“Do not worry,” Carlotta said. “The cattle, they stay fat when they move slow. And the fatter they are at the stockyards, the more money you get for your papa.”
Alex and his four companions trotted their horses along the road to Brownwood, paralleling the route of the cattle drive.
“How long you thinking to follow them?” Early asked as his bay gelding jogged alongside Red.
“Got nothing better to do,” Alex said. His careless words belied his inner resolution. He wouldn’t let those women—Maggie—come to grief if he could prevent it.
“I’m thinking I should start looking for work. I’m not as young as you are. Might be hard to get a job now.”
Alex had never thought of Early as old—older, sure, but not so old he wouldn’t be considered an experienced, able-bodied cowpuncher. Probably he’d seen the back of forty, but still …
“I know Bronc’s concerned about Rhonda.”
Early eyed him keenly for a moment then winked. “I reckon you’ve got concerns of your own.”
“I’d like to see them succeed,” Alex said.
“You know that’s contrary to what we’re doing.”
“I do. But you don’t want to see them fail, do you? Lose the herd, or meet up with calamity?”
“No, I s’pose not. If it was men out there, I might feel different. But ladies … nope, I don’t wish ’em ill. But don’t forget, they’ll be taking home our pay, and we’re not earnin’ nothin’ out here.”
Alex sighed. “If you want to light out and look for work, you should go.”
Early rode on for a few more minutes in silence. “They should pass Milburn tomorrow.”
Alex nodded. “Maybe three days from there to Brownwood.” It was the first good-sized town along the route to Fort Worth, though Milburn was big enough to boast a post office, general store, hotel, and three churches.
“I might hear about work around Brownwood,” Early said.
Alex took that for consent to stay with them until Brownwood. He’d be sorry when Early left them. Already his ties to the Rocking P were few and tenuous.
The five halted their horses at a crossroads. “You want to stop and eat pretty soon?” Joe asked. “We’ll get way ahead of them if we don’t.”
“All right by me,” Alex said, looking back. They’d outdistanced the dust cloud the cattle stirred up.
“We were just discussing how long we should trail this outfit,” Early said. “I reckon I’ll stick around a few more days, but then I’d better be looking for some work if I want to keep eatin’.”
“What do you boys think?” Alex asked.
Bronc frowned. “I’d like to keep an eye on them.”
“Worried about Rhonda?” Nevada asked.
“Well, yeah. She’s not used to being in the saddle all day, or to working cattle.”
Joe laughed. “I still can’t believe those girls are getting by. Some of ’em can ride, I know that.”
“Maggie’s got what it takes.” Alex wished he’d kept quiet when the others laughed.
“You’re just cheering on your sweetheart, aren’t you?” Joe said.
“Well now, Señorita Herrera can ride and rope both,” Early said. “I’d wager Sarah Bradley can too.”
“Yes, and the Key girl.” Nevada looked down the road. “But sooner or later, those women are going to need help. I figure if we’re handy when that happens, we might be able to use it as leverage to get our jobs back—at the pay we want.”
“That’d be great,” Joe said, “but I’m not countin’ on it.”
They all dismounted.
Nevada took the bridle off his horse and turned him loose to graze. “Hey, that sheep ranch is up ahead. They ought to be coming to it today.”
Alex shook his head. “Doubtful. Tomorrow morning, maybe.”
“I remember when we crossed their land last year,” Early said. “Stinking sheep.”
Joe grimaced. “Yeah, the cattle won’t eat there.”
“No, but that’s all right,” Alex said. “It gets them across quicker if they don’t want to stop and get a belly full. And it’s only four or five miles, but it will save them a day if they don’t have to go around.”
They made a small campfire and heated some canned stew that Nevada produced from his pack. Joe still had a few rolls left, and Bronc contributed a can of peaches.
“Enough for a taste each,” he said.
