by Linda Bridey
“Yeah. Mrs. Dwyer and I are going to take a tour to see what furniture we’re going to need now that Daddy took a bunch with him. Care to join us?” Joe asked.
“I would be delighted,” Randall said.
Lacey smiled at him. “I really do love your accent.”
“Yes, well, the ladies certainly do seem to,” Randall said.
“Why, Randy, you old dog. Sounds like you’ve been gettin’ around,” Joe said as they started out.
Randall smiled. “You could say that.”
The three of them had fun the rest of the morning. Joe kept picking on Randall about being a ladies’ man and trying to find out who he was seeing. Randall was not going to divulge that information, however, and it drove Joe nuts. When they were through, Randall left them to go make his arrangements for the upcoming trip.
“That was a very nice thing you did for Randall,” Lacey said as they were walking to the barn later on.
Joe said, “He’s a good man and he’s put up with a lot from Daddy. I meant it when I said he’s earned it.”
Lacey grabbed Joe’s hand and pulled him to a stop.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I think there’s a lot more to Joe Dwyer than most people think there is,” Lacey said. “You just don’t show it to them very much. I know what you say you are, but I think there’s a whole different man in here,” she said and put her hand over his heart. “I like it when I see him, just like I did today.”
Joe said, “Do you know that other than Luke and Jamie, you are the only other person who’s ever told me that?”
“That’s a shame. Of course, if you don’t let other people see it, they don’t know it,” Lacey said. “Come on. Let’s go for a ride.”
Joe smiled and followed her to the barn, but his mind was working on what she’d just told him.
*****
Randall had appointed his most trusted houseboy the as temporary butler while he was gone. His name was Bret Jenkins. Bret was a sober, responsible young man who took his new post with the utmost seriousness. Joe said he was going to have to work on loosening up Bret. Lacey spent the next two weeks in a whirlwind of furniture buying, dress shopping, and passion.
Joe didn’t let her do any housework or cooking. He said that’s what he was paying the servants for. Lacey watched two foals be born and helped Joe name them. She’d studied the lineage of both the dams and sires and together they came up with appropriate names. A Thoroughbred mare arrived at the ranch one day and Joe was ecstatic.
“C’mon, darlin’,” Joe said.
“What’s going on?” Lacey asked as she followed Joe outside.
“Ever see a mare covered?” Joe asked.
“With a blanket?” Lacey asked.
Joe laughed. “No, by a stallion. This mare is here to be bred with Lancelot.”
“Oh, wow! No, I’ve never seen that,” Lacey said.
“Well, it might not happen today,” Joe said. “She’ll be here for about a month.”
“Why won’t it?” Lacey asked.
“Depends on how ready she is,” Joe answered. “Hey, Barney! How the hell are you?” Joe said in greeting to one of his regular customers.
“I’m good, Joe. Real good,” Barney said. His thick shock of dark hair blew in the wind and his squinted his dark eyes against the dust blowing around. “I hope Lance is ready because this little lady sure is.”
“Just the way I like ‘em,” Joe said.
Lacey wasn’t offended by what they were saying because she was paying more attention to the mare than she was the men. She was a beautiful chestnut mare with a nicely crested neck and slightly dished head. Lacey looked over her legs and found them to be clean with no blemishes. Her large, dark eyes watched everything with interest and her ears flicked back and forth.
Joe watched her look the mare over. Barney did the same. “Who’s this pretty thing?”
“My wife.”
Barney laughed. “Your what?”
“My wife.”
“Holy jumpin’ catfish! When did that happen?” Barney asked.
“’Bout a month ago,” Joe answered.
“Does she like horses?” Barney inquired.
“Nope. Addicted to them. She knows a good horse when she sees one, too,” Joe said and walked over to Lacey. “What do you think of her?”
“She’s beautiful,” Lacey said. “I think she and Lance will make a great foal.”
“Me, too,” Joe said.
There was a commotion in the barn and stallion screams rent the afternoon air. The mare answered and moved restlessly in the trailer.
