The Travels of Titus

by Danni Roan

  Polly pinned the young brave with piercing blue eyes and watched him squirm.

  “My brothers, they laugh at me,” Francis finally said. “They say that I am too young to travel far, and that now we have a safe home, I will never see lands far away.”

  Polly Esther cut her eyes to George then back to the young man as they listened.

  “I told them that if I chose, I could take this message to the Sheriff Pike not to Shady.”

  “So your brothers dared you to come all the way to Biders Clump?” George surmised.

  “Yes. And I come.” Francis added with a smile.

  George shook his head. “Seems like boys everywhere are all just about the same. Didn’t they know you could ‘a died coming all the way up here in the winter?”

  “Yes,” Francis said, “but what is the journey without danger?”

  George shook his head and Polly smiled. “I’m glad you’re here safe and sound,” she said kindly. “I’m sure Sheriff Pike will find a way to get word to your family that you are safe.”

  Francis nodded digging into his meal and wiping every trace of it from his plate with the bread Polly had toasted.

  “Well why don’t we get you settled Francis,” George offered. “You can stay here with us for a spell. We have plenty of rooms, and I could use a young man to help with the fire wood.”

  Francis stood from his chair and nodded following George down the hall and up a flight of stairs.

  Polly Esther Olson busied herself in the kitchen preparing a roast and vegetables for the evening meal.

  It wasn’t going to be easy to convince the young Lame Antelope to stay through the worst of the weather, but she’d do her best to try.

  Chapter 20

  “TITUS WOULD YOU MIND helping me fetch the eggs,” Sarah Jane asked the next morning as Titus stepped into the kitchen.

  He’d been awake since before sun rise and was anxious to see her. She made him think deeply about his situation, and he wanted her insights.

  “Be happy to,” he said, taking the basket from her hands and waiting for her to don her cloak.

  “Did you sleep well?” Sarah Jane asked as they slipped out into the frosty morning.

  “Not so much, no,” Titus admitted. “You gave me a lot to think about last night.”

  “Like what?” her brown eyes were soft.

  Titus didn’t know what to say. He looked at Sarah Jane and saw something, felt something, but he couldn’t place it.

  “I think I need to figure out who I am,” he said, “and I don’t know if I can.”

  “What do you know already?” Sarah Jane asked.

  “I know that I’m a fortunate man. By all rights I should probably be dead, but here I am fetching eggs and trying to figure out what’s locked away in my head.”

  “Anything else?”

  “I own a mule. If I’d been a cowboy or something like that, why would I have a mule? I don’t see many cow hands riding mules.”

  “And what does that tell you?”

  “I was probably a farmer.”

  Sarah Jane smiled, she’d told him she suspected as much two days ago, but she could see that he needed to work through this on his own.

  “So what does that indicate to you?”

  Titus ran a hand over his jaw as they approached the chicken coop.

  “Jed found me in Nevada,” he began, pulling the coop door open and letting Sarah Jane step inside. “I know there are a few farms in that part of Nevada, but for the most part it’s too dry for farming.”

  “So you’re saying you don’t think you’re from Nevada then.”

  “Right where Jed found me there were signs of cattle activity but no herds in the immediate area. Maybe, I’d taken a job as scout for an outfit or something like that.”

  Sarah Jane moved down the line of chicken boxes reaching under a few of the hens and pulling out eggs which she handed to Titus to put in the basket.

  “That could be a possibility. I’m sure there are young men everywhere that dream of being a cowboy.”

  Titus smiled. “If that’s the case then finding the outfit that passed through that area might tell me where I came from.”

  Sarah Jane placed more eggs into the basket then turned to look at Titus.

  “If you’d joined up with a cow outfit why were you riding that mule, and how did you get shot?”

  Titus shifted the basket and scratched his ear.

  “I haven’t figured that out yet,” he admitted. “You would think that if I was wranglin’ cows, I’d be on a cuttin’ horse, but maybe I was scouting ahead and then they’d want me to use the mule.”

  “That makes sense,” Sarah Jane agreed, collecting the last of the eggs and turning for the door. “Now about being shot,” her dark eyes raked him as the question bounced around his head.

  “I’ll have to keep working on that one.”

  Sarah Jane led the way along the path toward the mission’s kitchen, her brows furrowed in thought.

  “You could have been ambushed,” she finally said. “There are thieves and robbers everywhere.”

  “Then why’d they leave the mule and all of my gear?”