As they waited for the coffee and stew to heat, Alex thought about the road ahead, and how it would affect Maggie and the women with her. He’d be surprised if they completed the demanding feat without a mishap.
After they’d eaten, Joe rose and stretched. “Guess maybe I’ll ride into Milburn.”
“Could be some jobs there,” Early said.
“You want to go? Come on.” Joe picked up his saddle.
In the end, Nevada went with Joe and Early. Bronc opted to stay with Alex, within sight of the Porter herd.
Near sunset, the others found them setting up camp over a rise from the Rocking P camp, about half a mile away from Shep’s chuck wagon.
Joe rode in laughing. “We sure are giving those gals a lesson.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked. “I thought we agreed not to do any harm.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t harm them,” Joe said. “Just give them a hard time.”
“You don’t think they have it hard enough?” Bronc asked.
Joe laughed.
“What did you do?” Alex eyed Joe and then Nevada, whom he expected to behave honorably.
“Now, don’t get mad, Alex. It’s just a little joke.” Nevada began to strip his horse’s tack off.
“Remember that sheepherder?” Joe said. “How fussy he was about where the cattle could walk? We had to keep them bunched up tight and make sure they moved along across his range.”
“I remember. He’s not such a bad fellow. Carter’s his name, isn’t it?”
Early nodded, but he looked a little sheepish. “We paid Mr. Carter a little visit on our way into town.”
“What for?” Alex didn’t like their talk—or their joviality.
“We told Carter the ladies are coming and they’ll take the herd through his land,” Joe said. “He doesn’t much like letting cattle through. It’s a headache for him. Even if they stay in the path he chooses and don’t spread out—which is mighty hard to prevent with that many head—they do some harm to the land.”
“Not as much as sheep do,” Alex said. “Besides, he gets paid. He charges a toll for all those cattle. We paid him ten dollars last year.”
“Did we?” Joe shrugged.
“We sort of suggested he boost up the price for Maggie,” Early said.
“You what?” Alex asked. Bronc watched in silence.
Nevada scowled at him. “Quit acting like a fussy old hen. We just told him to ask more. Say, fifty dollars, not ten.”
“You start him doing something like that, he’ll do it all the time,” Alex said. “That will hurt all the ranchmen.”
“Nah,” Joe said. “We told him about the ladies and let on it was a joke.”
Early pulled his saddle and blanket off his horse. “We don’t want him to make too big a stink. If he did, they’d head around the long way. But it ought to hurt old Porter in the pocketbook.”
“Yeah,” Joe said. “If we don’t get the extra money we should, make him give it to somebody else.”
“It could end up pretty funny.” Nevada looked at Alex.
“Or pretty mean and stupid.” Alex shook his head. “I can’t believe you did that.”
Nevada’s jaw clenched. “Alex, you seem to forget what we’re trying to accomplish. This might lend a little credence to the strike. We men would be able to deal with Carter, but I’ll bet these women won’t know how to handle it.”
Alex’s stomach knotted. “I don’t know.”
“You’re just soft because of Maggie,” Early said. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t do something like that.
It’ll cost Porter, but it won’t hurt the women any. Just slow ’em down a little.”
Later, when the others were laying out their bedrolls, Alex paced by the fire. He didn’t like this. If the prank went over well, next time they’d want to do something more outrageous.
Nevada came over and stood beside him. “Got no stomach for it?”
Alex shook his head.
“You don’t want to get on the wrong side of these boys,” Nevada said. “We may be your last friends. If you go over to Porter’s side, no telling what will happen.”
“You all would do something to me?”
“I wouldn’t, but if it got back to Tommy and the others—well, you never know, do ya?”
Alex shook his head.
Nevada nodded. “I’m just saying, don’t get any ideas about riding over to Carter’s tonight.”
Alex looked into his friend’s eyes. “I don’t like it.”
“So you said.”
“You promise you won’t hurt the girls or stampede the cattle?”
