Zachery, Mo Chapter II

CHAPTER II




Early in 1812 an earthquake struck the Louisiana Territory, in the area that would later become Missouri. An earthquake of such magnitude that it changed the course of the Mississippi river and was said to have cracked sidewalks as far away as Washington D.C. It was named the New Madrid quake after the town that was at its epicenter. Needless to say when news of the quake reached him at school, Cooperton withdrew immediately and returned home to help his parents rebuild.

The entire region had been devastated in the quake and numerous aftershocks that followed. The trading post and brewery were destroyed. The hardest loss for all to bear was that of Buxton himself who had survived the initial quake, but was taken when a structure he was in collapsed during one the after shocks. But the people were hard to keep down and rebuilding began immediately.

Cooperton was now head of the household, caring for his aging but
matronly mother. He was also head of the family business now and felt a strong need to care for the employees who had been so loyal to his father. Many of them had lost every bit as much as the Taylor’s. His studies at school were put to good use. Among his studies had been building techniques and city planning. Even though the area had only belonged to the United States for a short while, he felt the possibility of statehood was very likely. Louisiana was granted statehood that same year and the rest renamed the Missouri Territory. It was his intention that the trading post be incorporated, and formally be made a town when and if Missouri was admitted into the Union.

To that end, the rebuild was bigger and grander than anything in the region. It still included the trading post, of course, in a very prominent place. But now the compound was laid out more like a small town. The trading post now faced the river and a new pier was built to accommodate the rapid increase of traffic on the Osage. The brewery and distillery were removed from the immediate vicinity and given compounds of their own. There was a livery and stable where auctions were held for livestock and horses. Many of the workers now built houses of their own but the smaller houses were still there to house temporary workers. Streets were laid out and macadamized to control dust and tame the slick Missouri clay when it rained. It was quite the modern city when it was done and many of the residents began to call it Coopers Town.
Cooperton, who was now 25 and known to many of the citizens as merely Coop, was a modest young man and balked at this notion.

Things seemed to finally be looking up for the Taylors. The rebuild had been more successful than Coop could have hoped for.
Business was good. Traffic on the Osage, which was spotty due to varying water levels, was still a plus to the land traffic. The community as a whole seemed to be prospering. Still he waited eagerly for the arrival of the mail and letters from Sarah. He was
lonely. No way around it. He ached to see Sarah in person and tell her everything that had happened since they last saw each other. He didn’t want to write one more damned letter. He became withdrawn and a little moody which was totally our of character for this normally pleasant and convivial young man. Silver Quail became concerned. She tried to be more attentive to his needs. They ate together each evening and she went out of her way to make sure only his favorite dishes were served. But he only picked at his food. After the meal was over and the dishes cleared Coop would retire to the front porch to simply stare at the river and the stars.

One day there was a knock at the door. When Silver Quail answered it she found young Shimy standing on the front porch offering up a letter as if he had the crown jewels on a pillow.
“Shimy…Good morning to ya…what have you got there?”
“Da said I was to bring this here letter straight over to Mr. Coop.
And not to stop along the way…and not to drop it or get it dirty
in any way… said he was sure that it was the one Mr. Coop has been waiten and watchen for…and that he would want to get it right away…and that it was sure to put a smile back on Mr. Coop’s face to know that it was here. Is he here….Maam?” All of this came out of the boy’s mouth in one long string and so fast that it was hard to keep up with what he was saying let alone where he was going with it.
“Shimy, Cooperton is out” she said. Then upon seeing the disappointment on the boy’s face she quickly added “But if
you would leave the letter with me he will get it when he gets back.” The boy showed marked signs of hesitation with this idea. His father had entrusted him with this very important task and the last thing he wanted to do was make a mistake. Noting he was not comfortable with this suggestion, Silver Quail, decided that a compromise was in order. Smiling at the little guy she said “I’ll tell you what might work…what if you were to come inside and have some cookies and wait for him to come back. Does that sound like an idea that is good to you?” Shimy thought about this for moment. Silver Quail could see the wheels turning in his young mind. It was a big decision. It wasn’t every day that a fella had such an important task assigned to him. It wasn’t every day that he was offered cookies in the middle of the morning either. Finally he reached his decision. Smiling and as official as he could muster he replied, “Well then…yesum…I suppose if that’s the way it has to be it does sound like a good idea to me. With that Silver Quail and the boy went into the house and sat at the kitchen table. The latter still holding the letter as if making an offering to some unknown god of the postal service.

