by Zina Abbott
In Denver, Bessie was particularly impressed with the new Union Depot that had just been completed but weeks before. Simon made arrangements for their crates to go on the Denver & Rio Grande Railway the following morning.
Afterwards, Simon situated the two of them in rooms in a hotel near to the station. “Enjoy a bath and a short rest, Bessie, and then we’ll get some dinner. Since it may be awhile before either of us gets back down this way, I’d also like to hire a carriage to take us for a short tour of the city. Would you like that?”
Bessie bit back her concern about the cost, and agreed with a smile. She hated that her uncle was spending so much money on her. She appreciated his kindness, no doubt motivated by his desire to help her through her grief. Even though she had known for a long time her mother was failing and would not live long, still Bessie intensely felt the loss.
As they took their ride through the city, Bessie found Denver to be a sophisticated city. She found it surprising considering how isolated it was from the east. She took special note of its electricity and trolleys, just like back home. She commented about it to her uncle.
With a twinkle in his eye, Simon warned her. “Enjoy it while you can, Bessie. Jubilee Springs has a lot going for it, but we don’t have electricity or trolleys yet. Soon, I hope. We aren’t big enough to require a trolley yet, but it would be nice to have electric lines and at least one or two telephones in town.”
“That’s all right, Uncle Simon. I’m used to living with kerosene lamps. The boarding house where Ma and I lived was in an older part of town, and it hasn’t been upgraded.”
Simon smiled, but did not reply. They both were aware Mrs. Johnson was barely making a living. It was doubtful the hard-working landlady would ever get money ahead enough to install either electricity or a bathing room in her building. Simon had heard a few homes in Jubilee Springs had bathing rooms—in fact, he had ordered in a claw-foot tub special for the banker, Gerald Shumaker. However, because they were so high in the mountains, unless the Prosperity Mine brought in electricity, there would probably be none for Jubilee Springs for a while.
They both knew the reason they had to send telegrams was because there were no telephones in Jubilee Springs yet.
Bessie found the train ride up the mountains to Jubilee Springs fascinating. She loved watching the rushing water of the Arkansas River. In contrast to the Ohio River south of where she had lived and the Mississippi, the Arkansas River was not nearly as big. Instead of meandering and slowly flowing, it dashed and tumbled over boulders and around bends with a wildness that Bessie suspected represented the region as a whole. She noted the air felt much drier. Although the temperature was not as warm as a mid-summer’s day in the greater Ohio Valley region, the dryness probably accounted for the grass being dry and tan with very little green. The evergreen trees so much more plentiful as compared to the deciduous hardwood trees from her home were green and beautiful, but rocks competed for grass in much of the soil. Although the scenes outside the passenger car of the railroad revealed a different kind of beauty than that to which she was accustomed, it appealed to her.
Bessie sat back in her seat and stared straight ahead.
It is well this appeals to me. This is my new home.
Bessie no sooner stepped off the train while being assisted by her uncle than she looked up to see her Aunt Desi, arms outstretched, running towards her. Before she knew it, Desi wrapped her in a bear hug.
Desi stepped back and clasped both of Bessie’s shoulders. “Oh, Bessie, it is so good to see you again. I just wish the circumstances that brought you here had been different.”
“Thank you, Aunt Desi. I’m happy to be here. Ma wanted me to come. She said if her health hadn’t been so bad, she would have liked to have moved out here with you.”
Desi signed and shook her head with regret. “I wish I had known that. I know hindsight is better than foresight, but I wish things hadn’t been so hectic when we sold the other store and made the move west. We should have somehow made it over to see you and Eveline. If I had known she wanted to come, we would have packed you two up and brought you with us.”
“It’s better this way. She’s buried next to Pa.”
Simon’s voice interrupted. “Say, now, don’t I get a welcome home?”
With a laugh Desi turned and gave her husband a hug while Bessie looked on. It touched Bessie’s heart to see two people who had been married as long as her aunt and uncle still enjoy each other’s company, and who missed each other when they were apart. She fought down a sense of longing, of the emptiness she occasionally felt over the understanding that having such a relationship with another person would never be part of her life. She felt grateful she still had her aunt and uncle, and she would be living close to Aaron, her cousin-twin. However, she would have to settle for being content as her nieces’ and nephews’ maiden aunt.
Simon stepped back and looked Desi in the eye. “As good as it is to see you after all this time, my dear, I have one question. Who is minding the store?”
“Desi laughed as though extremely pleased with herself. “Andrea is. She insisted I come. She pointed out that the store doesn’t tend to get very busy this time of day, and most of the men are still at work. Besides, Aaron arranged with Johnny B. at the livery for me to use a wagon, so she assured me she could handle the mercantile the short time it would take to bring you two home.”
“A wagon? Why do we need a wagon to circle the block?”
Desi leaned back and blinked. “Well, if it was just the two of you with a valise each, we wouldn’t. However, none of us knew how much Bessie would be bringing from Indiana. We wanted to make sure we could get everything home in one trip.”
