A Most Precious Pearl

by Piper Huguley

  “Well, I had to go down there to investigate and to bring Pearl back here to her sister.”

  “Pearl? Who calls her that?”

  “I do,” Asa asserted.

  His mother laughed. “She’s about as far from a pearl as you can get. Asa, I swear, the things that you say.”

  “She had a dreadful name down there. Mags.” He seemed to have to reach a long way to clasp her hand and it was awkward. “I changed it. Now that she’s here, she’ll be Pearl.”

  “Oh for heaven’s sake. Margaret is a perfectly suitable name. That’s what I will call her.”

  “Then Pearl will be my special name for her.” He squeezed Mags’s hand a bit before he let go.

  All signs of smiles disappeared from Elodie Caldwell. “You came up here unescorted, then? Have you been married before, Margaret?”

  “No, ma’am.” Her answer, although respectful, was loaded with emotion.

  “Well, that’s something isn’t it? Who would think to travel all of that way without an escort? I guess things are different in the South.”

  “We had an escort as far as Atlanta.” He let his mother know.

  Mags spoke up. “We could not arrange for another one when we left, since our lives were at stake. There are times when propriety cannot be followed.”

  Thankfully, the carriage was coming closer to Ruby’s house and he breathed a sigh of relief. “We cared, Mama. The war has changed things, you know? I didn’t lay a hand on her.” He winked at Mags, who gave him a straightforward look. “And she didn’t lay a hand on me.”

  “I would certainly hope not,” Elodie said, clearly shocked at the very idea.

  The carriage slowed down and stopped in front of Ruby’s brownstone in the Lower Hill. His mother’s house was higher and a few streets over from Ruby’s house. “Here’s where Ruby and Adam live.” He got out of the carriage and helped Mags out. He reached in the back, going for her bag, but Elodie interrupted.

  “Let Simon get that. I didn’t raise you to be a stevedore. Get back into the carriage Asa, we’re late for supper.”

  Asa took Mags to the door and knocked on it, resolving to pay his mother no mind, knocking on the door. “Well, here you are.”

  “Yes, here I am.” Mags informed him in a flat voice. “Thank you for seeing me here.”

  “I’ll see you at church in the morning and then you will come to mother’s house for lunch.”

  “Must I?”

  “She’s my mother.”

  Mags looked Elodie over as she sat there in the carriage and she looked him up and down. “Funny. You don’t look like her at all. Or maybe you just act like her.”

  A servant opened the door and he told her who Mags was. Ruby and Adam were famous for their revolving doors of help and he was somewhat surprised to see Ruby had held on to the same servant who had been there last month. Maybe someone was catching on to Ruby’s ways. Still, it warmed him as he retreated to hear a loud shriek of delight as the Bledsoe sisters reunited and Mags got the warm welcome she deserved.

  It was hard though, to erase the look of disappointment on Mags’s face from his mind. When he got back to the carriage, he sat on the opposite side where Mags had been, facing his mother.

  “Goodness, it’s something when these country ones come in. If you had not told me she was Ruby’s sister, I would have never, ever believed it. She’s so dark.”

  “So what? She’s beautiful, Mother.”

  “Yes, of course, Asa. She’s very attractive and dignified for a country person, I’ll give her that, even though, as I said, I question her judgment in traveling with you all of that way unescorted.”

  “She was nearly stopped from getting on the train in the first place, just because she was so important to the economy down there. The whites are not happy at the number of Negroes coming north.”

  “Indeed?” Elodie’s face made a puzzle. “Well, it’s a good thing that she won’t be here long, isn’t it? There’s too many of those country people up here as it is.”

  He opened his mouth to correct her, but he gave up. Elodie would know soon enough and she would just have to get used to Mags as her daughter-in-law.

  He needed to make sure he had his own place all ready for Mags, so that he could provide for her. She shouldn’t have to be in his mother’s house, where Mags would probably run the place better than she did. One woman in that house was more than enough.

