Jodi's Journey

by Rita Hestand

  “Then I'll be wantin' to thank him for that, too.” Clem smiled and pushed her hair back from her eyes gently with one hand. It took all his strength to do that. She so wished she could make him more comfortable.

  “But that ain't what had you crying today. Because up till today you been as happy as a pea in a pod. Now tell ol’ Clem what happened.”

  “I ran into Hershel. He says he's coming back,” she cried, unable to stop the trembling inside her.

  “Not to worry, you and I can take care of him if he tries it,” he declared.

  Jodi eyed Clem. “Oh no, I don't want you worrying over it. I'm sure Hunt will be back soon and he can take care of Hershel.”

  Clem rolled his eyes skyward. “Don't fret, honey, I can still take care of you.”

  “I know you can, but I don't want you getting hurt too. I couldn't bear to lose you, Clem.” She hugged him to her.

  “Now, now, you’re getting yourself all worked up over nothin'. That Hershel Walker is nothin' but a blow hard. He's the real coward, Jodi. He ain't gonna be messin' with you.”

  Jodi kissed Clem on the forehead and tucked his covers over him. “You don't need to worry about it, Clem.”

  “I ain't worried a bit.” He announced loudly so she heard him.

  Jodi fed Clem and locked the door so that she could take a nap. She was tired from the morning trip into town and it was getting close to her time. She’d been home almost two months and was getting so big and round she waddled when she walked. She spent more time on the bed than on her feet. But she promised Hunt she'd take care of herself.

  Another day passed. Hunt was due back at any time. Jodi took some quilt pieces over to a neighbor and was visiting with her when a young Negro girl walked into the room.

  The girl was so lovely; Jodi smiled as she walked in.

  “Oh Sarah, come here, girl. I want you to meet one of the sweetest little ladies in the country. This is Jodi P…I mean, this is Jodi Johnson. She lives over the hill a ways.”

  The girl was a little shy, but she smiled and curtsied. “Mrs. Johnson.”

  “Sarah is going to help the new schoolteacher. She's a very bright young lady from up north. She's been educated in one of those colleges,” Mrs. Hartman was said to Jodi.

  Jodi was already planning Sarah's wedding to Willy. They would be perfect together and, somehow, she had to arrange to introduce the two of them. She was playing this magnificent romance in her mind when Mrs. Hartman jerked her back to reality.

  “Well now, Jodi, when is that baby due?”

  “About three weeks, if I figured correctly. I've got to visit Mrs. Collins and see if she'll be my midwife,” Jodi explained as she eyed Sarah with a smile.

  Sarah got up and touched her hand. “Well, if you can't reach her in time, please call on me. I've had experience in midwifery,” Sarah offered.

  Jodi blushed. “You have? That's wonderful. Would you mind helping me then?”

  Sarah smiled and patted her hand gently. “I'd be pleased to. You just let me know when you need me and I'll be over.”

  “Oh that's such a relief. Mrs. Collins lives so far. I wasn't looking forward to asking her. It might take too long for her to get to my place, and you're just over the hill. It's very kind of you to offer, us just meeting.”

  “Think nothing of it; I love to see babies coming into the world,” Sarah said, her eyes twinkling as she spoke.

  “Then my trip here certainly hasn't been wasted.” Jodi smiled, still holding firmly to the dream she just had.

  “I'm making a quilt for the baby, Jodi,” Mrs. Hartman admitted, wanting to join in on the celebration.

  “I so hoped you would, but I didn't want to ask.” Jodi chuckled.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Hunt, Willy and Cole rode back that morning. They had a thousand head of cattle with them and put them to pasture before they came back to the house. The bunkhouse was nearly done, but everyone had been camping out in the house. It was cozier there and everyone would sit around and talk about their lives, their hopes, and their dreams.

  “Where's Jodi?” Hunt asked Clem as he came inside.

  “She's gone over to that Mrs. Hartman's house, just over the north ridge. She should be back any time now.”

  Hunt's relief was immediate. “That's good. Everything okay?”

  Clem bit his lip. “Well, I guess I better tell you, because like as not, Jodi won't.”

