by C. J. Petit
He opened the breech and stared at the expended brass. It didn’t budge, so he slid the knife from his gunbelt and had to pry it out of the steel breech. Once the empty casing was in his pocket, he closed the breech and leaned the Martini-Henry against the wall and picked up the Sharps. Unless the Sharps was wildly inaccurate, he’d already decided to take it with him.
Less than a minute later, he fired the Sharps at the same point on the evil tree. This time, the spot appeared just a few inches above his aiming point. He was impressed, so after opening the breech and not having to pry out the brass, he reloaded the rifle and fired at the same point. He had to wait for the accumulated smoke began to thin, but once it did, he was gratified to find the last spot exactly where he’d wanted it to hit. As he cleared the breech, he was in awe of the Sharps’ accuracy but failed to give himself credit for the almost perfect shot. He’d been using firearms of all sorts since he was ten and never considered himself a marksman. To Jake, it was just like walking or riding a horse.
He picked up the Martini-Henry and walked to the front of the house. Before he stepped onto the porch, he wasn’t surprised to see eight faces looking at him from outside the bunkhouse or chow house. He grinned and held up both rifles before he stepped onto the porch. But Dave hadn’t come out of his house yet. He must have really tied one on last night.
_____
Forty minutes later, after cleaning both of the long guns, Jake left the house to see if Dave was awake yet. It was almost noon and even if he’d barely staggered to his bed, he should be up by now. Jake was getting worried that something might have happened to him. Jake recalled how sick he was on the day his mother was killed and he now suspected that Dave might have some serious medical problem that he was trying to hide.
Men often see any kind of disease as a cowardly weakness. There was also the concern that other men might think that it was nothing more than an excuse to avoid hard work. If Dave did have a major medical issue, Jake would have to at least postpone his departure. He couldn’t imagine the Elk without Dave. He just wasn’t sure that Dave would reveal his problem even if he knew that it was the only argument that he could make to keep him from chasing after his father.
He stepped onto the house’s small porch and stepped through the open doorway. He could have entered without knocking if it had been closed because he was the boss now. But he wouldn’t have exercised that privilege. He was about to call out to Dave when he heard a groan from the kitchen.
“Dave?” he asked loudly as he stepped across the front room and down the short hall.
“In here, Jake,” Dave replied just before Jake reached the kitchen.
Jake looked at the foreman who was nursing a cup of coffee and was the image of a man suffering from the mother of all hangovers.
Dave’s bleary eyes peered back at him through sagging eyelids as he managed a gruesome smile.
“I reckon I should have left the Riverfront before those last four whiskeys.”
Jake sat down across the table from Dave and his eyes soon began to water from the powerful, acrid scents surrounding the foreman.
“I didn’t know you were that big of a drinker, Dave. I know you tied one on now and then, but I don’t recall you ever getting this bad. Are you going to be all right?”
“Sure. I’ll be okay by suppertime. Just don’t expect me to eat much.”
He looked into Dave’s vague brown eyes and quietly asked, “Do you have a reason for drinking that much, Dave?”
Dave blinked then sharply asked, “Why do I need a reason to enjoy myself?”
“You don’t. You can do this every Saturday if you can handle the hangovers on Sunday. I was just worried that you might be sick. The way you described your gut problems on the second of July, I was concerned that you might be trying to hide a serious disease.”
Dave laughed then replied, “Nah. I’m not hiding anything. I was celebrating your return with some of the boys and got carried away. I’m as fit as a fiddle.”
Jake was relieved and smiled as he stood and said, “That’s good to hear. Now, to keep my own stomach from revolting, I’m going to go back to the house. You really smell bad, Dave.”
Dave snickered and waved before Jake walked quickly down the hall to get some fresh air.
It was close to lunchtime, and there was already smoke pouring out of the cookstove pipe. He’d spotted Charlie Shimshock among the eight men who were looking for the source of the gunfire, so that meant a hot and filling lunch.
When he entered the chow house, John Hatcher asked, “Was that you makin’ all that noise, boss?”
“I figured I’d shatter your salacious dreams with some target practice. I was trying out those two long-range rifles.”
Jack Parker said, “We figgered as much. That didn’t sound like a Winchester.”
Jake sat down and began answering their flood of questions about the Sharps and the Martini-Henry. Their gun conversation continued as they ate Charlie’s well-received cooking. It was almost one o’clock when Jake left the chow house and headed for the barn to check on Mars and Vulcan. He was going to give Mars the day off and ride Vulcan into town tomorrow. Even with the added weight of the Sharps on Tuesday, Mars would still be carrying almost double that of his brother.
He checked their oat bins and water trough even though he was sure that Big Tom would keep them full. Tom loved horses and Jake wouldn’t be surprised if he preferred them over women.
After spending a few minutes talking to the equine brothers, Jake stepped out of the barn and immediately spotted a buckboard coming down the access road. He stared at the buckboard wondering who might be coming to visit on a Sunday. It only took a few seconds before he smiled and started walking to the house.
He reached the porch steps and waited as the buckboard slowed and then stopped just a few feet away.
