I told you that I’ve reached a time in my life when I want to be settled, and I need some help with Martha. We’re not young anymore, you and I. It won’t be that long before you can’t manage the travelling either, and I can’t think of a better place for us to locate.”
He could see that her mind was quite made up, and long experience had told him that when Betsy made a decision, the decision stayed made. The idea had a lot to recommend it, really, when he thought about it. He wanted to be able to keep a closer watch on Simms, and between that and his regular round, it was evident that he needed the luxury of knowing that he needn’t hurry home to make sure that his family was all right. There was also another aspect to the situation that neither of the women would be aware of. In the long term, he could see that the day of the itinerant clergyman was probably drawing to an end, except perhaps in the newly settled western regions of the province. But that would be a task for younger men, not old hands like him. He suspected he would soon be looking for a place to locate, to become a settled minister who stayed in one place and preached to the same congregation at every service. The Methodist Episcopals in Demorestville had land given to them by Mr. Demorest and hoped to soon be building their own meeting house. He could do worse than ask to be their local preacher when the time came.
“Well,” he said, “what were you thinking of renting the place for?”
Minta named a sum that was less than they were currently paying in Bath, so Lewis knew that her wish to have Betsy and Martha nearby was sincere.
“The place is worth more than that, surely?”
“No, it isn’t,” Minta replied. “It’s so dark on that side, and there’s no yard. But if it’s Mrs. Lewis and Martha next door, I won’t mind sharing the yard, and if it’s too dark over there, they can come and sit in my kitchen.”
Lewis turned to Seth. “And what do you say to all this, sir?”
“It seems like a fine idea to me. It will help us out and you too. What is there here to quarrel with?”
Lewis was aware that his wife was perhaps not the easiest person to share a house with. Will and Nabby had made that clear. But Minta wasn’t Nabby and the two women did seem to get along. Besides, they wouldn’t be in the same house, would they? They could each run their kitchens the way they saw fit and keep each other company in the meantime. And then there was Martha. There was no question that it would be better for her to grow up in the company of someone younger than her grandparents, and to have a ready playmate nearby. He wasn’t sure what Luke would think of it, but the boy was nearly finished school and would be going off on his own soon anyway. If he disliked the notion he could make some plan that suited him better.
“Settled,” he said, and Betsy and Minta beamed.
The question of what Luke would do answered itself in an unexpected way. As soon as everything was agreed, Lewis rode for Bath to arrange for the transport of their belongings. To his surprise, Moses was there when he arrived.
Lewis had heard nothing of Will and Nabby since they had given up the farm in Marysburgh and moved west. They had sent no message, and he had no idea where they were or how they were prospering. He wasn’t sure that he would have written to them even if he had. His last conversation with Will still festered in his mind, and the fact that he was still struggling with the boy’s debt was a constant source of irritation.
It turned out that they had written, not to Lewis, but to Moses.
“It’s a struggle for them,” Moses reported, “but Will says it’s good farmland out there and the price of wheat is starting to rise. He figures I should go there, too. You can still get land real cheap and I could share in with him until I get my own place underway.”
“You shared in once before and it didn’t work,” Lewis said sourly. “What makes you think this will be any different?”
Moses shrugged. “I don’t intend to stay with them for any great length of time. I’ve got a little money saved and if the land is as good as Will says it is, I’ll get my own farm as soon as I can. I can put up with Nabby until then.”
“So, you’re determined to go?”
“Yes, I think so. If I stay here I’ll only ever work for somebody else. There’s a lot more opportunity to make something of myself in a place that’s not so crowded.”
Lewis nodded. It was clear that the boy had made up his mind and would probably go whether he gave his approval or not, but he appreciated the fact that Moses wanted to discuss it with him first. Just for a moment he had a glimpse of himself as his sons must see him: a father who was seldom home but was given to strong pronouncements when he was; a man who had embraced what amounted to a life of poverty in order to grapple with something that was elusive and intangible; a husband who had sacrificed the comfort of his wife and family to take a stand on principle. He blew into their lives after weeks of absence and blew back out again like a winter wind, leaving them once more to stop up the gaps on their own. Moses had paid a price for his father’s convictions — they all had. The boy could have been forgiven had he simply set off westward without a by-your-leave, but he hadn’t. There was none of the defiance he had seen in Will. Moses wanted Lewis to understand his reasoning and give his blessing.
He cleared his throat. “What can I do to help you?” He knew there wouldn’t be much; this boy had always been the most independent of his sons, and his own ability to be of much assistance was severely limited.
He could see the relief in Moses’s face, and gratitude that his father was putting up no argument. “There are a couple of things. First of all, I don’t intend to go alone. I’ve talked it over with Nancy and we’d like to do this together.”
Nancy was the girl he had been courting for the last two years. Lewis had been surprised that they hadn’t married long since, but Moses seldom rushed into anything without giving it a great deal of thought. Homesteading was a hard task for a man by himself, but it sounded like the girl was willing to do it with him, and that would increase his chances of making it a success.
“We’d kind of like you to do the wedding.”
Lewis was delighted to agree.
“So, what’s the second thing?”
“We’d like to take Luke with us. It’s the same here for him as for me; he’ll always be working for someone else if he stays. He could help us out at first, and then if he likes farming well enough he could branch off on his own and we’d help him.”
Lewis wasn’t sure how he felt about this, or what Betsy would say. Luke was their youngest, and if he went with Moses he would be in a faraway place where they would almost never get to see him. In fact, all of their children would be far away, and it would be unlikely they would have much contact beyond a letter or two now and then. It would be hard for their mother, not seeing them or their babies. But then they had Martha to brighten their old age, he supposed. And there was no question that it would be better for Luke.
“What does Luke say?”
“He wants to go. He was excited as soon as I mentioned it. He just didn’t know what you would think, and I won’t take him unless you agree to it.” Bless this boy, Lewis thought, for letting me know I’m not such a terrible father after all.
He had been unsure about what Luke would want to do anyway, and the more he thought about Moses’s proposal, the more it had to recommend it. Luke would be going off on his own sooner or later — better
