Sarah laughed. “That wouldn’t be a very fair trade for their blacksmith.” Further down she could see the telltale swinging doors that usually heralded a saloon. She wanted to keep her new family as far away from that as she could.
“There’s the bank.” Rachel nodded to the left.
“Big Springs Bank and Loan. Sounds like a fancy place.” Beside the bank was a building that could be a school or a church. It appeared to be deserted. She continued on until she saw a side road. “I’m gonna turn in there. It’ll be easier to park the wagon off the main street.” As she guided the mules to the right, she realized she’d be parking right next to the jail. There was a small white house with a picket fence directly behind it. She stopped the mules and turned to look at the children.
“Anything wrong, Sarah?” whispered Rachel.
“I want you boys to stay here with the wagon. I’m gonna go talk to the sheriff and see if he knows of any places for sale.”
Daniel grabbed her arm. “Are you sure you should be going into the sheriff’s office, Sarah? I mean they might be looking for us.”
Sarah smiled. “You’re supposed to be calling me Samuel, Daniel.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. They might be looking for Sarah, but nobody’s looking for Samuel Kees. Besides, if I march in there like nothing’s wrong, he might not get suspicious. Trust me, it’ll be okay.” Sarah prayed silently as she put the brake on and then climbed from the wagon. She walked over to the sheriff’s door and took a deep breath before going inside.
Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the darker room after the bright sunlight, and then she got her first good look at the sheriff. My, God, he’s a handsome man. He stood when she entered and smiled. He had dark-brown hair, cut a little shaggy around the edges. He was well over six feet tall and probably weighed over two hundred pounds, and it looked like it was all muscle. She stepped closer and became mesmerized by his hazel eyes. They looked so kind and inviting.
“Howdy, young man. I’m Sheriff Abraham West. What can I do for you?”
Sarah swallowed hard and looked at her feet. “Hello, Sheriff. My name’s Samuel Kees. Me and my family just arrived in town, and we’re looking for a small farm to settle on. I wondered if you might know of any in the area.”
Abe gave her a strange smile and nodded. “I just might. How big a place are you looking for?”
Sarah felt herself relax. “Nothing too large. There’s only myself, and my four brothers.”
Sheriff West thought for a minute. “You just might be in luck today, Mr. Kees.”
“Um, please call me Sa, um, Samuel. Why would I be lucky today, Sheriff?”
“Then, please call me Abe. Well, I guess one man’s adversity can be your luck, if you like the looks of the place. Oliver Weston got some bad news about his family and had to up and leave pretty sudden. He didn’t have time to look for a buyer. Trouble is, the place is a little small and most folks need something bigger.”
“So, I should go and talk to the bank manager?”
“Yeah, hell, I’ll take you over and introduce you to old man Highly myself.”
“Oh, no, you must be busy. I don’t wanna keep you from your work.”
“Nonsense, it’ll do me good to get out for awhile.” He grabbed his hat off a nail on the wall and opened the door, motioning her to go ahead of him. Pausing, Abe glanced over at Sarah’s wagon and nodded to the children.
“Is it okay to leave the wagon parked there?”
“It’s fine. Nobody will bother the youngins.”
Abe walked with her down the boardwalk and then reached for her arm to help her across the street. She pulled away and looked at him questioningly.
“Sorry.” A dull red flush spread across his face. “I’ve seen a lot of people trip off the boardwalk and I just wanted to make sure you’d be okay.”
“No problem. I appreciate the concern. Do you think Mr. Highly will be in?”
“Yes, that’s his buggy parked over there.” He pointed to a fancy buggy parked in front of the bank.
When they arrived at the bank, Sheriff West held the door open for Sarah. Inside was a large room that was nearly empty. There was a woman standing behind a counter completely enclosed in iron bars. She looked like someone inside a jail cell.
Abe stepped forward. “Would you tell Mr. Highly that he has a visitor?”
