by Kit Morgan
Bella’s mouth hung open, and Calvin could tell she was trying to wrap her head around what Ma was saying. “I only say, what happens in my country. Not here. Charity, she … strong woman.” She glanced around the table. “Much stronger than me.” She got up, ran from the kitchen and up the stairs.
“She’s sure in a big hurry to apologize,” Daniel said as he stared after her.
“Calvin, get on up there and see what’s the matter with your wife,” Ma snapped. “Or at least see if she is actually apologizing.”
Calvin gave her a helpless shrug. “What am I supposed to do?”
“You’re married – figure it out!”
Calvin rose from his chair, shrugged and trudged up the stairs.
“I’d best go tell Samijo what all the fuss is about before she gets to worryin’,” Arlan said as he too got up. “Lunch was great, Ma.”
“Tell Bella, not me,” she said as she folded her arms across her chest.
“I will. When I can.” He left.
Daniel looked around the near-empty table, then at his mother. “Ma?”
“Yes, son?” she asked as she glared at nothing in particular.
“Do me a favor.”
She looked at him, her glare dissipating. “What?”
He swallowed hard. “Please don’t get me a mail-order bride for a spell. I don’t think I can take it.”
She laughed. “Don’t you worry none, Daniel. By the time you’re ready for a wife, you’ll have learned enough from your brothers’ mistakes to know all there is about being a good husband.”
He sighed in relief. “I’m glad I get to learn from them and not the other way around.”
“Why’s that?”
“Cause if’n it were me married to one of them gals, I might have to shoot myself.”
Ma Weaver gave her son a blank stare, then burst into laughter. “Don’t worry, son. If there’s any shooting to be done around here, I’ll do it.”
* * *
When Calvin reached the top of the stairs the first thing he noticed was that both bedroom doors were shut. Uh-oh …
He went to his room, knocked, then opened the door and peeked inside. At least it wasn’t locked. “Bella, darlin’, ya okay?” He slipped inside. She stood at the window, her arms folded in front of her, staring at nothing. So, not apologizing then. “Bella?”
“Go away.”
He went to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Bella, enough.”
She turned to him, her eyes full of tears. “No, never enough.”
“Bella, what’s the matter?”
Her lower lip trembled. “I … not strong like Charity. I’ve done bad too.”
Calvin blanched. “Wha … what kind of bad?”
“I run away from my father.”
Calvin stood in shock. It was one thing to have his brother tell the family about Charity’s ordeal and his decision to stick by her side no matter what, another to have his wife confess something of her own. He gulped. “Tell me.”
She tried to turn away, but he held her fast. “Charity, she so much better than I.”
“Bella, what are ya talkin’ about? How is she better?”
“She face what happen to her. She take it like a bull and wrestle it to the ground! I not so much as … look at same bull.”
Calvin stared at her, his face a mask of confusion. “What bull?”
She looked at him, fire in her eyes. “Giuseppi Dellavedova!” she said and spat on the floor.
Calvin jumped back a step. “What? Who? And what’s with the spittin’?”
“He the man my father want me to marry!” she said, throwing her hands in the air and beginning to pace in a tight circle. “I no want to marry such a man. He bad man, very bad, like this John Tyler-pit. So I run away.”
Calvin shrugged. “That doesn’t sound so bad. I think I’d done the same thing if’n I were you.”
She spun to face him. “You no understand. I leave my father, but I also leave my sisters and brothers!”
“Ya got sisters and brothers?” Calvin squeaked. “How … how many?”
She folded her arms across her chest again and looked at the floor. “Seven.”
“Seven?!”
“Four girl, three boy.”
Calvin walked over to the bed and sat. “Seven … wow.”
“They live with my aunt and uncle. It should be me who raise them, not relatives. But no, I think only of myself and run.”
Calvin still sat in shock. He thought he remembered her mentioning siblings in one of her letters, but couldn’t be sure. Even then, he figured a couple, but seven? “How old are they?” he asked, his voice strained.
