by Caryl McAdoo
* * *
HENRY PASSED SUE as she headed out, her head hanging. He’d heard it all. If they needed to be in Jefferson in three days, then that’s where he’d have them. He marched up to Titus. “That your team out back?”
“Yes, sir. Traded a man on his way home out of them a few days ago. Got the mules and his wagon. You in the market?”
“Harness, too?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll make you a deal on the lot.”
“Don’t need the wagon, but I might be a buyer on the mules and harness, if it’s trail worthy and the animals are sound.”
The man’s thumbs pulled on the bib of his slightly stained apron, then he smoothed it all out, like he needed to think a bit. “Oh, yes, sir. Those four fine mules are fit as a fiddle. Hadn’t had a better set here in a spell. Leather could use some oil, but what harness couldn’t?”
Henry started to say his, but figured why antagonize the man? No need to, especially when he was trying to trade him out of his team. “You drive ’em?”
“No, sir, but I saw the fellow work ’em. Not a stubborn one in the lot.”
“They catch easy?”
“Hadn’t tried.”
“They got hobbles?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll throw them in.”
“You got plenty of grain?”
“Oats, corn, a right smart load of wheat, all good enough to grind, but fine feed for sure. Plenty of miles in my grain, man or beast.”
Henry nodded. The shopkeeper was selling him, but he’d heard it all before. “What you want for the lot?”
Titus wiped his mouth, tugged on his apron again, then smiled. “Three hundred gold or silver coin.” He closed one eye, then bobbed his head side to side like he was counting. “That includes two hundred pounds of grain, your choice.”
Before Henry could counter, Rebecca sidled up next to him and took his hand into hers. He looked at her and smiled. She smiled back. “I found what I want.”
“Really, what is it?”
She pointed to a shelf behind the man’s shoulder. “That ring right there, the shiny green one.”
Titus turned, grabbed the ring, then held it out. “This what you want? That’s an emerald, and it’s real gold, missy.”
She took it and slipped it over her ring finger. The band was at least three sizes too big. She held her hand out in front of herself admiring it, then handed it back. “Yes, sir, that’s the one.” She tugged on Henry’s hand until he bent down to her level. She spoke softly into his ear. “Thank you for the ring, Daddy.” Then she kissed his cheek.
He straightened up and faced the man. “How much?”
Titus rubbed his tongue over his teeth, then smiled his trading-post smile. “Seven dollars; it being gold and all.”
Henry nodded like he was going to pay full price for what he wanted. He searched the store, then spotted the boy in the far corner fingering a shirt. “Levi, find anything yet?”
“Yes, sir.” The boy laid the shirt down and headed toward him. “There’s a pair of boots.”
“Anything else?”
“Maybe some powder and shot?”
Henry nodded, then pointed to a jar that rested next to where the man had pulled the ring from. “What you got there?”
“Hard candy. Best I’ve ever had.”
Henry laughed at himself. Was he really contemplating spending a month’s worth of gathering and cleaning seeds on these children? His answer came in the affirmative; that’s exactly what he was going to do. Warmth spread through his heart. Could this be what splurging on your own kids was like? He smiled. Must be what love did to a person.
* * *
NAUSEA WAVED OVER SUE. If the last half of the trace went one iota as bad as the first half, she was sure to miss the buyers. She held on to the edge of the wagon and tried to steady her insides. She looked toward the trading post. What in the world could Henry and those two children be doing?
Eight more miles today, then thirteen a day for the next three. How could they ever cover that much ground? So far, she hadn’t done thirteen even one day, much less three in a row. She looked to the sky, almost mad at God for the cruel turn. She definitely was in no mood to rejoice or give thanks or say anything kind to anyone at that point.
She had trusted Him, and here He was, letting her down. So what if it was the best crop she’d ever made? What difference did it make if she missed the buyers? It seemed all for nothing.
She had no fight left, no hope. She looked again at the three of them still chatting away with Titus like they had all day to waste and nowhere to go. She wanted them to come on. But then again, what did it matter how long they stayed? She’d never make it in time anyway. Might as well resign her self to it and start thinking what she was going to do next.
