by Olivia Swift
“I can see why you would like to paint at The Panhandle,” Mikey said. “These ones are striking. The mountain background appeals to me.” He laughed. “I’m a better climber than a horseman.”
“Did you ask him about the cowboy?” Magda said to Mikey who shook his head.
“I’m ahead of you,” Shelby said and pulled out the last picture from the box. He stood it against the counter, and they all stood back to see it. It was large.
Magda gasped and looked at Mikey. “I’ll get Rula.” She actually ran back through the cellar and called for her friend.
“Hold the thought, Rita,” she said and tugged at Rula to come to the gallery.
“Is this urgent?” Rula asked as she was pulled toward the cellar doors.
“Yes,” Magda panted, and they ran up the steps into the gallery. Magda pointed at the painting.
“Oh, my Lord in heaven above,” Rula said and dropped down beside the picture as it stood on the floor.
She touched it gently with her finger.
“We have to buy this, Mikey. It can go in the gallery, but we have to buy it. He belongs in our house.” She was almost tearful, and Mikey pulled her up and held her hand.
“Thing is,” Magda told Shelby, “we did have a séance last night and there was a cowboy on the stairs, but we couldn’t see him. We asked Rula to describe what she saw in that slight flash of time when she thought she saw him.” She looked at the painting. “She said well-worn, normal Stetson, red checkered shirt and jeans.”
“So, you see why he belongs there,” Rula added.
“What else happened?” Shelby asked and they told him about the sound of the horse nickering and Branston thinking that he felt it nuzzle at his neck.
“By questions and guesses, and his reaction to what we said, we think he rode a large grey working horse,” Magda replied, and Mikey added that maybe Branston would find a similar horse for him to buy.
The repairman came to say the machine was working again and left his invoice on the kitchen counter. He walked back to look at the railroad cellar before going on to his next call.
“Let’s take these up to the storeroom,” Mikey said.
“Then we can have proper coffee again,” Magda added. The four of them carried the paintings up the stairs to the first floor.
Mikey ran back down to answer a query at the counter and the two girls took Shelby to the café.
Rula helped Rita as the lunchtime customers were rolling in and Sam arrived for his usual sandwiches. Instead of which, he fed the baby while Magda served at the counter. Shelby told him what had happened with the paintings as the baby ate spoons full of lunch and dessert. Then Sam expertly warmed the bottle in the microwave to finish his daughter’s meal.
“You like doing that, don’t you?” the visitor asked, and Sam smiled.
“Never thought how it would change my life.”
Magda came in with his sandwiches and relieved him of the baby.
“So, the séance was successful?” Shelby queried.
“Yes, it was friendly, and we all felt good about it. No doubt the cowboy will be glad to see his stable in use again,” Magda answered. “We will do another séance next week when Declan and Katie are back. Declan actually sees spirits and would be able to say if the man really is on the staircase.”
“Is this in town?” Shelby asked.
“Orchard Boulevard is where Rula and Mikey bought the house. There is a fair-sized piece of land behind it and it was probably ranched once upon a time.”
“That is on the western edge of the town?” Shelby queried.
“You are welcome to join us next week,” Sam said and wondered why the man was smiling.
Rula came to join them and the artist stood up.
“I do believe in fate,” he said. “I rather think that the land behind your house was once owned by my great-grandfather and his friend. They bred horses.” He paused, “I don’t know for certain, but I have always thought that this man I saw in dreams meant something, but I didn’t know what.”
“Good Lord,” Rula said. “My cowboy might be your great-great-grandfather.”
“More likely his friend,” Shelby said. “We do have some early photographs of my great-great-grandfather. He doesn’t look like the cowboy in the picture.”
“But we will be able to find their names and ask the spirit if he’s that man. It’s so exciting. I have to call Branston,” Magda said and pulled out the cell phone. She talked to her cousin and brought him up to date with the latest piece of information. He stopped her short.
“He was called Cody Jones,” Branston said. “I know about him and his friend.”
“Wow,” Magda said and told the others. Shelby agreed that his great-grandfather’s friend was called Cody Jones. Magda handed her cell phone over to the visitor and he and Branston talked about the history of horse breeding in the area. Magda served some customers and then took back her phone.
“When Katie comes back and we plan another séance, we’ll let you know when we plan to do it. If we know you are a descendent, heaven knows what we will find out.” Then she told him they would lock the paintings in the storeroom if he was happy to leave them.
“We’ll have a lot more folk around next week with the craft exhibition.”
He said that was fine and he had better get back to work.
“I’ll bring Bart up to date. I bet the newspaper has something about this cowboy. I’ll let Katie and Declan know as well.”
“Go back through the gallery and tell Mikey what we found out,” Rula called. The man raised a hand and disappeared into the cellar doorway.
“Win, win,” Magda said. “His pictures are excellent. He found the cowboy and Branston already knew about it.”
“If it’s horse related in this area, Branston would know. I wonder why he didn’t put two and two together before,” Magda added and took delivery of the shapes for the chocolate horses.