The kitchen was bright and sunny. The windows and back door were open allowing a nice summer breeze to amble its way through the room. In the middle of the table was a plate of the aforementioned cookies. “There you are Shimy…help yourself please…but don’t eat so many you spoil your lunch.” The boy didn’t wait to be told a second time, but dove right in to the plate in front of him. “Would you like some lemonade? I made some just before you came.”
“Yes maam I would” he said. He seemed to have relaxed considerably now sitting in her kitchen. “What kind of cookies
are these?”
“Now Shimy you’ve had them before, those are hickory nut. I used to make them for Cooperton when he was about your age. They always seemed to cheer him up if he was feeling a little down or out of sorts in some way.” Then she paused and looked at him thoughtfully. “Tell me Shimy…does Mr. Cooperton seem a little different to you these days?”

With out even thinking about it the boy responded, “It’s the girl.”

“The what?” She asked with a little shock in her voice.

“It’s the girl,” he repeated. Then seeing that she still didn’t quite understand added “The one who wrote the letter. I heard Ma and Pa talken about it this mornin when it came. Pa said he hoped it would make Mr. Coop feel like smilin again when he got it. That’s why he wanted me to bring it right over to him. Said he’s been pinen over her like a sick puppy…or something like that…I
never seed a puppy that would be cheered up by a silly letter though.”

Silver Quail was taken back by this. Why had she not even entertained this possibility? How could she have been so blind?
She was so pleased when her son had returned after the tragedy.
She didn’t even think to ask about a girl. In fact she had not asked her son about girls in general for quite a long time. He just never seemed to be that interested in them. “That’s just the way most Taylor men are” Bruxton had replied once when she had expressed concern about her sons lack of interest in the opposite sex. “There have been a few Horny Dogs as we are want to call them, but not many…least not many that would own up to it that is. No, most are just content to bide their time till the right one comes along and then they mate with her for life…nothen to be concerned about” his father added. And, that was the end of any further discussion on the matter.

Now when she thought about it she realized that when he first came home he had talked about his time in Virginia. He had talked about his life at school. He had mentioned meeting his father’s large family and his fondness for Zachery and his young wife Margaret. He had even mentioned meeting Margaret’s cousin whom he said was a nice young lady. But why did he not mention being interested in a girl. She was stunned that she, as his mother, didn’t know this -or at least have picked up on it. She had been in mourning over the loss of Buxton it was true. But to not know this important fact about her own son’s life filled her with a sense of shame.
“Did I say something wrong Maam?”
“No Shimy “she said as she patted the boy on the head fondly “You said nothing wrong at all.” Then, having spied her son coming up the street through the kitchen window she smiled at the boy and said “I expect you’ll be seeing Cooperton any minute now…I’ve got to go out to the garden and pick some greens for our lunch. You just wait for him here…and Shimy don’t eat to many cookies or you wont have any room for your lunch.”
With that she went out the back door into the garden as her son was coming through the front.

