by Jim Cox
The first three days seemed to him a total loss. He’d not learned a single thing, or so he believed. However, he was on schedule with Mrs. Duty’s plan, which was for Buck to get the feel of the classroom, and to understand the method and sequencing of the learning process.
“How do you like school so far, Buck?” she asked during dinner after his third day.
“I ain’t learned anything I can think of, Mrs. Duty. Like I told you last week, maybe I ain’t capable of learning.”
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t use ain’t when you spoke, Buck. Don’t you remember? You need to think before you speak.”
“Yes, ma’am. I remember.”
“I believe your first three days were very productive, Buck. You learned how the classroom was organized. You learned the protocol of my teaching methods, and you learned how much work is required to become a good student. Isn’t that true?”
“Yes, ma’am, I did learn that.”
Mrs. Duty paused, collecting her thoughts. “You have some catching up to do, Buck. You need to concentrate on the basics so you can participate in the class discussions and get a feel of what’s going on. Tomorrow we’ll start the process. Be prepared to spend every spare minute you have, before and after class, learning the basic skills of reading. You’ll learn the alphabet and how letters come together to form words, and in a few weeks after you learn that, you’ll learn how words are put together to form a sentence—then you’ll be reading. It takes time, it takes patience, but after you learn to read, you’ll be living in a different world.”
The next few weeks were filled with studies, morning until bedtime, and Buck enjoyed every minute of it, absorbing the material like a sponge. Often after class, he and Mrs. Duty would find a sitting log by the stream where new subjects were brought to life. Occasionally, they’d ride high-up on the mountain to conduct their studies and absorb the beauty of their surroundings. Where mile upon mile of desert could be seen through the clear Arizona air. Where buffalo herds were observed grazing in the meadows and eagles soared in wind currents between mountain tops. They often needed light jackets even though the temperature might be in the eighties at ground level. These times were very special to Buck.
As enjoyable as his schooling was, Buck always looked forward to the weekends when he could spend time with Kate. He especially enjoyed their time in the porch swing when Kate would quiz him about this week and what he had learned. Afterward, bragging on his accomplishments, making him feel important. Sundays started off by going to church with Kate. After eating his noon meal at her house and lingering for an hour or two, it would be time to head out. The departure was sad for both of them, but Kate tried to soften the gloom by sending something she had prepared back with Buck. Cookies, bear-paws, or some other type of pastry.
Buck was progressing satisfactorily in the classroom, and by Christmas, he was reading books Mrs. Duty had assigned to him. He was also advancing quite well with numbers and his writing skills. His grammar lagged a bit, but he was improving. The day school broke for Christmas, he was in his room preparing to leave for Tucson, when Mrs. Duty knocked on his door. She was holding a basket. “It’s nearly time to eat, Buck, so I’ve prepared a basket of food to eat while we’re traveling to Tucson.” Buck was taken back a little. She’d never ask to go along before.
“I take it you’ll be going with me today, Mrs. Duty.”
“I will if you don’t mind. I need to get away from here for a few days. I’ll stay at the hotel until you’re ready to return, but don’t worry, I won’t be a bother to you and Kate while I’m there.” After a pause, she continued, “We’ll take my two-horse buggy. I don’t like to ride long distances on horseback.” Buck nodded his approval.
Beginning with that trip, Mrs. Duty went to Tucson with Buck every other weekend to purchase goods and spend time with her son, who had gotten a job at the Tucson Feed and Seed Store. She kept a standing reservation at the hotel matching her upcoming visits and was careful with her whereabouts so she wouldn’t be a bother to Buck and Kate. However, in spite of being cautious, she crossed paths with Buck a time or two when she was dining with Walt. Weeks seemed to fly by for Buck. He started having more thoughts about the future when his schooling ended, which was now less than a month away. He wondered what kind of railroad work Walt would assign him and how much money he’d be making. He wondered if it would it be enough to rent the house he’d been looking at on the South end of town. But mostly, Buck wondered about Kate. He loved her and wanted her to become his wife—to be by his side for the rest of his life. He thought she would consent to marry him but other thoughts came too. Will I make enough money to support her? Will she have to continue working? What will we do if Kate becomes pregnant?
