A Man for Temperance (Wagon Wheel) (26 page)

A knock sounded and she started. Quickly she got up and paused for a moment to be sure that her mind was clear. When she opened the door, she found Thad standing there.

“What are you doing—taking turns with Quaid?”

“No, just have something I want to say to you.”

“Do you want to come in?”

He shook his head. “No, I know you don’t want to be around me, but there’s something I got to say.” Taking a deep breath, he looked down at her, and for a moment the silence was broken by only the slapping of the paddle wheels on the water and the cry of a night bird that haunted the edge of the river.

“I didn’t say it right when you asked me how I felt about you, Temperance. I do feel sorry for you, but then I feel sorry for myself. I made a wreck out of my life.” His lips grew hard, and his eyes had an unusual sadness. “But you made me do one good thing. Helping get these children to someone who will care for them has been the only decent thing I’ve ever done.”

Temperance suddenly realized that this man looking down at her was as lonely as she was. She saw him struggle for words, and when he finally spoke, she discovered something about him that he kept covered up. “Quaid—he’s good with words and I’m not, but I’ve changed in the last months. I’ve watched
you, Temperance. You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

Temperance stood very still and felt her throat tightening. Something about the simplicity of this big man touched her.

“I—I want you to be happy. That’s all I want. I was wrong to fight with Quaid. He’s a better man than I am, Temperance, and if you love him, why, I’ll understand.” He suddenly whirled and walked away, leaving her standing there feeling incomplete. She wanted to call out after him, but then she realized she didn’t know what she would say to him. Slowly she closed the door and looked out the small window. The thick woods were passing by as the
Mary Alice
forged steadily downriver, and she knew they were headed for the Mississippi and then for Baton Rouge. A sudden thought came to her:
I wish I knew
where the rest of my life was going as well as I know where this
boat is going.

TEMPERANCE STOOD BESIDE THE railing of the
Memphis
Queen,
an enormous side-wheeler, and watched the banks of the Mississippi flow by. It was the middle of August, and three days had passed since they had transferred from the
Mary Alice.
Temperance had kept mostly to herself in her cabin. Quaid had spent much time in the saloon, and Belle had accompanied him for most of the time.

Thad had spent the days on deck with the Overmeyer children, his nights alone. He had come to the stern of the ship accompanied by Rena, and the two had been quiet. Suddenly Thad turned to the young girl, examining her face. He had become very close to her and to Bent, and a sudden gust of compassion for her came to him.

“What’s wrong, Rena,” he asked.

“I’m afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“You know. I’m afraid of losing you. So is Bent.” She turned to him, and her eyes were clouded with fear. “My uncle and aunt, they’re not good people. Even Ma said they were mean.”

Thad hesitated for a moment, then he said, “Two days ago I found, in the book of Mark, Jesus talking about a mountain: ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea.’”

“You can’t talk to a mountain!”

“If Temperance believes that the Bible is true, then it’s got to be so.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully and then he smiled. Her eyes were fixed on him steadfastly. Suddenly she threw her arms around him and gave him a hug, then whirled and ran down the deck. He watched her go and was filled with concern for her, and for Bent and Bess. He shook his head, for this had not been his attitude when he had first met the children they had brought from Walla Walla. He had known very little about children, as a matter of fact, but all that had changed. Now as he stood on the deck of the
Memphis Queen,
with thoughts running through his head, he looked up and saw Quaid coming toward him. An impulse had been growing in Thad for some time, and now he knew it was time. “Quaid, I need to talk to you.”

Quaid stood before him. “What is it, partner?”

“I acted like a fool—over you wanting to marry Temperance. Well, to tell the truth, I wanted to marry her myself. I had this crazy idea that God said she was for me. She deserves a better man than me, so I’ll be happy for you and her if you get married.”

“This isn’t the Thaddeus I knew,” Quaid said finally. “You would never have given up in the old days.”

“She’ll make you a good wife.” Suddenly Thad could not bear to speak of the two, so he said, “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.” He left the deck, and Quaid stared after him, a puzzled expression on his face.

* * *

THE DOCK AT BATON ROUGE was full of boats, some loading and some unloading. Temperance had watched as the boat
docked and then returned to her cabin. She was getting ready to disembark when she saw Quaid coming toward her. “Well, you made it to Baton Rouge,” he smiled.

Temperance asked, “Aren’t you getting off?”

“No, I’m going to New Orleans, Belle and I.” He saw the surprise in her face and smiled. “I’m a good man, but you turned me down. You can’t get everything you want.”

