Teaching Miss Maisie Jane (17 page)

Maisie
Jane looked inside and tipped the envelope into the palm of her hand. “Oh, Jake.”

Jake
took the wedding band and slipped it on her finger. “I thought it was about time I gave you one of these. It shouldn’t have been given as a Christmas present. I should have given you one a long time ago. I don’t want you ever take this band off, darling. It means your mine.”

Maisie
Jane put her head down on his shoulder and held out her hand to look at the simple plain gold band. “It’s perfect. You do love me.”

“More
than my own life,” Jake said very seriously. “I never knew that part of me was missing until you popped up with those ridiculous, fat curls, hoop skirts and sassy mouth.”  He gave her a smacking kiss on the mouth.

“You
threw my curling irons and hoops away, didn’t you?”  Maisie accused.

“Who
me, darling,” Jake said with a wicked grin. “Would I that?”

The weather broke in the second week of January. The sun came out with a vengeance. The snow began to melt and the streams began to flood. The ground turned to thick mud that made it difficult to walk outside.

Jake
had to forbid Maisie Jane from going outdoors. The little thing got bogged down in the mud and got trapped because she couldn’t lift her mud-encased feet.

The
third week of January turned to May weather - cold at night but in the high sixties during the day as it started to dry out. Levi and Jake knew now was the time to get to town for supplies.

Maisie
Jane pleaded and begged to with them, and finally Jake gave in. Unfortunately, they waited one day too many. The temperatures plunged back into the thirties overnight, and they could see gray storm clouds coming across the mountains.

Jake
tried to persuade Maisie Jane to stay home, but she was persistent and wore him down. Except to go over to Cora’s and Levi’s she hadn’t left the homestead since they’d arrived. Secretly, she wanted to buy Jake a late Christmas present.

But,
their morning didn’t start well. Maisie Jane spent an inordinate time in the bedroom getting ready and when she did appear in the kitchen, Jake choked on his coffee. Maisie was wearing curls in her hair, a dress he’d never seen before and hoops.

Maisie
Jane bounced into the kitchen excited. She hadn’t gotten to dress up in a couple of months. She expected Jake to think she was pretty but his reaction wasn’t what she expected.

“No!”

‘What?” Maisie Jane said hurt.

“You’re
not wearing red and not wearing hoops.”

“Jake!
  It’s fashionable!”

“No
. Red is not a color a married woman should wear. And, hoops aren’t fashionable; they’re silly!  Where did you get them and that dress anyway?”

“Mrs
. Madison left them, I had to hem it and everything!”

“I
said no,” Jake said firmly. “If want go, you’d better get changed, and fast. Levi should be here any minute.”

“But…”

“No sass, Maisie Jane or you can stay here.”

Maisie
Jane flounced out the room and Jake shook his head. Just when he thought she was behaving, she had to pull something. Hoops!  Damn silly things!”

When
Levi arrived, they yoked Levi’s team to his, and chained the wagons together. Four strong horses could pull through the mud easier than two.

Both
men were already up on the seat when Maisie Jane came running out of house. “Wait, wait.”  She was wearing the boy’s coat over a slim blue skirt that Jake recognized.

“Where’s
your shawl?”

“Ohhhh!
  Wait for me,” Maisie Jane squealed and ran back into the house to get it.

It
might have been in the thirties when they left, but the temperature was steadily dropping and they faced a biting head wind for much of the two-hour trip. By the time Jake reined the horses to a stop in front of the Emporium, Maisie Jane’s teeth were chattering.

“I’ll
take the team on down and get what we need from feed store,” Levi said as he slid across the seat. “Best you get the little one inside and warmed up.”

Jake
guided Maisie Jane inside and an old man got up out of a chair in front of a pot-bellied stove and offered her his seat.

“Thankkk
yyyou,” Maisie Jane chattered and she sat down and put her hands out toward the warmth.

Jake
picked up a tin cup off a shelf and poured Maisie Jane a cup of coffee and held it to her lips.

“I’m
okay,” Maisie Jane said her hands shaking.

Mrs
. Grint was watching and she came around the counter. “I’ll get her a cup of tea. I’m surprised that stuff doesn’t rust through the cups.”  The woman disappeared through the back and came back with a china cup and saucer of tea.

“Thank
you,” Maisie Jane said again because the worst of the bitter cold was gone after a few sips of the coffee. She took the tea though gratefully.

“Sit
for a few more minutes and warm up, while I give Mr. Grint our order.”

A
few minutes later, Maisie Jane stood and faced the man who had offered his chair. She did a quick bob of a curtsey. “Thank you, kind sir for the offer of your seat,” and she smiled.

The
old man grinned and dipped his hat and then snatched it off his head totally. “Any time, ma’am.”

Maisie
Jane carried the empty cup and saucer over to the register counter and repeated her curtsey. “Thank you, ma’am. I feel much better now.”

Jake
looked up and smiled, “Mr. and Mrs. Grint, my wife Mrs. Maisie Jane Maddox. Maisie Jane, Mr. and Mrs. Grint.”

