Angela's Hope (Wildflowers) (13 page)

“Clive I am going to see if I can help get the fire out, I am hoping something is organized.” Ted’s voice carried through the dark room.

“Wait up, I will join ya.” Clive yelled.

* * * * *

Angela watched as Ted unloaded the wagon wordlessly. Seeing him strain under the weight of the heavy trunks. His forehead has a pinched look of stress that seemed to be a common look for the morning.

“You stay safe, Miss Fahey.” Ted said to Angela while he waited for Clive to come back from some expedition he made to the back storage area.

“Ted… please… don’t get hurt.” Angela felt her emotions rise just thinking about the briefest chance of him in danger. This young man was starting to become important in her estimation.

“I will help put it out Miss. No need to get too close.” Ted felt awkward and at a loss of what to say. This young woman was showing care and concern for his well-being. That did something to his insides, a feeling in his chest to protect and ease her fears. It was an odd feeling for such a morning but it would take some thinking on another day. After the danger had passed.

The men left quickly. Angela and Amber again waited as the morning got brighter with the sunrise. The sounds of the city around them continued to fuel the fire of concern growing over the men in the thick of danger.

It is so helpless sometimes to be a woman
, Angela thought to herself.
Nothing left to do but watch and worry.
What could be happening in the square, the center of town where the fire began?
How will we know when we are safe?

* * * * *

Ted took the bucket and passed it along waiting a few seconds before the next one landed in his hands, the water sloshed over the edge no matter how much he tried to keep water inside. The wind whipped around him and it had a chill. The crush of bodies and the burning flames leaping from the building in front of him had him sweating. Men were yelling orders for hours on end. It had made for frayed nerves and sore throats. The smoke, dust and ash flying around the square caused him to choke. Every few minutes he had to take a moment to cough and try to catch his breath. He wondered how Gabe and Clive had fared.

Gabe was in charge of ordering the bucket brigade a street over. Ted heard rumors that had gone well. Clive was sent off to help somewhere else. Some men refused to help put out the fires, claiming they had to stay with their families down by the water.

Ted went over and over in his mind how he had left Amber and Angela. Angela was bravely taking charge over Amber, keeping her calm and comfortable. She really was an Angel. Even in her own fear she said prayers over the men as they left. It felt good knowing that someone was praying for him.  So far from any of his close family, he sometimes wondered how God had allowed for him to be here, for him to be so far from any decent place.

Clive has lately been sharing about Oregon and how peaceful and fertile it was compared to the chaos and crime surrounding San Francisco. The Quackenbush family and Angela were the city’s only redeeming joys, as well as the small church off of Broadway.  They had only just begun to build. Ted had hopes that Broadway would remain untouched. Ted had a fleeting thought of his own small apartment and wondered if at some point today he would be passing buckets to douse flames coming through his own windows. Only time would tell.

Ted continued to help as the city fought to stay alive. Hundreds of buildings have been lost so far. All they could do was wait and work.

By four p.m. the flames had died down and many men were sifting through the ash to make sure no more fires could start back up. They pulled down a few buildings to stop the flow of the fire and in some cases it worked, others did not and the fire jumped across the street as the debris carried on the blustery wind coming across the city from the ocean side.

* * * * *

The women’s waiting was over as Gabe and Clive dragged their weary bodies to the new home. The brick building looked nothing like a home when it started, but Angela grew tired of waiting and had moved a few things around. Amber yelled at her to stop every time Angela had the hint of a limp but she was good at hiding her pain. She moved slowly and surely through the place getting things open and organized. The tools were neatly stacked where they would be easy to get to but less likely to be tripped on.

“The Lord be praised, you are home.” Amber said as the men dragged themselves through the front door.

Angela and Amber asked about the fire and though their old home had not been destroyed the fire had been nearby and the smoke would be lingering and smoldering nearby for a while. There would be shifts of men to watch for sparks. Already the council was talking about the necessity of a fire brigade.

