Dakota Trail

by David R Lewis

  “Best morning to you, Roo-bin,” she said, puttin’ a cup on the little table beside my rockin’ chair.

  “Best mornin’ to you, Miss Lotus,” I tolt her an’ thanked her for the coffee.

  “You go see Miz Jervis this day?” she asked.

  “We do.”

  “It time for us to go on trip?”

  “Almost,” I said. “You ready to go are ya?”

  “Oh very yes. I much ready. Miz Jervis came by store yesterday. She ready too. Tell me we leave soon. I want to help other Chinee girls very much. There is so a lot for them to learn.”

  “You got yourself a heck of a job. I admire your sand.”

  “What mean sand?” she asked me.

  “It means determination, I guess,” I said.

  “What mean dee-tur-mi-nay-shun?”

  I smiled a little bit.

  “In yer case,” I said, “the courage to do the right thing an’ the will to git it done.”

  “Miz Jervis have much sand,” she said.

  That set me to grinnin’ quite a bit. “Yes, she does,” I said, “clean up to her chin.”

  Miss Lotus smiled real big. “So do you and Ma-re-on and Ho-ma,” she said. “Oh very yes.”

  She went back inside then to do her mornin’ chores, I reckon. Homer looked over at me.

  “God’s truth, Rube,” he said, “if I could take Lotus home with me, I swear to ya that I would. I ain’t over fond a havin’ to miss watchin’ her come into herself an’ grow up. She’s as soft as a kitten in some ways, an’ as tough as mule belly leather in others. After everthin’ she’s been through, an’ everthin’ that’s been done to that girl, she’s still shines like the moon.”

  “I’d like for Miss Harmony to meet her,” I said. “I believe Lotus would steal her heart.”

  Marion come up the side steps then an’ took a set.

  “Mornin’, boys,” he said. “Miss Lotus come out yet?”

  “She did,” I tolt him. “She brung both a us coffee already.”

  “Either of ya give her that money from sellin’ that horse an’ buggy?”

  Me an Homer both shook our heads.

  “I been studyin’ on it some,” Marion went on. “I think handin’ her that small fortune could be a mistake. As sweet as she is, it worries me some that she might just give it away to folks she thought had some need for it. Do ya think we should pass it on to Ms. Jervis and ask her to hold onto it for Lotus?”

  “Helluva idea,” Homer said. “Mz Jervis would take care of it for her.”

  “Fine by me,” I said, an’ me an Homer give it all to Marion.

  “Let’s knock the dust off, boys,” Marion went on. “You feel like walkin’ a ways, do ya Homer?”

  “Where to?”

  “Down the way to that little café for some biscuits and gravy, then back here while Ruben an’ me go fetch the horses. If nobody gits in a hurry, we might just make it to the Jervis House about dinnertime.”

  “An’ miss brunch?” Homer said.

  Marion as right. It was purty near noon when we rode up the lane to the Jervis House. Carlton come around the corner from behind the place afore we got down off the horses. He warn’t wearin’ a suit that day, but was in a pair a canvas pants an’ a old white shirt, an’ sweatin’ a little bit. He wiped some off his forehead an’ smiled at us.

  “Good day, gentlemen,” he said. “Please don’t tell anyone you saw me in my present condition. It could ruin my reputation.”

  The three of us got kindly tickled from that an’ I swore we’d keep his secret. He led us inside an’ back to what he called the parlor. Miz Jervis was settin’ there with another lady. She stood up when we come in.

  She greeted us right warmly an’ innerduced us to that lady. Her name was Ramona Tucker.

  “Ramona was our cook in Chicago for several years,” she said. “I sent her a telegram about our project the day I met Lotus. She arrived on a train late last evening with some supplies that will be necessary to feed the young women we bring back.”

  As you know, I was some concerned about the diet a them Chinee girls. I spoke up.

  “Nice to meet ya, Mz Ramona,” I said. “Was you able to git the right kinda food for the young women?”

  “I was, Marshal,” she said. “Rice and dried rice noodles, plus some canned vegetables to go with the rice and even some of what the Chinese call Shoyu sauce, although in American it is called Soy. It is very important to their diet.”

  “Ain’t that fine,” I said. “To tell the truth I was some concerned about gittin’ them young ladies the kinda food they might have been used to. That was right nice of ya, M’am.”

