Aundy (Pendleton Petticoats - Book 1) (20 page)

“You’re worse than a child,” Aundy said with a laugh that resonated from Garrett’s ears all the way down to the bottom of his heart, making him smile.

“Maybe,” he said, walking with her across the barnyard. “How are things going today? The sheep settled in? Nik doing fine?”

“Yes. Nik is such a sweet boy and the sheep seem so docile. Fred has decided to stay, for now, and the two new hands should be there this evening. Other than some unexpected visitors this morning, everything is fine.”

“Unexpected visitors?” Garrett asked.

“Nothing to worry about,” Aundy said, although Marvin Tooley’s threats had her worried and a little nervous. Would he really do something to her sheep? She seriously doubted it. “I better get home, though.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were here sooner. I’d have come in while you were visiting Ma,” Garrett said, placing his hands on her waist and lifting her to the saddle.  Aundy would have voiced her ability to get herself on the back of Bell without his assistance, but she liked the feel of his hands on her waist too much to protest.

“Then I wouldn’t have gotten to visit with Nora and she wouldn’t have been able to tell me what a naughty little boy you were,” Aundy teased.

“Were? I thought the two of you decided weeks ago I’m still a naughty boy,” Garrett said, giving Aundy a devilish grin that made heat climb up her neck.

“You’re impossible,” Aundy said, shaking her head and laughing again.

“That I am,” Garrett said, admiring the riding skirt she was wearing and the way she sat on the horse as she started down the lane. “I’ll see you later, Aundy.”

Aundy waved and urged Bell into a canter.

Racing the horse home as fast as she dared, she hurried in the house after brushing down Bell and giving her a portion of her evening feed. Changing back into her dress and tying on a clean apron, she set about preparing dinner for the men. Dent and the hands were out doing fieldwork and would be exhausted when they came in. Aundy told Dent that morning to bring in everyone for the evening meal.

She had two hours before the men would descend. Working quickly, Aundy was dishing up the food when the sound of boots outside the kitchen door let her know the men were right on time. They came in, laughing and teasing each other, although they weren’t rowdy.

Smiling at their good-natured ribbing, Aundy scooped the last of the mashed potatoes into a bowl when a loud knock sounded from the front door.

“Should I get that, Missy?” Dent asked. At Aundy’s nod, he walked to the door. Aundy heard low voices then footsteps approaching the kitchen. Her new hands arrived, in time to eat. It was a good thing she’d prepared plenty of food.

“Bill, would you put two more plates on the table, please?” Aundy asked, finding more silverware and coffee mugs for the new arrivals. Turning to the newly hired men, she offered them a warm smile. “Welcome, gentleman. You’re just in time for supper.”

“We didn’t mean to intrude, ma’am,” the taller of the two said. They’d both already removed their hats and stood looking with both hunger and uncertainty at the loaded table.

“No intrusion,” Aundy said, motioning to the table. “Glen, if you and George could carry in a couple of chairs from the dining room, we should be able to squeeze everyone in.”

Wiping her hands on her apron, Aundy approached her newest employees. “Please, tell me your names again. I apologize, but in all the excitement yesterday, I seem to have forgotten.”

“That’s okay, ma’am,” the shorter one said, his brown eyes filled with humor. “It was kind of hard to hear yourself think with all the hubbub going on. I’m Lem Perkins and this is Hank Lawson.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Aundy said, shaking each of their hands. “Why don’t you wash at the sink and join us for supper? You can get settled in the bunkhouse after we eat.”

“Yes, ma’am,” they both said, not needing to be asked twice to sit down to a hot meal.

Conversation was lively as they ate. When the meal was finished, Aundy asked Dent to stay for a few minutes. He helped her clear the table, discussing what work needed done the following day, and how he thought the sheep and Nik were doing.

“Do you think Nik would be receptive to being tutored?” Aundy asked Dent with her arms buried deep in the dishwater.

“Tutored? What for?” Dent asked, wiping off the kitchen table with a rag.

“He’s such a bright boy, but it’s obvious his education is severely lacking. I assume he probably hasn’t had any schooling since his parents died. With a sharp mind like his, he could do better for himself than being a shepherd all his life,” Aundy said.

“He does seem like a good kid and he is smart, at least from what I’ve seen,” Dent said, carrying the two chairs back to the dining room. “But he spends all his time out with the sheep. Even insists on sleeping out there with them. How do you propose to teach him? You can’t go sit out there in the sheep pasture with him.”

Refraining from saying she could if she wanted to, Aundy instead offered another solution. “What if one of the men watches the sheep for an hour or two in the evening? Nik could stay after supper and work on his book learning while I do dishes and get things ready for the following day.”

