"Can't say I do."
"Wouldn't you like to do other things?"
"What are you driving at?"
"In Missouri you used to go to Tenney's store nights and have a talk
with the men. Here all you do is work from dawn to dark. Isn't it
monotonous?"
"Why no," he said. "No it isn't, and the only reason I have to work
sixteen hours a day is because there's much to do. Next year we'll be
pretty well set and I can go hunting or fishing now and again with Ellis
and Tad."
"But don't you miss your friends in Missouri?"
He thought of the men he'd known in Missouri: John Geragty, the Garrows,
Pete Domley, Les Tenney, Percy Pearl, Tom Abend, Fellers Compton. No
doubt they were still gathering in Tenney's store every night to discuss
whatever the current topic might be. Here there were no near neighbors,
but there was, instead, the nearness of each member of his family. The
warm and wonderful togetherness that had been cemented during their long
journey. This was better, this was more real, and Joe knew he'd rather
be here.
"I'd like to see them, if that's what you mean. But I wouldn't go back."
Barbara and Ellis came in, hand in hand, Joe smiled. They were so young,
so in love, and so obviously happy. Joe said with mock severity,
"Better give her hand back and get to bed, Ellis. Tomorrow we start on
the stable."
"Tomorrow," Ellis said, "you'll have to work on the stable yourself."
"Are you running out on me?"
"Just to Camp Axton. I must see a man there."
"What man?"
"The chaplain." Ellis's whole face smiled and Barbara blushed. "We're
getting married on the fifteenth."
"Honey!"
Emma rose and crushed her daughter in a maternal embrace. Joe sat bolt
upright, sobered and a bit anxious, and wondered why he should be. He
had known since New Year's that Barbara and Ellis would be married, but
it hadn't seemed real until now. Then he grinned happily; he'd always
wondered how it would feel to be a grandfather. He rose and wrung
Ellis's hand.
"Good for you, son! Hey! The fifteenth! That's only a couple of weeks!"
"We know."
They stood together, a little abashed and a little uncertain but wholly
proud. Joe sat down to think. The father of the bride had certain duties
but he hadn't the faintest idea of what they were. As soon as they were
alone he must ask Emma; she'd probably know. But Joe was certain that a
wedding present was in order. He racked his brains wondering what he had
to give, and could think of nothing appropriate. Then he thought of
Henry Winterson's huge horse. Ellis had his Kentucky thoroughbred, but
except in emergency such a horse should be saved for saddle work only,
and Ellis needed a team. Maybe Winterson would sell his or perhaps he
had spare horses that he would sell reasonably. If not, Joe would
promise the youngsters a team of mules and buy them as soon as he sold
some crops and had enough money. Right now neither of the young people
looked as though they were worried about wedding presents, and they
could get along. Ellis was welcome to use Joe's mules.
The next day Joe worked alone and Ellis returned shortly before
twilight. The chaplain had promised to come on the fifteenth and some of
the soldiers were coming too. They'd seen Barbara during her short stay
at Camp Axton, and they wouldn't miss a chance to kiss this bride. There
was sure to be a party and Barbara and Emma made great preparations for
it. Mere men around the house became very unimportant, but that, Joe
decided, was the way things should be.
The next week, as he had promised, Henry Winterson brought his pretty
young wife for a visit. They came in a light wagon drawn by the huge
white horse and another, smaller animal. Despite the awkwardness of her
body, there was a calm assurance and easy poise about Martha Winterson
that Joe warmed to at once. He knew that he would always be at ease with
her.
"So glad you could come," he greeted, "and Emma will be happy to see
you. Come on in--"
Before he finished speaking, Emma came out. She put a motherly hand
around the other's shoulder.
"I'm Emma," she said warmly. "And I know you're Martha. Your husband
told us all about you. Now you just come right in and make yourself
comfortable while I fix you a cup of coffee."
They entered the house. Winterson went to the wagon and from it took a
small, frightened pig with its legs trussed.
