Chapter Two
When Jasper woke the following morning, he looked over at Agnes, feeling guilty for breaking his promise, even if she had been willing.
Agnes was awake, covering her yawn. “I guess it’s time to start walking.” She didn’t want to walk. She wanted to lie there on the side of the path and make love all day, but she knew they had to keep going.
Jasper nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s time to go, so we’ll go.”
“Not that. I’m sorry I didn’t wait like I promised.”
She smiled. “I had the perfect wedding night, so don’t you go apologizing, Jasper Jones!”
He chuckled. “I don’t know what I’ve done in my life to deserve you.”
She quickly pulled her undergarments back on under the blanket and then stood to finish dressing.
She started the water to boil while he got dressed.
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek atop her head.
“I’ll get the mule packed up and ready. As soon as the water boils, we’ll be on our way. ”
She turned in his arms and kissed him. “I’ll be ready.”
“We should reach Lake Bennett today. I traded in a boat for the promise of another, which will be waiting for us.”
“Does that mean we’re almost there?”
He shook his head. “We have three weeks or so by boat before we walk half a day to Yeti.”
She wanted to complain, but there was no point. “All right. Then we need to get started.”
Soon they were off to Lake Bennett. She was shocked at the sheer number of people camping there. “Why are there so many men here?” she asked.
“They’re prospectors, building their boats for the rest of their voyage.” He looked over the crowd of people and finally spotted the man he was looking for. He raised his hand in a wave. “Rusty!”
The man lumbered over to him. “You made it back. And with such a pretty wife.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “You don’t really want to go with this man, do you? Stay with me.”
Agnes laughed. “I think I’ll go with my husband but thank you so much for the offer.”
“Dang my luck,” Rusty said, looking disappointed.
Jasper shook his head at Rusty’s antics. “I need a boat.”
“I got one waiting for you,” Rusty said. “But you can’t have it unless this beautiful wife of yours agrees to write letters to me.”
“I...I don’t know if that would be proper. I’m a married woman.” Agnes wasn’t sure about this man. He seemed a little crazy to her.
“I don’t mind,” Jasper said. “Rusty gets lonely and asks everyone to write letters to him.”
“I’ll write then.” It felt strange to Agnes, but she did enjoy writing and receiving letters.
“Let me go get your boat then. Are you a friend of Belle? Belle writes me a letter every week.”
“I am.”
“Good. Then she’ll tell you where to send it.” Rusty hurried off to get their boat. It was nothing fancy, but it would fit them and their belongings. “You selling that mule?”
Jasper nodded. “I am.”
“I’ll buy it. Men are always looking for mules.” Rusty looked over the animal. “How about $100?”
Jasper’s eyes widened. “I didn’t pay anywhere near that much.”
“They get more valuable every day. I’ll sell it for twice that, and we’ll both feel like we got a good deal,” Rusty said.
“You have yourself a deal!” Jasper told the other man. He could sell it himself, but it would take time he didn’t want to waste.
“Good doing business with you,” Rusty said, offering a huge hand for Jasper to shake.
They got into their boat and started down the river. “I made a big enough profit on that mule that it will cover a lot of the money I didn’t make at work,” he said.
“That’s good!” she said. “He’s certainly a character.”
“That he is. He’s a good man, though, and I’m proud to call him friend.”
“Is it really going to be another few weeks?”
He nodded. “It is. There’s not a thing short or easy about getting where we’re going.”
“I’ve noticed that!” she said, laughing softly.
*****
It was twenty-three days later, near the end of August, when they arrived in Yeti. When he docked the boat in the middle of the day, she grew excited. “Are we close?” Agnes asked.
Jasper nodded. “We’ll be there before the sun goes down.”
“I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime to hear those words.”
“I’m as ready to be home as you are.” They quickly unloaded the boat and tied it to a tree. “Someone else will need it.”
“All right,” she answered. “We’re going to be carrying a lot.”
“I’ll take the bulk of it. You carry what you can.”
Once they were loaded down, they started the very last leg of a long, arduous journey. But she was excited now, and had so much more energy than she had. They were almost home.
“My cabin is just this side of Yeti, so we won’t be walking through town tonight. I’ll take you to the store in the morning, so you can meet Mrs. Johnson, and she’ll help you get in contact with the other ladies.”
“Oh, thank you!”
“I’ll work most of the day, but you’ll at least be able to get what you need for supper and anything else.”
“And I can talk to my friends! It will be so good to see them again.”
He smiled. “I forget how excited you are to see people you already know. I feel like I should stay with you and introduce you around to everyone, but there’s no need.”
“I’m sure Sally will take care of that. Oh, I’m so excited now!”
“I can see it all over your face.”
“I thought I was hiding it well. I guess when you’re this excited, you just can’t hide it.”
Even through her exhaustion, Agnes found herself walking faster and faster. She wanted to be there.
“You need to slow down a bit,” he finally said. “I’m carrying too much to keep up with you.”
She forced herself to slow down a bit. “I just want to be there. It’s been so long!”
“It’ll be nice to have a bed to sleep in tonight.” He looked over at her, and she smiled. Other than that one night, they hadn’t made love. It was time, and they both knew it.
“Is there food I can cook at your cabin?”
He shook his head. “No, there’s going to be another night of hardtack and jerky. Then you can go to the store tomorrow and get whatever you want to fix.”
“All right.”
When they finally reached his cabin, she hurried inside to see what awaited her. To her surprise, everything was perfectly clean. There should have been a layer of dust with as long as he was gone, but there wasn’t.
He stepped inside and looked around. “Sally must have come by and cleaned things up for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s food in the cellar.”
