Chapter 14
Marta took over the cooking, cleaning, and washing for the household and let Kyra concentrate on her babies.
Max and Mac were cute little buggers and they were growing like weeds.
Marta regained her original slim body quickly, which she appreciated.
You would never believe that she had just delivered twins.
She avoided holding them or feeding them, she left that to Kyra and Nimrod.
They were enjoying being parents again. Marta liked that.
She took over teaching Mattie and found that she really enjoyed helping him learn.
Maybe she should become a teacher…maybe.
The more time she spent helping Mattie learn, the more determined she became that she needed to go away and become a teacher to give them a way to become independent.
She also needed to get away from Kyra, Nimrod, and the babies.
It would make it a lot easier to forget that she gave birth to them.
It was the first of the year and knew that a new class for teachers would be starting.
Now would be the perfect time to leave…not only for being a teacher, but to get away from the babies.
She knew that Mattie would be just fine with the Harper’s, she could still write to Grady while she was becoming a teacher, and it would move her one step closer to becoming an independent woman.
She couldn’t stay with the Harper’s forever.
She sat down to talk to Kyra and Nimrod that night at dinner about her plans.
“You want to become a teacher?”
“You want to leave…now?”
“But Marta, you can’t leave me!” Mattie cried out at the table. “You’re all I have left!”
“Oh, Mattie…I’m not leaving you forever.
I’m just leaving for a few months to become a teacher.
We have the money we received from the reward for being hostages.
I’m going to use that to pay my tuition and room and board.
I’m hoping that you can stay here while I’m at school.
I know that I’m asking a lot, but Mattie can help with the chores and especially with the garden while Kyra takes care of the babies.
It will only be for a year…I will pay you back after I become a teacher and am making a wage. ” Marta told them.
Nimrod and Kyra looked at each other and then at Marta.
“We would love to have Mattie stay here while you go to teacher school, but we won’t let you pay us back.
The help he’ll give us will be more than enough to pay for his stay with us.
We’re just sorry that you’ll be leaving us so soon.
We like having you around the ranch, too.
” Nimrod told her and held Kyra’s hand as he talked.
“I also understand your need to become a teacher and make your way into the world. I will talk to the Sheridan school board and let them know of your intentions to become a teacher and tell them that if they have a need in a year for a teacher, I know a very good woman who will become available.”
“Thank you, Nimrod. That would be wonderful! Mattie and I don’t want to leave our friends after you have become so dear to us.
I don’t know what we would have done without you for many reasons.
I’ve come to love your entire family. I want to send a telegram to the teaching school asking them to admit me in one week when their new school year begins.
” Marta told them with a tear in her eye.
“I’ll ski into town and send that telegram for you, Marta. Just tell me where to send it and what to say.” Brody told her kindly. “I’m going to miss you, too. I like having a second sister around the house.”
“Thank you, Brody. I liked having a big brother around here, too.” Marta told him. “I very much appreciate you skiing the telegram for me. It would make it get there much faster for me. I haven’t learned how to ski yet.”
“Stick around and I’ll teach you.” Brody told her with a smile.
“I’ll remember to learn when I come back from teacher school. Thanks for the offer, Brody.” Marta told him.
“It’s a deal.” Brody told her and got up to get bundled up. “Write up what you want to say. I want to get back before it gets too dark.”
Marta got up and wrote out the address and the message for Brody. She gave it to him right before he left. He was gone seconds later. She started on dishes while Nimrod and Kyra started feeding the twins. Mattie helped her dry them.
“Marta, I don’t like that you’re going to leave.
I understand about you becoming a teacher…
I like that part. But we’ve never been apart.
First Ma and Pa…now you’re going. I really like living here on the Harper ranch.
Brody is like having an older brother, and I like having the babies around too.
They’re cute even if all they do is cry, eat, poop, and pee.
I just don’t know what I’ll do without you here to talk to…
I really missed Grady after he left. I keep expecting him to come back to see us, but he hasn’t.
Everybody leaves me, Marta.” Mattie told her and had tears running down his face.
Marta stopped washing dishes and hugged her little brother.
“I don’t care how many others haven’t come back, Mattie.
I’m your sister…and I will always come back for you.
We belong together. I’m going to teacher’s college so that I can have a job that will support both of us.
It will give us a roof over our head, food on the table, and it will give you a chance to go to college, too, if you want to when you get older.
I can’t stay here with the Harper’s forever.
We have to make our way in the world, Mattie.
They have been wonderful to us and gave us a place to stay when we needed it, but I need to find a way for us to live without depending on anyone. Becoming a teacher, will do that.”
“I understand, Marta, I just don’t want you to leave to become a teacher.” Mattie told her and hugged her back. Marta understood, but for her own peace of mind, she had to leave…she hadn’t heard from Grady for over a month and was beginning to wonder if he had forgotten her.
Brody arrived back from town covered with snow.