“What’s that?” Lacey asked.
Joe laughed. “That’s just Lance welcoming his lady. Hey, Barney, I don’t think she’ll need a teaser.”
“Me, neither.”
Lacey asked, “What’s a teaser?”
Joe said, “It’s a stallion that’s used to see if the mare is ready, but not the one you’re gonna breed her with. If she presents to him, you know she’s ready.”
“So she doesn’t need that then?”
“Right,” Joe said. “Hey, Barney, let me get the big guy into the paddock and we’ll get her out. C’mon, Lacey. I’ll teach you all about how foals are made,” he said with wink.
Lacey laughed and took the hand he held out to her.
*****
Joe enjoyed teaching Lacey and Lacey loved learning. She watched the breeding process with rapt attention. Joe was Lance’s primary handler, although there were several others who had lines attached to Lance’s halter. There were also two handlers for the mare. Joe explained that this was in case either the mare or stallion got vicious with the other horse. If the mare were to kick, the stallion could be injured. The stallion could try to bite the mare or rear and strike her. If either of those things happened, the handlers would pull the horses away from each other.
However, as Joe predicted, Lance was a gentleman and the breeding was performed without a hitch. There was two hour break and then the horses were bred again.
“That’s it for today,” Joe said after he’d put Lance in his stall.
“Now what?” Lacey asked.
“We’ll do it again every other day or so until she has no interest in Lance. Then we wait about three weeks after that to make sure that she doesn’t come back into heat. If she does, then we start all over again, but we’ve never had that problem with Lance, so I don’t expect any issues this time either,” Joe told her.
“This is fascinating,” Lacey said.
Joe laughed. “Yeah, it sure is. I thought I loved horses. I think you may beat me in that department.”
“I want a horse to train,” Lacey blurted.
Joe’s eyebrows rose. “You mean of your own?”
“Yes. I want a Standardbred colt to train from the beginning,” Lacey said.
Joe said, “None of our Standardbred mares are pregnant.”
“I know that. But there’s a few foals listed in the newest catalog,” Lacey said.
“You’ve been shopping for horses?” Joe said.
“Yeah. Please, Joe?” Lacey said. “I’ll pay you back from purses once he’s winning all kinds of races.”
“You mean you want to do the actual day to day training?” Joe said.
Lacey smiled. “I think I just said that. I did all of Polly’s training so I know what I’m doing. I know all about conditioning and nutrition. I can do it.”
Joe wasn’t sure about the idea. “I don’t know, Lacey. I mean, training a mare like that is one thing, but an expensive horse like the one you’re talking about is another.”
Lacey took a page from Jamie’s book and used feminine persuasion to get her way. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she said and put her arms around his neck.
Joe said, “Yeah? And just what are we talkin’ about here?”
Lacey pulled his head down so she could whisper in his ear. Joe grabbed her hand and started pulling her with him to the house.
*****
A couple of nights later, they met Luke and Jamie and went to the Watering Hole. Joe and Luke had settled their differences like they always did and a good time was had by all. None of them got blitzed like the last time, however. Joe and Lacey drove home talking about which colt she was going to buy.
They were a couple of miles from the ranch when they noticed an eerie, orange glow in the sky. Joe urged King and Rook into their fastest gait.
“What it is?” Lacey asked.
“Fire, and I’d say it’s a big one. Oh, please don’t be the ranch!” he said.
Lacey’s heart began pounding with fear as they travelled rapidly towards home. As they came around a stand of trees, their worst fears were confirmed. One of the barns was engulfed in flames and the other one was partially ablaze. As they neared the estate, stable hands ran to and fro with buckets, but it was really a lost cause.
Joe stopped the team at the house and ran towards the barns. “Eddie! Where the hell is Eddie?”
Eddie ran over to Joe. “We got a lot of the horses out. They’re over in the south pasture so they’re safe.”
“What about Barney’s mare?”
“She’s safe,” Eddie said.
