California Woman (Daughters of the Whirlwind Book 1) (51 page)

Alex's lawyer put his hand on her arm and
gently shook his head, stopping her. He turned to Katherine McDonnell and her
counsel. "Mrs. Carter and Judge Todd are not the only ones who risk
defamation in court. Should an examination—by a doctor of our choosing show
that Miss McDonnell is not with child, she will face not only civil action for
damages, but criminal charges as well."

Alex, pained by the thought of fighting a
lie with a possible untruth, stared straight ahead at a wall, fighting off the
urge to end the proceedings and pay the woman off. There was a look of despair
on the opposing lawyer's face. Dr. Sims shifted uneasily in his chair, and
Katherine McDonnell, who was as beautiful as Ralston had described her, touched
nervously at her carefully arranged hair. Her lawyer fought to regain his edge.
"We… won't be threatened! Miss McDonnell has a bona fide paternity claim
here…"

Alex's lawyer spoke softly. "Then
the next step is to have both women examined. We will be happy to have Dr. Sims
see Mrs. Carter first, at his office. Should you subsequently decide to notify
us by legal means that Miss McDonnell has decided not to press her charge, a
second examination—by a doctor we select—will not be necessary, and we will let
the matter drop. Right where it belongs, I might add."

"Please open your eyes,"
Leander Sims said, after lingering all too long over his pelvic examination.
"I want to give the rest of you a thorough look-see." He stared at
her nose for a moment, not bothering to cover her with the sheet he had pulled
aside.

She reached down and tried unsuccessfully
to tug one corner of it across her thighs. "You're finished… there, aren't
you?"

"Yes. No doubt about your being
pregnant. For just about the length of time in question." He lifted her
eyelids, then stared at the pale birthmark between her breasts and, finally, at
her nipples. He half-smiled. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"

Lying there on the examination table, she
was suddenly aware that the front of his pants were beginning to bulge
slightly. "No. You haven't."

"I think I have."

"You're mistaken."

"I… can't recall where, but I'm
certain of it." He let his hand trail over her breast.

Esther pushed up off the table and
slapped him hard in the face. "You filthy lecher! You've finished your
examination! Keep your damnable hands off me!"

He backed away, holding his cheek,
startled at first, then sneering. "I thought you might be one of those
rare women who enjoy it—with anybody."

She quickly began dressing. "Well,
you were wrong! Just as wrong as you were about thinking you could profit by
your stinking little scheme."

"My, you are a spitfire. Just like
it with Judge Todd, do you? I don't believe that for a minute!"

Esther picked up a glass jar filled with
cotton swabs. "
Get out!
" she screamed. "Get out or I'll
smash your face with this."

Sims backed toward the door of the
examining room. "I
know
I've seen you. It's been five years, but I
couldn't forget that nose. I tended to you after—"

"If I
ever
hear a word from
you again," she hissed, "if you ever cause me an ounce of trouble—for
any reason—I will bring charges against you."

"For what?"

"You rotten, scheming fraud! You of
all people know Miss McDonnell would be showing slightly by this time. Even in
a dress. There are witnesses to the fact that she isn't. Even her own lawyer.
Now get out, or the next time we see one another it will be at a trial that
brings so much down on your head you'll be lucky to ever practice in California
again."

He
paused for a moment. "You people with money. You won't stop at anything,
will you?" He glared at her and went out through the door, slamming it
behind him.

She stayed in San Francisco for a week,
expecting Alex to arrive at her front door to thank her after the charges were
dropped. She was prepared to tell him almost everything, but it was Ralston who
came instead.

"You were really something. I
even
believed you. For a moment there, when you said you loved Alex, I thought I was
listening to someone else."

"I was… only stretching the truth. I
care… deeply… for Alex Todd… as a friend."

"Well, you certainly proved your
friendship. I hope someone goes to bat for me that way, if I ever need
it."

"You won't, Billy. You're too aware
of what people are capable of. Alex will… I am only guessing… always be
vulnerable to someone like the McDonnell woman. He… acts in the belief that
most people are as honest as he is."

"You may be right." I doubt he
could do what you did for him. It would be against his principles."

