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Old Amarillo
THE NEXT MORNING DAWNED much too early, with the sun’s gentle morning rays peeking through the dirty oil-paper that was stretched taut over the bunkhouse window. I suppose that’s just there to keep out the dust, Katie figured. It certainly does nothing to keep out the sunshine. She rolled over and propped her head up on her hand. Well, most of the dust. Snug beneath her quilt, Katie lay on the cot and watched the dust motes dance their own dance in the scattered beams. She sighed, the memory of Peter’s arms still fresh and sweet in her mind.
In the next cot, Annie sat up straight as a pin, suddenly very awake. “Did we miss it,” she asked. Throwing her legs over the side of her bunk, she threw on the dress she’d laid out the night before. “Have Crackerjack and the other cowmen already left on the trail?”
Suddenly awake herself, Katie sprang up and peeked out the door. “They’re just mounting up. Here,” she dashed to her sister’s side. “Let me help you with your covering.”
When Katie and Annie burst from the bunkhouse door, Peter already had the buggy hitched and ready. “Good morning, Knepp ladies. Sleeping late this morning?”
Katie offered a bright smile. “Good morning, Texan.” Somehow, the magic of the night before had carried over into the morning sunlight, much the same way as those dreamlike nights at a Gasthof Village barn raising had.
Nearby, Crackerjack sat atop Parker, his still-skittish mustang. With that trademark, and somewhat strangely familiar, grin, he tipped his hat with one finger. Without any words, Annie strode over to tell her Texas cowboy goodbye.
Katie joined Peter at the buggy to watch Annie and Crackerjack’s goodbye.
“I’ll send word from Santa Fe to let you know we made it safe, if you like.”
Annie nodded beneath her crooked covering. Katie thought she heard a sniffle.
Parker stomped sideways and swished her tail, obviously ready to do something other than just stand there. Reaching down, Crackerjack stroked Annie’s cheek with a finger. “Wasn’t lookin’ for no woman when you come along, Annie Knepp. But believe this old Philadelphia boy when I tell you that my eyes are closed to women until you walk into my life again.”
Oh my, Katie thought, drawing her fist to her mouth. She sniffed back a tear.
With a sly wink, George “Crackerjack” Guthrie turned Parker’s head and galloped off to join the other boys as they gathered the massive herd of Texas longhorn cattle.
“Goodbye, George Guthrie,” Annie whispered to his retreating back. A soft wind whispered around them, blowing Annie’s covering strings back over her shoulder. Lifting a finger, she swiped at a tear. “Goodbye.”
***
KATIE NOTICED RIGHT off the familiar stirring in Annie’s eyes as they drove off the Broken O. “You really are quite smitten with Crackerjack, aren’t you Annie?” It was obvious Katie was delighting in her sister’s crush. “Tell me everything. I saw you dance with him.” Katie was turned completely around on the buggy seat, facing her sister. “Did you bond with him? Oh, who am I kidding, of course you did.” Katie sucked in her bottom lip while the questions formed, one after another, in her mind. Chewing, she considered each question only for a moment before flinging it at her sister. “Does he love God, Annie? I mean, like we do?”
Annie waited for Katie to take a breath before she broke in. “Yes. I didn’t bond with him, I fell in love with him, but only after I knew that he had fallen in love with me.” Talking about love brought a crimson tint to Annie’s cheeks. “There is just something so special about him.”
Katie sighed. “Isn’t it wonderful?” She shifted on the seat and looked at Peter.
“Thanks for including me in your conversation,” Peter teased. “With all this talk of love, I feel it’s only right to let you ladies in on a little secret. I spoke to Crackerjack Guthrie this morning, myself.”
Katie and Annie shared a silly look, then a giggle.
Unfazed, Peter continued. “Annie? He said he knew he loved you the moment you rode onto the Broken O.” Peter lifted himself off the wagon seat and pulled something from his pocket.
Both girls fell silent.
