Jake’s head started spinning. Make bricks? Clay? Kiln? What were they getting themselves into?
“There is one problem, however. I have fifteen building crews, but they are all spoken for until the summer next. I will put you down for the first available one. Store the materials you buy from me under heavy tarps, and spend the winter making your bricks. My crew will be able to come out to you in early spring.”
“A year?” Jake almost panicked. “Where do we live until then?”
Kenny smiled. “In tents. I will sell you those, too, along with the tarps to cover your supplies. When my crew finishes the house, they will buy back the tents and tarps, depreciated appropriately for wear and tear.”
Jake nodded and wondered what “dee appreciated” was.
“Can we survive a winter in tents?”
“I suggest you build a simple log cabin as soon as you arrive. After the main house is built, you can use the cabin as a guest house, or for the servants. I have plans and instructions for building these cabins, too.”
“Of course you do.” Both men laughed.
“One stop shop, my man,” said Maher, as he slapped Jake on the back. “I try to think of everything. This is my business, after all. You know horses, I know construction.”
They shook hands, sealing the deal. “After I determine the materials and number of wagons you will need, go see Gus DeGinder. He is a wagon train master. He owns and runs most of the wagon trains going in and out of the city. Big, big operation. He hauls all of my materials. I trust him and his teams implicitly.”
*****
Gus DeGinder was a big booming German-born man. He knew wagon trains, and he knew Kenny Maher. In no time at all, Jake had booked them on the early April wagon train which would travel through the Cumberland Pass into the Ohio Valley and the great American West.
The Abbot clan would have the three wagons they owned to carry them and their personal belongings, plus ten wagons of materials for the house. They would be paying for food for their party of six, plus twenty men to drive the ten wagons. This was turning out to be a huge operation.
It was all coming together.
*****
Luke had been chasing Deirdre for several months. He now understood Jake’s infatuation with Mara, and why Jake wouldn’t go rutting into town with them back in London. Once a woman has her hooks into you, no other woman will do.
Pete knew Luke had it bad when he wouldn’t go with him to seek a little feminine company. Yup, Luke was a goner for sure.
Mara and Cecilia talked about the men, and especially about Luke when Deirdre was around, extolling his virtues. They weren’t sure what her hesitancy was, but they were hoping she would come around and at least give Luke a chance.
She finally agreed to a real date in early December.
Mara planned it. If she left it to Luke, he’d botch it up for sure.
She and Cecilia found a lovely spot for an indoor picnic inside the library at Columbia College, about seven blocks down Broad Way and to the right off of Barclay. Mara had talked to the librarian, Mr. Snodgrass, to enlist his aid. He was happy to help with the budding romance, being a romantic at heart himself. And he was completely smitten with the redheaded beauty who came into the library on occasion to read his books. Her wish was his command! Most students were home for the holidays anyway, so the library was normally empty this time of year. The fireplace in the central part of the library would be a nice, cozy, private place for a picnic.
Mara and Cecilia packed a basket full of bread, cheese, mead, wine, chicken, and fruit. Jake hitched the draft horses to the carriage, and they all waved goodbye as the two rode off.
“They are so cute together!” exclaimed Mara, as the carriage pulled away from the apartment building.
“That’s because they look like two little pixies. I swear they are the exact same height and weight. Their children will all be midgets.” Jake held his thumb and forefinger apart about an inch. Mara backhanded him across his chest.
“It’ll be a miracle,” said Pete, “if he pulls this one off!”
“Miracles happen every day, Pete,” admonished Cecilia. “We’ve seen enough of them to know that is true.”
Pete chuckled. “Aye, that be true, Cecilia. That certainly be true!”
The library at Columbia College was a beautiful set of rooms, paneled in wood, with shelves and stacks that went from floor to ceiling. Mara had discovered it while looking for a place to find books, and a merchant had suggested not only the local bookstore but also this magnificent library.
The central feature of the library was the gigantic hearth and fireplace, which warmed the main room during the winter months. Students would collect their books from the outer rooms, and then gather there to read and study. There were several sofas, divans, settees, and reading chairs. A giant woven rug covered the space in front of the fireplace.
Mr. Snodgrass had moved the furniture to accommodate a little picnic in front of the fire, and put extra logs on for the day’s event. He wasn’t permitted to leave the room, so he decided to hide in a large reading chair set well away from the scene, and read his favorite volume of Chaucer.
Mr. Snodgrass was surprised at the two short people who entered the library with a huge basket between them. But he just smiled and escorted them to the fireplace, then disappeared around the side of his big chair set well in the back of the room.
Deirdre and Luke spread out the blanket Mara had packed, and emptied out all the luscious goodies from the basket. Luke pulled a few pillows from the settees, and dropped them in various places around the blanket before settling in for some good food and even better company.
Deirdre also settled in, feeling a bit uncomfortable. She was duly impressed with the well-appointed room, but she hadn’t been on a date in a long time.
They conversed easily on all sorts of topics, ranging from the horrid weather to the overcrowding in the city, as more and more immigrants poured into Battery Park on a seemingly daily basis.
