61. Little Obstacles 

“Ho…” Adam halted the mare and wiped the sweat from his face. He knew he had drunk too much water, but his thirst had afflicted him more than it should have. He felt tired and exhausted, but while his body ached from the strain, his spirits were as high as they could possibly be. All he needed to do to give his heart another warming boost was to look at the delicate rider at his side. Well aware that her dark eyes scanned him with increasing worry, he cast her a reassuring smile – and he didn’t even have to fake it. His inside was brimming with waves of tenderness whenever he looked at her.

“We’re almost there,” he said softly. “Morris Flats is only a little more than a mile from here.”

“Good!” She returned his smile, fairly relieved. He soon would be able to rest, maybe have a warm bath and later a recuperating, long sleep. “And the first thing we’ll do is find a good, big meal for you!”

“Ah, no…” He chuckled. “First thing we’ll do is find a justice of the peace!”

“For what?”

He arched an eyebrow. “To marry us.”

Lilyah opened her mouth and closed it again, her eyes avoiding his look, gliding across the landscape which had changed from the flat plains to a more rocky terrain, sparsely dotted with dried out trees. It had been a wonderful ride, a rather leisurely one to give their tired horses some rest. They had maneuvered their mounts close to each other, savoring each other’s company, and in spite of the barren and dusty surroundings it had felt like they had been riding through heavenly clouds. Lilyah pressed her lips together. She hadn’t thought of it all day, but now that the disturbing words had popped up in her head she couldn’t push them away anymore.

“Lil, what is it?” Adam stretched out his hand, touching her shoulder. “Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.”

“No…” She didn’t look up, uncomfortably playing with her reins. How she loathed it to spoil the blissful mood they had been in, to say anything that could hurt him, would remind him of all the problems he so longed to leave behind. But she had to… what, if he would be harmed? Pulling her upper veil closer around her, she scrambled for words. “I just think… about this law…”

“What law?”

She took a deep breath, still not looking up. “That law that… that says you cannot marry a mulatto…”

“What?” Adam reached over to turn her face to him. “What kind of nonsense is this? Lil, who put those silly thoughts into your head? Besides, you’re not a mulatto!”

She squirmed under his look and her voice was but a timid whisper. “But… my great-grandmother was from Mauritania… she was a Negress, and those men… one of those men…”

“What men?” He tried to keep his voice calm, but deep inside of him something started to boil. “Lilyah, what men? Where did you meet those men?”

“They came to the ranch yesterday, and…” She stopped as she saw his eyes turning black, felt the sudden outburst of anger in him that he visibly forced himself to fight down. The effort pulled his lower lip from his teeth and he ground them as if to bite back a curse. But there also was a strange tint of pain to the forcibly suppressed rage. “Adam… your father… I think he wasn’t content about what the men said. He… he even seemed angry to me…”

He gave her a dark look. “He certainly was content about you and me parting, wasn’t he?”

She didn’t know what to reply and it took a while until she shyly asked, “Adam, what could happen to you if you marry me? Could they put you in jail for it?”

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “No. And Lilyah, you’re not a mulatto, you’re an Arab! You’re a citizen from the Kingdom of Morocco, a country which still has formal diplomatic relations with America. As a matter of fact, the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship has been in effect since 1787. It’s the oldest such treaty we have, with Morocco being the first foreign country that ever acknowledged the sovereignty of the United States.” His finger slid under her chin, lifting her face to him. “And whatever law those men were talking about, I’d think it very unlikely that it forbids an American citizen to marry the citizen of a friendly nation.”

She looked up to him, drinking his words, taking comfort in his secure resolve. He knew so much. He knew this country and its laws and he certainly knew how to deal with them. And he surely was much more intelligent than all those men who had seen his father rolled up in one. And still… could not even lions fall when the dogs were too many?

She swallowed. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure!” Adam softly caressed her face with his thumb. “And even if I weren’t, it wouldn’t make a difference. We will marry, and if we really cannot marry in this country, which I still don’t believe, we’ll marry in another one.” A first smile showed on his lips, his anger had subsided. She loved him – what else should he care about? That his father would do just about anything to drive them apart wasn’t exactly a surprise. He would have to live with it. His hand lovingly stroked her cheek. As long as she loved him, nothing else should bother him.

Lilyah pressed her face in his cupped hand, savoring the tenderness, regretting it as he withdrew it to take up his reins again. Picking up her own, her gaze fell on the Indian bow bound to her saddle. She would use the first chance she got to practise with it. No one would touch and hurt Adam ever again.

