"I don’t know what to do," she confided to Olive and Emily one afternoon. "I’m at my wits’ end. With all that’s needed to keep the house running, I’ve run up a mile long account at the store, and the children are growin’ in leaps ‘n bounds - I need to buy more material to make them clothes. Matthew’s grown an inch this month already!!"
"Don’t you worry about the store account," Olive assured her. "If Loren gives you any more trouble, he’ll have me to reckon with."
Charlotte’s face relaxed, but her body stayed tense. "But it’s not only that, I still need so many things...what am I going to do?!" She looked as if she were going to cry.
Olive thought hard. But suddenly, Emily cried out, "Woodworth’s Boardin’ House!"
Charlotte looked up. "What?"
Olive picked up her friend’s train of thought. "Are you out of your mind, Emily!?" she exclaimed. "Why, that place is no better than a whorehouse!"
"No, listen!" Emily begged. "I heard today Jim Woodworth is goin’ back East, sellin’ his boardin’ house for real cheap. Seems he lost a lot of his money in the mine when it went bust..." she saw Charlotte’s face and her voice faded off as she realized what she had just said.
Charlotte looked down at her hands. "It’s alright, Emily," she said wearily.
Olive shook her head. "Just what exactly are you suggestin’, Emily?" she asked.
"Well, maybe Charlotte could buy it."
Olive frowned. "Charlotte couldn’t run a boarding house all by herself!"
Charlotte looked up in surprise. "And just why not, Olive Bray?"
"It’s not respectable, a lady running her own establishment."
"Olive!" Charlotte’s eyes were blazing now. "You’ve been running your cattle ranch for years now! What do you mean it’s not respectable!"
Emily nodded in agreement. "Back in St. Louis, there are lots o’ ladies running boarding houses."
Olive looked ashamed. "Well, maybe you could turn that place around, make it respectable. A little redecorating, maybe if you’re very particular about whom you let board, it might do alright."
"But how would I buy it?" Charlotte asked. "I barely have any money as it is."
"You could sell the homestead. I’ll have Loren post an advertisement in the store," Olive assured her. "With all the new people in town lately, I’m sure it’ll sell in a flash."
Charlotte’s eyes took a far off look as she settled back in her seat. Cooper’s Boarding House. She nodded. She’d be alright. Everything would be alright.
In a matter of weeks, Charlotte had all the transactions completed. The homestead was sold, the boarding house bought, and she and the children moved to town.
She would never forget the first day she and the children had arrived at it, and now that she was completely settled in she smiled at the thought.
She had parked the wagon outside, and with an air of confidence strode towards the doorway. With assurance, she turned the doorknob - and it came off in her hand.
Matthew grimaced behind her, but she hadn’t seen it. "I’ll fix it Ma," was all he said, and jiggling the lock a little, he got it to open.
The room lay before them. Charlotte’s mouth dropped open, and as she turned, she saw Colleen and Matthew’s shocked looks as well.
Chairs lay overturned in that common room, and a good layer of dust covered everything. The room smelled strongly of whiskey, no doubt from the boarders who had frequented the Saloon just across the street before coming home at night with a ....accompaniment.
Charlotte took charge as she normally did. Walking briskly over, she opened up all the windows, letting in the frigid March air. "Best to air this place out," she murmured. "Matthew, will you go about, setting up the furniture that was left here, and bringing in our things. Colleen, start sweeping up the place. And Brian...why don’t you look around, and report how many rooms there are in this place."
"Sure Ma!" Brian ran off.
Charlotte laughed now, as she surveyed the house around her. It hadn’t taken long and now she had a beautifully decorated boarding house. She only hoped it would do well so that she could make a decent living all alone in Colorado Springs. Olive had been right; she had to be particular about the people she let board. Therefore, she had decided from the start not to let any female boarders stay. It wouldn’t do to have mixed company, and anyway, it wasn’t proper, a lady boarding all by herself.
On one early Spring day of 1865, Sully was making his way down Main Street in Colorado Springs, surveying the changes that had taken place during the Winter while he was with the Cheyenne at their winter encampment. The town looked somewhat smaller and quieter than he remembered it, and there were quite a few storefronts boarded up, abandoned. He wondered if something had happened.
"Sully!" he heard a voice call from behind him as he passed by Woodworth’s Boarding House and the Saloon.
