Chapter 3 #2
“I appreciate your assistance, Beatrice. Do I owe you anything for the additional clothes?”
“No, you’ve given me more than enough for now. Of course, if I had her measurements, the things I’m making would fit her much better.”
“Once she recovers, I will bring her in to see you. If you want to hold off on the nicer dresses, that would be fine.” I hold up the bag. “This was all I could find of hers. She more than likely has been wearing the same dress every day for lord knows how long.”
“Most of the settlers that come out this way lose what little they have getting here however, I bet Oren’s wardrobe was full.
But as they say, that’s all spilt milk, and we know she’ll be provided for now.
I have a few more things to gather up. You’re welcome to look around until Harvey gets back with her shoes. ”
Nodding my head, I carefully walk over toward the material lining the wall, careful not to knock things over as I go. I’m wondering the entire time whether Lauren would like any of this for the cabin, when I notice a bright blue piece of silk sitting on the top shelf. I instantly recognize it.
“Beatrice?”
“Yes go ahead, I can hear you.”
“Where did you get this piece of blue silk?”
She walks in with another package in her hand, her eyes glancing up at the material, then back at me. Then she tilts her head like she is just truly seeing me for the first time.
“I knew there was something familiar about you, even with all that dirt on your face because I’ve seen those eyes before.
Heard some rumors as to why you showed up here all of a sudden and who you were to Eliza, but I now believe they were just that, rumors.
And young man, you know exactly where that fabric came from. ”
“How did you end up with it?”
“Eliza needed the money, isn’t that always the case?
She sold me several of those fancy dresses the year the Lord took her home.
Most things we drag along with us from back East won’t do you much good out this way, but I could tell it was hard for her to let them go.
I used to tease her quite fondly that she was the cleanest and best smelling girl in town.
Took three strapping young men to carry that monstrosity of a bathing tub up that hill into the back of their new cabin.
It was all those boys talked about for weeks.
Anyway, there was enough material in the skirts alone to make several everyday dresses.
However, that specific style is too costly for anyone around here.
But I didn’t cheat her, even knowing I was going to have a hard time selling it.
I gave her as much as I could because Lord knows she needed every penny when Toby got sick. ”
“She had a few pieces of jewelry.”
“I’m not sure about those, but you might ask Harvey. If he doesn’t know, I would go to the bank. She more than likely used them to pay off the loan they got on the homestead, or possibly that tub she had shipped all the way from Salt Lake City.”
“I paid the loan off myself and the solicitor didn’t say anything about any other debts.”
“People don’t just give information out.
You want to know something, ask. You should know that Eliza never mentioned anyone back home, yet here you are.
The few times I asked her where she was from, she’d change the subject, but you would’ve had to been blind not to see her manners and the way she held herself.
She was a well-bred lady and no amount of dust hides that. ”
“Unfortunately, she was probably scared too. When Eliza ran off, it took a Pinkerton detective two years to find her and me another three months to get here. When I arrived, Eliza was sick, nothing but skin and bones … didn’t last the day. I was literally holding her in my arms when she passed.”
“That’s why I don’t participate in rumors, there’s never a lick of truth to any of them.”
Even though I am not sure I want to know the answer, the question still comes out. “Was she happy?”
“I’m not sure it will make you feel better, but yes, she was always smiling even through the hardships of building a life out here from nothing.
Toby sure was smitten with her and their love was obvious to anyone who took a moment to look.
Things only got hard when he got hurt in the mine.
Don’t know the whole story, but apparently something fell, broke his arm and it never did heal properly.
But Eliza was convinced this was just a rough patch and even started working at the diner during the summer months to make ends meet.
But the snow started early that year and before long, she couldn’t get through the pass. ”
“I can’t imagine Eliza waiting tables. She came from a home with servants and had the best of everything, but her heart was always leading her down another path.
I knew she thought herself in love with the footman’s son.
She was too open with her affections and if she cared for you, it was obvious.
Never once did I dream I’d wake up alone in that huge house to a note and all her belongings gone.
I looked everywhere, but it was like she just disappeared. ”
“Apparently, you grew up in the same world. But look at you now … nothing but a big, smelly giant in the middle of nowhere. Just what were you both running from?”
“I still can’t answer that, because I haven’t found an answer that feels truthful. You said she was happy, so do you know why she was in such bad shape when I found her?”
“Because of where their settlement was located, once the pass was blocked, it left Eliza and Toby out there alone. Apparently, sepsis set into a cut on Toby’s leg and it festered quickly.
Eliza told me later that spring on the last time I saw her, that he turned bad fast and didn’t last three days once the fever set in.
She had to bury him on her own. With as small as she was, that couldn’t have been an easy task, especially in the middle of a blizzard.
When the pass cleared, Eliza came to town to get the preacher so that he would pray over Toby’s grave.
I’m not sure who looked worse, her or the poor horse she was riding.
After that, I think a strong wind would have shattered her if it blew too aggressively.
Only because this town is so small did I know she had sent a letter out addressed to Mr. Grant Hayes.
The next thing I heard was that you were here, and she had left this world. I’m assuming you’re that ‘Grant’?”
“Yes, that’s me. I was already on my way here but I didn’t get her letter until it was returned to this town almost three months later.”
“Why did you stay?”
“Didn’t feel right leaving her here alone with no family or anyone to remember her. Thought about taking her back home, but that didn’t feel right either. So instead, I paid off the bank loan, took over the homestead, and acquired the mining rights. Been living there with her ghost ever since.”
Before Beatrice can say anything else, Harvey comes strolling in. “Here you go, youngin. These should fit, but he said to bring them back if not.”
Walking over to the counter, I pick up the few wrapped packages, only for Harvey to grab the others. “Let me help you get them strapped onto Rebel. Looks like a storm is brewing and you need to get back before the heavens open up.”
Just as I’m getting ready to walk out the door, I turn back.
“Ma’am, I don’t have the funds with me, but if you would put that piece of fabric back, I will pay you full price for it when I return at the end of the month.
I appreciate all that you have done for me this day and for my Eliza when she needed you the most.”
“She was never a burden, dear. The world has been a darker place without her bright smile. Don’t be a stranger. You are only as alone as you allow yourself to be.”