I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard the phrase, “Women are the weaker sex.” Indeed, I would be a rich woman, at least by this world’s standards. Women, are we—as these naysayers claim—weak? We, who bear children, slave over hot stoves, tend crops in perilous weather, and care for the needs of our families at every turn? We, who link arms and hearts with other sisters to bring justice where there is no justice? Others would call us weak? I think not. In fact I’ve never seen such strength. All the more, now that we are working in tandem to prove our position. Before long, they will see just how strong we really are.
—Ellie Cannady, editor of The Modern Suffragette
* * * * *
October 1916,
MISSOULA, Montana
TANNER JACOBS LEANED BACK AGAINST the fence post and gazed across the vast expanse of acreage on the south end of his family’s Montana ranch. Off in the distance, the Bitterroot mountain range rose up before him in all its triumphant glory. Ribbons of color layered the mountains—wintery white on top and varying shades of brown and tan below. He found himself lost in the view, the snowcapped peaks drawing him away to an imaginative place, as always.
After a long day’s work with the cattle, his dog rested at his feet, panting from her labors. Tanner flexed the muscles in his upper arms, equally as glad to be done with his work for the day. He released a slow breath and took in the sunset. Brilliant reds, golds, and oranges streaked across the near-evening sky in a wondrous display, with a tiniest hint of purple framing it all. Truly, nothing could spoil this moment.
Well, almost nothing.
“You’re avoiding the question, Tanner.” His younger sister’s voice came from behind him for the second time in a row, a reminder that she didn’t plan to go down without a fight. He turned to face her and tried not to laugh at the overly serious look on her face. Katie always hated it when he made light of her conversations. Best to play along with her…again.
“What would you like me to say?” He stuck a piece of straw into his mouth and gave it a thoughtful chew as he took in his younger sister’s sour expression.
Katie’s eyes narrowed, and an escaping curl—the pale yellow of a field of grain—fell over her forehead. “Say that I’m right, that women deserve the right to own property and to vote, not just in Wyoming or Montana, but across this vast nation. I’ve stood here in silence for a good five minutes waiting for you to respond to my question about equality for women, and yet you continue to ignore me. Nothing ever changes, does it?”
“On the contrary. I would say you’ve changed a great deal over the last couple of years.” He reached for his hat and slipped it on before tossing the piece of straw, ready to be done with this conversation. When would his thickheaded sister get it into her skull? He would never sidle up to the idea of women’s equality, no matter how many arguments ensued.
“Surely you don’t want me to agree with your notions just to bring this uneasy conversation to an end,” he said. “Even you wouldn’t wish that.”
“Well, I…” Her gaze shifted to the ground. Then she looked back up at him with a sly grin. “Maybe I do.” Her eyelashes took to fluttering, and her cheeks turned a shade darker than the roses planted in Mama’s front garden.
Tanner groaned as he watched her manipulative ways. “I find it humorous that you’re using your womanly wiles to convince a man that you’re not the weaker sex. Ironic.”
Katie paled and planted tight fists on her hips. “What did you say?”
“I said you’re the weaker—”
“I heard you!” She turned on her heel and marched across the pasture. After a few steps, she stopped in her tracks and looked back at him with burning reproach in her eyes. “And for your information, there’s nothing weak about me. I’m tougher than most of the fellas I know.”
“Guess no one could argue with that. And you’re twice as mean too.” He quirked a brow and did his best not to laugh.
“You—you—you…” Katie couldn’t seem to finish the sentence. Instead, she pointed herself in the direction of the house once again. After a few more steps, she turned again. “You’re such a…such a…man!” She pummeled him with the words like stones, but he managed to remain unharmed. In fact, he found it all rather humorous.
“That I am.” He tipped his hat and gave a little bow. “You would do well to remember that, little sister. There are so few real men left in the world, after all. Now that our women have decided to wear the pants in the family, the menfolk are all out shopping for corsets to stiffen their backbones.”
“Ugh!” She yanked her dark wool skirt and twisted about, nearly stepping into a cow patty. A funny little hop and skip followed—not at all dainty, but she did manage to avoid ruining her shoe. At the last moment, she turned back. “And just for your information, girls don’t wear corsets much anymore. Those medieval devices were antiquated death traps, probably designed by some man wanting to keep his woman from spreading her wings.”
“Well, go on and fly, little sister,” he said with the wave of a hand. “You’ve been squawking like a bird long enough. Might as well take to the skies.”
She took off toward the house, and Tanner doubled over in laughter—for a couple of minutes, anyway. After a few seconds of reflection, his common sense returned and he straightened. Katie’s outlandish reaction was funny, no doubt about it. But her point was not. Neither was her passion or her inability to keep a single thought inside her head. All this hogwash about equality for women was enough to ruffle a fella’s feathers. What would it take to squelch this idea that women should be on equal footing with men in the political arena?
