"Yes, Ma'am." Justus nodded, worrying his hat through his fingers. "I have a buggy here, if you've a mind, I can wait fer ya an' drive ya out, or at least escort ya." Shrugging, he glanced at Constance then back to Clara. "I do believe Mrs. Pike'd be upset if I let ya drive out alone. I can help here, if ya need, or I'd be happy ta buy me a good meal an' some pie."
It didn't, at that moment, occur to him that a 'meal' might end up involving a cranky granny and her granddaughter!
"Yes, Ma'am." Justus nodded, worrying his hat through his fingers. "I have a buggy here, if you've a mind, I can wait fer ya an' drive ya out, or at least escort ya."
Clara blinked, "What? Umm, no." Her thoughts were racing about all these necessary arrangements.
Shrugging, he glanced at Constance then back to Clara. "I do believe Mrs. Pike'd be upset if I let ya drive out alone. I can help here, if ya need, or I'd be happy ta buy me a good meal an' some pie.
Clara shook her head, "Oh gosh, no I cannot arrange all this that fast. I have to check with the person I have in mind to see if she will work here while I'm gone. If not finish out the day and then put up a Closed sign. I cannot simply abandon my responsibilities, you see?"
"You can of course buy a meal....Constance, give him half off the price and a free slice of pie. For bringing such good news," Clara pointed out.
"But then you can head back to the ranch and tell Mrs.Pike I will be there on the morrow. I need to talk to Jacob," she was already making out a mental checklist.
Constance only flashed Justus a quick smile but said nothing.
"Yes, Ma'am, of course." He hadn't really thought on how much planning it would take to run off for a few days, but then, he was a drifter, and didn't have a baby to plan on.
"Do ya got an idea on when ya might be leavin' in th' mornin'? Just in case Mrs. Pike asks an' wants ta send an escort?" It wouldn't be odd that the new mother would want someone to ride along with her friend to make sure she was all right.
"I'll have some'a that chicken'n dumplin's please." He gave Constance a shy grin. "Pie an' coffee later."
And much to his chagrin, as he looked back into the dining area, it was full...only vacant seats would be shared with a particular opinionated granny and her kin!
"Smokey! Sic em, boy, sic em!"
Mrs Miggins looked around; her life was one of constant surveillance. She'd been expecting the British back since 1815.
"Why here he is now!" she declared on spotting Justus malingering by the door to the kitchen. Granny might be a bit deaf but with her 'seein' glasses' on, nothing escaped her notice.
"Hey you, yeah, sonny!" she hailed him and then looked at her granddaughter "What's he called again?"
"'Cowboy-Joe', you called him" Leonora replied, tartly, but then remembered "Oh, the waitress called him Justus."
"Justice? Justice?! There ain't no justice in this world! Look at that Wigfall girl - that pig-faced critter that took a shot at Steelgrave. They shoulda hanged her fer what she did. I mean, missin' at that distance! If I'd ha' had him in my sights with ma shootin' glasses on, I'd have filled that that skunk so full of lead, you coulda sharpened his head and used him as a pencil!!" she declared.
Leonora gave Justus one of her never-ending supplies of sympathetic smiles when Granny turned around again.
"Hey, Justice! C'mere, I wanna know about this here baby: is it out yet or not? An' if so, is it quick or dead? Boy or girl? How much does it weigh? What they callin' it? An' how about Emeline? Is she alright, or is she dead?" she pointed impatiently at the empty chair between herself and Lee "And come and sit down, you're making my neck ache, lookin' up at you all the time!" she ordered.
Leonora moved her bag off the seat in question and inclined her head to the chair by way of a less dictatorial invitation.
@Bongo
@Wayfarer
It was too late, he'd been spotted! There was no way to ignore the summons without being rude, so he glanced at Constance and shrugged, muttering, "Wish me luck!" before plastering on a smile and heading for the table.
"Ladies." He gave them a polite nod, then settled in the chair that had been vacated for him. There was no danger of awkward silence as Granny Miggins hit him with a salvo of questions.
"Hey, Justice! C'mere, I wanna know about this here baby: is it out yet or not? An' if so, is it quick or dead? Boy or girl? How much does it weigh? What they callin' it? An' how about Emeline? Is she alright, or is she dead?" she pointed impatiently at the empty chair between herself and Lee "And come and sit down, you're making my neck ache, lookin' up at you all the time!" she ordered.
"Baby come last night," he explained with a chuckle. He had to admit, the old lady, under her crustiness, was genuinely concerned. "It's a fine, strappin' boy they call Wheeler, an' he an' Mrs. Pike are just fine. Miss Campbell was there ta help with th' birthin', an' Mrs. Pike was down fer her supper shortly after."
