Chapter 69

Upon their return to Tulsa from racing Cheyenne at Vinita, Little Eli had met with Bill and Jack Robertson that day, asking them about making a lightweight saddle just for Cheyenne. After measuring and fitting him with the special built saddletree and pad, they made a saddle with no high pommel and no saddle horn. There were no fenders, just leather straps that supported the small brass stirrups. This saddle was half the weight of the working and pleasure saddles they used on the ranch.

As time drew near for Cheyenne’s first race in Fort Worth, Little Eli led him from his stall with his halter still on. He stood waiting as Ezra picked up the saddle and slung it over his shoulder. Samantha had the hackamore draped over her arm as she and Ezra walked side by side across the street to the racetrack. They were holding hands openly, smiling as they walked.

Samantha, her sister, and two cousins had already made up their minds; these four Young Bucks were the ones for them. They’d already told their mothers what they had decided in just over a day after meeting the three Crow boys and Pike.

“Ezra, put my money up to match yours. If you get some good odds, double up on them if they can stand it. Cheyenne will win this race, I can feel it in him just like all the other times we raced,” Little Eli told his brother, handing him a roll of bills.

“Ezra, our moms gave each of us a hundred and so did our dads. I want to bet the same as you bet,” Samantha told him, leaning close to press her body against his.

“Sam, don’t be distracting me like that until I get our bets down like I want them. You’ll have me betting on the wrong horse,” Ezra told her, then grinned when she laughed at him.

“If we win, will you give me a big hug?”

“We’ll win. You just get ready for that hug,” he told her, but he was red faced as he spoke boldly.

“If we win the race today and the one tomorrow, will I get a kiss then?” She teased.

“I’ve never kissed before, Sam.”

“Neither have I, Ezra. We’ll have so much fun learning about kissing and all that other stuff together, won’t we?”

“All that other stuff?” He gulped.

“Yes, we can learn all about kissing first, then later when we get to know each other better and have more time, we can do it all with each other the first time too.”

“Sam, I done told you, don’t mess with my head like that until I get these bets placed.”

“Then can we talk about it after you get the bets placed?”

“Sam, your dad and my dad are right over there. They’re both gonna hear you.”

“I’ve already told my dad and my mother that I wanted to love you, Ezra Crow!”

“Sam, I need to go with Dad to be sure I place our bets right. If you’ll hush talking about this, you can go too, but if you keep on...”

“If I keep on, then what?” She teased, hooking her arm in his as they followed their dads to the betting windows.

Moses stepped up to the window when Eli did and placed his bet the same way. He didn’t even pay attention to what he was betting, he just placed the same amount of money up there that Eli did, and took his tickets.

He stepped back to watch Pike and Cecily Blasingame. He was more interested in what his son was doing than he was betting.

He’d never seen Pike this way. He’d seen Little Eli and Isaac with Kit and Ruby, but this was his own son. He was amazed at how much Pike was just like Little Eli. He already seemed like he was years older than his thirteen years. Moses had a grin on his face when Joe looked around to see him.

Joe looked over to see Pike with Cecily as they placed their bets at the window with her dad.

“Moses, looks like you could get a daughter, or the Blasingames could get at least one son out of this deal,” Joe said and they laughed.

“Joe, I was just standing here admiring my son. I reckon I’ve always just thought of him as still being a boy. Hell, he’s a man! Just look at the way he stands right there in front of that girl’s daddy and talks like he’s known all of them for years.”

“I reckon it’s because of Miranda teaching them to be polite, have manners, and take pride in who they are. All the Young Bucks are like that, just look at the rest of them.

“Hell, Moses, you were there when I met Sissy the first time. I couldn’t even talk to her in front of Eli. Now these Bucks just walk right up and talk to a girl and her daddy they’ve never met before and next thing you know, she’s following them around like puppies,” Joe told him.

“I wish Suh could see this. She’s always worrying that Pike will be left behind when the other Bucks get older and he’s not as old. I tell her that they’re blood brothers now and they’ll not leave a brother behind. I don’t think she really understands what all that means yet.”

“Just tell her to watch every time Eli does something for his boys. Pike and Isaac get the same thing his boys do. What one gets, they all get!”

“I reckon you’re right, Joe. I never even thought of that myself.

“I see why Eli and Duncan are always smiling when they see Little Eli and Isaac around Kit and Ruby. Hell, those boys already act like they’re grownup and married,” Moses told him.

“Yep, it sure is different than when we were trying to keep from saying or doing the wrong thing while we were getting to know Sissy and Suh, isn’t it?”

“Damn sure is, Joe. I just never thought of it like that.”

“You and Suh sure got reason to be proud of Pike. He’s a young gentleman, alright. Just look at that girl; she looks like she’s a part of him, the way she hangs onto him. Look at him, Moses. He just smiles at her, then keeps right on talking to her dad.”

“Yep, you were right when you said it’s not the same as it was back when it was us. I wonder just what it’ll be like when Chane and the other little ones grow up?” Moses asked as he and Joe watched the four Bucks with the girls they’d just met.

“I don’t even want to know about all that just yet. It scares me to even think about it,” Joe told him.

Isaac and Little Eli were with Cheyenne, getting him saddled, talking to him the whole time. They were more nervous than Cheyenne was.

Eli, Duncan, Moses, Joe, Jefferson, and Howard sat with Randall Loeb down near the front on the wooden seats right even with the finish line. The Bucks and the Blasingame girls were one row in front of them, the Blasingame moms and dads sitting one row up.