That night at dinner she observed that Coop’s mood had indeed lightened. His appetite had even returned. But she could still sense that something was playing on his mind. Later that night she joined him on the porch. It was a pleasant Ozark evening.
The air was still and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. They sat beneath a canopy of stars as a lazy summer moon made it’s way across the sky and was reflected from the surface of the river. It created an almost hypnotic effect.
“Pleasant evening isn’t it?” she said as she sat next to her son.
“Yes it is” he replied.
“Shimy was looking for you this morning did he find you?”
“Yes he did…which I expect you know mother as he was sitting in your kitchen fattened considerably with hickory nut cookies and healthy portion of the lemonade that I’m sure was to go with our lunch” he said shooting her a sly smile.
“Well I can’t help it” she said, “I’m very fond of that little boy. He reminds me a lot of someone else I know when he was at that age.”
“Well now I take that as compliment. I like that little guy too. He is as helpful as a six year old can be at the store and very respectful of the customers. He does Arthur and Dahlia proud, so he does.”
“They are nice people aren’t they. I don’t know what we would have done without Arthur after the quake…before you got home
I mean. And then of course after the other one that took your father. It was during that one that Dahlia delivered Arthur Jr. Imagine in the middle of all that destruction….One life ended and another begun….I’ll never forget the day Dahlia and I found him up that little tree out back of the store. He was only two and he had managed to climb that tree all by his self. He was so proud of himself…and we were scared to death. When Arthur found out he just laughed and said they should have named him shinny. Dahlia’s English wasn’t so good at that time so when she repeated it, it came out Shimy…and it just kind of stuck.”
They both laughed at this.
“I’m sure enjoying watching that little guy grow up,” Coop said.
They sat in silence for a moment just watching the river.

Silver Quail studied her son’s face. He had grown so much since returning from school after the earthquake. He had matured into quite a handsome young man. Well liked, even loved by the people of the community. “You miss your father don’t you?” she asked. Coop didn’t reply other than to simply shake his head. “Life can be confusing at times can’t it?” she said with a sigh. “What best way’s to conduct the business…what to plant next spring…how to insure things are in place for the winter, when business slows down.” Again Coop simply nodded his head in reply. “There are so many questions that would be so much easier if you only had your father to run them by first wouldn’t there. But you have to know that you have proven yourself in through your decisions since returning from school. No one could have accomplished more than you have with the mess you returned to. We are prospering. The community and everyone in it is happy and doing well because of the decisions you have made.“ She paused for a moment and then added; “now it’s time for you to trust the decision that you so badly want to make for yourself.”

“I’m sorry…I don’t understand.”

“You miss the girl who keeps sending you the letters that you can’t wait to receive…letters that you can’t get enough of…and you wonder if you can make the right decision where she is concerned.
You wonder if she could be happy living here with you when all she has known is the busy city of Baltimore. You wonder if it would even be fair to ask her to try…you wonder if you can trust your heart.”

“How do you know of this?” he asked in a stunned half voice.

“I’ve known you all your life Cooperton. When you become moody it is so out of character that I know something is wrong. I didn’t want to ask because you are a man now and I didn’t want to pry. I’ve seen what the pressure of some of these decisions can do to men by watching your father and grandfather go through them. I figured you would come to me in time if you needed to. Then Shimmy came today with the letter and in talking to that little boy it all just fell into place… I couldn’t believe that I missed it. Why did you never mention it? Did you think I wouldn’t approve?”

"When I first returned" Coop stood up and started pacing slowly, as if he needed to make sure he got this absolutely right, "You were still grieving my father...we were still grieving my father...and it somehow didn't seem appropriate. After that there was just so much to do and I guess I was so busy, and so wanting to get everything right, that my thoughts and feelings for Sarah..."
"Sarah?" Sliver Quail repeated.
"I'm sorry...That's her name...Sarah. Anyway, my thoughts, my feelings for her didn't really...I mean...we kept writing, almost every day...but I guess I didn't realize how much she meant to me until I finally stopped for a minute." He paused and looked into his mothers eyes. "Am I making any sense at all”?

Silver Quail got up from where she sat, crossed to him, and wrapped her arms around him in a loving embrace. With tears of joy and pride rolling down her cheeks she kissed him softly on the forehead and said "It doesn't matter if it makes sense to me or anyone else. It only matters if it makes sense to you...and of course to her."
Then she stood back and looked him in the eyes. "I will only ask one question,” she said in her sternest manner. "It is the question that my father asked both me and your father. Is this the woman you would like to share your lodge with?"
"Yes.” Coop spoke with out hesitation. "I wasn't sure at first, but the longer we are apart the more I've come to realize that she is."
"Well" she smiled and hugged her son "Then you must travel to this Baltimore and make sure she feels the same way."

