Kendrick

by Zina Abbott

  One man Kendrick did not know turned to him. “What you being so picky about? Just wanted to take a look-see at her. How’d you come by her, anyway?”

  Kendrick fisted his hands and almost snapped a sharp retort. He stopped himself just in time, realizing the less fuss made about Madeline’s origins, the better. “It’s fine for you to take a look at her, but do so from a distance. I’m running a butcher shop, not a menagerie. I brought the baby out here so I can watch her while I take care of business, and I’d prefer she stay asleep. What I’m saying is, please keep your voices down.” Kendrick turned to the men assembled in his crowded shop. “Now, gentlemen, in spite of the baby being the main attraction this morning, anyone here to buy meat?”

  The first of his customers stepped forward. Since he had sold the last of his beef the day before, Kendrick’s latest meat offerings were cured ham slices and sausages that he smoked the previous fall. Unfortunately, people were getting tired of salted and smoked meat. He shook his head. With summer heat coming any day was the wrong time of year for butchering hogs. He knew he needed to buy fresh beef on the hoof pretty quick.

  “Hear-tell the sheriff brought her to you.”

  Kendrick turned to his next customer, a man who seldom frequented his shop. He had hoped, after the debacle in his shop the day before, he had finished answering all the questions about Madeline. Evidently, having her here in the room with him prompted even more. He decided he might as well deal with the situation without getting into too many details. “He did.”

  “You ruin some young thing, and the father decided to push the problem off on you ’til you made an honest woman of her?”

  His face a mask of stone, Kendrick glared at the man. He did not want to answer every curious onlooker in the crowd individually, so he raised his voice. “The mother named me as the father. However, I did not father this child. Until I get the matter settled, I’m taking care of her.”

  “A likely story. No woman would do that unless you’re the father. You trying to get out of taking responsibility?”

  “None of your business. If you’re writing a book, find another topic. If you’re here to buy meat or eggs, what will you have?”

  The man sniffed in disgust. “Nothing. I’ll get my meat elsewhere.” He turned and pushed his way out of the crowd.

  The next customer pressed his hands on the counter and eyed the meat selection. “No steaks today?”

  Kendrick shook his head. “Been a mite busy the past few days.”

  “Ham steaks look good, but thought you should know. There's a notice tacked outside the post office where some rancher south of Sonora is looking to sell a couple head of beeves. You might look into it. I’m sure hankering for a good piece of beef.”

  Kendrick tucked that suggestion away in his memory. Yes, he could stand to buy a couple head, especially if the steers were not so old the meat would be tough as shoe leather.

  Hopefully, the rancher would let him butcher them there. He didn’t mind cutting and aging his meat on this property, but he wasn’t set up for driving cattle or slaughtering something that big behind the house. One butchered beef at a time, though, would not be too much of a load for Sunshine to haul up the hill.

  Kendrick glanced over at the crib. He hollered at a young man he guessed to be in his twenties. “Hey, what did I say? Keep your hands off the crib rail.” He returned his attention to the man who had told him about possible new source of beef. “Thanks for the tip. I'll look into it.”

  Kendrick nodded to his next customer who was interested in fresh eggs and a half of a ham steak. As he negotiated the sale, the direction of his thoughts discouraged him. Up until two days ago, taking Sunshine and his wagon on a ten-mile trip south of Sonora to butcher and bring back a whole steer would not have been daunting. However, he now had Madeline. How could he secure her to his wagon so she could stay safe and comfortable for what would prove to be a long, tedious day away from home? How would he take care of her on the trail?

  Kendrick clenched his jaw and shook his head. No, he couldn't do it. He wouldn't be able to take her with him. The Thompson girls had been more than helpful, but could only work in a couple of hours at a time, but they had their mother to answer to. He could not count on them. And although Mrs. Arnold at the Eagle Cottage was willing to watch Madeline for the two or less hours it took for him to deliver meat around town, she was not in a position to watch Madeline from the crack of dawn until the stars came out at night if the rancher didn’t have everything ready when he arrived. He smiled as he continued to conduct his business, while at the same time, he wracked his brain to figure out who he could find to properly take care of Madeline—someone he could trust—someone with whom little Madeline would be safe.