“Oh, Lil…” Adam had cocked his head as he gave her a sidelong glance. “Do you happen to have anything to throw on you?”

“Err…” Slightly confused, she looked up, question marks all written across her face. “No…”

“Good!” He flashed her a boyish smile. “Then would you just leave the problems up to me, alright?”

For one moment she sat dumbfounded, then she heard his chuckle, saw the twinkle in his eyes and her face broke into a smile. Oh yes, Adam was back! Her eyes lovingly glided over his figure as he nudged his mare into a slow trot, and with newfound comfort she set Chai in motion to follow him.

* * *

It was already getting dark as they rode down the main street of Morris Flats, passing the scrambled lines of wooden, two storied buildings left and right. The town wasn’t very big and it was quite clear that its main street was its only street worth the name; the few trodden alleys leading away from it were too small to even allow a buckboard to pass.

Lilyah’s eyes were drawn to a building whose big-lettered sign declared itself a hotel, but Adam passed it by to head for the sheriff’s office presiding over a little plaza. A lonesome figure was dozing in the chair in front of it, visibly starting awake as Adam rapidly pulled up his mare and dismounted as quickly.

Lilyah stayed seated, holding Chai back. She had often observed how Adam always dismounted as soon as his horse had stopped, very unlike the Arab habit to stay in the saddle until someone showed up with a cup of tea. Yet for the first time, she was disquieted by it, cautiously scanning across the place for any dangers that might lurk in the darkening shades between the houses.

Adam however felt quite at ease. “Howdy, Cyril!”

Clambering to his feet, the man nearly toppled his chair that had been balancing on two legs leaning against the wall. “Uhm… Mister Cartwright… ehm… howdy! Why, nice to see you back in Morris Flats!” He extended his hand to shake Adam’s. “I sure hope you’re not having that King Arthur with you once again!”

“No, no.” Adam shook his head and confidentially drew closer, lowering his voice. “This time, I have the great honor of accompanying Queen Cleopatra.”

“Queen Cleopatra…” Cyril regarded him with a mixture of skepticism and hesitant awe, then he squinted at the veiled rider a few yards apart. There wasn’t much he could see, except for exuberant veils, flickers of gold and a very unusual horse decorated with expensive looking tassles and fineries. A very exotic sight indeed. “Uhm… the real one…?”

Adam nodded his head with utmost seriousness. “The one and only!”

“Aww…” Cyril rearranged his bearing to appear a little more authoritative, pulling up his pants and brushing down his sloppy vest. After all, one could never know, and stranger things have been told to have happened. It could be a real queen all the same. Collecting himself, he did a few rather stiff steps forward and performed an awkward bow. “Your Majesty…”

Adam clasped his hands behind his back and donned an innocent face.

“Uhm… I welcome you… uhm, thee to the munciality… munciapiliti… municialipality of Morris Flats in… uhm… as the official representative of the sheriff… uhm… in absence…” He broke a little sweat, trying to gather what he knew about the famous queen. It wasn’t much. “I hope you… thee… enjoy your stay… uhm… your Royal Mightyness, even, ehm… if it’s not as fancy as Egypt ’round here… uhm…”

“Egypt?” Lilyah fluttered her lashes in bewilderment.

Adam dismissingly waved his hand and stepped up. “A common error in the history books. Rather widespread, unfortunately… tell me, Cyril, where do we find the justice of the peace?”

“He’s out of town, took the stagecoach to Virginia City this afternoon.” Cyril noted that his answer wasn’t well received. “Reckon he’ll be back in a couple of days. Anything happened?”

Adam gave a dissatisfied grumble and shook his head, his face darkening. “And Sheriff Munsey?”

“The sheriff’s visiting his sister. She’s got a baby.” A broad beam spread across his face. “It’s the ninth!”

“He must be so proud.” Adam couldn’t hide his disappointment, but Cyril didn’t notice the exasperated tone.

“He sure is. Even though it’s a girl… again.” His beam grew even wider. “All nine are girls.”

“Such is life,” Adam quipped without much humour. “When d’you expect him back?”

Cyril shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. One can never tell with family and stuff.”

“Yah.” Adam mounted rather stiffly and turned the mare around. “Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.” Cyril performed another clumsy bow to Lilyah. “Your Majesty!”

Lilyah didn’t quite know how to reply and hastened to reach Adam’s side again. She had well noticed his disappointment and the question of what on earth he had told the man before didn’t seem important anymore. Adam’s cheekiness was gone, his brow knitted into doubting folds as he halted the mare after merely a few yards.

“Adam, what’s the matter?”

