Nan's Journey (25 page)

Nan watched her tormenter carefully to see any indication of insincerity.

“I wanted to talk to your husband to see
what I should do to make up for…
the cruelty. I honestly didn’t know you lived here! I promise! I just need to tell you I am sorry. I know you can’t or won’t forgive me. I don’t blame you if you don’t. I don’t deserve anything from you. I am just so glad that God forgave me! I want you to know that I am a better woman now. I will never do anything to hurt you again.”

“What about Mr. Dewey?”

“I won’t tell him where you are. He hasn’t taken kindly to your escape and I haven’t told him about me finding God. He knows something is up, but he don’t know what yet. I have to tell you that to keep him from looking for you I said that I sent you to an aunt in Boston that told us we could have the f
arm. I know now that I stole i
t from you by saying that, but in my heart
I wanted you to get to safety…
away from me and him too.”

“You weren’t looking for us?”

“No. I don’t understand why I kept beating you.” Mary began to sob. “I was so miserable I guess I had to inflict misery on you kids. I am worthless for what I did to you. I am very sorry. Fred, what can I do to get away from my past?”

“You have done a great thing to admit to your wrong actions and apologize for them. That is the first step. You have no control over Nan’s ability to forgive you. You must continu
e to read your Bible and
spend a lot of time in prayer. Go to church and confide in your pastor.

I know Marcus Hall and he and Esther will love you no matter what happened in your past. You will need them to help you when you tell your husband about your conversion. I think that you need to leave now and give Nan some breathing room. I will walk you to the hotel or train station.”

“We will be going home on the evening train. I am to meet up with Mr. Dewey to do some business in town. He thinks I have been shopping so I best go be
fore he finds to the contrary.”

“I will walk
with Mary to the general store
and be back shortly. Nan rest in the rocker while I am gone and we will talk this out when I get back.”

Nan stared blankly as the man that she loved walked out her front door with Mary Dewey.

Chapter
2
6

Mary walked in silence as Fred escorted her to the general store. She was stunned that while searching for Brother Young she had found Nan and that Nan was Brother Young’s wife. It was a lot to take in.

“Are you a
l
l
right, Mary?”

“I guess…I…
Will she be al
l
right?”

“God is watching over her. She will be fine…eventually. You do know that you will have to tell Mr. Dewey about your conversion.”

“I know. I have been putting it off. He has a vile temper and I don’t want to rile him.”

“Ask God for the words to say. He will help you.”

“Here we are, Brother Young. Thank you for the advice.” She gave a small nod and crossed the floor of the store to the bolts of fabric. It wouldn’t do for Mr. Dewey to see her talking with another man.

Mr. Dewey spied her as she edged her way to the button boxes. She seemed to be in deep thought choosing tiny mother of pearl buttons for a baby dress for Sammy. He thought,
“Good, she looks like a doting mother.”

His mother’s lawyer set an appointment to inspect the child and Mary in a couple of hours. ‘Mary, lets go to the restaurant at the hotel and get dinner before we go to see Mr. Fields.”

Mary looked up from the buttons and nodded her head. “Yes, Mr. Dewey.” She held the sleeping baby closely and followed him out to the street and on to the restaurant.

“I know it is a splurge to eat in here, but we must look our best when we meet with that confounded lawyer.”

The waitress took their order and they sat waiting for the food to come. “Was Mr. Fields agreeable to you, Sam?”

“He is a tightly wound little man. He wants proof that I am married and that I have an heir. I am glad I brought the marriage certificate.” He produced the paper from the
inside pocket of his suit coat.
“
I also have a letter from doc stating that he delivered Sammy. That should be enough for anyone.”

“Why does he want to see Sammy and I?”

“Because the will says that he must see my wife and boy child before the inheritance is mine. He has to talk with you and ask you about my son.”

“You mother wrote all of that in her will?”

“She was thinking of the best for me.” He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and started to make a biting comment when the waitress placed a plate of steaming hot soup before him.

“Of course she was. I can understand now how a mother loves her child and wants the best for him.”

Sam spooned the soup into his mouth and studied his wife as she shifted Sammy in her arms so that she could eat. She was very tender with his son. It was amazing to observe a woman who had the most vile, caustic tongue tending the toddler this way. He had to admit that of late she had been mild with him too. It didn’t appear to be the sarcastic cat and mouse game that they had engaged in for the past year. She seemed genuine in her kindness
. Shoot, she even acted happier, even happier than she was at Sammy’s birth.

Last week he had to make sure that it was Mary doing the wash. He heard her singing at the washboard. He usually kept clear when her saw her hauling the heated water buckets to the
wash
tub because she would carry on in a cursing fit.

Whatever brought about the change in her moods was too good to be true. He reasoned that it could end as quickly as it began. Her sassiness had landed her a good many blows from his fists in the past, but he
hadn’t needed to get her back in line in quite some time. He had to be sure that she knew that it wasn’t because he had gone soft or anything of that sort. He knew that he spoke more harshly than was necessary lately, but she had to be reminded that he was in charge.