  Hunt pulled a chair backwards and straddled it so he could see Clem better. “Better tell me what?”

  “Jodi went to town the other day to get some supplies. When she come home she was crying. I knew something was up 'cause she's been so happy since she's been back and with you. So I ask her plain out. Said that Hershel fella threatened to come back…”

  Hunt's face was a thunder cloud. He couldn't believe the little sniveling coward would dare to threaten Jodi again, especially since she was due to have the baby any time. He wanted to march into town and demand satisfaction, but he knew Jodi wouldn't approve of him making a spectacle of himself. But this was too much. He would not tolerate anyone hurting Jodi, even if it was just in threats.

  He looked down at Clem. “Thanks for telling me.”

  “You gonna take care of it, then?” Clem asked.

  “You bet I am. I won't have that little snot-nosed, gun toting idiot scaring her witless. If I did what I wanted to do, it would be over today. But knowing Jodi, she would be mad. So I won't start anything. If he comes here, though, he's in for a surprise.”

  Clem smiled. “I thought so.”

  “Thanks again,” Hunt said, and patted Clem on the shoulder.

  Hunt poured himself and Cole and Willy a cup of coffee as the men came through. Sitting around the kitchen table, he told them about Hershel—not all of it; he still wanted to claim the baby as his—and even though he knew Clem knew better, Clem didn't say a word otherwise.

  “I can take him down, Hunt,” Cole said, his lips thinning into one fine line.

  “No, not yet. But if he comes here, then we'll get him. You can't miss him; he dresses like the Durango Kid or something. All in black and silver. He's got the biggest mouth in Texas and he likes to beat up women.”

  Cole took out his gun. “I'd like to get a piece of him myself. If there is anything I can't tolerate it's a man who picks on women.”

  “You may get your chance, Cole,” Hunt chuckled.

  Willy sat listening. “I knew by looking at Miss Jodi that she'd been through some things. A woman can't be that strong without going through some. I should know; my wife was the same. We'll all kill him, if he comes out here,” Willy stated as if they had sealed some strange bargain.

  Clem sighed with relief.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Jodi walked in the door and saw the men sitting around the table. She was all smiles. Hunt grabbed her up and kissed her warm and hard on the lips, reassuring himself she was okay.

  “Wow, maybe I should send you off more often,” she giggled with delight.

  “Have a good time at Mrs. Hartman's?” he questioned, not letting her get too far away from him.

  “As a matter of fact, I did. Everything is going to be just fine.” She sighed. “And you three, did you get some cattle, or what?”

  “A thousand head,” Willy blurted.

  “A thousand? Oh my goodness, I never thought that many.” Jodi was so happy she was practically dancing around them.

  “Yeah, and a prize bull to boot,” Cole said, adding some sugar to the pot.

  ≈≈≈

  “It's more than we bargained for.” She searched Hunt's face for some joke and found none. “I can't believe it. Did you hear that, Clem?”

  There was no answer. Jodi glanced over and saw he wasn't moving or looking about. She went over to him. Suddenly, she collapsed.

  Clem's struggle to live, despite his constant pain, was finally over. He died peacefully with a smile on his face.

  Jodi couldn't get over it. It was to
o soon. Hunt reassured her that he had been happy when he went, that he was content and knew she'd be taken care of. Jodi basked in that knowledge, but even with the three men constantly around her, she couldn't quite accept his death.

  The next day, before the funeral, Hunt tried to console her once more. “Honey, I know this hurts you. I feel your pain. But think of it this way, Clem isn't hurting any more. He's at peace now. He knew you were happy; he knew you'd be taken care of; and he's gone to a better place.” Hunt held her close and wiped her tears away as they laid Clem in the ground.

  The birds were chirping and the sun was shining. She looked up into the cloudless sky and understood. Yes…he was gone to a better place.

  God, please take care of him, she prayed silently.

  She nodded, the tears still in her eyes, and smiled. “I know…it's just the missing I'm grieving for. He was like a daddy to me, Hunt.”

