“It just means we share what we have.”
“Then why didn’t the judge ask you to endow Mama?” Jared was leaning on Salty’s arm. Salty walked slowly enough for the boy to keep up.
“It has to do with a lot of lawyer stuff,” Salty explained. “When women get married, their property belongs to their husbands.”
“Then I know I’m never getting married,” Ellen declared. “I’m not giving all my stuff to a man.”
Salty continued: “Even though a man isn’t legally required to give all his stuff to his wife, he’s expected to use it to take care of her and the children they’ll have together. So it’s really like they share everything.”
Sarah almost scoffed. Roger had felt everything belonged to him, even her parents’ ranch, and he’d been the only one who could make any decisions about what would be done with it. If he hadn’t left for the war, he likely would have sold it.
“Does that mean you’ll share your horses with Mama?” Ellen asked.
Salty tweaked her nose. “You don’t care about what I’ll share with your mother,” he accused. “You just want to ride my horses.”
Ellen jumped back but laughed. “Can I?”
“If your mother says it’s okay we’ll give it a try, but we have to go slow. They’re not used to anybody but me.”
Sarah noticed Jared was trying to pretend he wasn’t listening. It seemed life in Texas conspired to make her son feel useless.
“We can talk about horses when we get home,” Salty was saying to Ellen. “Right now we need to purchase some supplies.”
He bought a buggy and a horse to pull it, two male pigs, a small flock of chickens, and a milk cow. He also made arrangements for a quantity of lumber to be delivered to the ranch as soon as it could be sent from the sawmill. He bought wire fencing as well. If it didn’t have to do with horses or cows, Ellen wasn’t interested.
“What are you going to build?” Jared asked.
“I expect the first thing I’ll build is a chicken pen. I’m against feeding them to the coyotes.”
“They’ll eat the pigs if they can.”
“We’ll have a pen for them, too. But first I’ve got another purchase I want to ask your mother about.”
“What’s that?” Sarah asked.
Salty turned to her. “What do you think about a dog?”
“I always wanted a dog!” Jared said, excitement in his eyes. “Can we have one?”
Roger had insisted on bringing his into the house even when it was filthy. Sarah didn’t dislike dogs, but… “Why do we need one?”
“The right dog would keep the coyotes away, as well as help with the cows.”
Salty had mentioned cows, so now Ellen was interested. “How?”
“It can chase cows out of thickets where it’s hard for a man on horseback to go. It can follow a scent when there’s no trail, and they can catch rabbits that eat grass you’d rather keep for your herd.”
“Where could you find such a dog?” Jared asked. Roger’s had never done any of that.
Salty winked at Sarah. “I just happen to know a man who has one he wants to give away.”
“Why does he want to give it away?” Jared asked.
“He has to move to San Antonio, and he doesn’t think the dog will be happy there.”
“Do you think he’d give the dog to us?”
“We just might ask him,” Salty said.
Jared turned to Sarah. “Can we?”
She resented Salty putting her in this position. If he had mentioned the dog earlier, they could have talked and she could have made up her mind before the children knew anything. Now she was going to come across as a villain if she decided they shouldn’t have it. “I’ll have to wait until I see the dog,” she said.
“When can we see him?” Jared asked.
“We can do it now.”
Sarah simmered and fretted during the time it took to walk to a small house on the outskirts of town. Jared hadn’t stopped asking questions the whole time. It was becoming increasingly clear that as long as the dog wasn’t vicious or otherwise unacceptable, she was going to have to let him have it, whether she wanted the darn thing or not.
The dog the old man pointed out didn’t come anywhere near the beast painted in Sarah’s mind by Salty’s description. He was lying in the shade of a fig tree. He didn’t bother to lift his head, just watched them out of half-open eyes.
“He’s depressed,” the old man explained. “I can hardly get him to eat.”
Sarah could believe that. He looked like a collection of bones held together by skin. There was some hound in him but probably a half dozen other breeds as well. He had short, dull brown hair, long bony legs, and a flat head. Sarah thought he was one of the ugliest critters she’d ever seen.
“What’s his name?” Jared asked the old man.
“Bones,” came the amused reply. “He’s always looked like he was starving.”
Jared let go of his hold on Salty’s arm and managed to hop over to the dog on his own. He dropped to his knees. “Hey, Bones,” he said. “I’m Jared. If Mama says it’s all right, you’re going to come live with me.”
The dog lifted his head and began to pound the ground with his tail.
“Want to smell my hand?” Jared asked. When he held it out, the dog got up, came to sniff and then lick it. When Jared tried to pat him on the head, the dog licked the boy’s face. Jared laughed before turning a beaming smile on his mother. “He likes me already!”
Her son was already in love with a frightful animal that didn’t look capable of moving faster than a lumbering walk. How could this miserable beast drive off coyotes or help herd cows? Sarah said, “Salty says we need a dog who can work for us. This dog—”
“His name is Bones.”
“Bones doesn’t look like he can do much work.”
“Don’t let his looks fool you,” the old man said in defense of his dog. “He’s not one to waste energy when he doesn’t have to.”