The waitress brought them a plate of roasted meat and potatoes. He began with gusto. “Mary, we need to be sure to only answer the questions that Mr. Fields puts to you. Don’t go off tellin’ him more that he needs to know.”

“What do you mean?”

“He don’t need to know about Nancy’s kids that we took care of unless he asks specifically about them.”

The meat stuck in Mary’s throat, “What would he ask about them?”

“Well, where they are and why aren’t we tendin’ to them.”

“I see.”

“Tell me how you would answer that question. Remember, he don’t need to know that we were glad to get rid of them.”

“Well, they live with relatives who love them and want to be close to them. Their Ma wanted them to know her family…” Mary was sure that both of those statements were true. She just wasn’t sure that stringing them together like that wasn’t a lie.

“Be sure that Mr. Fields thinks that we wanted them and all of that hogwash. Otherwise, he will know that we didn’t care what happened to them.”

“Of course
.” Mary breathed a prayer,
“Help me, God!”

*****

Mr. Fields peered over the bifocals perched on his long skinny nose. “So, you packed them off to relatives? Don’t you care for those little orphans that were left in your care?”

“I only want what is best for those children, sir! I have grown to love them with all my heart. I feel sorry that they lost their dear ma and pa. I remember reading a letter that Nancy received from her closest aunt that stated that she wanted to know Nancy’s children. I sent their things in a trunk and bought tickets to Boston. Those children should be living with people who are kin to them. I
t
was
the right thing to do.”

“And this child,
Clarence Samuel Dewey III
, is your own child borne out of your body?”

“Yes sir!”

“Her
e
is proof of the child’s birth… a letter from the doctor.” Sam produce
d
the valuable letter.

“Everything looks in order here. I need you to sign these papers attached to the late Mrs. Dewey’s will. They state that you will never abandon Sam or the child by way of divorce or any other means. You will see to his education. College is required. You will see that he attends church and religious training every week. You will see that every cultural opportunity available in the state of Colorado will be sought out and that he will become a well-bred gentleman. You will do everything in your power to bring out kindness in his demeanor.”

“Yes, where do I sign?”

“There
,
madam. We are finished with your portion of the agreement. However, your signature is required to be affixed to the papers your husb
and must sign and vow to keep.”
”Vow?”

“Yes, Samuel. You are to listen as I read the attached document, swear to uphold the requirements laid out by your mother, and affix your signature to it.”

Sam frowned, but he knew th
at in order to inherit the sizeable
fortune, he must comply. He sat quietly as Mr. Fields began to read.

*****

By now I will have been gone from this world for a good long time. I know that you, my son, are not going to be happy with the conditions of receiving your inheritance. I know the fabric you are cut from. In some ways you are made of sturdy stuff. In many ways you are weak. Like your father, you have been somewhat of a bully. Unlike your father, I was not successful in getting that out of you.

I know that you thought that all the time you spent doting on me while I was ill, showed me that you actually loved me and not the money in my bank account. I may have been sick, but I was not a fool.
*****

Sam stood so quickly that he knocked over the heavy leather chair.

“Sit down, Sam. It is required that you hear this!” Mr. Fields voice boomed.

Sam righted the chair and eased himself into it avoiding the stunned look in Mary’s eyes. Sammy stirred and whimpered, but Mary was able to rock him gently and he quieted down.

*****

You were required to get a wife and a boy child to meet the stipulations of this document. I knew that if it were not required, you would take the fortune and live your life and die without an heir. You always were a selfish boy.

I can only imagine the torment you put a wife to. That is
why she will have contr
ol of
ninety percent
of the fortune. You will get an allowance each week. Mr. Fields will deliver it to you each Sunday noon after you have attended church. On weeks that you do not attend, you will miss your allowance. I want you to be active in raising your son.

A tithe of
ten percent
of the income of the estate will be paid each month to the church you attend. An offering of
five percent
of the income of the estate will be given each month to the smallest church in the town you live in.
*****

“She was insane!! Stop reading this now!”

“Be seated, sir. I have instructions to cut you out completely if you do not do as required by the will.”

Sam slammed his body into the chair.

*****

I know that you have little respect for anyone or anything except money. Do you see what money got me? I could have had all the money in the world, but I am still dead. I want you to learn that lesson before it is too late. I have loved you since the day you were born. As you grew I could not believe how you turned out. I am determined that the cruelty inherited by you from your father stops here. Your son will be a fine man one day.

As you know, I wanted to meet your wife, Nancy, before she died. I also asked you to let me meet Mary. I would have liked to meet the woman into whose hands I place my fortune. I have asked friends of mine from Campo and they said that she is a strong, determined woman. For the sake of my grandson and the other grandchildren that follow, I hope that she is also a woman of character. Samuel, you must agree to the following stipulations upon receiving your inheritance:

I swear to never drink alcohol.

I swear to never get a
divorce or otherwise separate
from my wife, Mary Dewey.

If and when Mary Dewey dies, the inheritance belongs to my son,
Clarence
Sam
uel Dewey III
. It will be held in trust by the law firm Mr. Fields represents until he is
thirty
years of age.

I swear to support my wife’s business decisions concerning the estate.

I will be an example of a gentleman for my son.