Nevada held up both hands. “Not me. And Bronc’s wife is out there. Nobody wants any of them to get hurt. Just stay out of it. For your own good.”
“You’re threatening me.”
“No. I’m giving you the facts, as your friend. Let the boys do this. You take a kid like Joe and you don’t let him do something, he feels like he’s got no control over his life. I won’t let him hurt anybody. Not Maggie and the other women, and not you. But you need to let him feel like he’s got some leeway right now.”
Alex let out a long breath. His stomach was still tied in knots, and he knew he wouldn’t sleep. “All right. But I still don’t like it.”
Right after breakfast, Maggie rode ahead of the herd, taking Celine with her. They quickly left the cattle behind with the other women to get them moving. Shep was packing up the chuck wagon and would head out as soon as he was ready.
They came to the homestead and cantered into the barnyard. They both dismounted, and Maggie handed her horse’s reins to Celine and went to the door.
A middle-aged woman in a drab brown calico dress responded to her knock. She blinked at Maggie and looked her up and down.
“Hello. I’m Maggie Porter, Martin Porter’s daughter.” Maggie pulled out the brightest smile she could find. “Is Mr. Carter here?”
The woman pointed behind her, toward the long pole barn. Maggie looked at it. “In the barn? Thank you.”
The woman closed the door. Maggie and Celine walked their horses toward the barn.
“I wonder if she can talk,” Celine said.
Maggie chuckled. “I guess she doesn’t get many women dressed like us coming to her door.”
She left Celine outside and followed the sound of hammering into the barn. She found the farmer inside, building an enclosure. A boy of about fourteen was helping him, holding boards in place for him while he drove nails.
“Mr. Carter?”
He glanced up at her then quickly straightened.
Maggie repeated her introduction. “My father’s cowpunchers are going to be bringing his herd along this morning. We’d like to cross your range, if you’ve no objection.”
Carter scratched his chin through his bushy beard. “Well, now, I don’t know. A lot of cattle have come through here already this spring. Kinda late, ain’t ya?”
“A little.” Maggie smiled. “We have a good crew, and we’ll make sure the herd stays within the boundaries you give us. May we pass?”
He shook his head as though in doubt. “I reckon you ought to go around, missy.”
“I—” Maggie swallowed hard. “Please, sir, we’ll take extra care with the cattle.”
“Who’s your foreman?”
“Well, sir, I am.”
He laughed and looked her over again. Even his son was smirking. Maggie straightened her spine.
“Mr. Carter, I’m perfectly capable of driving my father’s cattle to Fort Worth. If we go around your range, it will add twelve miles to our trip. That’s at least a whole day.”
“Well, I’m not too thrilled with the idea. What happened to Bright—that man you had last year?”
“Uh … he …”
“He knew what he was doin’.”
Maggie felt her face go red. Maybe she ought to have brought Shep along with her to talk to the farmer.
“Look, Mr. Carter, please. I assure you that I have my father’s full confidence and authority.”
“I heard your cowboys was strikin’. That true?”
“Yes, sir.” She held his gaze, wondering what affect her admission would have on him.
“I usually collect a toll. Them longhorns like to get loose and tear up the grass.”
Maggie smiled. “Yes, sir, I’m prepared to pay your usual fee.”
“It’s fifty this year.”
She stared at him for a moment. “I beg your pardon.”
“Fifty dollars.”
“But that’s—”
He stared back, not relenting. She knew the foreman had paid Carter ten dollars each time he’d crossed his land for several years.
After a long moment, she said, “Is that what all the herds are paying this year?”
“It’s what I’m asking now.”
Maggie hesitated. Her supply of cash was limited, and no doubt she’d need more farther down the trail.
“I’ll give you twenty.”
“Guess you’ll have to go around, then.”
She clenched her teeth. “Thirty, then. My father won’t be happy, though.”
Carter scratched his chin. “I reckon I can take thirty this once.”
“I’ll get it.”
