Chapter 23: Family, After All

~In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, a bridge to our future.~ —Alex Haley

The next morning, Dannie, Annie, and Annie’s cousin, Becky, all walked down to Mrs. Bellington’s house. When they arrived, they found the residents were all waiting for them.

Mrs. Martin greeted them at the door and invited them into the parlor. An older woman with gray hair sat beside the window. A young man and woman sat on the sofa opposite her. Mr. Martin was writing something at the table in the corner of the room.

“Everyone,” Mrs. Martin said. “This here is Danielle Preston, the daughter of Chris’s cousin. Danielle, this is my great-aunt, Mariah Bellington, and these two young ones are Caleb and Sophie Martin.

Dannie studied the twins with great interest. They were quite similar to each other and bore a great resemblance to their mother. Their hair was blond, their faces round, and their eyes bright blue.

Sophie had jumped up as soon as the introductions were made. Dannie had to admit that she had a beautiful figure. It was both graceful and sturdy. She wore a blue and white gingham dress that brought out the color of her eyes. Her skin was tanned, and her hair was all done up in a braided bun, with a few loose curls around her forehead. She had a bright smile that revealed even, pearly-white teeth.

“I won’t call you Miss Preston,” she stated. “For we’re family, after all.”

“Dannie will do.”

“Excellent, and you’ll call me Sophie, and we’ll be sisters. I haven’t got one, after all. I spent the entire evening last night trying to get Momma and Pa to have you come and stay with us, but to no avail.”

“She’s the teacher, Sophie,” Annie cut in. “Of course, she must stay in the town.”

“You just don’t want to lose her, either,” Sophie said, grinning. “You already have Becky, so you mustn’t be selfish.”

“But I don’t live with Annie,” Becky replied with a laugh. “And Miss Preston is now to share a room with my cousin. Of course, Annie is delighted.”

“But you will come and visit us,” Sophie said eagerly. “And I’ll take you out to see the cattle. How wonderful it is that you came to Hopewing, of all places. We only came into town for the Autumn Dance, which you missed by just two days. And I’ve heard that you actually caught an outlaw! And...”

“Sophie, pause to take a breath,” Caleb said with a small laugh. Dannie thought he had a pleasant voice, full of confidence.

“Yes, indeed,” Mrs. Bellington called from her corner. “There is no need to attack the poor girl. Have a seat, Miss Preston, and tell us a little about yourself. Jessie wouldn’t say much when she told us about you yesterday.”

So Dannie was obliged to repeat the story of how she ended up out in Arizona Territory.

“You know,” Annie said once the story had ended, “Dannie is fluent in French and Italian, and can read and write in Latin and Greek. She can also play the piano and the flute—and she said she would teach me. That’s why you can’t have her, Sophie.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “What good is French and Italian going to do for you out here? It’s more useful to be able to fire a six-shooter and hit the target in the bullseye.”

Mr. Martin chuckled from his corner. “Or you could use a frying pan.”

Sophie turned to face her father. “A what?”

“A frying pan. It’s what Miss Preston here used to subdue Wild Tom. Both he and Jake were calling her a wild woman with a frying pan, saying she was a force to be reckoned with if you gave her one.”

Dannie felt the heat rising to her face. “Mr. Martin, I wish you would call me Dannie. Miss Preston sounds far too formal from a relative whom my father loved very much.”

Her words caused Mr. Martin’s hand to freeze on his pen. “He spoke of me, then?”

“Not very much, but whenever he did mention you, it was always with great warmth and affection.”

“What would he say of me?”

“Just sometimes wonder how you were, and what you were up to. I asked about you, and he said you had gone to America to seek your fortune, and that the great distance had made the two of you lose touch.

“Even though he always referred to you as Cousin Chris, the affection he bore you was more like what one would feel for an older brother. I know he would be so very glad that you truly made your fortune and have wealth and family to speak of. He would be proud, indeed.”

The pen was laid on the desk, and Mr. Martin turned around to face her. “Dannie, this might be presumptuous of me, seeing as I only discovered you existed yesterday, and given that I am the one who didn’t keep up communication—but that photograph you had of me and him…I was wondering if, perhaps…”

“Mr. Martin, I can give it to you,” Dannie said kindly. “I have other photographs of my father. This was the only one he had of you, and he kept it very well. He had it framed on the desk in his study. If you will just wait here, I shall run over and fetch it.”

“Thank you, Dannie.”

“I’ll go with you!” Sophie exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

“Me too,” Annie added. Becky remained seated, engaged in conversation with Mrs. Bellington.

“She’s really staying for Caleb,” Annie giggled as the three of them headed out.

“I don’t think Caleb realizes it, though,” Sophie laughed. “He don’t care nothing for girls at the moment.”

“~Doesn’t~ care,” Dannie said with a frown. “Of all people, Sophie, I would have thought that you could speak well. Your father has such refined English.”

Sophie gave an indifferent shrug. “As long as the meaning is gotten across. I find it strange, Dannie, that yer father spoke of my daddy, but Daddy never once mentioned yer father to us. I never knew he had a cousin until yesterday when Momma broke the news to us.”

A young man came running up to them. “Miz Martin,” he panted out. “Is yer father at the house?”

“Howdy, Philip. Yes, he is. What’s wrong?”

“There was a fight at the saloon, and Michael got hurt bad.” With those words, the man ran off.

“Another drunken fight.” Sophie shook her head. “I tell you, it was calmer here before the saloon opened.”

“Why are they calling for Mr. Martin?” Dannie asked.

“Because there ain’t a proper doctor at Hopewing,” Annie explained. “But Mr. Martin does have a medical background, so folks call on him when they need help.”

“Ah yes, now I remember. Papa did tell me once that he studied medicine but never finished.”

“He does have plenty of experience though,” Sophie said proudly. “During the war, he worked as a surgeon.”

“War?”

“The War between the States.”

“Oh yes, that one.” Dannie gave a nod. “I didn’t realize the fighting got all the way here.”

“Well, it weren’t as bad as in other states, but of course, there was fighting. Daddy didn’t side with either. He said he was English and as such didn’t need to take sides. He treated any soldier that was brought to him.”

“How noble,” Dannie said with approval. They had come to the house by now and retrieved the photograph.

“There’s no hurry though,” Sophie said. “Daddy is busy with those brutes at the saloon anyway. Speakin’ of brutes, it is my duty to warn you, Dannie dear, that in these parts, men outnumber women ten to one.

“Out on most of them ranches, there ain’t a single woman at all. Maybe the wife of the master at most, or a daughter or two, if he has one. On our ranch, besides Momma and me, there are two other women—and we are considered to have the most women on one ranch for miles around.

“Many of these men are desperate for wives, and they’ll bend over backward, if they have to, in order to get one. But don’t fall for the first Tom, Dick, or Harry that approaches you with smiles and bows.”

“I’ve just had a four-year romance broken,” Dannie said. “At the moment, I have no room in my heart for love.”

In the back of her mind, a thought popped up that maybe it was also because Jake had turned out to be less of a man than she had expected—running off the way he did just when she was beginning to really like him.

If other cowboys were like that, then maybe she didn’t care to have one. At the moment, she would just focus on teaching the children and getting to know the family of her father’s cousin.

~In a way, your prayer was answered, dear Papa.~ Dannie turned to brush away a tear before the others saw it. ~You so wanted to find him, so wanted to know how he was doing, so wanted to be family with him again. I only wish you had been the one to find him, instead of me~.