by Danni Roan
Mae, finally resigned to her fate, spent her time with her cousins and Eric, busily working on a project they set up behind the barn, and working with her pony on a daily basis.
“Get me up,” Joshua James called to his old friend who half pulled, half lifted him out of his bed. “Want to move,” Josh said, his eyes hard, and within days he could shuffle around his room if he held tight to Benji or Hank.
The day finally came when Sean and Mae were to leave with Clayton and Meg. Mae set her face like stone but didn’t complain or cry. Instead, she asked Hank to bring her father out to the front porch before her departure. Quietly, and without spite, she hugged him as he sat in a high backed chair, watching his children load up the horses for the trip to Casper.
“Pa, I, we, have something for you, and you have to promise to not be mad.”
Joshua’s eyes grew wide and he looked at his other children worriedly.
Mae whistled and from around the barn Eric appeared in what could only be called a minuscule cart pulled by Callie, followed by Sean and Annabelle.
“We knew you wouldn’t stay down long, and we wanted to make it easy for you to get around the ranch when you want to, so we made this for you.” Mae swallowed hard on her last words as she studied her father’s face.
Joshua’s eyes filled with tears at Eric pulled the low-slung, two wheeled cart to a stop by the front steps.
With Hank and Benji’s help, Josh was soon tucked neatly into the contraption, his hands on the reins of the pinto’s bridle.
“She’ll take voice commands if you ask her,” Mae said with pride. “Callie, walk on.” She called softly and the pretty pony stepped out easily at a slow walk. After several paces Mae called again, “Gee,” and the pony turned to the left.
Josh maneuvered the pony back to the porch and was helped back to his chair.
“Thank you,” he growled, his throat thick with unshed tears.
******
“The house seems so much quieter without Mae,” Isabella leaned against her husband as they sat on the porch swing.
“I think that’s understandable,” he replied. “Did I tell you that Billy chose his puppy?” he asked.
“No. Are they old enough to leave their mother now?”
“Yes, Brion and Winny are letting their daughter Anna take one when they go back up the mountain as well. Eric and Cathleen are taking the last two, so they’ll be scattered around a bit.”
Issy snuggled closer into Taylor’s side. “How’s the wheat coming?” she asked.
“Just about ready to harvest. We’ll have it all in and stored in the stone hopper in the next couple of weeks.”
“Oh, that will be just about the same time as the round-up,” Issy’s eyes were large with wonder. “Will you and Reg be able to get it all in on your own? Everyone else will be working the round-up.”
“We’ll manage. We did alright for the most part, keeping the farm going back home. I know you and your sisters are busy with the kitchen garden, so I guess everyone will be hard at it.”
For a moment Issy blinked at him, wondering if he’d misunderstood her. “That will be left to Fiona, Katie, and Nona,” she said.
“Why aren’t you helping? That’s a big garden, and even if Cathleen is helping out, it will be a lot of work harvesting and canning.”
Isabella grinned at him. “Yes it will, be but Lexi and I’ll be rounding up cows.”
Taylor Ogden sat up straight and stared at his pretty wife as if she’d just told him the moon was made of green cheese.
“Round-up?” His voice was sharp.
“Yes, we do it every year.”
“Well you won’t be doing it this year! No wife of mine is going to be out chasing cows. It’s not lady-like.”
“Taylor Ogden, what are you talking about? We’ve been working the ranch since we were old enough to ride,” Isabella said with a smile.
“Bella, I said no and I mean no.” Taylor glared at his wife.
“I do not understand what your problem is,” she shot back at him.
“This conversation is over.” Taylor added with a swipe of his hand, “They’ll manage without you.”
At the sound of raised voices, Isadoro came to the door, his dark eyebrows reaching for his hair line.
Issy decided an argument wasn’t worth disturbing the rest of the family.
Maybe they should think about moving into the sod shack now that Hank and Fiona were in their new house for a little more privacy, but she was hoping that once the saw mill was up and running, they could start a house of their own.
Either way, it didn’t matter. She knew she’d be on the round-up.
A soft knock fell on Lexi's door; Lexi knew it was Issy before she even slipped through the entrance. She'd heard Taylor and her sister arguing the night before, and wondered if all was well in paradise.
"Everything alright?" She asked, watching Issy pad to the bed and flop down next to her.
"Yes. No. I don't know." Issy replied, leaning back on the mattress with a sigh.
"Is he that terrible?" Lexi's eyes were wide with the thought that her sister wasn't happy.
"I mean is it all, you know, all that bad?" She blushed at her own implication.
Issy smiled, "Oh no, Lexi, that's just fine. If that man had half the manners all the time as he has in the bedroom..." She hesitated going crimson, "Well, we'd have no problems at all."
“Then what's the problem now? I mean you two seemed to be so happy. I thought you were in love."
Isabella was quiet for a long time before she replied. "I do love him, at least I feel like I love him." She confessed, "It's just that he's so bossy." She groaned and smacked her fists on the mattress. "He seems to think that the only thing woman should do is tend the garden, cook and have babies." She paused for a moment collecting her thoughts. "I don't like fighting with him. I didn't say anything when he just left his clothes all over our room, I just picked them up. At least at first. When I finally mentioned that he needed to help keep the room tidy he just smiled and said I could take care of it when I was cleaning. It's like he doesn't count my work as work."
