Twenty-Two
Morgan Barlow and Marcel Palu kept the milling herd under as much control as possible. The cattle drive had come to a temporary halt when they arrived at the farm where Anna Lee had lived with her father and uncle.
She gazed wistfully at the house, then turned to Morgan. “I won’t be long, darling.”
“We’ll wait, don’t you fret none,” Morgan said. “Take your time. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
“I’d rather be alone,” Anna Lee said. “Thank you.”
Anna Lee gave a little wave, then pulled on the reins of her horse to ride into the yard of her farm. She came to a halt and looked the place over. Grief swept over her as she saw the graves of her father and uncle that were visible at the edge of the yard. She was tempted to go visit them, but kept herself from going. “They ain’t really there,” she said aloud. “Pa and Uncle Wallace is off somewhere else.”
Anna Lee looked from the house over to the shed and back to the front porch. The young woman realized that the place would slowly disintegrate and began to topple until some other sod-busters or homesteaders came along to lay claim to it. She hoped they would make it on that farm and not go bust. Suddenly the urge to cry came on her and she fought it down as long as she could. Then the tears came freely as she gave in to the sadness she felt. Anna Lee wept for awhile, then slowly recovered and turned her attention to the real reason for stopping there.
Aside from a few belongings and the graves, there wasn’t much at the place that really concerned her. But she felt the rest of her clothes and some household goods shouldn’t go to waste. Anyhow, her dresses were there and she had a real desire for Morgan to see her gussied up like a woman. Now she smiled as she imagined what his reaction would be. Anna Lee glanced over where he and Marcel minded the herd, thinking that she’d finally be putting a bonnet on for him.
An old buckboard sat at the rear of the house. Anna Lee now wanted to get away from the place before she was overwhelmed with emotion again. She rode over and quickly dismounted beside it. After taking the saddle from her horse and putting it in the back of the vehicle, she deftly hitched the animal up to pull the conveyance. Three rapid trips to the house produced as many armloads of property that were tossed on board to accompany the saddle. Then she got into the seat and drove out to join the herd.
“How far to your place?” she asked Morgan.
“We’ll be there shortly afore dark, I reckon,” he said. “It depends on how fast we get these longhorns to travel.”
Anna Lee fought a desire to look back at the house. “Then we’d better get this show on the road, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He realized how hard this was for her. He smiled. “I love you, Anna Lee.”
She smiled back. “I love you, Morgan.”
Morgan waved over at Marcel. “Let’s move ’em out!” he yelled.
He and Marcel got the longhorns moving. The cattle ambled slowly and reluctantly across the flat prairie toward the ranch that Morgan and his brother had optimistically named the Rocking B. Anna Lee followed them in the lurching wagon that rolled along at the rear of the procession.
The longhorns were tired after their ordeal of being stolen and re-stolen. The drives south and back north had now taken their toll. After almost a full day spent on the trail the day before, the journey had been resumed early that morning. They moved listlessly and obeyed the pair of drovers with typical bovine acceptance, but no matter how much whistling and yelling was done the cattle would not pick up the pace.
By the time they reached the Rocking B and were driven out onto the open range, the sunset was beginning to form on the far western horizon. The longhorns, sensing both the arrival at a destination and the end of the day, were ready to settle down to some quiet grazing.
The human beings with them felt the same way. And they were glad to note the cattle wanted no more movement and it wouldn’t be necessary to keep them from wandering off. Any strays would not go far and could easily be rounded up the next day.
The three rode up to the ranch house. Anna Lee hopped down from the buckboard as Morgan and Marcel slipped out of their saddles.
“I am tuckered,” Morgan admitted. “Sleeping in a bed is gonna be real good tonight.”
“So we be here, eh, Morgan?” Marcel asked.
“Yeah. This is it,” Morgan announced. “Home.”
Marcel looked around. “Hey! This be a nice place, you damn betcha!” He pointed at the other structure. “What be that, Morgan?”
“The bunkhouse,” he said. “Me and my brother Sam built it for when we’d have us a crew.
Anna Lee looked at the house. It was a typical male abode that needed some curtains and a bit more of a woman’s touch before she would be satisfied with it. “How many rooms does this place have,” she asked.
“Three,” Morgan replied.
“How far’s the nearest town?” she asked.
“Ten miles,” Morgan answered.
“Is there a preacher there?” Anna Lee inquired.
Morgan shrugged. “You’re just full o’ questions, ain’t you, Texas Lady? How come you’re so all fired curious?” He laughed. “As if I didn’t know.”
“Answer me,” she insisted. “Is there a preacher in that town?”
Morgan shook his head. “Nope. There’s a traveling parson that comes through once or twice of a month.”
“And there’s three rooms in the house,” Anna Lee mused. “So which one is mine?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, which room is mine ’til that preacher comes through here and makes us man and wife,” Anna Lee said.
