Brides of the West-Part One

by Hestand, Rita

  "You really take this job seriously, don't you?" She looked at him now, from his cowboy hat to his worn boots.

  "I'm responsible for these people."

  "I guess you are. You're a nice man, Cole. I'm glad I married a nice man."

  He quirked his head and a shy smile at her that had her heart jumping. His smile could be lethal. He didn't do it enough. She wondered at that. What had made him so serious?

  "Em…if I bark orders at you some days. If I'm short, I don't mean to be. But sometimes I might seem mighty harsh. It's not that I mean to be mean, it's that I'm concerned." He explained as though apologizing for something that hadn't happened yet.

  "I'll remember that." She smiled back. "If the occasion ever comes up."

  "Oh believe me, it will. I'm not an easy fella to get along with."

  "You keep saying that, I have no complaints in that regard."

  "You know, it strikes me as funny that you weren't already married." He remarked. "You're a fine looking woman, with a head on her shoulders. Why didn't some fella snatch you up."

  "I was engaged to a man." She paused, giving him time to sort it out in his head. "A man my uncle picked for me. I despised him…" Emily's voice leaked emotions she would have rather kept to herself. "Well maybe despised is too harsh a word. I didn't respect him is more like it."

  "Why, what did he do…?"

  "For one thing, he was embezzling money from my Uncle. I knew it. I caught him one night. It wasn't that he'd done it, but that he had contemplated it and I witnessed it. He threatened to kill me if I said anything. He said he could easily put the blame on me for it and no one would know. And the worst part was, he was right, it would have been easy. My uncle would have believed him too."

  "What did you do?"

  "I didn't tell my uncle. He wouldn't have believed me. He trusted him. In fact, he'd have believed Robert before me. I did the only thing a woman could do. I ran. I chunked his ring out the window and left. My uncle doesn't know I'm on this train. He doesn't even know about this train. He has no idea I left New York. And he doesn't care enough about me to come looking…except…well…Unfortunately, I was to inherit my father's holdings in the company on my twenty-six birthday. As a minor my uncle took me in so he could control that money. I'm not sure why my father stipulated my twenty-six birthday unless he wanted to ensure that I lived that long. That's why I had to get away. So now you know why I had to come on this train. And don't worry, at the first sign of trouble, I'll leave."

  The wagon got very quiet.

  "When's your twenty-six birthday?" Cole asked out of the blue.

  "In two weeks."

  Cole laughed out loud. It was the first time she'd heard him laugh, and it was a melodious sound.

  "Well," Cole studied the floor of the wagon for a moment. "Em, you are my wife now. As such, you are entitled to my protection. So as long as you are with me, I won't let anything or anybody bother you. I promise you that. And you don't have to leave…unless you really want to."

  Emily stared into the darkness, "You don't know what you are promising…I'm to inherit a great deal of money in two weeks. I figured if I could get away on this train, I'd be far enough away they'd never find me. But then again, maybe they'll declare me dead and collect on it themselves. I hope they do."

  "Do you want to go home, then?"

  "No! I don't care about the money. I have enough. I've saved my father's allowances all my life. He was generous. I'm not destitute. But I don't plan on putting you or your train in any harm's way. I also don't expect you to defend me."

  "Maybe not. But I'd die before I'd let anyone take you against your will." He promised. "Wouldn't they need a lawyer to declare you dead?"

  "My uncle has one. It wouldn't be hard."

  "Do you have a lawyer?"

  "Mr. Howard Null, my father's lawyer."

  "He's in New York?"

  "Yes. But I'm sure my Uncle will take care of all of this as soon as my birthday rolls around."

  "You should contact him and let him know you are at least alive. You can't let them get away with taking your inheritance. Even if you don't want the money, it isn't right."

  "Why do you care?"

  He got quiet again, then out of nowhere he answered her. "You're my wife…what concerns you, concerns me."

  "You don't owe me anything. If anything, I owe you."

  "There are few things that are sacred to me. But marriage just happens to be one of them. No matter why we married, no matter how long, I aim to take care of you, Em."