“Don’t see anything wrong with that, but you won’t get Fred out there,” Dent said with a grin.

“Thank you for pointing out the obvious,” Aundy said smiling at her foreman. “Do you think we need to hire another shepherd?”

“No. I think Nik can handle the sheep just fine. We don’t have too much problem with coyotes around here and once he and the sheep settle in, I think he’ll realize he doesn’t have to watch over them day and night,” Dent said. “I’ll have Lem and Hank take turns with the sheep in the evenings for now, provided you can talk Nik into being your student.”

“Thank you, Dent. I’ll speak with Nik tomorrow,” Aundy said, nodding her head at the foreman as he went out the door.

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Aundy listened to Nik recite his multiplication tables while she washed the dishes one evening.

Although reluctant to leave his sheep, Nik was an eager student and quickly jumped into his studies with enthusiasm. Aundy had been tutoring him in the evenings for the last week and the arrangement had worked well. The hands took turns keeping an eye on the sheep while Nik stayed in the house after supper. Even Fred had taken a turn without much complaint.

 According to Dent, he caught Nik conjugating verbs that afternoon when he rode by to check on him. The other men had quietly mentioned that Nik was constantly talking about something new he’d learned.

Grateful for her mother’s inheritance that had paid for her, Ilsa and Lars to receive a good education, Aundy dug through her things and found one of her old school books. Raiding Erik’s bookshelves provided more material for Nik to study. As soon as she went to town, Aundy planned to order more educational supplies for the boy.

And buy him some new clothes.

His pants were too short, his shirtsleeves hit inches away from his wrist and his shoes were worn completely through. She wondered that Mr. O’Connell didn’t provide better for the boy. When she asked Nik about it, he shrugged his shoulders and said he was just the shepherd. Spending most of his time with the sheep, they didn’t care what his clothes looked like.

“Let’s work on your spelling,” Aundy said as she began drying the clean dishes and putting them away. She would say a word and Nik would spell it. He got about half of them correct. The ones he did not, she made him write on a sheet of paper. Finding a dictionary in Erik’s things, Nik was supposed to look up the definition of each word and learn it, along with the proper spelling.

“Very good, Nik,” Aundy said, when he spelled the last three words correctly. “I think that’s enough learning tonight.”

“Please, may I study a little while longer?” Nik asked, picking up a copy of
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift.

“Certainly,” Aundy said, smiling as Nik lost himself in the adventure. She had no idea he would be so excited for the opportunity to further his education. It was like pouring water into a bottomless pitcher. He never seemed to tire of learning. She wondered, with the right opportunities, what type of career Nik might grow up to have. A mind as sharp as his shouldn’t be wasted sitting in a pasture watching sheep. “Why don’t you read aloud and I’ll enjoy the story, too.”

Nik grinned up at her and returned to the beginning of the chapter he was reading. Listening to Nik’s voice, Aundy mixed up a batch of molasses cookies. The rich, spicy dough filled the kitchen with a delicious scent. While the cookies baked, Aundy made a cup of tea and sat at the table, enjoying the story.

Taking the cookies from the oven, Aundy let them cool slightly before putting three on a plate and pouring a tall glass of milk, setting the snack by Nik. Although still thin, he seemed to be filling out a little with plenty of good food. Ruffling his hair as she stood by his chair, he grinned at her and then continued the story, stopping only to take a bite of cookie or a drink of milk.

They were both lost in the adventure when Aundy heard a loud thump from the front porch. She and Nik hurried to the door, opening it to find a small bundle of wool blazing with flame.

Aundy bit back a scream and looked up, seeing a rider clad all in black on a dark horse. In the shadows of late evening, she couldn’t distinguish any features.

“Get rid a them stinking sheep, woman, or ya’ll be sorry,” a man’s voice yelled before thundering down her lane.

Nik kicked the burning ball of wool off the porch into the grass and Aundy ran to the kitchen to get a pitcher of water. Nik tried stomping the flames, but the kerosene soaked wool was nearly impossible to extinguish. In the damp grass, it wouldn’t spread, so he watched it smolder, pulling the collar of his shirt over his nose to try to filter the stench of the burning fiber.

“Aundy? What is this? Would someone hurt you or our sheep?” Nik asked, coming to stand beside her when she returned with the water. She grasped his hand in hers, hoping it would comfort them both.

“I don’t know, Nik,” she said, still rattled by the threat. She was turning to go back in the house when Dent and Bill ran into the yard.

“Thought we heard something,” Dent said, trying to catch his breath as he took in Aundy and Nik’s frightened faces and the scorched smell of wool. “What happened?”