“He also said if you loved him, the way God intended for woman to love a man, than I was to give you this.” Keeping his eyes on the narrow trail, he handed the treasure over his shoulder to Annie.
Katie gasped. “Is that real gold?”
“It’s his pa’s gold pocket watch.”
With a hiccup, Annie began to cry.
Peter softened his voice. “Said he’ll be just a telegram away and he would love to know your feelings for him for himself.” Peter smiled. “Guess all English ain’t so bad after all, are they?”
•
“GLAD WE STOCKED UP on water,” Peter mused. “That decrepit place there is the Simmons spread.”
Katie glanced at the dilapidated ranch. “Looks like the Simmons’ family has already pulled up stakes and moved on.” The front door of the main house swung, forgotten and broken, in the hot breeze. “I wonder if his son died?”
Annie pointed from the back of the buggy. “Not sure who that belongs to, but someone’s buried there.” A lone white cross, laid over on its side, marked someone’s final resting place in the front yard of the Simmons’ place.
Katie shivered as Peter snapped the reins over Sookie’s back. No doubt he felt the same haunting darkness that seemed to loom over the Simmons’ empty home site as she did. With Sookie’s quick clip, they passed the vacant property quickly.
When the eerie feeling had passed, Peter wiped his sleeve across his forehead. “Didn’t figure it to get so hot so early on in the day.”
Katie adjusted her dress and slouched back against the faded buggy seat. She flicked her covering strings and tried to think about anything but the encroaching heat. Indeed, as magical as the night before had been, those sweet and hazy memories faded as the temperature rose. All she wanted to do was go jump in a cool creek and preferably nap under a shady tree somewhere.
“Amarillo Creek.”
Katie sat up. “What did you say, Annie?”
Annie pointed. “That little sign. Right there, look!”
Peter snapped the reins over Sookie’s back again. “There it is. Amarillo Creek.”
Maybe they’ll let me dip my toes in just for a moment. Katie peeked out of the buggy window as they drove over the ramshackle little bridge. “Peter!” Her jaw went slack as she turned to face him. “There’s no water in that creek.”
Peter bobbed his head. “I was afraid of that. At least we’re close to the Mennonite settlement. Didn’t you say it was just outside of Amarillo, Katie?”
Searching her memory for the exact location as to where the settlement was located, Katie scanned the wooded horizon. I never got the exact location. She bit her bottom lip and willed the knots to untie in her stomach. How stupid of me to think we’d just stumble on it, or drive right to it...
Annie and Peter waited for her to answer. “Katie?”
God, help me. How do I tell Peter and Annie I brought them out into the Texas wilderness without even knowing where I was going? Then, her eyes focused on another small, immaculately printed sign. “Look!” Katie sprang out of her seat, almost flipping forward out of the buggy. “A honey stand,” she shrieked. “Look at the name on the sign, the name!”
Peter squinted and Annie leaned forward. “Joseph...” Peter tried. “That’s all I can make out. Can you read it, Annie?”
“Um, maybe if we get a bit closer.”
Katie tilted her chin. “You’ll find it says, Goetz.” Finally, I read something they couldn’t. Crossing her arms, Katie sat back against the seat. Or maybe my eyes are just better at reading Mennonite names long distances.
Peter reined Sookie to a halt. “You’re right Katie. Joseph Goetz. And look at this.” He hopped out of the buggy and trotted around behind them. “They’re selling their honey on the honor system. Just like we do, er, well, how they do back at Gasthof.”
Leaning over, Katie and Annie watched as Peter lifted a jar of the thick amber liquid. Filled to above the lid line, the honey hardly moved as Peter turned the jar first this way and then back that way, examining the contents. It looked deliciously sweet. Katie licked her lips. Setting the jar back down with the others, Peter plucked up the rock which held down the cash money paid out by passersby in exchange for a jar of Mennonite Texas honey.
“Joseph Goetz hasn’t done too badly,” Peter mused, counting out the cash. “He’s made five dollars.” He glanced up at the girls and shoved the money into his pocket. “Let’s take it to him, shall we?”
