Crimson Palace (4 page)

"I’ll be straight with you. I’m not near as good a smithy as your dad was, but I’ve picked up a bit here and there. I sure would like the chance to try it. Do you think your ma would let me?"

"I don’t think we should bother Mum about it just now, Grady. Why don’t you come by the stable tomorrow and we’ll see what we can work out."

"Thanks, Shinonn, thanks a lot. You sure your ma won’t mind?"

"She won’t mind a bit," she answered grimly.

Grady looked at Shinonn strangely for a moment. Years later, when telling the tale of his partnership with Shinonn Flannery, he related that when she said those words he saw something in her eyes that gave him a cold chill. Although she was years younger than himself, just barely past twelve, at that moment he had felt as if he was looking into the eyes of a grown woman, a woman filled with a determination he couldn’t begin to comprehend.

Chapter 3

Shinonn stood just outside the door of the blacksmith shop, watching Grady pumping the big billows.

"You know, Grady, I don’t know how I would have gotten along without you all these years. I’m sure Mum and I would have starved to death long ago."

"Not you, Shinonn. I’m glad I was here to help, but you would have made out somehow. You’ve got more grit than any other girl I’ve ever known." It was no secret to everyone in town that the big man idolized the girl. It seemed the only person unaware of his feelings was Shinonn herself.

"Just the same, I’m grateful for all you’ve done."

"And how’s Rose doing these days? It’s been awhile since I saw her sitting out on your front porch."

"She’s not doing too good, Grady. Living with her since Da died, well, it’s like watching someone just sort of fade away. Some days I don’t think she even knows who I am.

"She hardly says a word to me anymore. When she does she talks like she thinks I’m Da or Patrick.

And she’s gotten so frail lately. I worry that one of these days she’ll get sick and just give up and die."

Moving away from his work, Grady wiped the sweat from his brow onto his shirt sleeve.

"I guess it must hurt the way she still thinks so highly of Patrick after he ran off and left you like that. I still can’t believe he did it. I’ll never understand why he never came back to see how you two were getting on."

"It doesn’t surprise me one bit. When he lit out for California looking for that gambler, I never in my life expected to see him again. I would like to know if he ever found the man and if he did, what happened.

But I guess I never will. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he didn’t just stay on in the gold fields after chasin’ around for a while looking for Lincoln Bradley."

"Yeah, he’s the kind who would be lured to the gold fields, all right. And that gambler too. I hear tell that California has more gamblers and sportin’ women than prospectors."

"I can’t speak for the gambler, but that does just about describe the sort of place my brother would choose, doesn’t it?" She smiled ruefully as she turned to leave.

Grady watched her retreating figure with an aching heart. Lincoln’s prediction about her beauty had come true in spades. Shinonn Flannery had indeed grown into one of the most beautiful women in the territory. But at the tender age of eighteen she had already let all her prospective suitors know that she was not the least bit interested in marriage. She could do very well without that nonsense, thank you very much. Even the most determined swains quickly found it more pleasant to court less attractive but better tempered girls.

At first Grady had been elated to see one after another of the interested young men drop by the wayside, thinking that with the elimination of each his own chances were strengthened. But eventually he realized his chances were no better than any of the others. Shinonn was soured on men and there wasn’t much he could do to change her mind.

Yet he continued to admire her. Against all odds she had saved the family business. Hampered as she was with her mother, she still found the time and energy to work harder than most men. Between the two of them, the blacksmith shop and the stable were doing better than they had in her father’s best years. He realized that his own help had been essential, yet without her persistence, the business would have collapsed within the first six months after Sean’s death.

Later, when Shinonn entered the house to prepare the noon meal she noticed that her mother appeared a bit flushed.

"Mum, you feeling all right?"

She didn’t really expect a reply. She couldn’t remember the last time her mother had spoken directly to her.

"I’m so glad you’re here, Sean, dear. I’ve been waiting so long for you to come home. Would you bring me some cold lemonade?"