Simon glanced uncomfortably at Bessie while Bessie looked down at her fidgeting fingers. She answered her aunt’s question. “I didn’t bring much, Aunt Desi. Ma and I sold all the furniture when we sold the house. Most of what we had were small items that fit in our room at the boarding house. Over time, some of it was sold to cover Ma’s expenses. I wanted to sell some more to cover more of our debt…” Bessie glanced up at Simon with a smile. “…but Uncle Simon insisted I bring what was left of the family things with me. I have Ma’s old trunk and my trunk plus my valise, and that’s about it.”
“Then it is certainly good I brought the wagon. I don’t feel like helping to haul two trunks home. Give me your valise, Simon. Unless you filled it with rocks or gold, I can manage it as far as the wagon. You find the trunks while bring the wagon around.” Without waiting for a response, Desi took the valise from her husband’s hand. She spun on the ball of her foot and walked in the direction of the street. Simon motioned for Bessie to follow him to where they were unloading freight from one of the cars.
“Hey, excuse me, miss, but you one of them brides?”
Bessie only halfway heard the question as she tried to keep up with her uncle. It never occurred to her that the person who asked it might have been addressing her until she nearly collided with a man who came up from behind her and stepped in front of her. She almost tripped with the effort to stop before she collided with him.
“Excuse me, but I’m with my uncle, and you’re blocking my path.”
“Sorry, miss. Or maybe it’s ma’am. I’m just wanting to know if you’re one of them brides for the miners.” At Bessie’s startled look, the man quickly grabbed his hat from his head which sent hair that needed a trim and grooming flying several directions. “I don’t mean no disrespect miss…ma’am…just curious, is all. I know there’s been several men who paid for a wife and they’re still waiting for their intendeds to show up.”
“Yes, I heard about that. My cousin recently married a bride he met through an agency. But, I, sir, am not one of them. If you’ll please let me pass…”
The man snapped out his question before Bessie could finish her sentence. “Who’s you’re cousin?”
Bessie’s lip quavered as she considered how to answer. She realized she had already said far too
much. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t know you and I’d rather not say. Now, if you will please let me pass…”
“You was with ol’ Mr. Brinks from the mercantile. Never mind, miss, I can figure it from there. You have a real nice day, now.” The man nodded at Bessie as he shoved his hat back on his head, the gesture doing nothing to straighten out his messy hair or improve his appearance. He hurried away leaving Bessie feeling like she had made a major mistake.
Fortunately, the depot at Jubilee Springs wasn’t that big. She looked forward and spotted her uncle talking to a porter about her two trunks. She also spotted her aunt sitting on the seat of a short buckboard. Still carrying her valise, she started towards the wagon. After tossing her valise in with her uncle’s she climbed up in the seat with Desi.
Desi looked at her, an eyebrow raised with a question. “What did that man want from you? He wasn’t trying to panhandle or convince you to go with him, was he?”
Bessie shook her head. “No, nothing like that. He wanted to know if I was one of the brides for the miners. It took me a few seconds to realize what he was talking about. Unfortunately, I think I spoke when I shouldn’t have. I did mention about Aaron having married a bride recently, but I didn’t use his name.” Bessie paused. She turned to her aunt, worry creasing her forehead. “Would men really stand around the train platform to try to convince women to go with them?”
Desi laughed and brushed off the question. “Only if Lance James has a new woman for his bordello scheduled to come in. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Bordello? Jubilee Springs is big enough to have a house of ill repute?”
Desi fought to smother a smile as she studied her niece. “Bessie, honey, it doesn’t matter if it is a mining town, a railroad town, a fort or any other kind of place where mostly men come to where not long before there was nothing. The first business that shows up is a saloon, followed shortly by prostitutes. Even before Jubilee Springs really got a start as a town, the Bainbridge brothers gave permission for a saloon with rooms upstairs for working girls to be built on mining company land, not too awful far from where the single men live. One of the first things you want to learn about this town is there are two bridges across the river. The roads crossing both of them lead to the mine. The one on the west isn’t far from the school and leads to the married miners’ housing where Aaron and Andrea now live. That is the one you want to take.”
Bessie saw her uncle and the porter approach the back of the wagon with the trunks. She knew she only had a few more seconds to get her next answer. “And the road over the other bridge?”
“It goes past the Corner Saloon and the sawmill, both places with men who will call out to you which means you do not want to say or do anything to encourage them. Once you cross the river, you get to the single miners’ boarding house and the Silver Dollar Saloon with the bordello upstairs. You do not want to ever go that way, especially not alone.”
Before Bessie could comment, Simon climbed in the seat of the wagon and grabbed the leads. He called out and waved to the departing porter. After he started the horses moving, he turned to the two women. “Anything interesting happen while I was busy?”
Desi chuckled. “Bessie just had her first experience with one of Jubilee Spring’s finest. A man approached her to ask if she was one of the brides.”
Simon shook his head and responded good-naturedly. “Be careful how you answer that one, Bessie. If you give one of these men any encouragement, you’ll find yourself married before you know it.”
Bessie turned to face forward, straightening her spine to sit the way she had been taught. “Surely not, Uncle Simon. I felt he was just being nosy, but certainly he had no interest in me, not at my age.”