  Chapter Eighteen

  When Mags went into Ruby’s house, she resolved to put everything, and she meant everything that was on the other side of the door behind her and enjoy her sister’s house.

  First of all, Ruby had a servant, a very young girl that was probably about Nettie’s age, and probably newly arrived from the south herself, given her soft accent. Next, when she walked in, she was astonished at the large open quality of the rooms, and how well appointed they were with heavy oak furniture. The girl led her down a long hallway and Mags could see up a tall staircase where the bedrooms where.

  “The doctor, he sees people in the back way, so’s folks can come in without disturbing the family. He got someone back there now.”

  “I need to see…” Mags gulped, “…Mrs. Morson.”

  “She stay up in her room most of the time. She supposed to. Doctor tell her to.”

  “Get up here, Mags!” Ruby yelled down the stairs and tears started at the corners of her eyes at the sound of her sister’s voice, a voice she had not heard for four long years.

  “But she doesn’t stay does she?” She took off her hat, placing her grip in the hallway.

  “Naw, ma’am.” The girl shook her head sadly.

  “I’m sure that you have other duties. I’ll go and see her myself.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The girl looked at her, seemingly shocked at Mags’s confidence. Clearly she had far more nerve than the girl did, and she was only newly arrived in Pittsburgh.

  The feeling of the wooden banister under her hand as she climbed the staircase almost made the hurt in her heart go away. Almost. Standing on the landing before the second set of stairs, she could see through the distorted window glass the retreating back of the hansom cab and the back of Asa’s well-shaped head.

  That is the end of that. Mags climbed the next landing of stairs, astonished at how well her sister and her husband were doing in this beautiful brownstone. When she got to the top of the stairs, rooms stretched in either direction with the floors carpeted in fancy patterned rugs, and the hallway lined up with potted greenery plants, almost like bushes.

  In one of the rooms to the right, a sweet voice piped up brought some balm to her aching heart. “I don’t want to go to bed, Mama.”

  Ruby’s soprano trilled in reply. “Solomon, you go to bed or there will be no pudding. Do what mama says.”

  Mags started walking in the same direction as the voice and before she knew it, she appeared in a doorway where her sister lay in a huge four-poster bed. Her little nephew came to her legs like a shooting star, and Mags braced them in time to catch him in her arms and inhaled the sweet small child scent of him.

  Solomon was a beautiful child, with long silky black locks and a beautiful little white frock that was clearly dirty with jam, and who knew what else. “Let’s go to your mama. We’ll make her feel better by doing as she asks.” Amazingly, Solomon took up her hand without any questions as if he knew her.

  “Oh, Mags. I prayed about it, but I never thought you would come.” Ruby put her hands over her face and began to sob. Just like Mama would. And Ruby had said she would never be like their mother.

  Mags and Solomon scrambled up on the bed next to Ruby and Mags embraced her sister as best as she could. When she withdrew from Ruby, their faces were both wet with sweat and tears, not knowing or caring which was which. She reached down and kissed Ruby on the forehead, the only vacant space where she could.
Looking at her sister’s face, Mags noted the dark circles under her eyes and didn’t like the look of it. A sharp pang of worry invaded her heart. She wasn’t a medical person, but Ruby’s belly seemed so stretched and distended under the bed covers that she touched the hard roundness there. “I’m here, sister. Early, but I am here.”

  “I give thanks to God. There are terrible, terrible things happening all over and I didn’t want you to get caught up in any of it.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “I knew you would make it with Asa Caldwell escorting you.”

  Her heard jumped a bit at the sound of his real name. “I’m fine. I made it here. And just in time to help you apparently.” She grabbed at Solomon’s little arm. “Who is this filthy young man?”

  “I’m Solomon, Auntie. And I don’t want a bath.”

  “You need one. I’m going to take you down to the kitchen and scrub you good.”

  Ruby smiled at her. “We have indoor plumbing. The bathroom is down the hall.”

  “The bathroom?” Mags pulled back in disbelief. “They have rooms for that in fairy stories.”

