Chapter Eight

One year and seven months later

March, 1878

Charity burst into the living room clutching her lunch pail, her face alive with excitement.

The palpable tension in the room hit her hard, and she stopped short. The excitement left her face and she looked around, questioningly.

Joe was standing in the middle of the room, his face sullen, and his hands deep in his jeans’ pockets.

Her back to the sink, Martha was staring at Joe, her arms folded. Stacked up behind her was a pile of plates waiting to be put out on the table. Still covered in pit-dirt, Hiram sat at the table in the middle of the room, rolling himself a cigarette. Sam lounged against the rear wall, his eyes on Joe.

Biting back the words she’d been about to say, Charity pushed the door shut behind her and stayed where she was.

Joe glanced across at her. His face brightened and he smiled at her.

‘You seemed real pleased with yourself when you came in, Charity,’ he said. ‘What’ve you got to tell us?’

She opened her mouth, looked at Martha, saw that Martha’s gaze was still on Joe, and closed her mouth again.

‘We’ll hear what Charity’s gotta say later, Joe,’ Hiram said firmly. ‘It’s what you’re tellin’ us now that we wanna hear. Isn’t that right, Ma? You’ve told us you’re leavin’, but that’s all you’ve said so far.’

Charity glanced again at Martha. She was still staring fixedly at Joe, unspeaking.

‘We wanna hear why you’re leavin’ and not stayin’ on here to help,’ Hiram went on. ‘Sam and I work from dawn till dusk, but no matter how hard we work, with coal down to eighty cents a ton, we’re not bringin’ home what we used to, and with the prices in the company store as high as they are, that’s makin’ life mighty difficult. We’ve needed the money you’ve been givin’ us; isn’t that so, Ma?’

Still Martha didn’t speak.

‘At seventeen, you’re a man. Most men would stick around and give their ma as much as they could each week,’ Hiram continued. ‘They’d wanna help their family out. Families pull together in hard times. But perhaps you don’t see yourself as part of this family.’

‘What kind of dumb thing to say is that?’ Joe said quietly.

‘Well, I for one have no complaints that he’s leavin’,’ Sam cut in. He strolled across to the table and sat down next to Hiram. ‘Think about it, Pa. He ain’t much use in a minin’ town if he won’t go down the mines. And what he brings in from Culpepper’s ain’t worth the havin’. With him gone, it’ll be one less mouth to feed. That’s what I’m thinkin’.’

‘I’m not walkin’ out on this family, like you’re tryin’ to say,’ Joe said, rounding angrily on his father and brother. ‘As a drover, I’ll be makin’ money and goin’ places where there’s nowhere to spend it, and I’m gonna be sendin’ money back home whenever I can. You can think about that, Sam.’

Sam laughed derisively. ‘If you’re anythin’ like the drovers I’ve met, you’ll spend every last dollar on whiskey and women. The first thing they do when they hit town with a buck in their pocket is head for the saloon and get all roistered up. We’ll see none of your wages. Yup, whiskey, women and cards, is where it’ll go. There’ll be nothin’ left over for your family. Or to pay for Charity’s keep.’

‘Charity pays her way and has done for a while now,’ Joe retorted, sharply. ‘She’s a good gal. She’s always cleanin’ the house, doin’ the washin’ and ironin’ and cookin’. I know everyone’s gotta work hard in a place like Carter, but not many ten-year-olds work as hard as she does.’

‘We know that, Joe,’ Hiram said.

‘And when she’s in school, she works hard, too. And when she’s not in school, she’s always lookin’ out for jobs she can get in town. And when she finds work, she gives every cent to Ma.’

‘Well, she would, wouldn’t she,’ Sam countered, ‘if she’s as smart as you always say she is? She knows she’s got somewhere to live for as long as she helps Ma and contributes. She’d hardly be dumb enough to risk gettin’ thrown out on to the street for complainin’ about havin’ to work too hard, would she? No one else around here would be loco enough to take her in. Except maybe the Chinamen who take on the gals for the tong.’

‘I don’t mind workin’ hard,’ Charity cut in. ‘Really I don’t.’ She looked anxiously at Martha.

‘’Course you don’t,’ Sam said, with a scornful laugh. ‘It’s all just hunky-dory.’

Joe looked from Charity to Martha. ‘She couldn’t work any harder than she does, and any more willingly. Say it fair, Ma?’

Martha glanced at Charity. ‘She’s a good worker, I’ll say that for her,’ she said, her tone grudging.

