Kiowa's Oath

by Linda K. Hubalek

  “But what would you do all day if you didn’t have your shop?”

  It depended on if she could walk again but she answered Kiowa’s question in a vague way. “A woman never runs out of things to do, you know. I’m sure I could fill my days with something.”

  Hopefully it wasn’t sitting in bed reading a book every day. The rolling chair in the corner of the room was starting to look tempting after all.

  “All right. Please put me in the rolling chair, Kiowa,” Mary announced while pointing at the offending piece of furniture. “I need to know how to maneuver the thing before I’m seen in public in it.”

  Chapter 9

  “Kiowa, I don’t know if this a good idea. Maybe we should go back—"

  “Ma! You’re here!” Nolie yelled as he barreled toward them on the boardwalk.

  Kiowa had listened to Mary’s excuses to not go to the school picnic all morning, but he still lifted Mary off the bed and set her in the rolling chair as planned when it was time to leave.

  Mary fussed he didn’t set her hat on right, redoing it twice herself before deciding the angle of the hat and the pins anchoring it were finally acceptable.

  “Let me push her chair!” Nolie insisted as he met them on the boardwalk, then moved behind the chair to take Kiowa’s place.

  “Push her slowly because the boards are uneven. Careful not to dump her out,” Kiowa advised as he stood aside for Nolie to take over.

  “Ugh,” Nolie grunted as he started pushing the chair and hit an uneven board. Nolie got the chair rolling and kept it steady, but Kiowa walked beside Nolie in case he needed help.

  Did Burdie walk over here okay on her crutches?” Mary asked Nolie.

  “Sure, she gets around everywhere on them. When are you going to switch to crutches, Ma?” Nolie asked as he looked over his mother’s shoulder to be sure he was steering the chair straight.

  “I don’t know, Nolie,” Mary bit her lip after he asked her.

  Kiowa was working with Mary to do the exercises Doctor Pansy recommended. Kiowa could see an improvement in her posture, but the pain in her back magnified when she stood upright and put the crutches under her arm pits. At least she was slowly improving.

  “Doctor Pansy says your ma’s back is still healing. Patience and exercise are the keys to improving,” Kiowa said, but he wondered if Mary would ever walk with the speed Burdette had mastered with her crutches. The girl was thumping toward them at a rapid rate.

  “Mama! You made it!” Burdette called out, almost tumbling into her mother’s lap when Nolie didn’t stop the rolling chair.

  “Oh, I couldn’t miss your last day of school picnic,” Mary smiled up at her daughter.

  Good, Kiowa thought. Mary was thinking about someone other than her own worries for a while. He knew this outing would help Mary. Not that he didn’t enjoy being with her, but Mary needed her social life back too.

  “Mary! Oh, it’s so good to see you out and about!” Helen Paulson called out as she came forward to lean over and give Mary a hug.

  A murmur waved across the crowd as others realized Mary was at this outside event.

  “Uh, I’ll let you take over now, Ki, before I get run over by mother’s friends,” Nolie said as he stepped back.

  “You both can leave. We’re spending the day with Mary,” Poppy Bjorklund, the butcher’s wife, shooed them away with her hands.

  “The day?” Mary asked with a hint of alarm on her face, as she looked at Kiowa in panic.

  “As long as you feel up to it,” Kiowa assured her. “I’ll be close by. Whenever you get tired of visiting with your friends, someone can let me know and we’ll go home.”

  Kiowa squeezed Mary’s shoulder, noting everyone around them saw the gesture. It would take Mary an hour, or two, to explain their marriage to her friends, let alone talk about her injury. But time with her friends would make the day go by so much faster for Mary. He wouldn’t mind the break too, Kiowa realized.

  Mack Reagan nodded his head for Kiowa to join him, so with one look back to Mary, he walked away. The animation on Mary’s face showed she’d be fine without him.

  “How’s Mary doing?” Mack asked as Kiowa walked to stand with the Reagan brothers and their friends in the shade of the schoolhouse.

  “Getting stir crazy as she adjusts to her disability,” Kiowa replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “She can sit up by herself, but her right leg still isn’t working.”