He grinned widely. "An' this mornin' she an' Mr. Pike brought th' boy to th' bunkhouse so we could give him a look. Good lookin' boy, takes more after his Ma than his Pa, if ya ask me."
"Yes, Dear"
Granny listened to Justus with a critical ear and when he'd finished what he, no doubt, thought was a fulsome account of the arrival of the little one, she commented dryly "So, you don't know the weight, hmm?" Apparently 'strapping' was too much of a generalisation for the old woman.
Then something struck her.
"Hold on, Wheeler, did ya say? They're naming the poor boy after a rebel general?! I knew that Pike feller was still Sesech! Thought Emeline woulda known better! Shoulda called him Sherman, or Grant!" Granny was convinced that there was an ongoing Confederate 5th Column who were just waiting for the South to rise again and cause havoc with the water supply, or something, while the British invaded from the North and Mexico from the South.
"Well, you call me Lee!" Leonora pointed out.
"Hmm, well, ya got me there." Granny admitted, with some reluctance.
He grinned widely. "An' this mornin' she an' Mr. Pike brought th' boy to th' bunkhouse so we could give him a look. Good lookin' boy, takes more after his Ma than his Pa, if ya ask me."
"Good!" said Granny, acerbically.
"Oh, isn't that dangerous? Taking a baby out in this cold weather?" Leonora asked shyly.
"Best thing for him!" Granny replied "That's why you've always been so sickly - your mother mollycoddled you"
Just then the front door of the diner opened and Jacob Lutz ambled in. He shot Lee a "Wie geht's, Kuchengesicht?" and then kissed his grandmother on top of her silver haired head while she tried to shoo him away like a fly.
Lee laughed "Oma hat einen neuen Verehrer, Bruderlein!" and Jacob laughed, too. It was odd, like a lot of truly bilingual people (the siblings having spoken German with their father throughout their childhood), Leonora seemed to have a slightly different, more open personality when she spoke their shared second language. Or maybe her brother just brought that out of her.
Granny rapped sharply on the table with her knuckles and told them off.
"I've told you two before, don't speak foreign in front of folks as can't understand it! It's rude to me and to Mister Justice here!"
Jacob looked properly at Granny's 'Admirer', as a Lee had called him, for the first time and held out a greeting hand "Sorry friend. I'm Lutz, Jake Lutz, how're you doing?"
@Bongo @Wayfarer
How was anyone supposed to know what the baby weighed? Wasn't as if they were going to bring him in to the butcher and toss him on a scale!
"Well, he weighs more'n a cricket an' less than a calf?" He didn't understand why it was so important...a baby was a baby, and as long as it had ten toes and ten fingers, what did it matter. "An' Wheeler is after Miz Pike's grandpa," he explained, "an' they were from Illinois or Ohio or somesuch, so I reckon they were Yankees?"
He didn't know for sure, but it made sense. As for his own pa, he'd not bring up that the man was a Texas Rebel through and through, and still was!
Then a young man came in and started speaking with Lee in a foreign language, until they were chastised by Granny. Justus really didn't mind, he doubted they were talking about him anyway.
The newcomer introduced himself as a Lutz, which explained his ties to the women. Justus stood and shook his hand. "Justus Gibbs. Good ta meet ya. I work out at th' Rockin' P, come in ta tell Miz Clara that Miz Pike had a son."
He didn't know Clara's last name, so didn't make the connection.
"Yes, Dear"
"Well, he weighs more'n a cricket an' less than a calf?" He didn't understand why it was so important...a baby was a baby, and as long as it had ten toes and ten fingers, what did it matter.
“Don’t be impertinent, young man!” Granny wagged a finger at him. Justus might not have realised it, but Lee could tell that Granny liked the rough junior cowpoke.
"An' Wheeler is after Miz Pike's grandpa," he explained, "an' they were from Illinois or Ohio or some such, so I reckon they were Yankees?"
“Hmmm, that’s all right then. But I bet Pike was pleased with the connection, all the same” she grumped. Oh boy, she was like a dog with a bone on this topic.
The newcomer introduced himself as a Lutz, which explained his ties to the women. Justus stood and shook his hand. "Justus Gibbs. Good ta meet ya. I work out at th' Rockin' P, come in ta tell Miz Clara that Miz Pike had a son."
“Oh good.” Jacob said with a rather forced smile. What he wanted to say was Oh good, then my wife will have to slave away in in this pie factory even harder to fill someone else’s baby’s mouth as well as our own. It was hardly a logical thought – he himself risked life and limb every day to fill some unseen Western Union stockholder’s coffers. But this felt more personal, seeing the Pikes, rich as Croesus from mine holdings, living a life of ease in their big new fancy mansion out on the plains, while his wife tried to juggle looking after little Em and trying to feed half of Kalispell, dripping with sweat over a hot stove all day and half dead on her feet.