  "That's the way you see everything, isn't it? It's your responsibility. I've never met anyone quite like you Cole."

  Stunned Emily sat in silence, staring at the cowboy she took so easily to the alter. "Why…" She whispered through the darkness, still reeling from his promise.

  "Just one of those things Em. I didn't marry you on a whim. I sized you up quick. I had to. Given the circumstances. I know quality when I see it, and I know a strong willed, stubborn woman. You've got grit. And it just so happens…so do I. Talk to you later." He smiled and left the wagon.

  Emmy was stunned into a silence. Contemplating all that Cole had told her, she marveled at such a man.

  Chapter Six

  Emily saw the morning sun rise and she gaped at its beauty. Seldom had she taken the time to enjoy something so beautiful. But here, things were changing for her and a calm settled over her. She wasn't worried about running away from her Uncle or family. She wasn't worried what damage Robert might do to her. Here it was calm and peaceful. How could anything be so beautiful? The air smelled fresh and clean because of the storm. As she had the coffee going for an hour, Cole came up behind her.

  He had put his arms around her waist and held her loosely against him. Some of his men were watching, but they seemed to expect it.

  "It's something, isn't it?" Cole murmured near her ear.

  "Does the rain always do that?" She asked turning to look at him. A mistake he was too close and his glance slid to her lips.

  He shook his head. "Not like that it doesn't. You know you asked me, if I was a Christian, and I want to answer that question with this. Only God Almighty can make a sunrise that beautiful. And I believe we thank him when we appreciate it, notice it, love it. Sometimes God just smiles down on us. Today is Sunday, we won't be traveling on Sundays and we have a preacher on board this trip."

  Emily turned to look at him and at that moment she realized what a good man Cole Morgan was.

  "Where?" she asked.

  "Come on, I'll take you," Cole said, pulling her by the hand.

  Already a congregation had gathered and the preacher was well into his fire and brimstone sermon. Emily listened, although the preacher was not of her faith, he was preaching on morals and being good neighbors.

  There was a lot of singing afterward and Emily enjoyed it. One man played a harmonica and it sounded so beautiful in the morning sunlight.

  Afterward the women got together and brought food. Emily decided one of the best things she could contribute to this was her coffee, so she made a huge container and brought it to the gathering. Tables were set up with two by fours and there was enough food for an army.

  Cole spotted her and came to get a cup of coffee. "Been wanting to tell you the men swear by your coffee."

  She smiled. "You're surprised aren't you?"

  "A little yeah. I had you figured for knowing nothing about cooking, but you're really getting it down." He acknowledged. "And I wanted you to know, I appreciate the effort."

  "With Mrs. Meriwether's help I am. I'll admit, when I started out, I didn't know much. But I do learn quickly. I'm glad the men are pleased."

  "Thanks for cooking the potatoes too. My last cook…"

  "I know I heard. That's why I made a special effort to use them. Besides, it would be a waste if I didn't and there is a lot of things you can do with potatoes, according to Mrs. Meriwether." She crooked a smile at him. Something strange and wonderful passed betwe
en them just for a second, that was enough.

  Emily met several families and most of them were very friendly. She met one particular family that seemed to stand out, the Parkers. They had five kids, all of which were active and noisy. But Emily enjoyed their laughter. She only hoped she could remember their names.

  She spent as much time getting to know the people as she could. But with traveling so much it was hard.

  When she came across food she liked, she asked who made it and got the recipe. Most of the women were friendly and wanted to share their recipes with her. They talked to her, but there were a few like Beth, who was silent.

  Cole sat beside her in the evenings when they ate. Most of his men that weren't assigned a duty joined them.

  Emily was enjoying herself when a gun went off and Cole rushed to see what was going on. A crowd was building on the west end of the train and Cole made his way through the throng of people gathering to watch.

  Emily ran too. She couldn't imagine anyone firing a gun for no reason. It had to be some kind of trouble.