  “There is a significant population of Chinese people in a section of Chicago,” Mz Ramona said.

  “Ramona has also set us up with a store in Chicago that sells food to the Chinese,” Miz Jervis said. “They have promised to send us anything we need for the girls that won’t spoil during shipment.”

  “That’s just fine is what that is,” I said.

  Miz Jervis smiled.

  “Thanks to Ramona,” she said, “we have what we’ll need on the trip, and more supplies will be on the way. This afternoon I’m taking her over to the notions store to meet Lotus. Right now, she has a surprise for you.”

  Ramona left the room then, an’ come back purty soon with a tray that had three little bowls a soup on it. That soup had the tiniest noodles I had ever seen in my life, plus a few little pieces a carrots, peas, an’ little bits a chopped up fried eggs. She set them down for us an’ a bottle a brown stuff she said was that soy sauce. She warned us not to use too much ‘til we tasted everthing.

  Them noodles was the skinniest ones I had ever et, an’ was made outa rice. The soup tasted a little bit like some kinda fish an’ I warn’t over fond of it, ‘til Mz Ramona put a little a that Soy sauce in my bowl. That Soy stuff sorta brung it to life. It made the whole thing kindly salty, but in a good way, an’ brung that flavor right through everthing in the bowl. I liked it. I believe Marion an’ Homer did to, ‘cause they didn’t waste no time gittin’ it down they necks.

  After we et that soup, Mz Ramona left an’ Miz Jervis smiled at us.

  “Well,” she said, “we have food for the girls when we get them, and more will be sent to us by the time we return. Ramona is not a Chinese chef, but she knows enough that she can make the diet change much easier for them.”

  Carlton come in then carryin’ a tray with a bottle a some kinda liquor on it an’ five tiny glasses. He filled each one an’ passed ‘em around until each of us had a drink.

  “Gentlemen,” Miz Jervis said, holdin’ up her glass, “a toast for Godspeed on our journey and our mission.”

  We all got to our feet an’ helt up our glasses afore we drunk ‘em down. I doan no what it was ‘cause it warn’t just whiskey, but I liked it.

  “When do you reckon were gonna take to the trail,” Marion asked her.

  “An hour or two after dawn in the morning, Marshal Daniels,” she said. “The coach and the trailer are set to go right now. Don’t forget to bring Lotus.”

  Miz Jervis give each one a us a little hug then. We shook hands with Carlton an’ went back out to the horses, all of us some relieved. Finally we was gonna git back on the trail.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  I didn’t git much more sleep that night than I did the night afore. Gittin’ back on the trail had me wound up some tighter than a two dollar pocket watch. Marion was kindly in the same boat I was. I heer’d him tossin’ an’ turnin’ about as much as me, I guess. Homer snored all night long, just as peaceful as ya please. If I’d had a rock, I believe I woulda throwed it at him.

  About a hour afore dawn I give up an’ got up. Miss Lotus come out on the front porch with some coffee about the time I got back from the privy. She was wearin’ some a her Chinee clothes agin, an’ tolt me she done that so when we come on them other girls, they’d be more likely to figger she was on they side.

  “That�
��s a good idea, Miss Lotus,” I tolt her. “You about ready to git on the trail, are ya?”

  “Very yes, Roo-bin,” she said. “You marshals go have breakfast then come back. If it alright with you, I go with you on horses to Miz Jervis house.”

  “That’s just fine with me,” I tolt her.

  She smiled real big.

  “I much look forward to going on trail,” she said. “Oh very yes. I be waiting when you return.”

  She went inside then an’ left me settin’ on the porch an’ smilin’. About a minute later Marion come out, took a set, an’ kindly grinned at me.

  “Mornin’, boss,” I said. “You alright, are ya?”

  “Boy,” he said, “you are shore an attraction.”

  “What?”

  “I was standin’ just inside the door while you and Miss Lotus was jawin’. If you was about five years younger, and Miss Lotus was about five years older, she’d be on you like a frog on a cricket. Miss Harmony would have ta keep you locked up someplace for your own safety.”

  I felt my ears git hot, but I didn’t say nothin’. I didn’t feel like it. Ol’ Cob.