"It's against your principles, as
well. But you could do it, couldn't you?"

"In a small way, I did. He wasn't
with me the night of your wedding at all. I saw him earlier in the day,
briefly. Had to take him home he was so drunk. Can you imagine? Alex? At noon
on a Sunday? He'd been up all night. Kept repeating over and over, something
like 'Wish her luck for me.' God, I think Judith's death had him a little out
of his mind for a while."

Esther felt as though her insides were
going to come apart. "Is he… has he continued the drinking?"

"No, I was able to talk some sense
into him. He's been moody as hell, and he's done something I think is foolish,
but other than that—by the way, before he left yesterday, he asked me to thank
you again for what you did."

"Left?"

"Yes, he didn't think it would be
wise to say goodbye personally. Didn't want to risk embarrassing you."

"Left
San Francisco
yesterday?"

"Yes. Didn't he tell you? He said
he'd written to thank you."

"He sent a beautiful letter of
appreciation."

"Well, I tried to talk him out of it
but he wouldn't listen. The whole thing mortified him. He took his extended
leave of absence, after all. Got himself a commission as a major from General
Sumner over at the Presidio."

"In the Union Army?"

"Yep." Ralston looked at his
watch. "Could have served here in the West, but he wouldn't hear of it. On
his way to Washington for assignment. I'd guess the clipper he's on is a third
of the way to Panama by now."

Esther knew the baby was Todd's the
moment she saw the shape of its body. Bull Carter didn't seem to notice, nor
did he object when Esther requested that the child be named Todd—after
"her grandfather." He doted over the infant, softening toward Esther
even though she continued to say no to his less and less frequent entreaties.
He had enough on his hands to keep his mind off her. Since passage of the
Pacific Railroad Act that spring, he had been working sixteen-hour days at
Charles Crocker's dry-goods warehouse and the Central Pacific's modest offices
over Huntington and Hopkins's hardware store on K Street.

That was the only thing that could be
called modest about the Central Pacific. They were already pushing Stanford's
nomination for governor. Through Judah, Huntington had obtained a thirty-year
government loan granting $16,000 per mile for work on the flatlands, $32,000
for the foothills, and $48,000 per mile in mountain terrain, far more than the
construction cost.

"That Huntington is a fox,"
Bull Carter said one evening over dinner. "He's got a geologist who will
testify that mountain soil can be found four miles east of Sacramento. Can you
beat that? Son of a bitch—excuse me—is gonna move the Sierras forty miles west
on the survey maps so we'll get the higher rate almost from ground-breaking
time next January."

Esther toyed with the food on her plate.
She had been thinking of Moses lately, wanting to give him a taste of the
outside world so he could make his own decision about going into the
priesthood. It was the least she could do for him. He would be fifteen in the
fall, old enough to work this summer if Carter would find a job for him. Now
was not the time to comment acidly on the rapaciousness of the Big Four.

"What does Judah think of all
this?"

"He don't like it at all. But he's
keeping his mouth shut. He better keep on keeping his mouth shut, too. If he
tries anything, they'll force him out quick as look at him."

"I hope that doesn't happen."

"Hope so too. He's not a bad little
fella. I don't hardly understand what he's talkin' about half the time, but I
like him."

He was in a good mood. She decided to
seize the opportunity. "Bull ... I ... I want to ask you a favor."

"What kinda favor?"

"I want you to find a job this
summer—at the construction company—for… the son of a friend of mine."

"There won't be no jobs 'til winter.
Just preliminary stocking, preparations. I don't see how
I
can do it."

"Please? I would appreciate
it."

"Who's the kid? How old is he?"
Carter looked at her, thinking.

"Fifteen. He's… Solana's son. He's
away at school."

"An injun kid? Forget it."

She thought for a moment. "I said I
would appreciate it. I think you know what I mean."

His eyebrows rose, and he shook his head
slowly, not believing what he was thinking. "Esther, I ain't as smart as
you. You'll have to spell it out for me."

She measured out the difficult words.
"While he is here, working at the construction company—and no longer—I
would be… willing to… accommodate… you. Occasionally."