  But when Cole stopped suddenly, everything became quiet. A kid moved closer and Cole backed him up against his mother. "Stay out of the way, son." Cole instructed.

  Acrid smoke curled in the air.

  Two men had been arguing and swearing.

  Cole saw the gun in Mr. Jacobs hand and stared at him. "Put the gun down."

  "You don't understand," Mr. Jacobs argued, his eyes going from Cole to Mr. Murphy.

  "I understand we don't need a gun to settle things here. We have women and children Mr. Jacobs. You want one of them getting hurt."

  "No…but…"

  "Put the gun down," Cole instructed. His voice held no room for arguments.

  Emily stared motionless at Cole. Her husband had suddenly become a man of steel. Cold hard flint stared back at him, his shoulders tensed until Jacobs lowered the gun.

  "What seems to be the trouble here?" Cole demanded to know as he looked the men over. Jacobs was tall and lanky, Murphy was stout and built like a brick house. Jacobs mustache twitched as he eyed Cole.

  He didn't know these men well, but the determined looks in their eyes told him the situation could get serious.

  "That cow is sick. He won't put her down, she could infect the entire herd." Mr. Jacobs was saying as he holstered his gun.

  "What do you mean sick?" Cole frowned and stared at the innocent looking cow.

  "I don't know for sure, but I think it's Anthrax." Jacobs stared at the cow in question. "Martin wouldn't let me put her down. But the whole herd will be infected the longer she stays here. Somebody has to take charge and do something about it."

  "Somebody? Wrong friend. I'm the wagon master here. I am in charge and you'd best remember that fact. I'll decide if and when an animal has to be put down. That's part of my job. And there's a rule here about guns." He turned to look at the crowd gathered around them. "Guns are only for emergencies, Indians, and outlaws. They aren't for pulling on each other. They aren't for everyday use." He turned back to Jacobs. "If you want to remain on this train you better learn to keep that gun holstered. My first job on this train is to protect the people, I aim to carry that out."

  "Enough said." Jacobs lowered the gun. "But I mean it about the cow. He's sick."

  "Now just a minute. How do you know for sure it's Anthrax?" Cole questioned immediately seeing the panic in some of the faces. "And there's only one person taking charge, Jacobs, me!"

  "I don't know for sure. But it sure looks like it. And you know as well as I do, you don't fool around with Anthrax."

  "Go get Perez?" Cole ordered one of his men.

  Jacobs looked impatient. But his hand eased off the gun in his holster as Cole took charge of the situation.

  A few minutes later Perez showed up. "Si…what is happening?" Perez looked around at the crowd, then the two men who apparently disagreed.

  "Check that cow out. Does it have Anthrax?" Cole asked him.

  Perez's smile faded quickly and he moved toward the cow in question which was being subjected to all this excitement. Perez stared at both men for a moment before he bent and checked the animal thoroughly. He studied the cow and checked his mouth and then his hindquarters for a few minutes then turned to Cole.

  "Well?" Cole asked with impatience.

  Perez stared at the two men, then looked at Cole. "It is possible. But it's too early to tell."

  "Is this your cow, Murphy?"

  "No sir. But it ain't got no Anthrax. And there's no need to kill her. That's part of our food supply. I didn't want him just killing the cow because he thinks it has Anthrax. Ought to be someone that knows for sure."

  Cole folded his lips together and studied the problem for a long moment. Perez knew what he was talking about, he used to work for a big ranching outfit and he'd witnessed Anthrax first hand. Cole trusted his word. "Isolate the cow, put it behind the wagons. If it dies, then we'll have to take care of the rest. If it isn't Anthrax, we'll have saved the others."

  "Si." Perez took possession of the cow. Mr. Murphy came forward naturally wanting to object.

  "She ain't got no Anthrax." He insisted.

  "Is there any way you can prove that?" Cole asked staring at Mr. Murphy.

  "No sir, not right now, I can't. Like the man says it's too early to tell. But Jacobs was about to kill her. I had to stop him some way. You don't take action like that unless you are sure. And no one here is sure. It could create panic."

