Chapter 6

The buggy and two saddle horses went down the trail the following day, carrying the four of us. Atea was on Rocky’s horse, and he was driving the buggy. We left our new crew to keep the ranch occupied. All they asked was for us to return with a small beer keg. We didn’t hurry and stopped often. Sometimes, I was in the buggy with Atea.

Once after stopping, Mable said, “I want the Kid to drive the buggy this time.”

I had to explain to Mable why I hadn’t asked Atea to marry me. “Mable, I can’t yet. I have some business of my own. I need to find out who killed my parents. It is a two-hundred-mile round trip, and I don’t know how long I’ll be or what I must do when I find out.

“My parents owned a farmstead the same size as Rocky’s ranch. I have the deed to it and think I can claim it if someone else hasn’t taken it up. Rocky promised to side me when we make the trip. The way Rocky and you are coming along with your plans, I think I’ll see if Dugan won’t go in Rocky’s place.”

“No, I’ll tell Rocky to go with you. Please come back to Atea. The child needs you.”

“Atea isn’t a child any longer.”

“I know, and in her culture, she would have at least one papoose by this time.”

“Mable, I have to find a paying job. I think I can make it with what I know and what my father taught me. It might take months after I hang out a shingle to support myself and support a wife.”

“Do you have any money at all?”

“I have six hundred dollars, but I need to buy some tools and some materials of a special kind to make wagon wheels. That’s what I am aiming to do.”

“You know that a wife can help her husband, right?”

“I know she would, but I don’t want her to be a housekeeper or servant for someone rich.”

“Kid, what would you say if she had plans to go into business for herself? Look at your feet and what you have on them. That’s the third pair of moccasins she has made for you. I’ll back her for what she needs to buy better tools and the material to make moccasins. You could help her by carving out wooden lasts of each size and shape for the moccasins to make her work much easier.

“She could make at least fifteen dollars a week in profit. General stores would buy and put them on their shelf to sell. I will take her to women’s Milliner shops to show off her wares. All she would have to do is make a pair like the one she wore to the dance that time. Requests to make these will inundate her. It is those who manufacture goods who are the ones who live well.”

“I say again, Mable, I have to find out about my Father and Mother’s death. It has been over five years, and I think I am now able to deal with it and whoever shot my father. I still feel that it was my father’s death that killed my Mother, though not directly.

“I understand this, Kid, but Atea is of age and needs to be married. I like both of you, and you are right about each other. Living directly with me for the last two years makes her the daughter I could not have. I know she will be happy with you and you with her,”

“I’ll talk to Rocky and see what he says. Maybe I can take Dugan with me if Rocky can’t leave now.” I liked Mable exceptionally well, but she pushed me too hard to get married. I knew how Atea felt, and I believed that I should deal with this other first, and she would wait without being upset. We had always understood each other.

When Mable was driving the last half hour to reach the outskirts of town, I told Rocky what Mable was urging me to do.

“Kid, you’ll find women like that. They get an idea in their heads and keep harping on it. Just agree with ‘uhuh,’ and do it in your way and on your own time. You know Atea wants to get married, and you do too. You are both young, and I think you should follow the timeline of making a living and then getting married.”

He then gave advice about how far to go if Atea and I wanted to get intimate. “She will be happy, and you will be pleased.” He also advised on ways of not getting Atea pregnant. “If you get her with child, that’s a whole new tangled ball of yarn. Talk to Atea and be sure she knows what I just told you.”

That night, I went to the day bed in the parlor, the same as usual when I stayed here. I could hear Mable and Rocky after they went to bed. I was thinking of Atea and some of Rocky’s stories about being intimate with a woman.

My eyes were closed when Atea said, “Kid, I’m having bad dreams about shooting that man last week. I need you to hold me close.”

“There is no room here for you.”

“I know, come with me.” Atea was tugging at me.” I followed her to her room.

“Kid, I wasn’t having a dream, but I was thinking of you. I need you to hold and kiss me.” We talked a little about what had happened and how we felt about what happened with the outlaws. It was the first time we kissed where we could enjoy it. I did mention what Rocky told me just hours before.

“I knew all that, and I want to be careful. Karen explained sex years ago and how it makes a person feel. Mable has talked about it, too, but her way doesn’t seem as much fun as the way Karen told me. Let’s do things the way Karen said.”

