Alice shrugged. “It’s alright.”
“If you want to use your desk, I can be out of here in a few minutes.”
Alice shook her head. “No. That’s alright. I’m going out to the front porch to write. I’ll leave your sandwich on the table in the sitting room.”
Alice gave Ellie one last look before leaving the room. It appeared she wanted to say something else, but something held her back. What a peculiar conversation, Ellie thought.
Chapter Nine
Every muscle in Owen’s body throbbed. Today he was going to try to lasso the grullo, but the young stallion was having none of it. The horse trotted around the inside edge of the pen, avoiding Owen every time he approached.
Owen relaxed his posture and hunched to appear smaller, letting the horse know he wasn’t a threat. He had been approaching the horse all week, just spending an hour standing close by so the beast became aware of his presence.
He was even able to twirl the lasso over the head of the beast and trace his back with a long pole he used to get the horse accustomed to something touching him. But today, the horse appeared to be agitated. It was operating in flight mode. Owen was glad the pen was strong enough and the walls high enough to ensure that the beast couldn’t jump over the railings.
Today he was hoping to be able to lasso the horse and start the process of walking him around the pen. If he were extremely lucky, he’d be able to get a harness on him.
“He’s a difficult one,” Jimmy called.
“He’s just nervous.”
“How can you tell?” a female voice called. The horse jumped at the voice and ran into the side of the pen. The wood reverberated under the pressure of the animal’s weight.
Owen swiftly turned to see Alice and Elenore approaching the fence.
Elenore appeared rested. She wore a long blue dress with white lace at the cuffs and throat. It would be ruined within an hour of walking on the Nebraska soil. She didn’t have a hat, so her light brown hair glimmered in the sun, making it appear red. It reminded Owen of a beautiful sorrel he once trained, with a light coppery coat.
Owen silently groaned. He needed to focus on the grullo, not two women who came to disrupt his work. The last thing he needed was a distraction as he worked with the skittish horse. Owen ignored them, pretending not to hear the question as he turned back around to the silver horse.
“Where’s your sister?” Owen asked.
“She went to the doctor.”
“She alright?”
“I guess. Said she wasn’t feeling well. Poor thing was retching all morning.”
Owen mumbled in response. He pulled out a sugar cube from his pocket and held it out. The horse lifted his head and trotted away. Owen shoved the cube back in his pocket and moved around to the other side of the pen.
“See how the horse appears guarded?” Alice told Elenore. “His ears are erect and the muscles in his neck are tight like he can’t lower his head? That means he’s nervous.”
The grullo crashed again into the side of the pen. He heard Elenore gasp.
“He’s a beautiful animal. I hope he didn’t hurt himself. What’s his name?”
“Alice names all the animals. But she can’t do it until Owen can get a harness on him.” Owen glanced over to see his brother now leaning against the pen. “If anyone can break him, Owen can. He’s the best around here. We didn’t get a chance to meet last night. I’m Caleb.”
“I’m Elenore. But you can call me Ellie, or Ellie Beth.”
Ellie Beth. The name suited her. Owen tried to drown out the sound of the conversation behind him. It wasn’t going to work. The horse was not going to cooperate with so many people around. He didn’t want to risk the horse injuring itself further.
Owen went to place the rope on a hook outside the corral post. He thought he knew where the horse was, as he didn’t want to turn his back on the animal. He underestimated the horse when he found himself flying and landing face down in the dirt. He heard a woman’s scream and quickly rolled over.
The horse stood above him. Rearing on his hind legs. His eyes grew wide as he watched the front feet of the horse paw the air before heading down. He quickly rolled to the side just as the horse stomped the ground.
“Git! Git!” Jimmy had jumped over the fence and was guiding the excited horse back towards the barn. Caleb pulled on a rope, raising a door and the animal ran into the barn. Owen could hear the horse circling nervously.