“Some man threw that wool on fire at the door then yelled at Mrs. Erickson to get rid of the sheep or she’d be sorry,” Nik said, looking at Dent for some answers. “They won’t really hurt her or the sheep will they?”

“Of course not, Nik. We won’t let anything happen,” Dent said, stepping onto the porch and patting Nik on the back. “Why don’t you go gather up your things and call it a night.”

“Yes, sir,” Nik said, casting one more glance at Aundy before he went in the house.

“Who do you think it was, Missy?” Dent asked, waiting to see if Aundy was going to fall apart. She had a strong backbone and not much rattled her, but most women would have been in hysterics by now.

“I don’t know, Dent. He was dressed all in black, his horse was dark in coloring and with it being almost dark out, I just couldn’t tell. I didn’t recognize his voice, though. It was higher-pitched than Marvin Tooley’s, because he made a similar threat the other day.”

“He did?” Dent asked, wondering why Aundy hadn’t imparted that information sooner. He heard some of the neighbors grumbling about Aundy bringing sheep into the area, but most of them would get over it and forget they were there  in a few weeks. Honestly, he thought Aundy had a good idea with the sheep. So far, they’d been easy to care for, especially with Nik watching them nearly round the clock. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to worry anyone. Besides, I don’t think he’d actually do anything.”

“You never know with him, Missy. He’s a little unpredictable,” Dent said, thinking of any number of odd things that had happened over the years since Marvin had lost his family and changed into a different man. Dent thought they should at least give his threat some consideration. “If he comes around again, you let one of us know right away.”

“Giving orders now, are you?” Aundy asked, with a smile tugging up the corners of her mouth. She and Dent both knew he was essentially in charge. At least until Aundy learned what she needed to know to successfully manage the farm. Even then, Dent would still be the one giving orders and laying down the law to the men.

“Durn right I am,” Dent said, still unsettled by what had happened. If someone truly had it out for Aundy and the sheep, he worried about what they would do next.

Chapter Thirteen

The hands were walking out the door after breakfast the next morning when Aundy gave Dent a look that let him know she wanted to talk. Pouring himself another cup of coffee, he sat back down at the table and waited.

When they were the only two left in the kitchen, Aundy sank onto her chair with a cup of tea. “I have a favor to ask.”

“I’m in trouble now,” Dent teased. “What do you need, Missy?”

“Can you spare someone to watch the sheep for a few hours today or at least check on them? I want to take Nik to town with me. He absolutely needs some new clothes and I honestly wouldn’t mind the company,” Aundy said, knowing she was going to leave Dent shorthanded while she and Nik were gone. Lem and Hank fit right in with the other hands and they all worked well together, even though none of them particularly liked keeping watch over the sheep.

“I’ll have Lem keep an eye on the sheep, but are you sure it’s a good idea to go to town. What if…”

“Don’t start that,” Aundy said, holding up her hand. “I won’t allow anyone to scare me into getting rid of the sheep. The men around here need to realize I’m made of sterner stuff than they think and a little bit of burning wool isn’t going to change my mind on the matter.”

Dent hid his grin behind his coffee cup. He had an idea if someone backed Aundy into a corner, she’d come out swinging and probably win.

“Okay, then. Want me to tell Nik he’s about to go on an adventure?” Dent asked, getting up and placing his coffee cup in the sink, along with the other dishes.

“Yes, please, and have him take a bath, too. I don’t want people wrinkling their noses at him when we go shopping today,” Aundy said, grinning at the protests Nik would no doubt utter at taking a bath in the middle of the week. “I’ll be ready to go at nine. Tell Nik to meet me at the barn then.”

“If you say so,” Dent said, snitching a cookie on his way out the door.

After doing the dishes and writing out a shopping list, Aundy put on her yellow and cream walking suit Garrett had so admired and styled her hair on top of her head with a few loose tendrils trailing down her neck. Pinning her hat in place, she picked up a pair of gloves and her reticule, stuffed the grocery list inside, checked to make sure the house was set to rights and hurried down the kitchen steps toward the barn.

Dent had the horse hitched to the buggy and Nik was sitting on the seat, looking clean and anxious for an adventure.

“Ready?” Aundy asked, climbing in beside him, and giving him a once over. His hair was carefully combed into place and he’d left off his tattered old cap. Although his attire wasn’t new by any means, these fit a little better than the clothes he normally wore. He’d attempted to polish his shoes, but they were so far gone it did little but highlight their sorry state.

“Dent said I’m to accompany you to town today,” Nik said, practicing his newly learned manners.

“That is correct, kind sir,” Aundy said, giving him a nod and a wink. “I think I’ll sit back and enjoy this beautiful day while you drive the buggy.”

