Authors: Fiona Knightingale
In addition to stocking the pantry, he also took on ammunition for hunting as well as some basic medical supplies. He joined Opal at the clothing racks and motioned for her to find something better than her threadbare dress. She hesitated to spend the nice man’s money but he seemed very insistent that she find something. She selected a pair of trousers and two button-down shirts.
“Are you sure that’s all you need?”
“Y-Y-Yes, sir. This extra coat you gived me fits just fine. If you can spares it.”
“But of course. But why don’t we find you a pair of gloves? I can guarantee none of mine will fit you.” He wiggled his thick fingers and grinned.
She smiled up at him, and selected the cheapest pair she could find. Samuel gave William a long hard look when he placed all of the clothing up on the counter to be rung up with everything else. Looking at Opal one last time, William also grabbed a few pairs of socks and a pair of small work boots to replace her sandals that looked about ready to fall apart.
After he paid the shopkeeper in cash, William strapped down a waterproof tarp over the load in the carriage just to protect it from any elements they could encounter. He politely helped Opal up into the bench seat and was about to climb up himself when a rough punch on his shoulder caught his full attention.
“You there,” the voice said.
“How can I help you?” William replied coldly, not pleased by the soreness in his arm.
“Who’s your girl?”
“Her name is Opal. She works at my farm.”
The man’s hair was greasy and unkempt and his chin wore several days’ worth of beard growth. His beady black eyes narrowed as he stared from William to Opal and back again.
“A man like me starts to wonder about things when a man like you is keeping a colored girl around the house.”
William’s laughing blue eyes had gone ice cold and steel calm.
“A man like you? And a man like me? I’m certain I have no idea what you mean.”
The intruder slowly crept his way around the carriage until he stood next to Opal.
“Keeping a girl around just for you-self? That’s downright a shame not to share. She’s a purdy one.”
Opal tightened her coat around herself and inhaled deeply, holding her breath for William’s answer.
“I don’t
keep
people, sir. She is my employee and you will treat her with the respect as such.”
The man’s breath smelled of stale whiskey and nasty cigar smoke as he moved closer to study Opal’s face.
“I’ll bet you she’s a runaway.”
“I surely have no idea what you mean.”
William found the entire suggestion reprehensible and desperately wanted to get them out of this man’s eyesight.
“I’d bet she make us a pretty penny at an auction down south.”
William strode over to the man with purpose and straightened his spine to its full 6’3” height. The greasy older man looked up at William’s imposing frame and thought better of making a scene.
“Sir, you need to let us be and move along your way.” The tone in William’s voice and the look in his eye said that there was no room for negotiation in the statement.
The other man slid along the sidewalk away from the carriage, but never took his eyes off of Opal. William walked back around and mounted his side of the bench seat, deliberately resting his rifle across his thighs while he stared down the other man. The man disappeared between the swinging doors of the saloon and Opal finally let her breath out with a whoosh.
William looked over at her, and rested his hand gently on top of hers.
“Please understand, his, ah, viewpoints are rare in these parts. And I personally have no use for that idea.”
Opal blinked back tears but did not trust herself to speak. She simply nodded, and looked off into the distance.
William reached under the bench seat and offered her a blanket to tuck around her knees.
“I meant to take you to the diner here in town. Would you like to get a late lunch before we head back?”
His eyes looked earnest and sincere.
She smiled and nodded. “I’d like that,” she whispered.
He drove the carriage down the street so that he could keep an eye on it, and tied it up again. Opal had never in her life been out to eat a meal and was excited at the prospect. He courteously ushered her inside where the serving girl gave them an odd look but sat them without comment or incident.
“Would you like me to order for us?” William offered.
He ordered two large platters of something called a Ploughman’s Lunch, and her eyes widened when the plates hit the table. They were laden down with smoked ham, cheese, boiled eggs, apples, radishes, a pile of tangy pickles, thick homemade bread, and several condiments such as fresh butter and several jams and chutneys. She softly clapped her hands in delight, and he grinned at her reaction, urging her to dig in.
Over the next several days, trying to beat the snow that he could smell in the air, William attacked the wooded area with his ax. If they were about to spend the long dark winter together in the small house, he wanted to put in a wall of sorts so that they could each have their privacy.
Opal tried to stay out of his way as best she could. She played outside with Lady, tended to the chickens, and gave it her best effort to milk the cows. She found that the farm animals responded to her best when she had been wearing her gloves, and took them off right before she touched them. They were not appreciative if she touched them with her cold fingers.
