Teaching Miss Maisie Jane (19 page)

“You
almost died, Maisie Jane. You are fragile and precious to me. I’ve been trying to take care of you.”

“I
was sick. Everybody gets sick sometime. But once you’re over being sick, it’s over. You changed, Jake. I guess can I understand that, you’re big, and you’re tough and strong, and I’m not. I got sick on you, so I guess you don’t think I’m good enough to be your wife anymore and you’ve decided not to love me. But I’m not going to stay with someone that doesn’t love me. I’m not. I don’t care how many times you drag me back, I’m going to leave.”

Jake
took a deep breath and pulled her over into his lap. “You are not going anywhere. Maisie Jane. You were at death’s door and I’m not going to let that happen again. I spent day after day, night after night watching you get sicker and sicker. I sat in that chair, praying to God and promising him that I was going to take better care of you. You got sick because I didn’t do my job as your husband and protect you. If I’d just said “no” that day, that it was too cold for you to be out, you wouldn’t have gotten sick. I let you go out in that wind and cold and you almost died.”

“Jake,
my getting sick wasn’t your fault,” Maisie Jane protested.

“Yes,
it was,” Jake said firmly. “It’s my responsibility as your husband to think of your well being first. It’s my job to make decisions based on what is best for you, not necessary what makes you happy. It might make you angry with me, but I will not let that happen again.

Now
you listen and listen good, because I’m laying down the law right now. You are my wife, and I love you. That’s the be-all, and end-all, of it. I will not let you go. If you try leave me, I’ll hunt you down and yes, I will drag you back. I will spank your bottom and take you to my bed and love you until you don’t want to leave anymore. And, that’s exactly what is going to happen to you today.

Maisie
Jane put her head down on his shoulder. “Jake, you haven’t wanted to make love to me in a long time. You were in lust with me, and maybe you were in love with me for a while, but you haven’t been lately.”

Jake’s
response was automatic. He smacked her bottom. “Where’d you learn that word?”

“Ouch,”
Maisie Jane almost jumped out of his lap. Her bottom was already sore. “Maria told me!  First men desire, then they lust and finally they love. That’s what she said. And, you were in lust with me. OUCH! STOP IT!”

“Don’t
say that again,” Jake snapped. “I have wanted to make love with you every day since the day I met you. I wasn’t asking you do that because you were weak and I was trying to be considerate. I can see that I carried that a bit too far, and if I’ve made you think I don’t want you, that I don’t love you then  I’m sorry I did that. Darling, sometimes I want you every hour of every day. I most certainly love you all the time.”

Maisie
Jane sat up and winced. “Really?”

Jake
closed his eyes in frustration. “Sometimes, darling, I forget how naive you are. In my bed, you’re all woman, but outside of it, you’re still a woman/child. I love you Maisie Jane just the way you are. Now, get it through your head this time. I love you. Are you listening to me?”

“Yes,
I’m listening.”

“Good,
now I’m going to drag that tub in here and start filling it with water. You are filthy, and cold and a hot bath should take care of both.”

Jake
got up and wrestled the big tub into the kitchen and dumped the pots of hot water into it and added pump water to level out the temperature. Then, he refilled pots again for the stove, for more hot water.

Maisie
Jane got up to get in the tub but he stopped her.

“Sit
down, I’ve not finished having my say.”

Maisie
Jane gulped but sat down slowly and tenderly.

“Darling,
this whole temper tantrum could have been avoided if you’d just talked to me. Now the way I’m figuring it, I owe you about dozen or more spankings for what you done today.”

“What?
  No!  Besides, you’ve already spanked me!”

“Yes,
I did and I’m not even counting that one. That one was for fighting and biting and coming damn near to ruining my manhood. I owe you for running off. And, for breaking up Mrs. Madison’s figurines. I owe you for disobeying me and taking off with my horse when you don’t know how to ride—which is a damn dangerous and stupid thing to do. And, I distinctly remember warning you that if I heard vulgar words coming out of your mouth again, I spank you every day for a week.”