Simon grew serious. “Bessie, a new single woman showing up in this town is big news, almost as big as hearing about an assassination attempt against the President of the United States. Some would be happier if the new woman came to work across the river…” Simon paused and glanced at Desi.
“I already warned her about the Silver Dollar, Simon. She knows to go the direction we’re headed, not the other way.” Desi turned to Bessie. “And, when you walk our street, go no further than the bank unless you are visiting one of the houses on River Road. That way you’ll stay away from people who could cause you trouble.”
Simon leaned forward to catch Bessie’s eye. “This is really a good little town and is probably a lot safer than where you and Eveline were living. You just need to be aware of a few things and not be too trusting of some of the men in town.”
“Simon, she already as much as told the man she’s related to Aaron.”
Simon grinned as he urged the horse around the corner between the schoolyard and the livery in an effort to convince the animal it was not yet time for it to return to its home in the livery corral. “Well, Bessie, it sounds like Aaron will have a lot of fun at work tomorrow explaining you to all the curious men he works with.”
Simon steered the wagon down the alley to a back door with a set of wooden stairs over it that led to the second floor. He got down out of the wagon and helped Desi and Bessie down. Keeping hold of his niece’s hand, he explained the set-up. “This downstairs door leads to the storeroom at the back of the store. The stairs lead up to the private quarters upstairs. We’re putting you in the room Aaron used to sleep in. I’ll move the trunks into the storeroom downstairs for now. Unless you need something out of one, I’ll wait until Aaron is here to help me bring them up the stairs.
“That will be fine, Uncle Simon. For now, I have everything I need in my valise.”
Simon reached in the back of the wagon and grabbed Bessie’s luggage and handed it to her. Desi picked up Simon’s then motioned towards the stairs. “Let’s go upstairs so you can get your bearings and freshen up a little, then I’ll take you down to meet Aaron’s wife if she’s still here by then. I know Simon will want to go in to check on Andrea and make sure the place hasn’t fallen apart while he’s been gone.”
In the process of unlocking the back downstairs door, Simon turned to his wife. “Now, Desi, I have faith in you. I do want Andrea to know we’re back and make sure all went smoothly while she watched the store by herself.”
Bessie followed her aunt up the stairs. After Desi showed her the room where she would be staying and pointed out where everything was in their upstairs living quarters, Bessie turned to her. “Before we go down, what Uncle Simon said about Andrea has me puzzled. Is there a reason why she wouldn’t be all right being alone in the store?”
Desi waved away Bessie’s concern. “No. You’ll find Andrea is quite shy and not always too sure of herself around other people. She was happy about learning to work with the mail while Simon was gone so I could cover the store, but I noticed when it got busy, she did step forward and help a few people, mostly women. She’s…had some bad experiences with a man on her father’s ranch, so she isn’t as comfortable around men. But, she and Aaron get along really well. They don’t talk a lot, but they communicate in other ways. It’s fun to watch. Although, your uncle insists the reason neither one says too much is they can’t get a word in edgewise with me around.”
“Bessie laughed quietly. “Uncle Simon is pretty good at talking too.”
“Good! I’m glad someone else besides me has noticed that. Now, let’s go down so you can meet your new cousin-in-law.”
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CHAPTER 7
~o0o~
Bessie met Andrea Brinks who had returned to working with the mail behind the post office counter now Simon was back. She listened as Andrea gave Desi a report on what had taken place while she covered the store alone that morning. Then Bessie and Andrea visited a few minutes. Bessie’s first impression of Andrea was her new cousin-in-law was indeed quiet and shy, but someone she would enjoy getting to know better. After Andrea had said her goodbyes, and promised that she and Aaron would be there for supper that night so the two cousi
ns could be reunited, Bessie began to survey the mercantile. It resembled the one the couple had owned back in Indianapolis.
While Desi walked over to help a customer, Simon walked up to Bessie and took her hand in his. “Bessie, you have a room upstairs with us as long as you want to stay. What are your plans now? Is there a particular kind of work you enjoy? If you wish to work, that is. No one expects you to.”
Puzzled, Bessie looked at her uncle. “Of course I plan to work, Uncle Simon. I will help Aunt Desi take care of the living quarters and prepare food, but I have no desire to sit around like a lady of leisure and stare at the four walls while you two work hard down here. Besides, Uncle, I have debts I need to pay. I especially need to somehow pay you back for covering all the expense with Mrs. Johnson.”
Simon brushed off her comment with a wave. “Don’t worry about that, Bessie. I have been doing better with the store this past year. I should have been paying close enough attention to what you were really saying behind your glowing words to know I should have sent money back to help you and my sister sooner. If you wish to work, we can use you here in the mercantile during our busy times. I know you worked for a hotel in Terre Haute. If you enjoy that, I can introduce you to the owner of the River Valley Inn, Jude Debenham, and you can inquire about a position there.”
Bessie softly laughed and shook her head. “Uncle Simon, the work I did for the hotel involved washing dishes and scrubbing pans, then helping launder the linens in between meals. Although it paid for our room and put food on the table, it was not the job of my dreams.”