She also busied herself tidying the small living space, and trying to organize all of the supplies and food that they had just bought. There were not a lot of storage options, especially given the fact that William had to have space on the floor to unfurl his bedroll. After the snow finally arrived, some of the food could actually be stored outside and would keep as fresh as possible in the cold but until then, it seemed to be everywhere she turned.
Opal could not handle the noise when he was building inside, so that was when she tended towards playing outside while the weather still permitted. Lady was happy to have a new friend, and seemed to have really taken to Opal. William was pleased that his household seemed to be running efficiently, and he was more than happy to turn over the household duties to her.
In their food order, she had picked up a few spices and was making some very interesting meals thus far. The beans and stews seemed to have more flavor and he could tell she was being as frugal as possible with their supplies. She was not afraid of hard work, and had sometimes offered to help him split the smaller logs as he finished the interior wall.
Once the wall was completed, the house looked quite nice. The divider ran about shoulder high around two sides of the bed as it sat up against the exterior wall. It was more than enough to separate them in the evenings, and would even provide sufficient cover if one of them decided to bathe in the large metal tub that normally sat outside.
About a week after their trip to town, the snow arrived like a silent blanket. For hours, it fell thick and white over everything that Opal could see. Growing up in the deep South, she had never seen anything like it. During that first blizzard, William would find her wrapped in every piece of clothing she owned and standing outside just watching.
“It’s something else, isn’t it?” he asked one evening as he offered her a hot cup of coffee.
She nodded, “I never seen nothing like it.”
“As hard as it makes life out here, I think it’s breathtaking really. I mean, it snowed back home growing up in the city, but it was always dirty and brown and slushy. Out here, it makes everything shine and shimmer like diamonds.”
Lady liked to run around in it, trying to catch the wet snowflakes in her mouth. Both William and Opal found themselves laughing at her antics and she jumped and dodged around the field.
“William?” Opal asked hesitantly.
“Yes?”
“I has a favor to ask,” she almost whispered. It seemed so rude to ask after he had given her so much.
“What is it?”
“We going to be stuck here for a while, right? Together? Nothing to do?”
“Oh there’s always work to be done around here. But yes, mostly stuck here together.”
“Could you help me read better? And talk better?”
He smiled down at her upturned face, “I’d like that. I do have a Bible, and a couple of other books. And I’m sure when we make it into town next, we can find others. I’d be happy to teach you.”
Her face beamed with a huge grin. “Thank you, sir, thank you.”
So over the next few months, Opal tended the cows and chickens as best she could and William kept his eye on the herd and the fences. The snow kept coming and kept staying. He was amazed at the meals she managed to create from their limited pantry and she kept the house tidy with a smile on her face.
He had been paying her the few dollars a month as promised, and she kept it tucked away in a small opening in the mattress. She had never had money of her own, and was not sure what she would do with it. Perhaps she would someday have the chance to get him something in return for everything he had given her.
When the day’s work was done and dinner was eaten, they would usually sit by the stove and practice the reading. She had been so concerned about her speech as well, however he noticed that the more she read, the better she spoke. It was an inevitable progression, and he was pleased that she seemed to be making fast progress.
The winter stretched on long and cold and dark, but the two of them did not seem to notice. In William’s eyes, the company made the time go faster and Opal was still enthralled with the normal life she had found. He liked the way her eyes lit up when she got a difficult word and the way she had made friends with Lady. She found herself more and more interested in spending time with him, and his gentle manner and deep blue eyes.
As these things do, eventually the snow stopped falling and began to melt. The cows seemed well on their way to making calves, and the chickens started producing more eggs.
On their first trip back into town, William made sure to pick up plenty of seeds for the garden, hoping that Opal would have more success than he was able to find. She picked out quite a variety -- corn and potatoes and tomatoes and cucumbers. They also stocked up on other essentials that had run out during the winter.
When they returned home that afternoon, Opal was eager to get everything in the ground right away but William cautioned her to wait just in case they got a late frost. Not to mention, the ground was still going to be very hard for the digging.
As they arranged all of their purchases in the house, Opal got dinner ready to serve. She was excited to cook something different with the new food purchases, and laid out a beautiful dinner that resembled the Ploughman’s Lunch they had at the dining hall in late fall. William laughed at the amount of food on the table when he returned from the fields but reassured her that it was fine. Whatever they did not eat that night would certainly keep for later.