Morgan sighed. “The main bedroom is in the back. I reckon it’ll do you ’til the time is right.”
“I’ll settle in now,” Anna Lee announced. She went to the buckboard and grabbed some of her things.
“Me too, I settle in,” said Marcel. He untied his saddlebags and pulled them off his horse. He walked toward the bunkhouse.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Morgan asked.
“I fix me up some nice place in the bunkhouse,” Marcel said. “I goin’ be one of your crew, Morgan.” He looked hopeful.
“You’ll sleep in the house,” Morgan said. “And you’re a hell of a lot more than a hired hand around here.”
“Huh?” Marcel asked puzzled.
“Remember when I said you was free to go? That you didn’t have to stick around to the end o’ the fight?” Morgan asked. “You said you wouldn’t go ’cause we was like family. Well, family don’t sleep in the bunkhouse. Get in the house. The front bedroom belongs to you.”
Marcel looked at both Morgan and Anna Lee smiling at him. Tears came to his eyes and it took him a couple of moments before he could talk. “You damn betcha! We family.”
“You damn betcha!” Morgan said grinning. “I got to ask you a favor though, Marcel. Would you share your room with me ’til the preacher comes? I’ll put my bedroll on the floor in the corner.”
“You take the bed,” Marcel said. “I sleep on the floor.”
Morgan shook his head. “It’s your room. So the bed is yours. And I won’t hear nothing else about it. Now, is it alright if I sleep in there?”
Marcel nodded enthusiastically. “That be fine and good with me, Morgan.” Now he laughed. “And when you and Anna Lee be married and she got the mad for you, it be fine if you come back and sleep there again.”
Now Morgan laughed so loud it almost startled the two. They had never seen him really exhibit humor before. “I’ll tell you something! I’m prob’ly gonna have to hold you to that.”
Anna Lee walked over and slipped her arm around his waist. “If you’re a sweetie, you won’t have no trouble from me, Morgan Barlow.”
“Let’s go inside,” Morgan suggested.
The three entered the small house. Marcel went to inspect his new digs while Anna Lee sized the place up. She was pleased to note there was a cook stove.
“Me and Sam bought it from a friend,” Morgan explained. “It’s a pretty good one and can be used for heat in winter too.”
Anna Lee walked over to it, inspecting it by lifting one of the griddles and looking inside. After that she played with the damper handle and checked the combustion chamber. “It needs cleaning,” she announced.
Morgan shrugged. “Sweetheart, I reckon that just about ever’thing around here needs cleaning.
Anna Lee opened the front door of the stove. “It’s got an oven too!”
“Sure does,” Morgan said. “Can you bake bread?”
“I certainly can,” Anna Lee said. “We only had an open fire place to cook on back at the farm. I had to use a Dutch oven on the coals. Sometimes the results wasn’t all that good. This is gonna be right nice, darling.”
Marcel rejoined them. He noticed her looking at the stove. “I do the cooking if you want for me to,” he announced.
“I’ll take care o’ that,” Anna Lee said as she continued to put her claim on the house and the kitchen in particular. “This is a woman’s place here. But you two can fetch game.”
“I gots to tell you, Anna Lee,” Marcel said seriously. “I need for the flavorings in my food. I be the Cajun.”
“I’ll make a deal with you, Marcel,” Anna Lee said. “You teach me how to use them flavorings and I’ll put ’em in ever’ meal. How does that sound?”
“It sound good, you damn betcha!” Marcel said.
“Let’s get ever’thing inside and stable the horses,” Morgan said. “Then we can settle in and relax.”
It took them a bit more time than the men figured it would. Anna Lee wanted the cooking utensils she brought with her from the farm put away in a certain manner. That also required rearranging the stuff that was already there. While she supervised Morgan in that chore, Marcel went about building a small fire in the stove. When that was done, she wouldn’t let him make the coffee. She insisted on doing it herself.
When the coffee was brewed, the men settled down around the table. Anna Lee managed to whip up some biscuits and beans from some of the stuff left on the shelves. Marcel gave her some of his peppers and seasonings with some preliminary instructions on using the condiments.
They consumed the simple meal the same way they’d eaten out on the trail. A little talking, but mostly eating and sipping the hot coffee. The one big change was the clean up. Not only did Anna Lee insist on doing it all, she was able to use water drawn from the well outside. She even cleaned up their camp pots and pans that had been scoured with dirt for so many weeks.
When that was done, they settled around the table to finish off the coffee in the weak light cast from the fire in the stove. With the loading door open, the glowing coals gave the room a pleasant, warm atmosphere.
Morgan finished his third cup of coffee. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go stand by Sam’s grave for a bit.”
“Go ahead, darling,” Anna Lee said.
Morgan walked out the front door and stepped off the porch into the brilliant light cast by a full moon. He had taken no more than a couple of steps when he noticed the half dozen armed men formed in a semicircle around the front of the house.