He drew a breath and twisted his lower lip. “It would take us at least six or seven hours to ride to Virginia…”

“Adam, we’re both tired.”

“Yah…” He pressed his lips together. “Sheriff Munsey can wed us. As a sheriff, he’s got the authority to do it.”

Lilyah shifted in the saddle. As much as she loved the thought of getting married to him, something in his demeanour didn’t quite sit right with her. She slowly reached out to place her hand on his. “Adam, do you really want to marry in such a haste? Without your family?”

He threw her an unwilling look. “You’ll also have to marry without your family.”

“My family is far away. Your family is here.”

He blew an almost contemptuous breath without looking at her. “Lilyah, I hate to tell you, but I’m afraid my father isn’t exactly looking forward to our marriage. And I doubt he’d rejoice at the event.” He took another deep breath. “Besides, I have no intention of going back any time soon.”

“And your brothers?”

He opened his mouth and closed it, his brow darkening even further. Visibly searching for words, he averted her eyes until he finally said, “They’ll understand.”

A sad smile played around her lips. It had taken him so long to finally break away from his father, to shake off the firm grip that didn’t want to let him go. But it had not been weakness that had made this step so excruciatingly hard for him, nor had it been any lack of resolve or courage. It wasn’t all about his loyalty or his sense of responsibility, either. He loved his family. He loved his father.

“Adam…” Her voice was low, almost shy. “Did you… leave your father in anger?”

He finally looked at her, his eyes still darkened. “Lilyah, you shouldn’t care about my father. He never cared about you.” He didn’t notice how bitter his words sounded.

“I don’t care about him. It’s you I care about!” Her hand started caressing his. “Adam, you’re angry, you’re bitter, but those feelings will fade. One day you’ll look back and you’ll regret it. And you’re not a man to brush off such a regret lightly, you will suffer for it. It will always stick in a corner of your heart and hurt.”

Adam did not reply, but she saw his jaw working, his lips moving.

Lilyah softly stroked his wrists. They still were scarred from the ropes that had cut into them and for one moment she was doubtful if she really suggested the right thing to him. He would need peace to heal, and peace was the last thing he had found on the Ponderosa lately. She didn’t even know what his last encounter with his father had been like. In fact, she hardly knew how any of their encounters had been like, when he had always made sure she wasn’t present. All she could tell was that he usually came out of them embittered and hurt and he really didn’t need any more of that. She looked into his face, saw the anger and the stubbornness in it. He was about to burn bridges behind him – and once burned down, his pride would not allow him to make any amends. And he would never blame anyone but himself for it.

“Adam, let us take a few days to prepare for the marriage, and let us talk to your father before. Together, side by side, both of us and not you alone. If he’s still opposed to us, we can’t change it and we will go away. But then you will always know that you tried to make your peace with him.”

“Lilyah…” He twisted his lower lips, searching for words – words that came hard to him. “It’s not just my father… it’s…” He looked down on his hands. “Lil, all my life I’ve tried to fill my place in this world, be of use for those who count on me, try to do what was expected from me, to do what was best for everybody… but I hardly ever asked anything for me. I had chances come my way and let them slip, I never acted, not for me… Lil, I almost let you slip away.” He gingerly touched her small hand that still caressed his wrist. “But not any longer. Lil, I want to live, I want to live with you, and I want you to be my wife. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Her hand glided up to his face. “There is nothing you’d have to wait for, Adam. Nothing. This sheriff, the justice of the peace, even if we would find an imam, all any of them will do is to sign a mere formality. Because Allah has wed us long before.” She returned his gaze as he looked up and their eyes locked. “Adam, in my heart I’ve been married to you ever since I kissed you on the Indian Needle.”

Adam swallowed, losing himself in her eyes, feeling her love so intensely that his heart swelled. Overwhelmed and at a loss for words, he bowed forward to kiss her when she suddenly pulled back, blushing, bashfully covering her face with the veil. It was just then that it occurred to him that they were sitting on their horses in the middle of the street, while the townsfolk of Morris Flats had assembled on the boardwalks left and right. He reluctantly turned his head and met the emotional smile of an elderly lady that had her hands clasped over her bosom and audibly sighed in dreamy pleasure. A few cowboys grinned from one ear to the other.

“Uhm…” A sheepish smile crossed his face while he awkwardly picked up his reins and felt his ears just slightly warming up. “We… I guess we should look for the livery stable.” He pulled his hat deeper into his face. “And the hotel… yes.” He resolutely nudged his mare in motion.

Lilyah followed him down the street, smiling behind her veil.

