Maggie shook her head and looked down in mortification. Her secret was out. This lovely woman would now think her an idiot.
Ariana’s heart was breaking for her friend, she desperately wanted to kiss her and make it all better, and instead she said “would you like to learn?”
Maggie looked up “they don’t teach girls” she said defiantly.
“Who says?” Ariana’s delicate eyebrows frowned.
“Daddy said, they don’t teach girls around here.”
Ariana nearly laughed at the statement but feeling it might be misconstrued she said “well you’re daddy isn’t around to object now is he?”
Maggie nearly laughed in relief. Ariana was right. She could learn to read, maybe even write. She looked at the letters in Ariana’s hand and felt hope. Maybe she was too old though “don’t you have to learn that when you’re younger though?”
Ariana shook her head and her face took on a tender look “I don’t think there is an age limit to learning.”
Maggie gave her a tremulous smile “do you really think you can teach me?”
Ariana gave her a real smile in return “I don’t know but I sure would like to try!”
Maggie returned the smile with one of her own “let me finish this up here” she indicated the leads and oil in her hand that had stilled.
“Well, we can start whenever you want” Ariana said brightly. “In the meantime, you want me to read these to you?” she indicated the letters.
Maggie nodded feeling too emotional to speak.
Ariana sat down at the kitchen table and began with the letter from herself first. It told that she would be happy to accept Maggie’s invitation and that she should be arriving shortly, they both laughed since she had been there for weeks already. It pretty much went over the stories of the towns they had visited since Maggie had left the circus, they had discussed all this but to Maggie the words printed on the page held special meaning to her, they were words she might be able to read, maybe even write, someday.
“May I ask you something?” Ariana asked when she finished her letter.
Maggie nodded feeling a little wary now that Ariana knew her secret.
“How did you manage to write those letters and sign the contract if you don’t know how to read or write?”
Maggie had thought she knew what was going to be asked so she explained “I can write my name, that’s all and Peter helped with the rest. I have a real good memory for those things so if it’s read to me once or twice I usually can recall.”
Ariana nodded, that explained a lot. She opened another letter to read to Maggie as she finished the lead and cleaned up the oil. The letter was arrangements for the horses purchased and it had a check inside it. At the amount Ariana whistled “you’re rich!” she teased.
Maggie laughed as she realized she had to get the horses up to Jackson and on a train fast, the letter was weeks old already! She didn’t want the new owners to think she wasn’t honest!
“Does this mean you have to sort out the horses?” Ariana asked when she finished reading it aloud to Maggie.
“I have to deposit that check at the bank, Frank will take care of that part and put it into my account for me. I’ll ride up and take the horses I sold to them and get them on the train, the clerk will make those arrangements for me.”
Ariana realized that Maggie put a lot of faith in others to do things for her, things that make someone dishonest take advantage of her. A banker, a clerk, anyone who realized she couldn’t read could take her for money she could ill afford. She wondered if any of them had but she didn’t say anything.
Two of the letters were acknowledgements of her own about possible future engagements, at this Ariana was surprised but pleased for her too. She then thought what if Maggie left the circus? The thought devastated her.
One letter was information about the delivery of a black Quarterhorse that was due to arrive any day! “Maggie, you can’t leave off business like this” Arianna scolded her.
Maggie nodded feeling terrible now that she hadn’t managed to get the letters over to Peter’s to get them read before this, but Ariana had promised to try and teach her to read! That was exciting to Maggie.
Another letter inquired about purchasing a horse of hers for riding on a place in Texas they had passed through, Maggie only vaguely remembered the name of the town or of the writer. Ariana helped her write letters in reply to the business ones.
“We will have to leave early tomorrow if we want to make the late train” Maggie told her.
“You mean I can go with you?” Ariana asked excitedly.
“You don’t want to stay here do you?” she asked in return feeling almost hurt at the thought.
“Oh no, I want to go with you.” Then she thought “what if it rains?”