The place was crowded and the noise of the crowd became louder as they watched the horses parade past the stands on their way to the rope starting barrier. Little Eli spotted them in the stands and waved to them as he passed.

His dad was busy taking bets on Cheyenne with anyone close by who would take his crazy odds. No one in the stands thought the tall Paint from Indian Territory even belonged in this race, let alone had a chance to win.

By post time, Eli had collected twenty thousand in bets against Cheyenne from the spectators near them. Jefferson was writing the names down and Howard was holding the money as they laughed and watched Eli in action.

The official odds for Cheyenne as post time neared were twenty-seven to one. Ward and Wade Blasingame hurried to place three thousand each for theirs and their wives’ wagers after seeing Eli and the other men from Tulsa place bets of five thousand each on Cheyenne right at the last minute. Randall Loeb bet ten thousand on Cheyenne to win and another ten on the local crowd favorite to place.

The trumpet sounded and the horses were lined up to approach the rope barrier.

Cheyenne was getting excited, but Little Eli felt he had control of him the whole time. He could feel Cheyenne’s whole body become tense when he edged up to see the rope at his face.

There were ten horses entered. Cheyenne carried the number five, lined up fifth from the inside. They were racing a quarter of a mile and Little Eli knew they had to get a good jump. He already knew Cheyenne would want to go hard when the other horses came off the line as fast as they could run.

There was no way he was going to hold him back for this race.

The crowd was loud as they stood and yelled. From the track, the sounds filled the air with a roar as the rope flew up.

Little Eli was ready, leaning over Cheyenne’s neck with the reins in one hand, a firm grip on his long mane with the other. When the rope was raised, Cheyenne was the second horse off the line as the other horses scrambled for position and for the lead.

Little Eli reached up and slapped Cheyenne on his neck, yelling at him as he leaned forward. They were racing five abreast toward the first turn and he could feel his horse respond with a burst of speed that took them to the lead. He quickly pulled him to the rail ahead of the others before the turn, as he let him have his head and run this race his way.

Coming out of the turn, the ten horses were again bunched close together. Little Eli patted Cheyenne’s neck and he pulled ahead to a slight lead once more.

Little Eli quickly looked back to either side to see three horses breaking away from the pack, making a run to take the lead. One of them pulled even with Cheyenne on the inside before Little Eli slapped his neck hard and yelled, “Go, Big Boy!”

The race was over at that point for the other horses. Cheyenne outdistanced the second place horse by a length with a hundred yards to go and held it all the way.

There were boos from most of the crowd as they tore their ticket stubs in half after their favorite horse finished second. There were cheers from the few who had bet on the long shot, and won at twenty-seven to one odds.

Eli handed his winning tickets to Howard for him to cash in, then leaped the rail to run out to meet Little Eli and Cheyenne in the winner’s circle.

Jefferson gathered up all the money for the bets as he marked the names off his list. Ward and Wade Blasingame hurried to collect their winnings, followed by the Bucks and the Blasingame girls.

Randall Loeb came in second as the big winner for the day, winning even more than Eli in third place as a winner.

“Dad! I hope you had some good bets down on him. He sure ran a good race today, didn’t he?” Little Eli yelled as Eli ran out to grab him in a hug as he leaned down from Cheyenne.

“Let me get a photograph of you beside your son, Marshal,” A man shouted and they looked up to see a photographer a few feet away.

Eli posed standing next to Cheyenne with his arm draped across his back behind his son.

“I’m staying at the Cattlemen’s Hotel; I want a copy of that photograph. Here’s a hundred, make sure I get it,” Eli said, peeling a hundred off his roll.

“Yes Sir, Marshal. I’ll leave it at the desk for you.”

“Did you win big, Dad?” Little Eli asked as he slid to the ground.

“They had his odds at twenty-seven to one, Eli. We loaded up on their asses too. I know your brothers won big and so did the Blasingames. Near as I can figure in my head, I came out with over three hundred thousand. Randall bet ten thousand on Cheyenne to win and another ten on that second horse to place.”

“Whoa, he won over a half million!”

“I placed a bet for each of you Bucks, for five thousand to win on Cheyenne.”

“How much did Ezra bet for him and me?”

“He bet three thousand for each of you at twenty seven to one,” Eli said as they walked toward the exit gate leading Cheyenne, grinning the whole way.

Howard and Jefferson met them as they came out of the gate. Howard had a big canvas bag in his hand as he waved it at Eli.

“Eli, they gave me a bag to put all seven of your winning ticket payoffs in. Jefferson put all your other money in here too,” Howard said as he laughed and slapped Eli and Little Eli in on their backs.

“Eli, that was some race you and Cheyenne ran out there. I guess you know, our group alone won nearly two million on that one race!” Howard told Little Eli.

“TWO MILLION? How did we do that?” Eli asked as he looked at Howard and Jefferson.

“Here comes Moses now. Let him tell you,” Jefferson said as he and Howard continued to laugh.

Moses walked up with two big canvas bags of money in his hands. He was grinning as he looked at Eli.

“Eli, I reckon I better pay more attention to what I’m doing when I’m around you. I was so busy watching Pike and Cecily that I just bet the same as you did and counted out the money when they told me how much. Hell, when they handed me all them tickets I never even looked, I just stuck them in my pouch.