After they finished their meal, Luke leaned back into a pile of pillows with a tankard of mead. He drank a few sips and then set it down to pick up one of Deirdre’s hands.
“You have wonderful hands,” he said, as he gently massaged her palm and between her fingers with his thumb.
She laughed. “I have ugly hands! It is Mara who has beautiful hands!”
“I dinna say beautiful, I said wonderful.” She looked at him curiously.
Luke continued. “You have wonderful hands, strong hands, knowledgeable hands. Hands that serve others with strength and dignity. Hands that prepare food that makes eating a pleasure. You have amazing hands, Deirdre O’Shea.” This whole time he tenderly touched every part of her hand. When he was done, he kissed the palm of her hand, which sent little shivers up her spine. Deirdre had to admit, Luke was charming. And cute.
“So what exactly brought you to America, Deirdre? You’ve pretty well been told our story but you haven’t told us yours.” (Of course, she’d been told a less-than-truthful version. Jake and Mara’s past was completely hidden in lies.)
Deirdre quieted, thinking about how to best tell her story. She knew they’d eventually hear the truth, but it was still difficult for her to talk about.
“A man,” she said simply.
“Musta been quite a man to get you to follow him across the ocean to America. What happened to him?” Luke was still tenderly massaging her hand with his fingers, and she was enjoying the sensation immensely.
She gave a small smile. “No, I dinna follow him here. I left him there.”
Luke waited patiently, knowing she would tell her tale in her own time. He stopped massaging her hand but continued to hold it as he laid back on the pillows.
“I…” she stopped and looked around the room at the dark wood, somber and majestic. Instead of seeing the library room, she saw the old musty walls of the barn on her family’s farm. “I made a mistake and fell in love with the wrong man.”
&n
bsp; Deirdre glanced at Luke to see his reaction. He squeezed her hand in encouragement. Heartened, she continued.
“When I was seventeen, I met and fell in love with a man named Sean O’Connell. He was everything a girl could dream of: tall, handsome, dashing, a bit of a rogue.” She looked into Luke’s eyes. “Every girl wishes for a bit of a rogue for excitement and adventure.”
Luke thought he certainly fit that bill! He gave her a wink.
“Sean wooed me fiercely and, being young and naïve, I believed everything he told me. And after a time, I gave myself to him.” She moved her hand away from Luke’s, pulled her legs toward her, and wrapped her arms around her knees as if to protect herself. Luke remained still and let her continue at her own pace. Gaining her trust was crucial at this point.
“Everything was so wonderful! He lavished me with the gift of his time and his love. I had never been so happy. Sean was mine and I was completely his, and he was the most wonderful man in the world! There was only one thing missing and that was legitimacy to our love. I kept asking him to set a date for our wedding, but he kept putting me off. I should have realized there was something wrong.” Deirdre put her head on her knees, still folded up in front of her.
“We had…one night. Afterwards, I asked him again about marriage. He became very angry, and he left in a huff. I was so hurt, but I didn’t want to lose him. I thought maybe I was the problem—that I was pushing him too hard. I waited a few minutes, and then ran after him to apologize. Before I could catch up to him, I saw him go into a house that belonged to one of the village widows. I was curious why he’d visit her at that time of night, and went to the door. It was ajar, so I opened it a little bit, and saw them, kissing…” She lifted her head and looked at Luke. “He had just left me and went straight to another woman.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “How could he do that? How could he?”
Luke sat up and put his arm around her and held her close, letting her cry it out.
She sniffled, and after a minute or two, continued. “I left two weeks later, my father selling my dowry for passage. Five other families were making the trip, and I pretended to be one of their daughters. I found a job cooking in the tavern not long after we arrived.”
She sighed. “So now that you know, I am sure you want nothing to do with a soiled woman.”
Luke kissed her soothingly on the forehead. “You be not a soiled woman, Deirdre. you be a girl torn apart in the heart for makin’ the wrong choice at the wrong time. I canna fault you for that. That bastard be the bad one in this story, not you.”
He moved in front of her, kneeling. “If we all threw out the man or the woman with the garbage for their pasts, no one would make it past twenty-five. I have done things even in my short life I am not proud of. But my friends—Mara, Jake, Pete, Alvin, and Cecilia—have always believed in me, and I made it to where I am now because of their support. I believe in you, Deirdre. Never forget that. I am not givin’ up on you, either.”
Deirdre reached out and touched Luke’s face. His words touched her heart. His eyes shone in the firelight with truth and love. Maybe my heart can heal, she thought, and Luke just might be the way to that healing.
Chapter 50
Christmas Day found Mara in a foul mood. She ached all over and felt bloated, teary and bleary. She snapped at Jake for not moving quickly enough to go to church. She barked at Cecilia for not cooking the eggs right, because she had thrown up right after breakfast. In fact, she’d been out of sorts for a couple of weeks now.
The rest of the group decided to avoid her as much as possible.
Cecilia took a hard look at her young lady while they were peeling potatoes for Christmas dinner.
Mara’s face looked rounder, and her cheeks blotched. Her hair seemed thicker, and her chest strained against her bodice. Cecilia had a hunch.
“Mara.”
