Chapter Two

Kindness of Friends

Redwood, Minnesota, was a frontier town in the south-central part of the state. The Redwood River, a tributary to the Minnesota River, ran north of the town. It was the end of March 1877, and the winter had been a long, bitterly cold season, but hope for a new season was fresh in the air.

Farmers descended on to the town of Redwood at the end of March. Taxes were due on March 30th, and the homesteaders needed to secure their money and supplies for this year's crop. The surrounding area of Redwood had been through three years of locusts, devastating their crops. Some farmers stayed, but many farmers abandoned their homesteads.

The remaining homesteaders made their way to the First State Bank to pay taxes on their farmland. With the influx of customers, it overwhelmed Mr. Phelpson at the granite counter as the farmers waited to see the banker, Mr. Wainwright. The two men worked late every evening as the paperwork piled onto their desks.

Across the street, John and Isabel Webster had set up their temporary leather shop. Their original repair store and apartment burnt down in an arson fire.

Now the temporary leather shop was located under Charlie and Clara's apartment in the old café. Friends and family helped them clean out the cafe and paint the walls.They built shelves and worktables with a bench for his tools.

Since the fire, the Webster's stayed with Ruth and Pete Anderson. Ruth had offered John a chance to rebuild his shop on the original lot with her financial support from the lumber business she ran.

Ruth and Ben, Isabel's brother, assisted them with customers on the first weekend of the shop with all the farmers in town. For two days, townsfolk and farmers alike stopped to congratulate them and offer support. It gave John and Isabel hope for the future of their shop.

On Sunday morning, Isabel walked into their bedroom at Ruth's house and found John lying in bed.

"John, you're not ready for church yet?" Isabel asked. "Pete already left to get the carriage."

"I'm tired. Let me sleep."

"Please. We haven't been to church in two weeks. And after the show of support we have received from the townspeople, we can at least show our face and count our blessings."

"Gus was right."

"What?"

"Gus was right. He told me to wait and see. The honeymoon will end soon, and the nagging will begin."

Isabel's dark brown eyes shot wide open as she looked at her husband in disbelief. Her reaction was too funny, and John started laughing. Isabel grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

"Hurry! I don't want to be late for church," said Isabel.

When Isabel reached the door, she turned and smiled. "Thank you."

How could he say no to her?

John got out of bed to get dressed for church services.

Pete Anderson, Ruth's husband, brought the carriage around, and the four of them rode through town to the schoolhouse for services. Isabel enjoyed the music, and it surprised her how many of the lyrics she remembered. After services, Pastor Swenson made an announcement to the congregation.

"I would like to ask Mr. and Mrs. Webster to step forward. We are happy to see you both this morning. As a congregation, we offer you our deepest sympathy at the recent loss of your home. On behalf of our church members, we would like to present the Webster family with donations we gathered to help you rebuild your home."

The generosity overwhelmed them as Isabel's eyes blurred with tears. John didn't know what to say.

"Start with thank you," said Charlie, with a slow, dry delivery.

Laughter broke the tension in the crowd.

"No. You're right," said John as he smiled. "Thank you to all the church members for your generosity and prayers these past two weeks. We appreciate it. Thank you."

John wiped his brown eyes with his shirtsleeve and blinked several times, looking upwards with prayers of gratitude. Isabel squeezed her husband's hand and leaned in against his broad shoulder.

When John and Isabel emerged from the church, Gus Anderson had a buckboard parked out in front. Farmers and townsfolk alike dropped off their donations into the wagon. Kitchen towels, canning jars, rugs, blankets, and cookware filled the back end.

Several men brought John animal skins and tanned leather hides. John complimented them on the quality of the skins. He explained to all of them he was rebuilding the leather store, and he would be interested in buying any hides they had to sell.

Gus drove the buckboard, and the community members followed, walking with John and Isabel to their store on Main Street. Everyone pitched in to carry the items into the building.

