Untamed Journey (27 page)

As they rolled through the gates, Sue had her
hands full weaving her way through the crowds of people rushing
about on foot. There were no sidewalks to be seen, so the
pedestrians were forced to share the same dirt streets with a
never-ending stream of wagons and mounted men.

As Sue continued her tour of the Fort, Ruth
caught herself staring at three Chinamen hefting bales of hay along
with a uniformed soldier.

“They’re workers from the railroad,” Sue
explained. “There are mostly Chinese doing the digging, alongside
Irishmen doing the engineering and blasting.”

“I thought the railroad didn’t come this
way?” Ruth asked.

“It doesn’t – at least not yet. There’re
rumors that a line might come through here. Seeing the Chinamen
just reinforces the rumor. The railroads will loan their workers to
the locals for weeks or even months ahead of time, to gain the
support of those in power. Guess the Colonel is benefiting from
this, by getting some free labor for his cooperation.”

“What are they like?” Ruth asked in
fascination, never having seen anyone – much less met anyone – from
China in her young life.

“They mostly keep to themselves.” Sue
shrugged. “Some learn English quickly while others seem to be
content to rely on family to translate for them. I don’t know those
men personally, but one of the midwives I know here at the Fort
swears by their medicine. She says the Chinese have even more
knowledge of plants and medicines than the local tribes. Last time
I talked to her, she was trying to sweet talk the Colonel into
loaning her two translators so she could sit down with the Chinese
and the Indians and talk medicine. She says the Chinese have been
studying medicine longer than this country has existed. But they
rely on imported plants to treat their own, which are hard to come
by, even with the help of the railroad. The Indians know the local
plants better so she thinks putting them together could work
miracles for her patients.”

Ruth was fascinated by this idea and quickly
begged a favor of Sue. “Do you think I could meet your friend? My
father was a doctor and I used to help him with patients before the
War. I know nothing of the local plants. We grew our own back home
for use in my father’s practice.”

“She’d help you out, no question about it.”
Sue assured Ruth. “She loves nothing better than talking about her
work for hours on end with an interested listener. She might even
recruit you into midwifery. She’s always short-handed and cursing
the squeamishness of most civilians.”

“Do you think I could earn a living at that?”
Ruth asked.

“Don’t see why not,” Sue responded. “It seems
since the War ended, everyone is getting hitched and having
babies.”

The energy around her was contagious and Ruth
felt more hopeful than ever. She was convinced a fresh start was
possible here in Fort Lyon. Mr. Frank Masterson would soon forget
about his proxy wife and move on, she told herself. Ruth couldn’t
think of one reason for a man in his position to waste time chasing
down a wife he had never even met. He could get an annulment or
declare her dead with less fuss and effort, and quickly find
someone new to wed.

The sound of Sue’s voice jolted Ruth back to
the present, as they stopped in front of the Officer’s
Quarters.

“Good day to you, Colonel,” Sue called out to
a mustached man in his late fifties.

“Good day to you, Mrs. Hamilton. Allow me.”
Colonel William Roe helped Sue down while he motioned for his aide
to help Ruth.

Ruth thanked the young solider for his help
while Sue introduced her to the Colonel. Ruth accepted the
Colonel’s vigorous handshake in welcome.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jameson.”
The Colonel glared at his gawking aide-de-camp, who quickly took
the hint and excused himself.

“Don’t mind him,” Colonel Roe apologized.
“He’s young, and we don’t see new ladies arriving every day. You’re
most welcome here. There’s nothing better than the gentling
presence of a woman to turn a fort into a town.”

Ruth made silent note that the Colonel didn’t
question her or Sue about Ruth’s identity or even why she was
there. He just welcomed a new addition to his makeshift
community.

“Thank you, Colonel,” Ruth replied. “I’m most
pleased to be here.”

“Wonderful. Wonderful. Please join me for
tea, ladies,” Colonel Roe invited as he ushered them inside, out of
the cold wind.

“I’ll take a splash of your good Irish
whiskey in mine, Colonel, if you please.” Sue interjected.

“I’m afraid I’m reduced to a local brew, my
dear. The cost of quality is going up with the masses coming out
West. Can’t hardly order a legitimate case and expect it to get
here any longer. Damn trail hands sell off all but one bottle to
passing settlers and hopeful pan handlers, all willing to pay
double the decent man’s price.”