Temperance was surprised that Quaid Mitchell was giving up. She thought many times about his proposal. At times she thought she had been a fool to refuse him. Not many women would do that! “Thank you for all you’ve done for us.”

Quaid thought for a moment and then forced himself to smile. “I’ll get settled and then I’ll buy that plantation. I’ll think about you when I’m sitting on my veranda, drinking my mint juleps. I’ll give you my address down here, and if you need me, you can write. Even if you don’t need help, write me, Temperance, and let me know the end of your story.” He took her hand and then surprisingly kissed it. “I hope it ends like those romances in the books.”

Belle joined them, and Temperance said, “I’ll think of you, Belle. I hope . . . you’ll find happiness.”

Belle said, “I guess I won’t change, but I’ll think of you.”

There was no time for long good-byes, for the passengers were disembarking quickly. Temperance hugged Belle and impulsively hugged Quaid, too, then hurried off the ship, carrying Bess and leading Rena and Bent. She waited until Thad had gotten the baggage ashore. It was a considerable amount. He turned to her. “I guess we’d better get a carriage. You got that address where these people live? What’s their name?”

“Ed and Maude Slaughter. Here’s the address.”

Taking the slip of paper, Thad saw a large carriage with a dark-skinned, young man leaning on it. He asked, “Can you take us to this place?”

The driver said, “Sure. I take you there. It’s a long way. Cost you a lot.”

“That’s all right. Here’s the luggage over here.”

Thad helped him load the luggage and put the children in the second seat; he and Temperance got in the front seat beside the driver. “Why you want to go to this place?” the driver demanded.

“It’s where we need to go,” Thad said. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Not a good place to go.”

Thad exchanged glances with Temperance. She had a worried look. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Bad part of Baton Rouge. You want to go to a hotel. Don’t stay there. I’ll take you to one.”

“We have to go there first,” Temperance said.

“No skin off my nose,” the driver said cheerfully.

The trip from the wharf to the address was from the acceptable to the terrible. The neighborhoods kept getting worse until finally they had to be in one of the worst sections of Baton Rouge. Every other building seemed to be a saloon, and people they saw in the streets were either drunks or harlots from the look of them.

“This is terrible, Thad.”

“It doesn’t look too good,” he agreed, “but we’ve got to go through with it.”

Finally the driver pulled over and waved his whip. “That’s the place. You want me to wait?”

“Yes, please,” Temperance said. Thad leaped out and helped her down, and she took Bess while Rena and Bent got out.

“This place is awful,” Rena said. “Do we have to go here?”

“I’m afraid so,” Temperance said. Her lips grew tight, and she shook her head. “It’s sad.” She started toward the door, carrying Bess. She knocked, and there was a long wait. Finally it opened, and a huge, slatternly woman wearing a filthy dress stepped out. She had a broad face, flushed, and the scent of strong alcohol was in the air. “Who are you? What do you want?” she demanded.

“I’m looking for Ed and Maude Slaughter.”

“I’m Maude. What do you want with us? You’re not the law.”

“Oh no. My name is Peabody.”

The woman stared at her. “Oh, yeah, you’re the one that wrote the letter about Sadie’s kids.”

“Yes, Mrs. Slaughter. Could we come in?”

“Is them the kids there?” the woman demanded, waving a meaty hand at the Overmeyer children.

“Yes, they are.”

“Well, come on in.” Temperance followed her, and Rena and Bent came behind. Thad came in and shut the door. The room was a disaster, filthy in every way—dirty dishes were everywhere, flies swarmed around a table, and there was a terrible odor of urine, cabbage, and open drains.

“My husband, Ed, ain’t here,” she said. She studied the children and shook her head. “I don’t know what Sadie was thinking, sending the kids here. This ain’t no place for them.”

Temperance was speechless. Thad said quickly, “What time will your husband be back?”

“I don’t know. He just got out of the jail yesterday. I expect he’s in one of the saloons.” She scratched vigorously and shook her head. “He didn’t want them kids coming here, but I talked
him into it. What’s your name?” She got the names from Rena and shrugged. “Well, you two are big enough to work. I don’t know what we’ll do with that baby. She’ll have to get by the best way she can. You bring their clothes?” she demanded abruptly.

“I’ll get them,” Thad said quickly. He stepped outside, took a deep breath, and sorted through the baggage. When he stepped back in, he saw that Temperance’s face was pale and Bent and Rena were speechless. The woman was speaking. “My man ain’t easy to get along with,” she said. “Just don’t you two cross him.”

