The Two Sams

by F. M. Worden

  At home they all said good night. Dolores put Louise to bed. Sam went to his room and to bed, one tired dancer.

  On Sunday morning he rose from a sound sleep, sat up on the side of the bed and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Went to the wash pan, poured water from the pitcher and washed his face and hands, he wiped his face with his hand, and said to himself, “I need a shave.”

  Looking at his watch, it read seven am. Someone must be in the kitchen by now. Pulling on his pants he retrieved his moccasins from the dresser, slipped them on and headed for the kitchen, while putting on a shirt.

  In the kitchen, Dolores was preparing breakfast. She turned and welcomed him with a smile. “What a Saturday night, I can’t remember having a better time. Sam, I’m sure you made an enemy of Deputy Clint, watch out for him he’s been known to shoot from the back.”

  “I’ve known men like him, I’m sure we’ll meet again. How’s the coffee?”

  “Hot and ready.” She poured a cup. “How do you like your eggs?”

  “Scrambled.”

  She broke two eggs into a fry pan. She told Sam to get a plate and get the bacon from the stove. “Breakfast is ready.”

  As he sat down, Stein came in showing a long face. Sam asked, “Where were you last night? We were all looking for you.”

  “Got tied up, my girl’s folks. They questioned me all evening, you know the usual things. How I plan to take care of her and a whole lot more.”

  “Did you ask her?” Sam asked.

  “I did. She never gave me an answer.”

  Dolores chimed in, “Don’t give up, keep asking.”

  “I will.” He sat down at the table looking dejected.

  Sam asked Dolores if he could have some hot water as he needed to shave.

  “I’ll heat some.” She put a pan on the stove filled with water. Sam and Stein sat talking while the water was heating.

  Just as they finished eating, Rosa entered the kitchen wearing a white lace rebozo (shawl) over her head and shoulders. It really turned Sam’s head. “Rosa, you are very beautiful this morn-n.”

  He stopped short and bit his upper lip. Dolores gave him a dirty look. He put his head in his hand and shook his head. Said to himself, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Rosa looked to him and just smiled. To Dolores she said, “Momma we must hurry, we’ve missed first mass. We will be late for the next, hurry Momma, hurry Momma.”

  Dolores went to their room and returned wearing a black shawl over her head. The two left by the back gate. Stein started to leave. Sam told him to not get down on himself. “It’ll work out, go easy, I know sometimes these things take time.”

  Stein turned to leave and said, “My first name is Benjamin, I like my friends to call me Ben, they call everyone at the bank by their last name. Please call me Ben, will you Sam?”

  “You’re Ben to me, from now on.”

  Ben turned to leave again and said, “I’m gonna take a long walk by the river.” He departed, his head hanging like a hound dogs, losing a good scent.

  Sam returned to his room with the hot water. Taking a mug, a razor and a strap from the dresser, a mirror from his carpet bag, he shaved his face.

  On the way to the outhouse, he dumped the shave water. Back in his room he sat in the rocker to relax. Louise knocked and opened the door. She was wearing a white dress, a flowered hat with lace on the edges. She asked Sam if he would like to go to church with her.

  “No,” he said firmly.

  As she left she said, “I must hurry my ride is due any time.” She went out the front door.

  Sam still setting in the rocker, took out, filled and lit his pipe. He was content to rock and smoke for a while.

  Putting on his brown boots he decided to walk down to Manuel’s corrals. When he entered the barn, he saw Manuel was busing himself in the harness room. He greeted Sam with. “Buenos dias Marshal.”

  Sam asked him, “Please call me Sam if we’re going to be friends.”

  “You are my friend Sam,” he replied in a most friendly fashion. “What a night we had, eh! My woman has talked of nothing else but the dance. How you and the pretty Senorita danced, my woman says that one is falling in love with you. She kept saying, you see the way she looks at him. She told me if she was younger she herself would be in love with you too.”

  Sam smiled and said, “I saw your little ones, they liked dancing, they were trying all the dances, you have a nice family Manuel.”

  “Si” was his only reply.