Katie and Annie squealed. The end is in sight, Katie thought as they drove down the trail. I never thought I would be glad for an adventure to be over, but goodness, I am glad. She perked up as Sookie turned through a whitewashed fence. The house was visible at the end of the fence line.
Katie turned to Annie, her heart thumping louder now than it had back at Robber’s Roost. “Sister, we’re here.” She grasped Annie’s hand over the buggy seat.
Annie’s voice came out in a whisper. “I know. I’m so glad I came. Couldn’t have stood being without my sister and best friend.”
Katie tightened her lips stoically. “And you wouldn’t have gotten to meet Crackerjack Guthrie, best mustang-breaker in Texas.” Loosening her face, Katie gave over to a spate of laughter.
“Yes, that too,” Annie agreed, her ears bright red.
Katie steeled her backbone. Sensing eyes upon her, she swiveled slowly on the buggy seat. Sure enough, an older man and his entire family had appeared in their yard. There they stood, together as a family, watching and waiting for the approaching buggy as it drove up the path to their home.
Katie’s mind began to swirl with insecurities. Slapping her sweaty hand over Peter’s, she watched the world go fuzzy before her eyes. “I feel a might faint,” she whispered, managing a swallow. Reaching up with her other clammy hand, she tugged at the high collar of her dress. It’s choking me, she thought wildly. Deep in her chest, her heart quickened to a thunderous beat.
“Katie?” Annie’s worried voice floated over the buggy seat. Still, it sounded very far away. “Peter, is she alright?”
Katie gasped, trying to get the air that surrounded her to follow through to her lungs. “We should have done something,” she rasped, still pulling at her collar. Deftly, Annie unbuttoned the top hook-and-eye button. Finally, I can breathe. “I don’t know if we’re welcome. I should have sent a telegram.”
Peter stopped the buggy. His hands were on her face in an instant, petting and holding. “Katie, calm down.”
She stared at him, his outline fuzzy, as she writhed on the buggy seat. Her mind raced this way and that and all at once, the world was closing in on her. “Turn around. Let’s go home.”
Annie peeked over the buggy seat. “You mean to tell me you’ve come all this way? Braving our first family, the Ordnung, the grippe, a poetry-wielding gunslinger, and a Texan so crazy in his head that he shot a man, then gave his widow his entire life’s work—his ranch?” Annie clicked her tongue against her teeth as Katie’s breathing started to slow.
“Don’t forget the hydrophobia,” Peter added, addressing Annie. “She did want to pet the rabid bobcat, you know.”
Annie patted her sister’s shoulder and talked over her head. “And outlaws? Weren’t there outlaws?”
“Several outlaws actually. Outlaws of all kinds.” Peter smiled down at Katie’s sweat-laced, upturned face. “She even showed one the way to the Lord.”
Annie still patted and rubbed. “Wasn’t there a fire along the way?”
“A bad fire,” Peter agreed. “What was it Crackerjack said? Muy malo?”
Annie flushed.
“And the coyotes.” Katie’s voice was a dry whisper. “The first night, the coyotes tried to eat my venison steak dinner. I flung it at them and ran.”
Annie and Peter shared in a quiet chuckle. “See there now,” Annie cooed, smoothing at the parts of Katie’s dress that she could reach. “See there? Come all that way. Through all those obstacles, unafraid?” She reached and slid Katie’s neck button back into place. Then, she sat back, signaling to Peter that she was ready to go. “Only to be scared now that we’re at the tail end of our journey? Not my sister. Not the fearless Katie Knepp.” Annie dropped her voice to a joshing whisper. “Or Katie Wagler.”
“On that note,” Peter said, turning his attention back to the front. “Let’s go meet the Goetz’s.”
Katie still felt weak and trembly. “But they’re not expecting us Peter; their like to think we’re as mad as that bobcat.” Slowly, she pushed herself up on the seat and forced herself to breathe. The world is not folding in on me. The world is not folding in on me...
“They look to be expecting us,” Peter countered.