Shinonn went to the kitchen to get the lemonade and a cold cloth to wipe her mother’s warm brow. She couldn’t tell for sure if Rose was feverish or simply overheated. The house was an oven! Why in God’s good name did her mother insist on keeping the place closed up?

Before returning to the stable, Shinonn stopped by the doctor’s office to ask him to look in on her mother.

"It may just be my imagination, but Mum seems a bit flushed to me," she explained. "She’s so fragile, Doc. I really worry about her."

"She’s probably fine, Shinonn. But I’ll be happy to stop by. You know I’m always happy to be of any help to you or your mother. The truth of it is, there has been a lot of the grippe going around lately, so I’d feel better if we didn’t take any chances."

Shinonn felt a stab of fear race through her at the mention of influenza. In her weakened state, could Rose fight off such an illness?

She was busy cleaning out stalls when Doc Miller stopped by the corral later that afternoon.

"It’s not good news," he said as soon as he saw her. "Rose is showing all the classic symptoms of influenza. If we only had a hospital near where she could get the proper care! I’ll spend as much time with her as I can, but she really needs full time nursing."

"It’s as bad as that? But she seemed only a little flushed at noon."

"Her temperature has already climbed too high. And she’s beginning to develop a cough. The worst problem with this strain of the disease is that it often fills the lungs. If that happens the situation becomes critical."

The doctor’s words sent a chill of apprehension through Shinonn. Not only was her mother already in a weakened condition, the daughter was well aware that Rose had long ago lost the will to live. She was certain her mother would welcome the opportunity to join her beloved Sean.

"There’s only so much we can do for her, Shinonn," the doctor continued. "The rest is up to the good Lord and Rose herself."

***

On a cold and blustery Sunday afternoon in late March, Rose Flannery was laid to her eternal rest next to her beloved husband. In the last few moments of life she had looked into her daughter’s eyes and spoken the most lucid words she had uttered in five years.

"I’ll be with your da soon, Shinonn, my girl," she said with a peaceful smile on her lips. "I’ve been an awful chore to you since Sean died, haven’t I, girl? All you’ve done for me and never a word of thanks. I want you to know I’m grateful to you.

"Ah, if only I could have seen me Patrick just this one last time."

And then she was gone. Shinonn was denied that last chance to tell her mother she loved her.

Her emotions were torn between grief and shock at realizing that Rose had known all along about her husband’s death and her son’s disappearance. Why had she preferred to ignore the daughter who loved and cared for her and pretend to be surrounded by a drunkard husband and a selfish good-for-nothing son? Could the answer be that she had chosen to live with those she truly loved?

***

A small procession of mourners trailed silently across the windswept cemetery, gathering around the freshly dug grave. Next to the open grave stood the faded marker of Sean’s final resting place. Shinonn noted how the wooden fence that surrounded her family’s plot sagged along its northern border. It seemed a fitting statement, she thought sadly.

After the preacher had given his short talk about eternity and how Rose as "now in a better place than we", Shinonn reached out and took the shovel Grady had carried for her. She began to heap the heavy soil onto the coffin lying deep within the hole. Several men stepped forward, offering to take the shovel from her hands but she waved them away.

"No," she said, as Grady reached out to take the tool, "this is something I want to do myself. I thank you all for coming, and I know you want to help, but I have to do this myself."

She continued shoveling until all the dirt was returned to the hole and a long mound covered the spot where her mother rested.

"I know this isn’t the time to speak of such things, Shinonn, but I was wondering what you were planning to do now that you’re alone. I mean, are you going to stay on, living alone in that house of yours?" Grady asked as the two of them trudged back to town after the funeral.

"I haven’t had too much time to think about it, to tell you the truth. But, no, I don’t much like the idea of living in the house alone."

She couldn’t help but notice the look of relief that swept across the young man’s face. Now, what does he have in mind, she wondered?

Putting his hand on her shoulder, he stopped walking and gently turned her to face him.

"You may not have been doin’ much thinking about it, but I’ve been doing nothing but thinking. That is, what I was wondering is, I think you ought to be getting married. You ought to settle down, have your own family." The poor man blushed scarlet as he clumsily took her hand.