Bella held her hand horizontally, then put it to her thigh first, followed by her hip, her waist, her chest and finally her chin. “More or less,” she finished. “I am oldest.”
“A bunch of younguns.”
“I should be like Charity and stay in New York, fight for them, do what I can to feed them.”
Calvin studied her. His wife had a fire and spirit he’d only glimpsed before. But now she was angry and her eyes burned with determination. To do what, he wasn’t sure, but had his suspicions. “How ya gonna do that when you’re married to me?” It was probably the wrong thing to ask, but he had a clue what was coming and wanted to see if he was right.
“What can I do?” she asked, her face helpless.
“I’m not sure…”
She went to the bed, sat next to him and gave him a pouty look.
“Whatcha ya doin’ darlin’? Why ya lookin’ at me like that?”
“I can think of only one thing to do,” she said, her voice soft. “But you have to agree. I no do this on my own.”
He gulped. “If’n you’re gonna say what I think you’re goin’ to, it ain’t just me ya gotta think about.”
“What, you read my mind? What am I to say?”
“You’re gonna ask if’n we can send for all them brothers and sisters of yours.”
Her eyes lit up. “Calvin! That a wonderful idea!” She threw her arms around him, knocking them both over onto the bed. She then started kissing him all over his face muttering thank you between each peck.
“Bella!” he cried and tried to pry her off. No use. Her arms were wrapped around his neck like a vise and she was still firing kisses at him. “Bella, Bella, let me up!” He kicked with his legs to try to get some leverage, but she had him pinned.
The door opened and Arlan stepped in. Calvin managed to raise his head enough to see him. “Help!” came out a strangled plea.
Arlan leaned against the door frame and smiled. “Help with what? Seems to me ya don’t need none.”
Bella stopped her onslaught long enough to look at Calvin’s brother. “I have the most wonderful husband in the world!”
“I’m glad ya think so,” Arlan commented. “Now tell yer wonderful husband it’s time we got back to work.”
Bella released Calvin’s neck, cupped his face with both hands and kissed him soundly on the mouth. She broke the kiss and kneeled on the bed next to him. “Io ti amo! Porteremo le mie sorelle e fratelli alla fattoria e noi tutti vivere come una famiglia felice!” She cried happily, tears in her eyes. She then jumped off the bed, grabbed her shawl off a chair, hurried past Arlan and out the door.
Arlan stepped into the hall to watch her bound down the stairs then turned to his brother, hands on hips. “What was that all about?”
Calvin pushed himself up to a sitting position, his face red from Bella’s mad kissing, his hair tousled. Even a few buttons on his shirt were undone. “I’m still trying to figger that out,” he croaked.
“Ya mean ya don’t know?”
“Close as I can come is, she thinks …” He stopped as realization hit. “… oh no.”
“Oh no what?”
Calvin jumped off the bed and almost knocked Arlan over as he ran into the hall and down the stairs. “Bella!”
Arlan righted himself and spun to the door. “Cal
vin?” he shouted. But his brother was already gone.
Twelve
Calvin raced outside, but Bella was nowhere in sight. Where did she go? He had to find her before the silly notion in her head became stuck there. He was not going to send for her seven brothers and sisters! Where would they put them all?!
He checked the barn – no sign of her there. He went back to the house, thinking maybe she hadn’t left it but was inside talking with Ma. He found his mother in her sewing room with Samijo. “Have ya seen Bella?”
“No, but I heard some shouting. What’s going on?”
Calvin groaned. “Nothin’ – I hope.” He went to search the rest of the house, but without success. He couldn’t find Bella anywhere. But she had to be around somewhere! He headed back outside.
Arlan stood in the middle of the barnyard, hands on his hips in annoyance as Calvin approached. “What’s goin’ on? What was Bella babblin’ about?”
