Teaching Miss Maisie Jane

by Mariella Starr

  He stretched back in that real comfortable desk chair and waited.

  “What do you need Jake?”

  “Sit down, honey,” Jake was watching Maisie Jane face real close and as soon as she noticed the piles of coins she looked uncomfortable.

  “Something strange is going here. I have counted and recounted and somehow I have six hundred more dollars than I’m supposed to have. And the strangest thing about that is that the Judge paid me in fifty dollar silver pieces but there were six one hundred dollar gold pieces in this money pouch. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?”

  “Of course I do. It was from me.”

  “Where’d you get that kind of money?” Jake demanded.

  “Jake, I came across the whole country. I couldn’t travel without money. I had it sewn into my petticoats so it would be safe.”

  “But, where’d you get that much money?” Jake repeated.

  “My Grandmother Louise died in April; it was my inheritance.” Maisie smiled. “I didn’t want keep carrying it around because it’s heavy so I put it your pouch. I forgot to tell you.”

  “Maisie Jane, I can support my wife. I don’t want your money.”

  Maisie Jane shrugged and smiled. “Then, put it the bank. I have to get back to my soup. You don’t want me burning your food again. Is that it?”

  Jake nodded, “I guess.” But when she turned to go into the kitchen he raised his voice. “But, next time we go into Elco, I’m depositing it in the bank.”

  Maisie Jane gave her soup a quick stir and went to the water closet. She closed the door and clutched her stomach tight.

  Someday her secret was going to come out and she didn’t want that to happen until Jake loved her so much he’d never let her go. She knew she was being bad. Holding back a secret from her husband was really bad.

  Maisie Jane’s stomach lurched and she ran over and lifted the lid to the pot before emptying her stomach.

  There was a tap on the door and Jake peered in. “Maisie Jane, are you sick?”

  Another round of violent round of vomiting brought Jake to her side, holding back her hair and holding on to her as she became faint.

  When she finished, Jake carried her into the bedroom, went out and came back with a bowl of water and a cloth. He wiped her face and mouth and then re-wet the cloth laid it on her forehead. Maisie Jane was weeping and she couldn’t seem to stop.

  Jake rummaged through the bureau and found a nightgown. He undressed her gently and slipped the nightgown over her head and tucked her in, and kissed her forehead.

  “What made you sick, honey?”

  Maisie Jane shook her head and didn’t answer but she knew what it was, it was her guilty conscience.

  “It’s all right. You stay tucked in and get some rest. I’ll get the stove going in here and warm it up.”

  Maisie shook her head again. “I’ll be okay, and it feels good to be cooler in here. Don’t forget the soup on the stove. Don’t let burn.”

  Jake removed the wet cloth and felt her head for a fever. He didn’t feel one, but then he’d just taken a cold cloth from her head. He’d have to check again.”

  A couple of hours later, Maisie Jane staggered out of the bed and had another violent bout of vomiting, but she didn’t make it to the water closet in time. By the time Jake reached her she was faint. He carried her back to bed, washed her up, changed her and tucked her back in. Then he had to clean up the mess. This cycle repeated itself several more times, but Jake got a little smarter and put a bucket beside her bed.

  By nightfall Maisie Jane seemed to be settling down. She said she was feeling better but Jake wouldn’t let her get out of bed and when he got into bed, he pulled her close and held her in her sleep.

  By morning Maisie Jane was up and feeling fine. Jake was already missing from the bed, but he always got up earlier than she did to tend the animals. She slipped out of bed, fired up the stove stop and got the coffee going.

  Jake was coming up the back steps when Maisie Jane flew out the back door. He caught her around the waist and carried her back inside. “Whoa there, gal, where to you think you’re going?”

  “To do my chores,” Maisie Jane exclaimed. “I’ve got eggs to gather and a cow to milk.”

  “Not today,” Jake said firm. “You were sick all yesterday and last night.”

  “But, I feel fine this morning,” Maisie Jane protested.

  “No,” Jake said pulling her boys coat off and hanging it on the hook by the door.

  “Jake!”

  “No,” Jake repeated. “No sass, either. I want you taking it easy today.”