Owen stood and brushed himself off. His sore muscles would be screaming by tomorrow morning. There was always a danger trying to gentle a horse by himself. Men had been killed if they didn’t have their full attention on the horse.
Owen limped over to the gate where Caleb had opened the latch. “Thanks,” he murmured as he hobbled into the yard. “I wonder what spooked him?”
“It wasn’t us, was it? Alice was telling me about the beautiful horses and I just wanted to see them.”
Owen shook his head. “No. It was something else.”
The grullo let out a loud neigh and Owen could hear his hooves scrape the ground.
“Look!” Ellie said, lifting herself higher on the railings.
Alice scrambled to the top of the pen. “It’s him!”
Owen and Caleb turned to see the cause of the grullo’s excitement. Beneath the trees by the river stood a large stallion looking at them with curiosity.
It was the black.
That explained why the grullo was so excited. The horse was protecting his harem. If the black was that close, the grullo would think of the other horse as a threat.
Owen watched as the black stallion reared on its hind legs before turning and running down the length of the trees and disappearing where the river narrowed.
The sound of thundering hooves could be heard from behind the trees. Owen tilted his head and listened. It was probably a dozen or more horses he heard galloping towards Mustang Hill.
“Should I go after them?” Caleb asked.
Owen shook his head. The thought of Frank was still fresh in his mind. Frank didn’t return from tracking the black and Owen didn’t want anything to happen to his brother. Marmee wouldn’t be able to handle such a loss.
The sound of the supper bell rang. Owen looked forward to a hot meal and putting liniment on his muscles. He watched Alice and Ellie Beth walk back towards the house. Her pale blue skirt swished against her hips as she walked. Owen quickly diverted his eyes from the temptation.
“She sure is pretty,” he heard Caleb say, pulling Owen out of his thoughts.
“I suppose so.” Owen shrugged his shoulders and then winced.
“You got any intentions?”
Owen stopped walking toward the barn and looked at his brother. “What kind of intentions?”
Caleb took the rope from Owen and carried it towards the barn. “Intentions like courting intentions.”
“Why are you askin’.”
Caleb scratched his chin. “Well, she’s here. You know women are scarce.”
“She just lost her fiancé and your reason is women are scarce?”
“Well?” Caleb asked, pushing his hat back.
“Well, what?”
“You thinkin’ of courting her?”
Owen dragged his hand down his face and rubbed his neck. “Why? You thinkin’of courting her?”
“Well, I wanted to ask you first.”
There was his answer. If Caleb was interested, then his other brothers might be as well. “Well’um, now you’ve asked. I want you and the rest of the boys to stay away from her. She’s a guest and not to be trifled with.”
Caleb looked at him, his brown eyes twinkling. His mouth expanded in a grin and he let go of a laugh. “You do think she is pretty. I’m just warning you, brother, dead fiancé or not, she will not be single for long once the men around here get a good look at her.”
Owen clenched his fist. He had an urge to wrestle Caleb to the ground, but his muscles protested. “I’ll say again – you and everyone else needs
to keep their distance until she boards that coach headed home.”
“Whatever you say, big brother,” Caleb clapped Owen on the shoulder, causing him to wince from the pain.
Chapter Ten
Ellie had never experienced a meal as she did that afternoon at the Chapmans. It was definitely something to write home to Polly about. That and everything else that had happened so far. She didn’t think Polly would believe it, even if Ellie wrote everything down in detail.
When they returned from the barn, she and Alice washed up at the pump next to the porch before proceeding into the dining room. She heard the voices before they turned the corner into one large room.
The room was impressive. It was truly a great room. It appeared much smaller from the outside. If she was standing by the barn, she never would have realized just how large the inside of the house was.
She could see the open fireplace and wood cooking stove along one wall. It provided heat as well as meals. There was a tripod in the fireplace with a hook where a Dutch oven would hang. Ellie did learn something by reading those books on the train.
Instead of a simple square carved in the side of the house, the fireplace was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. Ellie didn’t know that fireplaces could be arched like that.
