Winter Love Part 10

"Ah, honey, I'm so sorry," Laura began, but Maida held up a hand, stopping her. "I'm not finished, Laura. Let me tell it all once and for all. Hopefully, then I can put it out of my mind forever."

Laura nodded, and Maida continued. "That night after Ma had been buried back in the woods, I sat before the fire numb with grief, knowing that I must escape Festus but having no idea where to go after I ran away from him. Festus asked suddenly, 'How old are you, girl?' Without thinking, I answered that I was fourteen. 'h.e.l.l,' he swore, 'you're plenty old. Your small size has fooled me. You should have been bringing in money a long time ago.'"

"He stood up and jerked me to my feet. 'Come on to bed,' he ordered. I'll break you in tonight, get you ready to start entertaining my friends.' "

"When he started dragging me toward the bedroom, I thought of my mother dying in there and no way in h.e.l.l was he going to get me on that bed. I started struggling with him. I finally broke free. I wrenched open the door and his hands missed me by inches as I dove into the darkness. I heard the door slam and the latch click. He had locked me out. 'When you change your mind, I'll let you back in,' he yelled from inside. I didn't bother to yell back that I'd let the wolves eat me before I would ever go back to him."

"It was raining, one of those steady, soaking rains, and in minutes I was wet to the skin. Shivering, my teeth chattering, I crawled beneath a big pine tree and huddled up dose to its trunk. And that is where Daniel found me. I don't think I'll ever forget how the water-laden branches of my hiding place were suddenly parted and I saw this bear of a man peering down at me. He was bearded and s.h.a.ggy-haired, but by the light of the lantern he carried I could see his eyes and they were warm and kind. I trusted him right off."

" 'What are you doing out here in the rain, young'un?', he asked."

"I didn't want to tell him everything, so all I said was, 'My stepfather locked me out of the cabin.' I saw those kind-looking eyes turn real mean-looking then. He helped me from under the tree, saying that he wanted to see what kind of b.a.s.t.a.r.d would do that to a young'un. When we got to the cabin he practically kicked the door open. I guess Festus thought one of his friends had come calling when the door banged open. He stood up with a wide smile on his face. It was wiped off real fast, though, when he saw Daniel's angry face and heard him demand, 'Is this your young'un?' "

" 'Kind of,' Festus answered uneasily. Her and her ma have been living with me. We buried her ma today.' "

" 'What's she doin' out there in the rain, without a coat or boots? She's near froze.' Daniel took a threatening step toward Festus. 'She could come in anytime she wanted to.' Festus took a step back. 'All she had to do was say she would mind me.' "

" 'What was it she wouldn't obey you about tonight?' Daniel growled at him. Before Festus could tell him some lie, I hurried up and told him everything. How he had treated my mother and his intention to rape me tonight. Daniel stared real hard at Festus for a long time. Then he turned to me and asked, 'Are you warmed up yet, gal?' I nodded, and he said, 'Bundle yourself up. I'm takin' you out of here.' "

"Festus started yelling and swearing and went for his hunting knife. Quick as lightning Daniel jerked a knife out of his belt anti met Festus head-on. The long blade pierced Festus's heart, and he fell to the floor, blood trickling out of his mouth and nose."

"We left the cabin as soon as I got my coat and boots on. Daniel lingered long enough to set fire to the building, explaining that if anyone came along they would think that me and Festus had lost our lives in the fire."

"He took me to this deserted cabin he'd been living in about ten miles away. We spent the summer there, just lazin' around, hunting and fishing, getting to know each other. Then when fall approached we packed up and trekked along Lake Superior for about fifteen miles where we stopped and Daniel built a cabin. When the first freeze came, Daniel set out his trapline in the new territory."

Maida paused and looked at Laura, who had long since laid down the scissors, giving her en-tire attention to Maida. Maida continued then with some shyness. "Daniel knew I had been scarred by what Festus had done to my ma, the men and all, and he waited until I was sixteen before he asked me to go to bed with him."

Humor gleamed in Maida's eyes. "Our first time together was an experience, I tell you. I was as wary as a young doe, scared but still wanting Daniel to make love to me. You see, I had been in love with him for a long time. He was ever so gentle with me, taking his time, stroking and kissing me all over. He got me so roused up I hardly felt the pain when he broke through my maidenhead."