Agnes found the trap door and hurried down the ladder into the cellar. “You’re right!” she called back up. There was some salt pork and enough greens for a salad.
Soon, she was cooking on the brand new stove he’d bought for her, excited to eat a decent meal for the first time in weeks. “I hope you’re hungry!” she called out. She had no idea where Jasper had disappeared to, but it didn’t matter. He’d be there when the food was ready.
To her surprise, he wasn’t. She waited for several minutes before hearing footsteps. “Jasper! I was getting worried.”
Instead of Jasper, it was Sally running toward her for a hug. “You wouldn’t believe how much I missed you!”
“How did you know we were back?” Agnes asked, hugging her friend close.
“Jasper came to get his goat, and he told me you wouldn’t mind seeing me.”
“Wouldn’t mind? That’s putting it mildly. It’s all I talked about. Thank you for leaving food for me.”
Sally smiled. “I thought you’d know where it came from. I’m going to have the other ladies come over around ten tomorrow morning, and we’ll discuss business ventures.”
Agnes laughed. “Jasper said you’d be trying to get me to join you.”
“He was right. We have ideas. We’ll be here in the morning, and we’ll talk then. I’ll let you get back to your supper.”
“Thank you for all you’ve done to help!” Agnes said.
“I’d do anything for you. You know that!”
Jasper walked in as Sally hurried off to her home. “I thought you could use a nice surprise.”
Agnes threw herself into Jasper’s arms. “Thank you so much! You’re the best husband a girl could ask for.”
He chuckled. “I don’t know about that...”
“I do. No one else would have thought to bring my friend over when they were so tired. You could have let them care for the goat another night, and instead, you went out of your way to do something that would please me. It worked. You get extra husband points.”
“What are husband points?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. I just know you deserve extra, whatever they are.”
“I guess I’ll take them then!”
“Sit down. There was food downstairs. I made salt pork, boiled potatoes, and salad. I hope you like all that!”
“I’ll eat anything you want to fix for me. I was getting sick of hardtack and jerky too.”
She smiled, putting the food on the table. She’d already set it with the plates and utensils she’d found. “Sally and the others will be meeting me here at ten to discuss my place in their business venture.”
Jasper sighed, shaking his head. “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me? I don’t mind if you join them. Just don’t forget about me.”
“I’ll do my best,” Agnes said with a grin.
As they ate, she savored every bite, thankful to not be eating their trail food. “There’s a lot I still want to do around the house, but Sally made me feel at home as soon as I walked in.”
“It looks like she washed the sheets and quilt. I bought that quilt at the store last year. Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Hunter made it. They wanted something to do all winter when it was too cold to be outdoors.”
“They are amazing. And I’m so glad I don’t need to immediately wash our bedding. I will need to do laundry tomorrow. And get a bath. Do you have any idea how much I want a bath?”
“It rained three days ago. Didn’t you get clean enough from that?” he asked, winking at her.
“No, I didn’t. I want to soak in hot water, the way a bath should be taken. I don’t think you need to take me to the store in the morning. The girls will do that.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “That will give me time to get myself clean before we go.”
“I’ll head straight to work after breakfast then.”
“Is there anything special you’d like me to fix for supper? I can’t promise I can get what you want, but I can promise to try!”
“You choose. It’s best to cook what’s readily available.”
“Do you like fish?” she asked. “There’s a river that runs in the back of our land, right?”
“There is. I love fish. Smoked salmon is one of my very favorite things.”
“Maybe I’ll build a smokehouse.”
He chuckled. “If something needs to be built, I’ll do it. You just ask.”
“All right. I’ll do that.” Agnes finished her meal and pushed her plate toward the middle of the table. “I’m so happy that I’ve finally gotten a real meal. It feels like it’s been forever.”
“It does for me as well. You’ve probably had one more recently than I have. Did they serve decent meals on your ships?”
She shrugged. “It definitely wasn’t as good as I’m used to. One of the best things about working at the hotel was the meals. They weren’t fancy, but they were good and filling.”
Jasper frowned. “The restaurant didn’t serve fancy meals?”
“Of course they did. We got plain meals, but they were always good. They made special food for us. I think the food they served the customers was much too rich.”
“I guess I can understand that. The store in town tried to carry a variety, but I find they are often lacking. It’s no fault of the owner, but I would like more variety.”
“This from the man who made me eat hardtack and jerky for a month?” Agnes teased.
“Don’t forget the blueberries. You had sustenance, and you didn’t get sick. All is well.”
“I suppose it is.” She stood, taking her plate to the sink. “I need to get water for the dishes. Is there a well? Or a pump?”
“No, not yet. I carry water from the river.”
“All right. I’ll be back in a minute or two then.”
He stood. “I’ll get the water. You’ll have to do it during the day, but when I’m home, I’m more than happy to do chores like that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I want to take care of you.”
“But it’s my job to take care of you.”
“How about we take care of each other?”
She smiled. “I like that idea.”
“So do I.” He left the house then, grabbing two tin pails.
She restoked the fire while he was gone so she could heat the water for the dishes.
The little kitchen area of the cabin was well thought out, and she knew she would enjoy working in it.
She had to wonder what the other ladies had in mind for her to do.
She wouldn’t mind fishing, gardening, or anything else they cared to have her do.
She was simply excited to be part of their business plan. Who wouldn’t be?
Once the dishes were done, she readied herself for bed. She’d never thought that sleeping in a bed would feel like such a luxury, but after a month of sleeping on the ground, she was ready to sleep in a bed, and she would cherish every minute of comfortable sleep.
Agnes fell asleep that night with ideas on how she could help her friends dancing through her head. She knew they had something in mind for her. If only she knew what it was.