He turned around to see Charlotte waving to him in the muddy street, her shawl wrapped tightly around her. "Come here!" she beckoned excitedly.
With a confused look on his face, he came towards her. "Howdy, Charlotte," he said.
"Close your eyes, Sully," she said.
"What?"
"Just do it." He complied, and she reached up to cover his eyes with her hand. "No lookin’ now, ya hear?" she ordered him.
"Yes, Ma’am," he said resignedly.
She took hold of his hand and gingerly guided him toward her new home. "Careful, step up," she told him as they made their way from the muddy street onto the wooden platform. She turned the doorknob and let the door gently swing open before withdrawing her hand from his eyes. " ‘Kay now, look!" she whispered excitedly.
Sully opened his eyes. "Charlotte," he breathed. "What is this?"
"It’s mine, Sully. It’s mine!"
"But..." he was speechless. "Uh," he turned and looked around. "But, I -" he couldn’t find the words.
Charlotte let out a nervous giggle. "C’mon, let me know what you think of it. You ain’t never been much of a talker Byron Sully, but don’t clam up on me now!"
"It’s beautiful," he finally said. "But I guess my question is, Ethan let you do this?"
His words ground to a halt in Charlotte’s heart. She forgotten he’d been away all winter. The whole town knows, she thought dryly. Everyone EXCEPT Sully.
"Um..." Suddenly she was busy fidgeting with a quilt she’d left on her rocking chair. "I, um, gotta clean up, Sully." She began refolding the quilt.
He came up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulder. "Charlotte?" he asked gently, quietly.
She turned around, and he saw the tears in her eyes. "He’s gone, Sully," she barely whispered loud enough to hear. "He’s gone."
Anger built up in him as she leaned into him to cry, but strangely enough it was just as quickly replaced with relief. No more would he have to be afraid that Ethan would hurt the Coopers anymore. It would be hard for Charlotte on her own, but she was strong, she would survive. And she would teach the children to survive.
"It’s a beautiful boardin’ house, Charlotte," he said lightly, trying to cheer her up.
She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah," she agreed. "I think so too. Not too many boarders yet," she laughed quietly. "Funny thing is, the Army’s been takin’ up some of the rooms. Never figgered on the Army as the boardin’ type out here."
"The Army’s in Colorado Springs?" Sully asked tightly, suddenly.
"Yep," she didn’t notice the change in his voice. "Arrived last month."
"Um, well, I gotta go," he said. "But I’ll be by real soon."
Charlotte nodded. "I was just about to take this quilt over to the church anyways," she said.
They parted at the door and Charlotte walked over the bridge to the church watching as Sully rounded the corner of Main Street.
The Reverend was talking to Mrs. Wilson as she walked my the group, piecing the quilts together in the Spring sun.
"The Widow Cooper should be comin’ any moment," he tried to placate the woman.
She tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around.
"Oh! Charlotte!" he was relieved.
"The Widow Cooper?" she asked
He shrugged timidly.
She smiled as opened up her quilt to display her work to him. He nodded, relieved once again. She understood.
Sully left Charlotte and rounded the corner, intent on going straight to the Cheyenne camp and informing them of the Army's presence in Colorado Springs. So determined was he to get to his family right away that he crashed into a man walking towards him, knocking the armful of metal items out of the man's hands. They clattered noisily to the ground.
"Sorry 'bout that," Sully bent down at the same time the black man said, "You okay?"
Sully nodded and helped pick up the various metal tools. "I ain't seen you around before. You plannin' on settlin' down in Colorado Springs?"
The man nodded, a smile wanting to come out, but he seemed almost unsure if it should. "You s'pose there's gonna be any trouble 'bout that?"
Sully shrugged, wanting to stay and talk but also wanting to get back to Black Kettle as quickly as possible. "I guess anything's possible." He held out his hand. "My name's Sully."
The black man looked at Sully, his eyes opened wide in surprise. "Um, hold on a sec," and he walked over to the forge to lay down his equipment. The he grasped Sully's hand and vigorously pumped it up and down. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Sully."
Sully nodded and began walking away. "Don't need the Mister part. Sorry I can't stay longer," he called out, "but I gotta go. I'll see ya 'round.
Oh!" he called out suddenly, turning around but still walking south, "I didn't get your name!"
"It's Robert," the man replied after hesitating a moment. "Robert E."