When they were unpacked, Rita and Rula came to look.
“The saddle is already in the shape,” Rita remarked.
“I love the one rearing up,” Rula added.
“And quite a large headshot. I’ll try them out and see how they look,” Magda said and took them to the work surface. The huge chocolate vat in the center of the kitchen had melted chocolate all of the time and stirred itself slowly.
Magda covered both halves of each shape with tempered chocolate and moved the tray to the fridge to cool. She packed away the other shapes in a cupboard.
When the rush died down, Magda went into the gallery and took the baby stroller. Mikey was free to go and see to his climbing shop. It was calm in the gallery with one or two people browsing and she sat with Samantha in her arms and answered queries.
One man bought two of the paintings that Magda did not like. She put the baby back in the stroller and carefully wrapped the purchases. Two ladies came through on their way to the café and stopped to see the baby. A young boy came through from the cellar and asked her for a model from the shelf. She left the two ladies cooing over Samantha and went to bring the model. The lad did not want it wrapped and went back through to the café. The ladies followed him.
“I get to sit down in here, Samantha,” she said to her daughter. Then she stood up and found two more paintings to replace the ones that were sold. Mikey came back and took over and she pushed the stroller back to the café.
The chocolate molds were solidified. She carried them carefully to the work surface, ran a small blow torch over the containers and the halves of the new chocolates slid onto the counter. The three women clustered around as Magda softened the edges and stuck the halves together.
“They are pretty big,” Rita said.
“And stand up nicely as well,” Magda added. “Should I leave them hollow or fill them?”
“Try one filled tomorrow. Today we can wrap these in gold foil and see if we can add some decoration,” Rula replied. All of the people in the café, including the men, were now
used to the making of truffles, chocolate shapes, and decorations but Katie was the best at it.
“A little lasso,” Magda said and went to find something that would look like a mini rope as Rula found the foil and carefully covered the first horse. The legs were part of the stand that let the chocolates remain upright which made it easy to do.
“I’m pleased with those,” Magda said. “We can keep on making them to have a supply for the rodeo.”
They tidied and locked up. Mikey had already locked up the gallery and they all set off for home. Magda found that Sam was already there and had a meal on the table. He carried the baby inside and expertly changed her diaper.
Magda smiled and sat at the table.
“This is wonderful. Thank you.” She quickly dove into the vegetable curry which was Sam’s specialty. “I sold two of those splattered paint pictures and made some chocolate horses.”
There was a bang from the living room and Magda jumped up and went to see the source. Crystal was pacing around the floor and there was a book on the floor about parenting.
“Crystal, we’re doing our best with Samantha,” she grumbled and put the book back on the shelf. Crystal went and sat on the sofa with her back to Magda. Magda shook her head and went back to her curry.
“Talking about horses has made me want to go out riding again. We haven’t done that for ages.”
Sam told her that being pregnant did sort of restrict that a little bit.
“We can ask Alison to babysit and see if the ranch has a couple of horses we can borrow,” he added.
“Sounds good,” she said. The cell phone rang, and Bart told her to follow the link in her messages.
“Found him - Cody the cowboy.”
5
They both flicked on tablets and followed the link which Bart had sent to everyone. There was silence as they read the archived pieces he had found.
“Do you think Shelby knows that his great-great-grandfather’s friend founded Jonesville?”
“It hasn’t been an orphanage for as long as I can remember,” Sam said. “But I know that’s what it was originally.”
“I wonder if he spent all of his money on setting that up and that was why the horse breeding had to end,” Magda mused. “He must have been well ahead of his time if he started an orphanage to help poor kids.”
“Jonesville is the headquarters of a charity that supports lots of children’s things but other things as well,” Sam said. “Don’t they also help sporting charities? I think I read that somewhere.”
“I guess we all just accepted that the Jonesville Charity was always doing something good in the area,” Magda added.
“There’s an article about the man who had the idea to found an orphanage. They name him as Cody Jones. He got together a group of friends and local people to put up the money to buy the house. The state gave them some funds to care for children left on their own.”
They flicked through all of the items that Bart had found but there was no photograph, not even a very old and indistinct one of Cody Jones.
Magda’s cell phone rang and Branston came on the line.
“Have you seen the article about his riding skills? I never saw that information before. The man must have been a wonderful horseman.”
Magda said she hadn’t read that one yet and Sam scrolled through to find it as they spoke. He scanned through it and agreed with Branston.
“He was a legend at the time apparently,” Sam joined in the conversation on speakerphone. “We were wondering if we could hire a couple of horses and have a ride. Magda has just realized that having a baby curtailed her riding.”
“If you are talking Sunday, that would be fine. The place changes over guests on Saturdays and they take Sunday to settle in. I don’t take any groups out on a Sunday. Horses available.”
“I would love that,” Magda said. “I’ll check with Alison to see if she will babysit.”
“Don’t do that. Bring Samantha and Merle and I will keep an eye on her.”