He conveniently forgot that she was also well paid and they got free board and lodgings out of it all.
“I’d better go and see her… Miz Clara’s my wife.” He thought he’d better explain.
“And she dotes on Emeline. Named her daughter after her…” Granny explained to Justus “I mean, I suggested ‘Helen’ as a nice name. But she didn’t seem to like it. Just completely ignored my suggestion, but of course, I never mention it to anybody…” The old lady pouted, playing for a sympathy she was unlikely to receive. “Anyhow, I’ll bet you dollars to navy beans she’ll wanna go out and visit with her, and I’ll have to take over the runnin’ of this place for a spell.”
Meanwhile, Jacob was having an awkward time of it trying to edge past Miss Stroud, the new waitress, in the narrow doorway to the kitchen. When Clara had introduced him to Constance, his immediate thought had been ‘I mustn’t under any circumstances look interested in this girl or her large chest!’ and ever since he had been doing his clumsy best not to. The result was, of course, that he seemed to find his eyes continually drawn to Miss Stroud’s bosom, when he wasn’t getting stuck in compromising positions with the buxom girl.
Like right now, both had misread the ‘you go first’ gestures and found themselves sliding past each other face to face or, more pertinently, chest to chest. “Sorry, I’ll just, get, oops, sorry…” Jake mumbled as he slid past, hoping Clara wasn’t watching from her position at the stove.
Embarrassed, scared and thrilled by the experience, he stumbled into the kitchen.
“I hear Pikes have had a boy.” he sounded enthusiastic for Clara’s sake and really he wished an innocent baby no ill “Guess you’ll be wanting to go and see her.” It was an easy prediction.
By the time Constance had doled out the chicken and dumplings onto a plate and headed out to serve it to Justus, he was seated with that crabby old woman and her unlucky daughter? Granddaughter? She didn't know nor particularly care. She had mentioned the old lady to Clara who peeked out and once she saw the individual just shook her head. Then proceeded to admit to Constance she had little use for the old bitty. Still, she was a customer and you had to be nice. Constance could be nice.
Clara's husband was out there too chatting and in fact shaking hands with Justus, so they hadn't met before, she gleaned.
"Excuse me, Mr.Lutz," Constance smiled at tall drink of water that was Clara's husband as she eased past him in close quarters, worried about spilling the food. But she managed to place it down in front of Justus.
"If anybody needs anything else here, just let me know," she smiled first at Justus then both women.
***
Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Jacob sauntered on in, Clara turned from her work to smile at him.
“I hear Pikes have had a boy.” Jacob must have just heard the news, “Guess you’ll be wanting to go and see her.”
"Hello husband dear, yes, one of Pike's hands brought us the news. A healthy baby boy. Name of Wheeler, cannot say I much care for it but then none of my business,"Clara responded.
"And yes, Emeline asked if I could come out just for a few days. I have agreed."
She looked at the frying pan, the meat sizzling in it would need a few minutes so she turned and moved up to her man.
"I am in a quandary, dear, I cannot simply leave the diner to Constance. She has been doing fine but she cannot handle both waitress and cook all by herself. She is only learning how we cook and bake things here. So I either close the place down completely for a few days or find someone who could do the cooking and Constance said she is fine with that. So the place could stay open."
"As for our daughter, do not fret. I am taking Em along with me. I know you need to continue working too. It will not be for long, dear," she then kissed him on the cheek.
"Ah, good ta meet ya," Justus said, grinning, "yer wife's a right good cook, and a kind person, too." Maybe a bit serious, but kind all the same.
Jacob retreated to the kitchen as Constance brought out his meal. "Thank ya." He give the girl a shy smile, certainly nothing that could be interpreted as anything!
“And she dotes on Emeline. Named her daughter after her…” Granny explained to Justus “I mean, I suggested ‘Helen’ as a nice name. But she didn’t seem to like it. Just completely ignored my suggestion, but of course, I never mention it to anybody…” The old lady pouted, playing for a sympathy she was unlikely to receive. “Anyhow, I’ll bet you dollars to navy beans she’ll wanna go out and visit with her, and I’ll have to take over the runnin’ of this place for a spell.”
"She did mention goin' out," Justus confirmed, "tomorrow some time." He didn't make mention of any plans for the cafe, that was up to Miz Clara. "Someone'll escort her, of course," he further assured the granny, "make sure she gets there safe."
He tucked into his meal, minding that his manners were proper. "Helen is a right pretty name," he then agreed between bites, "never considered on what I'd name a baby, but then, I named my horse Mule, an' I never considered any babies besides cows!"