  The two men talked and walked thru the corrals. They looked over Manuel’s horses. Manuel told Sam he bought most of the horses in Mexico. Sam was impressed with them, he told Manuel he had a fine bunch. He asked if there would be a place where he could keep his. He had two coming on the eight-ten in the morning.

  “Si, no problemo, plenty room.”

  The two walked and talked a while longer mostly of horses. Sam bid him adios and walked back up to the house.

  On approaching the house he saw a magnificent matched pair of grey horses pulling a black surrey coming toward him. He stepped back to watch them go by. They stopped in front of the door, Louise stepped from the rear seat saying, “I’m so glad you’re here, I want you to meet my friends, Professor Adolf Hamsteen and his wife Christine.”

  Sam could see the man was in his sixties, of medium build, with a well manicured beard, wearing a beautiful tailored grey suit. The woman looked on the plump side, very well dressed, graying hair with a friendly smile.

  She said, “We are so pleased to meet you, Louise has talked of nothing else all morning, I hope we can call you Sam.”

  “ I’d be darn mad if you don’t.” Sam wanted to get to know them and thought he might like these folks.

  Louise interrupted his thinking saying, “The professor is an anthropologist.”

  Sam asked, “Anntro –what?”

  Louise said, “He’s here at the university studying early man.”

  “Early man?” Sam asked with some doubt in his voice.

  “Yes Sam, Early man, did you know that Tucson is the oldest city in all the United States Territory, men lived here many centuries ago.”

  “Is this true professor?” Sam was curious.

  “Yes,” he answered. “He lived on this very spot, hundreds of years ago, we have proof of it.”

  Louise broke in, “We’re going on a picnic, won’t you come Sam? We have fried chicken and Christine has baked a fruit pie, won’t you come, please Sam! We’re going out to see the San Xavier del Bac Mission, the oldest church in this country.”

  “Yes I’d like to come, the food sounds too good for me to pass up, I’ll have to change my boots first.”

  Louise told him, “We’ll wait right here.”

  When Sam returned all three were seated in the surrey. Sam stepped up and into the rear seat with Louise. The professor clucked to the team and they were off in a trot. They drove south on Meyer Street to the road along the Rio Santa Cruz river, Christine had turned in her seat talking to Louise.

  As they drove along the two women talked of the Sunday service, Christine asked Louise if she had planned to go and hear Susan B. Anthony the next Sunday. Louise said she wouldn’t ever miss hearing her. Sam asked who she was and what she’s talking about.

  “She’s the foremost woman pushing women’s suffrage in these United States.” Louise seemed excited about seeing and hearing this woman.

  Sam asked, “What’s she suffer-n about?”

  The three laughed so hard the professor had to take a hard hold of the horses to keep them from running.

  “No Sam, she’s trying to get the right for women to vote.”

  “I’ve never met a man I’d vote for, well maybe a couple, never voted, don’t guess I ever will.”

  Louise could see this was going nowhere. She changed the subject. “Sam, the professor and Christine come from Austria, Vienna, Austria away across the sea.”

  “Are these horses from there too?” asked Sam.r />
  “Yes they are,” the professor said with pride in his voice. “We shipped them by boat then by rail to Arizona.”

  “They’re a fine looking pair, I’ve never seen better.” Sam was impressed with them.

  Louise said, “Look there’s the Mission.” She pointed to a large white building across the river. “That’s where we’re going.”

  The professor broke in, “We must find a spot to eat first, it’s pasted noon.”

  They stopped in a shaded spot under a big mesquite tree. Spring grass covered the ground. They spread blankets and had their picnic. Afterwards they forded the river and went on to the church. A friendly Padre greeted them as they entered the building. He told of the wonders of this ancient building. The women were so pleased to see and hear about it. Sam asked why the one tower wasn’t finished.

  The Padre explained, “A worker fell and was killed falling from there, the Indians were so superstitious they refused to work on it more.”

  “Yes,” Sam said, “I know how they are.”

