Lazy Days (17 page)

Exhausted, Hallie and Tim prepared supper while
Cooper tended to their animals. Only one chicken remained from the last batch
they'd bought at Fort Casper and it would probably become supper within a few
days. Hallie pulled a pot of rice off the fire and ladled beans over the top.
She told Tim to let Cooper know supper was ready and then she lifted the Dutch
oven with the cornbread onto the multifunctional wagon tailgate.

A noise across the campground captured her
attention. Hallie turned to see a woman exit the back of Pastor Pittance's
wagon with her hand held to her mouth, apparently trying to keep from sobbing.
The men and women standing outside of the wagon all had somber expressions.
Something
is definitely wrong. Maybe I should offer them supper.

While Hallie was trying to determine if she
should interfere, Sarah Jackson, the woman in the group who had first
introduced herself to Hallie, stepped away from the wagon and crossed the camp
toward her. Surprised, Hallie greeted her. "Hello Sarah, I heard the
pastor is ill. Is there anything I can do?"

Sarah said, "He wants to see you."

Dumbfounded, Hallie replied, "He does? Why
would he want to see me?"

"I don't know, but…" her voice
cracked, "he's near death."

"No!" Hallie gasped.

Sarah nodded. "Will you please come?"

"Of course; but what about Mrs.
Pittance?"

"She's with him and doesn't understand
either. But it's his last wish."

"I'll come right now." Hallie followed
Sarah to the Pittance wagon, her heart hammering with dread. Was she going to
be damned for her traveling arrangement with Cooper? Pausing to inhale a calming
breath, she allowed one of the men to help her into the wagon.

Pastor Pittance, a big man, appeared to have
shrunk considerably. His sunken eyes were ringed with dark circles, and his
breathing was the rattle before death. Sitting on the floor beside him, Mrs.
Pittance held one of his hands in her own and when Hallie entered the wagon,
she lifted tear-drenched eyes and motioned with her other hand to a stool at
the end of his pallet for Hallie.

Softly, Mrs. Pittance said, "Husband, Mrs.
Wells is here like you requested."

With great effort, the pastor lifted his eyelids
and focused on Hallie. A weak smile creased the corners of his mouth. He said, "Thank
you…for coming." With a barely perceptible motion of his free hand, he
continued, "This old ticker has been giving me trouble for a long
time."

Mrs. Pittance sniffed loudly, looked at Hallie,
and said, "I didn't know."

Pastor Pittance shifted his gaze to his wife and
rasped, "I didn't let you know."

Tears stung Hallie's eyes and she said,
"What is it that I can do for you, Pastor Pittance?"

He returned his gaze back to Hallie.
"Comfort my wife after my death. She isn't the woman you think she
is."

Mrs. Pittance sobbed in earnest. "Don't
leave me, husband."

Tears dripped down Halley cheeks at the scene.

Fixing his eyes on his wife with an expression
of love and tenderness, Pastor Pittance said, "You know I forgave you long
ago, don't you?" With great effort he inhaled and continued in a whisper,
"And I loved those girls like my own."

Mrs. Pittance sobbed softly.

Pastor Pittance moved his free hand toward his
wife. "Grasp my hand, wife."

Mrs. Pittance gently clutched his hand. His
voice was now stronger. "After the girls died, you changed. I know you
believed you were doing good by becoming so upstanding and wanting everyone to
follow your lead, but it's time to stop. I've never believed in interfering
with the work the Good Lord does in one's heart, and he's been working mightily
on you these past three years since their deaths, but now that I'm about to pass
on, you will become the leader of our flock."

Mrs. Pittance sobbed, "No, husband, no. I
am not worthy."

Hallie saw the pastor barely squeeze his wife's
hands and, ignoring her cry to the contrary said, "You will be worthy
after the Lord finishes his work in you through Hallie."

Hallie gasped.

With tears overflowing, Mrs. Pittance said,
"No, I cannot–"

Struggling to breathe Pastor Pittance wheezed,
"I love you, wife, but now it's time for me to join Clara and Ella, and
it's time for you to expand your heart and accept others unconditionally."