  “I know, darlin'. But you've got to understand something. A man hurts on the inside, too, when he can't get up and be a man. So let it go and realize that, for his sake, it was a good thing. And me, Cole and Willy are going to help you get over this.”

  Cole and Willy nodded. They gathered around her.

  Willy came forward. “Yes, ma'am. And you got to be thinkin' of that baby, too, Miss Jodi.”

  Jodi smiled. “I forgot…oh…” She bent over in pain as her water suddenly broke, and she reached for Hunt's hand. Cole and Willy seemed to notice her distress and gathered closer.

  “I-I think it's my time,” she cried. “Get me to my bed and go over to Mrs. Hartman's and fetch Sarah for me,” she told Hunt.

  Hunt looked at her seriously. “Who's Sarah?”

  “Trust me, Hunt. She's my midwife. I need her!”

  “I'll send Willy over,” he said, carrying her to the bed. “Aren't you a little early?”

  “I'm not sure, just hurry,” she said as pain and panic overtook her. She grabbed Hunt's hand and wouldn’t let go. “I hope there's nothing wrong…” She clutched his hand tightly.

  Willy and Cole had followed them in the room, but Willy was scrambling around the room nervously.

  Hunt's eyes were watering from the extreme pain she was exerting on his hand. “Honey…you keep squeezing my hand, we're both gonna need a doctor.”

  Jodi looked at him strangely, then reached for Willy's hand as he passed by the bed on the way out of the room. Another pain gripped her and she squeezed for life on Willy's hand.

  “Uh…” Willy turned peaked and saw her face contort with pain. “I'm sorry, Miss Jodi, but don't you want me to go get Miss Sarah?”

  Jodi released his hand. Willy glanced at Hunt with a sigh of relief and dashed toward the door, calling over his shoulder, “Good luck, Mr. Hunt.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Cole asked.

  Jodi looked up at the men. “Hold my hand,” she demanded, her eyes bulging as another pain hit her.

  Cole glanced at Hunt. “Do I have to?”

  Hunt shook his head. “I guess this would be my job, so…just go boil some water.”

  “What for?” Cole looked incredulous

  “I don't know, but I've always heard you have to have boiling water. Don't ask me what it's for.” Hunt looked at him, baffled.

  “Okay…I'll boil the water then,” Cole said and went into the kitchen.

  Hunt shook his head when he heard all the pots and pans rattling in the kitchen. “I should have never told him to boil water.”

  “I found it!” Cole shouted from the kitchen.

  Hunt took Jodi's hand, held it in his and spoke soothing words to her, trying to calm her down. She looked at him with shock. “We're going to have a baby,” she cried.

  “I know, darlin'. Now don't fret. Everything will be fine.” He gulped his own fear down.

  “Of course it will. Sarah's coming.” Jodi tried to laugh, but another pain hit her, so another pain hit Hunt.

  “Who is Sarah?” Hunt asked, wiping tears from his eyes with his good hand.

  Trying to focus on anything but the pain, she cried out, “Willy's new bride.”

  “What?” Hunt loosened his hold of her hand.

  “I'll explain later.” She cried out.

  “Okay…just breath deep and relax if you can,” Hunt said, his voice cajoling her more than he knew.

  “Does it matter if it's a girl or a boy?” she asked between pains.

  Hunt smiled lamely at her. “Not to me, it doesn't. It's a baby, that's all I care about. If it's a girl, she'll look like you and I'll spoil her. If its boy, he'll work alongside me when he's big enough. Either way, it's perfect.”

  Jodi laughed and cried at the same time.

  She wasn't prepared for the kinds of pain she faced, but she wanted this baby now. That made a difference

  In less than an hour, Sarah was standing in the middle of the kitchen, barking orders at the men just to keep them busy enough not be in the way. Willy was shocked about Sarah and it was obvious he liked her right away. But he was very shy.

  By now, Jodi was deep into pains and Sarah was doing everything she could for her. Suddenly, Sarah looked at her. “Ms. Jodi, are you sure you aren't carrying twins?”

  “Twins?” Jodi nearly fainted from the words.

  “Well, I noticed the other day how large you were, and it feels like there are two of them. And the first baby doesn't usually come early. In fact, the reverse is usually true.”

