Joelle's Secret (15 page)

Ten minutes later they were sipping lemonade, and Jump said abruptly, “I’ll take some of this over to Lily and Rachel. I guess they’ll be surprised.” He made his way to the Ogden wagon where he found Rachel listening as Lily read to her. The child looked up and said, “Here’s Harry.”

“Got a treat for you,” Jump said, always remembering to face Lily when he spoke. “Iced lemonade.”

With a half-startled glance, Lily’s eyes widened, and color came to her cheeks. She leaned toward Jump with sudden interest.

“You got any cups?”

“Yes, what’s in the pitcher, Harry?”

“Lemonade. Ice cold.” He saw the expression on her face and laughed. “It’s hard to believe, but we’re standing on ice right now. Owen told us about it. Get some glasses. Let’s enjoy this.”

The three were soon drinking lemonade, and Rachel said, “This is so good.”

Jump sat down beside the fire and described how Majors had dug up the ice. “He’s all kinds of a fellow, that Owen Majors,” he said.

“He knows this land,” Lily said. Her voice didn’t sound quite normal, but it was pleasant enough for a woman who could not hear herself speak. They talked for a time, and Rachel finally leaned over and said, “I’m sleepy, Ma.”

“Well, go to bed.”

“Good night, Ma.” She kissed Lily on the cheek and left.

“That’s a sweet child, Lily. Pretty and smart. Going to make some man a wonderful wife.”

Lily asked the question that had been on her mind. “Were you ever married, Harry?”

“Me? No.”

“Why not?”

He handled the cup awkwardly, turning it around in his hands, drank the last of the lemonade, and then looked up at her. Sadly, he said, “I’m too worthless for a good woman, and who wants a bad one?”

Lily considered him and said, “There are lots of women who would like to have a good man like you, Harry.”

He didn’t answer. Something was moving within his chest or in his mind, he couldn’t tell which, and finally he said, “What about you, Lily?”

A startled expression disturbed her features. “Me? What do you mean?”

“Would you have a worthless fellow like me?”

“I don’t think you’re worthless. You’ve been so good to Rachel and me too.”

“That’s not hard to do. You’re both fine ladies.”

A flush touched Lily’s cheeks, and she turned away for so long that Jump worried he had hurt her feelings. When she turned back, however, she was smiling and said, “Go along with you, Harry. We start early in the morning. Thanks for the lemonade.”

“Good night, Lily.” He walked back to the wagon, lay down, and for a long time studied the stars, but he was thinking of the light on Lily’s face.

* * *

“WELL, THAT’S THE SOUTH Pass.”

Joelle stared at the hills and said impulsively, “Doesn’t look like much, Owen. I thought there would be huge mountains and a little narrow gap.”

“Most people are disappointed, but it’s the only way to get through the big mountains. They get higher as you go farther west.”

The South Pass was the gateway to the West. It was nothing like the dramatic gorge that most people envisioned. Instead the trail rose slowly over broad, grassy plains and then sloped downward to the west.

They had come five miles ahead of the train, and Owen said, “Let’s rest up here until the wagons get here. We’ll probably get on through later today.”

He led the way to a small creek where they watered the horses and then tied them to shrub bushes. Owen suddenly laughed at her and said, “It’d be a good time for that bath I threatened to give you.”

“You stay away from me, Owen!”

The corners of Majors’s lips turned upward, and he said, “I’d do it, but I’m too tired. I’m going to stretch out and take a little nap.” Without another word he lay down, and soon the sun was in his face so he rolled over on his stomach.

Joelle saw how quickly he was able to go to sleep. A thought came to her. He’s so ticklish. Chad poked him in the side one time, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Without much thought, she crept forward, reached down, and grabbed his sides, digging him with her fingernails. She got more than she
bargained for, for Owen gave a screech and rolled over, carrying her down. He grabbed her by the front of her loose shirt said, “You fool, kid! You know I don’t like to be tickled. I got a good mind to throw you in the creek.”

“Don’t do it, Owen!”

His hands suddenly dropped, and he was tickling her, gouging her in the sides. Pure terror filled Joelle. She knew that with one touch he might recognize her sex. She shoved her arms down, hugged herself, and said, “No, don’t do it, Owen!”

