The Second Hundred Years Ch. 06

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woodmanone
woodmanone
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He and Jim will be a good match, Lewis said to himself. Neither one of them has a timid bone in their body. Jackson accepted payment for the horses, wished him luck, and headed back to his ranch. Lewis got an apple, cut it into pieces, and sat on the top rail of the corral and watched the horses for a few minutes. The black stopped his circling and stood about ten feet away, studying the human.

Lewis talked softly to the horse and after a couple of minutes the big horse stepped closer and stretched his neck out toward Lewis's outstretched hand. The horse snorted and gently took the offered piece of apple. As he moved away, Lewis got down into the corral and slowly moved toward the other two horses talking softly. He was able to feed them their share of apple and run his hands over their necks and ears.

Josh watched Lewis with the horses for a few minutes and walked over to the corral. That boy knows more about horses than he lets on, Josh thought.

Alyssa led the filly; Josh led the buckskin, leaving Lewis to lead the black into the barn and into their stalls. Two of the horses went to the feed boxes in the back of their stalls; the black stuck his head back over the door and looked around with his ears perked up.

Josh and Alyssa stayed around for about an hour after the horses were delivered. Now all Lewis could do was wait for William and Jim to get home. I hope they don't stay overnight, Lewis thought. I can hardly wait to surprise them.

At dusk Lewis had given up on William and Jim getting home that evening. Headlights shining on the front of the house proved him wrong. Lewis quit pacing and sat down in a big easy chair. William, Jim, and Tom came into the house and greeted Lewis. He listened as they told him about meetings with two cattle buyers.

Lewis caught Tom's eye and motioned for Tom to follow him outside. He explained about the horses and the surprise he had planned. Tom hustled down to the barn while Lewis went to get William and Jim. At his request they followed Lewis to the barn.

"If we're going to be cowboys Grandpa we need good horses," Lewis said. Tom led the buckskin and the sorrel out to the men and went back into the barn. "I bought these for us. You get your pick and I'll take the other one."

William was speechless and touched. He looked at Lewis for a few seconds and walked over to look at the horses. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Think I'd like the sorrel. Thank you Lewis."

Jim watched William and smiled. Nice thing for the boy to do, he thought.

"I didn't forget about you either Gran...Jim," Lewis continued. Tom returned, leading the big black. Lewis saw Jim's eye open wide and said, "This one's for you. Man of your experience should have his own horse."

Jim looked at the black and got tears in his eyes. The horse looked very much like his beloved Sampson. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and walked over to the horse. The black was prancing and tossing his head. Talking softly to the animal Jim reached out and stroked his forehead and scratched his ears. The black settled down and closed his eyes in contentment at the attention; all signs of wildness gone. The Randals spent several minutes looking at the new horses and then put them back in their stalls.

Back at the house in the kitchen William was the first to speak up. "Thank you Lewis that was a fine thing to do."

Jim cleared his throat. "Thank you. That horse makes me feel at home. Thank you son."

Lewis was almost bursting with pride that he'd done something for the two men who meant so much to him.

Late that night, actually the early morning, Lewis came out of his bedroom going to the kitchen for a drink of water. As he passed, He noticed that Jim wasn't in his room. Lewis went out to the porch thinking Jim was out there; he wasn't on the porch. Looking around Lewis saw a light on in the barn. Who can that be?

Lewis walked down to the barn and peeked around the open door. He smiled when he saw who had the light on. Jim was sitting on a couple of hay bales in front of the black's stall and talking to the horse. The animal had his head hanging over the stall door and seemed to be listening to every word Jim said. Lewis stayed outside not wanting to interrupt Jim as he bonded with his horse.

"You and I are gonna get it done boy. We'll show em what a cowboy with a good horse can do, won't we?" Jim grinned at the horse and gave him a piece of apple. "Gotta have a name for you I can't keep calling you boy now can I? Let's see." Jim thought for a short period and said, "I've got it. I'll call you Joshua."

He stood and walked over to "Joshua". Rubbing the horse's nose he added, "Your spirit horse I called Sampson, a hero from the Bible. Joshua was another hero so I'll call you that." Jim continued to talk to "Joshua"; Lewis went back to the house.