Hallie watched the quiet pastor turn his gaze
upward and his demeanor change from one of pain to serenity. He mouthed the
words, "Clara, Ella," and with an imperceptible smile, slipped gently
into death.

Mrs. Pittance let out a wail and threw herself on
her husband's chest. Having lost her own husband only a few months earlier, Hallie
reached to touch her shoulder. Compassion swelled her heart. "It will
always hurt, but it will become bearable."

Clutching her husband's shoulders, Mrs. Pittance
sobbed. "You don't understand!" She wept several minutes and then
confessed her sin. "I was unfaithful to my husband but he loved me anyway;
even when I bore twin daughters that were not his." She sobbed again.
"They both died of the cholera at age twelve and I knew it was God's way
of punishing me. Since then, I've tried to atone for my mistake by being as
pure as I can be and leading others on the same path." She lifted a face
streaked with tears. "But I failed. I failed my husband, my girls, my
congregation...I failed myself."

The back flap of the wagon lifted and from the
expressions on those gathered, they had heard Mrs. Pittance's heartrending
confession. Hallie moved to the opening and announced, "Pastor Pittance
left the care of his flock to his wife and he would not have done so had he not
believed in her. As you have undoubtedly heard, she has suffered terribly. And
you have all been given an opportunity to either increase her suffering or
comfort her. What would the Good Lord have you do?"

Beyond the crowd, Hallie saw Tim standing beside
Cooper. Cooper said, "Excuse me, please." Stepping forward, he lifted
Hallie from the wagon and placed his arm around her shoulders to lead her back
to their wagon.

The next afternoon, amidst many tears, Pastor
Pittance was laid to rest at Clover Creek with the words, "Beloved Husband,
Father, and Pastor," crudely etched into the rock that would stand guard over
his grave. Mrs. Pittance, her face ragged with sorrow, was surrounded by a compassionate
congregation.

A contemplative atmosphere hovered over the
wagons as they departed Clover Creek and headed toward their next notable
landmark. During the two days it took to reach Soda Springs, Hallie didn't see
Mrs. Pittance. However, she was heartened to see members of her church often
entering her wagon.

Everyone’s mood lightened when they camped at the
springs. Captain Jones said it was one of the major attractions on the Oregon
Trail and Hallie could certainly understand why with hot springs and erupting
geysers marking the landscape. The emigrants captured the water in barrels,
marveling over its wonderful taste. According to the captain more than one
hundred springs dotted the area.

Hallie laughed when several of the emigrants
cheerfully announced that the water was quite stimulating, producing an almost
intoxicating effect if imbibed in abundance.

At their evening gathering Captain Jones
announced, "Although I don't encourage it, I have an obligation to let
ya'll know that a few miles away is the Hudspeth's Cutoff that heads toward
California. If anyone has a mind to go in that direction, I'll draw a map and
tell ya everything I know about it, but like I said, I don't encourage anyone
to leave the group; leastwise not by themselves. So, is anyone thinkin' 'bout
turnin' toward Cali?"

There was a murmuring among the gathering, but
no one voiced any intent to leave the train.

Captain Jones smiled. "Good. Now movin' on
to other matters, in a few days we'll reach Fort Hall and replenish supplies as
best we can. Unless the fort has changed, it's not very well stocked. However,
this would be a good time to make sure your wagons are in top condition. We've
traveled a long ways and they've takin' a beating. Your wagon breakin' down on
the trail, when it's something you could have averted with common sense, not
only hinders you, but everyone else."

A couple of days later, with the whitewashed
walls of Fort Hall seen glistening in the distance, everyone picked up the
pace, anxious to meet other folks from other trains and compare experiences.
Many of the emigrants kept diaries, including Hallie, who had jotted her
experiences to be relived throughout the years.

A voice behind her startled her. "Mrs.
Wells, may I speak with you?" It was Mrs. Pittance.

Hallie turned and said, "Of course."

She glanced at Tim, who said without her
prompting, "Can I go walk with the Livermans' boys?"

"Yes. But don't stay more than an
hour."

"Okay, Ma."

Cooper turned at the sound of Mrs. Pittance's
voice, but merely nodded a greeting and turned back around.