Owen stopped tickling her and shook his head. “You are a foolish boy. Don’t you ever tickle me like that again.”

Joelle gave a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry, Owen,” she said. “I was just funning you.”

“Well, fun me some other way,” he said grumpily.

He rolled over and faced the east. “Look, there’s Chad. The train doesn’t need two scouts. He’s as good a man as I am.”

“You really think a lot of him, don’t you?”

“Sure do.”

“The women sure keep their eye on him.”

“Always been like that,” Majors said. “Women always like Chad.”

“Better than you?”

“Of course better than me.” He turned and studied Joelle. “Yep, women are always after Chad. It’ll be that way with you pretty soon.”

“No, it won’t.”

“Why, of course it will. You know”—he was smiling— “I’ve been meaning to give you a little help on how to handle women now that you’re getting to be the right age.”

“I guess I know all I need to know.”

“No, you don’t. You got to be careful around women, boy.”

“Why is that?”

“’Cause they’re all out to tame a man. They just want to get him and rip his manhood from him. Never fails. So, what you have to do is make sure they know who’s the boss. Teach them there’s one king in a castle, and you are it.”

Joelle knew that Owen could be intensely serious, but he also had a sense of humor. She could always tell when he was getting ready to tease her. “I don’t think I need any lectures on women from you.”

“Oh, sure you do,” Owen said. “But anyhow, before you settle on a woman, I want to test her out.”

“Test her out? What are you talking about?”

“Well, you know the Bible says a woman is made out of a rib. Now you wouldn’t expect a rib to be uppity, would you? But they get that way sometimes. Anyway, I’ll see if you know that part of the Bible that says that a woman is supposed to obey her husband, be submissive to him and all.”

“Submissive?”

“Yeah. You know what that means?”

“You mean a woman always lets a man have his way?”

“Well, you hang on to that idea. Now listen. The first thing you got to understand about women, Joe, is that they got a bad start. They got us in all this trouble. The whole mess started when Eve started listening to that snake.”

“So men don’t have anything to do with what’s wrong in the world.”

“Well, I’m just telling you what the Bible says, so you got to watch out. Women got ways to get a fellow on the wrong foot.”

“Ways like what?”

“Oh, they take lots of baths so they smell good.”

Suddenly Joelle laughed. “Is that bad if somebody smells good?”

“Well, it makes men weak. They use perfume to make themselves smell even better. They do it to draw men into their clutches.” Majors was lighthearted and enjoying himself. “Well, you watch out, too, when they start leaning on you.”

“What do you mean ‘leaning’?”

“Well, you know, they’re soft and round, and they know that if they lean on a fellow, it’ll make him weak.”

“You found out about that.”

“Oh, I’ve been leaned on a time or two. The thing is you got to be wise to them, boy. You got to keep them in their place firmly, and that’s what it takes. Got to give them discipline just like breaking a horse.”

“I see. And have you had to discipline many, Owen?”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be proper of me to speak of it—not to a young fellow like you. Just take my word for it. Women are a snare, but I’ll be giving you lessons from time to time.”

Joelle laughed. “I appreciate it, and I hope that you’ll help me when women start crowding in on me.”

“Oh, I’ll do it. Well, come on. Let’s mount up. What’s for supper tonight?”

THE WEATHER HAD BEEN hot and stifling, and the nights were little better than the days. Joelle slept in her oversized, heavy clothes for fear of being caught and her secret found out. On this particular night, she had tossed and turned, and her heavy clothes were damp with perspiration. Half-asleep, sometime in the middle of the night, she sat up and took off her heavy shirt and then slipped out of the oversized pants. She always kept the canvas flap of the wagon down, which allowed for no breeze at all, but, at least, wearing only a pair of cotton drawers and a tight-fitting undershirt was like coming into a cool room. She lay down and went to sleep instantly.

Suddenly she heard Owen calling, “Joe, get out of bed! You can’t sleep all day.”