It grew quiet in the room. Maida had finally wound down, and Laura was too amazed to speak. What a life this young girl has lived, she thought. She had already experienced more than most women would in a lifetime. And how lucky she was to have Daniel, big and rough and yet so gentle when it came to his gal.

Maida broke the silence, saying very seriously, "I have never told my story to anyone else, Laura. I trust you will not repeat it."

"You have my word of honor I will never speak of it to anyone," Laura answered just as seriously.

The subject was dropped as though it had never come up, and Laura picked up the scissors and began cutting out the dress that Maida would wear to Justine's wedding.

"I suppose Fletch will be taking Milly to the party," Laura said after a while, trying to sound as though she didn't care whom he brought.

"I imagine she'll manage that," Maida said dryly. "But Daniel says he doesn't want her hanging around us. He really doesn't like her. We both know that she only pretends to be our friend so that she can come to the cabin every night to see Fletch." She gave a short amused laugh. "About all she says to me all evening is h.e.l.lo and good-bye. The rest of the time she's fawning all over Fletch."

There was a slight catch in Laura's voice when she said, "Milly always did want to marry him."

"Daniel says that she will never get him to the altar; that he would never marry a piece of used goods like her."

Laura grasped Daniel's prediction and hung on to it as though it were gospel. She suddenly felt more lighthearted than she had in a long time.

A short time later she laid the scissors down and smiled. "Well, Maida, your dress is cut out. Are you handy with a needle?"

"Not very," Maida apologised. "My ma always did most of the sewing. I do sew a straight st.i.tch, though."

"That's fine. You can help baste the pieces together so that we can see how it's going to fit before the permanent st.i.tches are put in."

It was nearly four o'clock, time for both women to start their evening meals, when they left off working on the first stage of the dress. Even though it only hung together by long, loose st.i.tches, it was taking shape. Maida's eyes danced with excitement. It would be her first new dress in a long time.

"How long do you think it will take to finish it?" she asked as she pulled on her heavy, short coat.

"I should think a couple days will do it. I'll work on it this evening, finish the basting. What will take the most time is working the b.u.t.tonholes."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes. I'll look forward to seeing you, Maida. I've enjoyed our afternoon together."

"Me too." Maida's eyes looked suspiciously wet. "I've never had a woman friend to talk to before."

They stood talking a minute longer, Maida suggesting that she and Daniel walk to the church with Laura, then stay together at the party. It had not escaped the kind girl's notice how Laura was shunned by the women of the settlement.

When Maida had gone, her eyes bright and her step bouncy, Laura checked the pot of ham and beans that had been simmering all afternoon. They were done, and she lifted the pot to the back of the stove to keep warm.

She nursed Jolie, then began getting Taylor's supper together. Since that time Fletch had walked into the cabin, she kept watch at the kitchen window, watching for him to come toward the cabin to pick up the basket that held Taylor's evening meal. When she'd see him open the store door she would set the basket outside on the porch, then bar the door against him.

It kept him out, but she could hear his mocking laughter as he walked back to the post. He knew that she didn't trust herself to be alone with him.

Chapter Ten.

Laura awakened to bright sunlight shining through her bedroom window. She smiled and stretched her arms toward the ceiling. It was going to be a beautiful day for Justine and Tommy's wedding.

The ceremony was to take place at four o'clock, and the party would begin at seven. She ticked off in her mind the things she had to do before the big event.

She had promised Maida to help her with her hair. She had to wrap up a set of sheets and pillowcases, her wedding gift. She had suggested to Maida that she might give the newlyweds a nice warm blanket and she wondered if the teenager had remembered to purchase it.

Maida was almost as excited as Justine about the wedding.

Laura smiled ruefully. Pa had suggested the most important thing on her list: someone to watch Jolie while she was in church. She had thought he was joking when he said, "Why don't you ask Bertha to come over and sit with Jolie? She'd jump at the chance."

"Oh, sure," she'd laughed. "I can just see a wh.o.r.e taking care of my daughter." When Taylor didn't laugh back, she knew he was serious. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Pa." She frowned.

"Why not? Bertha is one of the finest women I know. I grant you she's loud and don't act like a lady, but she's got one of the softest hearts you could find in any woman."

"But, Pa, she... "

"Not anymore, she don't. She hasn't taken a man to bed in ten years."

"But what about the girls who work for her?"