“I’m sure he’s a sweet dog—” she began.
“Sweet? Why Bones will tear the throat out of any coyote or wolf that comes near this place. During the last year I had my ranch…”
The old man gave her a list of achievements which would do credit to three dogs. It was difficult to believe Bones had accomplished even a fraction of it. Except for licking Jared’s hands and face, the beast hadn’t moved.
“What say we take the dog for a week or so and see how he works out?” Salty said.
“You can save yourself the trouble,” the old man said. “I’m not giving him to anybody who doesn’t want him.”
“I want him,” Jared pleaded. “He likes me.”
The old man’s expression softened. “Seems he does. I don’t remember that he’s ever taken to anybody like he’s taken to you.”
Sarah could feel the ground giving way under her feet faster than quicksand. She would take the dog because Jared wanted him. That’s why she’d taken Salty, too. Wasn’t it? When was she going to stop letting guilt and pity make her do things she didn’t want?
She turned to Salty. “Are you sure about this dog?”
“Yes. I’ve seen him work.”
She couldn’t imagine the dog doing anything she would call work, but she only had to look at the happiness in Jared’s eyes to know Bones had already proved to be of some worth. She turned to the old man and said, “If you’re willing to give him to my son, we’ll see your dog has a good home.”
The old man didn’t answer right away. Rather, he watched Jared and the dog. It was as though each had sensed a need in the other.
The thought flashed through Sarah’s mind that this was similar to what happened when she first met Salty. She hadn’t understood then what drew her to him, but now she began to. There was a kindness there that permeated everything
about him. It wasn’t just in the things he did. It was in the way he spoke, the way he smiled, the way he made a person feel at ease around him. The way he made people want to be around him. That’s why she’d chosen him rather than Walter. It wasn’t Jared at all. It was her. She wanted that kindness for Jared, of course, but she wanted it for herself, too. She hadn’t realized how intense was her need until it overwhelmed her intellect and caused Salty’s name to come out of her mouth.
The old man swung his gaze from Jared to Sarah. “I’ll give you Bones. I know you don’t want him, ma’am, but you’ll be good to him because of your boy.” He turned to Salty. “You’ve had your eye on Bones ever since you heard I was giving up the ranch. Now that you’ve got a ranch of your own, I guess you need him more than I do.”
Sarah began to feel invisible. She had been Roger’s widow and Jared and Ellen’s mother for a time, important in her own right, but now she felt like just a wife again. Before her first marriage she’d been Frank Pettishall’s daughter. She wanted to yell that she was not Mrs. Benton Wheeler any more than she’d been Mrs. Roger Winborne. She was Sarah, a strong, independent woman who had held her family together for six years on her own, a woman who’d chosen this man to be invited into her family, not the other way around. But she didn’t say any of that because it would have been unfair to Salty.
“We’ll take good care of Bones,” her new husband promised the old man. “We’ll come by for him early in the morning.”
“Can’t we take him now?” Jared asked.
“The hotel won’t allow dogs,” Salty explained.
“What hotel?”
“The hotel we’re staying in tonight.”
Ellen had lost interest in the conversation, but she perked up now. “I’ve never been inside a hotel!”
Salty set a time to pick up the dog, and they left. Sarah had to talk to him about doing things without consulting her first. He’d bought all that stuff for the ranch on his own initiative, cornered her into accepting a dog she didn’t want, and now he was going to spend money to stay in a hotel when there was no reason they couldn’t sleep outside just as they had done all the way to the Randolphs’ and back. He seemed sensitive to her feelings but still he kept making decisions without her.
Their walk back through town was slow because Salty insisted Jared walk alongside them. By leaning on his arm, the boy managed. Jared tried not to show it, but Sarah knew how much the effort of limping cost him. She was grateful to Salty for stopping several times to give her son a chance to rest.
Salty kept up a running conversation with the children about all the buildings they passed, and about what they could buy here or there, or about what kind of business was conducted inside. Her children had only a vague idea of the importance of a newspaper, lawyers, and the bank. Jared found it incredible that anyone could be rich enough to have someone else bake their bread, while Ellen thought women were foolish to want dresses like the fancy gown she saw in a dress shop window. Isolation had deprived them of the knowledge and experience that nearly every other child their age took for granted. That made Sarah feel like a failure—a feeling that only intensified after seeing where Salty insisted they eat supper.
The Bon Ton Restaurant was over half full when they entered. Compared to everyone else, Sarah and her children looked like beggars. Her dress was faded from too many washings, and thin from too much use. Her children’s clothes had been patched to cover wear and tears in the fabric. Even Salty looked like a common cowhand.
The children were too excited to be aware of the stares, but Sarah couldn’t understand why Salty seemed equally unconcerned. The three settled happily around a table. From the way the waitress looked at them, Sarah wouldn’t have been surprised if she demanded proof they could pay before taking their orders.
Jared’s eyes grew wide when the waitress listed all his choices. “Can I order anything I want?” he asked.
