Cowboy Creek Christmas: Mistletoe Reunion

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News of her trip to the Cheyenne camp spread through town that week. When Marlys stopped at Booker & Son general store for supplies midweek, the skinny young man behind the counter held up one hand. “How.”

She gave him a puzzled frown.

“You heap big Injun doctor? Need something to smoke in your peace pipe?” He laughed heartily at his own joke. “Don’t see why you’re wasting your time with them anyway.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What’s your name?”

“Eugene. You’re the lady doctor, right?”

She held her irritation and asked, “Who is the owner of this establishment?”

“That would be Mr. Booker.”

Mr. Booker came out of the back, where the portly man had apparently overheard her question, and pushed his spectacles up his nose. “I’m Abram Booker. What can I do for you?”

“Young Eugene here seems to think it’s humorous to disparage potential customers.”

He turned to his employee. “What have you done now, Eugene?”

“I was just havin’ a little fun with the lady doc.”

“I didn’t find it fun or funny at all. And I can just as easily take all my business to Mr. Hagermann’s. He’s always respectful.”

Mr. Booker clenched his jaw. The store owner’s face turned red, and color crept all the way into his thinning hair. “Apologize to Dr. Boyd, Eugene.”

Eugene didn’t appear very pleased to submit to the demand. He lowered his chin to his skinny chest and held his body tense. Through tight lips, he said, “I’m sorry, Dr. Boyd. I didn’t mean no offense.”

“I accept your apology, Eugene. I strongly advise you to consider your words before speaking. It’s my belief that we have much to learn from other cultures, and when people respect one another, the exchange of information benefits everyone. You might find it ironic that I treated sick Cheyenne children with a Chinese remedy. Those children didn’t seem to mind when they got better.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Eugene, go sweep the back room now,” Mr. Booker instructed him. “What can I help you with today, Doctor?”

“I’d like to order an array of jars, similar to something you would use to display candy.”

“I can show you what I ordered for my own use.”

Abram Booker was helpful and courteous, and she didn’t see Eugene again while she was in the store.

Her next stop was to pick up the second pair of boots she’d ordered at Godwin’s. Opal was pleased to see her. “I want to accept your offer for a mineral bath,” she said. “What would be a good time? I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Any time is a good time,” Marlys replied. “Come right now if you like.”

“Well...” Opal glanced around the small boot shop. “Let me just check with Amos.”

Her husband was pleased to see his wife take time for herself and waved them off. It was a short walk to her office, with Opal carrying the baby, and Marlys let them in and put wood in the stove to heat water. It didn’t take long to fill one of the tubs.

“I’ve never seen bathing tubs like these,” Opal told her.

“They’re made deep and yet narrow, so the entire body can be immersed without using as much water as a larger oval tub takes.” Marlys added oils and minerals and dissolved them in the water. “I’ll take the baby and sit just outside. We’ll be fine.” She showed Opal the towels and told her to relax and take her time.

“Well, Richard, we’re getting to be friends, don’t you think?”

The bundled baby opened his eyes at her voice but soon closed them again. He squirmed a bit, and instinctively, she bounced him in her arms until he stilled. She’d been around more babies in her short time here than in her whole prior life. It was reassuring that after all the death and sorrow of the brothers’ war that civilization was now replenishing itself. It didn’t take a scholar to understand the psychology of bringing their country back to life with a new generation.

She felt a grave responsibility to the children, to August and all of these little ones. She had knowledge to share, skills to teach, and she needed to impart as much as she could—to leave her mark on history and make a difference.

She’d always been a hundred percent confident of her choices. She was still confident she’d been true to herself and her ideals. But a barely discernable question rose in her thoughts. Was she missing out on something? Would she eventually live to regret she had turned her back on relationships, on friendship, on marriage...on Sam?

Chapter Six (#u68f9dd3b-8a08-5054-847e-a9a9f8ae97d1)

Rather than eat at the hotel again, Sam prepared a meal of sliced ham and boiled potatoes for himself and August. They sat at the tiny table in their long one-room quarters behind the newspaper office, and Sam said grace.

“I miss Grandmother,” August said.

“I know you do.”

“Why couldn’t she have moved to Kansas with us?”

“She has her own life to live, son. She has friends, and she likes to travel.”

“I could have gone with her.”

“No, you couldn’t have. We belong together, you and I. We’re a family.”

August looked at him, his eyes wide and dark and still filled with the same pain and confusion Sam had prayed to know how to erase. “But there’s only you and me.”

Sam ignored the ache in his chest and resisted placing a hand over the spot. “Two can be a family.”

August ate a few bites and laid down his fork. “May I be excused?”

Sam steepled his fingers over his plate and studied his son. “Two more bites of your ham.”

August took the two bites and lifted his gaze.

“You’re excused.” Sam cleared the table and washed the few dishes.

August was lying on his narrow cot when he’d finished. “Let’s start a new book,” Sam suggested.

“I can read by myself.”

“I know you can, but if we read together, we can both enjoy the story.”

August didn’t respond, so Sam went to the shelf of books and perused a few titles. “Life of Dr. Benjamin Franklin,” he read. “I like this one. You like history, and it’s interesting. It’s written by Mr. Franklin himself.”

“I already know he invented the glass armonica and that he experimented with electricity and that’s how he got famous.”

“But did you know he was a newspaperman?”

August shook his head.

“Benjamin was about fifteen when his brother started the first newspaper in Boston that did more than reprint articles from overseas. The Courant did opinion pieces, advertisements and printed ship schedules.”

He pulled a chair close to where his boy lay. “Benjamin wanted to write for the paper, too, but he was only an apprentice, so at night he secretly wrote letters to the paper and signed them Silence Dogood.”

“Who was Silence Dogood?”

“A name he made up. In these letters he gave advice and criticized what was going on, like how women were being treated. Then Benjamin would sneak the letters under the print shop door during the night. Everyone liked the letters and wanted to know who Silence Dogood was.”

August’s interest had perked up. “Did he tell them?”

“He finally confessed. Benjamin’s brother James’s friends thought Ben was clever and funny, but his brother was jealous.”

“Then what?”

“Why don’t we read it together, and you can learn all about Benjamin’s interesting life.”

“Yes, let’s read it. Will we finish it tonight?”

Sam chuckled. “It will take a few evenings, but we’ll read it all, I promise.”

August nodded his agreement. “All right.”

“‘Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to learn the circumstances of my life, many of which you are unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a few weeks’ uninterrupted leisure, I sit down to write them. Besides, there are some other inducements that excite me to this—’”

“What’s inducements, Papa?”

“Things that spurred him to write.”

“Oh.”

“‘—that excite me to this undertaking. From the poverty and obscurity in which I was born, and in which I passed my earliest years, I have raised myself to a state of affluence and some degree of celebrity in the world.’”

“What is affluence?”

Sam stopped reading and couldn’t help a smile. It might take longer than he thought to read this book.

* * *

It was a sunny day the following week, but cold with a bitter wind when Marlys entered the laundry and stomped snow from her feet on the mat inside the door. She took all her sheets and towels to the laundry behind her own office, but brought her personal items to Mr. Lin’s. She liked the way he rinsed clothing and pressed it so it smelled fresh.

A pretty woman with a green felt hat covering most of her blond hair stood at the counter. She smiled at Marlys. “Are you Dr. Boyd?”

“Yes,” Marlys answered.

“I’m Leah Gardner. I’ve heard so much about you from Pippa, and I’ve been meaning to come introduce myself, but I’ve had a young mother and baby to look after, plus caring for my own newborn...”