Five Card Draw

The Promise Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Promise

Wisdom woke fresh and well rested. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he lay down. The bed not only looked comfortable, it more than exceeded his expectations. Wyatt was right, this had to be the best boarding house in Deadwood, or anywhere else for that matter. Not only did he sleep all through the night, he also enjoyed a fantastic evening meal. The thought of getting up was depressing, but thinking about what Sarah was preparing for breakfast, gave him the desire to begin his day.

He had just finished his morning ritual when there was a knock on his door. Thinking it might be Wyatt he quickly opened it. He was surprised to see Sarah standing there.

"I'm sorry to bother you so early, but I was wondering if you had any laundry that needed tending. If so, there is an extra charge for that. Since you will be gone most of the day, and you are our only guest, I can have your belongings back before you return for the evening meal."

"As a matter of fact I do. One of the things on my list for Wyatt to show me, was the dry cleaners, if there was one in Deadwood."

Sarah frowned and was about to turn away when Wisdom quickly said, "I have three soiled shirts, that need washed, pressed, and lightly starched. The suit I wore yesterday could use a good brushing, Dusty definitely earned his name yesterday. I also have three pairs of socks and some undergarments. How much will that cost?"

"That would be, five cents for each shirt, ten cents for the socks and undergarments, and ten cents to brush out your suit and put a crease in the trousers. That comes to thirty-five cents."

"That's all? Back home it would cost me two dollars. Let's compromise. I'll pay you a dollar fifty for the laundry, and an extra fifty cents to polish my two pairs of shoes. If you don't have the polish, then I will leave it out with my clothes before I leave."

"I have polish for almost any colored shoes. The men use mostly black or brown, the women's shoes come in an assortment of colors. What color are your shoes?"

"One pair is black, the other brown."

"Just leave everything at the foot of the bed. I will tidy your room and pick up you laundry after I finish cleaning up from breakfast, which will be ready in 15 minutes."

Once Sarah was gone, Wisdom took out an envelope from his jacket pocket, and reread the letter twice, and thought, 'a promise is a promise'. He folded the letter, slid it back inside the envelope, and went down stairs to the dining room.

Wisdom pushed back his chair from the table, and said, "I think I overdid the eating. Sarah you are a fabulous cook. I have spent a lot of time traveling, and sleeping in boarding houses, but none of them had a cook like you. Your husband is a lucky man."

The moment he uttered those words he knew he had made a huge blunder. He watched Sarah stop what she was doing, turn, and head for the kitchen, leaving all the dirty dishes on the table. He sat there not knowing what to do. Should he go to her and apologize, or just leave. He opted for the latter. Once back in his room he gathered his soiled possessions and did as Sarah asked, then waited for Wyatt to knock.

Wyatt found his mother sitting at the kitchen table crying, "What's wrong mom?" Wyatt asked with his arm draped protectively over her shoulder.

"It's nothing, I'm just missing your dad. Would you be a dear and finish clearing the table, while I put the leftovers away?"

"Sure mom, I have plenty of time before I meet Mr. Wisdom." The mention of Mr. Wisdom name caused another round of tears. "Why did you start crying again when I mentioned Mr. Wisdom's name? Mom, did he do something to upset you?"

"No Wyatt, but he reminds me so much of your father. His hair is a different color, eyes hazel instead of blue, he's taller, but he smiles, sounds and acts so much like your dad."

"I thought so too when I first met him getting off the stagecoach. He has this big grin like dad's when he smiles. Do you think he knew dad?"

"I don't know Wyatt, your dad didn't talk much about his family. His father didn't like me. He had a younger brother named William, who was in England when we got married. So I never met him."

"Enough of this chit-chat we have work to do, go on with you. Go clear the table and get ready to spend the day with Mr. Wisdom. Remember to be back by two o'clock. You have chores to do."

"Here mom," Wyatt held out his hand and placed his two shiny quarters in her upturned palm.

"What is this for?"

"It's for you. Mr. Wisdom gave it to me yesterday for carrying his bag to his room. Now I'm giving it to you, so you won't have to work so hard."

Sarah reached into her apron pocket again, and took out her hankie to staunch another round of tears. After several minutes she finally said, "No Wyatt, you earned it, you keep it."

"But I want to help out, I'm the man of the family now, I need to help."