Katie tried not to stare as she examined the family. There was Joseph, obviously then she could pick out his wife. When she started to count the kids, however, she got confused and came up with ten. Surely that’s not right, is it? “But how could they be expecting us?”
Peter tilted his chin into the air. “Sarah Wagler taught me to be a gracious guest. Always send word before going somewhere. If the place you’re going happens to be in Texas, well, the appropriate thing to do is to send a telegram.” His full lips pulled back, revealing two rows of perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. “I sent it myself from Montgomery, figured you forgot.”
Katie exhaled. “Thank you, Peter.” Thank you again, God. For well, You know, everything.
“Faith of a mustard seed,” Peter sang quietly in a melodic voice. He reined Sookie to a halt in front of the Goetz’s barn. The Mennonite family, smiling and waving, circled around to greet them.
“Hallo and wilkommen,” Joseph said, grinning and extending his hand to Peter. A robust man just a smidge older than her father, he looked as though he might break out into a jolly dance at any moment.
Peter shook his hand. “Hallo and thanks for the—” Before Peter could finish, Joseph pulled him right out of the buggy and into a bear-like hug. “Welcome to Texas and to our home and settlement. We thank God you made the trip safely and could join us.”
A small smile teased the corners of Katie’s lips as she watched the display. Yes, colorful characters in Texas, for sure.
Catching her watching, Joseph cocked his head to the side and grinned. “Ah, you must be Katie. Katie Knepp. Come here Katie, welcome!” Holding out his arms, Joseph Goetz helped her from the buggy and greeted her with a slightly crushing hug.
Releasing her, Joseph glanced into the wagon. Spying Annie, he grinned and cocked his head. “And who have we here?”
“I’m Annie, Katie’s sister. I caught up and surprised them on the way here.” Annie’s voice was as meek as it had been since before meeting Crackerjack.
Joseph laughed a deep, rumbling laugh that seemed to fill the entire expanse of the deep blue Texas sky. “Come here Annie Knepp. You are family, too.” Helping her out, Joseph greeted blushing Annie with the same brand of bearlike hug as he had both Katie and Peter.
Katie watched in amazement. She could feel the silly grin on her face, but made no motion to hide it. How nice of him to call us family.
Resting his beefy hands on his protruding belly, Joseph continued in contented tones. “Now Katie, Annie, Peter. Please allow me to introduce you to my family.” Turning, he gestured widely with his arm. “Here we have Barbara, my wife.”
Stepping forward, Barbara greeted Peter with a hug.
“Annie,” Katie mouthed. “Does this woman look familiar to you, too?”
Craning her neck, Annie and Katie watched as Barbara smiled and chatted with Peter. “Yes, it’s something about her eyes,” Annie agreed quietly.
Katie studied Barbara’s smiling eyes. She was a bit older than her mother Katherine, but when she smiled, there was something about the way the creases folded around her eyes that caught Katie’s attention. Something wise...
Stepping to Katie, Barbara pulled her into a tight embrace. “I prayed for you every night, Katie. So did the children,” she whispered softly in their shared Pennsylvania Dutch. “We’re so blessed to have you with us. Since we learned of your prayer to come to Texas, it’s been all the talk about the Goetz home.” Releasing from the warm hug, Katie noticed the dampness which had streaked down Barbara’s kindly face.
“Thank you,” Katie managed in their native tongue. “It’s so good to see another woman in a covering.” Does my first language now have a twang? “Well, besides my sister.”
“When Peter sent the telegram and told us you were coming, you answered a prayer of mine, Katie.” Reaching out her hand, Barbara clasped Annie’s and in hers and pulled her up to join them. “You too, Annie. Let me tell you girls a story. My mother’s name was Maria Sybilla Steheli.”
Katie nodded, not sure where Barbara was going with the story. “That’s a beautiful name. Is it German?”
“Yes, it is.” Barbara paused before continuing, ensuring she had their full attention. “Katie, Annie. My mother Maria was your mother’s eldest sister by 20 years.”
