Banking on Temperance (15 page)

Ginger’s grip lessened as the contraction crested, and then waned. “Good girl.” Temperance had only minutes before the next wave of pain would overtake Ginger, so she dashed to the small cooking stove and retrieved a damp cloth from the pot. Her fingers burned as she wrung the moisture from the cloth. She picked up a cool damp cloth, too, to place on Ginger’s forehead. Nervously, she glanced out the window. From the position of the sun, she could tell it was late afternoon. Surely, they would have been missed by now and someone was on the way to them. At least she hoped so.

Ginger cried out as another spasm overtook her. Temperance ran to her side.

“I think it’s coming!” Ginger gasped. “Can you look?”

Temperance stared at Ginger. “You mean, look down there?”

Ginger grasped her hands. “Temperance, I need you to focus. My baby’s about to come into this world, and I’d rather not have him or her slide out and fall on the floor. Or get stuck halfway out. I need you to help guide my child into the world. Can you do that?”

Temperance took a deep breath. “Yes, of course. I’m here for you.” She pulled the covers back from the bed and realized Ginger was correct. The top of the baby’s head, with its black-as-night hair, was peeking out from Ginger’s vagina. She smiled. “I have a feeling your baby is going to resemble Joseph.”

Ginger gasped, and began to push in earnest. “Well, then, let’s get the little bugger out so I can see him or her.”

Fifteen minutes later, Temperance tied off the umbilical cord with a piece of leather and placed a messy, wet, and bloody baby boy on Ginger’s chest. She gave mother and child a minute alone to bond while she prepared some bath water to clean the baby.

“He’s beautiful,” Ginger said with tears in her eyes as she tore her gaze from her son to Temperance. “Thank you for being here. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I want you to lie back and rest now while I clean up the little fellow. And then I’ll clean you up. He’ll be back in your arms before you know it.”

She wrapped the baby in a clean, soft kitchen towel and took him to the washbasin at the table. As she held him and began to wash his limbs, she hummed softly and let her thoughts go where they wanted to.
I want one of these for my own. I want a baby boy who has Basil’s looks.
She wiped the child’s face and cleaned his shock of dark hair.
But Basil doesn’t want the same thing you do, so put your thoughts away. It’s Ginger’s day, and this little boy’s birthday, so no sad thoughts are allowed.

She wrapped the baby in a fresh towel and placed him back at his mother’s side. Temperance was just finishing up making Ginger presentable when the sound of horses’ hooves penetrated the air and Joseph burst into the room, followed closely by Martha Jones. Joseph ran to Ginger’s side without a word, but Temperance’s mother took stock of the room and Ginger’s condition before she turned to her daughter.

“You did good. And I know you’re exhausted. Go sit while I clean up the room.” She kissed Temperance on the cheek.

Temperance gratefully took her mother’s advice, leaving the dirty bath water and the wadded up, soiled towels for her to deal with. She walked out onto the porch and sat in a chair, taking several deep, calming breaths. The air was scented heavily with cedar and pine from the surrounding woods, and she drank in the smell as she began to relax. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes, but she couldn’t discern if they were tears of joy, exhaustion, or frustration.

She had been more frightened than she’d ever been in her life. Even an attack by a wolf pack paled in comparison to delivering a child. Fortunately, it happened quickly, and she didn’t have time to think about all that could go wrong. Ginger was a young, strong woman and delivered her baby without any difficulty. But many women were not so lucky. She shuddered in relief and sat back in the chair.

She blinked back the tears and stared out into the forest surrounding the hunter’s cabin. Dusk was falling, and she could only make out shadows between the trees. Was she seeing things? She blinked again, and wiped a hand over her eyes. Then, as if in a vision, Basil came trotting through the forest. He leapt onto the porch and swept her into his arms.

• • •

Basil backed off from the impetuous embrace quickly, but relief at seeing her uninjured overwhelmed him. “Are you all right?” He ran his hands down her arms before holding her away from himself and taking a hard look. “When you didn’t show up for work, I got worried and rode out to the soddy. Prudence told me you and Ginger were missing, and they thought the buggy overturned.” He gazed into her eyes as he held her hands.

“I’m fine. We’re fine. But I’m glad you’re here.”