“What horses did we lose?” Joe asked.
Eddie said, “Merlin, Butch, Jasmine, Napoleon, and…” Eddie was afraid to go on.
Joe’s eyes widened. “Not Lance. Please don’t say Lance.”
“I’m so sorry, Joe. We did everything we could, but he wouldn’t come out. He hurt a couple of the stable hands. There was nothing we could do,” Eddie said.
Lacey saw Joe’s jaw square as he absorbed the dreaded news. Joe had to separate the crushing personal grief from his business side and do what needed done. He nodded and said, “Ok. So where are we at with the other barn? This one’s a goner, so don’t bother with the water anymore. It won’t help.”
Eddie said, “We’ll shift all our efforts over to the other one, but I don’t know how much we’ll salvage.”
Joe started taking off his jacket, vest, and tie. “Lacey, will you please take these to the house?” he said handing them to her. He didn’t care about ruining the clothes, but he didn’t want to be encumbered by them.
“Yes. Is there anything else I can do?” Lacey asked. Her heart went out to Joe.
“Not right now,” Joe said, and walked off to help fight the fire.
*****
Lacey sat on the lawn all through the night as the fire burned and the men worked at fighting it. It became more about making sure that it didn’t spread to the fields than it was about saving the barns. A few ranchers from neighboring ranches came to help, but there was little to be done.
As dawn came, the barns lay in ugly smoldering heaps where they had once stood sturdy and beautiful. Tears had streamed down her face off and on as she watched the horrible destruction of the barns and thought about the horses that had been lost. She knew that the loss of Lance was a terrible blow to Joe and she was worried about her husband.
A man separated from the others and Lacey saw Joe come walking towards her. He was covered in soot and grime and his face showed great fatigue. He sat down beside her on the grass. He put his arms on his drawn-up knees and looked at the wreckage of years of hard work and countless dollars spent. Then he put his forehead down on his arms. Lacey put her arms around him and Joe leaned on her a little.
He tried to fight back the grief and anger but it was too much to contain. Lacey heard his hoarse sobs and embraced him. Joe pulled her onto his lap and held onto her tightly for a long time. Once his tears were spent, Joe raised his head and heaved a sigh. Lacey ran her fingers through his hair.
“Joe, there’s nothing more to do right at the moment. Let’s go get some coffee and a little something to eat. You should clean up. You’ll feel a little better,” Lacey said.
Joe nodded and let Lacey take him into the house.
Chapter Eleven
The news spread fast and it didn’t take long before Luke and his cousins showed up. None of them could believe the sight when they turned down the lane leading to the Dwyer estate.
“What a damn shame,” Seth said as he remembered the beautiful barns that had stood on the property.
Luke said, “Yeah. It’s a huge loss. I hope they got all of the horses out.”
Dean pulled the wagon to a stop and Luke hopped over the side followed by Marcus. They found Joe helping to wet down the rubble to keep flames from breaking out again.
“Hey, fellas,” Joe said listlessly.
“Damn, Joe, I’m so sorry,” Luke said. “Were you able to get the horses out?”
“All but five. Lance didn’t make it out,” Joe said, and his voice cracked. The next second, he hurled the empty bucket in his hand as far as he could. “I should have been here! I could have got him out! He would have done it for me!”
Luke tried to comfort Joe, but Joe was too livid at the moment. “Do you know how much time and money I put into that horse? From the stud fee I paid for his sire, what I paid for his dam, and all the training and conditioning? He was the best damn horse I’ve ever had. So much heart and intelligence and I’ll never have another like him. I had mares lined up to breed with him for the next six months. I have to cancel all of them and return the booking fees. Do you know what that’s gonna cost me?”
“Joe, I know, but you need to calm down,” Luke said.
“No, what I need is to have my horses back and my barns not be burned to the ground!” Joe shouted as he flung his arms wide. “Not only that, but I may not have enough to cover the rebuilding of these barns. What the hell am I supposed to do with the horses? I lost tack and equipment and buggies! Racing harnesses, you name it! Insurance will cover some of it, but most likely not all of it.”