One evening during dinner, Mrs. Duty noticed Buck’s silence. She spoke up, “What’s wrong, Buck, your mind seems to be miles away?”
He side-stepped the question for a few seconds and then confessed, “I’m worried, Mrs. Duty. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever get a good job even if I can read and write. If I’ll ever be able to afford a wife.”
“I thought Mr. Stickley said he’d offer you a job as soon as you learned to read and write.”
“He did, ma’am, but I’m not sure how much he’ll be paying. He didn’t mention that.”
“I wouldn’t worry, Buck. Mr. Stickley seems like a nice man, like someone who would stand behind his word and not lead someone on,” she said with an encouraging tone.
“I hope you’re right, ma’am.”
Over their coffee later, she brought up a subject. “Buck, you’ve told me a little about your happenings since you left me at my cabin on the Mississippi, but not much. We’ve been so busy with your schooling and other matters you haven’t had time to fill me in with all the details. What happened to you, Buck? What have you been doing during the last two years?” Buck smiled.
“It’s been quite an adventure, Mrs. Duty,” he said with a wide grin. “I’ve been shunned by Confederate folks who said I wasn’t fit to live. I went without water for three days in the Texas desert and came close to dying. I helped an old man and his family, who were on the brink of starvation, get to Colorado. I even rescued his grandson who was captured by Indians. I worked several months for the Lazy Horseshoe as a wrangler. I then got caught in a blizzard while crossing over a mountain and nearly froze to death before I stumbled onto an old mining tunnel that saved my life.” Buck spent over an hour telling Mrs. Duty of his travels and answered all sorts of her questions.
She had just returned from warming their coffee when she asked Buck another question, “Do you still have those terrible war dreams you told me about at the river?”
“I had them nearly every night for a long time, Mrs. Duty, but I’m mostly over ’em now. I haven’t dreamed about the war for over a month, and I’m hoping they’re gone for good.”
“I hope so too, Buck. It must have been very upsetting to relive those dreadful war days every night.” She paused and then said, “What did you do to stop them?”
“They started to ease a little after I got to Tucson and started doing things with Kate.” He paused and thought about the question. “I believe the thing that helped the most was following my friend’s advice. He told me I should start depending on Jesus and concentrate on His love for me and His never-ending support and comfort. I’ve followed that advice, and today He’s the center of my life.” Buck paused and with a smile said, “And thanks to you, Mrs. Duty, keeping my mind busy on school matters has helped, too.” She smiled.
“What do you dream about now, Buck?”
He grinned. “Kate.”
Later that evening when the cooler air had set in and the sun was painting a beautiful picture in the western sky, Mrs. Duty and Buck were sitting on a fallen log a mile or so west of her house watching the sunset. “What do you think of Walter Stickley, Buck?” Her question caught Buck off guard, but he quickly recovered.
“I like him, ma’am. I think he’
s a man who has high morals and can be trusted. He has a concern for our country and is not all wrapped up in himself. I’ve found he likes people and helps the needy. Why do you ask, Mrs. Duty? Do you have feelings for him?” She ignored the question.
“He told me he’d been married once, but he didn’t elaborate why his wife isn’t with him now. Do you know what happened to her, Buck?”
“Yes, ma’am. She and their two-year-old daughter died of cholera when they lived in Maryland. That was fifteen years ago.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Two weeks before the end of the school year, Buck and Mrs. Duty had just stepped aboard their buggy to leave on their weekend trip to Tucson when twelve Indian men carrying rifles rode up beside them and stopped. Two of the men were Mrs. Duty’s students and the others were men she and Buck had associated with quite often. “We ride with you,” one of the students said in broken English.