Jake asked, “Wasn’t I going to take you to lunch tomorrow, Sara?’
As she stepped down from the buckboard, Sara grinned and said, “I didn’t want to waste a whole day before talking to you again.”
Her brother climbed down from the other side and hurried around the back of the buckboard.
She said, “Emmett was going to be assigned to be my chaperone after I told my parents of my intention to visit you. But he offered to come along before my father had a chance to appoint him.”
Jake grinned as he shook her brother’s hand and said, “It’s good to see you again, Emmett. You’ve grown up quite a bit from the last time we met. You’re almost sixteen now. Is that right?”
“Yes, sir. My birthday is just a couple of weeks after yours. When Sara said she was going to come out to the Elk, my father said she couldn’t go alone. I volunteered really fast, so she didn’t get mad. I know my mother was relieved when I did, too.”
Jake nodded as he replied, “I’m sure she was,” then he looked at Sara and asked, “Is there something specific that you needed to tell me?”
“Somewhat. But mostly, I just wanted to talk to you again. We just finished our after-church meal, and I didn’t have any chores, so I decided to pay you a visit.”
She then turned to her brother and said, “You can go and visit the horses in the corral if you’d like.”
“That sounds like a good idea. We only have Buster and there must be more than twenty in the corral. I’ll bet there are a lot more I can’t see, too.”
Jake said, “We have another fifty-six out in other corrals and a dozen mules, too. If you’d like to take one with you, let me know. I’ll have Bill Jackson put a halter on him.”
Emmett’s eyes exploded as he exclaimed, “Really? I can have a horse?”
“Sure. We have too many now anyway. I keep my personal horses in the barn, but the ones in the corral are remuda horses. There are some nice ones in there, too.”
“Thanks, Jake!”
As Emmett clambered into the buckboard, Jake smiled at Sara then held out his arm.
She took his arm more gently than the firs
t time she’d used it to drag him across the street, and as they stepped onto the porch, the buckboard raced away leaving a cloud of dust behind it.
“You sure made Emmett happy. I hope Orville doesn’t get too jealous.”
“He can pick one out for his brother, too. Of course, you knew I’d make the offer as soon as you mentioned Orville; didn’t you?”
She laughed as they stepped across the porch and entered the house. Jake left the door open to satisfy Sara’s father then escorted her to the couch where they sat down.
He removed his hat and set it on the couch beside him before Sara took off her bonnet and placed it on her lap.
“I’ll plead guilty to the charge of subtly suggesting that you give a horse to Orville. But you bear some of the responsibility because you were the one to offer one to Emmett.”
“I accept your plea with its mitigating circumstances. So, other than boredom, what inspired your visit? I assume it has something to do with Kay.”
“It does. She heard that you were back and came to the house last night. but I didn’t tell her about our conversation. Orville was the one who let the cat out of the bag. It wasn’t exactly a secret. When I returned to the store, my father and both brothers were grinning at me like the Cheshire cat in Mister Carroll’s book. They didn’t overhear what we talked about, but it didn’t take long for them to figure it out. I hadn’t made any secret of my intentions after you left, so before I even returned to the house, I expected Kay’s visit and was prepared for her reaction.”
“How did she react when Orville told her?”
Sara paused before replying, “It was strange. I expected she’d be furiously jealous and tell me every reason I should stay away from you. But she didn’t. She wasn’t angry or even upset. She wasn’t happy either but seemed distant for a little while. When she did speak, she just said that I should avoid having babies. If she’d been smiling when she said it, it could have been funny. But she seemed serious, and it sounded chilling.”
“Didn’t she have her children with her?”
“No. She left them with Homer. After what she said about not having babies, I changed the subject. She didn’t stay much longer, but even Emmett and Orville thought she seemed out of sorts. I talked to my mother later, but she said it was just because she’d had the twins a few months ago and Kay would be back to normal soon.”
“Do you believe that she will?”
“I’m not sure. We just have to wait for a few months. I just hope she doesn’t get pregnant again.”
“Didn’t you tell me that she doesn’t let Homer get within ten feet of her now?”
“It was just an exaggeration of the wall Kay seems to have built between them. I imagine that Homer still exercises his husbandly rights.”
Jake nodded, but didn’t say anything as his mind wrestled with that image. He hadn’t seen the changed Kay since he’d returned, but he was certain that Homer hadn’t changed much. He just had a difficult time imagining a cold Kay. She was always so enthusiastic. Maybe that had just been a pretense as well, but he found it hard to imagine.
Sara interrupted his short reverie by saying, “You have a nice house, Jake. I’ve never been on your ranch before, so I was impressed with how big it is.”
“You never even saw the place from the road?”
“I saw the access road but not the house. Kay never came out here either; did she?”
“Not once. My father would have probably made her feel more than just unwelcome.”
“If I was dressed for riding, you could show me around.”
“Do you even have a riding skirt?”
“No, but I could wear a pair of Emmett’s britches.”
Jake smiled as he said, “That would be quite a sight.”
