will work to serve them?”
Charlotte frowned. “I don’t know that we do. I would have to ask Joshua.” Charlotte tapped her fingers on the counter.
“We can just use the milk can as long as you have a ladle.”
“I do have that.” Charlotte got it out of the drawer and handed it to Maggie, taking a mental note to sanitize the can and the ladle as soon as everyone left.
Charlotte then pulled out sugar, flour, and the butter she’d made. Naomi had taught her to make cookies before leaving, and now that she was a little more comfortable with the oven, she wanted to try them. Anything to help those who were helping her.
While Maggie made sandwiches and filled Charlotte in on the battles happening with the sheep and cattlemen, Charlotte mixed the dough for the cookies. She had to use a cup to make the circles and filled a cookie sheet.
“What have you got there?” Maggie asked, peering over Charlotte’s shoulder.
“Sugar cookies. I just hope I can get them to turn out right. Maybe I’ll try some snickerdoodles next. I think I saw some cinnamon in the pantry somewhere.” Charlotte went through the cupboards and found the cinnamon, then got a bowl to dip the cookies in.
Maggie raised her eyebrows. “Snicker what?”
“Snickerdoodles. I’ll show you in a minute.” Charlotte checked the stove and added some wood to the fire. She didn’t want it too hot, but she had to make sure it actually cooked. When she was satisfied, she slid the pan into the oven.
Charlotte rolled more dough out and cut out more circles. This time she set the cookie into cinnamon and sugar, making sure it was covered. Once she was done with that, she checked on the first cookies. They were a nice golden brown, and Charlotte sighed in relief. Now if she could just get the next batch to go that well.
“Those smell delicious.” Maggie finished up the last of the sandwiches. “Where did you learn to make them?”
“Naomi. My serv—my friend back home.” Charlotte finished the last batch of cookies and set the bowl into the sink to wash later. “Once these are done, we can get the water out to the men.”
Maggie took a tray from the cupboard and piled sandwiches on it. “I’m going to take these out now and then come back to see how I can help.”
“Thank you.” Charlotte checked on the cookies again. They didn’t look quite done yet, so Charlotte went out to get some water for washing dishes. There wasn’t much water left in the bucket, which meant she would have to fill it before taking it to the men.
The cookies were done by the time she got back in, so she pulled them out and put in the last batch. It felt good to be baking treats again instead of meals out of the same few ingredients every night. Hopefully Joshua would like them.
Maggie came in through the front door. “They were ravenous. It’s a good thing you made the cookies.”
“Let’s hope the men feel the same way after they eat them.” Charlotte scooped the cookies off the pan and set them on the plate. “The water will need to be refilled before we take it out to them.”
Maggie went out to the back porch. “I think this is fine. You take the cookies, and then we can carry this around to the front.”
Charlotte nodded and opened the front door. Men laughed and yelled to each other as they worked. The frame of the barn was already coming together nicely. Charlotte searched the group until she spotted Joshua talking to Gregory by the pile of wood they were using to build.
She picked her way around the sage brush and waited for them to stop talking. “I brought these out for you and the others.”
Joshua took one of the snickerdoodles off the plate. “Cookies? Did you make these?”
“Is that so surprising?” Charlotte raised her eyebrows.
“No. You just haven’t made them before.” He took a bite, chewing slowly.
Charlotte glanced down at the plate. Had she put something in the cookies she wasn’t supposed to? Or maybe not cooked them enough?
“These are wonderful. Is that cinnamon?” Joshua took another one.
“Yes. You really like them?” Charlotte was annoyed at how pleased it made her to have him praise her cookies, but after all the other disasters she couldn’t blame him.
Gregory took one next and took a bite. “You need to teach my wife how to make these. They’r
e excellent.”
Charlotte smiled. “She was right there when I made them, but I’m sure I can give her the recipe.”
Joshua called to the other men, and soon Charlotte was surrounded by men snatching cookies off the plate. It was a good thing there was another tray inside, because otherwise she’d have a riot on her hands. She went back inside and refilled the plate.
“Did they like them?” Maggie stood in the kitchen eating one.
“Your husband wants me to give you the recipe.” Charlotte felt the heat rise in her face.
Maggie shook her head. “Don’t. You need to keep this recipe for yourself and sell or trade them. I have other cookies I can make. I can figure out something that’s close enough.”
Charlotte smiled. “You think they’d sell?”
“They finished off your plate and you’re in here getting more. That should tell you something.” She leaned closer. “But even more importantly, Gregory is rather picky when it comes to food and if he liked them enough to want me to make them, that tells me they’ll sell well.”
The disastrous berry pies could wait until later if that was true. And if those did well . . . “Do you ever get chocolate here? At the store, maybe?”
“Not often, but traders will bring it in when they need other supplies. You have to grab it quickly, or it’s gone.” Maggie tipped her head. “Why do you ask?”
“I could get it when I was back home. I just wondered how easy it is to come by here.” Charlotte picked up the plate. “I’d better get these out there.”
Maggie shook her head. “They’ve had enough. Save these. Let’s get the water out there before they all come inside.”
Charlotte laughed. “Fair enough.”
The milk can was a little too heavy for them to carry between them. Well, Maggie probably could have lifted it. Charlotte wasn’t quite used to the hard work it took to live here. She went back inside and found the biggest pot they had. It would have to do. Maggie primed the pump while Charlotte held the pot.
Since she was already out there, Charlotte took a few loads of water to the milk can to fill it, and then one more for the men.