Coop was so relieved to have finally voiced his feelings to someone that he felt light as a feather. They stayed up late into the night while he told his mother all about Sarah. He went to his room and retrieved a box that contained ever letter she had written him. By the time they went to bed she was convinced her son was had chosen well. In fact, she herself had fallen in love with this girl she had never even met. A day later Coop left home heading for Baltimore where he would ask for Sarah’s hand in marriage.
Nervous, as any would be bridegroom, he worried all the way to Baltimore that she might reject his proposal. They had talked about a great many things during their brief time together and what now amounted to several years of letter writing, but marriage was not one of them. What if she rejects the notion? What if her
parents don’t approve? What if she is unwilling to leave Baltimore and return with me to Zachery? All these thoughts and more played in his head during the entire journey. But for every negative he quickly found a positive to offset it and by the time he
finally arrived he was his old assured self.

He couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. Sarah immediately said yes. She later admitted that she had secretly wished for this after their first evening together. Her parent’s weren’t quite as easily convinced. They were at first uneasy with the prospect of their daughter leaving Baltimore for the untamed wilds of the Missouri Territory. Coops stories about the beauty of the country
helped in part, but it was Coop himself that finally won them over. They were impressed with his intelligence and the passion he held for his home and the people who lived there. In the end permission was granted and the couple was wed in what could only be termed a modest Baltimore society wedding. The day was perfect. The only regret that either of them had was that Silver Quail was not there to share it.

Traveling west was an experience for Sarah. She had hardly been out of a city environment her entire life. She marveled at the grand expanse of land which she had, until now, only read about.
They traveled by wagon carrying all of Sarah’s worldly possessions. The trip was slow. During the day they road and laughed and shared their thoughts and dreams. At night they camped and ate by a fire, shared some more and made love under the stars.

Upon returning to the trading post the entire community turned out to greet them; and, a spontaneous party was thrown in their honor.
Everyone gathered to wish the young couple well and celebrate
Coops safe return. It was a grand party and a very warm welcome
For Sarah. It lasted well into the night. Eventually the women began to leave, most to put children to bed, but some simply to go to bed themselves. This was a rural community and party or not, there would be work to do in the morning. Silver Quail saw her opportunity, whispered something in Sarah’s ear and the two of them disappeared. Walking toward the house Silver Quail turned to her new daughter-in-law and said, “I thought this would be a good time for me to show your new home. You have to be tired after your long trip and those men will be at their party for hours. Poor Cooperton feels very responsible for those people so he will be afraid of disappointing them by leaving to early.”
“I understand” Sarah said “we’ve talked many times about the people here and how much he cares for them.”
Silver Quail gave a knowing nod “Well, we’ll leave them to their party and I’ll get you settled in” she replied.

Sarah had not seen the house at this point. Their first stop had been at the trading post. The party had broken out and they progressed no further. Sarah was grateful to Silver Quail for rescuing her. She was indeed tired, more from the rush of people who wanted to meet her than from the trip, but tired nonetheless.

When they arrived at the house Sarah was amazed at how unusual and beautiful it was. Being from Baltimore she was use to houses with several floors. But the house Coop had built was all on one level. “After the earth quake that took his father, Cooperton rebuilt the house so that everyone is closer to the ground. I think he feels it is safer,” Silver Quail said seeing the expression on Sarah’s face. “It is wonderful” Sarah said. And indeed it was. Although it was all one level, it was built on a hillock that raised it above street level. The foundation was solidly built of stone and raised the house yet another four feet. There was a porch which ran the entire length of the front of the house and wrapped around both sides with doors and windows opening into every room. Coming through the front door you entered a small foray with a table holding a small vase of fresh wild flowers that Silver Quail had picked especially for the occasion. To the left of the Foray was a small parlor very nicely appointed with two chairs, a settee, and a lovely red rug. A fireplace occupied one end of the room and doors opened onto the porch on that side of the house.
On the opposite side of the house was Cooperton’s study which doubled as his office. It was well appointed with a large oak desk
two leather stuffed chairs and another small sofa. On the floor of this room was a lovely hand knotted oval rag rug. A large fire- place occupied most of one interior wall. There were doors on either side of the fireplace. The opposite side of the room had doors that led to the porch on that side of the house. Sarah was amazed at the sheer size of this rambling space. One of the doors on the side of the fireplace led to the master bedroom, which shared the study’s fireplace. The other door led to a hall which accessed two smaller bedrooms and wound up in the kitchen.

