Rocky Raccoon Ch. 03

He gripped my arm in a clasp. "From this day forward, you are brother to Dark Horse. I will see you in the spring."

He trotted away with wet eyes. It was pretty dusty.

.............................

I found Tex and the crew ten days later, and was happily surprised to find Juan Carlos with him. He was going to ride up with us and take the train back. That way he'd know the trail and could bring another herd up the next spring. I figured that and one more would be enough, giving me just a hair less than five thousand. Tex had letters from Spuds and my family.

I read them that evening as the sun went down. Mom loved the ranch and she had it operating like a machine in no time. Between my mother's cooking and Helga's looks, we had some very happy hands. Dad spent most of his time with Spuds. He would always be a farmer at heart. Yellow Flower and her husband took them out to meet my other set of parents. Apparently, Mom and Swallow hit it off, talking about me no doubt. One of my younger brothers was so impressed he spent most of the spring and summer in the village, living with Long Horse and Swallow until the tribe considered him another son.

My other brother spent most of his time with Dad and Spuds. Spuds had written me telling me how successful the fall had been, and he'd extended our acreage significantly. He also told me he'd bought another failing ranch because of its bottom land and it was in both our names as equal partners. He was well enough off now to buy it outright, but he considered me his partner and good luck. He was putting Dad and my brother in charge of it, but would watch them closely.

I never said much about where I'd been, but Tex noticed the fresh set of scars and sighed. "You have the luck of a cat, Rocky, but I figure you've burned through at least three of the nine lives, so you might want to be a little more careful in the future."

It was advice I never got to take.

..............

It was good to be home. My family were very happy to see me. I walked into my new house and looked around before grinning. It had the stamp of my mother all over it.

Of course, it was brand new and wasn't even built on the same site, but it was a nice house. This version had six bedrooms and was a two-story affair. I was a little surprised because I had told Spuds to build my mother anything she wanted, and apparently, she'd wanted a big house. There was even a piano in the parlor.

My father was off with Spuds and my youngest brother was with Long Horse, but the middle brother and Helga were with mother. Helga had matured into a very handsome woman, her Irish features and almost platinum blond hair setting her above the crowd. After dinner we settled in the parlor, and Ma pulled out a set of books and gave me detailed reports of how the ranch had prospered in my absence. I grinned at her.

"Maybe I should stay gone longer next time."

"Nein. You stay here like good son."

"You know that won't be possible. I have business needs I have to travel to attend to. Foremost is the herd coming up next year. That, plus there are some things I need to look into. There's an engineering firm in New Orleans that's doing some interesting things with steam engines, and they've adapted it to farm implements. One machine could do the work of six horse teams and all you have to feed it is wood and water."

Though I never shared it, I wanted to get back to Doe Eyes. Over the winter I'd think of her often, especially during the periodic blizzards we'd get. I wondered if she was safe and warm, if she had everything she needed, if the tribe was faring well.

One thing the blizzards taught me is you can never be too prepared for them. There was no way I could protect four thousand cattle from the elements but I could do my best. I built three huge barns in protected draws, open sided affairs the cattle could shelter in as needed, and had the haylofts filled to the brim. In between snowstorms, we'd toss huge pitchforks-full down or we'd open up a few of the many haystacks we'd scattered around and protected with fences. My little brother Joshua was really talented at designing and building structures, so I put him in charge with orders to build six more shelters when the weather broke. He was also in charge of hay production. I made plans to hire him a crew come spring; he'd need at least ten men, more if we couldn't find skilled workers.

Juan Carlos stayed with us until right before Christmas before the need for his family called him home. I caught Helga and he together in deep talks several times, and she rode around the ranch with him as often as possible. Ma liked the match and Helga couldn't do any better.

Pa would pop in every week or so and we learned to ignore the noise they made in their bedroom. He'd stay for three or four days and take off again. Ma seemed all right with that. He got to finally sate his wanderlust and she got long periods of peace and quiet. I paid my family, far more than their jobs warranted, but they were family and I could afford it. Ma and Helga were surprised when I paid them, but didn't argue much.

Spring finally came and I planned on leaving the last week of March. My brother was going to meet me in New Orleans in three months to observe the machinery and see if it would work for us. If it did, I planned on a pretty substantial purchase. He was going to be there a few weeks before I arrived and I hoped he'd have a good idea of what we needed.

My younger brother would pop in from time to time. Wilhelm had pretty much gone native and wintered with my Sioux parents. I think he may have taken a wife, but he didn't talk about it and I didn't press. I warned him to be careful because more settlers were coming into the area and were encroaching past the treaty line. "I know you've been with them long enough to see the gold. The tribe knows not to show it to whites, ever, and you need to do the same." I also told him if things went bad to grab Long Horse and Swallow and bring them to the ranch for protection.

I let everybody know I'd be stopping to look at some horses on the way down to cover for my visit to 'my' village.

In the third week of March, I left. A week later, I was as close as I could get by train so I unloaded the black, and seven days later I topped the rise, seeing the village. By then they knew I was coming and I had an honor guard for the last two days.

Dark Horse had been grinning like crazy for the last mile and wouldn't let on why. I stopped in front of our tipi and stood, drinking in the sight. Then I got the biggest surprise of my life. Doe Eyes came out smiling through her tears, hugging me like she was never going to let me go. Then Smiles Slowly came out holding a bundle and handing it off to my wife.

I'll never forget her smile or the words she spoke. She held the bundle out. "Come my husband. Greet your son."