Lexi couldn't help herself, she laughed. "Don't most men think that?" She asked, trying to suppress the giggles.
Issy sat up on the bed. "Pa doesn't, none of the men on the Broken J seem to think that, so why does he have to be so pig-headed? We've done nothing but argue ever since I told him I'll be working the round-up."
Lexi shrugged her shoulders. "We've just always done what needed to be done around here and I guess everyone figures that if you’re capable, you should pitch in."
"Well, I'll tell you now that I'm going to work the round-up just like I have since I was big enough to chase cows, and that lummox is not going to tell me I can't. He can just keep to what he knows and I'll keep to mine." She jerked her chin stubbornly on the final comment, then smiled.
"I knew I'd feel better if I talked to you, Lexi," Issy said hugging her sister close. "You always give the best advice."
"I didn't give you any advice at all!" Lexi cried, then they both fell into a fit of laughter.
"What about you? Have you decided how you feel about Reg yet?" She smiled and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Issy!" Lexi cried again.
"Well?"
"I do like him; we've started to become friends, I think. He loves many of the same things I do, especially reading, and we just discovered we both love the works of Jules Verne."
Issy sighed. Her sister's idea of good conversation left something to be desired in her opinion. "But you do like him?" she asked pointedly.
"Yes, I do. I don't think I love him, but we get along well and who knows what might come from it." She eyed her sister carefully. "I'm in no rush," she said, hoping her words didn't sound accusatory.
Issy hugged her tight again. "I miss our time together," she said. "You are always honest with me no matter what, and yes, I think perhaps I was in too much of a hurry." She blushed agai
n. "As wonderful as being married is in some ways, learning to live with a new person is sometimes very hard."
A hot August sun beat down on the prairie as Reg Ogden turned the big team down another row of wheat, the new wheat harvester making much lighter work of the task at hand. As he set Jack and Scott, the two gentle Clydesdales, to moving down the next row, he noted that his brother's mood hadn't improved since they'd started out that morning.
Taylor picked up another bound bundle of cut wheat and stacked it into a standing sheave to finish drying. If he were feeling rational, he would have admitted that the new machinery was amazing. He stood, easing his back, and watched as Hank's big team pulled the light contraption along, its large spindles pushing the wheat into the binder, where the long grass was bound together, then pushed out the other side.
Hank moved further down the line, lifting the bundles easily and arranging them in to the standing tee-pee shapes to be thrown on the wagons later. Hank had come along with his horses, explaining that normally they'd use Billy's lighter team, but that they were needed to pull the chuck wagon for the round-up.
Just the word echoing in Taylor’s head made him grind his teeth with anger and flash back to that morning.
Taylor Ogden had woken with a smile on his face. He'd slept well after some very special time spent with his little bride. Bella was wonderful. She was sweet and saucy all at the same time and the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. There was a spark to her personality that made her special, unique. He reached an arm out for her only to discover that she wasn't there.
Sitting up Taylor, let his eyes adjust to the gray light filtering into the room they now shared on the east side of the house. They'd been talking about moving to the soddy, but were torn between moving there or starting their own place. Once the saw mill was organized, he was sure it wouldn't take long to get a new building underway.
He'd discussed how to organize the new operation with Isadoro and they had decided to have Clayton and Meg place orders for the equipment they would need in Casper on their way to Boston. They hoped that it would be available when the men took the cows to market. It could take extra time for some of the machinery to arrive, but they could work on laying everything out and be ready to start when it got there.
As these thoughts passed through Taylor's mind, he noticed Bella standing by the door, buttoning a flannel shirt.
"What in the world are you wearing?" he called, jumping out of bed and grabbing his trousers.
"My riding clothes," Issy bit back.
"You are not stepping out of the house in that get up," Taylor called, pulling his shirt over his shoulders and studying the way the denim trousers molded to his wife's softly rounded hips.
"I cannot chase cows in a skirt." Isabella could feel her frustration growing.
"You are my wife and I said you are not going on that round-up." Taylor stomped his foot for emphasis, then regretted it as his heel came in contact with the hard planks of the floor.
"Eustis Taylor Ogden," Isabella's voice was cold as she turned to face him, hands on hips, "I might be your wife, but I still have rights. I even have the right to vote. Or have you forgotten that Wyoming allows their woman to vote?" Her voice was low but dangerous. "And if I have the right to vote, I most certainly have the right to ride a horse and chase cows. I've been doing it since I was only a little older than Eric, and being married does not change that. I'm as much owner of the Broken J as any of the men here, and I'll do whatever it takes to see that it stays a prosperous endeavor."
"Bella..." Taylor tried to interrupt, but didn't have a chance as Isabella stepped up to him and looked him in the eye, waggling her little finger in his face.
"Pa's laid up, Katie has Mary, and Fiona is pregnant." With each name, her index finger poked hard into the chest of her husband, whose eyes grew bigger with every word. "Add to that that Clayton and Meg are away getting Mae settled, and we're more shorthanded than ever. So I'm riding herd and there is nothing you can do about it."
