Garnett lit a cigar. “I have to finish up my shopping. James you want to ride?”
“Yeah, I still have things to do. Meeks you need anything while we’re out?”
“No. I think I have everything.” Meeks was watching Garnett. “Are you alright?”
“I didn’t really understand love until last night and I didn’t understand that she took us from four restless unfeeling men to a strong family all by herself.” Garnett stood but you could tell he wanted to say more. “Meeks your unselfishness can’t be repaid. I know you give into her out of love but I also know that it is a choice I am not sure I could have made if I were in your shoes.” Meeks decided to spend the time working on his books until she got up.
Mirisa came down stairs with all the children just before lunch and stuck her head in the library. “We’re going to eat lunch then bake pies if you want to join us.” Meeks closed the books and put them away. Meeks gave Mirisa the prescription that had been delivered which Elizabeth hated and kept spitting out. They spent all afternoon at the dining room table rolling out dough and filling the pie pans with preserves. When they were finished the cinnamon rolls were on the table cooling and they had six pies finished. She was pouring them all hot chocolate when James and Garnett came in. They sat down with the children and fought over the cinnamon rolls. Mirisa got up and put Elizabeth in her father’s lap.
“How is she feeling?”
“She’s quiet, hates the medicine but she seems to be able to drink.” Mirisa told the children to go upstairs and wash up. They protested and she told them she’d send up the cocoa and cinnamon rolls up. The girls jumped down and Sara kissed her father on both cheeks before she ran after Maggie. Garnett had the cradle moved to the attic when they delivered a small simple bed.
Mirisa undressed slowly after finishing up the children’s stockings and making sure everything was set for the brunch. She had gone from depression to anger to fear and now she didn’t know if she felt anything as she sat there. Even a good life seemed to pull the most out of you if you weren’t paying attention.
Mirisa slipped on her gown and pulled her knees up putting her chin on them and watched as the snow fell softly outside the French doors. The moonlight always made it seem so magical. Mirisa got off the bed and walked over to the doors, opening them and stepping out onto the porch.
Conrad took the cigar out of his mouth as Mirisa turned to him. “Hardly dressed for standing in the snow.”
“The cold sometimes feels good when there are no feelings.”
“There’s no such thing as no feelings but sometimes when you have too many strong feelings you close the doors locking them away so you don’t have to deal with them. Feelings should always be expressed and released into the world before they get a stranglehold on your spirit.” Conrad gestured toward the world beyond where they stood. “Everyone struggles to find their place and to center their soul. You do better when you follow your heart rather than trying to be all things others expect you to be or wanting others to bring you happiness. Return to the circle and renew yourself for you had the strength to walk with me the first time and if you recall there was no one waiting to protect you not even Dominic.”
Mirisa closed her eyes and raised her palms as Conrad stepped toward her. The moon started to turn a light pale red and Mirisa placed her hand on Conrad’s chest. The sound of the drums came softly with the cold breeze. Mirisa opened her eyes and they were standing alone as they had that night. The air was filled with the wonderful smells of sage and the red smoke surrounded them but did not enter the circle. Conrad put his hand over hers and Dog Moon stood on the ledge and began his chant. Mirisa could see the dancers and the drummers as it filled her with strength and love. They raised their hearts up and she joined them in giving to the people all that she had and all that she possessed. Conrad took her hand off of his chest and Mirisa looked at him.
“You don’t spend enough time renewing yourself and cleansing your body of things that it doesn’t need. Listen to your heart, follow your instincts and never let the wolf travel far from you. Learn that those who touch upon your life are there to offer what they are and not to become what you want or need. Love yourself the most and all those who know you will feel and accept that love. There is no man who will enter your world that will give you more than your husband and for that you should give thanks to him because his heart is pure, his love is strong and his need to be with you will fill you with what you seek.” Conrad put his hand over her eyes and closed them as the drums slowly faded and the song drifted into the snowflakes.
The moon turned bright and was reflected off the newly fallen snow. Conrad stepped away from her and they were standing on the porch.
“Conrad.”
“Yes Mirisa.”
“Merry Christmas.” Conrad smiled, bent down and kissed her before disappearing. Mirisa turned and went back into the bedroom as Meeks walked in.
“Playing in the snow or traveling to those places I don’t understand?”
“Traveling.” Meeks walked up to her and ran his hands down her shoulders feeling the goosebumps that covered them.
“I think for Christmas I want to hold you.” Meeks pulled her back into the room and closed the door. Sitting on the edge of the bed he took off his boots and removed his clothes. He picked her up and laid her on the bed.
“Alexander, I love you with all my heart.”
Mirisa woke up to five children climbing up on the bed. Meeks wasn’t in the bed but she could hear him in the bathroom. “I assume this means that you are ready to open presents?”