The master bedroom was lovely, with a bed whose headboard climbed almost to the ceiling, side tables and an armoire, all made of native walnut. Opposite the bed, as in the other rooms, doors opened onto the porch. A small round table sat between the bed and the doors which again contained a vase only this time filled with lilacs. A slight breeze blew through the doors causing the whole room to smell of their fragrance. The house sat on a knoll, but it was actually more of a plot. Off the porch area of the master bedroom there was a fenced area that contained a privy accessible only through one of the bedrooms. Another privy was in the rear of the house for quests. The small plot was planted with lilac’s which only added to the aroma of the ones on the table. Sarah was so taken back with the simple beauty of her new surroundings that she was speechless. “I took the liberty of having a new bed spread and curtains made for you as a wedding gift. I hope you don’t think me to forward in choosing the pattern and color. This is, of course, your house now and you may decorate it as you wish….It’s just that the curtains that were in here were more to a man’s liking and now that he is sharing this room with a woman…well I just thought…” and Silver Quails voice dropped off. She noticed that Sarah seemed to be lost deep in thought and not listening to her.
“Oh…” Sarah said with a start “please forgive me. Coop described the house and in particular this room to me on the trip here…but I never imagined anything like this…and the bed spread and curtains are just lovely their color echoes the lilacs in the yard…they are…this is really quite beautiful. Thank you so very much Silver Quail. I will treasure them.” Her eyes sparkled bright green with just the hint of the tears she was holding at bay.
With that, Silver Quail took her hand and kissed her cheek lightly
“Welcome to the family” she said. That was all Sarah could take and the tears ran freely down her cheeks. “I’m sorry” Sarah blubbered “you must think I’m just a silly goose…It’s just that this is much more than I expected…even after he described it…your son is so modest…I love him so much.”
“Of that I have no doubt” Silver Quail said as she hugged her and patted her shoulder. Then holding her at arms length and staring into the girls eyes she added, “It is written on both of your faces. My only wish, for both of you, is that you’ll be as happy as his father and I were.” With that Silver Quail handed her a small handkerchief she always kept in her sleeve. Sarah took it with a nervous smile. Then turning Sarah around and placing an arm on her shoulder Silver Quail shepherded her new daughter back into the foray saying “Let’s show you the rest of the house before we need to share that” and pointed at the small piece of linen Sarah was now knotting in her hands.

Back in the foray Silver Quail led her down a long hallway that ran the full length of the house connecting front to back. The overall openness of the house allowed for easy airflow which kept the house amazingly cool on this warm summer night. A little down the hallway on the same side as the parlor was a formal dinning room and beyond that an enormous kitchen. A large fireplace occupied the wall that separated the dinning room from the kitchen. In all there were four fireplaces in the house strategically located so as to afford heat to several rooms during the cold winter months. There was a large Iron stove on the opposite wall from the fireplace. On the wall that separated the
fireplace and stove was a sink with a large window in the wall above it. There were workspaces on either side of the sink and an indoor pump feeding water to it. Above the work areas were large wooden cabinets. Overhead, beams ran the length of the kitchen but beyond that it was all open adding the spacious feel of the room. High above the backdoor was a beautiful round window.
They took a seat at the table in the middle of the room. This is where Coop found them when he arrived home some time later.
“I see how it’s going to be” he said, “I turn my back and my two
favorite girls disappear on me.”
“Oh hush now” Silver Quail replied with an exaggerated joking fashion. “Poor Sarah needed to be rescued from you and your near-do-well Friends. All the sensible people had already left for home.”
Coop kissed Sarah on the head. Then he scooped up an apple from a bowl in the center of the table, took a passionate bite out of it and sat down.
“Well” said Silver Quail “looks like somebody’s appetite has returned. How can you possible be hungry after everything you had at the party”?
“Guess love’ll do that to a feller Ma” Coop said in his best country drawl. Sarah took the apple from his hand, took passionate bite of her own, and added “I reckon he’s right” and with that they all broke up with laughter. Poor Sarah almost chocking on her bite of the apple. They talked well into the night and the two women formed an immediate kinship.