“How should I know? I don’t speak Eyetalian!” Calvin said and mirrored his brother’s stance. They glanced around. It was as if the woman had disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Wait a minute – I think I know where she is,” Arlan said as he strode across the barnyard. “She’s at my place.”
“Why would she be there? Samijo’s in the house with Ma.”
“One, I think it’s the only place she knows ‘round here besides the house. Two, Charity’s there mindin’ the twins. Maybe Bella went to apologize.”
Calvin blew out a breath. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“C’mon, let’s go find out.”
Calvin followed Arlan through the orchard that led to his house, glad that his brother didn’t push the matter of the apology. He knew Bella needed to say something – he could see the hurt in Charity’s eyes at lunch. And it wasn’t only his wife that needed to apologize – Calvin and the rest of the family needed to let Charity know they were behind her and Benjamin, no matter what happened concerning their child. She also needed to know they’d see to it the farm was taken care of in case they had to travel back east to make sure that Pittman fella was brought to justice.
Calvin had to admit he was still shocked at the news - but even more shocked at his wife’s. Seven! Seven young brothers and sisters to contend with – that would be a lot more mouths to feed. There was no way Bella could handle that unless she married a rich man, which he wasn’t.
Yet something nagged at him. A small scrap of Scripture kept trying to form in his head, something about taking care of widows and orphans. But Bella’s siblings weren’t orphans. Their father was alive and they were staying with relatives. But what was their situation like? Were Bella’s relatives able to take care of them properly?
He was still wondering what to do when they reached Arlan’s cabin. Maybe he’d misunderstood his wife’s mix of English and Italian and she was just happy he didn’t mind that she had such a big family …
He had a feeling that wasn’t it, though.
The men entered the cabin to find Bella holding Charity in her arms. The twins were asleep in their cradles, undisturbed by the women’s soft weeping.
Wait a minute, Calvin thought. Why was Bella crying? “What’s the matter?”
His wife smiled at him, tears in her eyes. “We make up.”
Calvin and Arlan exchanged a quick glance. “Well … that’s good,” Calvin said. “Glad it was just a misunderstanding. Think of how ya might be wailin’ if ya had a real argument.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Men! You know nothing of women!”
Calvin half-expected her to spit when she’d said it. But no, she hugged Charity instead. “Well … that’s true enough. Ya ready to go? Or do you two need some more time?”
Charity looked at him, then wiped the tears from her face. “Remind me to have you around the next time I need help, Bella. You’re a strong woman.”
“No, not me. You … how you say … you inspire me.”
“Inspire ya to do what?” Calvin asked nervously. He dreaded what might come next. What would Arlan say about Bella wanting to send for her siblings? Maybe he ought to find out if he needed to worry first. “Well?”
“If she can go through this, then I can too,” Bella said proudly.
Calvin and Arlan weren’t following. “Go through what?” Arlan asked.
“Yeah, yer not havin’ a baby … yet, anyway,” Calvin added.
“You say you send for my brothers and sisters,” she stated.
There it was. Calvin gulped. “Actually, no … you said.”
Bella waved a dismissive hand in the air. “No matter who said, we send for.”
Calvin held up a hand. “We do not send for yet. We talk about it first.”
“What’re ya two sayin’?” Arlan groused. “What brothers and sisters?”
“Mine.” Bella jabbed a thumb at her chest.
“You have brothers and sisters?” Charity asked softly. “How many?”
“Seven,” Calvin replied dourly.
Arlan and Charity’s eyes rounded at the same time. “Seven!” They said in unison.
“We bring them here, yes?” Bella asked Calvin as she stepped away from Charity.
“Now, darlin’, this needs to be discussed in private first. That means the two of us, no one else.”
“Why?” She said then pointed at Arlan and Charity. “They already know.”
Calvin tried not to groan. “That’s beside the point. I never said …” He stopped, walked over to her and grabbed her hand. “… never mind, let’s go.” He pulled her away from Charity and headed for the door.
