Chapter Twenty-Six

Early May, 1885

Light on sleep after weeks of heavy riding, Joe’s tired gaze swept across the plain that was frosted lilac in the chill of the dying day, to Carter Town. His weary eyes traced the charcoal-grey outline of the roofs and the jagged shapes of the rocky peaks behind them, shadowy structures that reached up and slowly dissolved into the darkening sky.

His first glimpse of the town for more than seven years.

As he sat there, his mind went back to the many times he’d wandered across the plain as a lad – sometimes alone, sometimes with Charity – and a wave of strong emotion ran through him. His family was out there among that haze of grey wooden houses, and he was going to be seeing them soon. And suddenly that felt very strange.

Chilled to the bone at having taken to the saddle as soon as dawn had begun to streak the leaden sky with bands of yellow-grey light, and at having ridden hard all day, as he’d done each day since he’d left the ranch, he hugged his arms around himself to bring heat to his body as he stared at the town ahead.

Then he turned slightly to the right. His eyes followed the indistinct line of the gully carved out by the river, the view broken at intervals by the row of miners’ houses with their stovepipe chimneys. Day after day, he’d panned for gold in that water, he remembered, his heart brim-full with the hope of the young. It may have been years ago, but it was as alive in his mind as if it had been yesterday.

Beneath the red bandanna wrapped around the lower part of his face for warmth, he smiled.

He really ought to complete his journey before he got much colder, he thought, but sitting there in the deep silence of the gathering darkness, gazing across the plain as its mantle deepened into a purplish hue, he felt a strange reluctance to move.

It was nervousness, he knew. There would be many changes in Carter that he already knew about, but there were sure to be others he didn’t.

The letters he’d gotten from Charity had kept Carter vivid in his mind, but they would have told only a part of what had happened over the years, just as his letters had merely skimmed the surface of his life. The lad of seventeen, who’d cinched his horse and ridden away from the town to become a cowboy, was a very different person from the man who was returning. So, too, there would have been significant changes in the town and, more importantly, in those he was about to meet again.

And that was a daunting thought.

The wind changed direction and he shivered. He’d forgotten how cold the spring evenings could be.

His ma and pa would show signs of age, and in addition his pa would show the effects of his mining accident. Sam would probably still be Sam. Becoming the head of a family of his own, and renting his own house, might have mellowed him a bit, and he’d like to think it would have done, but he wasn’t about to wager any money on it.

And as for Charity … well, she’d still be a young girl, although not quite as young as when he’d left, and she’d be taller, for sure.

He grinned to himself as he pictured the wide beam that would spread across her face when she opened the door and saw him standing there, and the outpouring of excitement that would follow. Seeing her again was going to be one of the best things about coming home.

A sudden longing to complete his journey swept away his nervousness. He clapped his gloved hands together to bring some warmth back into them, gathered the reins and pressured the horse’s flanks with the heels of his brown leather boots. As the horse eagerly picked up pace, he urged it faster and faster until soon he was galloping hell-bent across the mottled ground that lay between him and his family.

And then he was back in Carter.

With his harness slung over one shoulder, his leather saddle bag over the other, and the brim of his Stetson hooding his eyes against the cold, Joe pulled the bandanna down from his face, knocked on the door of the wooden house and took a step back.

In his mind’s eye, he pictured Charity’s expression when she opened the door. He could almost touch the excitement he felt.

From inside the house, he heard steps coming towards the door. The door started to open. His face broke out into a smile. The door opened wider. Caught in shadow, a slight figure stood in the doorway.

It wasn’t Charity; it was his mother.

He felt the sharp stab of disappointment.

His smile faded slightly and he stood motionless as his mother stared at him, one hand on the door, the other on its wooden frame.

As he felt her questioning gaze on his face – the face of a man, not a boy; a face shadowed by the brim of a hat and several days’ growth of beard – a huge surge of love swept through him for the woman in front of him, her dark brown hair now streaked with grey, her face etched with lines of worry that hadn’t been there the last time he’d seen her.