  As customers began to drift out of the shop with their purchases, and the looky-loos only present to satisfy their curiosity about the baby began to leave, Kendrick raised his eyebrows in surprise as the door once again swung open. In walked Jeb. Instead of him making eye contact with Kendrick, Jeb's gaze immediately sought out Madeline in her crib, and he walked toward it.

  Kendrick, his voice softer than it had been when he earlier issued warnings not to disturb the baby, called over to Jeb. “I've been telling customers not to touch the crib or the baby, Jeb. She's all cleaned up, and I don't want the dust of everyone's diggings getting on her. Besides, as you can see, she's taking a morning nap. I don't know how long babies sleep in the morning, but I want to take advantage of it as long as I can.”

  Jeb considered his words and then nodded. “Can’t blame you. My wife felt the same way. Said that was the only way she could get anything done in the morning.” His fingers interlaced behind his back, Jeb, without any part of his body touching the crib, leaned forward to study Madeline. “If she's about six months old, you don't have much longer. Then you'll be lucky if she still takes a good-size afternoon nap for a couple more years.” Standing straight once more, Jeb heaved a sigh, turned, and walked toward the counter.

  Recalling what Jeb had said about his family the day the sheriff brought Madeline, Kendrick eyed this customer that he both liked and empathized with, but who also irritated him, often at the same time. He sensed things were not going well with Jeb. “Anything I can do for you today, Jeb? You here to buy something or just to look at the baby?”

  Jeb pulled his poke from his pocket. As if gauging the amount of gold inside, he hefted the leather pouch several times.

  Watching him, Kendrick realized it was flatter than Kendrick was used to seeing it. He guessed Jeb had not been finding much color on his claim.

  Jeb turned his attention from his poke to Kendrick and offered a wry smile “Maybe I'll take an egg and a small piece of salt pork, just enough to flavor some beans for supper tonight.”

  Kendrick eyed the man as he considered the situation behind his words. “Looks like you've been going through a dry spell on your claim, Jeb. I know you haven't bought a steak for quite a while.”

  Jeb shook his head. “I’ve done better. All I’m finding lately is rock and dirt, but little color. The water's barely running, too. With my luck, I'll hit my next streak of gold dust after the streams are dry. Then I’ll have to take my dirt down to Springfield and pay that Mexican woman to use the water in her springs.”

  Kendrick studied the man who gazed off to the side. He ran his tongue over his top teeth as he considered the wisdom of what he was about to propose and whether or not he could afford it. After charging everything he needed to properly take care of the baby girl who had been foisted upon him, he had run up quite a bill at the mercantile. Mr. Magendie would carry his account and allow him to pay over time. However, if he ordered what he now had in mind, he would need to pay upon completion. Then again, it depended on whether or not Jeb accepted the offer he was about to present.

  Kendrick slid the egg basket toward Jeb before he turned and lifted the meat hook holding the chunk of salt pork off its bracket and placed it on the counter to cut. “Pick out the egg
you want, Jeb, and then tell me how much of the salt pork you need. You can take those two hard-boiled eggs with you, too, if you’ve a mind to, since I didn’t get them sold. After that, I have a question to ask you.”

  “What question is that? I’m still not changing any messy diapers.”

  “No, nothing like that.” Kendrick cleared his throat. “Jeb, you said the other day that you were a fair hand with carpentry. Is that true, or were you just joking around?”

  Jeb looked up from stuffing the two hard-cooked eggs in his pocket and his gaze met Kendrick’s. “I do masonry best, but I’m a good hand at carpentry. More than once, I’ve regretted selling my tools to pay for my kit to come out here.”