  Maisie Jane gave in because when Jake said ‘no sass’ it meant he wasn’t going to change his mind. “Can I make breakfast?”

  “I’ll settle for the rest of the cinnamon rolls you made yesterday.”

  “I ate all of them,” Maisie Jane said with a smirk. “What do you think made me sick?”

  “All of them?” Jake exclaimed looking disappointed. “I was looking forward to them.”

  She giggled and kissed him. “No, I hid them so you wouldn’t. I’ll warm them up in the oven though.”

  “Brat!”

  There were two more major snowstorms over the next month. Maisie Jane and Jake settled and did what most young homesteaders without young children did during the winter months. They did their respective chores and spent a lot of time making love. Once a week, Jake would drag the big brass tub into the kitchen, set it up in front of the stove. They’d keep the big pots boiling on the stovetop for hot water and share a bath.

  The first break in the weather came in the second week of December. Levi visited, and the men planned a trip into town. The road was so muddy that they decided to ride horses and take packhorses instead of the wagons.

  Maisie Jane begged to go, but Jake was firm. He bundled her up and took her over to Cora’s for the day.

  Levi and Jake did their business and were back home by nightfall. Both men were worried. Jake needed a supply run of feed for the animals and what two packhorses could carry wouldn’t last long. The Madison homestead had gone fallow during the summer months after Brett had left and by the time Jake had arrived the quality of the hay was bad, and had gone to seed. It would keep his livestock alive but there wasn’t any value to the late crop for fattening up stock. If the road didn’t clear up, they’d have to pack in for rest of the winter which was dangerous as bad storms could whip up in a matter of hours.

  More storms hit, harder, with deeper snow. Jake spent part of his days cutting the logs he’d dragged up and left to cure behind the house two months early. Now he spent his time outside in the bitter cold chopping firewood. Maisie Jane had gladly taken a few whacks to her bottom for defying him and took him hot coffee as often as she dared.

  Christmas came and Maisie Jane moved what she called “the ugly table” from between the two large chairs and put up a little green tree. She searched through the bureaus and chests again and found a summer hat and used the straw flowers from it to decorate her little tree.

  Christmas morning Maisie Jane cried because all she had to give Jake as was a used shirt that had belonged to Brett and a pair of socks she’d tried to knit but they didn’t look very good because she was still learning.

  Jake held her in lap and dried her tears and they made love, first slow and easy and then hard and urgent.

  “I have something for you,” Jake said after they’d eaten dinner and were back sitting in one of the large side chairs in front of the fire.

  Maisie Jane turned those beautiful surprised green eyes to him. “How? You haven’t been able to get out.”

  “I picked it up the last time. I probably should have given it to you then, but I waited.”

  Maisie Jane thought of what he’d promised and thought she was getting a new coat. But, Jake pulled a very small envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  Maisie Jane looked inside and tipped the envelope into the palm of her hand. “Oh, Jak
e.”

  Jake took the wedding band and slipped it on her finger. “I thought it was about time I gave you one of these. It shouldn’t have been given as a Christmas present. I should have given you one a long time ago. I don’t want you ever take this band off, darling. It means your mine.”

  Maisie Jane put her head down on his shoulder and held out her hand to look at the simple plain gold band. “It’s perfect. You do love me.”

  “More than my own life,” Jake said very seriously. “I never knew that part of me was missing until you popped up with those ridiculous, fat curls, hoop skirts and sassy mouth.” He gave her a smacking kiss on the mouth.

  “You threw my curling irons and hoops away, didn’t you?” Maisie accused.

  “Who me, darling,” Jake said with a wicked grin. “Would I that?”

  Chapter 18

  The weather broke in the second week of January. The sun came out with a vengeance. The snow began to melt and the streams began to flood. The ground turned to thick mud that made it difficult to walk outside.

  Jake had to forbid Maisie Jane from going outdoors. The little thing got bogged down in the mud and got trapped because she couldn’t lift her mud-encased feet.

  The third week of January turned to May weather - cold at night but in the high sixties during the day as it started to dry out. Levi and Jake knew now was the time to get to town for supplies.

