Chapter 19

They were all laughing so hard that Tom had to laugh as he watched them and he didn’t even know all that was said.

“Tom, we love your friend, she’s so much fun and such a sweet girl,” Valerie told him.

“I agree, we’ve known each other just two weeks and we’ve become good friends.”

“Ma’am if you’ll show Sally Mae and I the mares, we’ll get started today and finish tomorrow if need be.”

“Yes Tom, we have three mares that have just foaled and last week we purchased two mares from a neighbor that are to be delivered this evening. These mares have just dropped colts also.”

“Good, then Sally Mae and I will start right away.”

Valerie went to the stables with Tom and Sally Mae to show them the mares. They were all three in a small corral that opened into the barn.

Sally Mae went right to work on the first mare, then Tom brought his stud over to be cleaned. Soon the stud and the first mare were together in another open pen. Tom watched as Sally Mae prepared another mare.

The three mares were bred that afternoon and Tom was glad to get this much behind them, now if the other two mares were brought to the stables they’d be on the way once again.

The next day at noon Tom stood at the kitchen table as Maria counted out one thousand dollars on the table. He gathered the money, and thanked the sisters.

At two o’clock that afternoon Tom stood at the window of the station once again. He showed the man his paper and was told he’d have to wait until the engineer could connect to a cattle car.

Tom and Sally Mae sat on the platform in the warm sun and watched as the train engine moved from one track to another, switching back and forth until there was a cattle car just in front of the caboose.

The train pulled out of Atchison, Kansas bound for Wichita. They were twenty three minutes behind schedule.

Tom counted twenty seven cars in all on the train. They started slowly with a hard jolt as the big steam engine blew steam and black smoke into the air. Soon they were rolling across the plains, leaving behind the stock yards, the houses, and the businesses of Atchison, Kansas.

Out in the open flat land, the engineer pulled the throttle open and let the long train run. He wanted to make up as much time as possible on the long straight run down to Wichita.

Tom and Sally Mae knew from the other train rides in the cattle cars, they were going faster than ever today. The wind was whipping against them hard. The black smoke of the coal fired steam engine was blowing back in a long dark cloud that hung in the still air of the Kansas plains like a big black rope.

The steam whistle on the engine was blowing almost constantly as they rolled past small crossings along the way. In just over an hour they pulled into the station in Topeka, Kansas. The train was only still long enough to get passengers loaded and unloaded, cars switched and to take on water.

They were out on the open plains once more, black smoke billowing, the whistle screaming at each crossing. The wind was whipping the straw around in small whirlwinds as the train rocked and rattled down the track.

The clickety clack of the wheels crossing the rail joints kept time with the swaying of the cars along the straight path of endless rails.

Tom and Sally Mae relaxed against the side boards of the rail car. They soon fell asleep lying against each other as the rhythm of the rails and the wheels of the train sang a lullaby in the wind.

Sally Mae woke up and looked around, the sun was low in the western sky as the train still screamed across the Kansas plains bound for Wichita. She crawled away from Tom, dropped her breeches and peed.

Sally Mae lay back beside the long tall injun and started running her hand up and down his belly, slipping her hand under his shirt, she felt the smooth tan skin. Sally Mae wanted some.

The train whistle was blowing wildly, the train was slowing and Tom raised up to see the stock yards with the rail fences in all directions, laid out to form pens and corrals for the cattle.

The train was passing the stock yards and slowing to a stop in front of the train depot. There was no ramp by the cattle car and Tom jumped down to see someone about getting his horse off the car. Sally Mae had followed and Tom’s horse stood there with his saddle on, looking through the sideboards as Tom walked off.

The big horse bolted to the open door and jumped out and down four feet to the wooden platform, then galloped to catch up with Tom and Sally Mae.

Tom just looked at him and smiled, he should have known better.

People were standing everywhere staring at the tall injun, the slender high yellow girl and the big horse on the platform.

Tom calmly walked to the train station to ask for directions. He handed the man his paper, and the man looked up at Tom.

“You’re Tom Cooper?”

“Yes Sir, I am.”

“Helluva name for an injun.”

“You will find Mr. Holliday at his office across the tracks and down the street to your left toward the center of town.”

“Yes Sir, thank you,” Tom said as he swung to the saddle, pulled Sally Mae up behind him and trotted his horse to the edge of the platform where he leaped to the ground and kept his pace.

They passed the front of the steam engine as it stood hissing steam and puffing smoke. Tom crossed the tracks then took the street that ran along the tracks toward town. There were so many buildings he couldn’t keep up with where one ended and another started.

They came to a tall, red brick building that had ‘HOLLIDAY’ painted on a white sign in big letters.

“Sally Mae, stay here with the horse, I’ll see if I can’t get someone to tell me where we need to be.”

Tom walked into the front door, he had his black hat on, the Colt still strapped to his leg and his paper in his hand.

A short bald man looked up from his desk and saw Tom. The man jumped up and backed away from his desk, then ran from the room through an open door. Tom followed the man to see if he knew where Mr. Holliday was.

He saw the man through a window into another room, Tom walked to the open door and heard the man.

