The Man from Shenandoah (26 page)

“Oh,” she exclaimed. “I been complaining about toting this box around with us. It’s gold, Rod, and a right smart lot of it.” She sat back in the chair, pulling the strings tight on the bag. She looked at it for a moment, then replaced it in the box. Looking up, she caught Rod’s eye, and she gazed at him for a long time.

“I tell you what, Roderick Owen,” she finally said. “You take this here gold, and you ride down to Texas and fetch you a herd of them long-horned cows. You drive ‘em up here and learn how to take proper care of ‘em in this new land, and you build you a cattle outfit. I ain’t likely to miss the treasure, seeing as how I never knew I had one.” She saw he was set to protest, and raised her hand. “That’s my wish, and if I die tomorrow, I want it carried out.”

~~~

Rod took a week to get ready, making doubly sure that Julia was serious about parting with the gold. She only said, “The Lord moves in mysterious ways,” and refused to discuss it further, so he plunged into preparations.

Rulon, Carl and James were sent out hunting, while Clay and Albert chopped firewood and helped their father butcher the game and dry the meat.

“I ain’t going to leave you here needing food,” he told Julia. “I feel bad enough leaving you all without a man for protection.”

Julia smiled and patted her Sharps rifle. “I reckon I can still shoot well enough to discourage any prowler.”

“That’s so, but you keep a wary eye open. We ain’t seen any of them Ute Indians I was told hunt up in these hills. Stay around close to the cabins whilst we’re gone.”

At the end of the week, early in the morning, Rod gathered his family for final instructions. He looked at the pile of firewood that Albert and Clay had split.

“I reckon we’ve provided for your needs, at least for a couple of months, but I’m nervous as a spring colt about leaving you all alone. I can’t say for sure how long we’ll be gone.”

He turned to his wife. “Take care to keep sight of the girls, and don’t let Roddy wander into the woods alone. That boy’s taken to straying like a pumpkin vine.” He shook his head. “Check up regular on Mary and Ellen. I wish I could leave Rulon, but I need all the hands I have to move a herd the size I plan to buy.”

“We’ll be just fine, Rod. Don’t you worry none about us. Get them cows up here safe and sound.” Julia moved into Rod’s arms for an embrace. He nuzzled her neck, then kissed her.

“I aim to go and come safely, woman. I know I got a lot to learn, but I ain’t too old to acquire knowledge.” Rod released Julia and stepped into his saddle, and his sons mounted up. Lifting his hand in farewell, Rod turned his horse and rode at a jog toward the south.

~~~

Ellen watched the Owen men leave, then turned from the door of the cabin, hoping the dim light of the room was not sufficient to show her face. Mary had begged her to stay for company while Rulon was away, and Ellen had agreed, even though Mary was doing better, healthy enough to get up and share the work. Now Ellen knew that the days ahead would be lonely ones; she would not have all the work to keep her mind occupied.

She picked up the hairbrush her mother had brought with her things from Pueblo City, and began to arrange her hair for the day. The breakfast fire reflected off her locks as she brushed out the tangles, then twisted her hair into a coil atop her head. As she placed the last hairpin, she thought back to last evening, and the fierce light in Carl’s eye as he insisted that Ellen walk with him to the creek.

“I’ve stayed away from you since I got back from Denver, not because I wanted to, but because I knew it was your pa’s will,” he said, face twisted and uncertain. “I’m going away again, and I got to say something to you. Please come.”

“We’ll need water for the morning anyway, so you just take the buckets and help me. Pa could not object to that.”

She smiled to herself as a light leaped to Carl’s eyes, and a grin spread over his face as he followed her in the near-twilight. She heard Carl whistling to himself as she approached the creek and sat down on a rocky ledge that formed part of the bank.

Carl hunkered down on the edge of the creek and dipped the buckets into the water. He set them out of harm’s way, then settled down to watch the ripples in the creek as the water flowed over the pebbly bottom.