  Jodi began to giggle, even in her delirium. Twins were funny. It would serve Hunt right. He'd faint, himself.

  When she screamed from the bedroom, Hunt nearly burst in on them, but he heard Sarah talking sweetly to Jodi. He wanted to go in, yet he knew he couldn't until Sarah said it was okay. So he waited with Cole and Willy who were pacing the floor almost as much as he.

  Then there came a cry from the room. A sweet, innocent cry that could only mean she’d had the baby. Hunt went to the door, waiting for it to open, but it didn't. Instead, there was a silence and then another loud cry came. Hunt looked at the men and shrugged. What did it mean?

  Just as he was about to burst the door down, Sarah came out, looking around the room and then straight at Hunt.

  “Mr. Johnson, you can go in now and see your babies.”

  “Babies?” They all chorused.

  “Babies.” She smiled and met Willy's head-on glance. Willy's smile spread all across his face.

  “Can I fix you a cup of coffee, Ms. Sarah?” Willy asked politely.

  “I'd appreciate it, thank you,” Sarah replied as she began telling the two men just how startled Jodi was to have two babies.

  Hunt entered the room slowly, not knowing what to expect exactly, but his face softened into the warmest, most handsome smile Jodi had ever seen when she looked up at him.

  “Well,” she said, cuddling the babies to her, “I couldn't decide which one to have so I had two, a girl and a boy.” She laughed, unveiling the babies for Hunt to see.

  They were so tiny, so pink and so beautiful Hunt couldn't do anything but spread a goofy smile.

  It reminded her of a child looking into a candy jar as Hunt stared wordlessly at his children. She giggled. “Aren't they beautiful?”

  Hunt's smile lit the room with a warmth that made everything perfect. “They sure are,” he said and gestured to take one into his arms. “Can I?”

  “Of course, they belong to you, too,” she giggled. “Oh Hunt…what will we call them? I hadn't even thought of a name.”

  “My God, they are so tiny, and so…sweet.” He smiled down at her. “Tell you what, I'll name the boy and you name the girl.”

  “Fair enough. You go first,” she chuckled.

  “Well, I always favored the name Luke…from the Bible,” he said, staring into the tiny face that had curled its fingers around his.

  “I like that name,” she said, then stared into her daughter's face. “Rebecca, from the Bible too. “She smiled.

  “I like that one too,” Hunt said, glancing over at his li
ttle girl.

  “Thank you, Hunt.”

  “For what?” he asked, not taking his eyes from his baby.

  “For talking me out of the tansy. For wanting these children. For making a real home with me. For everything.”

  He put the one baby down and picked up the other, then stared down into her eyes. “You're glowing.”

  “Am I?” she asked.

  “I'm so happy I feel like singing. Mind if I sing them a lullaby?” he asked

  “Oh…” Jodi cried out. “That is so sweet.”

  “I love you, Jodi,” he said in a whisper just for her.

  “I love you, Hunt,” she sighed happily.

  He slowly opened the door for the others to come in and began his song, not at all bashful. His deep voice filled the room with a new serenity.

  Cole and Willy came in, and Sarah followed. Sarah watched them and smiled. It was such a happy moment. Everyone was affected.

  “Will you stay a few days, Sarah?” Jodi asked when Hunt finished his song and let the boys hold the babies.

  “If you like, yes ma’am,” she said shyly, especially when Willy smiled directly at her.

  “Oh yes, please. These men don't know how to take care of babies, and I’m no expert,”

  “No, but you'll get to be in no time,” Sarah promised her. “Especially with two.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Sarah stayed for two weeks, helping with the babies and the cooking, then Willy drove her home. He was glad to take her home and have a little alone time with her.

  They had gotten to know each other pretty well. Sarah had told him all about her family up north and how she had wanted to come west and explore it for herself. She hadn't been disappointed. And she loved Texas.

  Willy talked about everything, including his plans to someday have a place of his own. He told Sarah those plans were already in progress too.

  ≈≈≈

  By then, Jodi was up and about and tending to the babies herself. She felt great and was so thankful for having Sarah to help her.