Mail Order Madness (19 page)

The twins enjoyed their fort, but didn’t spend nearly as much time in it as the older
boys spent in the tree house, because either Susan or Mrs. Hackenshleimer had to be
in the fort with them, and they’d picked up the idea of “no girls allowed” from their
older brothers.  They thought the women should stand outside the fort and watch them
through the window, and neither of the women was willing to stand in the hot Texas
sun to do that
for long
.

David and Susan made peace with one another, and he deferred to her judgment when
it came to disciplining the boys. 
She was still wary of him, and unsure of whether he was going to give her the full
authority she needed to keep the boys in line, but she was certainly enjoying their
marriage.  Yes, the days were long, but the nights were wonderful.  She loved being
married to David. 
She often wondered if she’d have gotten bored being married to Jesse.

Susan expected the temperature to cool off once September hit and the older boys started
school, but the hot Texas sun just kept beating down on them.  One
Tuesday
afternoon
, toward the end of September, she was working on sewing some winter clothes for the
twins.  They did prefer to
dress in different colors instead of always dressing alike, so she was trying to give
them a variety of clothes to choose from.
  Baxter, their new kitten was curled up on the couch next to her, hiding from the
twins to catch a nap.

Walter walked into the family parlor where she was doing her sewing and squatted down
to play with his blocks.  After a moment, she could smell his diaper, and looking
up, she saw brown lines dripping down his legs.  She made a face and set her sewing
down, scooping him up and holding him
at arms’ length
to take him to the bathtub, hoping she wouldn’t get anything on her.

As soon as she started the water in the bathtub, Mrs. Hackenshleimer came up behind
her with Thomas on her hip.  “Do you want me to do that?”

Susan shook her head.  “I can do it.  Would you mind getting his dirty clothes to
Sadie right away, though?  And getting me some clean clothes for him?”  Susan knelt
beside the tub with Walter standing naked in his bath giggling as she used a
glass
to dump water over his back and legs.

Mrs. Hackenshleimer put Thomas down and told him to go play with the blocks in the
family parlor before she left to do what Susan had asked.  When she returned, Walter
was sitting in the bathtub, splashing happily.  He rarely got to take a bath without
his brother, so Susan was letting him enjoy himself.

After Mrs. Hackenshleimer set Walter’s clean diaper and fresh clothes on the floor
beside Susan, she said, “We need to talk about potty training these two.  They’re
plenty old enough to be using the toilet like the rest of the family.”

Susan nodded.  “I totally agree.  I think I’ll have the older boys take them outside
and show them how to ‘water the flowers’ they see. 
Albert and Lewis
won’t like it, but they’ll do it.”

Mrs. Hackenshleimer smiled as she leaned against the door jam.  “The difference you’ve
made in those two older boys is simply amazing.  They were hellions when I first arrived. 
They tried to hide it, because they were afraid of me, but I could see it.  That first
night you came, I wanted to warn you to run as fast as you could in the other direction,
but I can see now, you’re just what this family needed.”

Susan was surprised by the compliment from the older woman.  Mrs. Hackenshleimer was
always so serious
and focused on her job
Susan hadn’t realized she paid that much attention to what was going on in the family
other than the twins.  “Thank you.  It’s nice to hear someone has noticed.”

“Everyone has noticed.  You have worked wonders with the boys, and we’re all happier
for it.”  She glanced around and tilted her head to the side as if she was listening
for a moment.  “I don’t hear Thomas.
”
 

Susan glanced at her.  “I’m sure he’s just playing with the blocks like you suggested.”

Mrs. Hackenshleimer nodded.  “Excuse me for a moment while I go check.”  She was back
a few moments later.  “He’s not there.  Why do we keep losing the boys?”

Susan jumped up, knowing she could cover more ground looking for the child than Mrs.
Hackenshleimer could.  “You finish his bath.  I’ll go look for Thomas.”  She ran through
the house calling the boy’s name, but there was no response.

She rushed into the kitchen her eyes frightened.  “Have you seen Thomas?”

Sadie turned away from the chicken she was frying for dinner.  “No, is he missing?”

“Yes, we told him to play with the blocks while we were
washing Walter.  He’s not anywhere in the house I can see.”  She hurried toward the
door to the dining room.  “I’m going to go get David to help me look for him.”

She ran out of the house, calling Thomas’s name.  She checked in the fort, but he
wasn’t there.  She couldn’t see him anywhere.  Running toward the corral still calling
his name, she saw David turn to her with a concerned look.  “Thomas is missing.  We
were giving Walter a bath and he was playing with blocks, and then suddenly he was
gone.”

David noted the panicked look on his wife’s face and pulled her into his arms.  “We’ll
find him.”  He called out to the nearest ranch hand that Thomas was missing, and the
man ran to tell the others.  “How long has he been missing?”

Susan shook her head.  “Not more than twenty minutes.  I’m so sorry, David.”  Tears
were coursing down her face.  “I can’t believe I’ve lost him.”
  She should have paid more attention to Thomas than she had.  She could have handled
getting Walter’s dirty clothes to Sadie and taken Walter upstairs naked.  She’d done
it before.  Why had she asked Mrs. Hackenshleimer to put Thomas down?

David took her hand and walked with her.  “Where’s the kitten?”

“I’m not sure.  He was sleeping beside me on the sofa while I was sewing, but then
Walter made a huge mess
, leaking out of his diaper,
and needed to be bathed right away.  I didn’t notice him again after that.  He may
still be sleeping in the family parlor.”

