Foxy Statehood Hens and Murder Most Fowl (The Foxy Hens)

by Paula Watkins Alfred

  “Well then, my friend, we have us a deal. The doctor and I will be back with my trunk sometime late this afternoon. We’ll talk about colors and what sort of adornments you’d prefer on your new bonnet then.”

  “Adornments!” Willadene murmured. “Did you hear that, hon? I’m going to have adornments on my new hat.”

  Starr lifted Eula Mae up to the wagon seat, nodded at Sweet Jud and his starry eyed wife before he set the little mule into motion.

  “He must be one of them there rich Indians,“ Eula Mae heard the woman saying as they drove away. “Done gone and made himself into a Doctor, she said. Ain’t that grand, Sweet Jud?”

  On the trail Eula Mae could not help comparing her ride from Granny’s cabin in Mr. Montmorcey’s wagon to the ride with Dr. Starr. Not only was the pace quicker, the conversation was far more interesting. For sure, this driver had her complete attention.

  “Willadene thinks you’re an Indian.”

  “I am that. At least half my blood makes me so.”

  “Don’t most Indians have their own ways of treating illness? I mean, I know my friend, Te Atta, always calls in the Medicine Man when any of her family gets sick.”

  “Well,” he chuckled as he again touched the reins lightly to the rump of the mule. “I’m an Indian and I’m pretty sure I’m a medicine man. I worked plenty hard back East to become one.” He glanced her way. “My grandfather insists that I keep in touch with him and the other ‘traditional’ medicine men of the tribe. He says I need to keep in touch with my roots so I can be a good doctor… even for white eyes.”

  “Oh, you know what I mean. I have to remember that you’re always joshing and teasing, don’t I? Sometimes you’re just like a little boy.”

  “I guess I act like a child because I’m happy when I’m with you.”

  They rode in silence for several minutes, her shoulder touching his arm each time the wagon rolled onto an uneven spot on the trail. Her heart leaped at his words. Did he mean what he’d said, ‘I’m happy when I’m with you?’ Wasn’t that some sort of declaration?

  When they neared the place along the path where they’d met, Bartlett slowed the mule. He pointed to the stump next to the blackjack tree.

  “This is where I first saw you.” His brown gaze pierced her own. She’d never before felt such a concentration of focus on her countenance. Words would not come. She could only stare up into the intensity of his look.

  His face came closer to her own. Was he going to kiss her? She’d been kissed at play parties, when Granny or one of the neighbors had invited all the young people to sing and dance of an evening, but mostly those had been pecks on the cheek, with only a few bold men quickly touching mouth to her lips. That had been fun, part of a game, and the kisses had been offered in crowded rooms. This was different. Here she was, a woman of almost twenty-eight years and she didn’t know the first thing about kissing, not real kissing. She pursed her lips just a bit. This would be different. This would be real.

  But no. He drew back, then hopped over his side of the wagon and raced around to lift her down.

  “Let’s step over here into the shade, Eula,” He kept his arm about her shoulders, then turned to face her. “Let me take off your pretty hat.” With great deliberation he pulled the long gold pin from her hat and stuck it back into the velvet before arranging the headpiece and the pin in the cleft of the trees. He looked at her for a long deliberate moment before he lowered his lips to hers.

  Yes. This was to be a kiss, a real kiss. His lips barely touched hers. “Relax, dearest. Let me taste you.”

  Oh. So ‘puckered up’ wasn’t the way to do it. She tried to let herself relax. She longed for that kiss.

  His mouth came down to cover hers. Soft. Warm. Then his lips parted over hers. She let her own mouth open slightly. Ah, she could taste him. His tongue gently parted her lips a bit more. This was heavenly. She could feel his body against her own. It was as if they had joined their two bodies into one, somehow. She wanted the kiss to go on and on forever, but he lifted his head and stepped back from her. Maybe he hadn’t liked the way she’d returned his kiss.

  “We aren’t far from where your trunk was left, I believe. Shall we go on and look for it?”

  She nodded. Speechless, she once again reached for her hat to pin it to her hair. Where the two trails joined she pointed toward the slight downward slope where she’d hidden the trunk. The limbs and branches she’s thrown onto it seemed to be undisturbed.