Katie and Annie exchanged a baffled look. “That explains why she looks so much like Ma,” Katie blurted out before she could stop herself.
Barbara’s eyes twinkled. “Back in Germany, my mother, Maria, left on Rumspringa and never came home. The family shunned her, as per their accepted customs.
“Ordnung! The accepted customs.” Katie stared at Annie. “That’s why Ma and Pa said that about putting family before Ordnung, with their coming south to join us,” Annie whispered.
Fresh tears welled in Barbara’s eyes. “We will be a family rejoined, we will.” Composing herself, she continued with the story of their lineage. “Well, like you girls, Maria didn’t want to leave her heritage. She married a Mennonite man, Mario Steheli.”
My family. A long, lost branch of my family—I found them because I came to Texas. Tears welled in Katie’s eyes and she made no motion to stem their flow. Now was most certainly the time for happy tears.
“Mario and Maria came to the United States together and lived out their lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.” Barbara opened her arms wide to her great-nieces. “Welcome to the family you may well have never known, had you not inherited my mother’s courageous spirit and come south on a prayer.”
Katie and Annie were enveloped in Barbara’s familiar, beefy hug again. “I’m so glad you’re here, girls. Like I said, your coming is an answer to a prayer.”
Loudly so as to be heard, Joseph spoke. “Shall we introduce the children now, Mama?”
Turning to her husband but not releasing Katie or Annie, a smiling and sobbing Barbara nodded. “Okay, Papa.”
Beaming, Joseph gestured to the throng of children that spread out behind them. “Here we have David, the oldest boy, and oldest child of the Goetz lot. Then comes Mahalia, our oldest daughter, and her sister Sevilla—”
“Named after her grandmother,” Katie mused quietly. Barbara squeezed her hand.
As Joseph introduced them, each grinning child stepped forward and welcomed Peter, then Katie, then Annie with a warm hug and a whisper of good will. “Here’s little George, and Nancy, and Hannah, and Isaac, wait, we forgot somebody. Jacob. Jacob? Where are you son?”
Glancing about, they spotted Jacob at the edge of the group. With his shoes off and britches rolled up, young Jacob was ankle deep in a mud puddle. Caught in the act while no doubt trying to remain inconspicuous, Jacob’s cheeks spread into a wide smile.
“Jacob!” Barbara admonished, releasing the girls and adjusting her covering the same way Katie’s own ma would do when she got heated.
Grinning, the youngster simply offered a little, awkward wave. It appeared he feared more getting his britches dirty than being caught ankle-deep in a mud puddle. “Sissy made me a mud puddle Pa. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t wait to play in it. My feet get so hot in those shoes.” Suddenly remembering himself, he recited his practiced welcome speech. “Welcome, Miss Katie. Welcome, Mister Peter. I pray your trip was fine.” Seeing Annie, little Jacob tacked on an impromptu ending. “And welcome to you too, Miss Katie’s friend.”
A boy after my own heart. Katie grinned at her little cousin and waved as a cheerful giggle rippled through the Goetz’s. Joseph turned back to them and sucked in a deep breath. “Now, where was I? Oh yes. And this is our youngest daughter, Elizabeth, and the baby, James.”
I was right, there are ten children. Ten little cousins.
Barbara broke the gentle silence. “Now come in and get settled you two. It looks like you could use a cool drink. Springhouse is in the back.”
***
THE SUN WAS JUST BEGINNING its nightly show of splendor when Katie was finally able to venture out of the house again. The bubbly chatter from the young girls, anxious to know everything about everything and as soon as possible, had kept Katie’s head in a constant state of whirling since arriving at the Goetz’s. Wonderful, wonderful whirling. She glanced about the wide open yard. Peter has to be here somewhere.
“Perhaps you and Peter will have a family this large someday,” Annie had whispered teasingly as they passed one another amid the bustle of the Goetz house.
Not if I can’t find him, Katie thought with a smile.