“Sure,” Salty said. “Everyone can.”
“How much is it going to cost?” Sarah asked.
“It don’t make no difference whether you get chicken, pork, or beef,” the waitress told her. “All the plates cost the same. Children’s plates cost half.”
Sarah was so agitated she doubted she could eat much. She sat in hard-held silence while Jared and Ellen discussed their choices with the waitress, who grew impatient with their questions. She wanted to explain that her children had never been in a restaurant, that being given a choice was an experience to be drawn out and savored. Ellen settled on pork chops in gravy, while Jared wanted baked chicken with sage dressing. When the waitress told him that would take about thirty minutes to prepare, he offered to order something else, but Salty said they would wait.
Sarah itched to kick Salty’s ankles under the table until he couldn’t walk. She’d rather eat a rabbit stew cooked over an open fire than be stared at by the other customers and practically sneered at by their waitress. Didn’t he have any pride? How could he sit here knowing what everybody thought of them?
The waitress turned to Sarah. “What do you want, ma’am?”
“My wife and I will have the meatloaf,” Salty said. “George Randolph tells me it’s the best in Austin.”
The change in the waitress’s attitude was instantaneous. “You know Mr. Randolph?” She actually smiled. “Folks here haven’t forgotten the ruckus he kicked up when he met his wife in here. Every time Dottie hears he’s in town, she swears she won’t let him through the door, but she always does. I think she’s got a soft spot for him.”
Sarah felt more lost than ever. What exactly had George Randolph done when he met Rose, and why did Dottie—whoever she was—object to him coming into the restaurant?
“George had a little disagreement with a man who was mistreating her,” Salty explained. “It might not have meant much, but Rose’s father was a Union officer and a friend of General Grant. When George married her, it made quite a stir.”
The waitress left, and Salty filled the following minutes with stories about growing up on his father’s farm, a few tales about funny things that happened during the war, and plans for what he hoped to do when they got back to the ranch. Sarah was thankful the children were so interested in his stories they missed the interest their presence in the restaurant had created.
After what seemed an eternity, their food arrived. The meatloaf was very good, but Sarah couldn’t enjoy it. She couldn’t escape the feeling that everyone around them believed she shouldn’t be here. She thought it was significant that none of the departing customers spoke to them on the way out.
“Aren’t you going to eat your supper?” Ellen asked.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Can I have your meatloaf?” Jared spoke up.
“I asked first,” Ellen said.
Sarah divided her uneaten meal between her two children and watched them devour every morsel. That made her feel like she never fed them enough, or that what she cooked wasn’t good enough to excite their appetites. She knew Salty wasn’t trying to show her how she’d failed to provide for her children, but he’d done so just the same. Both kids were looking at him like he had the answer to every question, that he could change any situation and make it better. Hadn’t he turned their waitress’s attitude from scorn to cheerful helpfulness? Hadn’t he convinced a gruff old man to part with his treasured dog? Now he’d taken them to a restaurant and was going to pay for them to stay in a hotel. The difference he’d made in their lives was already so great they were bound to start turning to him rather than her.
Sarah thought she might feel better after they left the restaurant, but she didn’t. Salty handing over the money for their two hotel rooms so casually you’d think his pockets were bulging with it made her feel worse than ever. Her children were so excited that not even full stomachs after a long, tiring day could slow them down. Both inspected every corner of the lobby, trying out the chairs
and sofas, picking up magazines to look for pictures, and then paused longest in front of a buffalo head mounted on the wall. It was nearly as big as they were.
“Will I have my own bed?” Ellen asked.
“You’ll have to share with your mother,” Salty told her.
“What about Jared?”
“He’ll share with me.”
Sarah could practically see Jared stand a little straighter. It was probably the happiest he had felt about himself in ages, and someone other than his mother had been the one to do it.
All of her anger and frustration spilled over. “I want to speak to you,” she told Salty. “Now,” she added, when he didn’t respond immediately.
Nine
Sarah tried to keep her voice level so the children wouldn’t realize she was upset. They were unlikely to have another day like this for a long time, and she didn’t want to ruin it for them.
“Do we have time to get the children settled into their rooms first?” Salty asked.
“We didn’t bring anything from the wagon,” Sarah pointed out.
“I had everything sent over from the livery stable when we left the horses and the livestock there.”
Ellen looked around. “I don’t see my clothes.”
“Everything is in your rooms,” the clerk told them. “Mr. Wheeler had the man from the livery stable reserve the rooms when he brought over your luggage.”
Sarah knew if she wasn’t able to get things off her mind soon she was going to explode. “It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to settle them in their rooms.”
“I’ll be ready when you are,” Salty said.
Unable to say any of the things burning on the end of her tongue, Sarah took the key and headed up the stairs. Her room was on the third floor in the back. It was small and minimally furnished with a bed, chest, a ladder-back chair, and a stand with a bowl and pitcher. Their luggage and one of the bags Rose had given them had been placed on the bed.
“I don’t know why they put this bag here,” Sarah said as she moved everything off. “It should have gone to Jared’s room.”
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