Chapter 15
Daisy remembered the way to the Judge’s house. She fretted so much on the ride over she paid attention to every detail on the trail. Out front of the Judge’s magnificent house, the white ribbons and bows on the fence were still in place. She tied the horse to the fence next to another brown dappled one. She hoped the Judge’s wife wouldn’t mind her abrupt visit, but Daisy was desperate for help. When she mounted the steps to knock on the door, it suddenly opened. It was Henry.
“Were you looking for me?” Henry asked concerned. “Are the girls ok?”
Behind Henry, the Judge’s wife emerged. “Daisy? You ok?”
Daisy blushed at her behavior. She rode over frazzled and in distress; she must have looked like a sight.
“I’m fine. I came to ask you for a favor, Mrs. …” Daisy was at a loss. In the commotion of the impromptu wedding, she hadn’t remembered the Judge’s wife’s name.
“Mrs. Conner, but call me, Betsy,” she said holding her arm out to Daisy to guide her inside.
“I’ll be going,” Henry said tipping his hat to the ladies.
“Are you heading home?” Daisy asked Henry confused.
“Going into town. Will be back late,” Henry answered. Daisy nodded wondering to herself what Henry was doing at the Judge’s house in the first place.
Inside, Daisy paced. “I hate to bother you, but…,” Daisy said to Betsy grimacing every word.
“Ask me anything, honey. Anything,” Betsy said concerned.
“Can you teach me how to cook?”
Betsy laughed. “Yes. I can do that.”
Daisy’s first lesson was surprisingly simple. She took copious notes, jotting down ingredients and measurements of various dishes. They came up with a set menu for the week for Daisy to follow. Daisy soon learned that food could be relatively simple to make if you followed recipe instructions. She also learned that the food eaten out West was slightly different from what she grew up with due to the differences in what was available in the area.
While Betsy listed the type of things usually available at the general store, Daisy ventured to ask her about Henry’s wife. Betsy sighed as if knowing this question would soon arise. “Dinah is a wanderer at heart. She struggled as a mother going through long crying jags after each girl was born. I’ve known a few mothers to go through deep sadness like that. Maybe somehow the strong emotions that can happen to a mother who has just had a baby got too out of control for her. But Dinah…” Betsy’s voice trailed off. “She would be up and racing around talking a mile a minute. Then, a day later she’d shut herself up into a deep sleep.”
Daisy heard of mothers who went through this, but in Charleston there was always a woman like Mamie to step in. The pressure of being a mother could be spread across several women: a Mamie, an aunt, a sister, or a grandmother. It seemed out on the frontier, with very little women to go around for men, there were even less women to go around to be there for each other.
“I only knew about all this after she left,” Betsy confessed. “Henry told me. If I knew that she was struggling like this, I would have gone over there, but Dinah kept to herself. I had no idea.”
“How long has she been gone?” Daisy asked.
“Over a year, I’d say.” Betsy put a hand on Daisy’s. “Henry loves his girls. He wanted to find someone with a good heart to care for them. The Judge dissolved the marriage because of abandonment. Your marriage to Henry is legal, if you’re worried about that.”
“How long have you been married to the Judge?” Daisy asked.
“Thirty-two years, three children, and ten grandchildren later,” Betsy smiled.
“Congratulations!” Daisy said. “Any advice?”
Betsy put her hand on Daisy’s. “Forgive. Forgiveness is the most important ingredient in any lasting marriage.”
Daisy felt even more determined to, at least, provide edible fare for her new family after that morning’s awful breakfast. She focused on Betsy’s instructions with careful consideration. Betsy showed her simple cooking techniques: frying, boiling, and whisking. She assured Daisy that if she followed the instructions as she had written them, the food was sure to be a success. Daisy left the Judge’s house optimistic.
When she returned, Henry was still not home. She saw the girls in the stables chattering with Silas, but as soon as she rode up on the horse, they quieted. She even saw Lilah hide a small chalkboard underneath hay. Lilah was clearly perturbed that Daisy had returned.