"I'll tell you what we will do. Tomorrow after breakfast, we will go to the bank and open a savings account in your name. We will deposit your earnings every Friday morning once the bank opens. This will be a good learning experience for you; besides school starts next week, and it will help you understand your math better."

"Shucks Mom, can't you just teach me. You know an awful lot of stuff?"

"Yes I do, and it's because I learned it in school. Now be a good boy and clear the table."

Sarah stared as her son left. The room felt so empty now, like all the life had been sucked out of it. She smiled in spite of the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her boy was becoming a man, the hard way. Who was going to teach him the commonsense things a man needs to know to survive out here? He needs a strong man to teach him all the things that I cannot. Sarah bundled up the remaining breakfast, and put it into a picnic basket.

When Wyatt came back with the dishes he asked, "Do you want me to remove the table cloth? It doesn't look dirty, Mr. Wisdom is a very neat eater, he never spilled nothin'."

"The word is 'anything', not 'nothin'," Sarah corrected. "See, Mr. Wisdom just taught you how important neatness is. By being neat, he saved me a lot of extra time and work. Now you remember that. You go upstairs and see if Mr. Wisdom is ready. I will finish up the rest."



After Sarah finished with the clean-up, and put everything where it belonged, she grabbed the basket and headed out the back door. There was a chill in the air, and she wished she had remembered to don her shawl. She knew she didn't have far to go, so rather than waste time going back for it she continued onward. After a five minute brisk walk she reached her destination, and knocked on the back door of a rickety, drafty old house. After several minutes, her knock was finally answered.

"Sarah, my dear, come in out of the cold. It's good to see you. Its been several days since your visit."

"I Know John, but we've had a full house, and they have kept me very busy. We only have one guest right now, and he is not demanding of my time like the others."

"Come, join me at the table. That basket smells delicious, well, not the basket, but what's inside."

"I've brought your favorite: blueberry muffins, some sausages, fresh baked bread, and of course some honey for the pancakes. I know it's not much but it's all that was left."

"That's all right my dear, it will do. I miss being with you more than your delicious cooking. Now tell me about Wyatt."

"Oh John, he wanted me to have his hard earned money, said since he was the man of the house it was his job to help support us. I cried and told him no. We are opening an account for him tomorrow at the bank. He is trying to grow up too quickly."

"Yes, that is the way of this hard life we live. Young boys are forced to grow into men before they are ready. I know, I lost my parents when I was thirteen. Dropped out of school, got a job to support myself, or starve. Lived on the streets for awhile, slept in abandoned buildings, like this one. I finally got an apprenticeship with a cobbler. He took me in, fed me, clothed me, and became the family I had lost. He left me his business in his will. Everyone needs some help at one time or another. It's too bad there isn't more people like him and you in this world. I love you Sarah. You don't know how much you mean to me."

"I love you too John. If I didn't have you to talk to, it would have been difficult for me to go on after Mathew died."

"We share a great loss Sarah, and we will both get through it. If this leg of mine would only heal I could go back to work. But it's been two years since that stagecoach robbery, and the pain is still bad. When that stage flipped over and crushed my leg, I wanted to die right there, but it took your Mathew instead. Now I'm just a useless old man with nothing to show for his life. I have no family, except for you and Wyatt. Send him over some afternoon. I will teach him to play checkers."

"He'll love that John. Well I had better go, I have a lot of work to do. I'll be back whenever I can. Don't get up, I'll leave the food on the table and let myself out."

Sarah's heart was heavy as she left John. He was a nice old man, down on his luck. With no one to assist him, he had to sell his business. Now, with no income his savings quickly dwindled, and he found himself crippled, alone, and homeless. Sarah wished she could do more for him, but sadly, her friendship was all that she could afford.



When Sarah returned to the boarding house, instead of entering through the kitchen, she headed out back toward a small shed. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small key, and unlocked the padlock attached to the door. The shed was dark inside and was lit only by the light entering through the open door.

Sarah didn't need any other light, she knew exactly where everything was. To her right, hanging on a wooden peg was a large, metal washbasin next to an old wooden washboard. On the shelf above it, was an upturned wooden bucket with a long, heavy rope attached to the handle, and ten bars of scented soap, she made herself. In the corner, next to the back wall were two wooden sawhorses. Sarah hefted both of them as if they weighed nothing, and set them up outside next to the kitchen door. She went back inside and brought out the washbasin, bucket, washboard, and soap, all at the same time. Sarah didn't believe in wasting time or energy. There was just too much work she still had to accomplish before she could rest. She spent the rest of the morning washing Wisdom's clothes, Wyatt's, and her own soiled belongings. It was a beautiful sunny day, with a crisp cool breeze. By the time she straightened Mr. Wisdom's room, the clothes hanging on the line were dry.