Maisie
Jane was shaking her head. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s
fair,” Jake said sternly. “But, because you were so upset and a little out of your head, I’m going to forego some of them. But, I will not let you get by with your worse offense.”

“What
was the worst?” Maisie Jane whispered.

Jake
sat down in the kitchen chair and pulled her into his lap. “The worst offense, little darling, was thinking that you were going to leave me.”  He fished into his shirt pocket and pulled out her wedding band. “I’m putting this on your finger for the last time. It better, never come off again. You are my wife. You are mine. Your heart, your body, your future babies, they are mine just as much as I am yours. You are never going to get away from me. I will not allow it!  Because if you leave me, I’ll die, because my heart will gone.”

Three weeks later, Maisie Jane carefully got out of bed. Jake was gone - out to do his chores before breakfast. Last night had been the last of the seven promised spankings for swearing. Jake had rubbed liniment on her sore bottom before he’d left this morning for the barn. It had been used on her so many times now that she was getting used to the smell of it. No one could ever say her husband didn’t keep his word. He’d lessened the punishments by spreading them out over a longer period of time. The day she’d run away had been the worst. Essentially, he given her two spankings one right after the other when she’d been fighting him in the woods and then he given her another one for taking off her wedding band and running off, and, boy howdy, that had hurt. She smiled, but the smile wasn’t for the spankings. They hurt, and Jake had meant them to hurt and to be remembered. The smile was for the remembering of the rest of day. She had taken her bath, spending most of time lying across Jakes chest while he caressed and kissed her. Then he’d taken her to bed and made up for all the weeks of his being considerate and overprotective. Her eyes went to his saddle at the foot of the bed. The only time it hadn’t been on the bed lately was when Jake was sitting in it and if he did use it, he immediately brought it back into the house.

She
walked through the sitting room. It looked a lot better now without those ugly figurines. Jake had stood her the middle of that room the next day, looking at all the broken glass and given her one hard wallop, which had hurt like crazy because her bottom was already on fire, but that was it. Jake didn’t miss having all those ugly figurines around either. They’d talked about those ugly tables too, and Jake had taken them out to the barn loft.

The
horse riding spanking - well that one ad been extra hard because Jake said she put her life in danger and he wasn’t going to tolerate that. She didn’t think there was any reason a girl couldn’t learn to ride, but Jake said “no”. The seven for swearing, she regretted, because they kept her already sore bottom even sorer and because her husband was disappointed in her that she wasn’t acting like a proper lady. Sometimes being a proper lady was a real pain in the butt. No pun intended, because “butt” was one of those words she wasn’t supposed to say too. It was silly; Jake swore around her all the time, but she couldn’t say those words, and had to pretend she didn’t even know them. But she was determined never to say any bad words again, even if she had to bite her tongue off. The last three weeks had been awful, but they’d also been wonderful. Jake had made her feel loved and she knew she was loved. She didn’t have any doubts, anymore.

Maisie
Jane went to the kitchen to start breakfast and wandered over to look out the window for Jake. He still had to bring in the milk and eggs. She couldn’t go out outside because she didn’t have any shoes and couldn’t remember where she’d thrown them. Jake had gone out looking for them but thankfully he hadn’t found them either. She did have to wear a pair of Jake’s wool socks around the house. Jake had made it very clear that she wasn’t to run around barefoot and she wasn’t to go outside without shoes, ever - or else. She wasn’t taking any chances on that - or else.

Throwing
her new shoes away was one of the few things she’d done that day that she hadn’t gotten whacked for. She’d wondered about that, but she wasn’t going to remind him.

Jake
came in carrying the milk and eggs and he stopped to give her a kiss, and then came back for another. “Okay this morning?”

Maisie
Jane nodded. Jake asked that every morning. It was a kind of general question that meant many things. “Are you feeling okay?  How’s your bottom?  Is there anything we need to talk about?”

“Levi
stopped by this early morning. Cora’s foot is hurting her real bad.” Jake said.