His smile broadened again.

She blinked a couple of times. Then her face cleared and broke out into a smile of pure joy.

‘Joe.’ His name was a long low sigh of delight. She brought her hands together in front of her mouth. ‘You’re my Joe.’

Love filled her face, and with a cry, she stepped forward into the arms he’d opened wide for her. His arms closed around her and he hugged her tightly.

Still embracing her, he stepped into the house, pushed the door shut behind him with the heel of his boot, hugged her more tightly and then dropped his arms. Slipping the leather bag off his shoulder, he let it fall to the floor and threw the harness on top of it. Then he took off his hat, hung it on a peg by the door and turned to his mother.

‘That’s better,’ he said. ‘Now let’s have a look at you, Ma.’ He put a hand on each of her shoulders and held her at arms’ length. ‘Why, I do believe you look just the same as on the day when I left, if not a bit younger.’

Laughing, she moved back. ‘I see you’ve picked up a real sweet way of talkin’,’ she said, tucking some loose grey hairs into the bun that hung low on the back of her head. ‘It don’t fool me, though. The years have left their mark on me, just like they have on your pa.’ She nodded towards the chair in the corner of the room near the potbelly stove.

Joe turned from his mother and saw Hiram. He had risen to his feet and was leaning on his stick, smiling at him, silent tears rolling down his cheeks.

He took a step towards him. ‘Pa,’ he said, and he stopped, his voice catching in his throat as he saw the stance of the man whose back had been straight when he’d left and whose face had been free of the damage wrought by pain.

‘Your pa’s leg’s never really healed,’ Martha said quietly. ‘That’s the mine for you; not that we’re complainin’ – at least they’ve taken him on again. That’s Sam’s doin’. It’s more than’s happened to some who’ve had accidents.’

In a moment, Joe was at his father’s side, his arms around him. ‘I missed you, Pa,’ he said, emotion cracking his voice. ‘I sure missed both you and Ma.’

Hiram pulled back and stared up into Joe’s face, tracing his features with eyes full of tears. ‘There was a time I thought I’d never see you again, son,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘They were dark days, indeed.’

‘Well, you were wrong, weren’t you? I’m here now, aren’t I?’ Joe said. ‘Here, sit down. I’ll help you.’ And he helped Hiram back into his chair.

‘You both sit down while I finish gettin’ the dinner ready. You’ll be fair hungry, I reckon, after all that ridin’, Joe.’

He grinned at her. ‘You reckon aright,’ he said, and he sat down opposite his father. He glanced towards the corridor leading to the bedrooms. ‘I didn’t expect to see Sam here now as I know he’s got a place of his own, but where’s Charity? I figured she’d be in by now, helpin’ with the dinner.’

‘She’ll be back real soon,’ Martha called, coming out of the store-closet. ‘She still does a few hours for Ah Lee, as well as her hours in the mercantile. But I expect you know that.’

‘She always was a hardworkin’ kid,’ Joe remarked. ‘But she still found time to write and I’ll always be grateful to her for that. I’ve never felt as far from you as I was at times ’cos I’ve always known what’s goin’ on. Like Sam gettin’ wed. And now a pa, too!’ He laughed. ‘I really can’t see him as anyone’s pa. D’you see much of him these days?’

‘Rather more than we’d expected,’ Hiram said dryly. ‘He’s got a house further down the row in the new houses and he stops by most nights on his way back home. Wants us to think it’s to talk about minin’ things, but your ma and I reckon it’s to cut down on the amount of time he has to spend with that wife of his. She’s got a sharp tongue on her, has Phebe.’

‘And a real cheerless way of lookin’ at things,’ Martha called. ‘We didn’t see that at first. When she started walkin’ out with Sam, she seemed a pleasant enough gal. If he’d kept walkin’ a mite bit longer, he might’ve seen the other side of her before it was too late.’