He paused to think about his older brother, Brett, who was happily married and expecting a child in just a few short months. “Now there’s a real man for you,” Tanner mused to the dog resting at his feet. “He knows how to keep his wife in her place.” Snowball responded with the wag of a tail.
Not that Margaret was the subservient sort. No, even the once-gentle belle from Savannah had latched onto this idea that all women should be allowed to own land and vote like the Montana suffragettes. Of course, they had his sister to thank for that. Katie and those friends of hers had stirred up a hornet’s nest among the young women in Missoula. And if they didn’t stop her, before long she’d do real damage.
He turned his gaze to the skies once again, noticing that the brilliant colors of the sunset had slipped off behind wispy clouds.
His good mood…well, it seemed to have disappeared right along with them.
* * * * *
AFTER A WEEK OF SHIFTING from one train to the next, Alanna grew to regret her impulsive decision to make the cross-country journey to Montana. As the days progressed, she battled her emotions as well as the usual troubles associated with long journeys—weariness and stiff joints at the top of the list. By the time they arrived in Colorado, however, her spirits lifted. The change in scenery brought about a shift in her attitude. She’d never seen anything so beautiful.
“Girls!” Mama leaned close to the Pullman car’s window and gazed outside. “Come and look at this.”
Alanna joined her mother and gasped aloud as she took in the view. “Breathtaking,” she whispered. Indeed, the clear blue sky contrasted beautifully with the mountains, which stretched to incredible heights.
“I don’t believe it.” Tessa pointed to the snowcapped mountain peaks in the distance. “I’ve read about this in books, of course, but to see it in person? Snow? In October, no less.”
“Yes.” Practicality took over. Alanna turned away from the view so as not to distract herself. “One more reason for concern. It’s bitterly cold in the Northwest at this time of year. I cannot believe that would be good for Margaret in her condition. And what of that poor baby, arriving in the bleak midwinter?” She shuddered, just thinking about it.
Mama shook her head. “Why, in Savannah, we’re scarcely beyond our summer season. Inconceivable.”
“I, for one, am not looking forward to the cold. It wreaks havoc on one’s hair.” Alanna fussed with her silky tresses and sighed—loudly, for effect.
“Why must we always look at the negative when we’re surrounded on every side by such glorious sights?” Tessa pressed her nose against the window. “I think this is by far the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. Now I know why Margaret is so happy in the mountains.”
“Missoula is technically a valley.” Alanna pulled the curtains closed. “Now, is anyone else hungry? I’m starved.”
“Me too.” Tessa rubbed her hands together. “You know me. I’m always hungry.”
Alanna fought the temptation to add, And it’s showing in your waistline. No point in upsetting her. Still, Tessa would have to work hard to maintain her figure once they returned home.
Mama reached for her scarf and sighed. “I’ll bet I’ve put on five pounds since we left Savannah. There’s been little to do on this trip but eat.”
“I know. Isn’t it wonderful?” Tessa rubbed her belly. “I’ve become quite the expert at it.”
“I suppose we’ve all got to be good at something.” Alanna gave her sister a warm hug. “But it is lunchtime, and roast beef sounds lovely.”
“Indeed. They have wonderful beef in this part of the country. You can’t deny that.” Tessa grabbed Alanna’s hand, and they headed outside the privacy of their compartment en route to the dining car.
As they made their way down the aisle, the stench of body odor greeted them along with varying smells from a variety of unfamiliar foods. Many of the other passengers traveled in the regular train cars, many doing their best to sleep sitting up. Alanna didn’t envy them. In fact, she felt rather bad for most, especially the mothers and children. They passed by a couple of older men playing cards and a woman with four small children—three of them bickering and the fourth bawling. Tessa stopped to tickle the little one under the chin, which slowed her cries.
“Here you go, baby girl.” Tessa reached into her bag and came out with a slice of bread, no doubt from today’s breakfast. “See if that doesn’t cheer you up.”
The youngster took it and began to nibble, the tears now gone. Alanna fought to keep her hand from her nose as she smelled the stench of a dirty diaper. How could one endure such odors? Had the mother grown so accustomed to it that she didn’t notice?
“Thank you so much.” The mother looked at her with weary eyes. “I’m grateful.”
“Happy to be of service,” Tessa said with a lilt in her voice. “I’ll be back later with whatever dessert I can abscond in the dining car. Then all will be well.”
Gratitude resonated in the woman’s eyes.
Alanna resisted the urge to hurry her sister along. Really, with Tessa’s soft heart leading the way, a trip to the dining car could take double the usual time. This, Alanna had learned the hard way. Still, there was something to be said for her younger sister’s tenderness toward strangers. She truly had the gift of compassion, no doubt about it. Perhaps next time she could choose less smelly people to extend a hand to. One could hope, anyway.