  “Starting to think about a long term solution yet?” Mack asked as they watched his wife, Doctor Pansy, lean over to hug Mary next in the long line of well-wishers around Mary.

  “Tried crutches a few times, hoping she could hop around on her left leg, but the pain in her lower back nixes that maneuver in a few steps,” Kiowa sighed.

  “I’m thinking more about your living situation. You going to try to move back to her upstairs apartment? Add on to the blacksmith quarters?”

  Mack’s questions were the same ones he’d been pondering this past week because Mary wasn’t making a speedy recovery.

  “Or build a new house where Mary can have room to move around in a rolling chair if necessary,” Mack continued. His head was cocked to the side as if he was thinking about how he’d build it.

  “I’ve thought about that too. Burdette and Nolie need their own bedrooms. and an extra room if we eventually need live-in help,” Kiowa added.

  “That’s going to take time and money. And I’ll tell you now, I want the best for my sister, niece, and nephew,” Gabe added to the conversation.

  “Still upset you didn’t know Mary and Kiowa were married, Gabe?” Mack asked, teasing their friend.

  “Darn right. I’ve always looked out for my sister, both in New York, and when we moved to Clear Creek. She should have told me,” Gabe crossed his arms showing his frustration about it.

  Cullen Reagan snorted. “Your sister’s a grownup, Gabe. Years ago, Mary married, moved to Chicago, had two children, and widowed before she moved back to Clear Creek. I think she can handle being married again without your permission or help.”

  “But she’ll always be my little sister.”

  “Sorry you’re still upset, Gabe, but Mary wanted to keep our marriage a secret for a while, and—”

  “You enjoyed sneaking around. I get it,” Gabe shrugged a shoulder. “I’m just doing my brotherly duty to be sure you do what’s best for them.”

  “Back to a house. Want to build from scratch, or add on to an existing house like I did for the Clancy’s home?”

  When Nolan and Holly Clancy married, Mack added an addition to the back of the house for his grandparents, Dan and Edna.

  “Depends on what’s available. I don’t want to add on the blacksmith compound. I’ve been thinking about selling the blacksmith and concentrating on my—”

  Kiowa stopped mid-sentence. There were men standing around them who didn’t know about his jewelry business, and they were looking at him to finish his sentence.

  “Concentrating on my family and building a house for them,” Kiowa lamely finished.

  “Our parents really liked their anniversary rings. Maybe you should try your hand at making and selling jewelry, Ki. You’d probably have to send your work to where there’s a steady market to make a living though,” Cullen suggested while trying not to grin.

  The postmaster knew Kiowa’s secret because of all the packages Kiowa sent and received through the post office.

  “If you get good at it, maybe I’ll get a ring for Luella, when I’m ready to ask for her hand in marriage,” Tate, Gabe’s younger brother suggested.

  Cullen snorted, then covered it with a cough. “Maybe you won’t be able to afford a ring made by Kiowa, if he gets good at it.”

  Kiowa slid a look at Cullen before turning to Tate. “When you’re ready to take that important step in life, say in a year or three, I’ll give you a discount since you’re now my brother-in-law.” Tate was only nineteen but had been courting Luella Paulson for a few years. No doubt
there would be a wedding in their future.

  A shrill whistle made everyone cringe and turn towards the school teacher.

  “Welcome everyone to our end-of-school picnic. I’m so glad the community, besides the student’s families, joined us for this event.

  “Pastor Reagan will lead us in singing the table grace, then please form a line on either side of the serving tables and enjoy the meal.”

  Kiowa cleared his throat, knowing he needed to sing along with the people around him. “Be present at our table, Lord, be here and everywhere adorned, thy creatures bless, and grant that we may feast in paradise with thee. Amen.”

  “Huh. Never heard you sing before, Ki,” Mack tapped his fist on Kiowa’s shoulder when the group finished singing the prayer. “At least you learned the words listening outside the church on Sundays.”

  “Figured I better learn since I knew I’d have to start sitting with Mary in church eventually,” Kiowa confessed.