After they finished everything they could possibly eat in one sitting, Opal started to clean up while William poured the last of the coffee into their two mugs and they dragged their chairs outside to enjoy the last of the setting sun. As Lady curled up at their feet, and Opal pulled the horse blanket tighter around her knees, William’s spine went stiff in his chair.
“What is it, William?”
“I thought I saw something over there against the sky.”
“What do you think it was?”
“Looked like a person on horseback. I don’t get visitors and the Indians rarely come calling this late at night.”
“Indians?”
William chuckled, “Yes, we have them out here too. I doubt it is your long-lost father.”
She shook her head, “I doubt it too.”
Suddenly, Lady picked her head up with a grunt and stared at the same spot William had been watching. Now William was on alert with her. The figure on horseback was evident to all three sets of eyes.
“Maybe it’s just a lost hunter or something,” William said hopefully.
But he disappeared inside the house and returned with his rifle just the same. Opal grasped his arm and looked at him with wild wide eyes.
“It’s okay, I’ll just see what they want.”
William whistled for his own horse and mounted up quickly. Before he rode off, he turned to caution Opal.
“Go back inside the house and stay there until you hear my voice at the door.”
She nodded and scampered back inside with Lady right behind her.
The little house had no windows so she could not see what was going on. Against her instructions, she cracked the wooden door enough to see William had approached the other figure and seemed to be having a very animated conversation. As she peeked out the door, she watched as William swung to hit the other person. She let out a loud gasp and felt Lady standing on her stockinged feet. The other person swung back and caught William somewhere in the vicinity of his face. She gasped again and clasped her hand to Lady’s side.
As William appeared to regain his composure, the other man on the horse started riding at a full gallop towards the house. Opal slammed the door shut, threw the latch in place, and ran with Lady to cower between the bed and the newly added divider wall.
She heard the man beat against the door with both fists, yelling for her and screaming terrible names. She muffled her breathing against the blankets on the bed and dug her hands into Lady’s soft fur.
She heard another deep voice, William’s, and the beating on the door suddenly stopped as the two men screamed at each other. She and Lady looked at each other and Lady licked Opal’s nose as if to reassure her.
The scuffle outside paused and it seemed that the whole world went silent. Then Opal heard the shot of the rifle. It echoed throughout the house and deep into her bones. She and Lady both whimpered and clung to each other.
Then in the silence, there was one soft knock on the front door, and William’s tentative voice.
“Opal? It’s me.”
She rested her palm against the closed door and took a deep breath before opening it.
“William?”
His face had seen the angry side of the man’s fist and his eye was starting to blossom purple.
“Ohhh…” she gasped, tentatively reaching up to lay her palm against his cheek.
He rested his large hand over her cool delicate fingers.
“I’m okay, it will heal. But I’m afraid his injury was fatal.”
She looked past William’s broad shoulders to the body on the ground. It was that horrible greasy man from town, the one that had been so nasty towards them.
“William! What is he doing here?”
“Apparently he thinks you would be worth a bounty, or at least a good sale price. He was going to come take you.’
“What? Can he do that? Can he steal me?”
“No. Not in my house. Not from me.”
Her knees weakened and he caught her just before she fell to the cold ground.
“Opal,” he said softly.
“Yes sir?”
“I was… I was not just angry at him, I was scared. Scared to lose you. Scared of what he would do to you and what anyone else might have done to you.”
“William…” her voice trailed off into hesitant bewilderment.
William pulled her back into the house and set her down in one of their homemade wooden chairs. He carefully eased his bulky frame into the other one.
“Opal, I am afraid I have a confession to make.”
Her eyes fell to her lap, afraid of what he was going to say. That she was not worth the trouble she seemed to be causing, and that as soon as it got warm enough, he was going to turn her out. She had so enjoyed staying here with him, playing house, and developing a certain affection for the large gentle man and the way he was so kind to her and to Lady.
“W-W-What is it William? Have I done something? Am I in trouble?”
“Oh heavens no, please don’t think that for a moment. It’s not that at all. Quite, ah, the opposite.” He covered her hands with his.
“Oh…”
“I like having you here, and I enjoy your company. But I’m afraid I can no longer employ you.”
She sighed deeply and again looked down at her hands in her lap.
“You see, when he threatened to take you away, it was not like he threatened an employee or a friend. He threatened my family.”
Opal’s lips parted in a silent gasp.
“I would like very much for you to be my family. Opal, would you marry me?”
The corners of her mouth turned up in a tiny smile and then her face broke into a grin.
“William! To marry you? I never… Of course!”