"Brought it," he said cheerfully. "Martha was so tickled to see the hen
that she said, 'Why don't you take them two pigs, Henry? Why be stingy?'
Those were her very words. That's exactly what she said to me. But I
told her a bargain's a bargain, and here's the pig. What are you going
to do with it?"
"Keep it in the stable," Joe decided, "until I can build a pen. Say, you
don't have a team of horses or mules to sell, do you?"
"What for? You have a team."
"The kids need it. They're getting married next week."
"Glory be!" Winterson breathed. "I have a black horse at home. He's not
as big as the white but he's sound and a good worker. You can have him
for fifty--No! Forty dollars. This is a special occasion and those kids
have to be started right."
"It's a deal."
"You don't have to pay cash," Winterson said. "I have enough money to
see me through and my crops are good. Pay for him next year after you've
made a crop if you want to."
"That will be a help."
"We'll leave it that way. You can get another horse easy when the
emigrants start coming through. They always have stock that's footsore
and needs only a little rest to get in shape again, and besides they'll
trade. You'll have vegetables to trade by that time. Sorry we can't stay
the night. I told Martha we were invited but she has a lot to do.
Besides, she's made a pet of that hen and she isn't letting anything
happen to it. Darn thing sleeps in the house with us."
"Come on in. Might just as well make good use of your time while you're
here."
Tad hadn't come in from fishing. Ellis was up in the timber cutting
firewood and Barbara was with him. The younger children, overawed at
seeing two strangers at the same time, stared at them. Martha Winterson
was seated at the table and Emma bustled about.
"She'll wear my wedding dress," Emma was saying. "When I had to pack it
to come here I was worried. I feared that it might turn yellow, but it
only shaded to a soft ivory. I think it's even more beautiful that way."
"Isn't it badly rumpled?"
"No. I packed paper around it and between each layer, and then wrapped
it in my curtains. After it's hung out to air for a few hours, the
wrinkles will blow out. The sun will get rid of the camphor odor, too."
"I'd love to see it!"
"I'd show it to you, but Ellis might come in any minute and he mustn't
see his bride's dress before she wears it. You'll see it at the
wedding."
"What's it like, Emma?"
Emma's voice was soft. "It's white satin with short puffed melon
sleeves, over which I wore full long sleeves of white silk gauze
fastened at the wrist. My cape was of Swiss muslin, with rich foulard
patterns stamped on it. There are short white gloves with embroidered
tops; there's a small mend but it won't show. I sewed it carefully. The
neck line is low. The waist line is tiny, too tiny for me now but right
for Barbara." Her eyes glowed with the warmth of remembering.
"Will she wear a bonnet?"
"Oh yes. I have a Pamela bonnet with a blue ribbon and a colored plume.
I suppose it's out of fashion now, but it's very beautiful."
Ellis and Barbara came in and Emma hurriedly changed the subject. Martha
Winterson rose to embrace Barbara, and turned a laughing face to kiss
Ellis lightly on the cheek. Ellis blushed, and Joe grinned. He
remembered his own wedding, and how embarrassed he had been when Emma's
best friend, Sarah Townley, had kissed him. They had dinner. The
Wintersons left, and the house was given over to preparations for the
wedding.
Joe shrugged away any thought of work; there would be time for that
later and Winterson was right. The youngsters had to be started out
correctly and Emma wanted lots of decorations. But still Joe found it
impossible to sleep after the first light of dawn.
Hatchet in hand, he wandered up the slope into the woods. It was too
late in the season for most wild flowers, but there were fragrant,
cone-laden evergreen boughs. Emma wanted the whole living room decorated
with them, and Barbara would carry a bouquet of cloth flowers scented
with Emma's precious perfume. About to enter the woods, Joe turned, as
he always did, to look proudly over his land. His heart skipped a beat.
To the west, about where he thought the Wintersons' home was, an ominous
plume of thick yellow smoke reached far into the sky.