Maybe she’d just give up and go home to her daddy. She climbed into the wagon and sat there crying on the inside.
Becky came running out with her fingers clutched tight. Keeping what she had in her hands hidden, she carefully climbed the spokes, then sat beside Sue. “Mama! I have a surprise for you. Mister Da—umm, Mister Henry got it for me and you! Pick a hand.” She held out both fists in front of her.
Sue shook her head. She did not feel like playing any games. She did not want to be happy. Her life was ruined, and all she wanted was to be left alone.
“Go ahead! Pick one, Mama.”
Should she make her daughter share the weight of the world? No. But how could she act like any surprise pleased her? Becky was obviously so excited about it, but Sue couldn’t think of one thing good at that awful minute. She sighed, trying to relieve some of the pressure on her heart, and looked into her little girl’s smiling, glowing face. She tried to smile and tapped Becky’s left hand—since nothing was right, after all.
Becky opened her fist, revealing a golden piece of hard candy. “It’s butterscotch! You get the butterscotch!” She opened her other hand showing a red piece. “Mine’s cherry!” She popped it in her mouth and closed her eyes. You could tell she enjoyed it. “Ummm, oh, Mama! Roll it around so it’ll touch every part of your mouth. It’s like Heaven.” She opened her eyes. “Why aren’t you sucking yours?”
Sue shook her head. “Watching you, I guess. So do you like it better than my cake? Is it your new favorite?” She fully expected the child to choose it over her vanilla pound cake.
Becky took the hard candy out of her mouth and turned it in her fingers, staring at it. “Oh, my goodness, no! This is a one-time chunk of cherry. Delicious, but your cake will always be my favorite in the whole world for my whole life.” She stood and hugged Sue’s neck. “Don’t be sad, Mama. Eat your candy. Suck it slow, so it’ll last a long time, and it’ll make you feel better.” She popped her cherry piece back in her mouth, then put her sticky little hand on Sue’s cheek. “Everything will be all right. You’ll see.”
“I love you, Becky.”
“I love you, too. It just isn’t the end yet. You have to wait for the end to know how everything turns out.”
“You’re one wise little cookie, daughter of mine.”
Becky kissed her cheek. “Well, I got to go now because I need to see how Mister Henry is doing. I’ll tell him you’re in the wagon ready to leave, and then we’ll probably be back quicker.”
What a bright ray of sunshine Becky was, spreading her innocence and joy everywhere she went. Such a wonderful wee optimist. Sue usually considered herself an optimist, but she knew enough to know when everything had gone south and when it was time to give up, too. She studied the candy a little longer, then closed her eyes and popped it in, sending it with her tongue to every part of her mouth. And she remembered to suck it slow.
Ummm, it was like Heaven.
* * *
HENRY LOOKED TO THE PILE he and the children had accumulated, and he patted the goods. “This and the four mules, harness, hobbles and two hundred and fifty pounds of grain, my choice, and I’ll give you a hundred in gold coin, U.S., ten furs, your choice, and five pounds o
f tobacco, Virginia mild, the best, smoothest smoke around.” He stared at the storekeeper, willing him to take the deal, but not really expecting him to.
The man shook his head. “Two hundred gold, weighted out and proved, all your furs and twenty pounds of tobacco if it is as good as you say.”
“No, sir, can’t part with more than ten furs. Let’s say one fifty gold, proved any way you want, and all the tobacco.”
Titus stuck out his hand. “One seventy-five, the tobacco, and I get my pick of the skins.”
“One fifty-five, the smoke, and you pick five, I’ll pick five.”
The storekeeper kept his hand out. “One sixty, the tobacco, and I pick six, you four.”
“Done.” Henry grasped the man’s hand and shook. He faced Levi, who had been standing next to him the whole time. “Would you fetch my smallest honey jar?”
“Yes, sir.”
Henry didn’t think he’d ever get tired of the boy calling him sir. He grabbed a cloth from the pile, spread it out, then emptied the hard candy jar by turning it upside down and tapping on the bottom. “This should work.”