* * *

Adam halted his step as a very loud crash sounded up from the livery stable they had just left and an incomprehensible mumble escaped his lips.

Lilyah put her hand on his arm. “Just ignore him. He’ll calm down, he’s just offended.”

Adam sighed and half expected the owner of the livery stable to come running after them. But maybe the poor man was too distraught for that. His face had been telling enough as he had watched Lilyah admonishing her stallion for at least five minutes to be a good boy, to behave himself and to please, please, please stay in the box, even if it wasn’t exactly to his liking. His look of utter bewilderment had changed to hesitant amusement and then to barely concealed pity. The expression had lastly transformed to dumbfounded shock as Adam had instructed him that in order to keep the stallion in the box, he should neither tie him down nor shut the gate, stressing the value of the Arabian and describing the truly serious consequences should anything happen to the horse. He had cautiously taken the money from Adam’s hand at arm’s length.

Another crash sounded up, the unmistakable sound of angry hind hooves mistreating a wooden box wall.

“You see?” Lilyah remarked, not without content. “He obediently stays in his box, just as I told him. He only vents off a little.”

“Yeah, the ancient art of Arab horse discipline never fails to deeply impress me.” Adam shifted the load of both their saddlebags and the travel bag on his shoulder and put an arm around Lilyah to quickly usher her across the dark street towards the hotel, a twinkle in his eyes. At least he wouldn’t have to sleep with that noise.

The relief didn’t last for long as they neared the hotel. It was located right next to the saloon, and judging from the racket blowing through the double swing doors, the whole population of Morris Flats seemed to be engaged in some sort of screaming contest inside. The sound of roaring men and shrieking saloon girls mingled with the shrill plonking of a piano that obviously had not been tuned since the Declaration of Independence. Just as they stepped up on the boardwalk, the swinging doors flew open to spit out a man who rolled head over heels to a halt right in front of them.

“Sheesh… hicks… th’ss ain’t fair ain’t it…” The cowboy clumsily scrambled to his feet, staring about him with crossed eyes. “Wha’s happenin’ here… hicks…”

Adam felt Lilyah pressing herself closer to him and reassuringly tightened his grip around her shoulder as he quickly walked her to the hotel’s entry. His hope that the thickest wall in the West would part it from the neighboring saloon was disappointed as soon as he looked around. An empty counter, an empty space with a couple of dining tables – and an open passage right into the saloon, merely blocked by a half-closed curtain. Not only the noise passed through unhindered, but also the rather unappetizing aromas of smoke, sweat and warm beer. A dimly flickering lamp on the counter provided the only light, apart from the glow shimmering through the curtain.

Adam sighed again and unloaded the saddlebags from his shoulder, pressing the bell on the counter. Again and again and again.

Lilyah skeptically looked around. “Maybe we should go to another hotel…”

“It’s the only one in town,” Adam replied and raised his voice. “Hey! Customers awaiting! Anyone here?” He hammered on the bell. “Hey Ho!”

“Easy, fellers, easy. I’m comin’!”

Adam turned around as the curtain was pushed back and an elderly man adorned with a long black apron scurried towards the counter. From the looks of it, this was the bar keeper. A rather stressed out bar keeper. Adam nearly sighed a third time.

“Whadd’ya want?” The man turned the lamp a little higher and the light revealed the dust layers on the counter and the shelves behind it. Some of the keys dangling there were rusty – and apparently not one of them was missing.

Adam donned his friendliest face. “We’d appreciate the organization of a box seat for the evening premiere of the new Verdi opera, afterwards we’d enjoy a candle light dinner for two in the best restaurant in town, accompanied by violin music and followed by a romantic trip in one of those wonderful gondolas on those magnificent city canals.”

“Huh?” The man bestowed a dumbfounded look on him and then gaped at Lilyah. Her niqab was a somewhat rare sight in that neck of the woods.

Adam twisted his mouth to a lopsided grin. “A room would do for a start, and a good dinner.”

“One room or two?” The man nervously looked past them to the curtain behind which the yells for whiskey and beer grew louder.

Adam hesitated for one second. “Two rooms connected by a door.”

The bar keeper turned around and studied the keys. It seemed as if he were counting them, which couldn’t take that long considering there were only eight altogether. “Well… it looks like you’re lucky. We’ve got such rooms and they’re still free.”

“Isn’t that a splendid surprise?” Adam drew a breath and scanned across the empty tables. The noise was unbearable. “I think we’ll have our dinner in our rooms. I sure hope you’ve got a couple of good steaks for us.”