  The doctor jumped from the wagon and Eula Mae climbed down from her side.

  “Wait. I’ll help you.” she called.

  “No need.” He dragged the trunk to the wagon bed, then hefted it into the wagon bed with seeming ease.

  “Doctor, you’re a very strong man.”

  “And you are a very sweet woman.”

  They rode in an aware silence on the few miles back to the ferry landing. Eula Mae’s heart felt as if it were beating in unison with the clip clop of the young mules trotting steps. Could she trust this man? Was she falling in love with him?

  Chapter 7

  Bartlett touched her hand as if in warning when they neared the ferry landing. The box-like structure wasn’t at the bank.

  “Sweet Jud must be pulling someone toward Tulsey Town,” he said. “I’ll put the mule on the grass and get it some water if you want to go speak to Willadene.” He lifted her against himself and held her there for a long moment. “We need to talk, little missus.”

  She nodded and turned toward Willadene’s little house. Might as well find out what sort of hat the woman might want.

  The two-room station was empty. The outhouse and storm cellar, also. She turned back to the ferry landing where the Doctor stood staring out at the pulley rope.

  “Both of them must be taking someone over,” Eula murmured, “Seems strange that neither one of them is here, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, very strange. Especially since the pulley rope is slack in the water.” He stared a moment longer. “Maybe they’ve both gone to buy groceries or something.”

  “Willadene told me they never left the ferry unattended, Bart, night or day. She said that one or the other of them were always ready to take passengers over.”

  Once again, Bartlett pulled on the rope. It moved toward him.

  “No one on the ferry,” he said. He retrieved his gloves from the wagon. “I’d better pull it back to this side.”

  “I’ll help.” She hurried to grab the old work gloves she’d used before, from beneath the wagon seat.

  In minutes the raft skidded across the top of the calm river. No person or animal was aboard the craft. When Bart had tied the rope securely enough that they could board the ferry, he drove their mule and wagon on board. Something on the deck closest to the bank caught his eye.

  “A mitten,” he spoke aloud. “That looks like Sweet Jud’s mitten.” The two stared at each other.

  “Something’s happened to Sweet Jud and Willadene.” Eula whispered. “He would never in a million years, throw his mitten down onto the deck. He treasured those things because Willadene made them for him.”

  Bartlett loosened the rope and immediately began to pull them toward the Tulsey Town landing. Eula Mae added her strength and in minutes they’d landed the mule and the wagon carrying the huge old trunk, at the landing at the foot of the village.

  “We’d better find that Deputy Marshall if he’s still in town,” Bartlett said after securing the raft. He helped Eula Mae up onto the wagon seat. “What was his name?”

  “Cord Vincent,” Eula Mae whispered. “I hope he hasn’t gone back to Ft. Smith.”

  Bartlett stopped the wagon in front of Boudreau’s store. He yanked the trunk from the wagon bed and carried it on one shoulder into the grocery store. Eula followed.

  “Over there,” the grocer’s wife indicated the corner near the front window. “Oh, I just can’t wait.” She fanned her apron as if to cool her face.

  Eula Mae smiled at the woman.
/>   “I’ll have your hat made before you know it. What is your favorite…?”

  Bart interrupted. “Excuse me, Mrs. Boudreau. Come on, sweetheart. Let’s look for Deputy Vincent.”

  Mrs. Boudreau leaned across the counter to breathe the words into Eula’s ear. “He called you sweetheart!”

  Eula Mae ignored her, although she too was thrilled with the endearment. “We have to go. Sweet Jud and Willadene seem to be missing.” She explained and followed the doctor out the door. From the store she heard Mrs. Boudreau say, “But my husband said they were…” as they crossed the grocery store porch.

  Chapter 8

  “I have a surprise for you, girl.” The Doctor smiled down at her. “My relatives have been busy while we’ve been across the river. I’ve arranged for a place for you to live.”

  “In your office?”

  “No. A tipi. I told you I’d arrange that. You’ll be snug there and you’ll be safe.”

  “A tipi?”

