Later, the brothers took one
heavy wagon apart and reassembled it into a lighter form making a serviceable
wagon and keeping the remaining sawn lumber for other things. The one team of oxen
stayed with the cattle to be called into service as needed. They were settled
in the southwest ‘desert’ permanently for better or worse. The other wagon and oxen later returned to Santa Fe with the cousins to be sold or traded for strong
horses to make a quick journey back to their homes in Indiana
With great excitement Madeline
had exclaimed over each convenience of her cabin, from the porch on the front
to the floor paved with area sandstone, to the big fire place with its
wonderful water tank. She loved the two
windows facing north and south. She
loved the tiny window facing east beside the door. She loved the spring room in
the back corner. Madeline used the word “love” so many times even she became
self conscious of it but that didn’t stop her exclamations over her new home.
Jacob and Eli had unloaded the
wagons. There were piles of bedding and a mattress (!) piled on top of two
large pieces of furniture packed flat on the bottom of the wagon. The tall narrow armoire that Ellen had so
admired was packed full of Madeline’s “linen” and hope chest supplies, as well
as bolts of cloth and a few clothes. At one end sitting upright was the kitchen
cup board, dissembled into two parts, one packed full of food supplies, the
other holding her common-sense dishes and cookware. There was, of course, the
trunk and two boxes with books. Eli
marveled at all of the things Madeline had felt were vital to live in the wild
desert. And he marveled that Jacob had allowed her to bring it all. It was
fortunate that the established settlement of Albuquerque
Madeline was the only daughter of
a well-to-do self-made man who had not quibbled at allowing the impoverished
Jacob Slade to court and marry his daughter.
But he was not about to let her go off into the desert without sending
the where-withal to help keep her safe.
In spite of Jacob’s protests there was a goodly sum of money packed in
the heavily laden wagons.
The food ‘safe’ and the armoire
were placed in the cabin with the armoire against the back wall beside the bed
and the cupboard beside the window on the south wall. Madeline moved Eli’s table, which she
‘loved’ to a place under the window and placed the chairs appropriately. The mattress was brought in and placed in
the empty bed frame. Madeline’s “hope
chest” was put at the foot of the bed and the house was arranged for the time.
As they were finishing up that
first day, Eli walked out onto the porch after once more moving Madeline’s
armoire to a better location, to find Jacob assembling the final sections of a
rocking chair that had been transported in pieces.
There had been much to finish,
but for that night they had left the wagons still partially loaded and the
three of them together had assembled a quick meal. The cousins were dually
impressed with the various conveniences of the cabin, but were frank about
being anxious to start the trip back.
The rest of the arrangements would be accomplished in the days to
come. Madeline’s cousins were puzzled
by Joshua and Eli’s plan to simply set the things from the second wagon on the
ground. Indiana
The ranch had prospered and
Madeline had become a capable and hard working ranch wife. In spite of her sheltered upbringing, she was
logical and set to the tasks at hand with a will. Her common sense had prompted her to spend
the two years before her husband’s return learning all of the housewifely
skills she could imagine she would need on the frontier. So she handled the
cooking chores in the big fireplace without batting an eye. She had high
standards of housekeeping and contrived a way to maintain them in the face of
heat, sandstorms, and a multitude of inconveniences she had never known in her
old home. Their years had turned over
in peace and they prospered.
Six years later, while Jacob had
been out with Eli collecting scattered cattle from the northwest ranges, a
wagon had struggled across the landscape.
It was obviously lost because the Slade ranch was well off the beaten
path. As it came in sight of the house,
a boy of perhaps eleven years had set out running up the long slope. When he reached the house and Madeline ran
out the door, it was evident he had cried until tears were gone. Only the ravages remained.
“Help us, help us, please! My ma and pa are so sick and now my littlest
sister is crying too. Sadie and I have
tried, but we don’t know what to do or where to go!” Dry sobs interspersed his words. “We’ve been lost since Pa took sick.”
Madeline caught up a hat and
followed him down through the sage brush to the wagon. It had intersected their rough ranch road and
without the boy whipping them, the gaunt oxen had simply stopped. After her years in the desert Madeline was
knowledgeable about driving all sorts of teams and livestock. She stepped to the side of the team and took
the long prod. In only moments she had
the weary animals headed up the road to the ranch yard.
She had left the wagon sitting
where the oxen had stopped. She directed
the boy in unhitching them—they had obviously not been relieved of their yokes
for days. When they were loosed the four
oxen headed directly for the water trough.
Madeline collected a forkful of rough hay from the supply in the barn
and threw it in front of them. They set
to eating with a will and she left them standing beside the water.
The man and woman in the wagon
were seriously ill and burning with fever.
The wagon was foul smelling and stuffy with heat. With the two healthy children helping her she
had laid out pallets in the shade of the porch having no place else to put them
quickly. When the parents and the little
girl were resting in the shade and constant, cooling breeze, they looked more
comfortable immediately. Bringing soap
and warm water from the house she set the boy to bathing his father and she
made quick work of washing the mother and daughter. There were clean clothes in the wagon that
the children had simply not thought of in their distress.