“No!” she protested. “We talk about it now!”
“We talk about it together, alone,” he insisted and pulled harder.
Bella dug her heels in, grabbed his wrist with her other hand and yanked him around to face her. “No, we talk here!”
Calvin yanked his hand from hers, put both hands on hips and glared down at her. His big brother was right – marriage was a huge responsibility. But if Arlan could deal with fatherhood, and Benjamin could deal as well (in spades!) then he should be able to reason with his wife. But she was being so stubborn! He knew in that moment he had two choices: give into her demands, or take charge.
So, he did the one thing he knew should work. Without warning he bent at the waist and threw her over his shoulder. “Let’s go discuss this.”
“Calvin!” Bella cried. “What you doing?”
“I am trying to have a private talk with ya, but ya won’t listen. So I’m takin’ ya someplace private.” His last word wasn’t quite a threat, but close enough. Let her worry. He turned to Arlan as Bella began to beat his back with her fists, a string of Italian flowing from her lips that didn’t need translating. “I’ll see ya later, Arlan. I gotta take care of this,” he yelled over her tantrum.
Arlan covered his mouth to stifle the laughter. “You go ahead – I’ll send Charity up to the house. Best she see to supper soon.”
Calvin gave him a curt nod as Bella continued to spew Italian threats and maledictions. After this, she might hightail it back to Nowhere, or even New York, but a man had to do what a man had to do. He strode out of the cabin, Bella still spitting and pummeling his back. He wondered how long it would take her to tire herself out. Maybe by the time they got where they were going, she’d be too tuckered to fight with him and would listen to what he had to say.
After a time they reached his favorite spot by the creek, the one place he felt the calmest. Hopefully, it would be a good place to talk some sense into his wife. Besides, if she didn’t calm down he could always toss her in the creek.
“Are ya done yet?” he asked. She was still hissing Italian like a she-cat, but at least she sounded out of breath.
“No!” she said, voice firm and pushed herself up from his back with her hands. “Put me down!”
“I’ll put ya down on one condition.”
“Condition? What this condition! Put me down!”
“No, ya gotta agree firs
t.”
“I no agree! Calvin Weaver, you put me down!”
“Nope.”
“Arrhhhhhh!” she groaned. “You impossible man!”
“And yer a stubborn woman. Now kiss me.”
“What?!”
He smiled and prayed this worked. He set her on her feet, pulled her into his chest and kissed her with everything he had.
She tried to pull away, then pushed at his chest, but he tangled his fingers in her hair and deepened the kiss. He heard a soft moan, then felt her body relax in his arms. By golly, if it wasn’t working! He smiled and kissed her some more.
She kissed him back. Calvin’s world caught fire as Bella moaned against his lips and her arms came around his neck.
When he broke the kiss her breathing was ragged. “No stop,” she said.
He smiled. “Well, I’m glad ya finally see things my way.”
She put a hand to the back of his head and pulled his face down for another kiss. This time she broke it off. “I see what needs to be done.”
He kissed her back. “I can understand that, but ya gotta see what else needs to be done.”
She kissed him harder. “I only know I must fix the wrong I did to my brothers and sisters.”
He gazed into her eyes, cupped her face with both hands and very gently touched his lips to hers. “It ain’t just us that has to make a decision like this, darlin’. Ya’d be asking my family and me to take on somethin’ we might not be equipped to. Seven more mouths to feed is a lot. Then where’d that leave ya? Ya’d have the same problem ya have now.”
She kissed him again, a small peck on the lips, then turned away and let her arms fall to her sides. “I know.”
Calvin caught the hurt in her eyes as she looked at him again. “This is why we need to talk about it. I understand how ya feel about them and all, but there’s only so much I and my family can do. Besides, ya ain’t given me none of the particulars. Where are they? Who exactly are they with? How long were your relatives plannin’ on keepin’ them? What exactly did yer pa do that ya had to run?”