  The two couples returned to town as the sun set in a spectacular sundown, spreading yellow, orange, blue and green colors across the western sky. Sam told Louise that it was the most beautiful setting he had ever seen. She squeezed his hand and said in a low voice, “I like you Sam Duncan.”

  Sam and Louise were dropped off at the Martinez house. They thanked the professor and his wife for such a nice afternoon. Dolores saw them enter the house and asked if they were hungry. Both said no, but Sam asked if there was any coffee. Rosa heard him from the kitchen and called, “I’ll bring some to the patio.”

  Louise told the two women all about their picnic and seeing the church. They talked several hours. Finally Sam said, “I have to go to bed, all this talking is making me tired and sleepy.”

  They all bid each other good night and went to their rooms.

  This May morning Sam was up early, he was dressed and in the kitchen making coffee. Dolores came in and said, “I see you have fired the stove and are making coffee. Please go set down and let me have my kitchen.”

  Sam obliged. Then she asked, “What would you like for breakfast?”

  “Anything you want to fix.”

  “I have fresh chorizo.” As she uncovered a pan, she put the contents in a fry pan and set it on the stove.

  “I hope it’s not too hot.” He grimaced as he said the words. “They make it too hot for me in Texas.”

  She laughed. “You gringos need a little heat in your belly.” He laughed too.

  Rosa came into the kitchen. Seeing Sam she asked, “Are you ready for your horses to come?”

  “I hope they’ll be on time and be okay,” he replied.

  “Can I come to the depot with you?”

  He looked to her mother for her approval. She told them as she set a steaming plate of chorizo on the table before Sam, “It’s okay, Rosa you must eat something first.”

  “No, no, Momma, I’m too excited to see Sam’s horses,” she said frowning and making a face like a little girl.

  “Drink some milk. You can eat when you come back.” Dolores poured her a glass of goat’s milk.

  She took the glass. “I must go change my clothes,” she said as she left drinking the milk on the way.

  Dolores asked Sam, “That girl, what do I do with her?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t ask me. I’ve never raised a kid.”

  In a few minutes, Rosa returned wearing a white shirt, black pants, black shiny boots and a red bandana tied on her head. It held her long black hair back. Her hair fell down in the back to her waist. As they walked out the front door and down the street, her hair flipped at the ends and her hips swung from side to side.

  She reminded him of Fawn the way she used to walk. “A more beautiful sight I’ve not seen in a long time,” he said to himself.

  She turned to him and said, “We can cut across the desert here.” A path led toward the station.

  “Fine.”

  Looking down at the shirt she wore, the top three buttons were undone. He asked her to fix them, she ignored him. They walked thru grease wood and small paloverde trees were blooming on both sides of the path, a warm gentle breeze from the west blew into their faces.

  Approaching the station from the east, he could see the stock pens a little distance south of the depot. As they approached the depot, a train whistle sounded announcing the train’s eight o’clock morning arrival. He looked at his watch and said to Rosa, “Eight o’clock, she’s right on time.”

  Rosa and Sam stopped by the pens as the engine huffed by squealing its brakes. A great puff of white smoke and steam was expelled from the engine making a loud hissing sound. The engineer leaning from the cab watched the flag man drop from the caboose waving his flag. He stopped a stock car in front of a chute extending a few feet from the door of the car.

  Sam could see his two horses thru the slats of the car, the horses were moving around in great anticipation. The flag man slid the door open. The black first, jumped from the car onto the chute and on down into the pen. The Dunn followed. They went running jumping and bucking around the pen. Rosa climbing on the pen’s rails called to him, “They’re beautiful! They’re beautiful!”

  Sam saw his canvas sack being tossed on the depot platform. A man started to drag it into the baggage room. “That’s my sack,” he yelled as he climbed the platform steps.

  “You need to get the paper work done,” the man called back.

  “Where?”

  “In that office,” the man was pointing to the baggage room.

  Sam went in, paid, picked up the sack and went back to the pens. Opening the gate, he went in and dropped the sack on the ground. He opened the draw string, dumped the contents out. By then the two horses had settled down.