‘And I’ll be able to give you more money in future,’ Charity burst out. ‘I’ve got a regular job. That’s what I was gonna tell you. I’m gonna work in Ah Lee’s bakery three times a week – just for a couple of hours after school. I’ll be cleanin’ up in the back, and helpin’ with the pastries and things like that. I won’t be servin’ people ’cos I can’t speak Chinese. But Ah Lee knows a few words of English so he can tell me what to do. I know I didn’t wanna work in Chinatown or do anythin’ to help the Chinese, but it means I can give you money each week.’

‘Aren’t we a good little China gal,’ Sam said with a sneer.

‘Hobble your lip, Sam.’ Martha turned to Charity and gave her a slight smile. ‘I can’t say it won’t be welcome. Joe’s right – you’re a good gal, Charity.’ She turned her attention back to Joe. ‘So when are you off, then, son? Your clothes’ll have to be washed before you go.’

‘And that’s all you’re gonna say, Ma?’ Sam exclaimed in surprise. “‘When are you off then, son?’”

Martha glanced at Sam and Hiram, and then she looked back at Joe. Her face softened.

‘I always knew he’d leave us one day,’ she said, her eyes on Joe’s face. ‘He’s like me – he doesn’t belong here. He belongs where there’s green fields and fresh air. I knew he’d never go down the mines. Not just ’cos he said he wouldn’t, but ’cos of the way he’s been since he was born. I remember what he was like on the ranch.’

‘What’re you talkin’ about?’ Sam said with a scornful laugh. ‘He wasn’t even six when we left the ranch! I was eleven. I did more there than he ever did.’

‘And you hated every minute of it. Your brother had a real way with the animals, and he was always followin’ his uncle around, helpin’ with whatever they’d let him help with. If your pa hadn’t been bitten real bad by the gold-prospectin’ bug, we’d still be in Savery and Joe would be runnin’ the ranch by now. Not you, Sam – you’d have long gone from there.’

‘Maybe not.’ Sam’s voice was sullen.

‘I’m tellin’ you, you would’ve gone. You always hankered after a place with more people and with more town-like things to do. You didn’t wanna get on your horse and ride into town – you wanted to be livin’ in that town. Your pa, too. I’m not sayin’ your pa would’ve chosen to end up in a minin’ town like this – I know he wouldn’t’ve done – but he liked bein’ around people, not animals, and he preferred life in a town to life on a ranch. And you did, too. Not Joe, though, and I’m glad he’s gonna do what I know’s in his blood to do.’

‘Bein’ a cowboy’s not exactly ranchin’,’ Sam said caustically.

Hiram nodded. ‘Sam’s right, Joe.’

Joe shrugged his shoulders. ‘That’s as maybe. But from when I first started listenin’ to the cowboys as they passed through Carter on their way back home after months on the trail, and hearin’ their stories about life in the open and all the different places they’d seen, I’ve felt a real yen to lead that life, too. Their adventures fair set my blood on fire.’

‘If it’s adventures you wanna hear about, I’ll tell you about some of the things that’ve happened in the mines,’ Sam said dryly. ‘That’d really set your blood on fire.’

‘Now you leave him be, Sam. So when are you plannin’ on goin’, Joe?’ Martha asked again.

‘As soon as I can.’

Charity gasped.

‘A couple of weeks ago,’ Joe went on, his voice shaking slightly, ‘a guy called Monty Taylor stopped by the livery for a new harness. He mentioned he’d soon be bossin’ a herd of cattle up the trail to an Indian reservation in Montana, startin’ out from south of Cheyenne, and I told him I’d be interested in bein’ taken on. I’ve just gotten a Western Union wire from him, offerin’ me a job as trail hand for the summer. If I want it, I’ve gotta join them in Cheyenne in a couple of weeks.’

‘Cheyenne’s almost the other side of Wyoming. It’s quite a ride from here,’ Hiram remarked.

Joe nodded. ‘I’ve talked to folk, and I reckon I can do it in eight days. Mr Culpepper’s givin’ me a horse and an ordinary Texas saddle, the kind that cowboys use. It would’ve cost me sixty bucks. It’s mighty generous of him, but he says I’ve earned it.’

Hiram shrugged his shoulders and stood up. ‘Well, you’ve obviously decided what you’re gonna do, so there’s nothin’ more to be said.’ He turned away from Joe. ‘Sam and I will get cleaned up, Martha, and then we can all eat.’