  “Do you think you could build a little rail about the same height as this counter to divide off the east side of this room? It needs to be a little bit wider than the crib. I need the balusters to be close enough together so when Madeline gets older, she won't be able to squeeze her body through them. The wood doesn't have to be all that thick, but sturdy enough to handle her pressing against it or trying to climb on it.”

  Jeb, keeping one hand over the raw egg he had pulled from the wire basket, motioned to where Kendrick should make the cut on the slab of salt pork before he stepped back from the counter. He turned and studied the section of room Kendrick described. “Yes, I can build something like that. I could even turn the balusters if I had the right tool—make it look real fancy, like what you see on the stair rail at the American Hotel.”

  Kendrick grimaced. “I don't know that I need fancy, just something sturdy to keep the malingerers from hanging all over Madeline’s crib and trying to touch her. Plus, when Madeline is too big to stay in her crib, she can still be out here with me without getting underfoot of my customers.”

  Jeb cricked his neck and lifted an eyebrow. “So, you're planning on keeping her?”

  Kendrick inhaled deeply and then released his breath slowly. “Not sure yet. Truth is, she’s growing on me. I do know, while I have her, I need to make sure she's well cared for. For some reason, her mother decided to trust me with her. I don't feel I can betray that trust.”

  As he considered Kendrick’s words, Jeb nodded. “Looks like her mother knew what she was doing when she chose you.”

  Kendrick felt a sense of calm come over him. Jeb believed his claim he had not fathered the child with Madeline’s mother. Then again, he should. He’s the one who told Kendrick the woman who visited the butcher shop two months before was Miss Pearl.

  Kendrick brought his mind back to the business at hand. “What I need to know, Jeb, is if you're willing to do that for me. I'll pay you a fair price for it, although I won't complain if you take part of it in meat and eggs. It might pay better than what you're getting working your claim right now—"

  His mouth still open, Kendrick glanced toward his front window in time to see the flash of blonde hair under a straw bonnet walk past. He glanced over at Madeline, still asleep in her crib. What did those Thompson girls have in mind this time? Surely, they didn’t plan to stay inside his shop while he made his meat deliveries. Anyone walking by could look inside and see them. Then it would only be a matter of time before their mother came breathing down his neck.

  Chapter 12

  B efore Jeb had a chance to reply regarding Kendrick’s work offer, the door burst open. In walked Caroline. She glanced around the room. Upon seeing Jeb, she stepped back. “I'm sorry, Mr. Denham. I thought your customers were all gone now.”

  Kendrick, deciding to make the best of the situation, plastered a smile on his face. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the counter. “Where’s your sister? You two are usually like bookends, always together.”

  Caroline bit her lip as she studied Jeb. “Um…she's outside with someone we want you to meet. Only, this person we want you to meet says she isn’t sure she is someone you should want to meet, so Charlotte is staying with her until we’re sure it’s all right to bring her inside. But it needs to be when your customers have already left for the morning.”

  Kendrick laughed as he leaned back and stood straight. “This is Jeb Cardwell. He was here when the sheriff brought Madeline to me. He's not one to gossip." Kendrick turned to Jeb wearing a challenge on his face. “Are you, Jeb?”

  Jeb shook his head. “Nope! My lips are sealed.” He emphasized his point by clapping his palm over his mouth. His eyes alight with amusement, he removed his hand and grinned. “Wild horses couldn’t drag a word out of me.”

  Caroline giggled. “I hope you’re telling the truth.” She interlaced her fingers in front of her and turned toward Kendrick. “We're early, but we wanted to catch you before you leave to get Sunshine.” She spun around and, stepped out of the door long enough to motion those waiting in front to enter.

  Charlotte next entered his shop.

  Kendrick stood even taller as his gaze landed on the woman with her, their arms entwined. Judging by the air of uncertainty the woman exhibited, Kendrick guessed Charlotte to be the force behind the two linking arms so her companion would not escape. He felt his guess confirmed as Charlotte dragged the older woman into his shop while Caroline closed the door.