"I’d be the happiest man in the territory if you’d be my wife, Shinonn."

"Oh, Grady, I haven’t even thought of marriage! Why, I’d pretty much decided I’d never get married.

Oh, please, I don’t mean to hurt you! It’s just that, ... well, I’ve never been free for a day of my life! Oh, how can I explain without hurting you?"

"Don’t worry about me. I didn’t want to upset you or nothing. I just want to take care of you. Why, you’ve been takin’ care of someone all your life. I just thought it was about time someone took care of you for a change."

"You’re just about the best friend anyone ever had, Grady Hobbs. Can’t we just keep on being friends?

Do we have to change things now?"

"No, of course not," he answered with a rueful grin. "Come on, let’s get back to town. We’ll catch colds for sure if we stay out here in this wind much longer." He put a protective arm around her shoulders and began walking down the deserted road.

***

"I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday, about me living alone in that old house, Grady,"

Shinonn greeted the blacksmith when he came to work the next morning. "Let’s go back to the house for some coffee and a talk before we get to work. I’ve got a business proposition for you."

He looked at her curiously but held his questions until they were sitting in her small but tidy kitchen.

"Well! And what is this ‘business proposition’?"

"How much money do you have saved up? Oh, I know I’m being awful nosy, but this is important. How much do you have?"

"Nearly four hundred dollars, why?"

"How would you like to own your own business? I’ll sell all of it, blacksmith shop, the livery stable and this house for half of what you’ve got saved. What do you say?"

"Sure, I’ll buy it from you, if that’s what you want. But not for no piddling two hundred dollars. You take three-fifty or we forget it. Even at that I still feel like I’m skinning you."

"You got a deal! Let’s shake on it."

"But what are you going to do? Three hundred-fifty dollars ain’t all that much. It won’t last forever, you know."

"I know that, but it’ll take me where I want to go. I’m going out west, Grady. I’m getting out of this godforsaken place at long last."

"You must be crazy! A girl can’t just get up and take off like that!"

"This girl can. I sat here and watched my brother take off, free as a bird, and nobody thought a thing about it. Well, it’s my turn now. I’m eighteen years old and I’ve never seen any place but this dirty little town and a half dozen towns just like it. I’m going, Grady. One way or another, I’m going. Your money will help me do it better, but even if I don’t sell out to you, I’m still getting out."

"I’ll give you the money, you know I will. But you don’t know how rough it can be on the trail. It’s hard enough for a man, but it would be flat out dangerous for a woman."

"I’ve been pondering on that and I’ve got myself a plan. But if I tell you about it, you’ll only start telling me I’m crazy again, so I won’t. One thing though, as part of the deal I want to take my pick of two of the horses from the stable, okay?

"Sure, you don’t even have to ask. Take anything you want. But, gosh, Shinonn, I sure wish you’d change your mind. This ain’t such a bad place to live. I just wish you’d think about what I asked you yesterday."

"Grady, I like you too much to saddle you with someone like me. I’d never make you happy. I can’t be happy here myself, so I’d just end up making both of us miserable. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, probably the best one I’ll ever will have. I don’t want to go and spoil that friendship by turning into a nagging, miserable wife."

"If you’re sure this is what you want, I guess you’ve got yourself a deal," he told her with a sad smile.

"When do you want to go?"

"Right now. I can be packed and out of this house in less than an hour. There’s not much here I plan on taking with me," she answered as she looked around the small room.

"Okay, then. I’ll go to the bank and get the money. But I still think you’re making a mistake."

"Maybe I am, but all I know is this is something I have to do. And hey, stop worrying! You know I can handle myself better’n most men."

Shaking his head sadly, Grady left the house and trudged down the road to the town’s only bank.

While he was gone Shinonn began the serious business of deciding what she should and shouldn’t take with her. She made a bundle of the cooking utensils she would need on the trail, along with basic food staples. From the small parlor she took only one item, a small faded picture of her parents on their wedding day.