Seth stepped over to Joe. “Listen, Joe, you might have to scale back some, but you can rebuild. Right now, though, you need to get all of this cleared away. We can help with that.”
Marcus said, “If you don’t mind a bunch of Lakota braves running around your place in loincloths, I can get some of them to help.”
Dean said, “You just want them to come help so that you can run around in your loincloth.”
“Yes, Dean, that’s my main motivation,” Marcus retorted. “Joe, I’m sure you have financial advisors, but Claire has helped with our financial matters and I’m sure she’d be happy to help you if you’d like.”
Joe was touched by their concern and offers of assistance. “I’ll take all the help I can get at this point. Lakota, bring on your men. I don’t care what they wear. I’ll let you know about having Claire look at things.”
“Little brother, if your other family can help with the clearing away, we can start helping build some temporary shelters for the horses,” Seth said.
Marcus nodded and Dean said, “Well, we’re gonna need the other wagon and team. Let’s go back and get them. I’ll drop you off at your place so you can go the camp and rally some help. Jack can drive the other team.”
Luke said, “I’ll stay here and help with watering down the ruins.”
Seth said, “Yeah, me, too.”
“Ok,” Dean said, “C’mon, Marcus.”
Marcus put a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “You’re not alone in this, Joe. Remember that.”
Lacey came down from the house. She was dressed in a pair of Joe’s work pants and a shirt.
Joe smiled at the picture she made. “What are you doin’?”
“I guess I can pass water as well as anyone else,” Lacey said.
“Darlin’, you don’t have to do that,” Joe said.
Lacey said, “I know I don’t have to, but I want to. This is my home, too, Joe.”
Joe nodded. “All right. Just be careful.”
“I think I can handle buckets without getting hurt,” Lacey said. “Hi, everyone,” she said to the Samuels men.
They all greeted her and Luke gave her a hug. “How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Ok, I g
uess. It’s just unbelievable,” she said. “Well, I’m gonna get to work.”
She bid the men goodbye and went to join the men in the bucket line.
Seth said, “Joe, that’s some woman you got there. Don’t take her for granted.”
Joe watched her shapely backside and thought about how brave Lacey had been and how she had comforted him. “Yeah, you’re right. She’s something else.”
Luke smiled, but kept from commenting.
Joe turned to Dean. “You got any extra draft horse harnesses? I’ve got two Clydesdales that I can put to use to help start pulling debris away so we can water it all down and start removing it.”
Dean looked over in the pasture and saw the two huge horses. Dean whistled. “Those are some beautiful horses. You sure you want to use them for work?”
Joe said, “Yeah. We need them and they’re good and strong. Oh, and we can use my two mules, too.”
“All right. We’ll be back just as soon as possible.”
Dean and Marcus left and Luke, Joe, and Seth began working.
*****
When Dean returned, he wasn’t alone. As he’d said, he had Jack drive the other team. They’d gone to the lumber yard and picked up two loads of wood. They’d brought tools, ropes, harnesses, and other building paraphernalia. Dean had made a trip through town to ask anyone available to come help do some building. Jake had closed the bar and used his two Percheron geldings to pick up lumber. He also brought what tools he had.
Men and women came to assist Joe and Lacey in their time of need. The women had brought food and helped Joe’s cooking staff to feed all the workers. Most of the men brought lumber and tools.
In the middle of organizing the workers and coming up with a plan, loud Indian whoops sounded. They turned to see a string of Lakota braves coming from the trees at the back of the Dwyer estate. They thundered up to the other group on their horses. Some of the people didn’t know what was happening and began backing off.
Marcus brought Arrow to a stop and dismounted. He’d stayed in his regular clothes so everyone would recognize him. He held up his hands and shouted, “They’re here to help. Don’t be afraid!”
Joe went forward and greeted Black Fox. “Hello, brother.”