Carter laughed nervously, still slightly
incredulous. "You mean? The two of us… like… uh…" His voice dropped
to almost a whisper. "Once a… once a week?"

Esther looked away for a moment, then
turned back. She nodded.

"Gaaaaahdamn! Esther, sweetheart,
you got a deal." He laughed again, completely forgetting his usual
"Excuse me."

"Just while he is here."

"I know, I know." He was more
delighted than she had ever seen him. "Maybe… maybe I can talk him into
staying on 'til the whole damn railroad's finished." He saw her frown.
"I was just joking, Esther," he added quickly. "Just joking, for
God's sake."

She knew he wasn't being facetious at
all, but for now she had enough to think about. She had received the third of a
series of letters from Alex. He never said as much, but she sensed from the
tone of his letters that he had seen combat. She also knew instinctively that
there was more to his writing than the desire to remain in touch with a
"friend," as he put it, during the lonely hours between battles. He
never came right out with it, but she wondered if, upon reflection, he had
begun to suspect who she really was. She thought several times of writing him
more than just an encouraging letter, telling him everything, but then decided
against it. She would go to him after he returned home. It was not the sort of
thing to write about. Not while he was at war. And there was no way to convey
all she wanted to. No, he must see her face, know from the look in her eyes
that she loved him still, despite everything that had happened. She was
convinced it was her only hope of ever winning his forgiveness, if that were
still possible. She began to long for that meeting, that confession, and the
more she yearned for it, the greater her fear became that he would be killed.

When Moses arrived that summer,
reawakened sadness and a measure of guilt were added to the whisper of fear for
Alex she carried with her every day. The loose-limbed, natural coordination he
inherited from his father counterbalanced the awkwardness of adolescence. As he
stepped down off the stage from Marysville, Esther was struck by other
similarities  to Mosby: the boy's rawboned features and even gaze. He had a
handsomer face than his father and less of Mosby's flat, almost reptilian stare,
but the similarity was still enough to make Esther shudder.

She wondered if the ripple of remembered
hatred engendered by the sight of the boy showed as he looked at her for a
moment, hesitantly studying her face, then walked toward
Solana,
finally relaxed, and embraced the Indian
woman.

Solana
immediately
sensed the question in the boy's mind as he turned again and stared at Esther
in confusion. "You see?" she said, laughing, coming completely out of
the shell of withdrawal she had retreated to since the massacre. "He has
grown to be a fine man."
He is Mos-by's son
, she thought.
There
is no question with that face.

Esther held out her hand.

"This is the woman who… found you in
the snow, in the mountains, when you were a child,"
Solana
quickly said.

"Then you are not my mother?"
Moses asked
Solana,
still
staring at Esther.

"It is time you knew that we could
not know who your mother was, and that
I…
adopted you."
Solana
said
wisely.

Esther noticed
Solana
was studying the boy's face, then saw her
nod to herself almost imperceptibly, as though she had finally confirmed
something. But then Moses pulled her thoughts in another direction as they
picked up his bags and headed for the waiting carriage.

"Then who are
you
?" he
asked, glancing again at Esther.

"I…" The words stuck in her
throat.

"Mrs. Carter is your friend,"
Solana
quickly intervened. "She was my
friend first, then after she… found you… and gave you to me to care for, she
helped you go to the school."

"I never knew who paid for the
school," he said, obviously deep in thought. "It costs a lot of
money. I wondered about it."

"Mrs. Carter pays for all of it
because she wanted to help you."

They got into the carriage and started
off for Esther's place.

"I've never had the chance to thank
you," Moses said. "I didn't even know it was you."

"That's perfectly all right, Moses.
It was really nothing. I simply had the money, and we wanted to help you. It
was
Solana
who
did the important thing—raising you when you were a baby."

"I remember much of that time,"
Moses said as he began playing absently with young Todd in his wicker carrying
crib. "Sometimes I think I can remember all the way back to the time I was
born. Isn't that strange?"

"No one can go back that far,"
Solana
said, uneasy.