Joe took a step towards him. ‘I’ve gotta do this, Pa, even though it tears at me to be leavin’ you all. Right now, I can’t even bear to think about it. I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but I wanna give it a try for a few years—’

‘Years!’ Charity’s cry of distress cut through his words. ‘Years?’

She dropped her lunch pail, flung the front door open and ran from the house.

‘But you always knew I’d go at some point, didn’t you?’ Joe said, sitting next to Charity at the top of the short gravelly slope that led down to the river. ‘I kept tellin’ you, didn’t I?’

She nodded, her face pale.

In silence, both stared at the water.

‘I suppose hearin’ someone tell you somethin’ is one thing; knowin’ it’s gonna happen, and happen real soon, is another. I’m right, aren’t I?’ he said at last.

‘I guess so.’ Her eyes remained on the river.

‘I know that ’cos I know how I feel. I’ve talked so long about leavin’, but now it’s really happenin’, and I’m gonna get on a horse mighty soon and ride away from you and my family, well, it ain’t gonna be easy. I’m gonna miss you all somethin’ bad,’ he added a few minutes later, breaking the silence that had fallen again.

She turned to him, her face accusing. ‘If you don’t go, you won’t have to miss us.’

He smiled at her. ‘Yup, that’s true. But I am goin’,’ he said gently. ‘Inside me I know I’ve gotta go, even though it’s tough to leave.’

‘I’ll miss you, Joe. I won’t have any friends. Mr and Mrs Oakland don’t even talk to me now. If they see me comin’ out of the house, they go back inside and I know they’re waitin’ till I’ve gone. No one in Carter will talk to me.’

‘You’d have a friend if you’d let yourself get to know the girl from the mercantile, like I’ve been suggestin’ for years. I can see you’re not gonna make friends among the white girls. They’ve always been unneighbourly to you, and that’s not likely to change, not now there’re even more Chinamen in Carter.’

‘I don’t like havin’ so many Chinamen here, either.’ She stuck out her lower lip.

He suppressed a smile. ‘Have you thought that Su Lin might be lonely? Most of the Chinamen’s wives seem to be back in China. Su Lin’s ma is the only Chinese wife in Carter, and Su Lin’s still the only Chinese kid here.’

‘Oh, no, you’re wrong, Joe. Some of the wives are here. I’ve seen them in the buildin’ at the bottom of Main Street near the railroad,’ she said earnestly.

He shifted awkwardly. ‘You mean in the tong,’ he said. ‘They’re no one’s wives, Charity; they’ve been brought in as company for the Chinamen. You keep away from them. Ma would tell you the same. Nope, you’re Su Lin’s only hope of havin’ a friend. Don’t you think you’ve held out for long enough?’

‘Maybe, maybe not,’ she said flatly. She folded her arms.

‘A kind person would make friends with her,’ he went on. ‘I know you’re a kind person, so why don’t you go into the general mercantile and talk to her? She and her family live in the rooms behind the store, like a lot of the other Chinese shopkeepers. Their bedrooms are above the store. It’s only the ones who don’t have shops who live in the shacks the company’s built between us and Second Street.’

She stared at him, frowning. ‘How d’you know where Chinamen live?’

‘Mr Culpepper told me. He’s gotten into the habit of goin’ along to the mercantile in the evenin’s from time to time, and if there’s a game of cards in one of the back rooms, he joins in. He likes somethin’ called fan-tan. Apparently, it’s about guessin’ the number of buttons under a cup. He can talk to Chen Fai, but he can’t understand the others and they can’t understand him. That doesn’t seem to matter, though. He said they sit around tables, smokin’ water pipes, and they understand all they need to.’

‘Why does he go there?’

Joe shrugged. ‘I guess he must like them. He doesn’t tell people in Carter, though, and you mustn’t either. He said Carter townsfolk wouldn’t like it, and he might lose some business if folk found out.’

‘I’m Carter townsfolk, too.’

He stared at her thoughtfully for a few minutes. ‘I can’t force you to do anythin’ you don’t want, Charity. I hope you’ll mind me and make a friend of Su Lin, but whether you do or not is up to you. I like to think of you havin’ someone to talk to when I’m gone, but that’s me bein’ selfish, I guess. I don’t like to think of you bein’ alone.’

‘Then don’t leave me alone,’ she said bluntly. ‘You said you might be gone for years. Don’t go, Joe. Please, don’t.’ A sob caught in her throat.