  “We got one here.” Ruby spread her hands and rested them on her belly.

  “Amazing.”

  “It’s just me who isn’t holding up my end of the bargain.”

  Mags patted her sister’s hand. “Stop that now. I know that he loves you more than ever.”

  “He does. I just feel guilty about it, that’s all. So I try to do what I can from here, but it’s all a hopeless mess.”

  “And I suspect that little girl downstairs doesn’t do much, does she?”

  Ruby shook her head. “I’ve needed you so, Mags.”

  “I can see that, Mrs. Doctor, and I’m going to help you starting now with this filthy one.”

  “Do I hafta listen to her?” Solomon fixed his big black eyes on her with mistrust.

  “Yes. I’m your Auntie Mags, and you must do what I say.”

  “Great. More grownups telling me what to do.” Solomon put his chin in his hands. He looked so cute, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

  “You need it you bad thing, you. Mama is at her wits end with you, spoiled thing.” Ruby leaned back, throwing up her hands.

  “Don’t worry, Ruby. I’ll make sure that he is clean, and if he is good, he can have a pudding and a story about what a trouble maker he was as a baby.” Mags stood and held her hand out to Solomon. To her surprise, he took it and meekly followed.

  “I’ll have a rest, Mags. Then, come back to me and tell me all, please do. I’ve been longing for home so much.”

  “Of course,” Mags promised her sister and let Solomon lead her to the wonder that was a bathroom in her sister’s home. She was glad, for Ruby’s sake, that Adam was doing so well in his practice.

  What a blessing to be needed somewhere. It made things easier. Since she was needed here, she could forget all about Asa Caldwell. And his mother.

  The firm pressure and feel of his moustache on her mouth haunted her and made her tingle.

  It would not be easy.

  The congregation of Freedom Christian was large as Asa said. For the past two years, it had been the mission of its leading church ladies, Ruby and Elodie, to help the stream of southern transplants to find work and places to live when they arrived in Pittsburgh.

  Grateful for the outreach provided, the new arrivals came to Pittsburgh and learned the ways of the urban city and they began to prosper, the numbers of the church swelled. The ministers were grateful to these powerful ladies for the ways they provided the outreach, but when Ruby had been repeatedly with child, a lot of the workload fell by the wayside.

  The opportunity was perfect for Mags’s organizing capacities and he couldn’t wait to tell her so. He had never been so eager to escort his mother to church, knowing he was going to see his Pearl. In the light of day, he would make sure that his mother had a better understanding of who she was to him and how important she was.

  When he arrived and looked over at the Morson pew where he expected to see the family, a sharp pang was in his heart at the emptiness. It consumed his thoughts all service long. He almost did not hear when Reverend Fairgate cited him in the church membership as someone who was doing great works for the Negro population. Consumed with thoughts of Mags’s beautiful swan-like neck and the gracious tilt of her head, he rubbed his hands together in hope.

  How would Mags meet his sisters if she didn’t come to Sunday lunch? Sunday lunch was always a large buffet type affair in his mother’s ornate parlor. The buffet usually consisted of cold meats, vegetables and desserts. He didn’t want to go, though, if it meant that Mags would not be there to meet his family. When he escorted his mother out to the carriage, he mentioned the missing Morsons.

  “I hope all is okay with Sister Ruby. I expected to see them at church.”

  His mother gave him a sharp look. “She’s had a difficult time. Her husband has confined her to bed and he’s not able to keep a close eye on her with his practice. Solomon cannot come by himself. They have had a revolving staff of people come and go. I’ve tried to help them, but I have my own place to run and my own things to take care of.”

  “Maybe I should go see them and extend my greetings. I’m not done yet writing my report, but I can share some of my initial findings with them.”

  “Everyone, and I do mean everyone, will be expecting you at luncheon. You cannot go over to the Morsons’, uninvited.”