Ellen watched him from the corner of her eye. He looked determined, pursing his lips in thought as he gazed into the stream, apparently studying out what he had to say. He tossed a stone into the flow, glanced quickly at her, and directed his gaze again to the water.

When he began to talk, his voice was so low that Ellen had to strain to listen, leaning forward a little to catch every word.

“I ain’t got much time, and I’ve got a lot to say. Reckon I’d best start.” He looked around once more, then looked her in the eyes. “Ever since that night we had the dance on the river, and you fell into my arms off that wagon, I been mighty unrestful in my soul. I thought I had a girl to share my life. I was wrong.”

He gulped once, then continued. “When I held you against me, and felt your heart a-pounding away, I knew I was a ring-tailed double fool for sticking with Ida. But I’d given my word, and I was stuck with Pa’s choice.”

He stopped a moment and shifted his weight. “After we went our ways to settle, I figured things would get better for me. I hoped I’d get some sleep, not have nightmares, what with all the hard work I was doing. I made my plans and built my house, and I got excited about getting wed. Then Ida took me by the tail and threw me out the door. I thought I was going to die, I was that prideful. But you were there, like a ray of light on a foggy morning.”

He looked at her face, and she could see sweat beading his forehead, even in the chill of twilight.

“Shoot, I’m just going on and on. The important thing is, I got to see what a man rarely finds out before he’s wed. You got a backbone of pure steel inside that soft form of yours.”

Ellen felt her face burning in the evening darkness. She put a hand to her cheek. It was warm, and she knew she was blushing. Peeking back at Carl, she saw that he had stretched out on the ground on his side, with his elbow supporting his cheek, as though he were exhausted from the effort of talking.

“I ain’t done,” he whispered, and sat upright again, in one quick motion. “Now I got the freedom from Ida I need to court you, your pa says I can’t call. He says only James has that right, and he ain’t made it clear to your pa what his mind is. What I want to know before I go away for a couple of months is, do I have anything to look forward to on your account? If I can talk James into thinking he don’t really want you after all, and then do whatever task your pa sets for me, are you willing for me to call?”

Ellen sat with her hands on her cheeks, wondering what to reply. Then she softly opened her heart to him as frankly as he had to her.

“Carl, I reckon I been willing for you to call from the day you plucked me out of the muddy street in Mount Jackson and cussed me from head to toe. I’ll pray you can use that silver tongue for some good on James, and that my pa comes around to my way of thinking.”

The last light faded, but Ellen knew Carl was still nearby from the deep breathing she could hear. Then she heard him stand up.

“I reckon that’ll hold me for a couple of months,” Carl said. “I’ll carry your water to Rulon’s.”

She followed in the darkness, and he waited for her at the door, setting the pails on the bench. Then she was enfolded in his arms, and he embraced her tenderly as he whispered in her ear, “Ellen Bates, I love you!”

Then he was gone, his footsteps fading into the satin darkness.

Ellen shook herself free from the memory, then washed her face with the water Carl had dipped up the night before. Tying on her apron, she went to the fireplace and thrust another chunk of wood into the flames, for today he was truly gone, and the air in the cabin felt cold and damp.

~~~

The grizzled old man in the wide-brimmed hat shook his head. “I cain’t figure how you aim to get them cows past the Comanches and Kiowas in the Panhandle. They’ll grab up them cattle soon as they see you coming. You’re a crazy man to try trailing cattle with the Indians all stirred up.”

“I reckon that’s my gamble. All I want is some hands willing to make the trip.” Rod slapped his hand down on his thigh. “I always heard a Texas man was full of courage. I only need five or six fellers to prove me right.”

The old man removed his hat and scratched his head, reseated his hat, and took a swig from the glass on the table. He looked Rod over once more, then nodded. “Then I reckon you need to see Bill Henry. He’s got him an outfit looking to hire out, but work’s mighty scarce around here. Well,” he shook his head again, “work ain’t scarce, but money sure is.”

“What’s his experience with these longhorn critters?”

“He’s trailed them a good mite, and he’s a hard worker. I’d say his bad luck is your good fortune.”

“Where do I find him?”

“Ask after him down at the livery stable. His cousin will know how to get a-hold of him.” Sucking on his yellowed teeth, the man looked once more at Rod. “Well, I wish you luck. And keep your eyes open for the Carpetbaggers. They come down here with some new law called ‘Reconstruction’, and they’re ‘reconstructing’ the whole countryside into their own pockets. They’s made laws agin any man who fit for Davis and the Cause. You tread light here in town.”

“I thank you for the warning.”

Rod took his leave and sought out the information he needed from the stable hand.

The quiet young man in the patched shirt shifted his feet. “Bill Henry? You say you got work for him? He’ll be mighty tickled to hear it. Things ain’t gone so well for him of late. He’s coming in to town tonight, and I’ll bring him up to the hotel about suppertime. We’ll meet you in the dining room.”

