Bright Morning Star (6 page)

Claire loved to have them along whenever she walked away from the wagons. She still had a lasting fear of snakes, but didn’t worry with the dogs along. They reminded her of the spaniels in the portraits of royalty, and she enjoyed pretending she was a princess and they were her pampered pets. The boys insisted they were English shepherds, not hunting dogs.

Mary Anne tried to tie a red neckerchief around the one called Tip, and had a blue one beside her for the other dog. But the two animals managed together to pull it off. Mother Wimberley refused to let her try again, insisting it hurt the animal’s dignity to be dressed up like a doll.

Barney Lambton was also thrilled with the friendly dogs, and would grab their fur and squeal whenever they came near. In turn, they would lick him and run along to herd him whenever he got up to walk. It gave Bella a little time for herself, and she made a point of slipping them treats to keep them nearby during meals.

The first week in August they finished the first leg of their journey. Camped beside the big river, Claire stood entranced by the city lights on the other side. Tomorrow they would cross where the Missouri met the Mississippi over the new Eads Bridge into St. Louis, Missouri.

When Bella walked up beside her with Barney in tow, Claire made room for her. “It is frightening, isn’t it?” Bella said.

Claire was surprised, usually Bella ignored her, talking to Bonnie or her Mother instead. The warm breeze from the river carried the rich smell of all the life and river traffic far below. “I think it’s exciting. After we leave this city, we’ll be heading onto the real western wagon trails. We’ll join another wagon train, a bigger one. There will be more men and women to help us.”

“More men for you to choose from for a husband.”

Claire laughed, “That too. They say there are as many as ten men to one woman in some of the towns out west.”

“You are a very pretty young woman. I’m sure you will have no trouble finding the perfect man.” Bella said, then turned to walk back to the campfire.

Claire was grateful for the darkness. What did the woman mean, that she wanted her to stay completely away from her husband, to find a man of her own? Claire placed her hands on her hips, leaned back as she inhaled deeply of all the promise. That was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

In the dark, she heard the children running and squealing as they played tag in the tall grass. Bonnie’s strong voice called everyone to come to dinner.

As she walked back, Claire heard the two men talking, arguing as usual. Father didn’t trust the new bridge, especially since half of it was taken up by a railway span. He planned to move one tandem wagon across at a time. Of course, Henry argued it was nonsense. It would have been engineered to support a lot more weight than their oxen and wagons. Father won the argument as usual.

Father Wimberley announced he would sell the wheat and pumpkins tomorrow. At sunset, the boys had pointed out a big frame building with sunflowers painted on the roof and the word flour, laughing that someone didn’t know how to spell flowers.

“I think St. Louis might be the place to sell the buckets and tools from the foundry too. I’m not sure what we’ll find on the trail to come. We’ve freighted it this far, but I might have an easier time selling the wagons if they’re empty,” Father Wimberley said.

Bella spoke up, her sharp voice directed at Henry. “We should try to sell some of our goods as well. We have no idea what waits for us along this trail.” All the travelers had read the books with their tales of abandoned furniture and treasures along the difficult road. Henry told her, “I’ve made our plans and I intend to stick to them.”

Bonnie smiled at Claire. The women knew the argument would go on through the night. They knew from the past that Bella would not give up the argument until Henry agreed.

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The sale of the wheat didn’t go as planned. The mill wasn’t eager to buy last winter’s grain. After testing each bag, they agreed to take it, but at a smaller profit than Father had expected. Surprisingly, the hard-shelled pumpkins sold easily to a store for almost as much as Father had paid for everything.

Next Father drove to the business where he had planned to sell the factory equipment he had hauled from Boston. The man he had corresponded with wasn’t there. He tried two other places in the industrial area below the railroad bridge. No one seemed interested. They followed directions from the office secretary to find a room for the night to freshen up. Father tried not to look insulted. The secretary promised to send word if the owner came into work later.

The Southern Hotel faced a grassy area they were told would soon become a town park. Without asking permission, they made a square of the wagons and picketed the cattle and horses in the grassy field. Leaving the women and boys with the wagons, he and Henry checked into two rooms. After bathing and dressing in clean clothes, Father rushed to get the wagons ready before the messenger arrived.