“How
do,” both the proprietors said at the same time with a nod of their heads.

“Very
well thank you,” Maisie Jane said politely and she smiled at Jake. “I’m going to look around.”

“Look
for a coat,” Jake said.

Maisie
Jane nodded and she wandered around kind of aimlessly, sometimes touching a bit of velvet on a hat, running her finger along a piece of dress goods. Finally, she found something she liked. She disappeared behind a row of washtubs and came back out wearing a pair of blue cowboy boots.

“Look
Jake, pretty boy boots.”  Maisie Jane said giving a turn with them.

“No,”
Jake said without looking up from his lists.

“But
they fit, and they don’t hurt, and they don’t have any all those darn buttons.”

“No,”
Jake repeated. “And, watch you language.”

“But,
Jake…” Maisie Jane whined.

Now,
his head came up with a look of sternness. “I said no. You’re not wearing boy boots.”

“I
saw two women wearing boots when we drove up. If they can wear them, why can’t I?” Maisie Jane pouted.

Aware
that Mrs. Grint and several other people were listening, Jake moved closer to his wife to speak more quietly. “They’re wearing boots because they probably can’t afford to buy nice ladies shoes. We can afford shoes. I just bought you a new pair.”

“They
hurt,” Maisie Jane whispered back.

“Take
the boots off,” Jake said firmly. “Find yourself a coat, that’s what you need.”

Maisie
Jane’s stubborn chin came up. “I can buy them, I have some money left.

Jake
bent down and whispered in her ear. “It’s not a matter of you having money. I said no and I’m not going to say no again. One more piece of sass and I’m going to spank you right here in the middle of the Emporium. That will leave a lasting impression for the townspeople, not counting the impression I’m going to leave on your bottom. Now go find a coat. A nice, proper, ladies coat.”

“All
right,” Maisie Jane gave a half-hearted flounce and went over to return the boots.

Maisie
Jane found a coat. It was a pretty grey, with pearl buttons, and bustle lift in the back. It wasn’t as comfortable as her boy’s coat or as easy to get into, but Jake approved.

Jake
bent down to speak into her ear. “I’m going to the livery, and then to the bank. Stay put and behave!”

Maisie
Jane browsed around, peering and poking into merchandise. When the mercantile cleared out of customers Mrs. Grint followed her over to a glass fronted display. “Are looking for anything particular?”

“I
need something for my husband, a belated Christmas present,” Maisie Jane explained.

“A
shirt?”

She
shook her curls. “He wears the same kind of shirts all the time. I want something… special.”

“We
have some nice calfskin gloves, sheepskin lined,” She pulled them out of a cabinet drawer.

Maisie
Jane fingered them. “Yes!  What else do you have?”

“Pocket
watch?’  A shake of her head. “He has a nice one.”

“A
good fountain pen?”  Again the shake.

“New
boots?”

“New
saddle blanket?”

“A
new coat,” Maisie decided. “Like the one I had on when I came in only a whole lot bigger. It will match his gloves.”

“That’s
a little expensive,” Mrs. Grint said gently. “We’ll have to get his permission to add it into his order.”

“Oh,
no,” Maisie shook her head. “It’s his Christmas present. He can’t know about it. I’ll pay for it.”

Mrs
. Grint looked at her husband.

“If
she’s got the cash money, sell it to her,” Mr. Simon Grint growled.

“Can
you wrap it together, the gloves and coat??” Maisie asked.

Mrs
. Grant nodded and gave her the price.

Maisie
Jane smiled and opened her reticule and laid two ten-dollar greenbacks on the counter and received her change. “Just wrap it up and put it with other things. Oh, and don’t forget to put my boy’s coat in too, I need that.”

Jake
came in a few minutes later and settled with Mr. Grint for cash and they loaded the wagon.

When
Jake, Levi and Maisie drove the wagons toward home, Mr. Grint turned to his wife. “I’ll betcha that one gets a whopping when he finds out she’s been filching money out of his pockets!”

“You
don’t know that,” Mrs. Grint said reproachfully.

The
old man cackled. “Betcha.”

The trip home was even colder but at least the wind was to their backs and wasn’t snowing yet.

By
the time they got back, Maisie Jane as shivering and she couldn’t seem to stop. Levi came into the house with him and lit a fire in the cook-stove while Jake took his wife into the cold bedroom and started a fire in the box stove there. He stuffed her under the covers, coat, clothes, and all and told her to stay put.

Levi
didn’t want to wait for coffee, so they separated the teams and wagons. Jake dashed back inside to put several bricks and a pot coffee on the stove. He checked on Maisie but she was curled up in a tight little ball under the covers. He drove his team into barn, unhitched them and put them in their stalls. He had to get Maisie warmed up first and then he’d come back and finish dealing with the horses and unloading the supplies.

Back
in the house, the kitchen was warming up, as was the coffee and the bricks. He added some more wood to the stove and wrapped the bricks in pieces of old blankets and tucked them into their bed.