  Maisie Jane pleaded and begged to with them, and finally Jake gave in. Unfortunately, they waited one day too many. The temperatures plunged back into the thirties overnight, and they could see gray storm clouds coming across the mountains.

  Jake tried to persuade Maisie Jane to stay home, but she was persistent and wore him down. Except to go over to Cora’s and Levi’s she hadn’t left the homestead since they’d arrived. Secretly, she wanted to buy Jake a late Christmas present.

  But, their morning didn’t start well. Maisie Jane spent an inordinate time in the bedroom getting ready and when she did appear in the kitchen, Jake choked on his coffee. Maisie was wearing curls in her hair, a dress he’d never seen before and hoops.

  Maisie Jane bounced into the kitchen excited. She hadn’t gotten to dress up in a couple of months. She expected Jake to think she was pretty but his reaction wasn’t what she expected.

  “No!”

  ‘What?” Maisie Jane said hurt.

  “You’re not wearing red and not wearing hoops.”

  “Jake! It’s fashionable!”

  “No. Red is not a color a married woman should wear. And, hoops aren’t fashionable; they’re silly! Where did you get them and that dress anyway?”

  “Mrs. Madison left them, I had to hem it and everything!”

  “I said no,” Jake said firmly. “If want go, you’d better get changed, and fast. Levi should be here any minute.”

  “But…”

  “No sass, Maisie Jane or you can stay here.”

  Maisie Jane flounced out the room and Jake shook his head. Just when he thought she was behaving, she had to pull something. Hoops! Damn silly things!”

  When Levi arrived, they yoked Levi’s team to his, and chained the wagons together. Four strong horses could pull through the mud easier than two.

  Both men were already up on the seat when Maisie Jane came running out of house. “Wait, wait.” She was wearing the boy’s coat over a slim blue skirt that Jake recognized.

  “Where’s your shawl?”

  “Ohhhh! Wait for me,” Maisie Jane squealed and ran back into the house to get it.

  It might have been in the thirties when they left, but the temperature was steadily dropping and they faced a biting head wind for much of the two-hour trip. By the time Jake reined the horses to a stop in front of the Emporium, Maisie Jane’s teeth were chattering.

  “I’ll take the team on down and get what we need from feed store,” Levi said as he slid across the seat. “Best you get the little one inside and warmed up.”

  Jake guided Maisie Jane inside and an old man got up out of a chair in front of a pot-bellied stove and offered her his seat.

  “Thankkk yyyou,” Maisie Jane chattered and she sat down and put her hands out toward the warmth.

  Jake picked up a tin cup off a shelf and poured Maisie Jane a cup of coffee and held it to her lips.

  “I’m okay,” Maisie Jane said her hands shaking.

  Mrs. Grint was watching and she came around the counter. “I’ll get her a cup of tea. I’m surprised that stuff doesn’t rust through the cups.” The woman disappeared through the back and came back with a china cup and saucer of tea.

  “Thank you,” Maisie Jane said again because the worst of the bitter cold was gone after a few sips of the coffee. She took the tea though gratefully.

  “Sit for a few more minutes and warm up, while I give Mr. Grint our order.”

  A few minutes later, Maisie Jane stood and faced the man who had offered his chair. She did a quick bob of a curtsey. “Thank you, kind sir for the offer of your seat,” and she smiled.

  The old man grinned and dipped his hat and then snatched it off his head totally. “Any time, ma’am.”

  Maisie Jane carried the empty cup and saucer over to the register counter and repeated her curtsey. “Thank you, ma’am. I feel much better now.”

  Jake looked up and smiled, “Mr. and Mrs. Grint, my wife Mrs. Maisie Jane Maddox. Maisie Jane, Mr. and Mrs. Grint.”

  “How do,” both the proprietors said at the same time with a nod of their heads.

  “Very well thank you,” Maisie Jane said politely and she smiled at Jake. “I’m going to look around.”

  “Look for a coat,” Jake said.

  Maisie Jane nodded and she wandered around kind of aimlessly, sometimes touching a bit of velvet on a hat, running her finger along a piece of dress goods. Finally, she found something she liked. She disappeared behind a row of washtubs and came back out wearing a pair of blue cowboy boots.