The plank tables held a mountain of repair orders. With nowhere to set the items, John moved next to the end of the line and stacked the donations in front of the extra merchandise.

The young couple thanked everyone for their generosity and waved goodbye. It overwhelmed Isabel with the outpouring of love and well-wishes from their church family. It renewed her faith in people and helped fill the well of determination needed to succeed.

Isabel wanted to stay to sort the donations, but John insisted they take the day off to rest. When he told her the items would be there on Monday, she agreed, and they walked to Ruth's house for Sunday dinner.

Ruth served a glorious fried chicken dinner with all the fixings. Pete and John smiled at each other, and they knew. Whenever Ruth had a project in mind, she cooked something special to serve to the men before she asked for a favor. Before the men could even sit down to rest, Ruth asked the men to help her with a job upstairs.

The task involved carrying an old sewing machine down the stairs. Pete and John agreed, and step by step, they maneuvered the machine down the stairs into the dining room next to her new machine.

Last year, when Ruth went to St. Paul for her annual lumber meeting, she brought the latest model in sewing machines. The brand-new Singer machine was smaller, and the treadle was easier to operate than her old one.

John and Isabel helped Ruth clean up the old machine, wiping down the iron legs and treadle with linseed oil. John took dark furniture polish to the cabinet. Ruth went through the steps of cleaning the machine, and John made sure every moving piece was clean and oiled as he studied the moving parts.

Then Ruth showed them both how to thread the bobbin and the needle. John became more curious as Ruth showed them how to sew on the machine. He thought of the different ways he could use the device to sew leather seams.

The teacher in Ruth Beaumont emerged that afternoon. She brought out her scrap baskets of material, and the Ruth showed them how to draw a pattern, stitch wrong sides together, and use a pencil to get a good point on a corner.

John worked on the older machine, and Isabel sewed on Ruth's Singer machine. Each seam became more manageable as they followed Ruth's instructions. She showed them how to finish a seam and machine hem on a garment.

Before Isabel stitched together the pieces, Ruth showed her how to insert ribbon ties into the side seams to help women adjust their vest fit. She was explaining pockets when she heard her husband's voice. He had been working in his shop.

"Ruth, did you forget it is Sunday evening, and Charlie and Clara will be here soon for supper?" asked her husband, Pete.

Every Sunday night, the Anderson brothers and their wives gathered at Ruth's house for Sunday supper. Clara brought extra food from the hotel, and the women served family-style at the kitchen table.

"Oh, land sakes," said Ruth as she threw her hands in the air and ran into the kitchen.

"I need to help Ruth in the kitchen. Do you mind straightening up before Charlie and Clara arrive?" asked Isabel.

"Run along. I don't mind," said John.

He gathered the scrap material and threw it back into the large woven basket. John placed it next to Ruth's machine. He straightened out the table and pushed the chairs in place. Then John walked into the kitchen with a question on his mind.

"What do you want for that sewing machine?" asked John as he watched the women prepare supper.

"I want it out of here. I want an extra upstairs bedroom"

"You mean it, Ruth?" asked Isabel. "You want to get rid of it?"

"We can haul it out tonight, if you'd like," said John with a smile.

* * *

After talking to Dauber, Thomas ran to Victoria's apartment. He stepped up on the boardwalk and saw Victoria inside her shop, along with Hannah and Johan. When Thomas reached for the knob, he found the door locked. Hannah ran to the door and unlocked it, letting him into the shop.

Johan and Victoria stood around the big trestle table used for cutting fabric. He laid out a large cloth and then the soft, blue cloth that protected his six-shooter. There were rods and soft materials along with a small oilcan. He was explaining how to clean the gun. Hannah was absorbing every word Johan was explaining to her.

Victoria looked over at Thomas, and he rushed towards her and threw his arms around Victoria. He felt himself shaking.

"Oh, my goodness. If anything ever happened to you," said Thomas, whispering into her ear.

Victoria felt her knees grow weak as she melted into his arms.

"It's all my fault. I should have been there. You can't trust Cooper for a minute."