“Thanks. We’ll come in the afternoon. Your restaurant is always busy at midday,” Sam told him.
“Katie and Declan come back on Saturday,” Branston said. “Can’t wait to do another séance with Declan there.”
“And Katie to look at the pictures,” Magda added. “I will be glad when she’s back in the kitchen as well. Her touch with the decorations is much better than mine.” Then she told her cousin that she would bring him one of the new chocolate horses that she was making ready for the rodeo week.
“I’m practicing,” Branston said. “Got to defend my reputation.”
Sam and Magda spent some time reading through the articles that Bart had found. Eventually, they closed tablets down just as Crystal swiped the parenting book back on the floor. Magda sighed and picked up the Birman cat. She sat with the cat on her knee and talked to her as if she was human.
“Crystal, we found out about the orphanage. I’m okay looking after Samantha. Stop worrying please.” Sam shook his head. “She does understand,” Magda told him. “I don’t know how but she does. I have given up trying to work it out.” She held the beautiful cat with those amazing blue eyes and took her to the kitchen to find the treats. The other three appeared as if by magic and the treats were handed out.
The next two days were uneventful. Magda opened up on Saturday with Sam’s help. Saturdays were always busy. Magda had no time to try a filling for the horse shape but had in mind that one of her already popular ones would be the best bet. She poured chocolate over the shapes and popped them in the chiller. That was easily done. Customers kept them all busy and the lunchtime regulars were piling inside when Magda felt two arms around her shoulders from behind and squealed with delight to find Katie had sneaked in and surprised her. Declan followed and there was chaos in the café.
The customers called out to them, wished them well, and generally joined in the excitement. Katie donned her work wear and threw herself into satisfying the orders on hold at the counter. Sam went to look after the baby and Declan put on an apron and cleared tables.
Between serving, Katie told Magda that they had traveled back the night before. The week had been wonderful. She had taken so many photos to make paintings from that the camera almost overloaded.
“But I need to see these pictures by the man who came in with the staircase he dreamed about.”
“Rula can cope now. Let’s go and look.” Magda and Katie said they were going to see the paintings and Declan decided to tag along as well. Katie and Declan ran the gallery between them. Magda said it was a relief to have them back again.
“Mikey has worked both businesses really well, but we do need all of us in this partnership,” Magda said and opened the storeroom door. They picked up the pictures one by one and Magda waited for Katie’s reaction. She went back to the staircase.
“That has such atmosphere. It’s understated but holds your eye. You want to know what is at the top of the stairs.”
“You like them?” Magda asked. “I did but I’m no artist. I think he studied at art college but works for his dad growing plants.”
“Yes, they’re good and will display really well.”
“I told him the week after next when the craft exhibition was over. He has no idea about pricing. That is your province, Katie,” Magda told her.
Declan picked up the cowboy picture.
“This is really good. Is this the cowboy Rula thought she saw?”
“We think so. She described him and then Shelby turned up with a painting of what looks like the same man.”
“It needs a stronger frame for this size of picture, and it needs something more rustic to blend with the subject. I can make one, but he might not want that.”
Magda called the artist and asked if he had a few minutes to come and meet Katie and Declan. He said it would be about an hour, but he would come over then.
“An hour,” Magda said. “Back to the chaos in the café.”
The customers dwindle
d as the afternoon wore on. Katie spotted the chocolate horses.
“Rodeo week coming up,” Magda said. “I don’t know whether to fill them or not.”
“If we covered them in edible gold and made edible lassos, we could put them in see-through bags,” Katie suggested.
“And maybe an edible rosette beside the head halter,” Magda added. “I’m glad you are back, girl.”
“And I think Samantha has grown in a week.” Katie took the baby from Sam and walked around the kitchen with her. There were only a few customers left. They had time to ask about the honeymoon and look at photos on cell phones.
“We did have a very lazy week. We took lots of photos but that was about the hardest work we managed. Ate too much,” Declan said.
“Well, you can work it off next week. I left the heavy stuff until there were two of us,” Sam added. Declan wanted to know details of the séance and by the time they had told him, Shelby Bentley walked up to the counter.
After introductions, they went over everything again and then Katie went off to price the pictures with Shelby. Magda looked at Declan.
“Well? I know that look, Declan.” He gave her his slow smile and said that there was a man in the background. “I don’t know if it was the cowboy, but that man has help of some sort from the spirit world. I don’t know who and I don’t know why, but better if he doesn’t know at the moment.” Sam and Magda and Rula all nodded agreement.
Rula and Magda cleared away and cleaned everything and were ready to leave. Mikey came back with Katie and the artist and locked the double doors to the gallery.
“Amazing that your relation’s friend started Jonesville,” Mikey said. “Had you known that?” The artist shook his head.
“Suppose I should have thought about it. The man was obviously keen to help people in trouble.”
“At least that still goes on,” Mikey added. “They support people with disabilities who want to go climbing and do other outdoor activities.”