The women, Barney, and Mary Anne went up to the hotel rooms. After their long baths, Bella, Mary Anne, and Barney stayed upstairs to sleep in the soft feather beds. Claire and Bonnie came down. The young women were both giddy with being clean and well-groomed for the first time in weeks. They promenaded up and down in the hotel lobby and received many curious and admiring glances.

Father guided the boys to unhook and form a tandem of the two wagons carrying tools. The twins were excited to be left to guard the rest. They didn’t want to sleep in the hotel since the dogs weren’t welcome there. Father and Henry went back to visit the barber shop for a shave, haircut and shoe shine.

The pair of girls met the two men outside the barber shop, having a heated discussion as always.

“The men said St. Louis is the fourth largest city in the country. You’ll make more money and please your wife if you try to sell some of your merchandise here,” Father said.

Before Henry could start his protest, Claire said in her happy, bubbly voice. “Oh, do try Henry, there were some wonderful looking stores on the main street.

The messenger was calling for Robert Wimberley, and Claire gave her father a kiss for good luck as he rushed out.

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Bonnie looked at Henry. “Claire and I are at loose ends, since the others are sleeping. We can come along to help.”

When Bonnie volunteered to stay with the wagon while Claire and Henry talked to the store manager, Henry smiled at the pair. Claire said, “I’m confident if a man will come down to see the stock, he will buy it.” It was agreed the three of them would try it.

Henry located the busy manager at the first store, but he refused to even look at what he had to offer. His reason, he already had suppliers he had been using for years. Claire looked around at the store with the full shelves and the clerks, all neat as a pen in white shirts or blouses, black pants or skirts. She liked the uniform they wore, even the black bow tied at the neck of each. It was more flattering on the women than the men, but she doubted if this manager would care what his employees thought.

The manager of the second store at least came down to the street to look inside the wagon. He laughed at what he saw. “No way to tell what you’ve got, the way you have everything stacked and piled.

Henry was ready to give up when Bonnie spoke up. “It’s in the same shape as the other merchandise you get arrives in. You can’t expect it to be shipped across country on hangers or racks, can you?”

“What did you say?” the man demanded.

Bonnie stuck her brogan up on the box frame as he blustered toward the front of the wagon. “You heard me. If you want to loan me an iron, we’ll press any or all of it, and Claire can model it. Then you can decide.”

The man stared at the striking woman with her flashing amber eyes, then at the angelic little blonde beside Henry. He directed them to drive the wagon on into the warehouse.

They used the wagon for Claire to dress in, although there was hardly room to stand in the crowded space. Claire modeled one of her favorites first. It was a light blue gingham dress with soft bows at the neck and a tier of ruffles at the rear, each caught with dark, little blue bows. She even found a pair of blue shoes and small feathered blue hat to compliment it. The warehouse workers seemed more interested in the fashion show than in working. Henry stood guard at the rear of the wagon, Bonnie at the front, while Claire changed.

Ready, Claire raised the ruffled parasol Henry handed her and walked toward the open front door of the warehouse and back, glancing over her shoulder and twirling the tiny umbrella for the manager. He nodded, but looked unimpressed.

The second dress was a rose taffeta ball gown, off the shoulders with lace insets to modify the décolletage that was too old fashioned and bold. It was the skirt that brought the dress into the modern era, again with the fullness pulled toward the back, rather than the sides. This time Claire wore a lovely pink and white lace petticoat beneath, and managed to raise the skirt enough to show the extravagant garment as she climbed in and out of the wagon. This time the manager looked more than impressed.

Bonnie had a deep blue wool dress ready, but the manager waved a hand that he’d seen enough. Claire held the blue garment in her hands, and the buyer shook his head and whistled. “I’m going to hate not seeing you in that, I’m sure, but I think I’ve seen enough to decide.”

An hour later, after hard-haggling, Henry had sold two-thirds of the stock, all at a substantial profit. On the way back to the hotel, Claire back in her own green dress, giggled and squeezed Bonnie’s hand in excitement. “We did it. I can’t believe it only took two dresses for him to decide.”

“You looked so pretty, what choice did he have. There are a lot of women in this town who will snap up those dresses,” Henry said.

“He looked only because you spoke up and demanded he let us show him. What happened to my shy friend?” Claire said to Bonnie.