Rebecca tugged on his pants leg. “What are you doing with that candy? And why did you send Levi after the honey? That wasn’t part of the deal.”
He smiled and winked at her. “You’ll see quicker than I can tell you.”
The boy returned carrying the brown jar. “Aunt Sue said she’d like to leave, if it isn’t too much trouble.”
Henry took it from him. “You tell her what we did?”
“No, sir. Figured you’d want to surprise her.”
“Good man.” He popped the heavy wire that kept the honey’s lid tight, then started pouring the thick liquid into the emptied candy jar. Once it began flowing, he tipped the jar he poured from closer to level and leaned over where he could watch its bottom. When almost all of the honey had run out, he spread another napkin and reached in and pulled a handful of coins out onto the cloth.
Rebecca clapped her hands. “I see now! You’ve been hiding your money in the little honey jar. I love it! It’s honey money!” She started jumping up and down and turning around. “Is the big one full of gold coins, too?”
Levi scowled at his cousin. “Bitty Beck! You do not ask a man about his money.”
Henry fished out another handful and counted them. “Don’t trouble her, son. The other one doesn’t hold any coin.” Henry hoped she wouldn’t press it. He wouldn’t lie to her, but he sure didn’t want her quizzing him about the larger jar.
Real quick, the coins were cleaned, weighted, and put in the man’s pocket. “Let’s see to the furs and tobacco, then I’ll help you hitch ’em up,” Titus said. “You good folks can be on your way.”
* * *
SUE WATCHED as Henry and Mister Titus paraded out to the other wagon, where Henry’s wares had been stowed. He pulled out his furs and spread them, and the storekeeper began examining them immediately. Well, she supposed they’d be sleeping on the hard ground the rest of the way. She certainly didn’t look forward to that.
Levi came out carrying an armload of goods. He stopped next to her and started pointing out all the wonderful things Henry had bought for him. “Look here, new boots! And he said to get two of these shirts. I got extra shot and powder, too, and oh, yes, a new hunting knife in a tooled leather sheath. It’s, it’s”—he shrugged—“better than grand! And wait till you see what he got Bitty Beck.” He carried his haul on back to the second wagon.
Why was he acting like a five-year-old at a Sunday all-day dinner and singing on the grounds?
When Becky finally came out of the trading post, Sue could see only her hands and legs. The pile she carried covered everything else. Oh, my goodness, what had the man gone and done? This was ridiculous! Enough was enough, and too much was—Well, now she saw a dreadful, undesirable trait in Henry.
“Mama!” Even muffled, the excitement in her daughter’s voice came through. “Wait till you see! Just you wait!”
Sue huffed. All this time she’d been sitting here ready to go. She’d decided to try and get to Jefferson before the buyers sailed. Turning back seemed illogical and senseless. From that point, she’d been past ready to leave. How dare he buy all that without consulting her? She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to spoil her children in such an extravagant manner, as though she couldn’t provide.
And he had burned daylight doing it!
When the cotton sold, she intended to get them each a pair of shoes and fabric to make some new clothes, but with all these expensive, ready-made purchases of Henry’s, anything she planned seemed paltry. No one would be excited after this! Who did he think he was? And where did he think she was supposed to put it all?
“Mama, you’re going to have to help me. I can’t climb up there with all of this.”
“Rebecca Ruth! Did you ask Mister Henry to buy all of that? You cannot go around begging for things. That’s terrible!” Sue stood. “Step back so I won’t knock you over, and I’ll climb down.”
Becky retreated a few steps. “He told me to find something I wanted. I didn’t beg or even ask for all this. I just told him I liked the ruffled apron, and he said, ‘Get it!’ And I was only admiring the doll, holding her and looking at her face when he hollered, ‘Bring that here!’ I promise, I did not ask right out for anything you see.”
“He bought you a doll?” Sue could hardly believe her ears. “Dear Lord, what am I to do?”
Her daughter did her best to shift the load and look around from one side to see her. “Well! If I were you, I’d tell Mister Henry, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you so so so very very very much. You have blessed my family.”