Joe glanced round at her. ‘I’m pickin’ up that you and Pa don’t like her.’

‘I wouldn’t put it as strong as that,’ Martha said, taking some flapjacks from a stoneware storage jar and putting them on to a dish. ‘We don’t really know the gal.’

Hiram shrugged. ‘Like your ma says, we don’t know her. We’ve not seen enough of her to know one way or the other. They hardly ever came here when they were walkin’ out together so we didn’t get to know her afore they wed, and nothin’ much has changed since.’

‘Only time we see her is when she wants somethin’,’ Martha said, going across to Joe and pulling a stool to the side of his chair. ‘She’s here fast enough when she’s run out of food, or when she wants us to mind the boy, or when she wants help with the washin’, but that’s about it.’ She put the plate of flapjacks and a glass of milk on to the stool. ‘Dinner isn’t quite ready. You get that down you while you’re waitin’.’

‘Thanks, Ma.’ He took a flapjack, and bit into it. ‘My, these are tasty. I’d forgotten what a good cook you are.’ He took another bite. ‘Phebe can’t have been the only gal around,’ he went on, ‘so how come Sam married her? Sam was a good-lookin’ lad, and I’m guessin’ he’s the same as a man, so surely he could have had his pick.’

Hiram leaned back. ‘And that’s what he had. She’s a real pretty gal, I’ll say that for her. One look at her blonde hair and blue eyes, and Sam was actin’ like a lovesick pup. But after a few months, he started to see that Phebe had quite a tongue on her and was given to complainin’, and she suddenly stopped lookin’ quite so pretty to him. He told me he was fair worn out by the naggin’ and he was gonna stop callin’ on her. After all, they hadn’t got an understandin’ in so many words.’

‘And if he’d limited himself to walkin’ and talkin’, he could’ve done just that,’ Martha said, bitterness in her voice.

Hiram shrugged. ‘Your ma’s right. By the time he’d seen beyond the pretty face, it was too late, and he did the only thing he could – he wed her before her pa had time to load his rifle.’

‘Let that be a lesson to you, Joe,’ Martha said sharply. ‘Sam should’ve kept his trousers done up.’

He laughed. ‘I’ll remember that, Ma.’ He shifted his position. ‘I must say, I never thought I’d find myself feelin’ sorry for Sam, but listenin’ to you both, I do.’

‘Changin’ the subject, does Seth know you’re here?’ Hiram asked as Martha went back to the kitchen area, pulled out a drawer and started taking out some cutlery.

Joe nodded. ‘I looked in at the stable before comin’ here, and I left my horse and bedroll there. The stable lad’s gonna wipe him down, grain him and find him a clean bed to lie in. After that, he’s gonna take a message across to Seth, tellin’ him I’ll be callin’ on him first thing tomorrow. Or second thing rather,’ he said, ruefully rubbing his hand across his chin. ‘I reckon my first visit’s gotta be to the barber’s to get my face shaven. It wasn’t easy to shave myself on the ride from Ellsworth.’

‘Seth’ll be mighty pleased to see you. And Eliza, too,’ Martha said, carrying the cutlery and plates across to the table. ‘There’s a room at the back of the livery for you to use if you need to stop there the night, but there’ll always be a meal for you here and a bed. You must do whatever’s best for you, lad.’

‘Best for me is stayin’ with my ma and pa and gettin’ to know them again,’ Joe said, smiling at Martha and Hiram. ‘I’m sure there’ll be times when I stretch out in the back room at the stable, but for as long as I’m home, home is where I wanna sleep whenever possible.’

Martha beamed at him. ‘After Sam wed, I moved Charity into the room you used to share with Sam, but you must have your room back.’

‘Leave Charity where she is, Ma. I’ll take her old room. It’s still cold at nights, and it will be for a while yet. She’ll be warmer inside the house. And also, I’ll have to be at the stable on bad nights, keepin’ a watchful eye on the horses – we may well have some more storms and late snow blizzards. Nope; you leave Charity where she is. I prefer to think of her bein’ inside the house.’