“I think she died with her baby,” Bonnie answered quietly. But as she drove back, she didn’t miss observing Claire’s other hand was firmly clasped in Henry’s.

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Father Wimberley met the buyer in the restaurant in the hotel. The man said he was wanting to buy equipment for his gold mine in the Black Hills. Mr. Wimberley convinced him he would be able to use or convert all of the equipment for that purpose and offered to make him a good price.

As soon as the man saw it, the deal was struck for the equipment. Then the man astonished them all by paying eight hundred for the tandem wagon and team to haul it in.

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Returning to the hotel, the trio rode the lift up to the room for the first time, rather than take the stairs. The tall bellboy stood at the pulley and held the door open for the three to enter, then closed the cage door securely. Claire could hardly breathe she was so frightened. Bonnie of course, had insisted they try it since she had seen others pulled up to their rooms and thought it made a lot of sense. The ropes were actually steel cables that passed through the large lipped pair of wheels mounted in the front corner. The cables, then disappeared through the floor and ceiling. As though it wer effortless, the man pulled and the car rose with a lurch.

Claire squealed and Bonnie and Henry pressed her between them. She noticed Henry was as nervous as she was as he held onto the top rail of the cage as they were pulled up beside the giant staircase. Claire rolled her eyes at the people carefully climbing the stairs holding onto the handrail. She wasn’t surprised to see Bonnie smirking at them. When the cage stopped on their floor with a wire squeal and a lurch, Claire screamed again in surprise.

Laughing nervously, Henry held out a hand and led her to wait impatiently as the gate was swung open. Bonnie remained, staring down through the cage floor and pushing a little against the back of the carriage to make it sway. Claire wasn’t surprised when the Bellboy gasped and whispered, “Best not do that, ma’am.”

Claire pulled free of Henry and reached out for her foolish friend. “Don’t you dare, if the rope should rock off of the wheel, the whole thing could crash down and kill us.” The black man in the carriage closed the gate after crossing himself. Claire watched him muttering a prayer as she heard the bell ring downstairs. Gritting his teeth, staring straight ahead, the man lowered the contraption to the first floor.

Claire slapped at Bonnie’s arms and scolded her as the two women made their way down the corridor to their hotel room. Henry walked at a distance from them, then turned and knocked on a neighboring door for him.

Claire couldn’t stop talking about selling clothes to the wonderful department store. She told Mother that she had been offered a job at the store to model clothes for customers. Of course she had said no.

Still dressed, Bonnie lay down on the second bed in the room, the one she, Claire, and Mary Anne would share tonight. It was foolish to stand around talking and primping when there was still an hour before dinner time. In a minute, she was relaxed and asleep.

An hour later, when Mother Wimberley urged her to get up and get ready, Father Wimberley was standing in the room, brushing his hair and straightening his tie. Mary Anne was trying to push between him and the mirror as she tried to retie her hair ribbon. Claire put down her powder puff long enough to retie it for the excited little girl.

Bonnie sat up sleepily and yawned. It looked to her that the boys had the right idea. Dressing up for dinner, and all the primping was pointless. Impatiently she combed and recoiled her own heavy brown hair into a neat chignon at the back of her head, smoothed her skirt and blouse and headed for the inside washroom at the end of the hall. The Wimberleys refused to ride down in the ‘contraption,’ but Mary Anne was eager to ride down with Bonnie.

As Bonnie and the little girl rode down in the open cage, Mary Anne pointed to her parents and Claire, oohing about how pretty they looked. A floor lower and she was calling and waving to Bella and Barney. The little boy started a thin wail of alarm. As soon as they reached the main floor, Bonnie moved to stand at the stairs. As Barney began to struggle and flail about, Bonnie reached out and took him from his mother.

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Bella took Henry’s arm as soon as she released the boy. Bouncing him on one hip, Bonnie began to talk to him and try to calm him down. When the Wimberleys joined them, they all began the long promenade toward the restaurant near the rear of the hotel lobby. The large marble tile made musical clicks as they all walked briskly down it toward the immense room with its big chandeliers.

“Can we afford to eat here?” Mother whispered.

“Of course, I made a killing on the equipment I sold today.” He turned to stare at Henry. “How about you, Lambton? Did it go well?”