“Rebecca Ruth! You’re such a scallywag sometimes.” Sue took a new pair of shoes from one of her hands and peeled off a blue dress and the ruffled apron from her pile.
“And I got a new blue bonnet that matches my dress, too.” Becky giggled. “You just wait till you see what all he got. Mister Henry sure must love me.”
Love her? She thought Henry loved her? She’d be so crushed when they parted ways. Sue had to talk to Henry and tell him not to be so nice to her daughter! Well now! That sounded stupid, even to her, but she couldn’t let him hurt Becky’s heart. “Oh? So you think he loves you, do you?” Sue unfolded the napkin full of the heavenly candy and shook her head in disbelief.
“I’m sure of it, Mama, aren’t you?” Her answer more than stunned Sue. Becky handed over a sack of cornmeal and a big package wrapped in brown paper. “It’s salt pork.” Her pile was now down to manageable. She wrinkled her nose and lifted her shoulders. “He got you something, too. Wait till you see.” She literally sang the words, but softly; obviously so that Henry wouldn’t hear her share his surprise.
“Well, he shouldn’t have!” He got her something, too? Sue wondered what in the world it might be, and the butterflies came back. Suppressing any show of anticipation, she took the rest of the booty from her daughter’s arms. “Now where are we going to put all this?”
Becky ran ahead to the back of the second wagon, holding her new doll by both her hands, making her dance in the air. Sue followed at first, then stopped abruptly. “Levi Baylor! What are you doing?”
He looked up. “Oh, uh, sorry, Aunt Sue. Uh, Mister Henry. He told me to uh, unhitch these mules.”
“What! Unhitch the mules? Well, that’s it! He’s gone too far!” She stormed back to where Titus had heaped Henry’s furs over his arm. “Henry Buckmeyer! Why did you tell my nephew to unhitch my mules from my wagon? You knew full well that I have been ready to go this whole time. Trying. To. Wait. Patiently on you, and, and your—your incredulous liberality!”
She dumped the load of Becky’s stuff in his arms and marched back to the first wagon, where Levi worked on harnessing Dex and Daisy in front of Mil and Mabel.
Like a sledge to her left temple, it hit her. That man had gone and bartered her wagon and half her cotton for all the stupid stuff. Well! She never! It wasn’t his to trade; every bit of
it was hers! Well, not the furs, but good Lord have mercy! How dare he!
The man was worse than Littlejohn! She walked back to where he stood still holding Becky’s things. She forced herself to be calm, as much as possible. “Henry.”
He turned around holding what appeared to be all his tobacco and smiled that infuriating, smirky smile of his. “Yes, boss?”
She closed her eyes and nodded toward the side of the trading post. “I need. A word. If. You don’t mind.” She walked ahead of him into the shadows.
Not soon enough, he joined her, still smirking. “Something I can help you with?”
“Did you barter half of my cotton and my wagon to Mister Titus for all that merchandise you just bought and gave to my children?”
“No, ma’am.”
His answer shocked her. She’d been so certain. “But. Then. Why is Levi—” At that exact moment, the boy hurried past her toward the back of the building. “Where is he going?”
“Around back.”
“I can see that.” Icicles dripped from her words even though the temperature had to be over ninety. “What is he doing back there?”
“Titus needed some help.”
She closed her eyes, sure that smoke wafted from her ears and nose. She willed herself to be civil. She was about to slap him. If he didn’t tell her what was going on, she might just lose all composure and do exactly that. He deserved worse for that smirky grin of his. A close snort pulled her eyes open.
Levi and Titus led a team of four harnessed mules right toward them.
Totally confused, she managed only . . . “What—”
“I traded for ’em.” Henry moved to her side. “If we’ve only got three more days to get to Jefferson, I figured we’d need some extra mules.”
She was speechless. Oh, Lord, why could she never hold her tongue? Why? Why? Why did she always have to jump to conclusions? Shoot her mouth off? Her face burned; it had to be three shades of red. She sighed and wished she was invisible, then spoke softly. “Henry, I can’t pay for those mules.”