He turned slightly to face her. ‘Yup, it could be years. I’m not gonna lie to you about that. This drive will last roughly two and a half months from its start to the delivery at the end, and when it finishes, I’ll be at the top of Montana Territory. That’s a long way away. I’m keen to see the place, and also to see a bit more of Wyoming, so I thought I’d probably try to get on one of the fall round-ups.’

‘But you could come back after that, couldn’t you?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m afraid not. Wherever the fall drive ends, it’ll be a real long way from Carter, and with winter about to set in, I’ll immediately have to find somewhere to stay where I can work through the winter months.’

She stared at him. A tear trickled down her cheek.

‘Won’t I ever see you again?’ she asked, her voice a frightened whisper.

‘Sure you will,’ he said, and he laughed reassuringly. ‘You and the family are here, aren’t you? But I’m never again gonna live in Carter – I’ll never live in any minin’ town again. No, sir. Every day I’m drivin’ them cattle, I’m gonna be keepin’ my eyes open for a place where I’d be happy to settle. One day I’ll find it, and then you can all come and live with me. I’d like that.’

Her face broke into a broad smile. ‘You promise to let me come, too?’

‘I sure do,’ he said, his voice warm. ‘I found you, didn’t I? I didn’t leave you behind by the river and go back home on my own. Like I’ve said before, that makes me responsible for you. ’Course you might choose to stay on here, but that’d be up to you.’

‘I wouldn’t wanna stay here, Joe,’ she said eagerly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.

He smiled at her. ‘That’s what you think now, but in a few years you could think differently. You’ll be older by then and you might not wanna move to a place that’s far away. You might have a special friend here and wanna stay near your friend.’

She started to speak, but he put his finger gently to her lips.

‘I don’t mean the Chinese girl. I mean that someone might be courtin’ you. I reckon you’re gonna be real pretty, Charity, and if I’m away for years, by the time I come back you might be wed. You might even be a ma. Just think of that!’

She put her hand in front of her mouth, and giggled.

‘That just sort of came out,’ he said slowly. ‘But when I think about it, I suppose it’s not impossible,’ he added with a wry smile.

‘I’ll marry you, Joe, and I’ll always look after your house for you. I’ll keep it clean and make you cookies every day.’

He laughed. ‘A smart gal like you can do a lot better for yourself than someone like me. And now we’d better get back.’

He stood up and wiped the dust from the seat of his jeans. Charity stayed where she was. She pulled her knees up to her chin and hugged them to her.

He looked down at her, and a wave of emotion came over him. ‘I’ll come back and see you again, Charity,’ he said gravely. ‘I promise. But now,’ he added, forcing a cheerful note into his voice, ‘I want you to practise smilin’. I want a smile on your face when I ride off, ’cos that’s how I wanna remember you.’

Joe went wearily back into the house. Martha was sitting at the table. She glanced round at the sound of his steps.

‘She stopped cryin’ yet?’ she asked.

‘Just about,’ he said, sitting down opposite her. ‘But she wants to stay out there a bit longer.’ He looked at the empty chairs by the range. ‘Where’s Pa and Sam?’

‘In town.’

‘Figures.’ He paused. ‘I meant what I said, Ma; I’ll send you money from wherever I am, and one day I may even have a place of my own that you can come to if you wanna leave Carter. I know you’d like to live on a ranch again.’

Martha nodded. ‘I believe you mean that, son, but it’s easy to say now. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.’

He leaned across the table towards her. ‘Before I leave, I want you to promise me somethin’. It’s about Charity. She’s a good kid. She helps you all she can, and it’s not because she’s afear’d of bein’ thrown out.’

She gestured dismissively. ‘I know that. The gal’s got a kind heart.’

‘She’s earned her right to be here, and I want you to promise you’ll never let Pa and Sam turn her out, and that you’ll never do anythin’ to make her feel she’s gotta go. I want her here when I return, unless she’s wed, of course. And if she’s wed, I want it to be ’cos that’s what she wanted and not ’cos she thought you all wanted her out. You owe it to her. Promise me she’ll always have a home here.’

‘For my part, she will. And your pa’s too soft to force anyone out. But I can’t answer for Sam.’

‘Promise me you’ll not let him throw her out,’ he repeated, his voice hardening.

She stared at his face, at the set of his jaw. Her lips tightened into a thin line. ‘I promise you’ll find her here when you get back, unless she’s gotten wed; and if she has gotten wed, that it’ll have been her choice to have done so.’

He nodded in satisfaction, and sat back.

‘But that means you gotta come back, Joe.’