There was quite a ruckus made in town when Robert E. started his business across from Jake Slicker's barber shop. No one who was in Colorado Springs at the time would ever quite forget the tempers that flared when the first black entrepreneur of the town made his debut.
It was about a week after Sully had first run into, literally, the man. Now, as Robert E. proudly suveyed the area around him, with the forge burning brightly in the April morn and his clean tools shining in the April sun he felt content, and for the first itme in a long time, actually at ease. Here he was making a new life for himself, almost 1000 miles away from his old one. A new life in a new town. He smiled, drinking in the cool, fresh air.
Sully was in town that day himself, not doing much of anything at all, simply whittling on a piece of wood while sitting at the end of the boarding house platform.
All of a sudden, the door of the barber shop banged open, and a crowd of men barged out, convening upon Robert E. and his land. The angry mob, containing Loren and Hank, was led by Jake Slicker himself, angrily thrusting his fist in the air.
Robert E. was startled out of his serene state as the world seemingly crashed down upon him. Nervous, but not really willing to start any trouble, he stepped forward to protect his property.
"Can I help ya?" Rovert E. ducked his head politely at the man.
"Yeah! Ya can git the hell outta Colorado Springs!" a voice sounded from the midst of the crowd. Voices here and there jumped out, and lines such as, "Don't want no black man running shop in *this* here town," could be heard about.
Jake held up his hands to quiet the crowed down. Then, calmly but firmly, he spoke. "You're drivin' away my business *Robert E.*," he spat.
Robert E. clenched his fist and gritted his teeth before speaking calmly as well. "I don't see how I'm doin' that, *Jake Slicker*."
At that precise moment, Grace, driving Olive's wagon to the Mercantile, came across the angry crowed. She parked the wagon and hopped out, forcing her way through the crowd to see what was going on.
Jake continued. "You're doin' that by bein' here."
"I ain't plannin' on goin' anywhere."
"We'll see about that," countered Jake, and just as a fight was about to ensue, Grace thrust herself in front of the crowd.
"What is goin' on here?!" she demanded angrily.
"Get outta here, Grace," Jake warned, as Robert E. yelled," Get outta here, woman!" He almost shoved her behind him in an effort to protect her.
Sully had heard the yells and now came to investigate. Seeing the crowd, he hurried along, and though Robert E., an in turn, Grace, was hidden he could hear the man clearly say," I don't want no trouble."
"Well trouble's what you're gonna get," Hank said, drawing back his fist.
Sully caught the fist in his hand and whirled Hank around, knocking him full in the face. Hank stumbled back a few feet, then came afer Sully with a furor that hadn't been seen of the barkeep in a long time.
Robert E. backed away for a moment, not in fear, but because he wanted to protect this lovely lady who had butted her way into his business. Angry as he was at that, he still admired her for it. It had sure taken guts.
He pulled her roughly to the side and hissed at her, "Stay here!" before going behind the forget and retrieving a rifle. Holding it upright, he shot into the air. The noise made everyone stop what they were doing and look at him.
"I don't want no trouble!" he bellowed once again. "I got a perfect right to be here! Ain't no rules sayin' otherwise! I just want to earn myself a decent livin' with my blacksmithin' - there ain't nothin' wrong wit' that! Now you back off!!" He still held the rifle in his hand but didn't point it at anyone. "This is my land and you're tresspassin'!"
All was silent for a moment as the crowd weighed its next action. Finally, Jake spoke. "This ain't over Robert E., " and he stalked off, the crowd following him.
"I didn't think it was," Robert E. muttered to himself. He stood still for a moment, watching the crowd disperse, and only when Jake finally went back inside his shop did he put down the rifle and walk over to Sully.
"Thank you, Sully," he said, holding out his hand.
Sully nodded, and took it before noticing Grace coming up behind Robert E. "I think someone wants to talk to you," said he, and without further word, he walked away.
Grace spoke up. "You okay?"
Robert E. nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. He gulped in the cool air.
"My name's Grace," she offered her hand. "I'm pleased to meet you, Robert E."
He stared at her, unable to say anything. Finally, he stuttered out, "Please ta meet ya too." He felt so awkward.
Grace could see it, and smiled in spite of, or perhaps because of, it. "I'll see ya around," she said sweetly, and walked back toward the Mercantile, all the time aware of his eyes following her.