Thad put the baggage down, and then Temperance turned to Rena. She put her arms around her and kissed her. She was so overwhelmed for a moment she could not speak and then she said, “Good-bye, sweetheart.”

Rena was fighting to keep the tears back. She took Bess while Temperance bent over to hug Bent. “You behave yourself and be good.”

“Don’t leave us here,” Bent whispered.

“We’ve got to go, honey. I’m sorry.” She stood up quickly and left the room. Thad went over and placed his hand on Bent’s head. “Hang in there, partner. It’ll be all right.” He turned to Rena. “You remember what I said about the mountain.”

He hugged Rena, and she whispered, “I ain’t forgot about the mountain, Thad.” He hesitated, feeling her hanging on to him for dear life. He finally pulled her arm away, quickly turned, and walked out the room. Temperance was standing by the carriage, her face turned away. He came forward and said, “I guess we’d better go.” He saw that tears were gathering in her eyes, but he couldn’t think of any comfort. He helped her in, got in after her, and said, “Take us to a good hotel, driver.”

“I take you to a good one.”

Neither of them spoke on the way to the hotel. They got out, paid their fare, and went inside. They registered, and when it was time to go to their rooms, Thad turned and said, “Temperance, I feel sick.”

“So do I—but there’s nothing we can do.” She left quickly. He watched her go and then went to his room. He washed his face and hands and was astonished to see his hands were unsteady. He stared at them and shook his head. “I didn’t think anything in the world could do that to me.” He lay down on the bed fully dressed, but there was no peace to it. Finally he got up, left the room, and for the rest of the afternoon walked the streets of Baton Rouge. He had never felt such uneasiness in all his life even though he had been in many hard places. Finally he went back to Temperance’s room and knocked on the door. “Who is it?” Her voice was muffled.

“Let’s eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You’ve got to eat, Temperance.”

“Just leave me alone, Thad.”

He hesitated for a moment and then muttered, “I know how you feel.” He went to the dining room and tried to eat, but he could not get the food down. Once again he went out and walked the streets of Baton Rouge, and as he did, he prayed in a strange way. He found himself almost accusing God.
God,
I don’t understand You. You can’t want those little kids to be in a
place like that. It’s the worst thing in the world for them. You’ve got
to do something.

He felt ashamed of himself for challenging God, but then he finally returned to the hotel and spent a restless night.

* * *

WHEN THAD KNOCKED ON Temperance’s door, she was there almost at once. There were hollows under her eyes, and her face was pale. “You look terrible, Temperance,” he said.

“I know it. I feel terrible. That’s an awful woman, and the man’s probably worse.”

Thad suddenly made up his mind. “Come on. I’m going over there.”

“Why? What good would that do?”

“I don’t know. I’m just going, that’s all. You can stay here if you want to.”

“No, I’ll go with you.”

The two of them left the hotel, got a carriage, and drove back to the Slaughters’ house. When they arrived, Temperance was frightened. “I don’t know what you’re going to say.”

“I’m going to talk about how kids ought to be treated. Somehow I got the idea that Maude Slaughter doesn’t have much notion of that.”

“You can’t take them away.”

Thad didn’t answer. He knocked on the door and for a long time there was no answer. Then it opened, and a huge man filled the doorway. He hadn’t shaved in days and he spilled out of his clothes.

“What do you want?”

“I’m Thad Brennan. This is Miss Peabody. We brought the children here yesterday.”

“Yeah, well, they’re here. What do you want now?”

“I thought I might leave some money here to help with the board.”

“Well, hand over the cash.”

“I’ll give it to them,” Thad said carefully.

For a moment Ed Slaughter seemed about to shut the door, then he said, “You can give it to them, but I’ll get it sooner or later.” He stepped back.

Thad took that as an invitation to enter. He stepped inside and saw Maude Slaughter with her back against the wall. She had bruises on her face and was obviously terrified. “Don’t you do nothing, Ed,” she said. “You don’t want to go back to that jail.”

“Shut up,” Slaughter demanded. “Come here, girl. This man’s going to give you money, and you’re going to give it to me.”

Rena and Bent had been standing as far away from Slaughter as they could, with their backs against the wall too. Both of them were still wearing the same clothes they had worn yesterday, and they had obviously been slept in.

Thad reached into his pocket for money and then suddenly he saw that Rena was turning her face away.