  “Yeah. You know you have to be Indian to own a house or land in Tulsey Town, my little missus. This is Indian Territory. But a tipi can show up anywhere with no problem. He surveyed the rutted street. On the porch of the hotel he saw the Ft. Smith lawman talking to a redheaded woman.

  Eula Mae followed his gaze. “Montmorcey brought that woman to town,” she said. “I saw her in his wagon.”

  “Let’s go tell the Marshall about the missing ferry folks.”

  Deputy Marshall Cord Vincent tipped his hat to Eula Mae, then gestured toward the young woman standing next to him. “This here is Miss Twila Smith. Come to try to start herself a school out here in Indian Territory.”

  Eula Mae nodded to the woman. A teacher. That was respectable.

  “Yes, I want to start a school but first I need to find a place to stay. I was hoping the Marshall could suggest something.”

  “How would you feel about living in a tipi?” Her question felt strange to Eula Mae but the teacher might be perfect as a room mate.

  “A tent?”

  “Well, sort of. It’s what lots of Indians use as their houses. The space inside is kind of cozy. I’m a seamstress, and I am going to be living in one.” She hesitated a moment. Should she consult Bartlett? No. He wouldn’t care. He might be glad she’d made the offer. “I thought maybe you’d like to rent space from me.” Eula Mae glanced at the Doctor gesturing toward the river as he explained the absence of the ferry owners to the lawman. “I believe our tipi will be set up right next to the drugstore.”

  She couldn’t see the tipi but Bartlett had said it would be in place and she believed him.

  “Two dollars a week and we’ll take turns keeping the place neat and we’ll share cooking our meals in the evenings.”

  “Call me Twila.” The red head nodded and stuck out her hand to close the deal.

  Eula Mae could hardly believe her good fortune. She now had a place to sleep, a way to make some money to live on, and she’d found a new friend. So far, Tulsey Town had been extremely good to her.

  She told herself that meeting the doctor, Dr. Bartlett Starr, wasn’t the real reason she found Tulsey Town to be such a lucky place.

  Chapter 9

  Cord Vincent and Twila Smith in front, with Eula Mae Kent and Bartlett Starr trailing behind, strolled toward the drugstore. The Deputy Marshall peered into every window and looked down every fence line or alleyway they passed.

  Is he looking for Jud and Willadene?” Eula Mae whispered.

  Starr nodded.

  “They could be somewhere in town. No use getting all the citizens into an uproar until we’re sure they really are missing.”

  Eula Mae nodded agreement.

  “I may have been a bit hasty, Bartlett.” Eula Mae glanced at the other couple to be sure they were out of hearing range. “I got a little excited about my tipi, and without even consulting you I invited the new teacher to move in with me.”

  “Why would I be upset about that?”

  “Well, it is your shelter. You arranged for it somehow and had your family set it up. The tipi belongs to you. We haven’t even discussed a fair rental for my new place.”

  Bartlett lifted his chin and smiled as if congratulating the white clouds as they floated overhead.

  “No rent required, Miss Kent. That tipi is still in good condition but it is old and it hasn’t been in use for sometime. The Starrs here are all pleased that anyone might find it useful once again.”

  “I’m charging Miss Smith $2 a week.” She lifted her reticule to hold it against her side. “That’s for room and partial board. It isn’t fair that you get nothing from that.”

  Again her companion smiled at the sky as if he knew something she didn’t know.

  “No rent, thank you.”

  “Dr. Starr, I insist.”

  Starr put out his right hand to grasp her left. Fire seemed to slam through Eula Mae’s veins.

  “There’s no money in your hand, girl. Where’s my rent?”

  “Everything is a joke to you, Bartlett. I really do want to pay you something.”

  “Are you and Twila going to be eating in your tipi?”

  “Yes.” She stopped and faced him, “Is that okay?”

  “More than okay. Sounds like tipi rent to me.”

  Eula Mae frowned. Sometimes this man baffled her.

  “How about if the rent is a tipi-cooked meal once a week? Does that sound fair to you?”

  She breathed a sigh. She could do this. She nodded. Her sigh turned into a laugh.