The rest of 1865 melted away uneventfully for the town, and there were no further confrontations between the townsfolk and Robert E. To be sure, Sully stopped by to check and chat occasionally, even though he felt sure the man could handle himself if it was needed, especially against Jake Slicker. Still, one man couldn't fight off a mob, and who knew what was likely to happen when Slicker went on one of his drinking sprees and got riled up? And so Sully came by, and he and Robert E. struck up a friendship, cemented by R.E.'s gratefulness at Sully stepping in to help him that first day.
Charlotte and the Cooper children remained at the boarding house, with Charlotte attempting to keep her business going. But Colorado Springs wasn't a very big town to begin with and after the mine had gone bust even less people were settling down in it. Her boarding house, though doing well enough to support Charlotte and the children with what they needed, wasn't doing that great. Bills began to go unpaid, and Charlotte knew it was only a matter of time before collectors came barreling upon her.
When 1866 came, it found the town and its inhabitants very different from only a year before. The Cooper children were well-adjusted to town life, and only Matthew was aware of how Charlotte stood outside the boarding house for hours each day, her eyes, haunted at times, searching the face of every newcomer to town, hoping it would be Ethan. But it never was.
Charlotte, or the Widow Cooper, as most people referred to her by this time, was still considered the town midwife, in spite of her boarding house duties. In her activities with the Sewing Circle and Ladies' Aid she was generally well-liked, and called on often for her birthing experience.
The rest of the town wasn't always sure what to make of her. She was a respectable woman, befriended by Olive and Emily, two respectable women themselves, and they admired her all the more for keeping her head above water when Ethan had run out on her and the children, but she spent far too much time with Sully, and that made her an Indian-lover. So, in the end, townsfolk stayed hospitable towards her and treated her alright, and she them. It was a fair relationship.
And so things sauntered along in little Colorado Springs, and would have probably continued that way had no Charlotte Cooper, midwife of the town birthed the idea that would change the face of CS forever.
As she stumbled home wearily one night in June after mid-wifing, her shoulders bent in sorrow she recalled the events that had occurred. One more child would grow up without knowing its mother, one more father would be solely responsible for his children. And she, though with years of experience behind her could only do her best and hold the woman's hand while the Reverend blessed the mother as the life drained from her body. And after it was all over, and the Reverend walked her home in the dark, he tried to console her by saying, "You did your best Charlotte. There's nothing more you coulda done."
And Charlotte’s eyes agreed tiredly, but before leaving to go inside her home, she turned to him and said. "There was nothing more *I* could have done, but a doctor could have. For the Lord's sake, Reverend, we need a doctor." And with that she entered the house.
The Reverend, his eyes full of sorrow as well, looked up at the sky.
"Yes. Yes we do."
And with those fateful words, the future of Colorado Springs was changed forever.
It took until February of the next year, 1867, to convince the town's elders that Colorado Springs really did need a doctor. Most of them couldn't understand why they needed one when they had Jake, especially Jake himself. "I've been doctorin' folks for years!" He trailed the Rev. one February morning. "Why do we gotta get some high-falutin out-of-towner who's just gonna put on airs and charge us a grist of money (AUTHOR'S NOTE: Grist- a quantity) for his services?"
The Rev. tried to be patient. "Jake, we need a doctor in this town. I'm not sayin' you're not doin' a good job, but a doctor has the education and equipment needed. You can't tell me that when Mrs. Clark died you could have done anything.
"Well, no," Jake conceded, folding his arms.
"Well, maybe a doctor would have!" He calmed himself down. "All I'm sayin is, for the good of the town, Jake, think about it."
The finally decided to hold a town meeting, run by the Rev. in the church. That day in late February found the church brimming with people, such that hadn't been seen in a long time.
Charlotte was just closing up the boarding house with her children when Sully stopped by with Wolf at his side. "You comin' Sully?" she asked him as they stepped into the street.
"Comin' where?" he asked her, patting the wolf's head.
"We're having a town meetin' to determine whether or not we'll put out a posting for a town doctor." She stared at him as she spoke, waiting to see his response.
He didn't look up right away, just thoughtfully kept patting his pet's head. Finally he did and said, "No, I'm not going."
"But Sully," Charlotte protested, "A doctor-"
He repeated himself, saying firmly, "I'm not goin'. Ain't much a part of this town anyway."
