Wagon Train Cinderella. Shirley KennedyЧитать онлайн книгу.
was a burly, feisty man. His wife, Gert, claimed she was a medicine woman with a vast knowledge of herbs. She had a slovenly look about her, making Callie doubt she’d ever ask for the woman’s advice.
Most families were large, their children scrambling about the wagons, poking their heads out or running freely alongside. Not everyone was headed to California. Some planned to split off at Fort Hall and head northwest on the Oregon Trail. All had cut their ties with home. Callie marveled at how brave the women were, leaving behind family, friends, and the only home they had ever known to traipse off into the wilderness and begin a new life.
Occasionally, she spotted Luke riding Rascal, his sorrel gelding. She wished he’d stop and talk, but he was always busy, and she never got a chance to speak to him. At mid-morning, the train stopped by a stream to rest both humans and animals. Callie was riding beside the Sawyer’s wagon when Florida spotted her and called, “Come have a cup of coffee.”
“Thanks, but I can’t.” Callie turned her horse around. Ma would need her. She’d better get back.
“Your stepmother can do without you for a few minutes. If she needs something done, she’s got two healthy, strapping daughters to do it.”
Florida’s answer caught her by surprise. Lydia and Nellie weren’t healthy and strapping. They were delicate and high-strung. Ma said so many a time. But were they really? Could Ma be exaggerating? They looked healthy enough in Florida’s eyes.
Callie slipped from her horse. “I do believe I’ll have that cup of coffee, Mrs. Sawyer.”
“Call me Florida.”
Soon, Callie was sitting comfortably with Florida beside the wagon, engaged in what amounted to a most ordinary conversation. They talked of the weather and if it might rain, how to bake a pie in the middle of nowhere, and the best way to wash clothes while standing knee-deep in a fast-running river. Yet despite their commonplace words, Callie couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed herself more. Here she was, having a conversation, not as servant to mistress, but woman to woman. A heady feeling indeed. Something she’d never experienced. Just as Florida was describing her recipe for johnnycakes, Luke rode up and joined them.
He scanned her critically. “I see you’ve recovered from yesterday.”
She gave him a rueful smile. “I don’t look like a drowned rat today, if that’s what you mean.”
“You certainly don’t,” Luke replied amidst their laughter.
A warm glow grew within her. She was so glad to be here, actually exchanging pleasantries with this puzzling man.
Florida continued with her johnnycake recipe. “You take one egg, half a cup of water, three-eighths of a cup of flour…oh dear, you’ll never remember.” She went to the wagon and returned with a notebook and pencil, which she offered to her guest. “Here, I’ll recite the recipe and you can write it down.”
In a twinkling, Callie’s beautiful world fell apart. Her good feeling disappeared into overwhelming humiliation, and her face heated with embarrassment. She wished she could be anywhere, anywhere but here. Throwing up a hand, she waved off the pencil and notebook. “I cannot… You see, I… I…”
“You can’t read or write,” said Luke swiftly in the most matter-of-fact way imaginable. “Don’t worry about it. Neither can a lot of people.”
Florida caught her mistake at once. “Shame on me. I never thought… But, of course, Luke’s right. There are lots of people in the world who cannot read or write and it doesn’t…it doesn’t mean a thing!”
If anything, Luke and Florida’s efforts to smooth Callie’s embarrassment made it even worse. She wanted to crawl in a hole and hide her face forever. She tried to find an answer but couldn’t speak.
“You never went to school?” Florida’s eyes brimmed with gentle sympathy.
Callie gulped over the lump that had formed in her throat. She must hold herself together, not let them see her burning shame. “Ma always needed help, what with the babies coming along and all.”
“What about the other children? Did they go to school?” Florida’s voice held an edge.
“Yes. They all went to school except me. I’m only a stepchild.” She could stand no more. She had to get away or she’d burst out crying in front of everyone. She arose with haste and grabbed Duke’s reins. “I’d best be going now.” Without waiting for an answer, she swung to the saddle and headed back to her wagon, intent upon leaving the scene of her complete disgrace behind.
* * * *
As Callie rode away, Luke and his sister watched after her. “Oh, dear, I feel terrible,” Florida remarked. “I humiliated the poor girl. It wasn’t my intention. I had no idea she couldn’t read or write.”
Luke’s gut wrenched. He’d learned to control his anger long ago, yet an overwhelming urge to confront the Whitakers took hold of him. He wanted to tell them Callie didn’t deserve such treatment, not only this business about school, but it was plain to see they considered her a servant, not much better than a slave. Florida had called Callie “poor girl.” Yes, she was all of that, yet there was something about her that stirred a puzzling emotion in his innards. It wasn’t sympathy. Exactly what it was, he wasn’t sure, except he’d been thinking about her a lot today, remembering how she looked wrapped in the blanket, naked underneath. He’d said she looked like a drowned rat. What he had failed to mention was she had looked like a very fetching drowned rat.
His sister kept shaking her head. “I feel so bad… Poor little thing. Do you remember the story of Cinderella? The mean stepmother, the two ugly stepsisters, the poor, mistreated stepdaughter who’s forced to work from dawn to dusk. That’s who Callie reminds me of.”
“You’re right. They’ve beat it into her head she’s worthless.” Luke frowned in thought. “Before this journey is over, she may surprise us.”
“Everyone should know how to read and write.” Florida’s face lit. “I have an idea.”
* * * *
As far back as she could remember, Callie had felt a deep shame she could neither read, write, nor had schooling of any kind. At one time or another, all the Whitaker children except her had attended the one-room schoolhouse three miles from the farm, a fact that made her shame even worse. The two older boys went clear through school. Even Lydia and Nellie had some education. Her flighty stepsisters were indifferent students at best, but at least they could read, write, and recite the multiplication tables. From an early age, Callie hid her deep envy of the stepbrothers and sisters who left each morning for that mystical place called school. She begged to go, but what with meals to cook, cows to milk, and babies to care for, she could never be spared for the luxury of acquiring an education.
“You don’t need school,” Ma had always said.
After a time, Callie had realized her stepmother would never change her mind. She stopped begging to go but never got over the embarrassment of being totally illiterate. Over the years, she had managed to hide her ignorance, but now, as she returned from her visit with Florida, her cheeks still burned from shame. It was bad enough Florida knew her secret, but far worse that Luke McGraw witnessed the disgraceful spectacle she’d made of herself.
That night, Callie cooked supper and did her chores in silence.
Later, when she joined her stepsisters in the tent, Nellie remarked to Lydia, “Here comes the little mouse. Did you notice how quiet she was tonight?”
“Callie, is something wrong?” Lydia asked.
“Just tired.” Callie crawled into her blankets and turned her back. After a day like today, she had no desire to talk and hoped her gossipy stepsisters would soon go to asleep.
No such luck. Soon Nellie’s excited chatter filled the darkness. “Oh, Lydia, he talked to me today. I knew he would!”
“Who