The woman’s eyes cut to Sarah, and she frowned. “Sure thing, Sheriff.” She turned around and faced the open door behind her. “Mr. Highly, Sheriff West wants to see you.”
A short, heavyset older man with thinning gray hair, and heavy framed spectacles came hurrying out the door. He glanced at the sheriff and Sarah and then pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He walked around the counter and came out to stand next to Sarah. “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
“Jeremy, this is Samuel Kees and he’s interested in the Weston place.” Abe turned and smiled at Sarah. “Samuel, this is the owner of Big Springs Bank and Loan, Jeremy Highly.”
Sarah held her hand out for Mr. Highly to shake. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Highly. Sheriff West says the Weston farm might still be for sale.”
Mr. Highly mopped his brow again and nodded. “Yes, yes, it is.”
“Well, how much are you asking for it?”
The banker’s gaze slid over to the sheriff for a moment, and he swallowed hard. He turned back to Sarah and cleared his throat. “It’s a hundred dollars as is.”
“A hundred dollars!” Sarah cringed when she heard the shrill tone of her own voice. I wonder what’s wrong with the place that it wouldn’t fetch more money than that?
Mr. Highly blanched, and turned decidedly pale.
Concerned, Sarah reached out her hand and touched his arm. “Are you all right?”
“Of course,” he croaked, and then cleared his throat. “Of course, I’m fine. If one hundred dollars is too high I’m sure we can negotiate if you’re interested.”
Sarah frowned. Folks always said if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably was. “Can somebody give me directions so I can ride out and take a look at the place before I make a decision?”
“Absolutely, as a matter of fact, I have some free time right now.” Sheriff West gave her a wide smile. “I can ride out with you and show you around the place.
“Oh, no, Sheriff. That’s too much trouble.”
“No, it’s no trouble at all. Fact of the matter is, my place joins up next to it.” He moved close enough Sarah could feel the heat radiating from his body. “If you decide to buy it, we’ll be neighbors.”
She gave a shaky little laugh. “Neighbors, well, won’t that be nice. Guess there could be worse things than having a lawman for a neighbor.” She took a deep breath and then smiled. “Lead on, Sheriff. We’ll follow if I can get them stubborn mules to cooperate. Maybe you could tell me who around here I could buy a couple of good horses from. I’m thinking I’d rather not contend with those miserable beasts on a daily basis.”
Abe chuckled. “I can tell you several men that have horses they’re willing to part with, myself included.”
“Huh, well, you seem to be a many-sided individual, Sheriff West.”
He grinned and winked. “You have no idea.”
She turned to Mr. Highly. “I thank you for your time, Mr. Highly. I’ll let you know what I decide after I’ve had time to look around.”
“That will be fine, Mr. Kees. I’m here until early evening and after that, the sheriff knows where to find me.”
Sarah turned back to Abe. “Okay, Sheriff, lead on.”
* * * *
Sarah pulled on the reins hard. “Whoa, guys, whoa.” The wagon came to a stop in front of the small, strange-looking house.
Abe reined in his horse in front of the mules. “As you can see, the house and the barn are sod.”
“What’s that?” asked Zeke.
“Basically, its prairie grass and dirt mixed together. It�
��s blended together to form neatly stacked bricks that are about two feet high, one foot wide and six inches long.”
Sarah frowned at the house. “And it just holds together, like a wood house?”
“Not exactly the same. To make a sod house watertight a fine plaster of lime, sand and water is mixed and spread on the outside. They call that stucco.” He dismounted and tied his horse’s reins to a post in front of the little house. “Most soddies have dirt floors.”
“Dirt!” screeched Jonathan.
Abe snorted. “The man who built this place wanted only the best for his wife, so he had enough lumber brought in to put in a wood floor.” He gazed over at the house. “This place will be cozy and warm come winter.”
Daniel jumped down from the wagon and turned to help Rachel. “There ain’t no trees to speak of around here. What do folks do about cooking or building fires for heat?”