Charlotte looked at him carefully. "What have you been up to lately, Sully?"
Sully shrugged, looking back down at Wolf. "Pretty soon we'll be in treaty Council with the Army," he said, obviously referring to the Cheyenne. "Hopefully something can be made of that."
Charlotte nodded mutely, then said, "I'm gonna be late. Please think about comin' Sully." He watched her as she crossed the bridge to the church.
Almost angrily, he sat down on the platform. Why should he go? The townsfolk didn't want him to be anymore a part of this town than he did. Just thinking about a doctor reminded him of Abagail and Hannah, and their final resting place he so faithfully visited every Sunday. He had kept that promise. He would continue to keep that promise.
If there had been a doctor in town, would his Abagail and Hannah be alive today? He would never know. His mind pondered the painful thought. He had never held Charlotte responsible for his wife and child's death - no, it was only he who held himself responsible - he didn't doubt her capabilities as a midwife, but Charlotte was no doctor. Had there been one...his mind drifted away in thought.
The Rev. called the noisy congregation to order. "Folks, we're here to decide one very important issue today. Does Colorado Springs need a town doctor?"
"I say we don't," a townsman called from the back. "Colorado Springs has gotten along fine for years without a doctor. Jake Slicker's always bin able to fix us up!"
Charlotte felt herself talking out. "No one's sayin' that Jake hasn't done a fine job, but what this town needs is someone who went to medical school."
"Oh Charlotte!" Jake called out indignantly. "Medical school ain't everything. What you're goin' to get is some greenhorn, just outta school Easterner who's not gonna have any experience whatsoever. I may not have a medical degree, but the people of CS know me, and know that in the years I've been here, and that's practically longer than anyone else, I've seen just about everything. Ain't that right?!" A loud chorus of "YEAHS!" went up, and one could barely hear the Rev.'s "Quiet! Quiet down everyone!" over the tumultuous sound.
Somewhere, in the midst of all the cacophony, the door to the church opened and Sully slowly walked in. No one noticed at first, but then one turned and saw, followed by another, and they pulled on their neighbors alerting them that this strange mountain man who so preferred to be by himself was in their midst. Almost at once, the entire church quieted down. Charlotte, shocked to see Sully standing there, looked directly at him as if to ask what he was doing, but he didn't see her.
Sully was in agony, standing in front of the whole town like this. These people had made him an outcast, and here he was about to speak in front of them. But he had made up his mind to do it.
"I can hear you folks shoutin' from Main Street," he heard himself saying, "and arguing over whether this town needs a doctor. I wasn’t plannin' on contributin' to this discussion, but I've come now to say my piece. Instead of telling yourselves all the reasons we don't need one, we got Jake," he looked over at the barber, "Maybe you should be thinking of the reasons why we do."
He looked at the faces in the crowd before continuing. "And I'll tell ya why we do. Almost 4 years ago, my wife, and Mr. Bray's daughter, Abagail," he looked over at the old man," died in childbirth. My daughter Hannah did the same. Charlotte Cooper did the best she could," he scouted the congregation for her face but couldn't find it, "but even Charlotte Cooper's best wasn't enough to save her." The crow stayed silent, aware of this man's pain. "Now, I'm not sayin' that my wife and child are the only reason we should get a doctor, but just look at all the people we've lost or will lose just because we're too foolish to let someone help us. A doctor in Denver is no use to us when he's 70 miles away. By experience," he almost choked, "I can tell ya by the time you get there it'll be too late. Tell me," he noticed several women wiping the eyes, and several men, including Loren, blowing their noses," Do you want it to be your loved one makin' that journey?"
He stopped finally, realizing that he'd just lectured the entire town, and in one quick moment bounded out the door of the church.
Charlotte watched him go, tears in her eyes.
Gradually, a furor built up in the room, people just as affected by Sully's presence in the room as by his speech.
"Well, everyone, it's time to vote," the Rev. got his voice back. "All those in favor of putting up a post for a town doctor say 'Aye'!"
A chorus of ayes went up, including Loren and even Jake's, begrudgingly. But he nudged Loren, saying, "I'm not too sure 'bout this."
"Nays?" the Rev. said resignedly, and a smattering of nays sounded, including Hank's, but it was obvious who won.
"Splendid!" said the Rev. "I'll put an advertisement in several newspapers right away. This meeting is adjourned!"