Joseph’s voice boomed from the side of the house. “The Topeka–Santa Fe railroad runs that-a-way, and the Fort Worth–Denver City line runs that-a-way.” As Katie rounded the corner of the house, Joseph looked a little bit like a confused scarecrow, with his arms akimbo.
Katie let go of the tension of the trail and welcomed the wide smile that pushed her cheeks back into an ache. Maybe someday Peter and I will have a large, wonderful family like the Goetz’s. But first— Gathering her skirt in her hand and all of the wits she could muster, she marched out into the setting sun to join the men.
They had made it, they were in Texas. They were at the Goetz’s house. They weren’t going to get any more here than they already were. The time had come for her to tell Peter that she loved him.
“482 people in town you say,” Peter mused. His arms were crossed and his chin rested on his palm thoughtfully. “That’s a hefty sum of folks.”
Joseph nodded in agreement, mirroring Peter’s stance. “Oh, Amarillo is growing alright. Business is booming everywhere—” His voice trailed off into the nightly masterpiece in the sky. “What will you be doing for business, Peter? You are welcome to join us in making honey.”
Remembering the honey stand, Peter reached into his pocket. “Here, cash money from your stand by Amarillo Creek.” Shifting slightly, he welcomed Katie into their conversation with a wave and a beckon. “Did you grab the rest of Mr. Goetz’s honey jars, Katie?”
Stepping to join them, Katie nodded. “Yes, well Annie did. We’ve already given them to Mrs. Goetz.” She grinned. “My great-aunt. But I suppose you already know that.”
Joseph Goetz’s face transformed from jocular to one unimaginably stoic. He hardly looked like the same happy-go-lucky man at all. Katie scooted a bit closer to Peter and tried to steel her backbone, which threatened to melt like butter under Joseph’s hard stare.
Joseph looked first at Peter, then at Katie. “Now see here,” he began, his voice heavy. “Let us all get one thing straight right now.”
I knew you shouldn’t have grabbed that money, Peter, Katie thought as loudly as she could. We should have just left it be.
Keeping up his hard look at the both of them, Joseph spoke in his usual forte voice. “I am Uncle Joseph and my wife is Aunt Barbara. We welcomed you all into our family. You are family. No more of this Mister Goetz and Missus Goetz business.” As quickly as it had gone stoic, his full face softened again and he let go a raucous belly laugh.
Peter and Katie joined in, their laughter filling the plains as the perfect accompaniment to the glorious pastel streaks of the setting sun. When the moment passed, Peter picked up the conversation where they’d left off. “I thank you kindly, Uncle Joseph. You asked what I had planned for business. I had planned to start a furniture store, if that’s a marketable trade in Oneida, er, Amarillo.”
“Oneida? You don’t hear it called that but by the old timers anymore.” Joseph shook his head nostalgically. “You planned ahead. I knew I liked you. But to answer your question, yes. There is a market for furniture. No Amish folks here to make the hand-hewn old-world goods. The public will be ready to buy.” He turned his smiling attentions to Katie. “And I bet you sew, don’t you, Katie girl?”
Katie nodded. “I do, so does my sister. However, I’d like to help Peter with the furniture as much as I can. Sewing in the evening relaxes me, much more than doing it during the day.” There it is again, that brutal honesty. Katie could almost hear her mother’s admonishment in her mind.
Joseph rubbed his chin. “Katie girl, I wouldn’t expect anything less from a woman who travels across some of the wildest country in America on nothing but a prayer. My blessing is on you both. Stay at the Goetz house as long as you need.”
Katie grinned. Before she could help it, she found herself giving a bear-like hug to her uncle, Joseph Goetz.
Laughing, Joseph thumped her on the back with one brawny hand. “Amarillo’s up to 14 saloons and 11 gambling houses.”
Backing away, Katie felt her jaw go slack. “That many English places to drink and gamble?”
Joseph nodded, gazing off into the distance toward the sprawling metropolis formerly known as Oneida. One hand absently stroked his modest beard as he thought. “Oh, and they’re up to two schools now, too.”