Mable found us in bed, not happy, and said so. Atea and I were entwined together as close as we could get. Atea was sharp with Mable, “The Kid is my Brave, and he has asked me to be his squaw when he gets his life sorted out. I would wait forever if I had to, but in the meantime, we have decided to be happy when we can. Do you want me to leave and return to the ranch?”

“No, of course not, I would be so alone without you here. Just be careful; that’s all I ask.”

Mable turned and went out to tell Rocky where she found me. I heard him say. “The Kid has a head on his shoulders, and I can’t see him doing Atea wrong. She can’t either, and I’ll wager it was she who came and brought him to her bed. It is more imperative now that I travel with him so he can start his life unencumbered with his past, leaving it behind him.”

“The child is so young.”

“Not that young. The Kid explained what you were saying to him yesterday, and it sounded to me like you were pushing him a little about Atea. If the two find a place to work and are married, I might be in your bed permanently.”

“You are then going with the Kid this soon?”

“Yes, within a week or so. I want to talk to my crew about watching the ranch while I’m gone. I plan to take the stage from here to where Kid is from.”

Rocky and I talked about his plan was for traveling. “We’ll have to rent horses when we arrive, but it should save us some time traveling. When the bank here opens, I’ll get some money to travel with.”

“I’ll go into the bank with you. I don’t have but a handful of coins in cash.”

“Save your money, Kid. If you see something in a store, I’ll buy it for you. That goes for the stage trip as well.”

“What about when you marry Mable? Everyone tells me a wife isn’t cheap.”

“Kid, I make nearly two thousand dollars off the ranch every year, and I don’t spend that much in the year. That sideline business I shared with you once has amounted to more than I ever made off the ranch. I stopped doing that the first year you were here and haven’t touched the money. Meeting you and seeing the person you are, made me decide to give it up. We know what happens to outlaws, and I’m glad I’m not one of them any longer.”

“Rocky, you will find out when we get to where I came from. What I did is just as bad. I don’t know what I will face when I return there.”

“Yes, but from what you have told me, you had a good reason.”

“We will see.”

“Let’s go buy some new clothes. You do need a new shirt and pants so you can get rid of those damned farmer-looking suspenders.”

“I only wear these, so I don’t have to wear two belts when I have my gun on.”

“Yeah, but we are going to be passing through cattle country. Dressed like you are, is inviting some gunny to try you.”

“Okay, you should have told me sooner. I can’t see why cattle ranchers are so against farmers. That isn’t the way Pa and Ma felt about it. He said growing your food comes first, whatever your business is.”

“It is, but your Pa was new to cattle country. It is open land out here, and it spoils a cattle ranch. Plots of farm goods planted here and there inhibit the freedom to move cattle to market. Some say farming land brings in weeds and brush. You must have been by and seen an abandoned farmstead. Weeds and brush cover the plowed ground.”

“You are right about that, I guess, and Pa did say something about fences,”

“Those are even worse. I predict it’ll be a battle for years to come. You know, that might have been why your father died. How much land was he going to plow?”

“Five acres, Pa was going to raise corn for what few cattle he raised and talked about building fences to keep the cows out of the garden.”

“There you go. Hey, are you going to get Atea an engagement ring? I heard that the watch sales and repair shop has a small display of rings. I’m going in and look at them.”

“I’ll look, but I don’t know how expensive they are. It sounds like a good idea. Are you getting one for Mable?”

“Thought some on it, just checking today, though.”

We did go into the watchmaker’s repair business. I asked about rings with a stone to give to my girl.”

“Diamonds, or something more reasonable?”

“Something a lot more reasonable.”

“Well, let’s see, how about a garnet? I dig garnets out of a big stone on top of a mountain with them all over it. I was walking by a few years ago and spotted this big stone. The colors are primarily light brown, but there are spots of red in many of the pretty ones. I return to that big stone and get a handful when I get low. I polish them up, and they look attractive. Just something I fool with, you know.”

“Can I look at the stones?” A tray came out, and I saw the stone I thought was prettiest among several others. “That’s the one I pick.”

“How big is the girl’s finger?”

“I’ve looked at her finger, and I believe if you put the ring on my little finger, it would be the right size.”