“Really?” Nik said, picking up the reins, excitement filling his face.

“Really, just be careful. No wild racing or terrifying tomfoolery,” Aundy cautioned, trying to look and sound serious.

“No, ma’am,” Nik said, giving the reins a gentle flick that started the horse moving forward.

Visiting with Nik on the way to town, Aundy listened to him talk about his family, his heritage, and things he enjoyed doing when he was a small boy.

As they drove down a busy street in Pendleton, Nik turned his attention to handling the horse in the traffic.

Stopping near Aundy’s favorite store, they went inside where Aundy gave her shopping list to the clerk to fill while she took Nik over to the ready-made clothing section. She helped him pick out two pairs of denim pants, a pair of pants to wear to church, and four shirts, along with a sturdy pair of boots and a new hat.

“Aundy, this is too much,” Nik said, his eyes shining with gratitude and awe. “I haven’t earned this much pay. I can’t take this.”

“You can and you will,” Aundy said, patting Nik on the back. “Anyone in my employ will be properly fed and properly clothed and that’s all there is to it.”

Nik looked at her and saw her grin, smiling in return. “Yes, ma’am,” he said rubbing his hands over his new shirts. Aundy quietly asked the clerk to add socks and underclothes for the boy as well, which he did.

As the clerk boxed up her purchases, he snapped his fingers and grinned. “Those seeds you ordered just arrived, Mrs. Erickson. Let me get them for you.”

“Seeds?” Nik asked as he stood next to Aundy. It took a great effort on his part not to jump off one foot to the other in his excitement at having new clothes.

“For the garden. We need to get it planted soon,” Aundy said, lifting the lid on a jar of lemon drops and motioning for Nik to take one. His eyes twinkled as he fished out two pieces, and held one out to her. She was going to refuse, then decided she wasn’t quite yet grown up enough that she’d turn down candy. The two of them popped the candy in their mouth, enjoying the sweet treat.

“Please add two lemon drops to the bill, Mr. Johnson.”

“Absolutely, Mrs. Erickson,” the man said with a grin, tucking Aundy’s seeds into one of the boxes while Aundy handed Nik his new cap and he settled it on his head with a wide smile.

Aundy paid her bill while Nik carried their purchases out to the buggy and then asked Mr. Johnson to have someone phone the ranch when her order for Nik’s school supplies arrived.

“Have a wonderful day, Mrs. Erickson,” Mr. Johnson called as she followed Nik out the door. Aundy was looking at a plow on display outside the store when a bump to her side nearly knocked her into the street. She would have fallen, had she not caught herself on a post.

“Might want to watch yourself, Miz. Erickson,” Marvin Tooley said, sneering at her. His hand flexed into a fist and he took a menacing step toward her, reaching out and grabbing her upper arm in a vise-like grip. “No telling what might happen if you let your guard down.”

Narrowing her gaze at the man while yanking her arm out of his grasp, Nik approached her side with a frightened look on his face. Marvin growled and stalked into the store.

“Who is that man?”

“No one to worry about,” Aundy said, taking Nik’s arm and directing him down the boardwalk. Although she’d been considering the purchase of a small gun, Marvin had just made up her mind.

Entering a store that sold both new and used merchandise, Aundy left Nik browsing through a section of musical instruments while she went straight to the proprietor behind the counter.

“I’d like to purchase the gun in the window,” she said, pointing to a display in a glass case by the front door.

“A gun?” the man asked, shocked that a woman would march into his store and want to buy a gun.

“Yes, that small one in the case by the door,” Aundy said, walking to the case and pointing to the one she wanted.

Reluctantly the man took out the gun and handed it to her.

“That’s a Baby Hammerless pocket revolver,” the man said, pointing out the gun’s lack of a visible hammer.

Aundy liked the light feel of it in her hand as well as the lovely pearl grips. It would fit perfectly in her reticule or a pocket. She was warming to the idea of having a gun on hand if she needed some protection without having to carry a bigger weapon.

From her lessons with Garrett, she knew to open the chamber and check to make sure there weren’t any bullets inside. Holding up the gun, she asked the storeowner to give her details about how it worked. He answered her questions and told her the gun was only a few years old, having had one previous owner.

“What happened to the owner?” she asked balancing the gun in her palm.

“Got shot.”

That bit of information, unsettling as it was, didn’t deter Aundy’s determination to purchase the weapon. The proprietor started to ring up the sale, but Aundy asked him for several boxes of cartridges. While he retrieved them from the back room, she walked over to where Nik was gazing fondly at a display of harmonicas.

“Do you play?”

“No,” Nik said quietly.