‘Well, I will, if you’re happy with that,’ Martha said, starting to put the cutlery around the table. ‘She’s a lucky gal.’

‘I guess you won’t have heard yet, Joe!’ Hiram suddenly exclaimed.

‘Heard what?’

‘That Charity’s gettin’ wed. Chen Fai offered for her a few weeks ago, just after she wrote to you. Not that we were surprised – he set his little black cap at her the moment he knew he wouldn’t be able to marry that gal of his in China. He either had to go huntin’ in one of the other towns around here that’s fillin’ up with the Chinee, or marry Charity. He’s got big ideas for the store, and he obviously wants a wife real bad, and a son to take over the store one day.’

‘But we were a bit surprised he offered for Charity when he did,’ Martha said, looking up, ‘even though they’d been walkin’ out for years.’ She straightened up. ‘Your pa and I think he might have been pushed into it by the arrival of Ah Lee’s son. He’s just moved into Carter, and like Chen Fai, he could be thinkin’ about gettin’ himself a wife. And we figure Chen Fai might have thought that, too.’

‘But isn’t she a bit young to think of marryin’?’ Joe asked in surprise. ‘I know I’ve been gone a bit, but she’s still not much more than a kid.’

‘She’s seventeen now – same age as you were when you rode off,’ Martha said dryly. ‘You were old enough to know what you wanted, and so is she. Chen Fai seems a kind, gentle sort of man, and I’m sure he’ll always be good to her.’

‘Your ma’s right about the man,’ Hiram said. He grinned at Martha. ‘And it’s nothin’ to do with the fact that he gives us presents and smiles and bows to us real nice. At least, he used to when he was able to come by here.’

Martha made a noise of impatience. ‘You’re bein’ silly, Hiram Walker. I don’t take note of things like that. I like him; that’s all. And it makes sense, him and Charity gettin’ wed. She’s gotta marry someone and it means she’ll stay in Carter and we’ll be able to watch her babes grow up. I’ve gotten used to her bein’ here and I wouldn’t want to see her go miles away.’

‘I like him, too,’ Hiram said. ‘But I don’t underestimate him. For all his kindly ways, I reckon there’s a streak of iron runnin’ down the centre of the man, and I don’t think I’d wanna cross him. Mind you, havin’ a streak of iron’s not a bad thing these days. You have to be tough to keep a Chinese business going in a town where they hate the Chinee.’

Martha stood still and stared at him in surprise. ‘I don’t know why you should think like that about him; he’s never been anythin’ but kind and helpful to us.’

‘You’re right about that. But when you sit for long stretches of time, as I did afore I returned to the mine, you get to watchin’ people, and you see things you’d never’ve seen if you’d bin workin’ every hour of the day. From the moment it was clear Chen Fai had intentions towards Charity, I’ve been watchin’ him. I’m fond of the gal and I wouldn’t wanna see her wed to the wrong man.’

‘Nor would I,’ Martha retorted. ‘But I believe he genuinely likes her.’

‘So do I. And things bein’ as they are in Carter today, I figure he’s the right man to be at her side. I’m just sayin’ that I wouldn’t wanna be the person who tried to cross him.’

‘I know she won’t be goin’ far, but I guess you’ll miss her when she’s no longer livin’ here,’ Joe said. ‘Both of you will. She helps you with the chores, Ma, and I know she still reads to you whenever she can, Pa.’

Martha stopped laying the table, and stared at Joe. ‘To speak true, I’m glad she’s gonna leave here and live at the mercantile.’

‘How come?’ Joe asked in surprise. ‘She’s a great help to you.’

‘The whites don’t like us havin’ a China woman in the house. They’ve been making that very clear for years now, and the more Chinee who settle here, the worse it gets. Most whites don’t speak to us any more, and that includes the Oaklands next door. They all wanna see the Chinee driven out of Carter, and us after them. I just worry where it’ll end. When Charity moves out, I reckon I’ll feel more comfortable goin’ into the town than I do now. But you’re right; I’ve got used to her help, and I’m gonna miss it.’