Joelle made a wild grab for her shapeless shirt, but before she could get it on, the canvas at the end of the wagon flew up. A hand seized her ankle and started dragging her out of the wagon. She made a wild grab at the ribs of the wagon and managed to catch hold, but Owen was laughing and saying, “You sleepyhead! Come out of there right now.”

If he sees me like this, he’ll know I’m a woman!

Joelle kicked at him, and Owen yelled, “You crazy kid! Get out of there. We got to get moving.”

“I’m coming. You just leave me alone.” Joelle was relieved when she heard Owen leave. She pulled on her pants and the shirt. When she pulled aside the canvas and stepped out, she saw that it was late, and she had overslept. She jumped out and saw Harry Jump grinning at her from the fire. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

“First time I overslept like that, Harry.”

“Well, it won’t hurt you. I’ve been making biscuits. Made two big bunches here. Too many for us.” Jump made a rough shape as he squatted before the fire. His hat was pushed back on his head, revealing the tawny hair, and his blue eyes seemed bright, almost, in the midst of the tanned face. “You must have a good conscience, Joe, to sleep like that. We’ve been making enough racket to wake the dead.”

“I guess I’m just worn out from this trip.”

“Can’t blame you for that.” Jump gestured at the biscuits and said, “This is the last of the eggs. If we don’t get to the fort pretty soon, we’ll be going hungry.”

“I’ll cook the eggs and the bacon.” She began fixing breakfast, and when it was ready, she and Jump ate. Owen was already gone, and looking at the large mound of biscuits, Joelle said, “You know, Harry, I think I’ll take some of these over to Edith Riker. She was feeling poorly for the last couple of days.”

Harry gave her an odd look and turned his head to one side. “Be careful, kid. Her husband is jealous of her. I thought he was going to shoot Phil Strickland over her, and the two were just talking.”

Joelle avoided smiling but was amused. “I’ll do the best I can not to make him jealous.”

She gathered up the biscuits in a sack and walked across the camp. Most of the women had finished breakfast, and the men had eaten and were leaving. When she reached the Riker wagon, she found Edith trying to cook breakfast, but her face was pale.

“Mrs. Riker, I brought some biscuits over. Harry made too many of them.” She handed the sack to Edith who said in a weak voice, “Thank you. That’ll help.”

“You don’t look at all well. What’s the matter?”

“Oh, some kind of stomachache. Probably something I ate.”

“Well, you go sit down. I’ll fix breakfast. You got any eggs?”

“Yes, we have a few left.”

“Well, I’ll soft boil a couple for you. That’s always good for an upset stomach.”

“I don’t want anything.”

“You need to eat. You go sit down.”

“I’ll be all right.”

At that moment Artie Riker came around the end of the wagon. “Hi, Joe.” He took Joelle’s greeting and then looked at Edith and said, “Ma, you look terrible.”

“Just a stomachache.”

“You go lie down. I’ll take care of the driving today.”

“What’s the matter here?” Lyman Riker appeared, accompanied by the two other sons.

“It’s Ma. She doesn’t feel good.”

“What’s the matter with you, Edith?” Lyman asked. “You ain’t no better?”

“I’ll be all right.”

Lyman glanced at Joelle, and his eyes narrowed. “What do you want, boy?”

“We made too many biscuits. I thought I’d bring some over for you folks.”

“We can cook our own grub, I guess,” Riker said shortly. His manner was surly, and his face showed displeasure.

“Pa, she’s been sick for two days.”

“You keep out of this, Artie. Women have aches and pains. There’s nothing really wrong with her. Now you get to work.” He gave Joelle a hard look and was about to say something but changed his mind. He said grudgingly, “Thanks for the biscuits.” It was a dismissal, and Joelle left at once.

When she got back to the wagon, she found Harry and Chad at the oxen yoke. Chad turned to her and said, “Hello, sleepyhead.” He grinned crookedly, and Joelle thought,
He
doesn’t know how good-looking he is and how attractive he is to
women.

“I did oversleep.” She turned to Harry. “I took some of your biscuits over to Edith.”

“Lyman have anything to say about that?”

“No, but Edith is sick.”

Chad rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Reckon we got a herb woman on the train?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Joelle said.