“Momma, there are none. We looked down the stairs and there are none.” Mirisa looked at Maggie who was devastated to think they had been so bad that they didn’t get any Christmas presents. Mirisa pulled Maggie over and kissed her.
“I asked Santa to put all the presents upstairs under the music tree.” Maggie’s little face lit up. Meeks came out of the bathroom and took a wool shirt out of the wardrobe and slipped it on. The children turned to him expecting him to say they could go up.
“Is everyone else up?”
Matthew responded. “No, they are all still asleep.”
“Well, then you better divide up and go get all of them out of bed because we’re not going upstairs until everyone is up.” The four of them slid off the bed and headed to the other wing with more noise than a herd of cows heading to the river after days of being on the prairie. You could hear the doors slam open and the protests but they were not about to relent. Meeks sat down on the edge of the bed and took Elizabeth so Mirisa could get up and get dressed. She wanted to take a bath but decided she could slip away after they opened their gifts so she put on a simple wool dress and took her hair down and braided it. They came out of the room with Elizabeth as everyone else was heading up the stairs.
James grabbed her around the waist and kissed her. “Do we at least get coffee first?” She reached back and put her hand on his neck.
“Good morning James.”
“Happy Birthday sweetheart.” Garnett pulled her away from James as all the children turned realizing it was her birthday and not just Christmas. They all wrapped themselves around her for thirty seconds then ran up the stairs to the music room.
“They should bring breakfast up soon.” She kissed Garnett as Dominic reached over and swung her around into his arms wishing her a happy birthday. Meeks stopped on the steps with the two girls and handed Elizabeth to her father and picked up Sara who was slowly attempting to climb the stairs while holding his hand.
James moved the couch back so that they could watch the children open gifts and Mirisa poured everyone coffee as they fixed plates of breakfast and sat in front of the tree. She took her coffee and sat down near the girls. The girls were so loud and excited with each gift that you couldn’t help but smile. Garnett finally put Elizabeth on the floor and she walked over and climbed up on her mother’s lap to help. With so many children, they had gotten into the habit of opening their
gifts after dinner when the children were in bed.
Mirisa told her husband that she needed to get ready for brunch and guests. Mirisa dressed her daughters identical and in the same color as her dress. The boys had on good clothes without jackets. The guests started arriving and for four hours it was constant greeting, hugging and exchanging. The children finally asked to be excused and Mirisa told them that their gifts had been put in the playroom.
They realized that many of the people Mirisa had invited had no families in town or at all. It was a very good mix of people who enjoyed the afternoon. Her father and his new wife were the last to leave and when they did she went upstairs, took off her clothes putting on her jeans and climbed up on the bed and opened a new book. Meeks finally went looking for her and found her in bed with all three girls curled up with her. He imagined she had gone to get Elizabeth and the other two didn’t want to be left out. He picked up the blanket and laid it over them closing the door as he went back downstairs.
“What time is dinner tonight?”
“I told them nine o’clock. That will give her time to get the children in bed though the girls are all asleep now so they may be a little hard to get them down later tonight.”
“Where’s Mirisa?”
“When I said girls I meant all four of them. They are all in the big bed curled in a massive ball of arms and legs.”
After feeding the children, Mirisa went down to the nursery to tuck them in. Mirisa came downstairs and they were sitting in the living room waiting on her. There was a large box on the table and they were all dressed to go out. “Where are you going?”
“Out to celebrate your birthday.” Meeks told her to open the box. She took off the top finding a fur lined leather coat with a matching fur Canadian hat. Meeks stood and helped her into the coat and put the hat on her smiling. She looked so young and sweet. The fur framed her face making her eyes round and pretty. He opened the door as she stepped out to find a horse drawn sled in front of the house. Mirisa looked back at him then walked down the steps as James opened the door helping her get in.
The sled went through the park at a slow gallop as a light snow fell on them. They finally stopped in front of the restaurant which seemed to be dark until Meeks escorted her into the dining room. There was one table set in the center of the candle lit room. The large fireplace had a cooking pot over the flames and the smell of fresh seafood filled the room. As they approached the table, the waiter pulled out her chair and then set a napkin on her lap as he turned to the unopened bottle of wine. The dinner was so romantic and reminiscent of the first years in Texas.
They fell into a very comfortable conversation as she watched them wondering where life was taking her. After the dishes were removed, a gentleman with a violin seemed to appear out of the shadows. Garnett stood and put out his hand as he walked backwards taking her into the room as he danced her slowly around the room before relinquishing her to James who propositioned her before Dominic took her hand. They were so polished but she didn’t know who they really were or if she would ever find out. Dominic twirled her out as she turned into her husband’s arms. The music was beautiful, the candlelight so soft and the snow across the moon made the wine just more intoxicating. They were so handsome that she wanted to cry.