  Sarah Jane nodded tapping her lips with a delicate finger that made Titus realize just how soft and pink her lips were.

  “Rustlers!” Sarah Jane exclaimed turning and grasping his arm. “You were attacked by rustlers.”

  Titus smiled at the light in the young woman’s eyes. The idea had merit. The thought had no sooner entered his head than the smile disappeared.

  “What’s wrong?” Sarah Jane asked, her warm hand still resting on his sleeve.

  “What if it’s the other way around?” Titus asked, gently removing her hand from his arm. “What if I was the rustler?” He’d thought of that when Jed had first found him.

  Sarah Jane looked up at the handsome young man before her seeing the doubt and turmoil in his eyes. “I can’t believe that of you,” she said with a shake of her head. “Who you are now speaks of your character.”

  Titus heard her words, and wanted to believe them, but who was he? Who had he been? There were too many questions to take anything for granted.

  “I hope your right,” he said softly, opening the door and stepping into the cool air and heading for the church kitchen.

  Chapter 21

  SARAH JANE HAD SEEN the doubts spring into Titus’s blue eyes as soon as she’d mentioned rustlers. It made the most sense to her that he’d been riding ahead of a cow outfit, and rustlers had shot him.

  It was also obvious that he was now thinking the worst of himself.

  If in fact he had been rustling cows, and she couldn’t see him in that light, he had changed. He was now helping to uphold the law and based on what he’d told her about his friend Jed, she couldn’t imagine a rustler being so dedicated.

  She had thought that her revelation would have given him peace, but instead it had brought more worry.

  I should have kept my mouth shut. She mentally chided herself as she placed her basket on a counter in the kitchen only taking out enough for her family’s use.

  How was she to help Titus figure out who he was if he was constantly going to doubt that he was a good man?

  “I’ll go feed the stock,” Titus said as they made their way back toward the house she occupied. “I’ll be in for breakfast.”

  Sarah Jane stopped watching Titus walk away. She regretted her impetuous outburst earlier, but it was done now.

  One way or another she would help Titus figure out who he was, and where he came from. There had to be a way if they could just find it.

  Titus walked to the barn his heart heavy. Sarah Jane had been right. It was possible that he’d been working with a cattle crew, and they’d been troubled by rustlers, but there was also the possibility that he’d been on the wrong side of the law.

  Stepping into the barn Titus walked over to the old mule and smiled, “I do wish you could talk,” he said. The mule stuck his head over his st
all rail and nipped at Titus playfully hoping for a treat.

  Titus patted the animal’s neck then went to the grain bin traveling down the line to feed each horse, mule, or donkey. “We’re gonna figure this out Buster,” he mused as he scooped a measure into the mule’s trough.

  “One way or another, we’ll figure it out.”

  Chapter 22

  “TITUS,” BILL BENTLEY said as he stepped back into the house. “Hope you’re ready to get started on that wagon today.”

  “Yes sir,” Titus agreed hanging his hat and taking a seat while the women put breakfast on the table.

  He noticed the way Sarah Jane looked at him, but he didn’t feel he could meet her eye. What if he had been an outlaw, a decent girl like her shouldn’t even know he existed.

  “Pa, pa are we allowed to go help Father John again today?” Calvin and Melvin came tearing out of an adjacent room pulling suspenders over slim shoulders and tucking in shirts as they came.

  “That depends,” Bill mused, “have you finished your chores?”

  The twins looked at each other then took a seat.

  “I told you that’s what he’d say,” Melvin said.

  “Eat your breakfast then finish your chores then you can go over and help Father John, but don’t be a nuisance.

  Molly looked at her husband incredulously. “If that’s possible,” she said, looking at the boys sternly.

  “I’m sure if they get under foot Father John will send them packing,” Bill said, looking at his boys as if reminding them of what he expected from them.

  “Father John said if we help him with his next project, he’ll help us make the puppies the perfect place to live,” Melvin said.

  “That sounds fine,” Bill said, “but don’t forget your lessons.”

  “No sir,” The boys agreed without enthusiasm.

  “Titus, I’m glad you’re here to help Bill with the wagon,” Molly said. “We already feel beholding’ to the priests here for letting us stay and giving us this house to live in. We didn’t want to ask for more help.”

  Together the family sat down at the table, and Bill said grace, thanking the Lord for welcome strangers and good food.

  As Bill finished his prayer a strange feeling came over Titus; a sense of loneliness he’d never experienced before.