It had started snowing even as he was skiing home.
“Marta, they responded as I was still in the telegraph office. They accepted your admittance telegram. I guess you will be leaving us very soon. Congratulations.” He told her and gave her the telegram telling her the details.
Marta was thrilled and went upstairs to pack.
She’d need to leave in two days to get there in time.
She had no time to waste. She helped Kyra make bread to keep her covered for several days ahead of time.
She also made sure that Mattie was covered with his pants let down and was in good shape for clean clothes.
She also washed clothes and diapers for Kyra before she took off for Denver to the teaching college.
Brody took her to the train depot on a sled.
She took her money out of the bank to pay her tuition and room and board.
She was excited yet, scared, too. She wouldn’t know anyone.
She didn’t like being the only one there.
But she had made the choice, and it had to be done. She hugged Brody and boarded the train.
Just as she got on the train, Grady had gotten off to come and see Marta and his new brothers. He couldn’t go any longer without seeing her. He could only stay overnight and then had to report back in Denver for his next assignment, but it was worth it to hold Marta again and kiss her.
He saw Brody in the sleigh. “What brings you to town in this kind of weather? Everything is all right out at the ranch isn’t it?” Grady asked his brother and climbed into the sleigh to ride out to the ranch with him.
“Yeah, it’s a little different with Max and Mac around.
If it’s not time to change them, it’s time to feed them.
They’re cute little guys. I’ve never been around babies except Marley’s triplets and those weren’t for long periods of time.
I don’t think Ma and Pa have gotten a full night’s sleep since the babies were born.
Course, they’re not complaining. Ma is all smiles, all day long, and so is Pa.
Marta has been a big help with cooking, cleaning, and washing up all those diapers that we have every day…
I don’t know what we would have done without her or what we’ll do now that she’s gone. ” Brody told him.
“What do you mean now that she’s gone? Where in the hell is she?” Grady asked him. He was suddenly not in such a good mood. Had he come all this way for nothing!
“That’s why I’m in town. Marta was accepted into teacher college.
I took her into town to get on the train into Denver.
She starts in a day or so. She’s using the reward money to pay for it.
She figures it’s a way she can support her and Mattie.
Pa is even going to talk to the mayor of Sheridan to see if they can hire Marta here in town to be a teacher as soon as she graduates from college.
” Brody told him and was amazed that they had arrived at the ranch so soon… “It’s a shame you missed her.”
I missed her, Grady thought. I was so close…
Grady thought, but at least she’s in Denver now, and I go there often to get assignments, I should be able to see her often or more than I do now.
He walked into the house and shook off the snow from his clothes.
He put on a smile for his mother and father.
He looked at the babies they were so proud of and smiled.
He even held each of them. He didn’t feel any kinship with them, but they were cute little guys.
“Congratulations to the both of you. How can you tell them apart? I look at them both and they look just alike.” Grady told them and gave them back to his parents.
“Right now, it’s almost impossible. Max has a birthmark on his back, Mac doesn’t.
But I can’t have them stripping as they grow up to tell them apart.
I figure as they get older they’ll start having different mannerisms and we’ll get to know which one is which.
Now I put different colors on them.” Kyra told him and held them as if they were priceless in her arms. She was glowing as she held them in her arms. “I’m so glad you made the effort to come and see them before they’re a few years old.
I’m also sorry that you missed Marta. She just left to go to teacher’s college.
She wanted to find a job that would give her an income to make her and Mattie independent.
She said this would put a roof over their heads, food on the table, and also give Mattie a way to go to college if he wants to further down the line.
She appreciated all we were doing for her and Mattie, but she didn’t want to be beholding to us for the rest of her life.
I don’t know what I would have done without Marta here these last few months.
She was a gift from God to get me here and these babies, too.
” Kyra told him and saw Nimrod nod that he agreed to what she said.
“I’m glad. Bringing them here when I did was a blessing for me when I recuperated and gave them a place to heal, too.
I’m just glad it all worked out for everyone, Mattie, too.
I sure do miss you all when I’m traveling all over the west. I’ve been to Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Colorada, Nebraska, Kansas, and even Missouri, and Illinois.
There’s some pretty land out there, but nothing is like it is here.
This is the prettiest place on earth. When I get tired of being on the run all the time, this is where I’ll settle down.
I don’t know if I’ll be a rancher…but this is where I’ll make my home.
” Grady told them as he ate some of his Ma’s bread and some of the cobbler that was left from dinner. “Food’s good, Ma, just like always.”
“I didn’t make the bread or the cobbler, that was left over from Marta’s cooking.
She’s been doing all the cooking, cleaning, and washing since I had the babies.
I don’t know what I would have done without that girl.
” Kyra told him and went back to feeding one of the babies, while Nimrod fed the other baby.
He had never seen his parents so happy. He was glad for them, but sad for himself.
How could he have been so close to Marta and yet missed her by a mile!