For the next two weeks it was fun for Lewis to watch Jim train Joshua. As he watched Jim and Joshua working together one morning he said to himself for the fiftieth time, I done good. Jim had always had a layer of sadness but since Joshua came into his life he'd changed. He didn't spend as much time staring off into the distance and he seemed happier.

Lewis was pleased with his buckskin too. He named the horse, Casey, after the Guardsman that he'd pulled out of the destroyed Hummer. Casey was like a big dog, so anxious to please that it was almost comical. The horse was trained to neck rein and ground tie. The slightest touch of rein on his neck and Casey turned quickly. He was a bit big for cutting but he could run all day and still have something left at the end of the day. All and all, Lewis was very happy with Casey.

William felt the same about his sorrel filly; he called her Susie, after his wife. Tom said she was one of the best cutting horses he'd ever seen.

********************

It was coming up on midsummer and Jim suggested they go to the high country pastures to see if there was enough grazing to move the rest of the herd. Lewis offered to make the trip and invited Alyssa to go with him. They reached the north pastures and found there was more than enough grass to move the rest of the herd up the mountain. On the way back, they stopped by a small creek for a lunch break.

One of the things they talked about was the three horses that Lewis had bought. Lewis bragged a little on Susie and Casey. "But the prize was Joshua," Lewis admitted. "He and Jim together are about the best pair of cowhands I've ever seen. Tom thinks so too."

"I wanted to ask you about Joshua," Alyssa said. "You must think a lot of Jim to buy that horse." Lewis nodded and she continued, "You treat him with a lot of respect, love too I think. He must be special to you."

"Jim is special, to me and to William," Lewis replied. Lewis turned quiet and Alyssa asked him if something was bothering him. He smiled and took a deep breath.

"I've got something to tell you, actually a couple of things. But I need you to listen to me without interrupting before I finish. Okay?"

Alyssa smiled and nodded her agreement.

So Lewis told Alyssa the story of finding Jim in the cave, nursing him back to health and finding out who he is. He explained about the family resemblance, that Jim knew things about the family that only he would know, and the picture of Jim and Chante. When he finished he said, "I know it sounds crazy but I swear it's the truth."

Alyssa looked at the creek for a couple of minutes; Lewis waited for her reaction. Finally Alyssa looked directly at Lewis. "You're right; it sounds crazy. How could this happen?"

He shrugged. "Doc Samuels and me think that smoke coming off the flame had something to do with it. But there was the cave in before we could get samples."

"You're not crazy or a fool," Alyssa said. "And neither is your grandfather; if you say it's true I believe you."

Lewis smiled and said, "Now I can tell you the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Taking another deep breath he said, "Ally I love you. I think I have since that first day in your grandfather's office." She smiled at him and he was encouraged. "Ally will you marry me?"

Alyssa waited all of three seconds and replied, "I always wanted to marry a cowboy."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes that's a yes silly," she said leaning in to kiss him.

They were a couple of hours late getting back to the ranch house. Jim was standing on the porch when they rode in. Alyssa greeted him but didn't dismount; she was headed on home.

Jim took one look at the pair, smiled and said, "It's about time. You two have been mooning around here for the last three or four months."

Both Lewis and Alyssa blushed. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss goodbye. "Talk to you tomorrow. If this old work horse here will let me go, I'll be over to see you." Alyssa waved at Jim and rode home.

Lewis walked Casey down to the barn with Jim following him. Jim watched as Lewis took care of his horse. When he finished Jim put his hand on Lewis's shoulder.

"She's a fine young woman Lewis," Jim said. "You could do a lot worse."

Lewis nodded his thanks and then smiled. "Hell, I have done a lot worse and not too long ago either."

"Y'all planning on gettin hitched?"

"Yes sir. We thought just after round up and we got the cattle to market would be a good time."

"Well...we better get back up to the house and let William know we got a new boss movin in soon," Jim said with a laugh. "I don't think he's gonna mind too much. He thinks the world of that girl."

William's only comment when he was told about the upcoming wedding was, "I wondered how long it would take for you to come to your senses. Anyone could see that Alyssa is crazy about you. Congratulations Lewis." He walked over and hugged Lewis, embarrassing both of them.

"We'd better break this up and start planning to drive the rest of the herd up to the high country," Jim said.