"You want to know something about those girls?" Taylor said, his voice a little sharp. "Every last one of them would be dead by now if Bertha hadn't taken them off the streets in Detroit and brought them here. They were sleeping in doorways, alleys, anyplace they could find, until Bertha came along. It's too late for them to find a husband and raise a family, but you can be sure that before they found themselves doing anything to keep alive, they dreamed of a different life. A man to love them, children to tend to, respectability."

Laura had never thought of the wh.o.r.es in that vein before. She had always imagined that they had deliberately chosen such a life. "I guess I'd better go talk to Bertha," she thought out loud "But Pa could be mistaken. The redheaded madam might not want to be bothered with a baby."

Laura sat up, swung her feet to the floor, and shoved her feet into her moccasins. She grabbed up her robe and shrugged into it as she left the chilly bedroom. She hurried to the fireplace and stirred up the fire. After adding several lengths of wood to the red coals, she checked on Jolie all wrapped up in her cradle. When she touched the smooth little cheeks and found them warm she went into the kitchen and after building a fire in the stove, put a pot of coffee to brewing.

By the time she got dressed, nursed Jolie, and had breakfast, Jebbie Morse was knocking on the door, ready to milk the cow.

As she handed him the pail she asked, "When you've finished milking, would you sit with Jolie for a short while? I have an errand to do."

Jebbie readily agreed. He was used to babies always being around. It seemed his mother, Agnes, had one about every year. He could handle them as deftly as any mother.

It was a cold and still day, and Laura buried her chin in the collar of her heavy jacket as she stepped off the porch and headed toward the cabin tucked in the pines back of the post. She wondered how many curious eyes were watching her from behind curtains and asking themselves what in the world was that shameless Laura Thomas doing, going to the madam's house. A sour smile darkened her eyes. The women would get together later in the day and tell each other that she was working for Bertha now.

As she knocked on Bertha's heavy door, Laura glanced at the lantern with its red chimney, hanging on the wall. Its light had been blown out, not to be lit again until nightfall. She remembered the many nights as a young girl she had lain in her attic room staring at the red glow, watching the men come and go, and wondering what went on in the pleasure house.

She had a pretty good idea now of what went on, thanks to Fletcher Thomas.

Bertha looked startled when she opened the door and saw Laura standing there. Laura looked just as startled. The madam's face was clean of the heavy powder and paint it showed to the public, and the fading red hair was done up in paper curlers. Her uncorseted figure was quite lumpy beneath the loose woolen robe she wore.

She looks like some child's grandmother, Laura thought when she got over her shock.

"I thought you were one of the girls coming back from the privy," Bertha said, disgruntled about her appearance.

Laura remembered that the madam and her girls kept different hours than the rest of the village. "I'm sorry, Bertha, I shouldn't have come so early. I'll come back later."

"Nonsense." Bertha motioned her inside. "I'm sure you won't spread the word that Bertha Higgins looks like an old hag before she gets her war paint on."

"Of course I won't," Laura said, shrugging out of her hip-length coat, "and you don't look like an old hag. You look like the rest of the women in the village. I like you without your war paint."

"I do get tired of wearing it, but it's expected of me." She pulled a chair away from the table. "I just brewed a pot of coffee. Sit down and tell me why you've come calling while we have a cup."

While Bertha placed sugar and cream on the table, then poured the coffee, Laura glanced around the large room. There wasn't a housewife in the village who kept a cleaner kitchen. It was immaculate, from the polished black range to the well-scrubbed floor.

When the aging madam took a seat across from her, Laura pulled the sugar bowl toward her, saying, "If you say no to what I'm going to ask of you, Bertha, I'll understand. Would you sit with Jolie while I'm at church this afternoon? Justine Fraser and Tommy Weatherford are getting married and I'm standing up with Justine."

For several seconds Bertha stared at Laura in total surprise. Then, her face beaming with a wide smile, she said, "I'd be honored to, Laura. I haven't held a baby since I used to help out with my younger brothers and sisters at home."

"Then you've never been married or had a family of your own?"

Bertha looked down at her coffee, shaking her head. "I almost got married when I was sixteen." She looked up at Laura. "My birthday present that year was to lose my entire family, plus my intended, to influenza. Half our village was wiped out."

"What a heartbreaking thing to happen to you," Laura exclaimed softly, laying her hand on Bertha's.