Abe pointed toward a wooded area to the west. “There’re different options. There’s always an abundance of wood on my place, and I’ve been known to sell the surplus to my neighbors. We have a lumber store in town, and they’ll sell ricks of firewood for a price.” His arm swept out toward the open fields. “Some folks burn cow chips. You can walk the fields and find them easily enough.”
Sarah put the brake on and climbed down from the wagon. She tied off the reins to the wheel and walked toward the house. She cautiously opened the door and walked inside. Taking a deep breath, she took in the smell of dried earth. She found herself in a large room. At one end was a huge, rock fireplace. A pile of long dead ashes lay in the hearth, while heavy cobwebs rained down from the ceiling.
“This place needs a thorough cleaning.” Rachel moved further into the room.
Sarah moved to a door on the far side of the fireplace. Someone had nailed a sheet up to give a little privacy. It was yellowed with age, and dusty. Gingerly she pushed it aside and stared into the other room. “What in the world?”
“What’s wrong, Samuel?” asked Rachel.
Sarah walked further into the bedroom. The room was small, just barely big enough for the two large beds set against the far wall. Both looked new, complete with plump, clean mattresses. She walked over and sat down. “These beds look like new. I wonder why they left them behind.”
Rachel looked around and crossed her arms across her stomach. “How did they stay so clean when everything else is so dusty and dirty?” She pointed to a small window between the beds. “It’s been so long since that was cleaned you can’t even see outside.”
“Dirt is the least of our problems. We can clean this place up in no time.”
“It’s going to be pretty tight with all of us fitting on these two beds.”
Sarah looked around and sighed. “I can get another bed and set it up in the other room.” She waved her arm. “We can decide all that later. I want to see the rest of the place.” She stood, and went back to the main room.
“Everything okay?” asked Abe.
Sarah smiled. “So far, everything’s great.” The side of the room opposite the fireplace was the cooking area of the house. It had a cast-iron cook stove in one corner and what looked like a sink without a pump along the back wall. The window above the sink let in a small amount of light. She walked over and gazed out the dirty window. The sunlight seemed to flow across the grass, spilling into the open door of the barn.
Abe walked over and stood beside her. “There’s a well out back for your fresh water, and there’s a barrel out there to catch rainwater for washing and bathing.”
“That’ll be handy.” Sarah turned around and looked at the room more carefully. There was a table with four chairs for eating. She walked closer and peered at one of the chairs. “This is strange.”
Abe cleared his throat. “What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “It looks like two of these chairs have been here for ages, and the other two look brand new. They’re not even the same wood.” She turned around. A work table stood against the wall next to the stove. There were shelves on the wall above it that held a couple of small pots, a large iron skillet, and a tray with silverware. Two kerosene lamps set on the scarred table. “Wonder why they didn’t take all their things with them?”
“I imagine they were hard up for space. They only took one wagon of goods along because of the long drive.”
Sunlight poured through the small window giving the room ample light to see the fine layer of dust that covered everything. “I’ll have to get up on the roof to check the chimney before any fires could be started.”
“I can take care of that for you.”
Sarah gave Abe a frown. “Sheriff, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and my family.”
“I know you are, Samuel, I was just being neighborly. And, you said you’d call me Abe.”
“Samuel, Samuel, you gotta come quick.”
Sarah ran outside when she heard Daniel’s voice. He was running from the barn with a wide smile on his face. “What’s wrong, Daniel?”
“You gotta come see this.” He pulled her toward the barn.
As they neared the door, she heard a bovine give a woeful moo. Sarah turned to Abe. “They left their livestock?”
“There’s a cow in the barn, and there’s chickens in a coop on the other side.” Daniel was practically dancing in excitement.
Abe pulled at the collar of his shirt. “I meant to tell you about that.” He cleared his throat. “Like I said, they only took the one wagon back, and it would have been hard on the animals to make the trip. He asked if we couldn’t sell the place to find someone who would take the cow and the chickens.”
“Who’s been taking care of them?”