Meeks handed her a beautifully wrapped box and she unwrapped it as she sipped on her wine. It was a richly engraved leather bound book with the crescent moon in the center. She opened it to find the music to the Crescent Moon written by Garnett, then page after page of Alexander’s drawings with hand written notes or poems on each page by one of them. She didn’t make it past reading the third page before she was crying then she got the hiccups.
They all laughed but Mirisa knew that there was no way they could tell her how much they loved her as well as they did with the book. In the very back were the names and birth dates of everyone with one line left for her final child. Meeks pulled her over and she put her face against his chest and cried harder as he tried to talk to her so instead he just held her.
The weather turned severe during the week to the point that there were hundreds of deaths reported in the City from exposure and it was so cold that it wouldn’t snow despite storm after storm that came off the great lakes and moved through New England. One of them would find her curled up somewhere in the house reading the book and crying. If she saw them, Mirisa would put her arms around them and thank them over and over until they prayed for her to reach the end of the book.
The first sketch was of her standing by the carriage with Suzanna the day Mirisa met the three of them, her first ball at the Ross home, her wedding to Dominic, learning to shoot and ride the small horse Dominic gave her for her birthday, playing cards on the bed with James and drinking whisky, every time she got in trouble and it just went through every event in her life. Many made her laugh, some hurt to remember and some were sad but the entire book was just so beautiful and so realistic. She was surprised at how many were during times when she was alone with Meeks and James. Every so often one of them would sit with her and talk about something in the book.
Because of the weather they decided to stay home for New Years and had a quiet dinner and evening by the fireside with a few close friends. The boys headed out before midnight. Meeks and Mirisa entertained until after one before they headed to bed. They talked late into the night about the future and her plans for another child.
Dominic decided to put off returning to the Plantation until the spring since it would be impossible to travel over the mountains with the boys until the weather warmed up considerably or unless they took the train.
“Dominic is going back to Mississippi for good?”
“I think so. Some of the property he sold around the tobacco fields reverted back to him when the man went bankrupt so he’s expanding that business and I think he might run for the Mississippi seat in the Senate.”
“I didn’t know he had political ambitions.”
“He didn’t but both he and Garnett want to spend more time in politics and in Washington so they are both going to start working in that direction.”
“And James, what does he want to do?”
“James will stay in New York.”
“What are you doing with Colorado?”
“We’re still spending half of the year in Colorado and eventually retire there. Have you decided what to do with your position on the charities?”
“My father said two of my older cousins live near the Manor and their wives can handle the social position so I will no longer be involved or have control over the Manor. I weighed it heavily because I love the house but I need to concentrate on my family and my dream to have only one home.”
“Are you ready to settle down?”
“Alexander, do you realize before Colorado we never lived together. The three of you were around but before the lodge I lived just with Dominic.” She rolled over and looked at him. “I think I love being alone with you.”
1875
The governor has requested Federal troops to curb the violence in Mississippi but President Ulysses S. Grant hesitates to act, for fear that in doing so, he would be accused of "bayonet rule”. The violence has gone unchecked and the Republican victory by 30,000 votes in 1874 was reversed to a Democratic majority of 30,000 in 1875.
They sat her down several days later and told her that the townhouse a few doors down from Garnett’s in Georgetown had been leased by Dominic. Meeks and James started working on the consulting firm. None of them came right out and asked her how she felt about the changes.
In mid-January the weather started breaking to where the storms brought snow again. Dominic and Garnett went to Washington leaving the boys with Mirisa. James was busy with the architect and builder on the office and Meeks worked out of the library. James spent half of the nights at the brownstone and others at his apartment.
It was toward the end of January that she went to James room late one night. She gave him complete control because she knew his p
assions were always higher when she submitted to him. James told Mirisa he felt used and she laughed. “Then you must truly love being used because I don’t think there was a single moment that you didn’t enjoy.”
“Mirisa..?”
“You know that there is a greater chance the baby won’t be yours?”
“I always loved a good game of poker when you were playing.”
“I know but this will be my last daughter.”
“I thought Sara would be your last but you just keep having them.”
She kissed him and went back to her room and climbed in bed with her husband.
THE WINTER slowly gave way to the spring and Mirisa spent more time with Charisse. James found a copy of the Declaration of Sentiments on the table and asked Meeks why Mirisa would be reading it.
“It’s more my sister but Mirisa believes if we can lobby for land we should be willing to lobby for women having rights.”
“She has rights. She owns property, does things on her own and is in school. What else does she want?”
“Well, all her property and finances are in trust held by men, you know she never is allowed to do anything on her own and I’m not sure of the schooling because she’s already pretty smart.”
“Where is she tonight?”
“My sister picked her up a while ago to attend some type of talk about those rights you think she already possesses.”
“At night?”
“It’s at the theater with a lot of security so I think she will be fine.”
Dominic and Garnett came in with the boys who immediately ran upstairs. “What’s for dinner?”
“We’re on our own tonight.”
Garnett looked around. “Where’s Mirisa?”
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