Aundy wondered who in his past had played. From the wistful expression on his face, it had to have been someone he cared about greatly. The boy seemed to whistle and hum all the time, so she wondered if he’d appreciate his own instrument.

“What harmonica would you recommend to a new student?” Aundy asked the storeowner when he came back with her cartridges. He pointed out what he thought was the best model and Aundy added it to her purchases.

“You can’t buy me the harmonica, too,” Nik whispered to Aundy as they walked toward the counter.

“Yes, I can,” Aundy said, patting Nik on the back, much like she would a small child. “Just promise you’ll play it for me some winter evening when I’m bored out of my mind and tired of the snow. I’ve heard the winters out here are dreadful.”

“They can be bad,” Nik said, his eyes fastened on the shiny new harmonica in his hands. “I’ll promise to play for you any time you want.”

“Very well, then,” Aundy said, putting the gun in her reticule and picking up the cartridges. Turning to the proprietor, she gave him a polite smile and tipped her head. “Thank you, sir. Have a lovely day.”

After talking Nik into eating lunch with her at a restaurant, they headed out of town toward home. Aundy drove while Nik played the harmonica. With a natural musical talent, he was already starting to play a tune instead of just making random noise.

“You’ll be an expert at playing that thing in no time,” Aundy said as she stopped the buggy on the side of the house so it would be easier to carry her purchases in the kitchen door.

Nik shoved the harmonica in his pocket and began lugging in the loaded boxes. Aundy held the door for Nik to carry in the last one when she heard the distinctive jingle of harness and walked around the side of the house to see Nora stopping her buggy with Li Hong beside her.

“Nora! What a surprise,” Aundy said, hurrying over to give the woman a hug as she got out of the buggy. Li Hong stepped down and bowed at her then glanced over to see Nik approach.

“Nora, Li Hong, this is my shepherd, Nikola Zorian Gandiaga. We call him Nik,” Aundy said, putting a hand on Nik’s arm.

“Hello,” Nik said, doffing his hat to Nora and reaching to shake Li Hong’s hand. When the man bowed at him, Nik grinned and bowed back.

“I better get back to the sheep. Lem will be tired of watching them,” Nik said, hurrying to the buggy and taking it to the barn.

“What brings you two out today?” Aundy asked, looping her arm around Nora’s and motioning Li to follow them up the porch steps.

“I wanted to see your sheep and Li thinks he is ready to begin his duties as cook, so I brought him over to see your place and make sure that’s what he really wants to do,” Nora said, looking over her shoulder at Li.

“I ready to cook. Make good food,” Li said, grinning at both women.

“Why don’t we plan on you starting in the morning, then?” Aundy said, leading the way into her house. “Please, have a seat and I’ll be back with some tea.”

Nora and Aundy visited with Li making occasional comments to their chatter while they drank tea and ate cookies.

Dent came to the house, set to ask Aundy what she thought she was doing buying a gun to carry in her reticule, when he saw the Nash’s buggy parked out front. Coming in the back door, he held his hat in his hand as he walked in the front room.

Surprised to see a Chinese man drinking tea with Aundy and Mrs. Nash, he smiled in greeting.

“Afternoon,” Dent said, tipping his head toward Nora.

“Hello, Dent,” Nora said, sending him a friendly smile. “How does this day find you?”

“Well enough. I can’t complain about a thing,” Dent said, grinning at Nora. “How’s J.B.?”

“He improves every day. By the end of summer, Doc thinks he’ll be back in the saddle and up to his old tricks,” Nora said, a look of relief on her face that her husband was getting well.

“That’s wonderful news,” Dent said, happy to hear his friend would make a full recovery. For a while, no one knew if J.B. would ever walk again. “Tell him I said hello.”

“I’ll do that, but you should come visit him one of these days. He’d love to play a game of checkers with you,” Nora said, knowing how much J.B. and Dent enjoyed their checker rivalry.

“If my slave-driving employer ever gives me a day off, I might just do that,” Dent said, winking at Aundy.

Not bothered in the least by his teasing, Aundy turned to Li. “Dent, this is Li Hong. He’s been staying with the Nash’s while he recuperated from an unfortunate accident, but he is going to stay with us as a cook, on a trial basis. He says he’s feeling well enough to get started. I thought he could begin by making breakfast tomorrow.”

After the sheep incident, Aundy made sure she discussed hiring Li as a cook with Dent. He agreed to have the man fill the position on a trial basis.

“Works for me,” Dent said, nodding his head in approval. Turning to the Chinese man, with his long braid and odd manner of dress, Dent offered him a welcoming smile. “I can take you out and show you the bunkhouse and where you’ll be doing the cooking.”