“There he is now Sir, that’s the man I was telling you about,” he said to a big man sitting at his desk.

“I’m Tom Cooper and I’m looking for Mr. Holliday,” Tom said.

The short bald man backed to the wall, scared the injun was going to start trouble.

The big man at the desk stood up and stuck his hand out, “I’m Cyrus Holliday, I’ve been expecting you Tom. I sure didn’t have you pictured like this though,” he said as they shook hands.

“Sir I’m here with my stud and my helper, if you’ll show us to your stables we’ll start the breeding of your mares.”

“Yes Tom if you’ll bring your horse around to the back of this building I’ll meet you there at my buggy.”

Tom walked out, swung to the saddle and rode around the building

“Is he here Injun Tom?” Sally Mae asked.

“Yes, there he is now. We’ll follow him.”

They rode behind the buggy as they were led through the streets lined with businesses and houses. When they were out of town, Tom rode beside the buggy.

“Tom that sure is some fine horse you have, I know better than to ask, but would you sell him?”

“No Sir, he’s not for sell.”

“I can understand that young man, I’ll have to settle for the hopes of getting a good copy of him out of my mares. I have some fine stock horses here. Some are speed horses, some are pleasure horses and some I breed for cattle handling. I hope to have the blood of this big horse in all my horses. I’ve heard so much about you and your horse, I even read an article in a newspaper that a friend of mine brought from Kansas City the other day. You seem to attract a lot of attention Tom,” The big man laughed.

“Yes Sir, but I don’t like a lot of attention, the trouble just seems to find me.”

They were riding alongside a well kept wood rail fence, then turned into a large entrance to a ranch headquarters.

Tom and Sally Mae were looking at all the horses in the pens and the ones that grazed on the green grass in the open pastures.

“This is really a nice spread here Mr. Holliday, it reminds me of the Canady’s spread up in Newton, Nebraska.”

“Thank you Tom, Dale Canady and his family are friends of me and my family. My oldest son is trying his best to court Dale’s oldest daughter Alissa.”

“I have met Miss Alissa, she is a very pretty young woman and very headstrong, as are her sisters and mother.”

“I would agree with you there Tom, they’re all exceptional people, Dale has written me all about you and the reputation you left in Newton.”

“I didn’t set out to make a reputation, like I said trouble has become my shadow.”

“You have no reason to worry, your reputation is a good one. You made a lot of friends for life there in Newton. I hope that one day you will also call me friend.”

“Thank you Sir.”

When Mr. Holliday pulled up to the main stable, a girl about Sally Mae’s size and age walked out. She walked over to Mr. Holliday and hugged him.

“Daddy, I didn’t expect you to come home so early today,” she said as she looked Tom and Sally Mae over.

“Oh my, is this the stud that will breed our mares?” She asked as she reached out to touch Tom’s horse on the nose.

The big horse smelled her hand then walked a step forward to stand with his nose at her chest as Tom slid off his back.

“Melody this tall Indian is Tom Cooper, I told you about him.”

“Yes you did daddy, but you didn’t really tell me he looked like this,” She smiled.

“Well, he was a shock to me too, when he walked into my office earlier today.”

Tom helped Sally Mae down.

“This is Sally Mae, she’s my helper in the breeding.”

Melody shook Sally Mae’s hand as she looked her over real good, Mr. Holliday shook her hand too as he looked Sally Mae over good.

“Tom, we had plans for you to stay in the day cottage here by the barn, if you need more room we’ll make other arrangements,” Melody said.

“No Ma’am, this will be fine. We’ll be working with the horses mostly while we’re here.”

“Tom don’t call me Ma’am. Please call me Melody, daddy is already trying to get me married off, he’s so afraid that I will become an old maid,” she laughed.

“Yes Ma’am,” Tom said.

“Sally Mae if you’ll bring your belongings with you, I’ll show you the living quarters.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Sally Mae said and followed her with Tom’s bedroll and her tow sack.

Tom and Sally Mae went right to work getting the mares separated and cleaned up for the breeding. Sally went to the big stud to clean him, he knew by now what this meant and stood stock still as she washed his tool up for him to stick the mares. Like the rest of the stables they had been to, most of the brood mares had just dropped a colt and were being bred right back to Tom’s horse.

Before dark caught them, they had bred Tom’s stud to five of the mares, they had another six to go tomorrow.

The next morning at daylight, Tom was up and out to the stables, he wanted to get a good start and give his big stud a rest then finish up in time to get back to the station before dark.

Sally Mae and Tom worked good together and soon had half the mares taken care of. Tom gave his horse some crushed oats and a cool drink. He let him walk in the barn yard as he talked to Sally Mae.

“We should be back on the train to Topeka before dark if we can finish here soon.”

“We’ve had a good day Injun Tom we’ll be through soon.”

Sally Mae was right and they were soon ready to pack up and get on the road. Mr. Holliday came out and paid Tom and they were on their way to the train station.

“Injun Tom,” Sally Mae said as they turned up the main road to Wichita.

“When we are through in Topeka will we have some time before we have to go back to Omaha?”