With her final words the sweet, special woman he had married turned on her booted heel and with a swing of her braid wrenched open the door, strode across the hall and down the stairs.
Taylor stood there blinking and trying to reconcile the wild cat who had just confronted him with the soft, willing woman he'd held the night before. Pulling himself together, he stomped into his boots and pounded down the stairs.
At breakfast, he'd sorely wanted to continue this argument, but didn't want to make a scene. Instead, they both sat furiously eating their breakfast, while shooting dagger glances at each other.
"You about ready to ride?" Isadoro's words rang in Taylor's skull, and he turned a stunned look toward Bella's grandfather. Was he actually encouraging her to ride out and chase cows? Were all of these people crazy? It wasn't right for a woman to work like a man, and especially not to dress like one.
Taylor barely had time to react when all of the others rose from the table and began donning hats before leaving the house. He tried to scramble after Bella, but was refrained by his brother's hand on his arm.
"We've got wheat to bring in today," Reg said. "That's our job and we'd better get to it."
Taylor turned toward the hall again, just in time to see his wife's perfectly rounded bottom, wrapped in a thin layer of denim, step out the door and into the saddle.
Reg took one look at his brother's face and knew that the storm hadn't passed yet. Knowing Taylor well, he ducked his head and pulled the younger man down the back stairs. "I'm planning on bringing Ma out in the fall," he said, hoping his words would carry some weight. "You're not the only one with problems."
"You alright?" Hank Ballard's rumbling voice shook Taylor out of his dark thoughts.
Taylor kicked the sheave he'd just stacked, knocking it over. He knew it was childish, but it felt good to strike out. Bella had made him look like a fool, and it festered in him like an illness.
Hank walked up and placed a large hand on his shoulder. "You'll find your way Taylor. It's never easy getting to know someone and learning to live with them." He chuckled softly, thinking of the misunderstanding that had nearly kept him from Fiona. "The Broken J's a little different from what you've known before. Just give it time."
Taylor nodded, his sandy hair falling into his eyes. "I hope so," he said without conviction.
******
Isabella felt her stomach flop as she climbed into the saddle of her big, gray horse and glanced toward the house. She couldn’t see Taylor moving toward the wheat fields, but she could feel him walking away. Setting her face to the task at hand, she determined to stay strong and not give in to his demands. He should respect me as a person, she thought as she pushed her mount into a trot.
“Are you alright?” Lexi asked, pulling her leggy bay gelding alongside Isabella’s gray.
Issy snorted. “Yes,” she blustered.
“Issy?” Lexi wouldn’t let her off that easily.
“No, but I’m not changing to suit a man.” Her words were soft but firm. “He married me, not some other woman, and I can’t just change who I am because I’m married.” She slowed her horse to an easy jog. It would be a long day in the saddle, no use wearing herself or her horse out on the way to the pasture.
“I just don’t understand Lexi, he seemed to like me, to understand what made me uniquely me, but now he seems to want something else. It’s like he has a picture in his head of what a wife’s supposed to be, and I don’t measure up.”
“Maybe the picture in his head is wrong,” Lexi ventured.
“It’s definitely wrong for me,” Issy stated. “He’ll just have to learn to love the wife he has, and not the one he thought he was getting.” She scowled, but her eyes glinted with determination.
Lexi studied her sister a little longer, waiting for what would come next.
“You don’t think I’m just being stubborn, do you?” Issy finally asked.
“No, he married you for who you are and he’s going to have to lear
n what that means. You didn’t do anything wrong, Issy.”
“We just never even discussed any of this.” Isabella said, glancing ahead as Will and the other hands came into view. “I just assumed he’d understand that as a cattleman’s daughter, I’d work.”
“I think assumptions can be dangerous things,” Lexi replied before lifting her gloved hand to her twin. “Just be who God made you and pray,” she said with a smile. “Now let’s ride,” she whooped softly, then galloped off to join the round-up.
Chapter 10
Galloping their horses for the sheer joy of it, Isabella and Lexi rapidly approached the other riders that would be working the round-up. They could just hear Will asking Walt about the Remuda as they arrived.
"Did you have any trouble bringing in the horses?" the lean cowpuncher asked the Broken J's chief wrangler.
"Nah, they come along alright this time, but I ain’t sure I could have got 'em if Clay hadn't brought that stud horse of his around when he was home." The slim, bald man chortled. "You shoulda' seen it. Clay just walked out to the gate, pulled that whip off a' his hip, and gave it a crack." He smiled broadly, waiting to see that he had everyone's attention. "That big, black horse snapped his head up, snorted, then snaked his neck out at the nearest mare, nippin' and snorting. ‘The Duke’ rounded the whole herd up and drove 'em right to the gate for us."
Isabella smiled at the tale. At least some things still seemed normal around her home.
Isadoro delivered the other riders to Will out in the long pasture, then returned to the house. He was no good at chasing cows and he knew it.
"You should have seen his face," he was saying to Joshua as he sipped his coffee. Josh had dribbled a good bit of his hot brew down his shirt, but stubbornly held the cup in his hand and sipped anyway.