The two men loudly discussed their success as they stood waiting to be seated. Barney again squealed loudly.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to see the boys? Do you miss Tom and Jim?

Barney put two fingers in his mouth and hesitated in mid-cry. “The pretty horses, do you want to go pet Bob and Sue?

Barney looked around at the crowded dining room, at the well-dressed strangers. He made a low, tentative cry.

“Your doggies, do you want to see Tip and Tyler?”

His eyes widened and he pulled his fingers out with a pop. “Doggies?”

Several people turned to stare. In his red velvet suit, with his black hair and eyes shining against his white skin, the boy was beautiful. Several smiled and pointed to the noisy child. One woman waved at him and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. That brought another wave of appreciative laughter.

It took only a moment to convince Bella and Henry that Bonnie should take care of Barney at the wagons with the twins tonight. Even the Wimberleys barely argued. “I’ll order four meals and send them out to you in the park,” Father said.

Free at last, Bonnie rushed from the noisy, crowded hotel into the peaceful warm night.

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Claire called good-night, but was quickly distracted as a small orchestra at the back of the room began to play. Enchanted, she watched the beautifully dressed couples slowly stand and begin to fill the floor to dance. When she looked past her Father’s shoulder, she saw Bella staring at the dancers and placing a protective hand on Henry’s arm.

When the woman stood to whisper something in his ear, Claire felt a familiar wave of envy. Especially when Henry bent to fold her arm around his to lead them both into the crowded room behind the maître d’.

The excitement remained, through the careful studying of the menu, the detailed description of entrees by the waiter, and the grand meal that followed. Everyone at the table was happy. Mary Anne watched the dancers with such wistful excitement, Father Wimberley finally escorted her onto the floor between the arrival of their salad and main course. The little girl ended up standing on his feet to dance, a position Claire had used in the past. The pair received many smiles and admiring glances as they twirled past.

Without a word, the Lambton’s slipped onto the dance floor. For a moment Claire was too shocked to think how it made her feel. She tried to channel Bonnie’s emotions, and think how wonderful it was for the pair to have such a pleasurable moment since they usually argued from dawn to dusk. Without Barney to worry over, Bella looked relaxed as she gazed up at her happy husband.

Excited, Claire tried not to show her disappointment at not getting to dance, as the food finally arrived. Father Wimberley and a skipping Mary Anne rejoined the table and Claire made a point of assuring the girl how lovely she had looked and how well they had danced.

The food was so delicious, Claire forgot about the dancers. But as everyone seemed to be finishing up, she again stared longingly at the dance floor. The waiter returned to clear the table and describe the list of desserts. All three women ordered desserts, with Claire and Mother offering to share half with Mary Anne. Father and Henry chose to order an after-dinner brandy.

While they waited, Claire again looked longingly at the dancers. Father rose and escorted his wife onto the floor and the two girls at the table watched and laughed as they moved in a waltz around the floor. As he returned his wife to her seat, Robert Wimberley extended a hand to his daughter. Even though the desserts were arriving, Claire leaped up at the chance to dance on the beautiful lighted dance floor. The tile beneath their feet was black and white marble, laid in a diamond pattern. Claire and her Father laughed as the orchestra started a faster reel, but he gamely danced on.

When the number ended, they had to look around for their table. As they looped arms and spun around, a man taking her arm bowed his head to her. “Good evening, Miss Wimberley.” Father Wimberley stared, trying to puzzle out who the man was. Claire explained, “He’s the manager of the store where Henry sold most of his goods today.”

“Did you consider my offer?” the manager asked as they looped arms again.

Father Wimberley looked between the two in amazement, as he whirled his new partner past. Claire looked up at the smiling man and shook her head. “We are traveling west, I couldn’t abandon my family.

Changing back to her father, she muttered, “I explained to Mother that I was offered a job at the store today, to model the clothes for the customers. I guess she didn’t get a chance to tell you,” Claire blurted, as she was once again whirled away.

“Nonsense, you’re not interested in anything like that,” Father shouted.

The Lambton’s were the next couple in line and Father smiled as he linked arms to whirl around with Bella. Claire still felt miffed at her father’s attitude and so Henry asked what was wrong as he took her arm and twirled her.

“Just explaining who the store manager was that just spoke to me,” she said.