"No, it isn't your fault. Cooper was drunk."

"Victoria was never in danger. If I had to, I would have shot him in the leg."

"You were brave to face him down as you did."

"You forget whom I grew up with at my house. I would brace my door with my dresser at night and crawl under the bed with an iron bar to protect myself from my brothers or their drunk friends."

He remembered all too well Hannah's brothers. They had beaten him up and left him for dead in a partially frozen river. Thomas rubbed his glass jaw.

"I remember them well. Hannah, thank you for protecting Victoria. I am sorry if I underestimated your courage. It won't happen again," said Thomas.

"Hannah is an excellent shot," said Johan. "After all, I taught her myself."

"Please, Victoria, promise me you will let me take you out for target-practice," asked Thomas.

"Yes, I promise," said Victoria.

"You agree? Let's go. Johan, I have been trying to get this girl to go shooting with me since I met her, and she finally agrees. We'll meet you back here in a few minutes."

Thomas, Johan, and Ben arrived at the Redwood Boutique in the buckboard, ready for adventure. Thomas grabbed his pistol and his rifle, along with some extra boxes of ammunition.

"Good afternoon, ladies," said Thomas as the three young men walked into the shop.

"Are you ready to go target shooting with us?" asked Thomas.

Both gals were dressed and eager to get outside.

"John told me that Ben is a sharpshooter, and I could use some pointers. I thought Johan could show you how to handle a six-shooter like he showed Hannah," said Thomas.

"Our Pa taught all of us how to shoot when we lived on the farm. He felt better knowing we could protect ourselves out on the frontier, no matter what type of varmint would bother us," said Johan.

"Like snakes and rats,"

The two girls burst into laughter at their private joke. Then they grabbed their wool cloak and leather gloves.

Hannah sat on the buckboard next to Johan, and Thomas, Victoria, and Ben rode in the wagon bed. Thomas instructed Johan to head east out of town and to cross the railroad tracks and head toward the woods. When they found a secluded spot, Johan pulled up the team of horses. The boys jumped out of the wagon bed and helped the girls to the ground.

Each one grabbed their weapons of choice and loaded them with ammunition. Thomas ran a distance and tacked targets to several trees. Johan stayed with Victoria by the wagon. He showed her some crucial points she needed to know before attempting her first shots. Ben, Hannah, and Thomas walked out to the tree line and set up for target practice with their rifles.

Ben talked about accuracy of their rifle, and they listened to his suggestions. Then they shot off a few rounds before checking the target. Ben praised Hannah for her accuracy with Johan's rifle. She smiled at his comments.

Thomas saw that Ben's center circle was peppered with accuracy, and his target had more of a scattered look about it. This first round made Thomas even more determined to hone his shooting skills. There were people in his life he needed to protect from varmints.

Victoria and Johan set up to shoot at the closest target. Victoria was a quick learner, and with every shot, she moved closer to the inside circle. Johan was a thorough instructor. Thomas even pulled out his six-shooter and tried out his accuracy. Johan suggested a couple of pointers to Thomas, which made a difference in his next few shots.

They walked up to the targets to check how they had done. In the distance, Johan heard the horses, and he noticed the team of horses pawing at the ground as they became agitated.

The sound of a baby's scream pierced the late afternoon air. The hairs on the back of Ben's neck rose.

He whispered, "We need to back out of here real slow."

"But it sounded like a baby crying," whispered Victoria.

"That wasn't a baby's cry. That was a female cougar," said Ben. "She is a mother with cubs in the area, and we have invaded her territory."

Everyone stepped closer to the wagon as not to make any sudden moves. They keep their eyes up into the trees with guns at the ready as they walked.

The boys helped the girls into the wagon bed and Ben and Thomas held rifles at the ready as Johan turned the team around, avoiding the tree line. They rode to town in silence.

They convinced Victoria sheneeded to defend herself, no matter what the situation. She sent a prayer tothe Lord for keeping them safe and thanking him for her dear friends.