Five days later, just after sunup, the drive started. The Randals had 168 head to push up to the northern pastures but they had lots of help. Tom was going of course, he was the range boss. Alyssa was there, as if she would be anywhere else. Josh surprised them by offering to come along.

"I haven't been on a real cattle drive since I was a youngster," Josh explained. "Thought I'd see if it is as miserable as I remember."

Even Tom's wife, Helen, decided she'd give them a hand. "Got tired of waitin for Tom to come home so I thought I'd make sure he wasn't up to any mischief," she said.

Tom rode point, leading the herd in the right direction. He'd worked at Eagle's Nest for years and knew the best trails to take; Helen rode with him. Alyssa was in the swing position on one side of the herd with William and Josh on the other. Jim and Lewis rode drag, pushing the cattle along.

"How's Casey doing?" Jim asked.

This was the first time that Lewis and his horse had actually worked the cattle. Driving a herd was very different than just riding around checking up on them.

Lewis nodded. "This was what he was born to do. Look at him, his ears are perked up and he's almost prancing."

Casey stretched his neck forward and nipped at the rump of a steer that wasn't moving fast enough to his way of thinking.

"See," Lewis continued. "I don't even need to be here. Casey can handle it without any guidance from me."

Jim laughed and nodded. "William's Susie is doing good too. She runs around pushin cattle back into the herd when walkin would do but she's young, she'll learn."

"Why are you back in riding drag?" Lewis asked. "You're the ramrod; I thought you'd be out front."

"Tom knows the way as good as me," Jim replied. "Joshua needs some training on ridin slow and doin the job. He wants to run and rush around everywhere he goes." Jim reached down and patted Joshua on the neck. "He'll learn too. But that don't mean he likes it"

They rode without talking for several minutes. Lewis looked around, feeling grateful that he'd made it back to Eagle's Nest. Looking Alyssa's way he thought, this is where I was meant to be.

"I told Alyssa about you," Lewis said to Jim. "Thought it might come out later and I didn't want any secrets between us."

Jim stared at Lewis, thinking about what he said. "How'd she take it?"

Lewis smiled and replied, "She just said that now she had a great, great, grandfather too. Then she laughed and said you were just one more Randal for her to care about."

After a minute or two of silence, Jim said, "Reckon I'll go trade places with Alyssa." He turned Joshua and rode over to Alyssa.

The crew pushed the cattle hard and made the pastures just about dusk. They camped overnight and the next day they divided the herd among the three meadows where they would graze until fall. Helen, Alyssa, and Jim of all people, fixed a big supper when they got back to the ranch house late that afternoon.

Now there was nothing left to do but let the cattle fatten up on the lush grass. About every third day someone would ride up to the high country and check on the cattle. It was mostly to make sure that the pastures weren't getting over grazed and that the herd was eating well. Most of the time it was Lewis and Alyssa that made the ride.

********************

Time for round up and shipping Lewis thought as he saddled Casey. It was the last week in August and they were going to bring the herd down from the high country. Besides the Randals and Tom, they had a few additions to the group. William looked at his "crew" and smiled. Alyssa was there of course; these days it seemed like if Lewis was around so was Alyssa. Josh had joined up for one more cattle drive to relive old times.

Tom's wife Helen had decided to move out to the ranch; she moved into Tom's room in the house. Helen said since Tom was going to stay on it was silly for him to drive back and forth to Prescott. She immediately took over the cooking and housekeeping chores. Helen was also going on the drive as the camp cook.

One more addition to the crew was a young couple that Helen knew, the Campbell's. They'd just moved to Prescott from some big city back east and were fascinated with the west and cowboys. Knowing the plans for Eagle's Nest, Helen arranged for the Campbell's to be the first "dudes" at the ranch.

"It'll give you an idea if you want to do this on a bigger scale," Helen told William when she informed him that he would have guests.

Roy and Shirley Campbell arrived about two the afternoon prior to the trail drive. It was obvious from the way they were dressed that they knew very little about working on a ranch. Roy was taller than Lewis's 6' 2 and built like a string bean; Shirley was much shorter at 5' 6 and almost voluptuous. Their clothing was new and more appropriate to an Urban Cowboy setting than to a working ranch. The shirts had sequined designs on the front, the hats were oversized, and the boots were dressy and made to show off.