This kind sweet bear of a man felt about her as she felt about him. He grinned and popped up out of his chair, dragging her to her feet as well. He held her close to his chest and could not even feel the pain of the bruise that quickly developed on his eye. In the warmth of their kitchen and affection of his embrace, Opal felt at home for the first time in her life.
Within a few days, William had made arrangements to have the traveling chaplain stop by their homestead and wed them. They received an odd look from the older gentleman, but he could find no reason not to wed the two of them. Opal had no fine lacy dresses but felt perfectly content marrying William in her button down shirt, trousers, and work boots. And in the cool stillness of the spring evening, William shared the bed with Opal for the first time, and showed his bride just how much he loved her.
Spring eventually gave way to summer, and the happy couple had settled into their routine. She tended the garden until it overflowed with the vegetables that he had so ineptly tried to grow. He would often watch her bent over the plants, her long dark hair plaited back away from her face, and smile at the future he had been given.
William carefully monitored all of his expectant bovine mothers, and it looked like their herd was growing exponentially. It was shaping up to be a very profitable year all the way around.
Opal had never asked any more questions about the man that had showed up that night, and William made sure that he would never be found. In fact, he was probably not even missed by anyone except perhaps the bartender at the saloon.
One warm summer night, Opal stretched out her bare feet in the front yard and wiggled them in the dewy grass as she looked up at William in his chair.
“Mr. William, I have been meaning to speak to you about the growing herd in your backyard over there.”
“Yes, Ms. Opal, how can I help you?”
“Whatever shall we do when our herd expands similarly?”
He smirked down at her, “We will make room as they do.”
“Well then sir, I believe it is time for that addition to the house that we’ve been talking about.”
He grinned down at his blushing bride and cupped his hand under her chin.
“Yes ma’am, I will surely build you that nursery.”
THE END
Elizabeth’s crinoline skirts rustled as they swept against the blades of grass that peeked through the cobblestone path. The shops seemed more crowded than normal as she made her way from one to the next. It was her maid servant’s day off but there were still things that the household needed. Her husband, Henry, would not be pleased if his whiskey was not available at the end of the day, and the cook needed a few things for dinner. Elizabeth would not want to be home if Henry were deprived of his food or his beverage. Her cheek still smarted from upsetting him the night before, by not refilling his mug quickly enough.
She smiled at the shopkeeper as he wrapped up the cheese, pickles and sweet jam. Apparently Henry’s reputation preceded him, and with a small nod, the shopkeeper also added a bottle of whiskey to the brown paper package, before tying up the white twine.
He offered to add the purchases to the family’s shop credit and she agreed. Henry never allowed her to carry any money and the shops all seemed to place good faith on his abilities to pay the bills.
With the package tucked into the wicker basket she carried in the crook of her elbow, she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders and headed back into the streets. The summer was waning and the air carried the autumn chill. She welcomed the relief from the heat of the earlier months, but knew she should start preparing the house for winter.
She made a mental list of tasks as she made her way back to the estate. The wind tickled at the nape of her neck and tried to steal loose tendrils from her coifed blonde curls. The walk was not short, but she enjoyed the chance to get out of her drafty old stone estate. It seemed to trap the heat in July and the cold in January, and never felt quite comfortable at any time of year. And while the shopping could have been done by the servants, she liked having an excuse to wander about town. She knew better than to spend too much money at any of the stores, but it was a pleasant afternoon to window shop. Henry constantly chided her for not taking the carriage into town, but she almost always took the trip by foot.
Henry was well-known in the area, as the region’s largest landowner, so most of the shopkeepers were overly attentive to her needs. They would fetch her a cup of tea, provide her a chair to rest, and even wrap packages extra carefully when she did decide to buy something.
When she arrived home, the cook whisked the package away from her and set a pot of tea on the stove to heat.
“Would you like something to eat ma’am?” the cook offered.
“Yes, Olivia, that would be lovely. I know that dinner is not far off, but I’m not certain I will make it that long.” She smiled gently at the older woman and settled into a chair at the servants’ table in the kitchen. Her blue eyes twinkled since she knew that she would shortly be enjoying some of the sharp cheddar cheese that she had just purchased.
“Ma’am, I am happy to bring it to your room if you like.”
“No, I should prefer to sit here in the warm kitchen with your company, if that’s alright.”
Olivia smiled and nodded, “But of course ma’am.”
She poured the tea into an elegant china mug and cut off pieces of homemade bread and the fresh cheese as a snack. While Elizabeth sipped and nibbled, they discussed the changes in the weather as Olivia started to prepare their dinner.