  “More than fair. But you may be sorry. You don’t know if either of us can cook worth a bent penny.”

  “Whatever it is will be better than my own inept, burnt offerings. Eating at the hotel gets really old.”

  She switched her left hand for her right and shook his hand briskly.

  “It’s a deal, Doctor. Twila is a schoolteacher. Maybe she’ll be an educated cook as well.”

  “This is great. Now I’ll just be able to step out of my office, walk a few feet, and I’ll be sitting down to a home cooked meal.” He took her left hand again and they resumed their walk.

  “When will you be expecting this meal, sir?”

  “How about….” He looked skyward once again, “How about every Friday night unless I have to make a house call on a patient.”

  “Friday sounds fine to me and I’ll plan to be there unless I have to make a call on a patient. If I must go out, Twila will feed you, I expect.”

  Starr chuckled. “Now you’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

  “No. I have been meaning to tell you.”

  Eula Mae felt his squeeze on her hand but didn’t return it. “I’ve inherited lots of training and information and herbs from my grandmother. She was a well-known ‘healer’ in our parts.”

  “A healer! Fancy that.” He chuckled again.

  “I really do help people if they ask me to attend them.” Eula Mae kept her voice steady.

  “And you make hats when you aren’t out healing?”

  Eula Mae tore her hand from his. “Yes, I make hats, and yes, I try to help someone get well if called upon. Do you find that amusing?”

  The doctor made a noise in his throat.

  “Believe it or not, I really have aided suffering people, helped them to get better, and I’ve also delivered babies.”

  He made the sound again. It sounded like pure disbelief to Eula Mae.

  “All right,” she gestured with her hand, “Let’s catch up with our friends and ask what they have to say about women as healers.”

  When they presented their healers-as-opposed-to-medical-doctors topic to Twila and Cord, the schoolteacher didn’t hesitate to answer.

  “Well, of course,” Twila said, “I would never trust myself to some self-taught, so-called healer. I would search for the nearest real doctor.” She nodded for emphasis. “No question about that.”

  All eyes turned toward the Marshall.

  “I don’t know, Twila. I seen some people get well under the car
e of a ‘granny woman’ or two.” He cleared his throat, “In fact, my mama says I was plenty of trouble for everyone, especially for her, when I was birthing, but the ‘granny woman’ knew exactly what to do to turn me around and bring me out with no more problems. I heard my mama talk about that, many’s the time.” He tipped his wide brimmed tan hat slightly toward Dr. Starr. “I ain’t putting you doctors down, now, Starr. Understand?”

  The Doctor nodded. “Understood.”

  The Marshall continued with his opinion. “I expect you’d find pretty near all the Tulsey Town citizens evenly divided on that there question.” The lawman peered behind a pile of boxes next to the sidewall of the drugstore. “I think we done looked everywhere that little guy or his wife might be. Looks like I’m going to have to wire Ft. Smith about their disappearance.”

  Eula Mae let her own gaze wander down the wall to the out buildings behind the Doctor’s office.

  “Oh Bartlett, could we introduce Ringling to Twila and the Marshall?”

  “Of course.”

  * * *

  “Ringling loved showing off for another pretty woman,” Bartlett told Twila when they stepped out of the horse barn and corral.

  “Mighty fine horse, Starr.” Cord lifted his left hand. “I better get over to the station to send that wire.”

  “Oh let’s look at the tipi before you do that.” Twila tugged at his arm. “I can’t wait to see where I’m going to live, can you?”

  The Marshall smiled down into the little redhead’s face. Bright sunlight glinted off his metal shield. “Naw, I can’t hardly wait neither.”

  Eula Mae smiled inwardly. Looked like the Marshall and the new schoolteacher might make a pair. She looked past the couple to see the Doctor smiling too. No doubt he was seeing the same thing she was.

  The sight of the small buckskin and canvas shelter caused Eula Mae to breathe a sigh of relief. This was not much different from the tipi that had been home for her friend Te Ata.

  “Can we go in?” She touched the outer wall beside the tent flap.

  “Of course. It is your house now, girl.” Bartlett untied the laces on the door flap and gestured to her.