Maisie
Jane’s eyes filled with worry. “I should go down and help her.” At his hesitation, she added. “Jake!”

He
nodded. “I’ll take you over after breakfast.”

“Eggs
or gravy?” Maisie asked.

“Gravy,”
Jake said and he turned and went into the bedroom. He rummaged through Mrs. Madison’s bureaus. He’d seen a pair of shoes she’d left behind when he’d searched the bureaus for any more dirty books. They would be big on Maisie Jane but they were shoes. He didn’t find them. He turned and saw several boxes under the baby crib and pulled them out.

“Maisie
Jane.”

She
came to the door with a smile, but froze when he held up two books. She shook her head furiously. “I didn’t know. Honest. You looked through everything remember?  When you were so mad, you looked!”

“I
know, and I’m not accusing you,” Jake said. “I was looking for a pair of women’s shoes, I saw in here that day.”

Maisie
Jane went to the other bureau, pulled out a drawer and held them out.

“How
do you remember where everything is?” Jake asked.

“Because
women are the ones that have to put everything away,” Maisie Jane laughed. “Where did you find those?”

Jake
motioned, “Two more boxes under the crib.”

“I
didn’t look those boxes. I thought it would be baby clothes. I know I shouldn’t say this, because I sure know how it feels… but, if those belonged to Mrs. Madison, I hope Mr. Madison wallops her good!”

Jake
nodded. “I hope he does too!  You took your tanning; she should get hers. I’ll remove the temptation and burn them while you’re gone.”

“They’re
no temptation for me,” Maisie Jane said truthfully.

Jake
dropped Maisie Jane off at Cora’s every morning. The two women cared very much for each other, much as a mother and daughter relationship. Maisie Jane did Cora’s washing and cleaning. She gathered the eggs, milked the cow, all while wearing a pair of green rubber boots of Cora’s that she was delighted to find. Mrs. Madison shoes were so big on her feet that they made her trip. She fixed lunch for Levi and Jake everyday and prepared a shared supper at Cora’s house and packed hers and Jakes share in a basket to take home. When she wasn’t doing Cora’s chores she was preparing hot wraps and poultices for Cora’s foot, under the older woman tutelage, and talking as women do.

Maisie
Jane’s explanation of why she didn’t have any shoes made Cora laugh, shake her finger and scold. Maisie Jane didn’t tell her everything just that she’d left in a temper and thrown her shoes away. And, that Jake had come after her. She didn’t mention that she hadn’t been able to sit down very easily for the three weeks.

Levi
finished his work before Jake arrived so Maisie Jane put his and Cora’s dinner on the table for them.

“Leave
the dishes for me. I’ll wash them tomorrow,” Maisie Jane ordered as she packed up her basket.

Jake
came through the back and gave a sniff and kissed his wife. “Smells good, what are we having?”

Maisie
Jane beamed. “It’s a surprise, but desert is peach pie.”

Jake
looked over a Levi. “Have I promised you my first borne yet for letting Cora teach Maisie Jane to cook.”

“No
offense, Jake, but I’ve raised my lot, although I wouldn’t mind some grandbabies to bounce on my knee, even if they’re borrowed ones. Boy, when are you going to buy this gal a new pair of shoes?”

Jake
looked down at her feet encased in his wool socks. “I did, she threw them away.”

“I
don’t want shoes that hurt,” Maisie said grinning. “I want boy boots and I want a pair of green rubber boots like Cora’s.”

“No,
boy boots,” Jake said shaking his head. “Levi, what am I going to do about a wife that wants to dress like a boy?”

“If
she looks like Maisie Jane, you keep her,” Levi advised.

Maisie
Jane kissed Levi on the cheek, and he waved her away embarrassed. “Now, go on with you gal.”

Jake
laughed. “I’m thinking of going into town tomorrow. Weather’s been good and it seems to be holding. I don’t need much, so I can take one of the horses for packing. Want to come along?”

Levi
looked over to Maisie Jane. “Will you coming to be with Cora?”

Maisie
Jane nodded, “As long as she needs me.”