~~~

That evening, Rod and Rulon took a table in the back of the dining room and ordered steak and beans. Carl and Albert occupied the table beside the outer door, while James and Clay sat in a corner against the window wall, where they could see everyone who entered from the hotel lobby.

“Why does Pa want us all spread out like this?” Albert asked Carl before he wolfed down a bite of steak.

“He’s a mite cautious, as usual. That old codger warned him about the laws down here. The sooner we hire on a crew of herders and light a shuck for home, the better I’ll feel.” Carl paused to spear a chunk of steak. “I hope this Henry feller can take the job. Being in a state where a man’s got no rights makes me a mite cautious, too.”

“Can them Unionists stop us from taking our cattle out of here?”

Carl spoke low. “I reckon them low-life carpetbaggers make up the rules as they go along, especially if they see a profit in doing it.”

“I favor that Henry feller getting here with a powerful yearning to travel on with us. We come too far with Ma’s gold to see any Yankees make off with the cows she bought.” Albert sat up straight. “That there’s the stable hand coming up the walk, and he’s got another feller with him.”

Bob and Bill Henry came through the door of the dining room, Bill brushing the dust of the road from his sleeves. He had light brown hair that curled over his shirt collar, and blue eyes that flicked around the room and settled on Rod, at the rear table.

From his seat two feet away, Carl looked over the powerfully built Texan. He wore a moustache that drooped over the sides of his mouth. His face, shaded by a hat with a wide brim, was brown and unseamed, and Carl guessed he was at least two years older than himself. Judging from the bulge of muscles in his thighs, he had spent most of those years on a horse.

The man spoke to his cousin in a low voice, “I reckon that’s the fellow with the cows and no savvy on moving them. Let’s go see what he has in mind.”

~~~

Bill Henry swaggered across the room like he owned the whole of West Texas. His cousin Bob followed after, and came up to the table as Rod rose to his feet.

Bob nodded to Rod. “Mr. Owen, this here’s my cousin, Bill Henry.”

“Sit down, gentlemen. Can I offer you supper?” At the nod of the young man before him, Rod waved in the direction of the kitchen. “Two more places at this table,” he called out.

Bill Henry sat down, and leaned back in his chair. “I heard you’re looking for a trail boss and some hands to move cattle.” His blue eyes never looked over at Rulon, but gazed straight into Rod’s.

“I bought a herd, something over 1400 cows. I reckon I need help to get it to the Colorado Territory. I’ve raised dairy cattle all my life, but these longhorns are a different breed. I need a good man to show me and my five boys the proper handling of this herd. If that man was willing to stay up in Colorado and show us the rest of the beef cattle business, I reckon he’d be the right man for the job.”

“You say there’s six of you?” Bill tipped back his hat with one finger. “I know cattle trailing as good as any other man, and I know the rest of the business, but I ain’t so sure about leaving Texas for good. I’m a Texas man born and bred.”

“Well, I’m offering twenty-five dollars a month and room and board for the man who’ll come with me and stay on to settle nearby. We got us a place of trees and meadows, grass a plenty, and water enough for all the cattle we can bring. You look like a canny man, and if what you tell me about yourself is true, you’re the man for me.”