Daisy greeted the girls and Silas curtly, “Bonne après-midi.” She wanted to say more but felt the girls needed space and barging into their safe space probably wasn’t going to do Daisy any favors.
Lilah said offhandedly back to her, “Buenos tardes.”
Tallulah piped in, “Buenos tardes!”
Silas said in conciliatory tone, “Hi.”
Daisy responded, “Buenos tardes.”
They were going to be a multi-lingual household. There was nothing wrong with that. In fact, Daisy preferred it. She lumbered out of the stables telling herself that the girls needed more time. What she could do now is cook a great dinner and tidy up.
She put her head down in the kitchen and began cooking. Daisy realized how much cooking was a lonely activity and thought of her young girl days keeping Mamie company while she toiled. She fantasized how charming it would be if the girls would one day, at least, think of her as she did of her Mamie, and keep her company while she made dinner.
Daisy made stewed mutton with bread, butter, and potatoes. Daisy, herself had never eaten anything like these things before, but trusted Betsy’s recipes. With the stew warming on the stove, Daisy put herself to work cleaning up. Since the girls were outside, she thought it would be an opportunity to pick up their room.
She entered the room with caution discovering that it wasn’t as untidy as she thought it would be. A red crimson trunk was next to the bed partially open. Daisy let curiosity draw her to the trunk. She opened the lid and looked inside. She found an assortment of women’s dresses, hats, and a delicate brooch. Underneath the garments, she discovered a framed photograph of a woman with long blonde hair and a wistful look in her eyes. Daisy knew that this was Dinah, the girls’ mother, and Henry’s wife.
She understood that this was all the girls had left of their wandering mother. She couldn’t imagine the ache they must feel at such a young age. Daisy herself, felt an aching for Mamie, who wasn’t her biological mother, but was the mother that raised her. Her own mother, Mrs. Manigault, and Dinah were probably rather alike: mothers, who did their best from afar.
She took each token out to try to get a better sense of the woman who once lived here. Empty, the trunk’s inside didn’t quite fit with the proportion and size of the box. Daisy knocked on the bottom of the trunk noticing a hollowness. She pressed the bottom firmly, and it gently sprung up. She lifted the piece of wood out of place finding a large stack of banknotes.
Daisy heard a knock at the door and was needlessly startled by the sound. She gently put the false bottom and the contents of the trunk back into place and shut the lid. She hurried to the front door. On the porch, two men greeted her. One had a white Stetson hat on; the other wore a black one. Besides that, the two men were identical with toffee brown skin and dark brown, almost black, eyes.
“Hola,” the man in the white hat said. The other nodded. “We’re looking for Henry Baker,” the man said stepping closer.
Daisy instinctively stepped back. “Henry isn’t here right now.”
“Oh is that, right?” The man sat on the porch railing looking around before his eyes returned to Daisy. He took out a knife, flipped it open, and used the blade to pick his teeth. “You know when he’ll be back?” Daisy shook her head no.
The two men looked at each other silently, before the one in the black hat asked, “Do you know your husband, Mrs. Baker?” This was the first time anyone had ever addressed Daisy with her brand new married name. She didn’t know how to answer the question. “You are the new Mrs. Baker, si?”
Daisy nodded. Eager to send the men on their way, she said, “Who should I tell him stopped by?”
“Do you mind if we stay a while? We can wait. We’ve got all the time in the world,” the man in the white hat said.
In the distance, Daisy saw Silas looking over with a look of concern on his face. Daisy smiled and waved. The men looked over at Silas watching them. The man leaning on the porch rail flipped his knife away. The other one backed down the steps.
The man in the white hat said, “You know what. We’ll just come back.”
The men mounted their horses. The one with white hat called out to Daisy, “Tell your husband the Espinosa brothers were here.”
The other one said, “We look forward to working with him.”
The brothers rode by the stables where Silas and now the girls watched them. They waved. Silas only nodded in response while Lilah eyed them suspiciously. Tallulah, as she often does with anyone without discrimination, waved back jumping up and down. The brothers then turned and galloped away leaving clouds of dust behind them.
A dark foreboding hovered over Daisy. She really didn’t know her new husband. She didn’t know him at all.