  “I would not be uninvited,” Asa said knowing that “dropping in” would be a terrible breach of etiquette. He was inclined to forget all about the proper way of things. He had to know if Mags was angry at him.

  “Regardless, you must be at luncheon. That’s all.”

  Asa was glad to see his sisters, as well as his nieces and nephews as they all came to luncheon, hurriedly shoving cold-roasted chicken and slices of beef down their throats. Still, it struck him that there was something dry about his mother’s food and it stuck in his throat. He would never admit it to Elodie, but Mags was a better cook. What would Sunday lunch be if Mags were hostessing? Maybe less formal, more comfortable? What would it be like for her to preside over her own space, rather than adjust to some other woman’s kitchen? He intended to make the invitation to her by way of a marriage proposal just as soon as he could get away.

  His mother went upstairs to lie down and his sisters remained behind to catch up and to get his nieces and nephews in gear. That was his opportunity for escape from the suffocating parlor. He went out back, saddled one of the horses, and used the riding block to ease himself onto the horse’s back. As quickly he could, he made his way to Ruby and Adam’s house, thinking of an excuse he could use to see Mags.

  When Ruby suggested that she stay home with them for church, Mags was rather relieved. She didn’t want to say so to her sister, but if Elodie was in charge of things in the church, she didn’t want to run into that snobbishness so soon. Mags woke on that Sunday morning, and she made a breakfast of porridge. She, Solomon and Ruby laid up on the bed and listened as Adam read scripture from a chair next to the bed.

  She requested that her brother-in-law read Corinthians, chapter thirteen, which had some special resonance for her today. “When I was a child, I spake as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things.” It had been a favorite verse of their Uncle Arlo’s. When Adam asked for prayer, Mags bowed her head and wiped away at her face. She said an extra special prayer for the baby, feeling very selfish, and stood up right away to clean the kitchen and develop a list in her mind for the maid, Elsie. She would direct her in her new duties now that she had arrived. No, she had never had a maid before, but she had had sisters. She tied a head scarf on her bounteous hair and went to work.

  Even on a Sunday, Adam had patients to see and she reassured him she would help in the house so that he could be in his office, doing his
work. Adam offered to take Solomon to the park after lunch and Mags was grateful. Solomon was a lovely child, but he had a great deal of energy that needed to be diverted. She resolved to ask Adam what, if anything, could be done for the inquisitive boy and his education. He would do well to learn his letters.

  When Adam and Solomon left, Ruby rested in the quiet house and Mags did not want to disturb her. After giving Elsie direction, she felt in need of a rest herself. She had let the maid have off Sunday afternoon so Mags resolved to go into the parlor and put her feet up.

  How special to have a parlor where Ruby could rest any time that she wanted to. It made Ruby’s success that much more apparent. Putting her feet up on an overstuffed ottoman she instantly laid her head back and drifted off. She had spent much of the night crying and feeling sorry for herself.

  Her house didn’t even have to be this fancy, but she wanted one. Maybe, once they did go to the church, she would find her own husband at Freedom. The front door knocker sounded and she jolted awake, heading for the door, determined not to let the sound wake her resting sister. Maybe it was a patient or Adam and Solomon coming back from the park. But it wouldn’t make sense for them to knock on their own front door, knowing that Ruby was confined to her bed. And the patients came to a special entrance at the back of the house.

  She went to the front door and lifted the latch. Asa stood before her. “Well, just who I was hoping to see,” he said. His voice sounded a bit loud.

  “Hello, Mr. Thomas. May I help you with something?”

  “Well, Mags, you don’t have to sound like that about it. I’ve come to see you.”

  “Were you invited?”

  “Ruby and Adam are my friends.” he said, nonplussed at her question.

  “Ruby is resting and Adam took Solomon to the park.” Mags began to push the heavy wooden door shut. “I’m here, in effect, by myself and it wouldn’t be decent to let you in. I cannot allow you inside, nor can you see me in the presence of my sister because she is confined to her bedroom. So, as you can see, your visit is very inconvenient just now.”