  "Then we'll put her at the rear. If she gets sicker, we'll have to put her down. If she dies before we can put her down then, we'll have to put the other cattle down just to be safe."

  "But that's our meat supply." Mr. Murphy insisted once more. "You can't just kill our meat supply."

  Cole came up to Murphy and stared him in the eye.

  "Let's get one thing very straight here, both of you. I run this outfit. I make the major decisions while we travel westward. You both signed a form saying you agreed with that. Now if one or both of you don't agree, get your gear and get out of here now. Quarreling is something we just don't have time for. There are laws in every territory we cross, but we live out here by the codes of the West. And we respect one another."

  "No ones' arguing that point," Jacobs yelled.

  "I'd say that gun argued that point."

  Cole turned to him now and the look in his eyes told everyone to walk lightly.

  "I've taken this trip about ten times. I've had all kinds of problems come up. But the reason they went through, the reason that got to their destination was working together as a whole. That's what we have to do. My decisions are based on experience, and that man, Perez is knowledgeable about Anthrax, among other things that's why I called him. He's invaluable to this train. He's worked on ranches, been on cattle drives. He knows everything there is to know about animals. Now I haven't done this much explaining in a long time, so don't push it. You gentlemen settle your differences…now!"

  Jacobs nodded slowly.

  Murphy started to argue and Cole turned his steel-eyed gaze on him.

  "Murphy, if it's Anthrax, they'll all be shot and burned. If it isn't, we'll have saved a killing. I don't want to lose the cattle any more than you do. I like beef myself. But when it comes to disease, we have to act responsibly." Cole stated, giving the crowd that gathered a healthy look of authority.

  Murphy nodded and scowled. "But it's not Anthrax."

  Cole shook his head, then looked at Jacobs. "Jacobs?"

  "Yeah!" Jacobs was angry that Cole didn't shoot the cow now.

  "Don't be pulling guns Mr. Jacobs. This is a wagon train, not a gunfight." Cole said. "There are women and children on this train. I don't aim to see a one of them hurt, do you understand?"

  "Yeah…I understand. You are gonna be sorry you didn't put her down." Jacobs hollered.

  "Unless there is someone here that knows about Anthrax personally, I'm doing what I think is best for all of us. We lose the cattle, you'll be begging me to go huntin
g every day. And I don't have time for it every day, nor do my men. That's a luxury, for better days."

  The crowd all whispered among themselves.

  Emily stood in the background watching. She'd never seen Cole in action, but she wouldn't have interrupted that authoritative voice for anything in the world. She agreed with Cole. Until they were sure, there was no use being panicked into doing something that later might be regretted.

  But there were others that didn't agree. Still, they respected Cole as the wagon master and went about their morning routines.

  Perez led the cow off and Cole moved away from the crowd.

  Emily walked back to the wagon and began preparing breakfast for the boys. They were all crowding around talking about the cow.

  Cole came to talk to them.

  "Keep an eye out. If that cow starts stammering around, it probably is Anthrax, but until we know for sure, there is no reason to start killing cows. We need those cows." Cole assured them. "We aren't far into the journey yet and trouble has started. I want you men to let me know if you see arguing and especially when a gun is raised. If I have to, I'll take their weapons away. Naturally, I will give them back if we come into outlaw or Indian trouble."

  "We agree with you, boss. But how we gonna control those people if it is?" Butch, one of the older hands asked. "That Jacobs fella could stir up some trouble. He's a pretty gun happy sort."

  "We'll worry about that when the time comes, if it comes. In the meantime keep your eyes and ears open. You hear anyone spreading rumors, come tell me." Cole said. "As for Jacobs, keep an eye on him. If he tries anything let me know. First-time something has happened this trip and he pulls a gun. I don't like that. I have to think of the safety of everyone on this train, and a gun happy cowboy is trouble."

  Emily stared at her husband out of the corner of her eye. Her growing admiration for the man astounded her. Still, their arrangement was a business one, and she couldn't afford to get tangled with a man like Cole. A man that never sat still.