She grinned and asked, “Would it be an impressive sight or a ridiculous sight?”
“I wouldn’t be laughing, Sara. When I return, I’ll give you a tour of the ranch, including my sanctuary.”
“Was it your hiding place from your father?”
“That was its primary purpose, but it became more than that. It was like a natural cathedral, only the congregation all walked on four legs.”
“How big is it?”
“Oh, I’d guess around a hundred and fifty acres, but the northern end kind of blends into a forest. There are enough trees scattered among the rocks to hide the critters, but they spend most of their lives in the forest.”
“That sounds like a wonderful place. When you give me the tour, will you let me enter your church?”
Jake smiled as he replied, “I would be honored, ma’am. You would be the first and only other person to see the interior.”
“Really? No one else visits the place?”
“I’m sure they had before I began using it for my refuge. Once they knew why I was going there, they let me have my privacy. They never said a word about it, either. My father certainly knew where I was, but he was probably just as pleased to have me out of his sight as I was to be hiding.”
“Was he really that bad, Jake?”
Jake needed to think for a minute before answering what should have been a simple question. He needed to set aside what his father had done on the second of the month and concentrate on the years before he enlisted.
He finally replied, “I’m not sure he was that much worse than most fathers. He was cold and demanding, but he never even paddled my behind. I deserved it quite often, too. When I was young, he’d scare me to death when he yelled at me, but he never even threatened me with his open hand. I’d get upset and my mother would comfort me later, but she’d always tell me that he was just trying to make me strong like him. As I grew older, I was no longer afraid of him, but was disappointed when he never once praised me for anything I did. No matter how well I had performed, it was never good enough.
“It wasn’t until Dave Forrest began to compliment me and tell me funny stories that I realized what a father needed to be. The more time I spent with Dave, the more distant my father became. He didn’t seem to mind that Dave had become my friend and mentor, but I never could understand what was on my father’s mind, so he could have been jealous. I really don’t know.”
“So, he wasn’t as horrible as I’ve heard?”
“I never believed he was horrible. Even when we had one of our loud rows, I just saw him as a demanding, hard man. That was why I found it hard to believe that he’d killed my mother. I don’t know what drove him to hurt her.”
“He never hit your mother before that day?”
“Not once. I’m sure that my mother still loved him, but he never showed any affection for her, at least I never saw any. I know that I wouldn’t exist if he had no feelings for her. I refuse to believe that my mother would have married him otherwise. When they married, this ranch wasn’t nearly as well established as it is now.”
“Your mother was still a very attractive woman. She must have been even prettier when she was young.”
Jake nodded as he studied Sara’s face. If he’d been sitting beside Kay, he would have been sure that her last remark was intended to extract a compliment about Kay’s handsome features. But Sara wasn’t Kay and Jake had no doubt that she meant nothing other than what she’d spoken.
Sara asked, “Why did you look at me that way?”
Jake smiled as he answered, “Because you aren’t Kay.”
“I told you that when we talked yesterday. Did you just figure it out?”
“No. I knew you weren’t anything like Kay shortly after I started seeing her five years ago. It was just that when you said that about my mother, I couldn’t help but imagine why Kay would have said those words. She would have expected me to reply with something like, ‘yes, Kay, she was very pretty, but you’re even prettier’. Yet I knew that you weren’t fishing for compliments. It was just another enormous difference between you and Kay.”
“You’re right about what she’d expect you to say. But she was that way long before you met her, too.”
&nbs
p; “Sara, whatever else you may think of me as we talk, don’t ever believe that I want you to be anyone other than yourself. You aren’t a replacement for Kay. You are Sara Smith and hopefully, in a little while, you’ll be Sara Elliott.”
“Not for one moment did I believe you’d see me as a younger, thinner Kay. But I’m very happy that you like me just the way I am. I’ll still be the same obstinate, blunt woman fifty years from now, so if you didn’t appreciate me now, I’d drive you to drink within a few weeks of our wedding.”
Jake laughed then said, “Speaking of drink, Dave Forrest really tied one on last night. He looks as if he’d been visited by the god of the underworld. I’ve never seen him so hungover.”
“Don’t you visit the saloons, Jake?”
“Nope. I wasn’t about to give my father one more excuse to yell at me. When I was in the army, some of the other soldiers learned that I had never even tasted whiskey, so they took me to the sutler store. They explained all the fun I was missing and bought me a glass of whiskey. I took one sip and almost lost my supper. They laughed at me and called me Saint Jake after that, but I didn’t mind.”
“You don’t even drink beer?”
“Nope. Do you?”
Sara laughed then replied, “I tasted it when I turned eighteen, but it was so bitter, I just handed it back to my father.”
“That means we’ll have a dry house after we’re married.”
“You seem to have accepted our courtship very quickly.”
“I’d be a fool if I didn’t. I’m sure that I will never get a better proposal.”
Sara giggled before she said, “I know of a few young ladies who probably pray that you will call on them, but I staked my claim. Besides, I don’t believe one of them is nearly frank enough to propose. They’d just flirt when they met you and hope that you’d be impressed.”