  Miss Lotus come back out purty quick, bringin’ Marion a cup a coffee, smilin’ some big an’ wishin’ him a good morning.

  “Good mornin’ back at ya, Lotus,” Marion said. “You seen Homer yet today?”

  Lotus shook her head.

  “I hear him, but I not see him. It sound to me that he still sleeps.”

  Marion grinned.

  “When he gits up, please tell him that me an’ Ruben has gone to bring back our horses. We’ll git some breakfast after we return, then strike out for Miz Jervis house.”

  “I will tell him such, Ma-re-on.”

  “You ready to go, are ya?”

  “Oh, very yes. I proud to go anywhere with you marshals and Miz Jervis.”

  She kindly bowed at us then an’ went back inside. Marion stood up.

  “C’mon Ruben,” he said. “If we hustle over to the livery an’ git back with the horses right smart, Homer won’t have nothin’ to bitch about. With luck we can ruin his whole mornin’.”

  That set me to grinnin’ quite a bit, an’ we took off steppin’ out about as fast as we could, false dawn showin’ up in the East.

  I’d give all them horses a bite a candy. We had Marion’s warhorse an’ Willie under saddle, an’ was throwin’ tack on Homer’s horse when Mister Milner come in the stable, lookin’ purty much like he was still half asleep. We tolt him that we was takin’ to the trail for a spell, but would be back in a week or better to board our horses agin. He said he’d take care a our unused packhorse, wished us his best, and we headed back toward the roomin’ house, Willie goin’ sideways a little bit now an’ then, him bein’ some feather-footed an’ all. I couldn’t blame him much. I sorta felt the same way.

  Homer was settin’ on the front porch when we got back to Rafferty’s, drinkin’ a cup a coffee. He poured the last of it down his neck an’ spoke up.

  “About damn time you fellers showed up,” he said. “I’m in some need of a biscuit or two. My cinch tight, is it?”

  “Why doan you drag yer crippled ass out here an’ see for yerself?” Marion asked him.

  Homer grinned an’ started down the steps.

  “Mornin’, boys,” he said. “Everbody finally ready to git this mess started?”

  All of us come to chucklin’ some.

  We et a bacon an’ eggs breakfast at that little café that warn’t terrible far from the roomin’ house, Homer buyin’ hisself a sack of a dozen biscuits to take with him on the trail. It was about a hour after early dawn by the time we got back to the roomin’ house. Mister Rafferty was standin’ on the porch when we arrived.

  “Lotus’ll be here in a minute, boys,” he said. “She said you was takin’ out this mornin’.”

  “We are,” Marion tolt him. “We’ll be back in a week or a little better I reckon. We appreciate how good you have been to all of us.”

  “You lads are on a fine mission. I hope you save a bunch a them young women, an’ git some news about Jimmy Jacklin.”

  “That is our intention, sir,” Homer said.

  Miss Lotus come out on the porch then, wearin’ that robe she had on when we first come across her, an’ a white shirt, some low cut black shoes with thin flat soles, an’, a all things, white pants. I was durn near took aback. She come down the steps an’ over to where me an’ Willie was.

  “I ride with you, Roo-bin?” she asked.

  I helt my hand down for her an’ kindly lifted her up to where she could git a leg over Willie behind the saddle. She took her set an’ thanked me.

  “You look at me strange, Roo-bin,” she said. “What matter?”

  “Nothin’s the matter, Miss Lotus,” I said. “Them pants a yours kindly surprised me some. It is fair unusual to see a lady wearin’ pants.”

  “Pant is common on women in China. Very yes. Until I was taken from where I lived with my mother and father, I wear pant all time. Mista Craig take them away. Miz Darlene at notion store make these for me. Also find me shoes for trip. She very kind.”

  “That was some nice of her, I guess. She’s a fine person.”

  “So are you, Roo-bin,” Miss Lotus said, kindly slidin’ up behind me a little an’ takin’ holt a the belt a my chaps.

  “You alright are ya Rube?” Homer asked me, grinnin’ quite a bit.

  “I’m doin’ fine,” I tolt him.

  “Looks to me like ya are,” he said, an’ turned his horse away from the rail an’ into a trot.

  Me an’ Willie fell in behind him. When we passed Marion, he was displayin’ his teeth right smart.