“You’re welcome to ride along with us, but it’s not necessary,” Mrs. Duty said. “We’ve made the trip several times without problems.”
Buck saw seriousness in their expression and asked, “Is something wrong? Do you think we might run into trouble?”
“Not safe to travel alone,” one of the students said. “Young Apache run-a-ways have come to area—they cause much trouble. They burn ranch buildings and take livestock. They hide in mountains and wait for white man to pass to take horses and everything of value. Many times, they kill men and take scalps.” The native started to say something else, but as his eyes fell on Mrs. Duty, he quickly stopped.
“You were about to say they molest women, weren’t you?” He nodded.
Mrs. Duty’s gaze stayed fixed on the natives for several seconds, and then with a sober face said, “Thank you for offering to ride along with us. We’re grateful for your protection.” Buck thought for a long minute and then snapped the lines. As the buggy rolled forward, the natives followed, staying several yards behind and off to one side, out of the dust.
As usual, the afternoon sky was cloudless. The early morning breeze had died, and the sun was hot. The temperature must be approaching a hundred-twenty-degree, Buck thought. Time passed slowly as the travelers kept a keen lookout toward the mountains for possible invaders.
On two occasions during the trip, the natives riding behind the buggy split into two groups and rode on each side of it. Each time Buck saw movement among the mountain boulders and assumed it to be the run-a-way Indians, but an attack was never attempted. Their clothing was showing sweat spots after a couple hours of travel, and it seemed Buck was constantly wiping his face and neck with his already saturated bandanna. By now the concern of the hostile Indians had lessened a little. “It’s a shame we have hostile Indians roaming the country, Josiah,” Mrs. Duty said rather unexpectedly. “At this point in time, the natives would be better off if they stayed on reservations and learned to blend in to the white man’s way of life.” She paused, expecting a remark from Buck but none came.
“You didn’t react to my comment, Josiah. Don’t you agree with me?”
“Not entirely, ma’am. I feel kind of sorry for the Indians. They were content with the lifestyle they’d had for centuries and then the white man came, disrupting their way of life. Do you think we had a right to do that, Mrs. Duty?”
“It does seem cruel, Josiah, but it’s been mankind’s way since the beginning of time. It seems as though the human race has a passion and is in a constant search for something new. Something that will provide them with a better way of life. And if the populous is large and strong enough they’ll succeed in attaining their wants, even if it means overpowering whatever or whoever stands in their way.”
“It doesn’t seem right, Mrs. Duty, that a people’s way of life can be destroyed by someone else’s wants.”
“You may be right, but that’s the fact of the matter.” She paused as she gathered her thoughts. “Our new country was founded and has grown on these principles, Josiah. People from around the world started coming to our land in the late fifteen and early sixteen hundred’s. Most of them died within the first couple of years, but it didn’t stop the influx of folks coming. There was a better way of life available to them in America, and they wanted it, regardless of the consequence.
“Think of it, Josiah. It was only ninety years ago we Americans wanted our freedom from England and with God’s help, we attained it. Our lives today are better because of that struggle, even though it came at a great sacrifice.”
“How about the war that was just fought between the states? Was it the right thing to do, Mrs. Duty? Was it worth all of the destruction and bloodshed?” Minutes passed as Mrs. Duty tried to come up with answers to Buck’s question.
Finally, she said, “The war was a terrible thing, Josiah. Its dastardly destruction of property and the killing of over eight-hundred thousand of its citizens are unbelievable. Families have been torn apart; some
families totally killed off. Homesteads have been destroyed, leaving thousands of families wandering about with no place to go. Many are roaming the west. Individuals, such as you, are still trying to rid themselves of the agonizing memories of what they experienced. Many are still trying to find their place in this big unsettled land.”
For the next few minutes, silence gripped the buggy. Then Mrs. Duty looked at Buck with sober eyes. “I believe the war had to be fought, Josiah. If the United States is to become a great country, we had to get this dividing issue behind us. Our nation would never be able to survive as a free country with slavery hanging over its head.”