“Then we get wet!” and shared a laugh with her.
They did get wet, very wet. They had to stop at Peter’s to tell him where they were going and ask that he check in on the herd and milk the cow. With the rain and all they tried to rush but it was a muddy mess and they couldn’t risk the legs on the horses they were taking to ship. They ended up staying at an abandoned farm still half a day away from Jackson. Dripping in the clothes they had brought Maggie quickly got a fire going and sizzling in the fireplace. She started to strip off and then thought better of it as she got her spare clothes and changed in the next room.
Ariana had thought she would see something but Maggie had always been modest and she wasn’t surprised to see her go into the next room. She herself changed out of the dungarees and shirt she was wearing when she had the chance and into another set she had brought along. Their clothes hung in front of the fireplace with steam rising off of them as they dried. Maggie made a quick stew of the food she had brought along.
“This will warm our insides” she told Ariana who felt shivery after riding in the rain all day.
“Is that the most miserable ride you’ve ever had?” she asked as she chafed her arms to get warmer.
Maggie shook her head “one year all the two-year olds got out and we were looking for them for a few days, it was cold, the storm was bad, and I got such a chill! Darned horses didn’t want to be caught either! I’d have left them if they weren’t so valuable” she joked. They both knew she wouldn’t have left them she loved them too much!
They ate the stew when it was hot and Ariana grateful clutched the metal cup they had brought to feel some of its warmth. The hot broth going down her throat felt wonderful, she was so cold! They finished the pot that Maggie had made and still Ariana felt cold. She was shivering.
“Are you okay?” Maggie had noticed her shaking.
“I’m so cold, I can’t seem to get warm” she told her as her teeth started to chatter, she gathered her wool blanket from where they had spread them out on the floor and wrapped it around her and still she shivered.
“Sounds like you caught a cold” Maggie told her wisely. She got up and adjusted the clothing drying in front of the fire to give off more of the heat in the cold little dilapidated farmhouse. She added a few more sticks to the fire to keep it burning through the night and she took her own blanket to wrap around Ariana.
“No, what will you use” Ariana protested.
“Here” Maggie wrapped it around both of them “we might as well share body heat; I hear that’s the best thing for cold.”
Ariana would have protested more except the thought of being that close to each other warmed her soul. She lay down in front of the fire using her saddle for a pillow and Maggie laid down on the far side away from the fire and put both blankets on them, her own saddle a pillow. Ariana began to feel a lot better and before she knew it, the warm fire, the warm stew, her own fatigue and the beginning of the cold she was hatching all over came her, and the fact that the one woman she wanted so desperately was against her back warming her brought her so much comfort she soon fell asleep.
It was hell for Maggie. Her back was cold but her front very very warm. She wanted desperately to pu
t her arm around Ariana and hug her close. The warmth from Ariana’s body caused odd sensations in her own. The smell from Ariana’s hair was enticing. The smell from her body, while horsey, wasn’t all that bad either and Maggie desperately wanted to nuzzle in and inhale it. Instead she kept herself at a respectful inch from Ariana’s sleeping body and tried to sleep that way. She failed.
When they woke in the morning Ariana was amazingly better and the first to wake up. She found herself with her arm across Maggie’s chest and Maggie’s own hand enticingly close to her breast, her head on its side with her breath in Ariana’s ear, warm and comforting. Ariana’s leg was thrown between Maggie’s own. Ariana could feel the beat of Maggie’s heart under her arm, sure and steady. She didn’t want to move an inch. She knew the moment that Maggie woke up as she stiffened instantly. Ariana just rolled over slightly as in sleep to remove her arm from the position it had been in and her leg as well and to save Maggie from any embarrassment.
“You awake?” Maggie tried to wake her moments later after she recovered from her shock.
“What? Oh, it’s morning” Ariana stretched.
“You feel better this morning?” Maggie asked relieved that Ariana hadn’t realized their intimate embrace.