The entire wall was covered in intricate stonework that surrounded the fireplace from floor to ceiling. Ellie had never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life.
The great room was built from hand-hewn planks, sandwiched with mud and grass chinking.
Off to one side of the room sat several overstuffed chairs and a small table in the center.
On the far side was a long table with ten chairs around it. She could see three men and Penny at the table.
The table was set with the most elegant china Ellie had ever seen. Another surprise she didn’t expect. She had a vision of the west being rustic and coarse. Not refined and elegant. She moved forward into the room with Alice trailing behind her.
“Good afternoon,” she said. The conversation immediately ceased and everyone turned to look at her.
Mr. Chapman was sitting at the head of the table. A younger man with the same dark hair sat next to him. Penny sat on the other side of the Chapman patriarch. Next to Penny… Ellie did a doubletake. Owen sat at the table. She looked behind her to make sure she hadn’t missed them coming in.
“That’s Oliver,” Alice whispered into Ellie’s back as she walked around the table to sit next to the younger man.
“Oliver?” Ellie lifted her fingers to her lips. There were two of them?
“Ma’am,” he said, smiling at her. “This chair is empty.” He stood and pulled the chair from the table.
Ellie tightened her skirt around her and sat in the chair. “Thank you,” she whispered as he pushed it back underneath her. “You… I mean… I….” She took a deep breath. “I’ve never met a twin before. To see someone so identical is just fascinating.”
“But we don’t look alike,” Oliver said.
“You don’t?”
“I’m more handsome,” Owen said coming in the room and laughing.
Ellie noticed his whole disposition had changed now that he was surrounded by family. He took a seat across from her, next to Alice. Ellie watched as he pulled his sister close and gave her a kiss on her head.
“How are you feeling today, Pint Jar?” He ruffled her hair before he released her.
Alice brushed him aside. “Stop that, Owen. I’m not a baby.”
“You’ll always be our baby,” Caleb said, carrying a platter to the table. Marmee followed with a bowl of steaming potatoes and placed it down. Caleb helped her into her seat and then took the spot next to Oliver. “She was no bigger than a Pint Jar when she was born. If I had my way that would be her real name. Pint Jar Chapman.”
Everyone laughed.
“It appears there is an empty chair,” Ellie said, gesturing to the seat next to hers.
“That’s for Marianne,” Oliver said.
“Oh, the sister that lives in Denver?”
“Yeah. Marianne and Penny are twins.”
“Two sets of twins? That is incredible.”
“It was a lot of work, that is what it was,” Marmee said, lightly laughing. “Ollie, can you say the blessing?”
Oliver grabbed her hand and Marmee grabbed her other. It was a bit of a stretch with the empty chair between them. She never held hands back home. In fact, she couldn’t recall the last time anyone said the blessing at her home.
Oliver’s rich baritone filled the room as he led the family in a prayer of grace and thanksgiving. “And Father,” he said closing the blessing. “We thank you for bringing our new friend here to the house. Let her know she can stay as long as she needs. Amen.”
“Amen,” Ellie said, in chorus with the others. She felt Oliver give her hand a squeeze before releasing it. Marmee did the same. She looked up to spy Owen staring at her as he tore a piece of bread and slathered it with butter before popping it in his mouth.
She wished she knew what he was thinking. She wondered why he didn’t like her.
Don’t be silly, she told herself. You don’t know what his thoughts are. Right now you are just a guest in his home.
Oliver dropped a hunk of sizzling meat on her plate. Ellie jumped back a little in surprise. “What’s that?”
“Steak,” Caleb said. “Marmee makes the best steak.”
A splash of brown gravy followed. She looked at Oliver as he poured gravy on his own steak.
“Would you prefer ketchup?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“I can make my own plate, thank you.”
Owen laughed and when Ellie looked at him he popped another piece of bread into his mouth. Alice nudged him with her elbow before passing Owen a serving dish.