  Kendrick studied the woman. He realized “older” was not the right word. A mature woman, she appeared to be about his age. Although she did not have the same dark blonde hair as Dorcas Thompson, she shared enough physical features with the Thompson women for him to guess who she was. The twins brought their aunt to his shop.

  Harridan number two has arrived.

  His wish to avoid the woman at all costs had been foiled. Convinced that this woman had more in common with her sister than facial features, Kendrick braced himself for what he assumed would be a verbal onslaught. The woman had been in Columbia less than two days. What on earth had she found regarding him to be offended about already?

  Charlotte, still hanging onto her aunt’s arm, pulled her toward the counter. “Mr. Denham, I am pleased to introduce you to my Aunt Lydia.” She turned to face the woman, who looked enough like Dorcas to cause Kendrick to shiver. “Aunt Lydia, this is Kendrick Denham, the butcher Mama used to buy from…”

  “…and if she's smart, she'll start buying from him again.” Caroline snapped her head in a determined nod.

  Kendrick tipped his head. “My pleasure, Mrs…." He shifted his gaze between the girls expectantly, hoping one of them would provide him with her last name.

  “Oh, sorry. It's Mrs. Lydia Meyer. She's not a Thompson. Both Mama and she were Beckers before they married.”

  Kendrick smiled and nodded his thanks to Charlotte.

  Caroline offered Kendrick a charming smile. “See? Just like we promised, you won't have to disobey Mama by seeking her out to ruin her reputation. We brought her to you instead.”

  Lydia gasped as she darted her gaze toward Kendrick before she stared at her nieces. “He’s going to do what?”

  Charlotte, her hands on her hips, shook her head at her sister. “Caro, that didn’t come out right. Mr. Denham is not going to ruin Aunt Lydia’s reputation.”

  “True, even though, according to Mama, he will.”

  Charlotte turned to Kendrick. “Aunt Lydia needs a job. And we figured...”

  Caroline spread her hands wide. “…what better job for Aunt Lydia in this town than to help you take care of little Madeline? That way, you won't have to keep asking Mrs. Arnold to watch her while you make your meat deliveries...”

  “...and Aunt Lydia won't have to depend on Mama for everything...”

  “...because even though Mama keeps saying it’s our Christian duty to take in members of our family when they are in need, she sure hasn’t acted very Christian about Aunt Lydia and our cousins coming to stay.”

  With a weak smile, Lydia broke into the conversation. “Now, girls, please. It’s not proper for you to be critical of your mother. I know she has her ways, but I’m grateful for my sister being willing to take us in.”

  A scowl on her face, Charlotte folded her arms. “
If she’s so willing, she wouldn’t expect you to work like a servant.”

  Lydia licked her lips in response. “Whether any of us like it or not, I have been an imposition on her and your family. It’s only right that I willingly do my share of the work.”

  As he studied this woman, the sister of his nemesis, Kendrick raised an eyebrow. He assumed Dorcas Thompson’s sour disposition and judgmental ways were family traits. Could he have been wrong about her sister?

  Lydia turned to Kendrick. “Mister Denham, I know how insistent my nieces can be when they get their minds set on something. I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything you don’t want. However, if you truly have a need to hire someone to watch your baby, I will be happy to take on the job. From everything my nieces tell me, she is a delightful child.”

  As he studied her, Kendrick worked his tongue inside his mouth. She sure did not behave like a duplicate of Dorcas Thompson. Operating on blind instinct, Kendrick smiled at the woman. “I would be happy to hire you to watch Madeline for two to three hours a day, every day except Sunday.” He paused and wrinkled his forehead. “However, I’m concerned it might not be wise, considering your living situation. You working for me might upset your sister. I know she doesn’t think well of me at the moment.”

  Lydia’s breath caught. “Mr. Denham, I can’t allow my sister to rule my life completely.” She dropped her gaze toward the floor. “However, I don’t wish to create trouble for you. If you think it’s best I not work for you, I’ll be on my way.”

  As he watched the woman appear to shrink within herself, Kendrick regretted his words. He realized that obtaining some form of employment must be important to her.