They rode on for several minutes before Buck responded, “Thank you, ma’am. I needed to hear words like you just spoke. They help a lot.”
“Josiah, have you put the war behind you? Are you looking forward to a life full of adventure?”
“I believe I’ll find a good life someday, Mrs. Duty, but my memories of the war will never leave. they’ll be with me for the rest of my life. They’re not as vivid as they used to be, and I’m learning to live with ’em, but I still think about war tragedies several times every day. Thankfully, the bad dreams have mostly stopped.”
A bit later, Buck and Mrs. Duty talked about other things, mostly about Buck’s schooling that would soon be ending. She bragged on his accomplishments and said he had exceeded her expectations, especially in numbers, and that he would make the railroad company a good employee with advancement potential.
The flicker of Tucson’s lights came into sight a couple hours after sunset. The natives said their goodbyes and promised to be back at this very site come Sunday afternoon to accompany them back to the reservation.
The weekend went very well for Buck and Mrs. Duty. Buck, as usual, pestered Kate at the cafe during his meals and coffee breaks and enjoyed the evening in her porch swing discussing his weekly happenings and eating her pie. He spent time at the liveries when he wasn’t with Kate, getting caught up on all the town gossip. He tried to visit Walt but found he wasn’t in his office. Sunday was a repeat of other weeks.
∙•∙
Unlike Buck’s normal routine, Mrs. Duty’s weekend turned out to be very exciting and like none of her other Tucson’s visits. Her Saturday morning began with a lingering breakfast in the hotel dining room with Walt. Afterward, they strolled along several storefronts, occasionally going into one to look around and in a few cases to purchase an article on Mrs. Duty’s shopping list. Afterward, she returned to the hotel to freshen up.
Late in the afternoon, Walt escorted her from the hotel lobby again and helped her onto the seat of his buggy he had waiting outside.
They rode toward the mountains, and the buggy was filled with laughter as they chatted amiably. The trail leading up the mountain became steep and was as far as the buggy could travel. Walt stopped beside a grove of aspen trees with a stream nearby and spread a blanket for them to sit on.
The air was much cooler at this elevation, especially with a mountain breeze, making them quite comfortable. Their attention focused wes
tward as the sun started painting the sky in a spectacular array of colors.
As the sun dropped below the mountains and the afternoon light was still reflecting from the western sky, Walt went for his picnic basket. Mrs. Duty smiled when he returned, as she opened the basket and saw fried chicken along with an assortment of other food.
They enjoyed their picnic as the day turned to twilight. The town was dark with empty tie rails when they finally drove back up to the hotel.
∙•∙
It was a little later than normal on Sunday afternoon when Buck and Mrs. Duty left town for the reservation. She was in a good mood and kept their conversation lively while the two rode out to the place where they were to meet the natives. After the rendezvous and a bit of talk with their escorts, all headed out in the same manner as when they had come to Tucson. The conversation between Buck and Mrs. Duty slowed a bit, and he noticed that, on occasion, her thoughts seemed to be far off.
They hadn’t gone far before Mrs. Duty turned toward Buck and said, “Walter asked me to marry him.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The last day of school ended on a Friday with an outside celebration. The two older girls who assisted Mrs. Duty in the classroom had helped her make bear paws and lemonade, and they organized games for the children. Many of the parents attended.
In the final minutes of the party, Mrs. Duty spoke of many memorable events that had taken place during the school year. Most were funny stories, but many were stories of accomplishments the students had attained. She encouraged the younger students to come back the following year, and she said her goodbyes to the older ones who had completed their schooling. Then she called out each graduating person’s name and handed each a certificate as he or she came forward. The certificate stated the individual had learned the skills of reading, writing, and numbers. Mrs. Duty’s smile was extra wide when she handed Buck his.