“Mmm much, I must have just been worn out last night” Ariana confessed and sat up. She looked around and mumbled “what’s for breakfast?”
Maggie looked at the tumbled hair that was Ariana’s and grinned, her own she could finger comb. She got up and stretched tightening her shirt against her chest and catching Ariana’s full attention. She looked away before Maggie could see her. “I’ll go saddle the horses and get them ready if you want to put on some coffee and we will drink that and I have some jerky, we’ll get a hot meal in town if that’s okay with you” she offered as it was raining lightly.
“I’ve got to use the outhouse” Ariana said as she rose from the warm blankets.
“I wouldn’t use the outhouse, if you can, go out back and just cover it up” Maggie advised imaging how dilapidated the outhouse might be and not wanting to fish Ariana out of that.
Maggie was amazingly fast as she saddled Sampson and Satan, their chosen mounts and gathered the other horses she was sending to their new owners. She had them tied off and ready in front of the house and was ready to bring their gear out to put on the saddles when Ariana had their ‘breakfast’ ready. She burnt her tongue on the coffee but it tasted fine on this cold and rainy morning. They packed away their now dry clothes and put on their slickers that hadn’t kept out the driving rain of yesterday. By the time everything was packed, the leftover coffee was poured on the fire and the ashes checked they were ready to go! Maggie mounted up and then waited for Ariana who packed the warm coffee pot into her saddle bag and off they went, a little faster today but still careful to avoid broken legs on the muddy trail.
They got into town and Maggie headed for the depot. The same agent who had helped her on her way to join the circus all those months ago recognized her and helped her with the paperwork. Ariana would have helped too but she saw how Maggie managed without reading and writing, again too much trust in people that might not deserve it. Fortunately this clerk seemed honest. He also arranged for feed and drink for the horses they were shipping.
“Do you want to stay around and see them off? You missed the 11 a.m. train but the 2 o’clock one can take them out” he told her.
Maggie agreed to stay around, they had a hot meal to get anyway and it was already after noon, it wouldn’t hurt to make sure they got off all right.
Ariana saw when they went to eat how Maggie managed that as well, she looked around at what others were eating, asked about the specials, and chose accordingly. She didn’t even glance at the menus or the prices. When the waitress came she told the total and Maggie put down the appropriate money, apparently she knew money. They shopped for a bit not really finding anything but looking anyway to waste time. The stores had a lot more to offer than Maggie’s small town but she didn’t need anything. All too soon they heard the whistle of the train and walked rapidly back to the depot to load the horses on the stock car. They were helped by another clerk and the horses were settled before the train even left the depot. This one had stalls for each piece of stock and Maggie made sure of their comfort, deep beds of hay, and enough room in their tie to lie down or eat but not so much that it would tangle. The clerk assured her they would be watered and fed en route to their destination in Arizona.
Maggie hated to see any of her babies go but it was business and these were fine pieces of stock, she couldn’t keep them all even if she wanted to. Ariana sensed how she felt and patted her shoulder consolingly. “C’mon, let’s head home” she said.
As they mounted up another clerk came running “Are you Miss O’Malley?” he nearly shouted.
Maggie pulled up from starting Sampson “I am” she said surprised.
“We have a delivery for you, if you would just wait a moment” he told her breathlessly.
Maggie nodded and the exchanged a look with Ariana.
“Maybe it’s the Quarterhorse that man wrote you about” Ariana reminded her.
Maggie looked surprised but then wasn’t as they came down the train from another stock car and brought the most beautiful black Quarterhorse she had ever seen. She was a fine boned animal, much finer than what Maggie bred but solid all the same. She was a looker too by the way she pranced her way trying to lead the clerk who was bringing her to Maggie.
“Wow, look at him” Ariana breathed.
“Her” Maggie corrected without even thinking twice. She was going to be a beautiful horse and have beautiful babies.
“Ma’am” the clerk offered her the lead rope as the horse eyed her suspiciously and tried to pull back from Sampson’s inquiring nose. Satan on her other side made her just as skittish.