Mrs. Pittance kept pace with Hallie for several
minutes before speaking, a tremor in her voice, "My husband's death was a
complete surprise and it…it made me rethink my life and purpose."

Hallie glanced sideways at the contrite woman
and marveled at the change in her attitude. She probably hadn't reached the age
of fifty, and whereas she had appeared much older when Hallie first met her,
she now appeared much younger. The disapproving scowl was gone and with her
face relaxed and her hair combed less severely, she was almost pretty. In fact,
Hallie would bet her bottom dollar that the woman had once been a beauty.
Rather than reply, she waited for Mrs. Pittance to continue.

"I know that I can never repay you for the
kindness you have shown me, but I want to tell you how sorry I am for treating
you the way I did. Y-you heard my confession of sin, but if the truth be told,
I will never regret the birth of my girls. Pastor Pittance and I were childless,
and after the girls came, he forgave me and loved them like his own." She
inhaled a ragged breath. "We actually became a happy family, but when the
girls died within days of each other, I believed it was punishment for my act
of weakness with a drifter just passing through our community." She
hesitated and finished with, "And a sweet-talker. I never saw him again and
he never knew about his daughters."

Several minutes passed before Mrs. Pittance continued.
"Anyway, you heard what the pastor said about me trying to make everyone
sinless. I figured it was my calling…but I was wrong. Seeing your kindness to
others has shown me that." A little sob escaped. "It took my dear
husband's death to make me see the truth."

Hallie reached to hold Mrs. Pittance's hand and asked,
"May I call you Prudence?"

The sad woman nodded through tears.

"And you must call me Hallie."

"Thank you, Hallie."

Thus began a newfound friendship.

* * *

Captain Jones pressed the emigrants to continue
forward at a more rapid pace and finally Fort Hall was reached. The tired group
did little more than prepare supper and care for their animals before falling
exhausted into bed.

The next morning Cooper escorted Hallie and Tim
to the reality of Fort Hall, a rather pitiful encampment with scanty supplies.
The only bright spot was that emigrants from two other trains were also there.
Soon folks were mingling and sharing stories.

Cooper lazed against the outside wall of the blacksmith's,
watching the goings-on around him while having work done on some wagon parts. Across
the road, Hallie was engaged in animated conversation with a young woman
holding a baby, and when the woman handed the baby to Hallie, Cooper inhaled
sharply at the expression on her face. She definitely needed more children, and
when an unguarded thought escaped that he should be the father of those
children, he literally shook his head to dislodge the idea.

With his gaze still on Hallie, he watched her
lift the baby to kiss its cheek and her eyes met his. Quickly, she looked away,
but not before he saw her longing. His heart also burned with desire and he
knew the attraction between them was not going to disappear. The sooner they
arrived in Oregon and he got her settled, the sooner he could leave. An
Oregonian farmer would probably have her married and bedded before another year
passed. The thought of another man bedding Hallie and being the recipient of
her kisses and caresses made him groan. It seemed no matter the direction of
his thoughts, they always returned to her.

* * *

Whereas the train had followed Bear River up to Soda
Springs, after leaving Fort Hall they followed the Snake River. Captain Jones
said they would soon reach a landmark called Gate of Death, a narrow passage
through massive rocks. He alerted the pioneers to the fact that there were occasional
skirmishes with Indians in the area and that a deadly one had erupted in 1862. Although
an encounter was unlikely, he advised everyone to stay alert and keep their
guns handy. A tense atmosphere hovered until they had traveled well beyond the
area.

They reached the next trading post, Rock Creek Stage
Station, ten days after leaving Fort Hall. Being an intersection for a stage
route and another trail, the Kelton Road from Utah, the post proved to be well
stocked. After their exhausting journey across the parched Snake River Plain,
the abundant water and grass at the station brightened everyone's spirits.

Captain Jones announced that they'd be staying
at this stop longer than he'd first intended so man and beast could recoup
before beginning the next leg of their journey. On the third day, much
conversation buzzed about a marvelous site residents of the fort described as
the Niagara Falls of the West—Shoshone Falls. When a group decided to trek the
few miles to the falls, Hallie wanted to join them, and when Cooper said,
"Come on, get Tim, and let's go," she didn't hesitate. That is, until
she realized their only horse was Sweet Pea."