  “Is Pa going to faint when he sees you in church this Sunday?” Cullen asked. “I assume if Mary came out for the picnic, she’ll want to go to Sunday church services again too.”

  “Your father already told me he expected to see me sitting by Mary now, but some people aren’t going to like it,” Kiowa commented, looking over at the Tolberts, standing first in line to eat. The barber’s family moved here from Louisville, Kentucky, about six years ago, and still didn’t even try to fit into the community. They were blatant with their prejudge against anyone without light skin then and were still that way to this day.

  Six years ago, their son, Herbert, threw a fire bomb into his father’s shop, hoping it would burn down and the family would move back to Kentucky. Luckily, Fergus heard the boy throw the flaming rag-covered brick through the front window and saved the whole block of wooden buildings from being burned to the ground.

  Herbert was only ten when he’d done his stupid act, but now at age sixteen, he was still a troublemaker as far as Kiowa was concerned. His sister, Prudence, was as haughty and rude as her mother too.

  “Don’t let them bother you, Ki. You have as much right to sit in church with your wife and family as they do,” Mack reminded him. “Retrieve your wife from her friends and get your family in line to eat now. You know after I go through the line there won’t be anything left to eat.”

  The men wandered off to meet up with their families. Kiowa had a sense of pride that he had a family to join this year too.

  “Ki, we forgot our table service,” Mary said as he approached her. Leave it to a woman, even though she was in a rolling chair, to worry about not having plates and silverware as they got in line.

  “Your mother said she’d bring some for us. Nolie, want to find your grandparents and get our utensils?”

  “Will do,” Nolie called over his shoulder as he dodged through people, only to turn around and lead Darcie and Reuben to their place in line.

  “Do you mind if we step in line to help Mary and Burdette?” Darcie asked the Wilerson family behind Kiowa’s.

  “Not at all,” Millie, the sheriff’s wife answered. “We planned to help them, but now you can.”

  “What kind of pie did you bring, Mrs. Wilerson, so I can be sure to get a slice?” Nolie asked the woman known for her excellent pastries.

  “Apple. And you’ll know my pie because I cut a star shape for venting the steam instead of an ‘A’ like others might do.”

  “Like your husband’s marshal badge?” Burdette queried as she leaned against her mother’s chair.

  “I guess so,” Millie laughed.

  “Glad to see you all together now,” Marshal Adam said with a wink. Kiowa had to explain about his and Mary’s marriage one night when the marshal caught him pulling up his suspenders as he walked out of Mary’s stairwell. Man, that was embarrassing, but better the marshal caught him than someone else. He could have gotten a beating or been tarred, feathered and kicked out of town knowing some townspeople.

  “It won’t all be smooth sailing for my family now that we’re making our marriage public today, so please be on alert for trouble,” Kiowa said under his breath so only Adam could hear him.

  “Already on it. And if you see or hear anything suspicious, let me know right away.”

  Kiowa felt Mary’s hand reach back and touch his hand where it sat on the back of the chair, and he leaned down realizing she wanted to say something privately to him.

  “Ignore other’s ignorance. I’m proud you’re my husband and my children think of you as their father now too. Let’s enjoy the day and the meal,” Mary said with a smile, one of the few Kiowa had seen in the last two weeks.

  Bringing her out in public had been the right thing to do, for her to get a little normalcy back in her life, and for him to be by her side in support.

  Kiowa would prove to the community their marriage was strong, and he was worthy of this wonderful woman’s love.

  Chapter 10

  “I’m so sick of this chair!” Mary screamed in frustration. “Why isn’t my leg working by now!”

  Mary pounded her fists against the wooden arms of the rolling chair even though she could feel the pain clear up into her shoulders. She switched tactics and slammed her fists into her knees. Her left leg jumped in surprise, but her right didn’t have a clue of the damage she wanted to inflict on it.

  No, that wasn’t true Mary thought, as she vigorously scrubbed her hands over her cheeks to wipe away her tears. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. Feeling was starting to return to her right hip and her right foot had involuntarily twitched a few times.

  But it had been four weeks since her fall and she wanted to return to normal life!