"I know," Moses responded,
"but sometimes it seems that way. Sometimes I have a feeling that
I
know about some things I couldn't
possibly know."

Esther turned, and for a moment, as she
caught Moses stealing a darting glance at her, she was sure he knew she was his
mother. She was aware that he was watching her again when
Solana
suddenly reined the carriage team toward
the Indian school rather than continuing toward Esther's home.

"It will be better if he stays with
me,"
Solana
explained.
"There is room for him in the… apartment, and there are two boys from the
village at the school. Perhaps he will remember them."

"Yes,"
Esther
said. "Perhaps that will be better."

She was sure there was no way he could
possibly know she was his mother, but the eerie feeling that he  sensed it lasted
until he came home from work the following day. Bull Carter's arm was over the
boy's shoulder when he brought him back unexpectedly for dinner that night. He
had clearly won Moses over, and whatever questions about Esther had arisen in
the boy's mind, they were obviously buried now in his fascination with the
railroad and his unalloyed worship of her husband.

Throughout that summer Carter treated
Moses like his own son, teaching him mechanical skills, telling him of the
outside world. In September the boy pleaded to stay on for several more months,
telling
Solana
he
was still undecided about what he wanted to pursue. Esther consented. Moses
seemed so happy she could not bring herself to send him back to Marysville.

He had stayed with
Solana
in the apartment over the school the
entire time, coming to dinner with Esther and her husband each Sunday afternoon
and occasionally during the week. In early December Esther asked that they
spend a weekend at her home. It was time to help him come to a decision.
Solana
had gone to bed after dinner on the
Sunday Esther finally mustered the courage to bring up the subject.

"Moses don't want to be no priest,
do you?" Bull Carter responded, slapping the boy on the shoulder.

"I would rather work for you, Mr.
Carter—"

"Come on, boy, I told you you could
call me Bull. We're friends."

"—or fight with the soldiers in the
war."

"Now who put that idea into his
head?" Esther frowned at her husband.

"He ain't gonna be no fool as to
volunteer," Carter said, laughing. "Are yuh, boy? Wants to learn all
about the railroad business. Be a railroad man. Don't yuh?"

"I want to stay with you, Bull.
You're… better than a father."

"See? What I tell you, Esther? I
told him about the California Battalion they're formin' up in Frisco. But he
knows how much fun this railroad buildin's gonna be once we get started next
month, don'tcha boy?"

"Well, Mr. Carter and I will discuss
this further. I think it's time for you to turn in, Moses. Don't you?"

Moses kissed Esther on the cheek and
obediently left the dining room. At the foot of the stairs, he decided to go
back into the kitchen for a glass of water. Returning, he stopped for a moment
near the dining room door, not believing what he was hearing.

Carter was certain the boy was upstairs
in his room. "Why don't you stop fightin' it? He may be a goddamn
half-breed Injun, but he's not as stupid as his mother. He don't want to be no
namby-pamby priest. Damn Catholics. Can't stand them hardly no more than
Injuns."

"Bull…!"

Carter rolled right over Esther's words.
"Goddamn it! The only reason you're talkin' this stand is… Esther, I've
done what you asked, put my arm around that goddamned, stinkin' little Injun
bastard and made him feel welcome. Against everything
I
feel about them heathen…"

Moses eased backward in the hallway,
stunned, tears spilling down his cheeks.

"You have no right to speak about
another human being that way," he heard Esther say. "The boy thinks
you're really fond of him…"

Moses
needed to hear no more. Going up the back stairs, he quietly packed his bag,
looked at
Solana
for
a moment as she lay sleeping, then started down the hall. At the door to
Esther's bedroom, he stopped and stared at the daguerreotype sitting on the
night table next to her bed. Moving quietly, he walked to the table, removed
Esther's picture from its frame, then stole down the back stairs again and out
through the kitchen door.

They didn't discover Moses was gone until
the next morning. It took Esther the better part of three days to journey up to
the school at Marysville and then return after learning he was not there. An
hour after coming home she finally put two and two together, turned around
without unpacking her bags, and, taking
Solana
with her, boarded the paddle-wheeler
Sacramento
for the trip downriver to San Francisco.