Angela nervously watched out the window. Neither of the men had seen Ted after he had separated from them to join a bucket line. Angela said prayers for him as she half-heartedly listened to the discussion from the Quackenbush family. Gabe was gathering his strength to finish the stairs and begin connecting the second floor to the first. The second floor’s walls were finished but no furniture could find its way up there until the stairs were done. This was not how they wanted to move into the house and business, but at least for today and perhaps tomorrow, they needed to stay away from the smoldering area of the city.

Clive took it to task to move boxes and get the wood-stove for the first floor set up. With that done the family could stay warm in cots on the first floor at least. It was not ideal but they would stay healthy and warm. Amber was recovered from her excitement and explaining to Gabe how a sheet could be hung across the ceiling for the ladies to have privacy for the night.

Angela breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the ash and soot covered Ted heading toward the mercantile down the street. It was almost dusk and Angela’s worry had nearly reached a fever pitch. She refrained from showing her true feelings according to her own imaginings but to Amber, Clive and Gabe they all wordlessly noticed then nodded to each other. There was something brewing in all their minds.

Ted was let in and received handshakes from the men and Amber gave his hair a friendly tousle, like a mother would. Black ash drifted from his head and everyone laughed.

Angela gave herself a task and got a towel damp from a bucket of water that Clive had recently hauled over. She handed the towel to Ted and she didn’t trust her voice to stay even so she said nothing.

Ted said “Thank you,” at a near whisper. It seemed they were both being shy and strained.

“I am glad you are safe. Did you hear of anyone getting hurt in the blaze?” Angela finally asked.

“News is so unruly today, rumors were flying around and I found it mostly untrue. I heard early rumors that the old mercantile was gone, others said that all the wharfs were burned.” Ted wiped the grime away from his face as he talked. His face was black from the smoke and the towel swiped it away to the fresh-faced lad that Angela was growing to appreciate more and more.

“So was the fire not as bad as we thought?” Gabe asked, he was amused at watching the young people before him and their shy games but he was also curious about parts of the city he had not seen that day.

“I saw personally two saloons burned completely and the place where the hotel was is now flattened. There were no tents to be seen near the square and there had been hundreds just yesterday. I don’t know where these men and families will be sleeping tonight.” Ted took the chair that was offered him and a plate of warmed up stew.

Gabe had brought over some more things from the kitchen at the first mercantile. There were still leftovers from the night before the fire. For Angela, it reminded her a bit of life on the trail. Making do for today only had been the way of things. Having a roof over your head and steady meals had you spoiled when the hard days rolled back around.

Chapter 15

January 4
th
1850

Angela was working the counter of the new brick building when she saw a familiar face come through the mercantile door.

“I think I may know where yer brother might be little darlin’.” The miner was in a few weeks earlier and she had spoken about her brother and Ol’ Willie. He had said then he would ask around. Angie’s heart jumped in her chest to hear his words.

“I’ve been talking around about any one named Ol’ Willie and everyone agrees that he’s been travelin’ around with a young man named Sean and matches the description ya gave me. The hard part is nailing them down. They aren’t doing any mining. William Shipley is strongly vocal about being against any get-rich schemes. He has a cabin out past Sutter’s mill and it’s a hard place to get to without knowin’ where yer going. They are always moving around checking their traps and hunting. I haven’t seen ‘em in town in over a year. They live off the land, I heard. They been selling their meat to miners and their pelts in other parts. I will keep asking around. I will tell others to get word to ye or your friend, Clive. Everyone wants to help ye out little missy.” The miner was a fast talker and kept going on about how much everyone wanted to help her find her brother but her heart was a little down. She had a name at least but without being able to leave and investigate she felt a bit lost still. She had her journal out and wrote down all the details the miner had told her.

When he finally stopped Angela made sure to thank him for all the work he did to find out information for her. She had some news at least. Perhaps now she could use this info to ask more people that came in for clues to Sean’s whereabouts.

She was thinking about her brother. Wondering if truly he was with the man William Shipley. Clive had sent out feelers but the area was in chaos. Getting information that was trustworthy was not easy.