“You run and check, while I search all the outbuildings.  He couldn’t have gone far. 
His legs aren’t long enough to cover much distance.”  David turned toward the pigpen
first.  He knew how much the twins enjoyed chasing the pigs now that Albert had taught
them that game.

Susan ran out of the house a few minutes later.  “Baxter is missing too.”

David nodded.  “I have a feeling we’ll find the two of them together.”

They searched the stable, but he wasn’t there.  Sam said he hadn’t seen any of the
boys that day.  Susan was terrified.  The ranch was huge and anything could happen
to Thomas on it.  He was so small. 
What if he wandered into the corral and got kicked by one of the horses?

Finally, they checked the barn, and there was T
homas, sitting in the corner playing with Baxter.  Susan ran to him, picked him up
and hugged him to her.  Tears were coursing down her face and she didn’t care.  She’d
been so worried she’d lost him.

Thomas pulled away after a moment.  “Mama cry?”
  He poked one of the tears with his finger.

Susan gave a half laugh.  “I thought we lost you.”

“I play with kitty.”  His face made it clear he thought she was crazy to be so worried
when he was just playing with the animal.

She put Thomas back down.  “You can play with kitty.”  She turned to David and saw
him watching with a relieved smile.  She walked into his arms and held him tightly. 
“I thought we’d lost him.  I’ll never let him out of my sight again.”
  She knew she was being melodramatic even as she said it, but she couldn’t stop the
words.  How could she live with herself if something happened to one of them?

David laughed.  “Of course, you will.  He’s fine.”

Susan shook her head.  “I don’t know what I’d do if we lost one of our boys.”
  Her voice was still shaking as she thought about what could have happened.

David smiled, stroking her hair.  “Our boys?”

She nodded.  “Of course, they’re our boys.”

“Does that mean you’re glad you married me?”

She laughed softly.  “Of course, I’m glad I married you.  I have a man I couldn’t
live without, and four boys I love with all my heart.”
  How could he not know that after six weeks of marriage?  Didn’t she show him every
day how much she loved them all?

David gave her a serious look.  “Is it only the boys you love?”

She smiled, stroking his cheek.  “Of course, it’s not.  I love you more than I ever
dreamed I’d love anyone.  I don’t think I knew how much I loved all of you until Thomas
went missing, though.  It’s amazing how losing a child puts everything in perspective.”
  She looked over at Thomas looking so content as he played with the kitten giggling.

“I’m so glad,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.  “I think I fell in love
with you when you got so mad at me on our wedding day.”

Susan laughed.  “So what you’re saying is what you love most about me is my horrible
temper?”
  She thought about how she’d poked him in the chest and told him there was no way
she’d share a bed with him.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Susan took Thomas’s hand before putting her arm around David’s waist and walking toward
the house.  “Well, if it’s when you knew you loved me….”
  She couldn’t believe she felt good enough to tease him so soon after the crisis
with Thomas.  It was amazing what the words, “I love you” could do.

“I was just so glad to see you had spirit.  So many women let men run all over them,
and I’m so proud that you don’t do that.”

She realized the older boys had made it home from school as she walked toward the
house. 

Albert looked at her
with a shocked look
.  “You okay, Ma? 
You look like you’ve been crying. 
You never cry.”

Susan laughed self-consciously.  “Thomas wandered off and we couldn’t find him.  It
really scared me.”
  She knew Albert would worry if he didn’t know exactly what had happened.

Albert stared at her for a moment.  “Is that how you felt when Lewis and I were missing
that day?”

“It is absolutely how I felt.  I don’t want anything to happen to any of you boys.”
  She shook her head thinking back to her dread from that day as well.  She’d never
lost her siblings at home, but they didn’t tend to wander, and when they did, they
left a trail of destruction that was easy to follow.

“Does that mean you’re going to stay?”

Susan’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Of course I’m going to stay.  Why would you think
I wouldn’t?”
  Susan had no idea he was worried about her leaving them.  Had he heard what she’d
told David the day he and Lewis had gotten lost in The Acre?

He shrugged and kicked a pebble.  David took Thomas’s hand and led him into the house. 
“Well, my real ma left.  And all the nannies left.”

Susan put her arm around Albert’s shoulders and led him to the porch swing where they
both sat.  “Your real ma left because she died.  She didn’t want to leave you.  And
the nannies left because you and your brother did mean things to them.  Why did you
do that?”
  She knew she should be focused on his worries of her leaving, but since he was opening
up to her, she really wanted to know their reasoning for being so mean to the different
nannies.

Albert shrugged.  “We didn’t really want them here.  Most of them just wanted to marry
Pa.  They didn’t care about us.”

“I do.”  Susan was sure he already knew it, but she told him anyway.

“I know, Ma.”  Albert rested his head on her shoulder.  “I’m glad you were the one
who didn’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”
  She was happy to be able to reassure him of that fact.  She couldn’t imagine life
without her husband and boys.  “I love you and your brothers.”

“I love you, too, Ma.”

They sat together silently for a few minutes each of them happy the other was there. 
Finally, Susan asked, “Are you hungry?  Sadie was making fried chicken a while ago. 
I bet it’s done.”
  She knew fried chicken was his favorite meal.

Albert stood up and offered her his hand to help her. 

“Thank you, sir.”  She accepted his help gracefully and they went into the house together.

Sadie was just putting dinner on the table.  Mrs. Hackenshleimer stood beside the
table wringing her hands together.  “I’m so sorry I lost him.  I’ll go pack my bags.”

Susan stared at her in disbelief.  “You can’t abandon me now!”
  She didn’t want to think about doing it all alone without the older woman’s help. 

Mrs. Hackenshleimer looked at Susan in surprise.  “You mean I’m not fired?”