“What!” she snapped back.
“When was your last menses?”
Mara stared at Cecilia, trying to remember. Suddenly, a look of understanding appeared on her drawn face.
“Oh, my God. The first week of November! Do you think…” Mara smiled her first smile of the day.
Cecilia simply nodded, and went back to peeling potatoes.
Mara put her hands on her belly, then on her breasts, then on her face. That would certainly explain her mood swings, that bloated feeling, the bad taste in her mouth most of the time, and her achy muscles.
She was going to have a baby!
Her foul mood left instantly, and she ran out of the kitchen to find Jake, who had gone into hiding.
She found him in their bedroom, reading by the window, trying to find the best New York afternoon winter light.
He inwardly groaned when she burst through the door, as he was not ready for another one of her moody outbursts. He cringed when she closed and locked the door.
Mara jumped on Jake, nearly knocking him and the chair over, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed, putting one hand against the wall to save them both from tumbling over. “What brought this on?”
“Guess what? Guess what? You’ll never guess!”
Jake had to laugh at the complete change in his wife’s demeanor. “All right! I’ll never guess!”
“You’re going to be a papa.” She beamed.
Jake stood up so fast he dumped Mara onto the floor.
“A what?” His jaw dropped, and his eyes popped out of his skull, as he stared at the heap on the floor that was his beloved.
“Thank you kindly for that. You want to help me up?”
He put out his hand, and pulled her off the floor. “Are you sure?”
“Quite sure.”
Jake grabbed her up in his arms and swung her around in a circle, planting a big wet kiss on her lips. What wonderful news!
It was all they could talk about at dinner that night. Mara and Jake made their announcement immediately after joining the rest of the family.
Pete was concerned about the trip to Kentucky. “Won’t the wagon train be too hard on you and the wee one?”
“If Cecilia and I calculated right, I am due in mid-August. We leave in early April, when I will be just under five months. I will be riding in the carriage most of the time, so I should be fine.”
She paused. “Besides, I can’t live here another year. I want to go home to Kentucky!”
They all had to agree with her on that point.
*****
In mid-January, Deirdre decided she would stop the chase and let Luke catch her.
After the family ate dinner, Deirdre asked Luke to help her with the dishes. He jumped at the chance to be with her, no matter what dreary task he had to perform.
Earlier in the day, she arranged for the others to leave by suggesting that they all take a pint at the tavern after the evening meal. Mara caught on immediately, and took Jake into her confidence. They didn’t have too much trouble convincing Pete and Cecilia to accompany them to the tavern. Pete always had a pint on his mind.
They bundled up against the cold and left quietly as soon as Luke and Deirdre were in the kitchen with their wash buckets. Three hours ought to be sufficient, thought Mara, smiling her Mona Lisa smile. She wondered if the dishes would actually get done.
Deirdre and Luke talked and laughed as they cleaned up the kitchen, Deirdre washing and rinsing, Luke drying and putting away.
After pouring out the dirty water, they went into the now-empty parlor.
“Hey! Where did everybody go?”
“I asked them to leave.”
Luke turned around just as Deirdre came up to him, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Luke moaned and grabbed her, crushing her up against him. “Thank you for that, woman,” he whispered.
Deirdre wondered what had taken her so long to let Luke love her.
*****
Luke and Deirdre married two weeks later in the little church the group attended. The men hated going to church, b
ut silently endured the weekly outing every Sunday to please their women.
Cecilia and Mara made Deirdre a beautiful cream-colored gown, complete with silk ribbon flowers for her bouquet, as there were no fresh flowers in New York in January.
Luke beamed and thought Deirdre was the most beautiful woman on earth. Deirdre glowed and thought Luke was the most wonderful man ever born.
Pete was extremely happy for his best friend, but now felt like the odd man out.
Cecilia fully understood.
Chapter 51
Winter turned to early spring, and preparations for the move to Kentucky were now under way. They would leave in three weeks. Two crates were already fully packed and locked. Only beds, clothes, the tub, the dining room table, and necessary kitchen items remained. The apartment looked rather sparse.
They sold the remaining jewels and the wedding gifts that would be of no use to them in their new home.
Jake found three more horses—two solid studs named Beaumont and Geoffrey, and another brood mare named Parisian. Pete had bought a gelding named Crookshanks. They now had fifteen horses.
Luke and Pete both resigned from their positions and packed their trade implements. They were both hoping Columbia, Kentucky could use a good smithy and cobbler.
Their lives were run by lists—lists of people to visit, lists of things to do, lists of things to pack, lists of things to buy, lists of foods to make and store. They were all very tired of lists. They even had a list of things for Alvin to do when he arrived in a few months. They left that list with Mr. Cavendish.
Mara and Cecilia tore apart the old pocket petticoat and sewed on new pockets, big enough to hold money. They had to make a money petticoat for Cecilia and Deirdre as well, since money was much larger and heavier than jewels. They would haul cash this time, as all the jewels except for a couple of simple brooches and necklaces had been converted into American dollars. Each one of them withdrew money from their bank accounts every few days and packed it in the petticoats.
Mara: A Georgian Romance Page 28