* * * * *

Angie had her hands covered in flour and scooped up the ball of baking soda biscuits and plopped it down on the table and smoothed the rolling pin over the dough.  She got it to the right amount of thickness and cut out the biscuits with a metal cutter that she grabbed from a shelf above her head. She looked over the back yard and had a thought for the third morning in a row. She wanted to build a chicken coop. She had discussed it with Amber but she had not had the nerve to ask Gabe. She had some money set aside and thought it would be a blessing to the community. There were simply not enough eggs in town.

There were a few chicken coops behind a saloon across town but they sell their breakfast with eggs and salt pork for $5 a plate. People spoke of it often. The moment they got their gold strike they headed to the Painted Lady Saloon for a night with a pretty lady and eggs for breakfast. Gabe got offended when men spoke about such things down in the store but Angela knew that there was no help for it. With the influx of so many men without their families the morality code around town was seriously lacking. Angie heard from Amber that across town at The Painted Lady, the women strutted around topless on the upper level sometimes. Angie was indeed shocked to hear that could even be true but she had not seen it, and had no desire to. She had stayed in her safe little world above the mercantile. She had been to church on Sunday and a few walks with Clive or Gabe for safety. Otherwise she had stayed close to the store.

She got the biscuits cut and Amber set her free to go downstairs, the bell had been ringing from the front door of the store steadily for several minutes. The women thought that Gabe might need some help.

Angela bounced down the stairs and immediately got to work helping customers, mostly miners in for supplies, the rain had slowed down for a few days and miners were itching to get back out of the city. The riverbeds were what a lot of men spoke of when heading out. Panning in the stream was cold and wet work.

Angie had her first look at a small gold nugget, as one miner came in crowing of his find earlier in the week. He had a loaded revolver in his belt but he was headed to the bank next. Gabe gave a low whistle in appreciation of the glinting gold in the man’s palm. Angela couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of it. It had a strange effect on a person, truly. When you know something’s value your brain reacts to the sight of it.

“It’s surprising how heavy it is.” Angela said after holding it for a moment. The man with a dirty beard and a grin accepted the nugget back and gave her a wink.

“It is a beautiful thing.” The man left a few minutes later but the talk was buzzing around town. Every time someone found more than gold dust it got everyone stirred back up again.

The morning went quickly with lots of new men arriving every day. When it got nearer to lunchtime Angela got brave enough to ask her question.

“I was wondering if I could speak with ya Gabe about a business I been meaning to start.” Angie said it quickly before she allowed her shy nature to turn her into a quiet coward.

“I am all ears my dear girl.” Gabe smiled warmly and calmed her fears.

“I was hoping to rent some space in your yard to build a chicken coop.” She watched him nod and he smiled again. He looked like Clive when he grinned like that.

“That sounds like a sensible business plan. Amber has wanted to do the same but I wouldn’t allow it during her pregnancy. She just hates it when I pull the ‘obey’ word from our vows. But the doctor agreed with me on this one. ” Gabe scratched his chin the way his grandfather did while thinking.

“Yes, she mentioned it to me as well. She was hoping to get eggs in trade for the space rental. Then if I leave to go back to Oregon we can negotiate a buyout.” Angela blurted everything out so fast and her nerves were getting shaky again for some reason.

“That would be a good thing. I will get you a quote from Clive about how to get you a starter flock. Maybe ship them over from Oregon. I know there were some chickens out by Sutter’s place.” Gabe said thoughtfully.

“I have money for the startup. I have been thinking about this all week. I should have mentioned it earlier.” Angie felt a bit foolish but she was getting excited.

“I am already looking forward to having eggs again for breakfast. I do enjoy baking soda biscuits just fine. But my wife sure does know how to make a fine cake when we have eggs around.” Gabe gave her wink and rubbed his stomach comically. “I will get some lumber out back and ask Ted to help you get the coop built the way you like. He is quite handy, he is getting a reputation around town that he can fix anything.”

“Can you please give me an invoice for the lumber? I have money down at the bank.” Angela was all business for a moment. Not wanting charity for her little project.

Gabe hated taking money from her but he knew she wanted to be taken seriously. “How about we agree upon a price and I take it out of your pay a little bit every week. No need to take money out of your savings.” Angela agreed and they shook hands. It was settled.