As they passed through the next car, newsboys and other vendors made their way up the center aisle, shouting the latest headlines and hawking their wares. Nearly anything one longed for could be purchased—ice water, books with tattered pages, stale sandwiches, two-day-old newspapers…. Alanna found it all rather intriguing. Apparently so did Tessa, who found one of the newsboys charming enough to stop and chat with.
“Tessa, we’re going to starve at this rate,” Alanna said.
“Hardly!” Tessa rubbed her belly again in an unladylike fashion and laughed. “I could live off the fat of the land for a good week, at the very least.”
Mama looked aghast at Tessa’s outburst in front of the boys but didn’t say a word. A proper Southern lady would never enter into such candid conversation about her weight. Not in public, anyway.
By the time they arrived in the dining car and took their seats, Alanna’s hunger had almost gotten the better of her, especially with the ever-present sound of silverware clinking at every table. And when the roast beef arrived, hot and covered in scrumptious gravy, she fought the temptation to dive in at the speed Tessa managed. Only after several slow bites did the hunger pangs cease. And by the time they reached dessert—lovely slices of tasty apple pie—Alanna was finally ready to talk business with her mother and sister.
She leaned back in her chair and did her best to avoid the beautiful view outside the window, lest it deter her from the matter at hand. “Ladies, it’s been a nice trip, but we’ve been remiss in discussing the one thing most important to this mission. We’ve got to cook up a plan of action regarding Margaret and Brett.”
“And the baby, of course.” Tessa removed her pie from the plate and wrapped it in her napkin then eyed Mama’s plate.
Mama took a nibble of a cinnamon-coated baked apple slice and looked Alanna’s way. “What do you have in mind, Lana?”
“Nothing yet. But the Bible says that the plans of men—and women—fail for lack of knowledge. If we’re going to convince Margaret and Brett that they need to come back home to Savannah, we need to be strategic. We’ve got to think like…like…”
“Like men?” Tessa reached for her fork, which she directed toward Mama’s plate.
Alanna shrugged. “It is true that men are often more strategic in their approach to life than women.”
“Not the women I know.” Mama’s eyes twinkled with unexpected mischief. “Trust me when I say that the ladies in my circle know how to get what they want. I can assure you, there is a great deal of strategy involved.” She dabbed at her lips with a napkin and leaned back in her chair.
“Well, the sort of strategy I’m referring to is appealing to Brett’s common sense. And his pocketbook.”
“His pocketbook?” Fine lines appeared on Tessa’s forehead as she took a bite of Mama’s apple pie. “But he’s doing well for himself on the ranch, isn’t he? I don’t believe money has been an issue.”
“Perhaps, but every man wants to improve his current situation. It will be our job to convince him that he can make a better living in Savannah.”
“Doing what, though?” Mama took a bite of the pie.
“Easy. We’ll ask Papa to give Brett a job at the university. Papa’s very well loved there, and he should be able to open the door for Brett to teach. He has his degree, after all. He should be using it for the good of others.”
“Yes, but will Brett enjoy working in a university setting?” Mama asked. “He’s always been the sort who’s fascinated with the out-of-doors. I can’t imagine him cooped up inside a university. Doesn’t seem like a good fit to me.”
“Hmm.” Alanna released a slow breath, her gaze shifting once again out of the window.
Tessa took another bite of Mama’s pie then spoke with a full mouth. “If you were really using your noodle, you would find him a job doing something he loved—give him an opportunity he can’t resist. Now that’s strategy.”
“An opportunity he can’t resist.” Alanna squinted against the blinding glare of sunlight streaming through the window. “Yes. You’re right, Tessa.”
“Say that again.” Tessa made a production out of swallowing her bite of pie.
“Say what?”
“That I’m right. I hear it so rarely.”
Alanna laughed. “Well, I don’t mind saying it again. You’re right. We need to present him with the perfect opportunity. What say we all put our pretty little heads together and come up with just the right job—something he can’t possibly resist?”
“Just like I can’t resist this apple pie.” Tessa jabbed her fork into Mama’s pie and consumed another bite, a look of sheer bliss coming over her.
Instead of scolding her younger sister, Alanna forced her attentions to the matter at hand. Soon enough they would see that same look of bliss on Brett’s face—when they presented him with the opportunity of a lifetime.
After a pause she sat straight up in the chair. “Oh, I have it! It’s the perfect idea.”
“What’s that?” Mama placed her napkin in her lap and leaned a bit closer.
“Papa told me just two weeks ago that the university is starting a new agricultural program. An entire department focused on farming, animals, and such.”
A smile lit Mama’s face. “I love it!”
“Yes, indeed.” Alanna fought the temptation to giggle. “And if we work our magic over the next few months, Brett and Margaret will grow to love the idea too.”