“I only have gold rings. Bare rings are a dollar each. I’ll show you what I have. I could have the stone clamps to hold the stone on by tomorrow. I’m charging 75 cents for the stone and 25 cents for the clamps, which makes the ring $2.00.”

I looked at Rocky. “We are leaving shortly but will be passing through next week. I can pick it up then.”

“That will be better for me. I live upstairs. Just knock on the door any time after 7:30.”

Rocky then asked, “Great, it will be early because we are taking the stage at 10:00 when it comes down here from the north. While I’m here, let me look at some diamond rings. I want one for a woman friend of mine. I’ll see what you have and let her make a choice. At the same time, the Kid will pick up the one for his girlfriend.” Rocky was satisfied that Mable had an excellent selection to view.

We left there, intending to return to Mable’s house, when we met Territorial Marshal Tim Brooks, coming out of the jail as we passed. “Rocky, glad to see you. Step inside, if you would?”

He said, “I’ve sent wires off to the places that have posted bounties on those outlaws. In the wires, I also asked for next of kin. The outlaws had a total of a hundred and thirty-seven dollars in their pockets. I kept the amounts separate and will send a draft if the families contact me. I’ll fold it into my budget to cover the telegram cost if they don’t.

“Now, I haven’t forgotten that there were four horses, four saddles, and four and more guns involved that I’m giving you for the trouble they caused. All I need from you, Rocky, are the brands on the horses so I can legally turn ownership over to you. You then can sell them or keep them. The law requires an affidavit saying who killed each outlaw. I don’t need specific names, so you might say you killed all four.”

“Good, Marshal. I don’t want the Kid to start a reputation for being fast with a gun. The sixteen-year-old girl doesn’t need one, either. I’ll take the blame if there is any.”

“That will cover it.”

When we left, I said to Rocky.” He didn’t mention how much the bounty money amounts to, did he?”

“No, it could be only as much as twenty-five dollars or a few hundred dollars. The bounties may be from more than one source.”

I observed, “At least the marshal seems fair with it all and doesn’t try to cheat us. It is best not to dwell on the possibility of getting rich. I think of it as blood money, anyway,” I had nothing to say more on the subject.

We returned to Mable’s and started home at eleven. We made good time and reached there at three in the afternoon. The three hands were out with the herd of cattle. Karen had a stew bubbling in a pot hanging over the coals of the fire in the tepee. “Kid, I think we can trust our new hands, alright. What do you think?”

“I think so. I estimate we will be gone for two full weeks. Our first stop will be in the town where the land is located. I hope to find the lawyer who handled Pa’s business when we arrive. He is the one who made out the papers when Pa bought the land. There was a separate deed for the water and one for the ten acres for the house lot. I have copies to show him. The originals are cached in the hearth in a metal box Pa buried.”

“Looks like you have that part covered. Even if the place was considered abandoned, you should be able to find it.”

Jack came, flying into my arms, and I was glad I was home. I started tickling Jack, which he loved, and I often did this. He had never had anyone his age to play with, and Atea did this before she moved away. I tried to make up for some of the loss when she wasn’t here any longer.

Karen had gained some knowledge of the English language and asked the question of Rocky, “How long will you be here?”

“Five days, and then we will be gone many days. Karen, will you mind being here alone with the three cowboys?”

“No, won’t mind. They plow the garden when you leave.”

“Maybe there is no need for the garden if we move.”

“Plow garden anyway.” I shrugged my shoulders at this exchange.

After supper, everyone relaxed, and Rocky began talking. “Men and Karen, the Kid, and I are leaving for a few days next week. He has some business to tend to in his last town. While we are gone, I expect you will tend to the place as usual.

“That is just to watch the cattle so they don’t stray far from the open land. The cows and this year’s calves comprise a third of the cattle. There are two years of next year’s steers. Last year’s heifers are for sale in the fall this year. All told, that makes about two hundred and fifty head now.

“Your job is to keep them in the open range as much as possible. Karen will be here the same as always. I would like at least two of you here all the time. If you must go into town for something, just one man is to go.

“Enough of that. I’m thinking of selling out here and moving into town with Mable. The Kid may or may not be leaving anyway. He wants to marry Atea but to do that, he has to move to some place where he can take up his father’s trade of making wagon wheels. Finding a place with enough work for him to support a wife may take a while. That is some of what we will look into while we are gone. Anyway, this is all for the future.”