“Potatoes, dear?” Marmee asked passing Ellie the bowl. Ellie took the spoon and placed a scoopful on her plate. She wasn’t sure what to do with the bowl, so she held it for a minute. Owen cleared his throat and pointed to Oliver with his knife. She noticed Marmee was carefully balancing a bowl in each hand.
“Oh,” Ellie said, embarrassed that she had stopped the flow of food. She quickly placed the bowl in Oliver's hands and took the breadbasket, from Marmee.
Folding back the napkin covering the contents, she spied two beautiful loaves of sliced bread. She took one piece of bread and placed it on her plate. Hesitating, she wondered if it would be wrong if she took two slices. Fresh bread was her weakness.
“You better take what you want,” Alice said. “With this bunch, there aren’t any leftovers.”
Ellie grabbed a second piece and passed the basket to Oliver. By the time the carrots were passed, Ellie didn’t know where she would put them. Her plate looked like a holiday feast. She was used to much smaller meals back home.
“Do you normally eat like this?” she asked.
“Marmee is the best cook in all the states,” Everett said, cutting into his meat.
“The largest meal is in the middle of the day. Keeps the hands going until dark,” Marmee explained.
Ellie remembered Marmee mentioning that. Breakfast and dinner were large. No wonder supper was a lighter fare.
She took a bite of the steak covered in brown gravy, closing her eyes as the flavor exploded in her mouth. “Oh my, if I ate like this I would weight five hundred pounds.”
“It’s food for a bunch of hungry cowboys,” Ollie said. “Better than eating beans, which I’m sure the cowpokes are doing right now.” He shoved a large piece of meat in his mouth.
“If I may ask, how many people work here, Mr. Chapman?”
“We have two operations. I’ve been raising cattle and we employ forty-five of the best stockmen this side of the Mississippi.”
“Forty-five? It takes that many men?”
“I lost three of my best in Owen, Oliver, and Everett when they started their horse stock business. I’ll be hiring some new men now. Thinking at least three hundred.”
> Three hundred? That was quite a number. New men meant new opportunities, she thought.
“That’s a lot of men. Why so many?” Caleb asked.
“Thinking it was time to rotate stock. I’ve been in contact with the buyer down in Cisco. Got a good rate for buying three thousand two-year-olds. They’ll be ready next month. If we start them northbound immediately, then they will be here before summer’s end.”
“How long does it take to drive cattle this far, Mr. Chapman?”
“About a good one hundred days. They can only move fifteen miles a day with a small herd. Ten with that many cattle..”
“You thinking of taking them through the Chisholm trail this time, Pa?” Oliver asked.
Weston shook his head. “Too many Comanche attacks. I think we will take the Horsehead to the Goodnight trail and come through Wyoming. Might be a bit longer, but won’t lose as many.”
Owen gave a low whistle. “You needin’ Jimmy?”
“I was going to talk to you about that. If you can spare him, yes.”
“Of course.”
“Caleb, you are in charge of the operation now. Everett can help you.”
“But I like working the horses, Pa,” Everett said.
“There is plenty of time.”
“Weston,” Marmee interrupted, “you can’t make a trip like that. You aren’t as young as you once were.”
“I may not be a spring chicken, my love, but I’m certainly not ready for the chopping block yet.”
“I’ll keep an eye on everything here, Pa,” Caleb assured him, a bit of disappointment creeping into his throat.
“No need to do that, boy. You are going to be leading the men back home. Five-hundred head are for you and Everett. That’s your payment for getting them home.”
Owen slapped Caleb on the back. “Good job, brother. You deserve it.” He turned to Everett. “Guess this means you won’t be a partner on the horses? But that is great news.”
Weston gave Owen a wink. “That’s not all. I’ve got about fifty extra horses in there too. Granted they will be working on the trail, but when they get back I figure that would be a nice addition to your business. Think you can use them?”
Owen Page 8