“Well, maybe she ate something that disagreed with her. She’ll probably be all right. We better get moving.”

* * *

THE TRAIN HAD MADE good time by midafternoon, and the men were looking for buffalo. Both Chad and Owen had talked about seeing a big herd sooner or later. Artie Riker had been left alone, and after a time he went in to see how Edith was. She had tried sitting on the wagon seat, but she had been unable to stand the pounding. Artie insisted that she lie down in the wagon. He filled a cup with tepid water, took it into the wagon, and found her lying on covers.

“Ma, drink this. You need lots of water.” He helped her to sit up, and when she drank it thirstily, he saw that her face was drenched with sweat. He put his hand on her forehead. “Ma, you’re burning up. Where does it hurt?”

“My stomach, Artie. It’s killing me.” She suddenly arched and let out a moan of pain and grabbed at her abdomen.

Artie stared at her and then said, “I’m going to get some help.” He paid no attention to Edith’s protest but leaped out of the wagon. He searched for Logan Temple. At first he was afraid that Temple would have gone with the others hunting buffalo, but he found him talking to Ralph Ogden. “Dr. Temple, I got to talk to you.”

“What’s the matter, Artie?”

“It’s Ma. She’s real sick. You got to come and look at her.”

At once Ogden said, “Did your pa send you?”

“No, he didn’t.”

Ogden hesitated. He knew that Lyman Riker’s jealousy could reach dangerous proportions, and he shook his head. “Better wait until your pa gets back.”

“It won’t wait, Mr. Ogden. You got to come now, Doctor.”

“I’ll just go have a look at her. Can’t do any harm. You go on back. I’ll be right there.”

As soon as the boy left, Cleo Ogden came and stood beside her husband. “I’m worried about Edith. She’s always been so healthy.”

“Well, I’m worried about Riker. He treats that boy Artie like dirt, and Artie’s the best of his boys.”

“I’ll go see how she is. Hopefully it’s just something minor.”

* * *

EDITH FELT THE WAGON give as someone came in. She called Artie’s name, but then a voice said, “Not Artie. It’s me, Logan.”

“Logan, what are you doing here?”

“Artie says you’re feeling bad. I need to ask you a few questions.”

“You better not be in here in this wagon with me. You don’t know how my husband is.”

“He couldn’t object to my looking at you.”

Edith didn’t answer for the pain was taking her.

“Where does it hurt, Edith?”

“Right—here.”

Temple put his hand on Edith’s stomach and pressed slightly. She gave a small cry. “Is that it?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes it’s the other side.”

Temple felt her stomach, and then he put his hand on her forehead. “How long have you had this fever?”

“I don’t know. A couple days. What do you think it is, Logan?”

Logan started to answer, but then he heard horses riding up and heard Riker’s strident voice. “There’s your husband. I’ll go talk to him.”

“Be careful!”

Temple stepped outside as Riker dismounted. Artie was waiting for him. “Pa, Ma’s worse. I got the doctor.”

Riker looked up as Logan stepped outside of the wagon, and his anger flared. He suddenly struck at Artie, hitting him on the neck with a heavy blow that staggered the boy. “You fool, boy! I’ll say when somebody goes to the doctor!” He turned and walked over to Temple. “And, you, you can get out!”

“Mr. Riker, your wife is very ill,” Temple said in a calm, reasonable voice. “She needs medical attention right away.”

Riker began to curse, and in the packed vicinity of the wagons drawn in a circle, a crowd began to gather. Riker paid no attention. “You couldn’t wait until you put your hands on her, could you?” He suddenly struck out, and his fist caught Logan in the mouth. It drove him backward.

Still cursing Riker moved forward and drew back his foot to kick the man, but suddenly he was seized by the back of his shirt and jerked away. Furious, he turned and saw Owen.

“You take your hands off me! No man touches me, Majors!”

“Then act like a man.”

Chad, Jump, and Joelle had come along. They all saw Clyde and Sid Riker advancing with fight in their eyes and their fists doubled.

Chad stepped in front of them with Harry by his side. “Hold up there, boys,” he said.

Sid stared at the big man. “Get out of my way, Hardin!”