“I’ve had my man, Angus, coming over and milking and gathering the eggs.” He gave Sarah a wink. “You’d be doing me a big favor if you buy this place. I won’t have to send Angus over here every day.” He narrowed his eyes. “You can milk a cow, can’t you?”
She had to take a deep breath to keep from mouthing off at the good sheriff. “Yes, I’ve milked cows in my day, not many, but a few. I’ll have to admit not knowing anything about taking care of chickens though.”
Abe shrugged. “Nothing to it. You just throw them some feed in there every morning and walk around and gather up all the eggs. You have to be brave, shooing them out of their roosts, or running your hand up under their plump bodies. Pick several you want to roost, and leave them in the divided section. You leave them locked up and they’ll sit on them eggs and give you some chicks. That way, when you’ve a hankering for fried chicken you just come out here, pick the one you want and take it to the chopping block.”
“Ew, you chop them up yourself?” Jonathan grimaced.
Abe laughed. “You chop their heads off so you can bleed them and then pull the feathers so you can cut them up and fry them for Sunday dinner.”
Jonathan’s gaze shot over to the coop, and then he looked back at Sarah. “I don’t really like fried chicken all that much. Maybe we can just eat eggs all the time.”
Sarah laughed and pulled him into a hug. From the way he struggled, she figured she’d embarrassed him.
“How much are you asking for the cow and chickens?”
“They come with the house and barn, Samuel.”
“Hmm.” Sarah walked over and went into the barn. It was surprisingly clean, compared to the house. The earthy smells of manure, dusty and slightly sweet-smelling hay, and animal filled her senses. Four stalls ran along the left wall. All of them appeared to have fresh hay, and one had a huge brown-and-white cow. She looked up at Sarah briefly, mooed, swished her tail back and forth, and put her head back down to munch on her hay.
“It’s got everything we could possibly need, Sar, I mean, Samuel.” Daniel pointed to the corner. There were pitchforks, feed buckets, and some tack. “They must’ve had horses. There’s blankets, brushes, combs, everything you’d need to take care of a horse.”
Bales of clean straw took up one corner of the barn. “I can’t
imagine anyone walking away from all this.” Sarah wandered outside and glanced at the chicken coop. There were a good dozen hens pecking around the yard, and one ornery looking Rooster off to the side. I wonder if any of the kids know anything about milking cows or taking care of chickens.
“Come on, Samuel, I want to show you out back.” Abe took Sarah’s arm and led her outside. He pointed to the well behind the house. “There’s your fresh water.”
“Sheriff, can I talk to you for a minute.” Daniel stood off to the side. His hands were gripped tightly into fists.
“Sure, son.” Abe walked over to Daniel, and side by side they walked toward the barn.
The well was about twenty feet from the house. Sarah walked over and peered down inside. She lowered the bucket with the pulley down into the depths and then turned the crank to bring it back up. When the bucket was even with the top, she pulled it over and used her hand to cup up some water and took a drink. “It’s fresh and cool.”
“What are those?” asked Rachel.
Sarah turned to see what she was asking about. “Those must be the rain barrels Abe told me about. We can catch rainwater to use for everything but drinking.”
“Samuel!” Daniel came running from the barn.
“What is it?” Sarah walked toward him, watching as Abe came sauntering after him. “What’s wrong?”
“The sheriff said that school’s out for the summer, but it should start back in another month. He offered me a job.”
* * * *
Abe watched as a wary look came over Sarah’s face.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Daniel.” Sarah smiled at the young boy.
“But Sar… Samuel, he said he’d pay me a whole dollar a week.” The boy was practically whining, and Abe took a step back when Sarah turned her frosty expression his way.
“Just what kind of job is it you have for him, Sheriff West?”
Abe took a step closer to her. “I thought we’d agreed you would call me Abe.” When she merely raised her brows, he chuckled. “He’d be sweeping out the jail, taking out the trash, and running errands for me a couple of hours a day as long as the weather holds. After school starts back, it would be for an hour each day, after classes.”
Martine, Missy - Star Wishes (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8