“Steaks? I’m afraid…” He broke off as the yelling for beverages from the saloon reached unprecedented levels. “I’M COMIN’!! JUST KEEP YER BRITCHES ON, FELLERS!!” He cleared his throat. “I’m afraid we’ve run out of steaks. But I’ll see what’s in the kitchen. You sign here, Sir.” He proffered a tattered guestbook.

Adam tried but it turned out that the dip pen had its tip broken off, producing a fat black ink spot in the book. After some hassle and repeated yells of ‘I’M COMIN’ the bar keeper unearthed a broken piece of a wood pencil. Adam signed without further hesitation and his growing exasperation eased when he read what he had just written. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Cartwright, Virginia City. His gaze searched for Lilyah’s and he saw the soft shine in her eyes. For one moment they just looked at each other.

“I’M COMIN’!! HEAVEN, HELL AND MANURE, JUST A MOMENT!!!” The bar keeper caught his breath. “Sir, your rooms are the next ones to the stair case on the left, numbers 1 and 2…” He cast Adam a pleading look. “You can’t miss them.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, alright. Where do we…” He broke off as the bar keeper beat a hastened departure to disappear behind the curtain. Loud cheering and yodeling indicated that he had been sorely missed in the saloon. Shaking his head, Adam picked up the bags and looked up the staircase. There was no light anywhere. He only hoped that the rooms were better than he feared.

“Come…” He softly touched Lilyah’s back and took up the lamp from the counter before they went upstairs, leaving the lobby below in darkness as he illuminated the way.

The rooms were easy to find but the creaking of the door already lowered even the humblest expectations. Rather musty air engulfed them as they stepped in and the light of the lamp didn’t exactly reveal any comely surroundings. Adam found and lit two other lamps and looked around. An iron bed with dingy covers, two chairs, a wardrobe without doors and a washstand with an empty water pitcher. Sighing once again, he pushed the door to the second room open to look at nearly the same sad misery – while there were doors for the wardrobe, in compensation the water pitcher was missing. Most offensive was the noise hammering through the quivering floorboards. The second room was even worse as it seemed to be located directly above the saloon.

Adam returned to the first room and regarded Lilyah who stood next to their bags, looking about. She had put off her niqab, but her small face still didn’t reveal her thoughts. He had a vague feeling that she was trying to hide them.

“It’s not quite what I’d call a first class hotel,” he probed.

Lilyah looked up to him. She recalled how arduously he had ascended the stairs, how much effort it had cost him. He was exhausted, strained from a hard day. His face was pale, still showing the lines of his ordeal. He badly needed a rest and first of all, he needed a warm meal. Her glance fell on his boots and her heart ached when she thought of how hard it would be for him to take them off. Surely his feet were hurting.

“It’s…” She chewed on the words. “I think… it will do for the night.” Pulling herself together, she took a courageous step towards the bed. “You should lie down for a while until the dinner is served and in the meanwhile I’ll take care of our bags.”

“Hm…” Adam stepped next to her and lifted the cover from the bed. “Nice fellows, eh?”

She stared at the rumpled beddings. “Adam, what is this?”

“Bugs!”

She gasped and hastily pulled back, inadvertently wrapping her robes tighter around her. Adam heard her swallowing and couldn’t help an amused smirk.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Visibly torn apart, she didn’t know what to do. “Adam, you’re so tired… and the dinner…”

“I can’t really imagine that the kitchen distinguishes itself very much from the rest of this noble etablissement, so I’m not really keen anymore to see what its products might be. And tired I am, but I have my doubts all this noise will allow any rest at all. Not to speak of the bugs, as they have the habit of biting.” He saw her unhappy face and smiled, lovingly touching her cheek. “Lil, since when do we need a hotel?”

She returned his gaze and his smile reflected in her eyes until it finally reached her lips.

“Let’s go.” Adam bowed to pick up their belongings, but she was quicker and grabbed for her saddlebags.

“Let me carry this!”

“Lil, I’m tired, but not an invalid.” He took the bags on him and shouldered them. “You can carry the lamp.”

She did as she was told and turned down the remaining lamps before they left the room. The bar keeper was nowhere to be seen, not upstairs and not downstairs, and neither of them was in any mood to look for him or even operate the bell. Adam pulled the guestbook closer with the intention to cross out his signature, but when his eyes fell on what he had written before he hadn’t the heart to do it. With a cheeky grin, he took the pencil and added a few lines.

Lilyah giggled as she read, Mr. and Mrs. Adam Cartwright, Virginia City – are off to better pastures. They graciously donate their dinner to the bugs in room 1 and 2, since the poor creatures were robbed of their meal this night.

* * *