The Colonel continued to bemoan his troubled
state, as he served them both tea and whiskey in his good
china.

“Lucky for you, Colonel, you won’t have
transportation troubles with my goods,” Sue insisted, taking
advantage of the opening the Colonel’s whiskey troubles afforded
her new business. “I’ve already made arrangements for delivery by
Thomas Minor, so you can be assured every last grain will arrive,
as ordered.”

The Colonel nodded his approval. “Although
he’s a sober sort, with no appreciation of fine whiskey, he’s
honest and reliable. A good choice for you, my dear, assuming your
homemade goods can compete.”

“They’ll stand up to anything out there.” Sue
assured him. “I’ve brought a sample to prove my point. Try it out
with your horse for a week and then come find me.”

“Done,” Colonel Roe shook Sue’s hand. “I’ll
have someone unload the wagon at the livery. No charge, even if my
prize-horseflesh refuses,” the Colonel added.

Sue quickly corrected him. “Only unload half,
if you please. I’ve reserved the other sample for Mr. Baker at the
livery – just in case your finicky horses don’t appreciate the
local fare.”

Colonel Roe fiddled with the tips of his
mustache. “Why, Sue Hamilton, are you playing me against that
crooked son of a –,” the Colonel sputtered to a halt, remembering
himself in the presence of Ruth.

“I’m just a poor businesswoman with mouths to
feed, Colonel,” Sue replied. “You can’t blame me for exploring all
my options. I’m no fool to rely on only one customer who could
short-change me at the last minute while I watch my grain rot in
storage.”

“Why, I’d never do such a thing,” the Colonel
said.

“Don’t worry,” Sue assured him. “My price
will still be cheaper than shipping across hundreds of miles and
you’ll get ten times the quality and freshness.”

“If I can’t rely on a dedicated supply from
you, I’ll have to reconsider,” Colonel Roe warned.

“Don’t make any rash decisions just yet. You
try my feed out for a week, free of charge, and then we’ll talk
again.”

With a bounce in her step, Sue left the
parlor, dragging Ruth behind.

“You’ll see to delivering the other half to
the livery, won’t you Colonel?” Sue tossed over her shoulder before
walking out the door.

Once they were out of earshot, Sue explained
her strategy to Ruth.

“He’ll pay twice what he originally offered,
once he has some competition. With all the settlers passing through
here, headed west, the private livery will be full up day and
night. I might even be able to get the livery owner to sell to
travelers passing through, if I pass him a small bonus for each new
customer.”

“How do you know that Colonel Roe’s horses
will love your new grain so much?” Ruth asked, wanting to
understand Sue’s thinking.

“Because I came by last week and fed a bit to
the Colonel’s favorite mount. He loved it!”

Ruth nearly giggled at the picture of Sue
sneaking into the stable in the middle of the night. “What if the
Colonel had caught you?” she asked.

“He still would have bought my feed, but I
wouldn’t have had half the confidence I did today when negotiating
over price,” Sue explained with no small amount of pride in her
work.

“I
’m not against a
family taking a hand in arranging a woman’s future for her.”
Jackson started right in on his favorite topic – Ruth’s
questionable choice of a husband – as he made repairs to the water
mill he shared with his neighbors.

“Or a man’s for that matter,” he added in all
fairness. “If a body’s got good, loving parents or even siblings -
who knows you better? They’ll have a care for the important, but
practical things that‘ll last through the years: your religion,
your sense of right and wrong, what makes you laugh. They
understand what you need from those around you and what you can
give, when the whole world around you has gone mad. And they won’t
have stars in their eyes, like lonely young girls might.”

“I’m not lonely, and I see quite clearly
now,” Ruth retorted, handing Jackson a hammer.

He ignored her token protest. “Take this
sailor of yours. Let’s say he was a good friend of your family’s
and a decent enough man. That won’t change the fact that he’ll be
gone for months at a time, maybe even years. Who is going to be by
your side when you birth that sailor’s first son? You’ll have no
family in San Francisco, no friends. And the friends you’ll make
will be the wives of your husband’s shipmates. They’ll be out to
sea, too. Their wives, no matter how kind, will need help, not be
in a position to give it. What will you do once you’ve got two or
three kids? Who’ll care for them when you’re sick? And God forbid
you’re widowed, you’ll have no land to feed yourself with.”