Suddenly Harry Jump drew his gun. “You boys are too big to fight, but you ain’t too big if I put a slug in your knees. You’ll be crawling around for quite a spell.”

Clyde Riker stared at the smaller man. Clyde, like his father, could not stand to be crossed. “You won’t always have that gun, Jump.”

“I’ll always have the gun anytime you need it.”

Owen held the gaze of Riker for a moment and then turned to say, “What do you think, Temple?”

“I think it’s appendicitis.”

“What does that mean?” Artie asked quickly.

“Most people call it blocked bowels.”

Pearl Taylor spoke up at once. She had drawn close along with her husband. “My little sister died from that.” Most of the people from the wagon train had gathered, it seemed.

“My mother died of it too,” said Aiden Hall.

“What—what can you do, Dr. Temple?” Artie asked.

“You keep out of this, Artie.”

Artie faced his father. “I won’t keep out of it, and if you were any kind of a man, you’d be more interested in your wife’s health than you are in keeping men away from her.”

“You’re no son of mine.”

Artie Riker was the mildest and meekest of young men, but he had been pushed too far. He was genuinely fond of Edith, and a lifetime of being pushed and bullied by his father and his two brothers suddenly came to a boiling point.

“I don’t like being your son anyhow, so suppose we just call it off.” Artie’s face was pale, but there was a certainty and
a determination that no one had ever seen before—least of all his own family.

Lyman Riker stared at his youngest son in total astonishment. Artie had always been a mild-mannered young man, and Riker suddenly grew flushed and said, “Fine. You go your way, and we’ll go ours. Don’t come running to me when you need something.”

“You can believe that.” Artie turned and said, “Do what you have to do, Doctor.”

“Wait a minute!” Riker said. “I’ll make the decisions here.”

Owen’s voice grated, and his eyes were angry. “Riker, only a fool would act like you’re doing.”

“It’s my family.”

“She’s your wife, but you’re not acting like it,” Joelle spoke up before she even thought. She turned and said, “What can you do for her, Dr. Temple?”

“I can operate. Take her appendix out.”

“What will happen if you don’t?” Chad asked quickly.

“She’ll die.”

A silence fell over the group, and Lyman Riker never felt such pressure as he did at that moment. He glanced around the circle and saw not one friendly expression. There were scowls on the faces of some and disdain on others, and he wanted to lash out, but he knew he could not.

Chad called out, “I shouldn’t have to be saying this, Riker. Your boy is right. What will it be? Will you let her die? And I warn you, if you do, you won’t go anywhere with this train. I’ll run you and Sid and Clyde off. You can make it to California
on your own.” With a smile, he added, “The Indians will love that, a single wagon. You won’t get very far.”

Riker was furious, but he felt intimidated. He hesitated and then shrugged angrily, putting his eyes on Temple. “Do what you want to.”

“Fine,” Logan said caustically. “I’ll need some help. Some people can’t watch a thing like an operation. Need someone with steady nerves and clean hands.”

“I don’t know anything about it, but I’ll help,” Joelle said quickly.

“That’s fine. We’ll need a tent.”

“You can use ours,” Ralph Ogden said. “What else do you need?”

“It would be nice to have something built up about waist high.”

“I’ll take care of that with some kegs and some boards,” Ogden said quickly. He watched Riker walk away. “I can’t believe a man would be that little,” he muttered and then spoke to Caleb Taylor, his close friend on the train. “Come on, Caleb, let’s get this thing set.”

* * *

THE TENT WAS FAIRLY cool, but sweat was still running down Joelle’s face and her body. The men had done a good job, making a table on which Edith Riker now lay on several folded blankets. Her eyes were on Temple as were Joelle’s.

“This looks fine,” Temple said. He said to Edith, “I don’t want you to worry about this. It’s really a very simple opera
tion.” Edith looked up and studied his face. “Have you ever done it before, Logan?”

“Oh yes, many times. It’s not really complicated. The first one I know about was done by a surgeon in the English army. He had to do it without ether, but it was successful. Since then a Harvard doctor wrote it up for the medical journals so now it’s fairly common. You’re going to be all right.”