‘I know Chinese wives live with their husband’s family,’ Joe said, ‘and they often don’t see their own family again. But despite her blood, she’s more American than Chinese, and I’m sure she’ll come back and give you a hand from time to time.’

‘I don’t want her to,’ Martha said bluntly. ‘Like you said, she’s not so Chinese she’ll let herself be cut off from the people that brought her up, and she’s told me she’ll come back and help. But it’s better for us if she doesn’t.’

‘I didn’t know things had gotten so bad between the whites and the Chinese,’ Joe said slowly.

‘Well, they have,’ Martha said, putting the plates down on the table.

‘When’s the weddin’?’ he asked after a few minutes.

Martha shrugged. ‘You’ll have to ask Charity that. She hasn’t told us yet. I don’t know if they’ve even decided. And I don’t know where they’ll wed. There’s a Chinese priest in Carter now, but there’s no temple in town, or joss-house, which is what Charity said they call their church. They use the tong for anythin’ to do with religion, and for just about everythin’ else it seems, so I guess it’ll happen there. Chen Sing had a wife when he arrived in Carter, so we’ve never had a Chinese weddin’ here. And if there had been one,’ she added, ‘I still wouldn’t know how they went about it as the whites would’ve kept far away.’

Joe shook his head. ‘I’m findin’ it real hard to think of little Charity gettin’ wed.’

Martha raised her eyebrows slightly, then went across to the sink, picked up an earthenware pitcher, felt the temperature of the water inside with her finger, and poured some of the water into a bowl in the sink. ‘There’s some water to wash in,’ she said. ‘I’ll fill the tub after we’ve eaten and you can have a bath then.’

‘Thanks, Ma.’ He paused. ‘Learnin’ about Charity’s a bit of a surprise, I must confess. But at least I already know just about all the other changes I’m gonna find in Carter.’

‘Don’t be too sure about that. You’ve been gone a long time, Joe. Readin’ about it is one thing; seein’ it for yourself is another.’

‘There were two mines when I left, and now there’re four, so I’m expectin’ the town to be bigger and dirtier. And I imagine that means even more work for the Marshal.’

‘You’re right about the size. But it’s not just the whites’ part of town that’s grown; Chinatown’s bigger too. And I don’t know if Charity told you, but the whites have gotten themselves a club and it’s stirrin’ up hatred in town. It’s one of the reasons why things have gotten worse. But you’ve plenty of time to catch up, son. Come and wash while the water’s still warm, and then sit at the table. You, too, Hiram. The meal’s ready and we can start eatin’.’

‘What about Charity?’ Joe asked, getting up.

‘She’ll be home any minute. Just put your things against the back wall, out of the way, will you?’

Joe helped Hiram to his feet and they went to the sink. When they’d finished washing, Hiram sat down at the table while Joe went and picked up his bag and harness from the floor and carried them to the back of the room. Just as he reached the rear wall, he heard a sound outside the front door. He felt a surge of excitement. Dropping his things on the floor, he spun round to face the door.

It swung open, and Charity entered, a rush of cold air blowing in with her.

‘It sure is chilly this evenin’,’ she said, hastily pushing the door shut behind her. ‘I’m beginnin’ to think it’ll never be hot again.’ She pulled off her coat, hung it on the peg next to the door, turned to face the room, a smile on her face – and saw Joe.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her smile faded.

Her arms fell to her sides and she took a few steps towards him. Then she stopped walking, put her hands to her mouth and stared at him in wonder, her dark eyes drinking him in.

‘Oh, Joe,’ she said, her voice a whisper that escaped between her fingers. ‘You’re back.’

He stood there, unable to move, his eyes on her face.

‘Why, you’re beautiful, Charity,’ he said at last, his voice coming from somewhere far away from him. ‘Real beautiful.’