“Honey…”

“Hum….” Maisie Jane murmured sleepily.

Jake
unbuttoned her coat, and undressed her rubbing her arms and legs briskly.

That
got Maisie Jane’s attention and she woke up. “Did I fall asleep“?

“No,
you got too cold.”

“I
know how to warm up,” Maisie Jane wrapped her arms around his neck.

“
Hold that thought. I’ve got coffee on stove, but I have to get the horses tended. You stay tucked in until I get back.”

By
the time Jake finished his chores, he went into a warm bed but a sound asleep wife. He pulled her close spooning and drifted off himself.

Meanwhile
outside a blizzard began.

Jake
got up to his chores and was stopped in his tracks by the darkness of the house. He went to the kitchen and realized that the windows were covered with snow blocking all the light. He opened the back door and faced snow up to his waist, and blowing horizontal winds. He could barely make out the outline of barn. His eyes automatically went to his woodpiles stacked in vertical rows several feet from the side of the house. He heard a crack and watched as a very large tree split and hit the ground so hard the ground jolted.

“Maisie
Jane ran into the room wrapped in a quilt and frightened. “What was that?”

Jake
closed the door before she could get chilled again. “A tree came down.”

“Are
there any close enough to hit us?” she asked going to the window.

“No,
Brett was wise building the house and barn in a clearing. I’m going to have to close the shutters though, these kinds of winds could blow the windows in. Go back to bed, little darling, I’ll close up everything tight.”  Jake lit the lanterns and closed all the shutters. Then, he carried all their supplies into the water closet. The bacon, fatback, and quarter side of beef didn’t need to be near the heat of the kitchen stovetop. Finally, he’d found some use for that cold ass room.

Maisie
Jane was sitting up in bed listening to winds that had suddenly become gale force slamming against and rattling the windows and shutters.

Jake
smiled, slid in and cuddled up close. “Guess what? Looks like we’re going to have a couple of play days.”

The
blizzard lasted two and half days. Maisie didn’t last that long. By midday on the second day she was congested and her throat was sore. By the morning of third day she was weak and said her head hurt. She slept fitfully, and began to cough. Jake spent his time digging out to get to barn and trying to nurse his sick wife. The blizzard, accompanied by high winds, had created drifts and valleys. Some areas had two inches on the ground, others had six feet.

Meanwhile
fevers and chills hit Maisie Jane. Jake kept the bedroom warm and alternately bathed her in cool water or climbed in beside her adding his body heat to hers to try to warm up her shaking body. By the third day of fever she began to fight him and was half out of her mind. Scared out of his wits, and not knowing what else to do, Jake gathered up every blanket and quilt in the house, wrapped her up tight and holding his precious cargo rode through the black of night to the Campbell’s homestead.

Jake
carried Maisie Jane in his arms and pounded on the back door. Levi came through his kitchen with a lantern and opened the back door wide.

Cora
came following her husband. “What is it?”

“Maisie
Jane’s sick, bad, I don’t know what to do?”

“Take
her into the little bedroom. Levi light a fire in that fireplace and get the kitchen stove-top fired up,” Cora ordered. She followed Jake and as soon he laid her down drew back the quilting and felt her face and forehead. “She’s burning up, let’s get her in bed.”

Cora
fell back on her mothering instincts. She asked question after question to Jake trying to get a clear picture of all the symptoms.

Cora
did all the things that Jake had done except she kept forcing Maisie to drink cool water and then spooned chicken broth into her mouth. The fight for Maisie Jane’s life was on.

Jake
sat in a chair and never took his eyes of her. When Cora left the room, he’d pick up one of her hands and talk to her but there no response. Neither Cora nor Levi could convince Jake to eat. That evening Cora said she’d stay with Maisie Jane but Jake said no, she needed to get some sleep. He’d watch over his wife and wake Cora if he needed her. Sometime in the night, Maisie Jane started fighting him again, so he carried the rocking chair out of Levi’s sitting room and put it beside the bed. He wrapped his little wife, lifted her into his lap, tucked her head under his chin, and held her as he rocked. She settled down, and he rocked all night. Cora nursed her during the day. Jake held her at night and rocked.

Jake
only left her side long enough to ride over to his place, tend the animals and ride back, bringing Cora the eggs and milk and other staples because he was living at their place.

“You
need some rest!” Cora scolded one morning at breakfast. “You can’t keep this up, Jake, you’re up all day and night. You’re going to collapse yourself if you keep this up.”

“I’m
all she has, Cora; she needs me,” Jake said quietly. “She’s all I have. I need her.”

“Let
the boy, be,” Levi told his wife. “He knows what he’s doing.”

Eight
days into the vigil, Cora came out of the room one morning and told her husband the good news. “The fever broke.”

Two
days later in the middle of the night, Maisie Jane opened her eyes to find her husband, holding her and rocking her like a baby. And, when he saw that she was awake, he cried.