Sarah quickly settled into her new life. She spent a great deal of time working at the trading post where she got to know the people who lived in area. The settlement had grown quite a lot over the years and business was brisk. Boats were arriving almost daily now and bringing goods for the store. All of it needing to be inventoried and appropriately stocked. Then there were the customers to wait on as well. It was becoming too much for Arthur and Dahlia to handle on their own. Cooperton had his hands full overseeing all their other enterprises. Silver Quail ran the household making sure they had clean clothes and hot meals.
So it seemed only natural for Sarah to pitch in at the store and they were only more than happy for the help. She began by organizing the storerooms and recording all the goods into a ledger. She kept a running total of all the goods. She would then match those totals against the sales so that they would have some idea of how the business was doing. She began to place orders for items that she noticed were selling well. Through her tracking of the sales she was also able to choose new items that she thought the customers
might like, based on the taste they exhibited from the merchandise they had purchased. At the end of every month she presented Coop with a report of items that they purchased, items that they sold and what remained in stock. Her system worked so well that
Coop began to apply it to all of their concerns. They soon had a true and accurate accounting of their finances. Prior to this Coop had kept all of the figures primarily in his head and a series of notebooks. It was a disorganized mess, which he freely admitted, but with his lack of time it was the best he could do. Sometimes it a fresh set of eyes can make all the difference. To his joy he discovered that this simple step saved him a great deal of time and freed him up to pursue other interests. They were busy. They were happy. They were a great team.


It was well into fall now. The days were still fairly warm, but the nights were crisp and the trees in the Ozarks began to explode in brilliant colors. It was a spectacular kaleidoscope in a thousand shades of orange, rust, red and yellow. Sarah had never seen anything like it. Traffic on the river always slowed at this time of year. It never completely dried up, but lower water levels in the fall and winter made it less navigable. Coop always used this time of year for new construction projects. They would erect the shell of a structure in the fall and finish the inside when the weather got to miserable to work for long periods of time in the snow and cold.
This year it was a saloon. They had always sold whiskey and beer in the trading post but now it was more of a general store, and the women were beginning to dislike the men partaking of alcohol while they were trying to do their shopping. To solve the problem
Coop decided to build a proper saloon with a large bar and tables for games of chance. There was to be a kitchen downstairs and rooms upstairs for travelers. The saloon was to be on the north side of the trading post away from most of the houses of the families and close to the small cabins that housed the single men who worked for Coop and other farmers and businessmen in the area. There were to be no ladies allowed to rent rooms in the saloon. Although where there were men drinking and games of chance another element was sure to follow. Single women and any families passing through were to be housed in a new boarding house on the south side of the compound. During the afternoons when business had slowed and the men were busy with the building project, Sarah had taken to sitting by the fire in the trading post and reading. Shimmy showed great interest in this activity and she began to choose reading material that was appropriate for him and reading aloud. Other children, accompanying their mothers while they shopped soon began to join them and later started to return on their own just for the readings. Before long the throng of children became almost as troublesome as the drinking men had been. So, it became a scheduled activity. Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon from 1 to 3 would be set-aside for the children and Sarah to read. Mothers were more than happy to work around this if it meant exposing their children to such a worthwhile experience.