While Sarah was busy with her chores, Wyatt took Wisdom on a tour of Deadwood. The first thing he showed him was the Nuttal & Mann's #10 Saloon.

Wyatt explained, "With so many saloons in Deadwood they just gave each one a number."

Knowing he wasn't allowed inside, Wyatt just peeked through the glass window and pointed to where Wild Bill was sitting when Jack McCall approached him from behind, and shot him in the back of the head.

"The hand he was holding at the time contained aces, and eights. Soon everyone started calling it the dead man's hand, that's spooky. Since we had no sheriff, a group of miners got together, arrested Mr. McCall, and held a trial in Mr. McDaniel's Theater. He told the miners, he did it to avenge his brother's death. The miners voted him innocent, and set him free. Do you think it was right to set him free, after he confessed to murdering Mr. Hickok?"

"No, I don't Wyatt, no I don't."

"Then why did they release him?"

Wisdom thought real hard about his answer. "Well Wyatt, I guess they took the easy way out. If they found him guilty, he would have to be sentenced and punished. This town had no sheriff, no judge, no legal court. McCall had no defense lawyer pleading his case. If they convicted him, he would have to be hung for the crime. Since it was not a legal trial, the men responsible for hanging him, could be brought up on murder charges."

"But he was guilty."

"It doesn't matter Wyatt. They should have arrested him, and turned him over to the U.S. Marshall. No one has the right to take another's life, unless it is in self defense. Either way, they all would be guilty of murder. They probably just didn't want that burden on their conscious. Wyatt, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I guess I do, but no one had better hurt my mom. Do you want to see where Mr. Hickok is buried?"

"Sure, show me. Were you and your mom living in Deadwood when Mr. Hickok was killed?"

"We got here in April 1876, they were almost finished constructing Lower Main Street. They called it "The Badlands of Deadwood." That's where they built all the places I'm not allowed to go into. My dad hired on the construction crew, and helped to build many of the gaming halls."

Wisdom couldn't help but laugh. The more time he spent with the young lad, the fonder of him he grew. He was smart for his age, hard working, responsible, clever, and asked very adult questions. He was loyal, loving, and respectful of others. His parents certainly did a good job raising him, and he wanted to know more about the boy, and his parents.

"Here we are Mr. Wisdom, it's not much to look at but it is interesting to see. It even has an engraved wooden board."

"Wild Bill, J B Hickok killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills August 2, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the Happy Hunting Grounds to part no more. Goodbye, Colorado Charlie, C H Utter."

"Who is this Colorado Charlie that carved this plank?"

"Colorado Charlie was the Wagon Master that brought Mr. Hickok, and Miss Calamity Jane to Deadwood, two weeks later Mr. Hickok was murdered. It seems they became good friends during their trip here. He paid for the funeral, and everything. On Sept 26, 1879 when I was still six years old a fire started in a bakery on Sherman Street, it destroyed 300 homes and businesses. The boarding house survived the fire because it is on the edge of town in the opposite direction, but the smoke and ashes covered everything. The whole town got together and rebuilt Deadwood in only six month, this time they were smart and built everything out of brick or stone. A little while after that Mr. Utter came back to town, and had Mr. Hickok's body moved up here, to Mt. Moriah Cemetery. It's much nicer up here. Isn't it Mr Wisdom?"

"It sure is Wyatt. Wyatt, just call me Wisdom."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"My mom said it is disrespectful for me to call an adult by their first name."

"And what does your dad say?" Wisdom noticed Wyatt's hesitation before he answered.

"If he was still alive, he would probably agree with my mom. They always agreed with each other, especially about me."

"A very wise man, your father, never disagree with a woman. How old were you when he died?"

"I was still six. He helped rebuild the town. He died three months later in May of 1880, three weeks before my seventh birthday. I miss him a lot."

Wisdom could tell the boy was feeling sad, and decided to change the topic. "I need to see the business district that is not located on lower Main Street."

"What would you like to see first?"

"The bank, I need to speak with a Mr. Adams."

"Mr. Adams is the Mayor of Deadwood."

"Well then, let's go see if we can find him."