🌍🌍 "Safe Thus Far" by Theresa Hupp

“Yes, Pa?”

“I’ve been talking to you. Did you clean out the horse stalls today, like I asked?”

Guilt descended on Will. He’d meant to do the chore in the late afternoon, but Jonah had come to visit, and he’d forgotten. “No, Pa.”

“Well, do it now. It’s dark, so take a lantern.” Pa sounded irritated. “And don’t burn down the carriage house.”

“Yes, Pa.” Now that the spring sun had set, the carriage house would be cold. He’d have to don a coat and gloves. But the horses needed his attention.

“Why can’t you keep your mind on your responsibilities?” Pa called after him as Will left the room. “Like Cal does.”

That wasn’t fair, Will thought. Cal shirked his chores often enough. Though his younger brother was glib enough to finagle his way out of trouble. It simply wasn’t fair.

Not for the first time, Will wondered why his parents had named Cal after Pa. Will was the oldest son—why wasn’t he named after Pa?

Will had asked Mama one time why they’d named him William. She’d hugged him. “You’re named after my father—William Calhoun. I loved my father, and I wanted to name my first son after him.”

“And Pa agreed?” he asked.

A far-away look came over her face as she answered, “Yes, he did.” Then she’d focused on Will again. “And so you became William Calhoun McDougall.”

But she named her next son—Cal—after Pa.

Chapter 9: Another Birthday

Mac was up early on Tuesday, April 5—his birthday. He dressed silently and crept downstairs so as not to wake Jenny or the children. There, he found Mrs. O’Malley preparing breakfast. He took a slice of ham on a biscuit from her, nodded his thanks, and strode down the hill to his office in town.

He had a meeting scheduled with Daniel Abercrombie this morning to discuss a loan. Daniel said he needed money to tide him over until harvest. Many of the stores in town offered farmers credit on their accounts, but for some reason Daniel wanted a cash loan. Mac was one of the few men in Oregon City willing and able to loan money to farmers.

Mac invested in real estate and kept abreast of which landowners farmed their fields productively and which men were too shiftless to get paying crops to market in the fall. Daniel was a good risk, as well as being a friend. Mac would gladly help Daniel if the man’s plans were viable.

Mac’s business had not completely recovered from the floods of 1862. It was expensive to purchase goods during wartime, though his California warehouses should be built and filled soon. Plus, Oregon farmers were now paying Mac back for earlier loans. He could afford to take a chance with Daniel.

Daniel arrived not long after Mac settled in. He rose to shake Daniel’s hand. “What’s on your mind, Daniel?” he asked.

“I want to build another house on my land,” Daniel said, sitting across from Mac and fidgeting with his hat. “Not large, but big enough for Jonah to start. I’m thinking of deeding him forty acres with the house.”

“Jonah?” Mac was surprised. The boy was only sixteen—same age as Will, and Will was nowhere near ready to live on his own.

“He’s done with schoolin’,” Daniel said. “Truth be told, he ain’t gone to class much for the last two years. He prefers farmin.’ He’s as tall as me and almost as heavy. He can plow and reap as well as any man in these parts. And he’s started talkin’ about a wife.”

Mac chuckled. “Does he have a girl in mind?”

Daniel grinned back at Mac. “Question is, does any girl have him in mind? If he has a girl, he ain’t told me. But he’s a growin’ lad, and he’ll sow some wild oats soon enough. I’d rather he did so in his own house, rather than under my roof with all my young’uns.”

“What land do you want to deed to him?” Mac asked.

Daniel described a wooded parcel of his land claim with a small creek running through a corner. “Water don’t flow there all year round, but a well wouldn’t need to be too deep.”

Mac recognized the description. “That’s a nice piece. Is Jonah aware of your plan?”

Daniel shook his head. “His birthday is in July. I want the deed ready by then. I’m startin’ with you. I need funds to have the lumber milled, buy nails and glass, and the like. I won’t start the house until after Jonah’s birthday, but I want the house built between his birthday and harvest time.”

They talked and came to terms. Mac shaved a bit off the interest rate for an old friend like Daniel. “I’ll draft the loan document and a deed from you to Jonah dated in July,” Mac said. “Mind if I ride out to view the parcel before we sign the loan?”

“Of course not,” Daniel said. He sat back in his chair, then turned the conversation to small talk. “I hear tell more deserters been seen in these parts.”

“Are they causing any trouble?” Mac leaned back and put his feet on his desk, ready to chat.

“Nothin’ much. Men camped in fields where they shouldn’t be. One man scared a settler’s wife when he come into their yard while she hung out her wash.”

“You’ve told Esther to be careful, haven’t you?” Mac asked.

“Of course. And told her to keep the young’uns close to home.” Daniel tapped his hat on Mac’s desk. “You best tell young Will to watch himself when he rides out to visit us. Particularly if he’s bringin’ Jenny or Maria. Y’all should be safe enough in town, but the country roads is another story. Some of them deserters are dangerous—whether they be Yankee or Confederates. If they couldn’t make it in the Army, they ain’t worth much.”

Later that morning, Mac rode Valiente toward Daniel’s claim. He inspected the parcel Daniel wanted to deed to Jonah. It was a handsome gift—a sign Daniel truly treated Jonah as his son. Mac hoped he could ease Will’s path in life as Daniel was planning to do for Jonah. Will hadn’t seemed keen on a Harvard education. Maybe Mac should help him invest in a business.

As Mac turned to leave the property, he spied Daniel’s father Samuel trotting toward him on his old nag. Mac didn’t relish an encounter with the blowhard, but he didn’t want to be churlish, so he greeted the older Abercrombie.

“What’re you doin’ on Abercrombie land?” the old man demanded.

“I talked to Daniel about a loan this morning, so I came to inspect the collateral.”

“Why’s my boy need a loan? He ain’t said nothin’ to me ’bout no loan.”