  From the sacks came a stock saddle, saddle blankets, two halters with leads, two bridles, a coiled rope, saddle bags, a rifle scabbard and a small bag of tools.

  He approached the black, talking in a low soothing tone. He slipped a halter on his head, throwing the lead rope over his neck, he patted and talked to him. “That’s my good boy, Old fella, I been miss-n you.”

  Rosa called, “He’s the most beautiful horse I’ve ever seen.” She started smooching to him. He trotted over to her. “He likes me Sam.”

  “Careful Rosa, he’s a stallion, he might nip you.”

  “Not me, he likes me.” She was patting him on the head.

  “He likes all beautiful females.” He could have bitten his tongue saying that.

  “Can I ride him Sam, can I ride him?” She was rubbing the horse’s neck as she asked.

  “He’s well broke, can you ride a horse?” He had doubt in his voice.

  “Oh, yes I ride all the time.”

  “We’ll ask your mama.”

  He bridled, then saddled the Dunn and hung the canvas sack on the saddle horn.

  He called, “Come here Rosa.”

  She jumped from the fence and strolled to him. He picked her up and set her on the back of the black stallion and told her, “Hold on to his mane.”

  He mounted the Dunn, reached the black’s lead rope, moved to the rear gate of the pen, reached down, shoved the latch back and opened the gate.

  As they rode thru the desert he told the girl, “It’s good to be horse back again.”

  Rosa started chatting away. He didn’t listen to her. He was watching how the horses traveled after their long ride in the stock car.

  He told to her, “They seemed to take the trip ok.” They rode on down to Manuel’s stable.

  Entering the barn, Sam stepped off and started unsaddling the Dunn. Rosa slid off the stallion’s back. He remarked, looking at the horse’s hoofs, “They’re both in need of new shoes.”

  She reached down to pick up a hoof, as to have a look. As she did her shirt gapped open and exposed her full round beautiful breasts. Sam pulled her up and buttoned the three top ones. She said not a word, just smiled. He shook his head. “Girl, you are
something else.”

  Manuel saw them enter and came from the rear of the barn. “I see your horses are here, a fine looking pair they are, I have prepared a pen for them.” He took the black’s lead and led him to a pen just outside the barn. Sam followed with the Dunn. Both horses were turned loose in the pen, the horses responded, running, bucking and chasing each other. Sam, Rosa and Manuel watched.

  Sam told them, “It must be good to be out of the stock car, it’s a shame to have to coop horses up that way.” Rosa and Manuel agreed.

  Manuel told them he would put the two in a stall after a while, after they settled down. Sam asked if he could get a farrier to come and shoe the two. “They both need to be shod.”

  “I’ll have one come manana.”

  Rosa and Sam walked up to the house. All the way she begged him to let her ride the black stallion. “The trails along the river bank are soft and good to ride. Manuel has a saddle I can use.”

  “We’ll ask your Mama.”

  As soon as they entered the kitchen, Rosa went to begging Dolores to let her ride the black horse. Dolores said it would be ok if Sam said it was safe. He told her the horse was safe for anyone to ride. Dolores told Rosa she would have to do her chores first. Rosa agreed, it was all set.

  Sam looked at his watch and remarked, “It’s almost noon, I’m going to see Louise at her office.”

  He went to his room, changed his clothes and boots. On the way he stopped and had a meal at the Shoo-fly.

  At her office he saw she was eating a bean burro. She told him Dolores packed a lunch almost every day for her. Just as she spoke a commotion in the street below could be heard. Sam rushed to and opened a window and yelled to a man in the street, “What’s goin’ on?”

  The man hollered back, “The owner of the Red Bird Casino, Ace Cole, needs you to come, there’s trouble there.”

  Sam rushed down the stairs and out into the street. He told the man, “Go, I’ll follow.”

  He was led to Ochoa street, to the Casino. Stopping to get his breath, he looked over the swinging doors. What he saw he could not believe, the town Marshal Henry was on his knees on the floor between the bar and gambling tables being beaten by three men, blood covered his face and head, a pool of blood was on the floor in front of him.