Ruth didn’t have a handy response since she’d
just finished concocting the story of her long-lost sailor two
weeks ago. She certainly hadn’t pictured a future, much less
children, with her make-believe man. So she quickly turned the
tables on Jackson.

“I could be widowed tomorrow married to you,
just the same. Even your hard head wouldn’t survive a proper throw
from one of those wild mustangs you break.” Ruth stopped her
protest, when she saw Jackson’s growing smile. “What on earth are
you laughing about?”

“The sweet thought of you imagining us wed.
If I’ve finagled myself into your deepest, darkest thoughts, that
means I’m making progress, storming your defenses and all.”

She narrowed her eyes. “That means you’re
talking nonsense. It was the image of your head meeting a rock that
made its way past my defenses.”

“Oh, I doubt that’s the only thought you
found room for,” he retorted with a knowing grin.

Since it was true, Ruth changed the subject
once again in faint desperation. “I suppose I could stay right
here, since you’re so strongly against my sailor. Sue agrees with
you, in fact. She says there’s a shortage of women right here, so
it makes no sense to traverse the Rockies just to meet a
husband.”

Jackson should not have been so surprised
that Sue was stirring up trouble. Since she could see plain as day
that Jackson was courting Ruth, there was no other explanation for
the most unromantic woman this side of the Rockies suddenly taking
to matchmaking. Jackson decided to play along. As long as Ruth was
in reach, he figured his chances were excellent.

“It’s entirely your choice, of course. You’re
welcome here for as long as you like under any circumstances.”

Ruth hadn’t been expecting such a tame reply.
Inbred politeness seemed her only refuge. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replied. “That being said,
I imagine a woman of your intelligence and spirit would want to
consider all her options, local or otherwise. And since you and Sue
have gone so far as to discuss the possibility of staying, I
imagine you’ve stretched that conversation to include with whom you
might be staying.”

Ruth nearly kicked herself silly, having
backed herself into a corner – again. “Sue might have mentioned
some names in passing,” she replied vaguely, hoping to change the
subject.

“So who’s your top contender?” he inquired,
barely bothering to hide his smile.

She should have known Jackson wouldn’t let
her off that easily, Ruth thought testily. “Charlie’s handsome
enough,” Ruth offered. “And Sue likes him.”

“Sue likes him because he flirts shamelessly
with all women, and flatters her most of all,” Jackson replied,
dismissing the boy out of hand.

“That’s not true,” Ruth blurted out, arms
crossed.

“Oh I’m not saying he isn’t taken with you,”
Jackson conceded. “But he’s young and restless. He’ll love you for
a few months, and then be gone before the passes close for the
winter, chasing gold. And where there’s gold, there’s women. Ask
Sue about that one.”

“You’re just jealous,” Ruth accused.

“Perhaps I am,” he said. “But that doesn’t
make what I’ve just said any less true. I admire the boy as much as
Sue, if not more. He works hard and he’s never cheated me. But
there’s many a hard-working man who doesn’t consider leaving his
wife for years at a time, and taking comfort where he can get it,
to be a dishonorable thing. So long as he fends for her financially
and wanders home eventually, he’s done his duty by most standards.
Things can’t be that much different where you’re from. I haven’t
been gone from polite society that long,” Jackson insisted.

Ruth could not deny a truth that described
the life of most of the women she had ever known. “I know what
you’re saying is true, but my father never once left my mother’s
side and adored her ‘til the day he died.”

Jackson paused for a moment before replying.
“I’m happy for you Ruth. There’s nothing sweeter for a child than a
happy home, with parents who love each other and not just the
children. My father felt the same toward my mother. But that’s a
rare thing. I think you’ve only got a shot at that kind of life if
both the man and the woman experienced it first-hand growing up. I
knew Charlie’s father. He was a skirt chaser. A damn fine fighter
who’d lay down his life in a heartbeat for a friend, but he had a
roving eye until the day he died. His son’s just like him, only
more successful, because he got his mama’s good looks.”