She went out to where Celine held the horses. Without saying anything she took the extra money from her saddlebag and added it to the ten-dollar bill she’d had in her pocket.
When she entered the barn again, Carter gave her detailed instructions on where to take the cattle. “My boy will ride along with you to make sure you stay where you should.”
“Fine.” She reached into her pocket for the money and noted a smirk on the boy’s face. Fury exploded in her heart. She tried to keep her voice steady as she asked, “Did the strikers come talk to you and put you up to this?”
Carter only shrugged, but the boy’s smile grew, and he turned his face away.
“My father told me you were an honest man.”
“Well, now, there’s honest and there’s honorable. We agreed on thirty dollars. Take it or leave it, missy.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Maggie’s legs and back ached that night when they bedded down the cattle on the other side of Carter’s land. She stood in line with the others at the chuck wagon and accepted her tin plate from Shep.
“How are you doing, Miss Maggie?”
“I’m all right, Shep. I’m a little tired.”
“I brought this for your biscuits, ’cause I know you’re partial to it.” He reached into the cupboard on the back of the wagon and brought out a small honey pot.
Maggie smiled. “Thank you, Shep. That’s sweet of you. Of course, all the other ladies will want some when they see what I have.”
“Up to you if you want to share.”
“Of course I do. If anyone asks you for it, let them have some, won’t you?” She took a step then turned back. “Oh, I thought I’d ride into town tonight. Carlotta says we can send a telegram from the hotel in Milburn.”
“Going to send one to your pa?” Shep asked.
“Yes. I hate to spend the money, but I want him to know we got this far.”
“I heard about the trick Carter pulled on you.”
“Trick? I call it highway robbery. I was so angry at that man! And if I ever get hold of those cowboys again—”
“You really think Alex and the boys done it?”
“I think they talked him into it, yes. It was mean and spiteful.”
Shep shook his head. “High spirit, them boys got.”
“Boys! They’re grown me
n, and they ought to be past doing such juvenile things. You just wait until the next time I see them. They’ll regret it.” Maggie’s face flushed.
Shep only smiled and turned to Sarah, who had patiently waited for her beans and biscuits.
After supper, Maggie picked out a fresh horse. Sarah had offered to ride with her. As they saddled up, Rhonda came to the place where they had the remuda horses picketed.
“Maggie, would you care if I rode to town with you?”
“Not at all,” Maggie said. Most of the women were too tired to do any more riding that evening, and she was surprised that Rhonda volunteered. Maggie judged they had an hour of daylight left. She hoped they could complete their errand and return quickly.
They’d gone about halfway when a horseman rode toward them from the town. They said nothing, but continued on until Sarah cried, “Tommy!” and spurred her mount toward him.
Maggie pulled up and looked at Rhonda. “What do you suppose he’s doing out here?”
“I don’t know, unless Sarah told him where we were headed and he wanted to see her.”
Maggie frowned. She didn’t want any man trouble on this drive. She nudged her horse forward. As they approached the couple, Tommy didn’t look happy. He said something to Sarah, and her smile drooped. By the time Maggie was close enough to catch her words, Sarah’s mood change was complete.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Tommy Drescher!”
“Oh yeah?” the handsome young cowboy said. “I guess I know whose side you’re on then.”
“I’m not on a side. I’m helping my friend and earning a little pocket money.”
“Ha! As if your pa won’t give you pocket money whenever you ask him. Some of the men need their wages. Ever think of that? You’re taking a man’s job for the fun of it. How do you think Leo Eagleton’s kids feel about that when they go to bed hungry?”
Sarah’s face colored. “Stop your nonsense. Those children are not hungry. I happen to know their mother found a temporary position to support them until their father’s well again. And I can do whatever I please, so stay out of it.”
“Stay out of it? Oh, no.” Tommy’s laugh had a sinister ring. “I’m the one fighting for a fair wage. I can’t stay out of it. But I suggest you go home where you belong.”
Cowgirl Trail Page 19