“There now, there now” Maggie soothed her holding out her hand and waiting. The horse, while suspicious was also curious and put her nose out snuffling to see if there was food or a treat being offered, instead she smelled horse on the hand and Maggie turned her hand over to pet the muzzle as she leaned far over Sampson. “There girl, we’re going to be friends aren’t we” she said soothingly.
Ariana was amazed; she had such a way with horses, animals, people even.
“Ma’am you have to sign for her” the clerk offered up a manifest which caused the horse to shy and Maggie tightened the lead rope.
“I’ll sign it” Ariana offered but Maggie was already reaching for the clipboard. Ariana watched as Maggie painfully signed her name. She wondered no more about her reading and writing abilities, she could see why Maggie had hid it in shame, that her father thought women shouldn’t know these things was a crime.
“Thanks, you saved me a long trip” the clerk said with a smile.
“Timing is everything” Maggie joked with him as she handed back the clipboard and gathered the reins on Sampson. “Ready?” she asked Ariana as she clucked to Sampson and led the new horse.
The trip back didn’t seem to take as long but the rain continued in a spritz with the clouds releasing more now and then. They passed the farmhouse they had stayed at the previous night and went on hoping to make it home that night. The muddy roads though meant they were delayed and they found another cabin a little off the road and brought the horses into it with them, there was no sign of a stable or barn even existing on the site.
“It’ll be crowded but warm” Maggie assured her knowing the horse’s body heat would help a lot.
Ariana was tired, the weather, the long trip, it was all exhausting. She had recovered from the cold of the previous night but was so fatigued she felt it differently than she would have if she was fully rested. Maggie did most of the ‘chores’ getting the horses settled as Ariana tried to start a fire and failed. Maggie got one going in minutes and made a stew again from her mysterious saddle bags. She shaved in dry meat, added dried vegetables, and with rainwater and a bit of flour soon had a simmering c
oncoction that smelled wonderfully. Ariana couldn’t wait for her first cupful as she set out their blankets on the far side of the fireplace, side by side but far from the horses that stood patiently in what must have been the living space of the broken down cabin. The roof was okay and only a few leaks let in rain but Maggie put their slickers in a way to ward those off and it ran off onto the floor. She put her saddle and Ariana’s as pillows once again.
“My this is cozy” Ariana sighed blissfully as she took her first sip of the broth of the stew and used her fork to spear a potato. It tasted wonderful.
“This isn’t too bad” Maggie agreed, her own appetite strong after their long day slogging through the mud.
“Well hopefully it will stop raining for a while when we get back home” Ariana commented.
“Its part of winter down here” Maggie warned her. “Besides we need it for the crops.”
“We need sunshine too” Ariana teased and they shared a laugh.
“I need to use the privy” Maggie got up and went out back.
Ariana thought she heard Maggie out front too and was surprised when she came back in through the back door. “Were you out front?” she asked wondering at the noise she had heard.
Maggie shook her head as she frowned and looked at the darkened windows. Dark came early in the winter and they had stopped with enough time to get settled in this little out of the way cabin. There hadn’t been time to look for a better site and she wondered. She sat down near her friend and they started chatting again. She put the pot on the side of the fire so it wouldn’t scorch the remaining stew. “That’s breakfast” she told Ariana who nodded. They both heard a branch break outside and the horses did as well as their heads came up. Maggie looked but couldn’t see anything from her seat on the floor out the open front door. Instead she inched closer to her saddle bags and put her hand inside. It was as she started to pull it out that they both heard a footstep on the sill of the doorway and looked up.
“Well, well, well, what have we here” a man sneered as he looked at the camp the two women had made. Another man came up behind him and looked over his shoulder smiling in delight. They had watched the two women for a while and smelled the tantalizing aroma of their stew pot. “Looks like we have two ladies alone” he said drawing out the word alone to make it sound ominous.
Sapphic Cowboi Page 13