GALE PULLED HARD on the rope attached to the bucket, hand over hand, drawing water from the well. It was apt for her name to be spelled like a storm. Her fiery red hair matched her temperament. The well sat in the middle of the ranch yard behind the house, with the large barn and corrals on one side and the chicken coup and pig sty on the other. Three mares and four geldings stood in the corrals, some hens made their bok-bok and screech as they bobbed around the coop, a large red rooster lording over them. Black and white spotted pigs slept in the mud to protect themselves from the mid-morning sun.
“Brenden, you get over here young man!”
Twelve year old Brenden slumped in submission and walked over to his mother.
“Just because your pa’s gone for a while don’t mean you can shirk your chores. You get to cleanin’ out the barn b’fore I tan your backside like a cow’s hide.”
“Oh, Ma, I should’a gone with pa. He needs me to help him kill those men who killed grandpa.”
Gale grabbed her son by the shoulders, the water bucket left to plummet to the depths of the well. The tears streaming down her cheeks only stoked the fire in her heart.
“You listen to me, Brenden Lee. It’s bad enough I’ve got to worry about your pa gone three days with no word! I won’t let you run off with a gun in your hand and drive me crazy waitin’ for you to come home in a wooden box, too.”
Brenden looked into his mother’s eyes and squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ma. I’ll get the barn done.” He went to the barn, looking back and forcing a smile before he went in.
Gale slowly sat down on the well wall, holding her face in her hands, her worry over Jasper bursting the dam of the brave face she tried to put on, unleashing a river of tears.
“Pa will be all right, Ma. There’s nobody stronger or tougher than him.”
Gale looked into the gentle blue eyes of her daughter, Megan. Younger Abbey stood behind her. Gale pulled them into her arms, kissing them on the cheek. “Thank the Lord I have you two and your brothers.”
“We love you, Ma.”
Gale gave her daughters a squeeze and then stood, straightening her split gingham skirt. She looked at the bucket rope, sighed, and then started pulling up water again.”
“Hello the ranch!” Gale recognized Micah Niles’ voice. She turned to see Burt Ashton with him. She wrapped the rope around a stay bar. “Hello gentlemen, what brings you here?”
“Mornin’, Gale,” Micah greeted her. “Jasper asked us to check on you every now and again, to see if we could help you at all.”
Gale wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “That’s neighborly of you. If you have the time I’d appreciate if you’d ride out and help Sean check on our herd. I haven’t been able to get out there for a couple of days.”
“We’ll do that. Do you have any heavy liftin’ that needs doin’?”
“I believe the boys and I can handle most of the liftin’ around here.”
“All right then. We’ll head out to the herd.”
“Thank you, kindly.”
“One more thing, Gale. There’s a meetin’ in town tomorrow about appointin’ a new sheriff until we can hold an election. You should consider being there.”
“I got no interest in political things.”
“There’s talk of appointin’ Jasper as sheriff. You might want to come and give some idea on what he would think about that.”
Gale stood stunned and silent for a good minute before words found their way out of her mouth. “I’ll give some thought to it, Micah.”
The men tipped their hats and rode out toward the summer range of the Lee ranch.
“Gale Lee is quite a handsome woman,” Burt Ashton observed as he scratched his bushy beard.
Micah chuckled. “I’ve known Gale since we was kids. She is indeed a handsome woman, if you like hurricanes.”
“So, she’s strong willed I take it.”
“I’ll say Jasper Lee is just about the only man I believe could handle her and I estimate it’s just barely.”
Burt smiled and shook his head. “Better him than me.”
Micah looked at his friend. “I reckon so.”
They rode in silence for awhile enjoying the new warmth and the fragrance of the pine and wild roses brought by spring.
“They certainly have made this into a fine ranch,” Burt observed.
“Well, they work hard and Jasper is a fair and shrewd businessman. I don’t know anyone who won’t do business with him. I’ve been involved with some deals with him and I can say we both made very good money.”
“How did you come to do business with him?”
“I wanted to take a herd to market and I wanted someone I could trust with me on the drive. Well, Jasper was takin’ his herd to market at the same time, so we joined up. He’d already studied the market and knew what beef was goin’ for in Chicago, so when we got down to sellin’ the cattle he negotiated a damn good price. So now, we always go together.”
“How did he know the price in Chicago?”
“He has a friend from his Army days who sends him the price by telegraph. Jasper gets the price before the market here does.”
“He is indeed a shrewd man.”
“He is and has been a good friend to me.”
“An interesting man for a gunfighter.”
“I wouldn’t call him a gunfighter. I’d call him a man who fights for the things he believes in.”
Sean Lee had spent the last ten minutes using his Bowie knife to cut a bawling calf out of tangled brush. He got most of it cut away in front of the calf and slapped its hind quarter with his hat. The calf jumped, freeing himself and running off to his mother. Sean smiled.
He mounted his horse, taking a deep breath of mountain spring air. He scanned around him and saw two riders coming toward him in the distance. He pulled his Winchester out of the scabbard, resting the butt of the stock on his thigh to show he was armed. The men still came on.
Sean lowered the rifle to the crook of his arm, levered a round into the chamber and at the ready until he recognized Micah Niles and Burt Ashton. He lowered the hammer and put the rifle back in the scabbard.
“Not takin’ any chances, are you, Sean?” Micah pulled his horse to a stop.
“Not since Grandpa and my uncles were murdered, Mr. Niles.”
“Can’t say I blame you. Your Ma asked us to help you check on the herd.”
“I appreciate that. I need to get over to Grandpa’s place and check the herd there. I only have this hill in back of me left to check for any of the herd that may be stuck in the brush. If we can spread out and work it, we can get it done in no time at all.”
“Let’s do her,” Burt said.
“I’ll take the top,” Sean offered and started up the hill. When he reached the top he cut right and leaned forward in the saddle so he could look over the tall brush. He was thankful for the cowhide chaps protecting his legs.
It only took twenty minutes to clear the hill and roust four head of cattle along with two covey of quail. Sean joined the others at the bottom of the hill.
“Thank you, Mr. Niles and Mr. Ashton. I appreciate it.”
“Glad to help, Sean. Your herd is lookin’ good.”
“Yes, sir, it is. The summer feedin’ should make them filled out enough to bring a handsome price at the market.”
“You drivin’ with your Pa again this year?”
“Oh, yes, sir.”
“Good. It’s always good to have you along, Sean. You’re a top hand.”
“Thank you, Mr. Niles. I best be gettin’ to Grandpa’s.”
“Need any help there?”
“No, sir. I cleared it two days ago. I’m just doing a check today.”
Micah nodded. “We’ll see you later.”
Micah and Burt started back for their homes.
“That boy is the spittin’ image of his pa,” Burt observed.
“That’s a fact and in more ways than looks. He was a hard workin’ cowboy on the cattle drive last year. Jasper took a lot of time to teach him the ways of the trail…and of men.”
“I hope he tempered his view of men a bit.”
Micah laughed. “Not likely. Sean will grow up to be as good a man as Jasper…probably just as hard.”
“I don’t think that’s good for a boy. The world is a changin’ and hard men won’t be welcome in time.”
“Maybe, because a lot of folks are fearful of a man who ain’t afraid. But I think bad men will always be around and hard men will always be needed to rein ‘em in.”
Burt nodded. “Ya got a point there, but I’ll bet Gale don’t like what Sean’s learnin’. No mother would.”
“That’s probably true. I imagine she’s worried enough about Jasper and she’ll definitely worry about Sean if he straps on six guns.”
“Well, let’s hope it don’t get to that.”
“More than likely it will.”