A wail from the newborn inside the house wafted through the air. Temperance laughed gently as she gazed at Basil’s worried face.

“We had a rather impatient young man in our midst, which caused our delay.” She tugged on his hand. “Let’s go see your new nephew.”

“Ginger had her baby? Out here? And you helped deliver him?”

“Yes, Basil. In addition to being able to throw a punch like a boy and aim a gun accurately, I can now add ‘midwife’ to my list of accomplishments.” She smiled at him. “It was terrifying and lovely.”

He cupped her cheek in his hand and leaned down, kissing her softly on her lips. “Thank you. I’m glad you were here to help her. Just think what could have happened had you not been with her.” He shuddered and rolled his shoulders.

“I’m happy that it happened quickly, and didn’t really give either of us time to be scared. We were too busy.”

Together, they entered the cabin and walked to the bed, where Joseph and Ginger gazed at their child. Joseph stood when they came into the room and wrapped Temperance in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and heaved a mighty sigh. “Thank you for helping deliver my son, my neegoosis, today. I am grateful.”

“I’m just glad I was here when Ginger needed me. Although she did most of the work.” Temperance turned her attention to the new mother. She reached out and smoothed back a tendril of Ginger’s reddish-brown hair. “You must be exhausted.”

Ginger took hold of her hand. “A little, but so happy. Joseph and I have decided on a name for this little one. If it’s all right with you and your mother, we want to name him Samuel, to pay respects to your father.”

Temperance glanced across the room to her mother, who nodded, then back to Ginger. “We’d be honored,” she choked out as her tears began to fall in earnest.

Ginger took a deep breath. “Thank you for allowing us the privilege. Now, Mrs. Jones, I don’t think baby Samuel can wait any longer to be fed. Can you instruct me on how to nurse him?”

Martha Jones made her way to the side of the bed as Temperance and Joseph flanked it as well.

Basil stood apart from the group. Ginger wrapped her arm around Temperance’s shoulders and hugged her, laughing together as they both cried. Emotions were running unchecked through him, too, and he struggled for control. Ginger was safely delivered of her first child, a son who resembled his father. And Temperance played a huge role in the successful outcome of the day. For both of these reasons, gratitude was tops on his list of emotions. But underneath ran a more frightening, exciting feeling, one he was none too anxious to explore.

Temperance had just inextricably intertwined herself with his family. Already, she and Ginger were acting as if they were sisters. The boy was named after Temperance’s late father. Could he let her go now, to steer her family on to Oregon? Should he forsake their chance at happiness to satisfy a dream of her father’s? Did he want to lift the mantle of responsibility for her family off her small shoulders and assume the burden himself? His dealings with women had always been easy. He spied what he wanted and pursued it, usually to a successful outcome. Why was this one, with Temperance, so difficult?

There were no easy answers, he thought, as he wavered back and forth. And today was not the day to determine their outcome. Definitely not today, when emotions were so close to the surface for all of them. He’d deal with it later, and answer his unresolved questions some other time. He had months before the wagons pulled out in the spring.

“How was your trip this last time?” Basil and Jake Shelton rode side by side down the road to the public house as they continued their discussion, which had begun in the bank. Before Basil committed his bank to a loan of money, he wanted more information. “Did you run into any problems? Hostile Indians?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary, except we did have an outbreak of smallpox in a couple of the wagons. We isolated them and kept them at the back of the train, but for a couple of weeks, it was bad. We buried eleven people along the way, just from the pox.”

Basil shifted in his saddle. “I hadn’t given much thought to disease running through the wagons before. Christ!” He raked his hand through his hair. One more scenario he’d have gallivanting through his head now when he thought of Temperance and her family heading out in the spring.

“That shouldn’t keep you from loaning me the money I need to get my supplies together. I’ll get it paid back to you before we even head out. After all, there are plenty of folks wanting to make the trip, and they pay me up front, whether they make it to their destination or not.”

“How do you feel about adding a wagon full of women and children with no man to serve as escort?”

Jake shook his head. “Is this some kind of test question before you loan me what I need? No, I’d never take them on. Too risky.”

Basil let out the breath he’d been holding. “Good.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, uh, that shows sound judgment on your part. Some of these so-called ‘wagon masters’ will take anyone who can pay, just so they can get a full train together.”