Once again, she linked with her father and danced up and down the rows between all the other dancers, then around to form the arch for the others.

But as her father walked her back to sit down, he breathlessly took his own seat and stared at her, clearly upset. “You did tell the man you weren’t interested, didn’t you.”

Henry and Bella were also returning to their seats, both in high-color from the rapid steps of the dance. Henry leaned forward, clearly anxious to hear her answer.

“Of course I did. I haven’t traveled all this way from Boston just to go back to work in a store. I plan to find and marry a suitable man once we settle, wherever you are taking us. Then my only job will be to supervise the servants and raise a family.”

“Good,” Father said, then lifted and swirled the amber liquid in the balloon shaped glass before taking a sip.

“Really,” Bella said. “It would seem with a little money from your parents and a good job, you could become independently established here. After all, St. Louis is far larger than any city where we’re headed. There will be many more eligible men to choose from here.”

All three of the Wimberleys looked shocked. Claire was the first one to speak. “I plan to settle close to my parents and friends.”

“A young woman alone in this place. Who would ever think that was a reasonable choice,” Father said and Claire noticed her Mother nodded.

“I moved to a city far from my parents to establish my business in Boston,” Bella said.

“But you had a husband,” Claire and Mother said at the same time.

“Yes, I do have Henry. I suppose you are right,” Bella said. “And you do have your friend, Bonnie.”

“She and I have made our plans. They involve visiting out friend Lynne and building homes nearby.” As she talked, Claire’s voice had risen.

Henry raised a hand and made a shushing sound. “Ladies, let’s focus on finishing this delicious meal.” A bell boy with four stacked trays stopped by the table. “Do you think I should go with them,” Henry asked.

Father shook his head. “No need. Bonnie and the lads will have things in order, you can count on that. Here in the city, it’s safe enough. Tonight, you and your lovely wife should enjoy your private room,” Father said, his eyes full of meaning.

Claire looked at Mary Anne. The imp had cherry juice on her lips and Claire raised her napkin to blot it away.

“You told me I could have half of your dessert, I just figured you wouldn’t mind if I ate the first half” Mary Anne said.

Claire stared at the mangled cherry pie, the soft cream almost melted around the plate, surrounding mostly crust. “I guess it is what I said.” Determined to be happy and enjoy the rare evening of fun, Claire took a bite of the pie. Even with melted cream and mostly crust, there was enough of the sweet tart cherries to turn the corners of her mouth up in delight. “Hmm, remind me to not be so generous next time.”

But the little girl was helping Mother eat the brown chess pie she had ordered. When Claire looked across to see what Bella had ordered, she watched Bella hold out a forkful of white layer cake for Henry. He made a moan of delight and the couple shared a secret smile. Flustered, Claire looked around the large room. She laid her napkin down, then determinedly finished what remained of her own dessert.

The waiter returned to serve coffee and clear the table. Somehow they had managed to make all the food and desserts disappear.

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Once more in the hotel room, a curtain drawn between the beds, she and Mary Anne lay giggling, too happy to sleep. In between the pauses in their own conversation, they could hear the reassuring murmurs of her parents talking in the next bed. After they had shared their favorite things about the grand dining room, the amazing music and dancing, and the delicious food, her father called. “Good night, girls. Early start tomorrow.”

Lamps blown out, in the dark the small girl quickly fell asleep. Claire could not relax so easily. The conversation with Bella came back to her. Now her mind wanted to come up with clever lines to say. But it wasn’t a play, and there would be no chance to go back and tell her ‘...’ and there Claire lay. What could she tell her? The woman was right. If she had Bonnie’s courage, she would want to live an independent life. But what kind of woman actually did that? Even Bonnie planned to live near her brothers and friends. Maybe her answer was the best one. Bella had been able to leave home because she had a husband and wanted to make a new life with him.

Claire put a hand over her heart. That wasn’t what she wanted, to be far away from her parents. She wanted to live a normal, happy life. One surrounded by family and friends who shared her values and faith, who would be there in her hour of need, who would love her. A board outside her door creaked. Claire waited until the door at the far end of the hall closed. A man traveling to the hotel bathroom. There was one at the end of the hall nearer their room for women to use. Such a modern, beautiful building. Feeling safe and happy again, Claire drifted into a deep sleep.