Bertha nodded. "It near killed me. Our family was very close to each other, and I loved Ben dearly."

After a short silence Laura said, "I know you couldn't replace your family, but couldn't you have found another young man to love after a while?"

Bertha gave a short, mirthless laugh. "I didn't have the time or the inclination to look for love again. I had to worry about keeping body and soul together. There were no jobs to be had in our little village, and everyone there was too poor to take in another mouth to feed. So..." Bertha took a deep breath. "I packed my duds in an old leather satchel and headed for Detroit, about fifteen miles away. I was sure I'd find employment there. I didn't know that times were bad then, and that jobs were just as scarce in that big city as they were at home. Finally, when I was near to starving, down to the last sandwich I had brought along with me, I found a job, working in a tavern, serving drinks to the drunks that stumbled in. The pay was miserly, hardly enough to rent a room my ma wouldn't have kept her chickens in, and furnish me with one scant meal a day. What with the hard work and poor meals, I began to lose weight and felt sickly all the time."

Bertha looked up at Laura and said, "That's when I started selling my body." There was a defensive tone in her voice.

"I am so sorry, Bertha," Laura said over the tears that had welled up in her throat as she listened to the story of the big woman's hard life. One never knew what paths might lie ahead of them.

Bertha shrugged. "It wasn't too bad. I hated it at first and I felt so ashamed. But after a while it became just a job that furnished me better living quarters and all the food I wanted. But always I wanted to get out of the business, get out of the back streets of Detroit. I longed for the clean wooded hills of the country."

A rueful smile curved Bertha's lips. "It was a long time coming, but I finally convinced those four women sleeping in there to strike out with me. We landed here in Big Pine."

"Are you ever sorry you settled here?"

"Never. This is truly G.o.d's country, and though me and the girls are mostly shunned by the women in the village, we love it here."

"I know what it feels like to be shunned," Laura said with a wry smile. "It hurts."

"Don't let it, Laura. You have a friend in that Justine girl, and that little Maida thinks the world of you. She doesn't think the sun comes up until you're out of bed. Two such good friends are worth a hundred acquaintances who will turn on you without mercy."

"You're right, of course, and I'll get used to the noses that are turned up at me. Well," Laura said as she pushed her empty cup away, "I'd better get home. Jebbie Morse is with Jolie, and I imagine he's getting impatient for me to get back. Besides, I have a lot of things to do before four o'clock. For one thing, I have to wash this mop of hair." She fingered her black cuffs.

"So," she said, standing up, "shall I look for you around three o'clock?" "I'll be there." Bertha nodded as she opened the door for her.

The day went swiftly for Laura as she straightened up the cabin, and put a beef roast in the oven for Taylor's supper. After she nursed Jolie and changed her into clean, dry clothes, she packed Taylor's lunch of ham sandwiches in the basket, ready to set outside the minute she saw Fletch leave the post.

It was almost two o'clock by the time she got around to washing her hair and brushing the curls dry before the fire. She had just donned her new blue brocade when the clock struck three and Bertha knocked on the door.

"My, my, you're gonna knock everybody's eyes out, you look so beautiful," Bertha said as she stepped inside. She looked the dress over and said pensively, "I should have kept that dress material. It sure made up pretty."

"Jolie is sleeping now." Laura helped Bertha out of her fur coat. "She may sleep all the time I'm gone."

"I hope not," Bertha said, going over to the cradle and looking down at the baby. "I'll be disappointed if I don't get to hold her."

"If she doesn't wake up, you'll have to come visiting some morning when she's awake." Laura smiled at the madam, whose face wasn't as painted as it usually was. Nor was her dress as flamboyant as usual. Bertha looked almost respectable, Laura thought with a smile.

"I'd like that just fine." Bertha sat down in a rocker and opened a book she had brought with her.

Maida, who had been waiting on tenterhooks, excited to get her new dress on, jerked the door open before Laura could knock. "I've kept my robe on because I knew you were going to wash my hair and Ex it," she explained, ushering Laura inside.

"Yes, I am." Laura smiled and held up a bar of the rose-scented soap Taylor always ordered for her from Detroit. She reached into her pocket and brought out two strips of green ribbon. "This is for your hair."

"Oh, Laura, I've never had ribbons for my hair before." Maida lovingly fingered the velvet strips.