  “Ol’ Ruben,” he said.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  It was kindly a nice mornin’. They was a light breeze outa the southwest an’ a few wispy clouds on the west rim of a clear sky. Willie was some full a hisself an’ danced a little bit, wantin’ to run a little bit after bein’ stalled up at the livery for so long. It scairt Miss Lotus some. I could feel her tighten her grip on the back belt a my chaps, but she never complained about it none. By the time we got to the Jervis House, Willie had settled down an’ so had she. We was comin’ near to the hitchin’ rail up by the porch when Carlton stepped out from behind the house an’ motioned us back that way. I eased Miss Lotus to the ground, we tied our horses to the rail, an’ walked around to the back.

  Standin’ there was as fine a carriage as I had ever seen in my life, hitched to four stout bay horses that was matched about as good as they could be. That carriage was built along the lines of a stagecoach, but was a foot or so shorter in height an’ a couple a feet longer. It was black with dark red trim, had a rail for carryin’ things on the roof, an’ a canvas covered two wheeled box wagon about six feet long an’ five feet wide painted to match an’ hitched up behind it. We all just kindly stood there, starin’. Homer spoke up.

  “By God, that there is a heck of a rig, ain’t it?”

  “That’s the best I ever seen,” Marion said. “Fine lookin’ horses, too.”

  Carlton smiled real big.

  “Seats four adults in the front lookin’ toward the rear and four adults in the rear lookin’ toward the front. Because of the length, there is room between the seats for smaller children to sit on pillows on the floor. The bottoms of both the front an’ rear seats lifts up for more storage underneath.”

  “Ain’t that somethin’?” I said.

  “The wagon is a little over three feet deep,” Carlton went on, “and will haul the camp necessaries we might need, plus all the food for the trip. There’s a hitch rail on the rear end if you want your horses to trot along behind, and those three canteens that are hanging from the bottom at the rear are each filled with a half gallon of kerosene.”

  Miz Jervis come out the back of the house then. She smiled at all of us, an’ give Lotus a little hug. She was wearin’ a gray dress without much foofarah, an’ a straw hat that looked some like a Derby.

&
nbsp; “Good morning to you, gentlemen,” she said. “Are you ready to begin our journey?”

  “This is what I’d call travelin’ in style,” Marion said.

  “It is awfully pretentious, isn’t it, Marshal Daniels? It was not my choice. My husband had it built. I seldom use it, but it should suit our travel and needs. If you men ever want to rest your horses, feel free to tie them to the rear of the wagon and come sit in the cabin with Lotus and me.”

  “Thank ya, M’am,” Marion said. “That’s kind of ya. I imagine we’ll take you up on that a little bit. Be a way to give one a our horses a breather now an’ then.”

  “Depending on the terrain,” Carlton said, “we should be able to make thirty easy miles in a eight to ten hour day. That should save the horses any problems. We about ready, are we?”

  “We are,” Miz Jervis said.

  Carlton opened the carriage door for her. She motioned for Lotus to come along, an’ the two of ‘em clumb in an’ took a set. Carlton got up on the driver’s seat an’ grabbed the reins to hand.

  “Follow me until we get out of town please, gentlemen,” he said an’ popped a little whip in the air.

  That team a horses set off then on a easy trot down the lane toward the street. Me an’ Homer an’ Marion walked back to the rail an’ took to saddle.

  “Finally,” Marion said, an’ reined that big App a his around toward the road.

  Me an’ Homer went after him, kindly side by side, an’ Homer chuckled.

  “Here we go Rube,” he said. “Out on the trail agin’.”

  Willie turned a little sideways then, wantin’ to git on down the way after the carriage. I checked him back, but I really didn’t want to.

  It took us about a half hour to git all the way through town an’ we was looked at quite a bit. I imagine that four horse hitch a big bays harnessed to a black carriage pullin’ a black wagon while bein’ flanked by two men on horseback an’ another one ridin’ drag musta looked like some kind of a little parade or somethin’. We attracted enough attention that I kindly felt relieved when we got out on a dirt road with nothing ahead of us but tall grass an’ rollin’ prairie. Willie settled down some an’ got to lookin’ around a little bit, takin’ note a the trail. Homer looked like he was doin’ about the same thing. It felt some good to be outa town an’ watchin’ all that grass an’ such swayin’ in the breeze as we went on.