  This may be your normal for the rest of your life.

  Mary broke down, sobbing at the hand she’d be dealt. Why? Why? She’d dealt with the loss of her first husband’s death with ease compared to this blow.

  She wanted to walk, dance…run beside Kiowa and her children. Now they had to push or carry her everywhere.

  “Mary, what’s upset you now?” Kiowa knelt down beside her chair and captured her pounding fists to stop her movement.

  She wanted to slug him for doing that! “Don’t hold my hands! It’s bad enough I can’t kick my legs!”

  Kiowa sat back on his heels, swinging his hands in the air in surprise.

  “Mary—”

  “I can’t walk, and I never will again! Don’t you understand why I’m upset?!”

  Kiowa bit his lip before hanging his head. Mary was spoiling for a fight and he wouldn’t participate, which made her even madder.

  “We never should have married!” Mary leaned forward to yell into his face. “Ready for a divorce? We should have done that right away when I fell so no one had to know our secret marriage.” Mary fumed, wanting to hit something, anything.

  When Kiowa kept his eyes on the floor, she started hitting her fists again on the chair. “God, I want out of this chair!”

  “Stand up then!” Kiowa yelled back. “Get out of the chair, and walk, or hop, or—I don’t care—crawl out of here. You don’t want to be with me, then don’t! Move out! Crawl back up to your apartment!”

  Mary stopped her rant, shocked by Kiowa’s words as he stood up and walked out of the bedroom. She heard the outside door slam as he left her alone, listening to the utter silence of the place.

  He’d never spoken to her like that in all the years they’d known each other.

  Kiowa had been the strong one, especially these past weeks caring for her without a hint of resentment. He dropped everything, from his blacksmith work to time with friends, to take care of her every need.

  Mary buried her face in her hands, embarrassed she’d spoken like that to him. But she wasn’t surprised that they’d blown up at each other. They hadn’t had a normal marriage before her accident to build a strong union between them.

  What if he took her suggestion and sought a divorce? She panicked, but not for the obvious reasons. She had money and could hire
someone to take care of her, but she loved Kiowa.

  And how often had she said that to him this past month? She’d been so wrapped up in her misery she hadn’t thanked him for his devotion let alone told him how much she loved him.

  Willing her upper arm strength to cooperate, Mary grabbed the wheels of the chair and propelled them forward, slowly making her way out of the bedroom, the front room and toward the front door. She needed to find Kiowa to apologize for her outburst.

  Mary struggled to lean forward to turn the door knob and then reverse the chair to pull the door open. Luckily the threshold to the old section of the quarters were low enough she could maneuver the chair over it while pushing her hands against the doorframe.

  Kiowa, his arms crossed over his broad chest, stood in the next open doorway overlooking the cold forge, not looking back at her even though he knew she’d just struggled to open the door.

  “I’m sorry, Kiowa.”

  “To have and to hold. From this day forward. In sickness and in health. This is my solemn vow,” Kiowa replied without turning toward her.

  “And you’ve kept your vows to me. I’m so sorry I’ve been the one who hasn’t remembered our vows.

  “And I’m so sorry I suggested a divorce. I don’t want one, but if you need it…” Mary’s hoarse voice trailed off to a whisper.

  “What we both need is to get out of here for a while. I’ll be back with a buggy in a little bit. Get your hat and shawl.”

  Mary blinked in surprise when Kiowa made his announcement, not bothering to look back when he told her his plans either.

  “Okay. Be that way,” Mary talked back although Kiowa was already through the blacksmith shop and couldn’t hear her.

  Taking a deep breath, Mary pushed the chair back through the doorway, turned it around and headed back to the hall tree to retrieve her hat and shawl. And shoot…the items were out of her reach on the hooks above her head.

  But she could reach her parasol in the built-in bin on the hall tree. She used the parasol to push her items off the hooks and within her reach. There! That felt good to do it herself. She wrapped the shawl around her shoulders, arranged her hat on her head and turned around to push the chair back to the door leading to the blacksmith shop. She’d be ready and waiting whenever Kiowa showed up.