When all the patients were clean
and had been given gradual sips of water until they were resting peacefully
Madeline sent the two older ones to either end of the house to bathe
themselves. The little girl was
sleeping.
Madeline began preparing a thin
porridge of corn meal she felt the sick ones could eat with some sugar and milk
from her favorite cow. She warmed the
stew left from her own lunch for the two older children. When Jacob and Eli returned close to sundown
they found their porch full of sleeping people.
They cleaned out Eli’s stone house
for a sick room and placed the family there.
The older children refused to leave their parents so they had beds by
the door where they could come and go without disturbing the sick ones. Within
two days, the parents died and were buried on the flat top of a nearby hill near
a stand of junipers. A day later the
little sister was gone also and the two older ones were sickening. Madeline worked constantly to nurse them until
Jacob refused to let her do anymore with the youngsters and he took over their care. Eli struggled to keep up the day to day work
of the ranch.
When the parents died the
valuables from the wagon had been removed by the older children along with the
family bible and a packet of letters. When
the older siblings died, the siege seemed to be over. Madeline wrote letters to contact any family
regarding the deaths.
Within two weeks, she had
sickened herself. And before the week
was out she had taken her place on the hill with the others. Jacob wandered the desert not speaking.
Eli settled himself to carve
markers for the graves with what information he had for the family. He hooked the oxen to their wagon and pulled
it out into the middle of their road to set it ablaze. The family’s bedding that had been used in
the sick room was piled on the blazing wagon; even Madeline’s best set of
sheets and blankets was piled on the fire. The rocking chair that she had so prized was
piled on the very top. She had rocked
the little girl for long hours as she cried for her mama. She had rocked herself there until she no
longer had the strength to sit up. As
Eli stood watching the fire to insure it was contained Jacob returned, walking
with determination.
“I have to go back and tell
Madeline’s father. I cannot send such
news to him in a letter.” He spoke with
misery and determination, then broke into sobs for a few minutes. “He lost her
mother last year. I cannot tell him this
on a cold piece of paper. I’ll begin
packing.” He lifted his head and shook
himself.
When the fire had burned itself
to cold ashes and scattered pieces of charred wood and metal, Eli returned to
the big cabin. Jacob had his things
piled on the table, clothing, papers, food, a canteen. He was involved in wrapping cold meat in one
cloth and biscuits in another. There was
a packet of coffee sitting beside the camp skillet and the old coffee pot they
had used many times before Madeline had arrived with Jacob.
“I’m leaving tomorrow morning,”
he said. “I’ll cut east to Santa Fe and hope to catch a train going to Denver and connecting to St Louis
“I have to tell James Mason I let his daughter die.”
The desolation in his face tore
at Eli’s heart. He dropped onto the
chair beside Jacob’s pack.
“Jacob, you didn’t just let her
die. You did, we did, everything
possible to save her. Whatever those
travelers had it was lethal to them and Madeline. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I could have kept her from
nursing them. I should have taken care
of them! I could have made her stay away
from them. I could have refused them if
I had been here when they came. I could
have done something!” Jacob was beyond
comforting. He continued wrapping and
packing.
“Why did she have to be the one
to catch it? Why did she die when we
weren’t even touched by the disease? Why
didn’t you or I get sick? How am I
going to explain to James?”
“Listen to yourself, Jake. You know you would have done exactly the same
as Madeline. I would have done the
same. We couldn’t turn away desperate
people. They needed help and we provided
it. And in the process Madeline was infected.”
Eli dropped his head to his hands.
Jacob’s two packs were filled. He
stood up and looked around the cabin at the touches of beauty Madeline had
added to the empty bare room she had entered when they came home those years
ago. Everything was the same in its
place, but the spirit that maintained it was gone for Jacob.
“Do
you suppose there is anything of hers that James would want? I don’t
know…”
His voice trailed away. The grief that had driven him from the time
of her death, through her burial and mourning had taken its toll. As Eli watched, he walked to their bed and
sat down only to stand and walk away after only a moment. “I can’t sleep here. Not without her. This was her bed.” He picked up the blanket off the trunk and
went to one of the big armchairs Eli had built.
He sat down and propped his feet against the stool and slept.
Eli went quietly about
straightening the disarray left by his brother’s gathering of supplies. He collected a couple biscuits from the
cupboard and a piece of cold meat from the pantry. He poured a cup of coffee from the cold pot
and took his plate and cup out to the step where he ate and looked across the
suddenly empty yard and corral.
The next morning, Jacob baked
extra corn bread with their breakfast.
He added it to his supply. Then he loaded his packs on the second horse.
Turning to his brother he sighed
and said, “I signed the papers for the land in case I don’t return. If I do, I know you’ll be here. If I don’t, the claim papers are all in your
name…” With a brief embrace, Jacob stepped
into his saddle and rode away.
Eli had been taking care of the ranch alone since, waiting for his brother.
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