Jake turned in his saddle to face Basil. “I don’t know of any wagon master, new to the business or not, who would take on a wagon full of women and children who are traveling alone. Everyone in this business knows you’re only as good as the last train you’ve led out, so we try to find people who can successfully make the journey. Unforeseen things happen daily on the route, but if a wagon master has several years where his trains have been plagued, word gets out that maybe that’s not the train you want to be part of.”

“So you’re saying that a wagon without a man at the helm is a disaster waiting to happen?”

“You need brute strength to get from Missouri to Oregon. It’s hard, physical labor to move those wagons over the mountains. And without a man, I don’t care how fetching a woman is, she’s not coming on my train.”

They reached the public house, dismounted, and tied their horses at the hitching post. The scent of onions and fried beef hung in the air, emanating from the house kitchen. Basil’s stomach grumbled.

“So far, you’ve answered all my questions correctly. Let’s go inside and finalize the deal.” Basil clamped a hand on Jake’s broad shoulder and they climbed the steps to the restaurant.

They sat in the section where Temperance usually worked, and within minutes she was at their table, filling their empty mugs with ale.

“Temperance, this is Jake Shelton. He’s a wagon master who’s in town to assemble his next group of wagons to take west in the spring. Jake, this is Temperance Jones.” Basil noticed that Temperance’s hand shook slightly as she poured the drinks. He hadn’t seen her in a few days and thought she seemed tired. That would account for the weakness he witnessed when she poured.

Temperance nodded to the wagon master.

“You’re new to St. Louis, aren’t you?” Jake asked.

“Yes, sir. We arrived in town during the last of summer, too late to catch one of the wagon trains. We’ve been forced to winter over here. What can I get you for dinner?”

She took their orders in her efficient manner and turned away quickly.

Jake’s eyes followed her. “Pretty little thing,” he mused.

Basil followed Jake’s eye movement and bristled slightly. “Yes, she’s pretty. And has really taken over as the head of her large family. The father was dying of consumption while they were on the ride out from Pennsylvania, which is part of the reason they were late getting here. I think he was aware of his condition before they set out, but wanted to see his family through to Oregon before he died. He was a preacher and there are two boys who would be of age to enlist, should war come in a few years, as it appears it will. He wanted to get them to Oregon and out of harm’s way. But it was not to be, as one thing after another delayed them.”

“Ah, yes, Oregon. The Promised Land. So many are lured onto the wagon trains by the pledge of 640 acres, which will be theirs, just because they’ve made it through. But some wagons never make it. They seem to have a cloud of disaster hanging over them. They’re the ones whose mules or oxen go lame, or an axle or wheel breaks, or someone gets deathly ill, or a woman has a baby and the train has to stop. Those are the wagons I avoid putting onto my trains.”

Basil was breathing easier. “Well then, you certainly won’t want her family on your train, and I can almost guarantee she’ll ask. Her father died, several months back, but not before he got her mother with child again. That will be her seventh. The oldest boy is not yet fully grown, so he wouldn’t provide much muscle. It’ll be hard for them to find any train that will take them on.”

“True enough. But there’s nothing wrong with discussing the prospect with her further, say maybe at the Christmas Dance?”

Basil moved his shoulders restlessly. He wanted Temperance to accept the fact that her family wasn’t headed any further west, and to be satisfied with St. Louis, and with the friendship they had built up. If Jake gave her any thread to hang onto, leading her to believe the family had even a slight chance of heading out with him, she’d continue the delusion until next spring, when Jake would pull his train out and leave her behind. Could Basil sit by and watch her feelings be toyed with?

Ah, hell, he didn’t care about any delusions Jake might provide her. He simply didn’t want the two of them to spend any time together. Jake had a reputation in this town as a ladies’ man, and he spent most of last winter playing with the affections of most of the single women in St. Louis. Much as he himself had done. Temperance was a mighty tempting woman, and Basil had come close to tasting all she had to offer before he backed away with a great amount of reluctance. Even though Jake was a decent sort, he couldn’t count on Jake to treat Temperance with the same respect he did. At least that’s what he told himself. Simple caution was the reason he was uncomfortable with the thought of Jake and Temperance sharing a buggy and a dance.