Shirley wore a split riding skirt, also with sequins on the front while Roy wore whipcord western dress slacks. Jim almost hurt himself trying not to laugh when he was introduced to the new comers. He quickly turned and walked toward the barn. Damn, that boy's belt buckle is as big as a pie plate, he said to himself.

It was left to Helen to suggest more appropriate and useful clothing to the Campbell's. She tried to tactfully tell them that although they looked very nice their clothing wouldn't really work on a cattle drive. The Campbell's and Helen were discussing what they needed when her husband walked up.

"Y'all look like dudes going to a gall darned rodeo," Tom said laughing. "Best get your working duds on before we start the drive."

Lewis and Alyssa took the Campbell's to Cole's Corner so they could get working clothes. When Tom saw them the next morning he nodded his head in approval. "Now you look like cowhands instead of drug store cowboys."

The drive was scheduled for three days. They rode up to the northern pastures on the first day. Helen, Lewis, and Alyssa set up camp while Tom, the Randals and their guests, the Campbell's, handled the round up. They worked all day gathering the cattle into one meadow. The next morning they started the herd back to the valley.

The next day was more of the same. Head the cattle back onto the trail, stop at midday for lunch and let the cattle rest and graze for a couple of hours, and back on the trail until late afternoon. They made camp and started all over again the next morning. They pushed the herd back into the home valley late on the third day.

As they were leaving, the Campbell's told William that this was the best vacation they'd ever had and they wanted to come back next year. They handed him a check made out to the Eagle's Nest for $1500.

William walked into the house as Tom was talking to the transport company. "The trucks will be here day after tomorrow," Tom said to William.

He nodded, paused, and held up the check. "I guess we got a dude ranch too," William said with a smile.

********************

Eagle's Nest had a good year. In September they shipped 112 head to the stockyards in Phoenix and cleared just over 85 thousand dollars. Lewis used part of his share to pay Josh back for his help buying the three horses. It was enough to encourage William, Jim, and Lewis to stay with cattle ranching. The Dude Program looked financially promising too. The next order of business was Lewis and Alyssa's wedding.

The wedding was scheduled for the first weekend after shipping the cattle. Josh rented the dance hall at Cole's Corner for the wedding and reception. William was touched when Lewis asked him to be his best man. Alyssa and Helen did most of the planning for the wedding; the only input Lewis had was that he refused to wear a tux.

Josh and Alyssa called her parents to invite them to her wedding, but they said they would be on a cruise that week and couldn't make it. Her father suggested she move the date; Josh suggested that he and his wife go to hell.

There was one other bump in the road for the ceremony. Alyssa asked Josh to give her away but three weeks before the actual day, Josh had an accident. He took a fall off one of the young horses he was working with and broke his leg. Josh was okay but with his leg in a cast he wouldn't be able to escort his granddaughter down the aisle.

Alyssa got her grandfather home from the hospital and made him comfortable. The next day telling Josh she'd be back in a couple of hours, she saddled her horse and rode to Eagle's Nest. Lewis was surprised to see her as they'd planned to get together that evening for supper.

"Where's Jim?" She asked after hugging and kissing Lewis. He pointed down to the barn and then followed her.

Jim was brushing Joshua and talking to the big horse. He saw Alyssa and stepped out of the stall to greet her. "Hi little girl," he said with a big grin. He loved to tease her.

"I need a favor Jim and you're the first one I thought of," Alyssa told him.

"Sure Honey, anything you need."

"Granddad was supposed to give me away but he broke his leg. Do you think you could stand in for him and walk me down the aisle?"

Jim looked at her for several seconds, swallowed the lump in his throat and replied, "I'd be proud to little girl."

Alyssa smiled, hugged Jim for about ten seconds and kissed his cheek. "Thank you grandfather." She wiped a tear away and said, "Got to get back home. See you later Lewis."

Turning to Lewis, Jim rubbed his hand over his eyes and said, "Now ain't that somethin?"

The wedding was a great success and the reception was just as good. Several people said they'd never had such a good time at a reception. Lewis and Alyssa slipped away around midnight. No one, including William and Jim, knew where they were headed. They were back three days later with smiles on their faces.

woodmanone
woodmanone
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