Cooper seemed to read her mind. "You and
Tim will ride Sweet Pea while I guide her."

"Then we must take turns so you don't have
to walk the entire way."

Cooper only smiled and Hallie knew he would be a
gentleman and not allow her to walk. Not surprising, the five miles to the
falls seemed minuscule compared to what they had accomplished over the past
weeks.

Long before they reached the falls, a roar of
such magnitude arose that the emigrants nervously eyed each other.

Hallie's first sight of the cascading water
literally took her breath away and Tim, seated behind her on Sweet Pea, said,
"Oh, Ma, I never thought to see the likes of anything so grand in my
life."

From a safe vantage point, the twenty emigrants
who had banded together to travel to the falls, dismounted their horses, laid
out blankets, and unpacked lunches. Tim joined up with the Liverman boys playing
tag and climbing trees.

Hallie sat alone on her blanket and unpacked
hardtack and fried chicken and surprised Cooper with some dried fruit. He
accepted the plate she handed him and returned to the tree he had been leaning
against. She nibbled a piece of apricot because her stomach was flip-flopping
at being alone with Cooper. From beneath her lashes, she saw him watching her.
The expression he wore was so sad it made her frown. After a moment's
hesitation, she summoned her courage and said, "You had another nightmare
last night, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry I woke you."

She fingered a fold on the blanket. "I was
about to wake you, but you got up and walked out of camp."

Cooper didn't respond, but kept looking at her.

Summoning more courage she said, "I want to
relate something Tim said shortly after we left the Shawnee Mission."

"Okay."

Hallie's heart pounded so hard she wondered if
Cooper could see the pulse in her neck. "He told me that when he talks to
me about his father's death, he feels better." She inhaled slowly to calm
herself. "He said that he sees sadness in your eyes and he thinks that if
you talked about whatever it is that's bothering you, maybe you would feel
better, too."

Unable to meet Cooper's gaze, Hallie studied the
fold in the blanket. Finally, the suspense was so unbearable she lifted her eyes
to his. He watched her with an intensity that took her breath away. Her heart pounded
at her boldness.

Cooper shifted his gaze to the sky, the same
color as his eyes, and then back to her. "I have a fifteen-year-old son whom
I haven't seen since he was three."

Hallie waited and prayed that he would continue.

"I told you once that I was married and
divorced. Well, the child was born from that marriage. My wife was a good
woman, but she longed for what I couldn't give her—family life. During our
marriage, I was absent more than I was present. I had the run in me." He
shifted his stance to pull out a smoke and Hallie continued to play with the
fold in the blanket while he rolled it.

He struck his match on his boot and lit his cigarette.
"I found my wife in bed with the local banker and almost killed them
both."

It took all of Hallie's willpower not to gasp,
although her eyes widened.

"At the last minute, I realized what a
sorry-ass excuse for a man I was and gave her what she'd wanted for over a year—a
divorce."

Hallie attempted to speak, but her voice cracked.
She tried again. "Twelve years is a long time. Maybe your boy wants to see
you as much as you want to see him."

"And maybe he doesn't. Maybe he never wants
to see me."

"But you'll never know if you don't
try."

Cooper blew smoke into the air. "I don't
have the courage to see him or my ex-wife."

"I don't believe that."

A slight smile creased Cooper's face. "You
know I want to bed you, don't you?"

Hallie's eyes rounded at the change in their
conversation.

Cooper took a draw on his cigarette and then
released the smoke. "There's an attraction between us that we both keep
denying."

Rather than acknowledge the truth of what he'd
said, Hallie slid her gaze from his.

"Hallie, I'm not the marrying kind. If I
was, I'd make you my wife in a heartbeat."

She swallowed against the lump in her throat.

Cooper said tenderly, "Like I promised, I
won't act on my desires. You're an honorable woman and you deserve an honorable
husband. In fact, if I was a betting man, and I once was, I'd bet you're
married to a fine gentleman within a year or two."

Cooper tossed his cigarette and stepped on it.
Gazing back at her, he said, "I'm just not that man."