  “Look Jake, pretty boy boots.” Maisie Jane said giving a turn with them.

  “No,” Jake said without looking up from his lists.

  “But they fit, and they don’t hurt, and they don’t have any all those darn buttons.”

  “No,” Jake repeated. “And, watch you language.”

  “But, Jake…” Maisie Jane whined.

  Now, his head came up with a look of sternness. “I said no. You’re not wearing boy boots.”

  “I saw two women wearing boots when we drove up. If they can wear them, why can’t I?” Maisie Jane pouted.

  Aware that Mrs. Grint and several other people were listening, Jake moved closer to his wife to speak more quietly. “They’re wearing boots because they probably can’t afford to buy nice ladies shoes. We can afford shoes. I just bought you a new pair.”

  “They hurt,” Maisie Jane whispered back.

  “Take the boots off,” Jake said firmly. “Find yourself a coat, that’s what you need.”

  Maisie Jane’s stubborn chin came up. “I can buy them, I have some money left.

  Jake bent down and whispered in her ear. “It’s not a matter of you having money. I said no and I’m not going to say no again. One more piece of sass and I’m going to spank you right here in the middle of the Emporium. That will leave a lasting impression for the townspeople, not counting the impression I’m going to leave on your bottom. Now go find a coat. A nice, proper, ladies coat.”

  “All right,” Maisie Jane gave a half-hearted flounce and went over to return the boots.

  Maisie Jane found a coat. It was a pretty grey, with pearl buttons, and bustle lift in the back. It wasn’t as comfortable as her boy’s coat or as easy to get into, but Jake approved.

  Jake bent down to speak into her ear. “I’m going to the livery, and then to the bank. Stay put and behave!”

  Maisie Jane browsed around, peering and poking into merchandise. When the mercantile cleared out of customers Mrs. Grint followed her over to a glass fronted display. “Are looking for anything particular?”

&
nbsp; “I need something for my husband, a belated Christmas present,” Maisie Jane explained.

  “A shirt?”

  She shook her curls. “He wears the same kind of shirts all the time. I want something… special.”

  “We have some nice calfskin gloves, sheepskin lined,” She pulled them out of a cabinet drawer.

  Maisie Jane fingered them. “Yes! What else do you have?”

  “Pocket watch?’ A shake of her head. “He has a nice one.”

  “A good fountain pen?” Again the shake.

  “New boots?”

  “New saddle blanket?”

  “A new coat,” Maisie decided. “Like the one I had on when I came in only a whole lot bigger. It will match his gloves.”

  “That’s a little expensive,” Mrs. Grint said gently. “We’ll have to get his permission to add it into his order.”

  “Oh, no,” Maisie shook her head. “It’s his Christmas present. He can’t know about it. I’ll pay for it.”

  Mrs. Grint looked at her husband.

  “If she’s got the cash money, sell it to her,” Mr. Simon Grint growled.

  “Can you wrap it together, the gloves and coat??” Maisie asked.

  Mrs. Grant nodded and gave her the price.

  Maisie Jane smiled and opened her reticule and laid two ten-dollar greenbacks on the counter and received her change. “Just wrap it up and put it with other things. Oh, and don’t forget to put my boy’s coat in too, I need that.”

  Jake came in a few minutes later and settled with Mr. Grint for cash and they loaded the wagon.

  When Jake, Levi and Maisie drove the wagons toward home, Mr. Grint turned to his wife. “I’ll betcha that one gets a whopping when he finds out she’s been filching money out of his pockets!”

  “You don’t know that,” Mrs. Grint said reproachfully.

  The old man cackled. “Betcha.”

  Chapter 19

  The trip home was even colder but at least the wind was to their backs and wasn’t snowing yet.

  By the time they got back, Maisie Jane as shivering and she couldn’t seem to stop. Levi came into the house with him and lit a fire in the cook-stove while Jake took his wife into the cold bedroom and started a fire in the box stove there. He stuffed her under the covers, coat, clothes, and all and told her to stay put.