“Much
appreciated. You two are good neighbors, better friends,” Levi said.

Jake
stepped into the Grint’s Emporium with his list prepared. He handed his order to Mr. Grint to fill. “Oh, I almost forgot. I need a bottle of liniment, a tin of tit salve, and a bottle of alcohol.”

“Yes
sir, Mr. Maddox.” Mr. Grint said.

Jake
looked up absently. Mr. Grint seemed to be getting friendlier. Maybe he liked cash customers better than credit customers.

“Mr
. Findley said to ask you to stop by the bank the next time we saw you,” Mrs. Grint said.

“I’ll
go get our early seed orders, and meet you back here,” Levi offered.

“Thanks,”
Jake said and ambled over to the bank.

“Mr
. Maddox,” Mr. Lester Findley, the Elco Bank Manager said coming out of his office with his hand out and smile on his face. “Why don’t we go into my office?  Tillie, bring in some fresh coffee.”

Mr
. Findley offered a chair and Jake sat down.

“What’s
this about?” Jake asked.

“Let’s
wait for the coffee to get here,” Mr. Findley said. “Tilly likes to gossip, and I’d like to keep this private.”

Tilly
the gossip, brought two cups of coffee in and Mr. Findley shut the door firmly.

“Mr
. Findley,” Jake said. “I have sixteen hundred dollars in my account. Why does that warrant a closed door discussion.”

Mr
. Findley pulled a folder out of his desk drawer. “Mr. Maddox, several weeks ago, I was contacted by a Mr. Frederick Linkletter, esq. from the firm of Linkletter, Linkletter and Burns out of Baltimore, Maryland.”

“That’s
where my wife is from,” Jake said.

“I
know. Your wife disappeared almost six months ago from Baltimore and was presumed dead. It was reported on in several Washington, DC and Baltimore papers.” Mr. Findley nodded in all seriousness and he opened the folder. “Mr. Frederick Linkletter, Jr., has notified our main branch of the bank in Virginia, City that Mrs. Millicent Janelle Jackson Maddox has informed him that all representation of her finances are to be handled through her husband, Mr. Jacob Raymond Maddox of Elco, Nevada.”

“Millicent
Janelle,” Jake repeated with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes
sir. As her husband you have stewardship over her inheritance.”

“I
see,” Jake said although he didn’t. “If my wife has some money, it’s her money, although I will monitor how she spends it.”

Mr
. Findley looked up from the file. “Mr. Maddox, your wife is under your jurisdiction. At eighteen years of age, no court would consider her competent to handle her affairs. That is your right, and privilege as her husband. I would also say sir, it is your duty to administer her estate.”

“Mr
. Findley exactly what inheritance are you talking about?” Jake asked.

* * * * *

Levi looked around for Jake. He hadn’t returned to the Emporium. Finally, he spotted him over by the livery sitting on a bale of straw. He waited five minutes and finally went over and spoke to him.

“Jake?
  You all right?”

Jake
nodded and stood up and looked around like he was confused. “I need… I need… Levi I need some advice,” he said finally.

“Anytime,”
Levi said.

Jake
walked off to the feed yard and Levi followed waiting patiently.

“Maisie
Jane lied to me,” Jake said finally. “Well, she did lie to me about some things, but we never talked about the others so I guess that can’t be considered a lie, except it’s a lie of omission. But, she didn’t tell me and she should have!”

Levi
blinked. “Son, except about lie part, none of what you just said a lick of sense.”

Jake
racked his hands through his hair.

“Maisie
Jane, only that’s not her real name. She actually wrote her real name on our marriage license but I never looked at it that close. I was looking at the Judge and Padre signatures not hers. But, I looked just now, because I’m still carrying it around in my money pouch—that and the deed to the land, and she wrote her real name.”

Levi
cleared his throat. “Jake, you’re still not making sense. Did you get hit in the head over at the bank?”

Jake
nodded. “Yeah, I think I did.”

You
need a drink son, “ Levi said.

“Elco’s
dry,” Jake said.