  This house was a home. It held a family that cared for each other, watched over each other, and loved each other.

  Had he had a home like this once? What had happened that would have sent him out on his own?

  Perhaps he had the wanderlust like Old Jed said had taken him all over the country. Or perhaps his family had fallen on hard times, and he’d had to strike out on his own to lessen the burden on resources already stretched thin.

  “Titus,” Molly spoke jarring him out of his thoughts. “Would you like more bacon?”

  Titus looked up and saw Sarah Jane watching him. By the look on her face he could tell that she knew he’d been lost in thought.

  “Yes ma’am,” Titus said. “Thank you.”

  “I have a feeling Bill will work it off you today,” Mrs. Bentley said. “A young man like you needs to keep his strength up.”

  A few minutes later Bill Bentley wiped his mouth on a napkin, placed it on the table and looked up.

  “Thank you my lovely girls for a wonderful breakfast,” he said with a grin. “Now if you’ll excuse us, Titus and me have a wagon to mend.” Rising, the older man walked around the table, kissed his wife on the cheek and headed for the door.

  For a moment Titus’s eyes drifted toward Sarah Jane, would he ever have a woman like her for his wife? He didn’t even have a name to offer if he ever found a woman who would have him.

  “Thank you.” He said standing and following Bill out the door.

  “Titus,” Sarah Jane’s voice made him stop, and he turned as the young woman, her golden locks shining in the early morning sun, stepped out onto the stoop. “You forgot your hat,” she said with a grin.

  Titus smiled, he’d been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he’d walked off without his most valuable possession.

  “Thank you,” he said, his cheeks burning as he reached out for the hat, his hand inadvertently brushing across Sarah Jane’s in the process.

  For two long heart beats his whole world seemed to freeze as something electrified passed between them.

  “Have a nice day,” Sarah Jane said softly, breaking the spell.

  Placing his hat on his head, he tipped it politely then hurried after his host as the two boys came pouring out of the house, yelling and racing along the path toward the mission church.

  “How you feelin’ today?” Bill asked as Titus joined him in a long shed behind the barn where carts and wagons were stored.

  “I’m alright,” Titus said. “No headaches if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “And your shoulder?” Bill asked.

  “A little sore but feeling better. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to your family.”

  “I know you’d do the same if it were one of us or anyone for that matter.”

  Titus wondered if what the older man said was true.

  “I hope so,” He mused.

  “Son, I know you feel like you don’t know who you are or what your life is about, but I’ll tell you folks feel that way at all ages. Sometimes life just throws you for a loop and you end up somewhere you never thought you’d be. I hate to say it but that’s normal.”

  Titus smiled. “That’s probably true but the fact that I can’t remember where I came from or who I was seems to make it harder.”

  “Well it shouldn’t,” Bill Bentley said. “You were given a second chance; a chance to start over from whatever it is you left behind. So far your new start doesn’t seem too bad as long as you learn to watch your step when you’re on the edge.”

  Titus chuckled; he was bound to take some ribbing for falling off a mountain. It was only to be expected. “What if I have a family waiting for me somewhere, or parents who are old and can’t take care of themselves?” he asked as he joined the other man next to a large covered wagon.

  Bill checked the chocks behind the wheels then moved around to the front of the wagon to study a broken spoke and a split double tree.

  “Maybe you do have family somewhere, but if you can’t remember them you shouldn’t be beating yourself up over it. Instead you should lend a hand to those who come into your life.”

  Titus moved up next to the man and looked at the double tree. It was nearly split in two, and he wondered how the family had made it to the valley with a wagon in such poor shape.

  “You said that maybe you had parents who needed help,” Bill continued. “Well me and Molly and our children need help, and you came along and are helping. You’re doing your part, so you should be able to hope and pray that someone else is doing the same for your folks or family, or whoever you might have left behind.”

  Titus nodded understanding what the older man was saying. “I’m not sure the world works that way all the time.”

  “We can only do what we can do,” Bill said, grabbing a spanner from a tool box and moving to the wheel.

  Titus put his back under the corner of the rig and heaved taking the weight off the wheel, and Bill quickly pushed a heavy block and beam beneath the wagon.

  “It might not be the way the world works, but it’s the way we should. You do what you can for others and pray that the rest comes out in the wash.”

  Titus smiled again. He appreciated what his companion was saying. In reality he’d had plenty of people helping him along the way.

  In some small part he’d helped Old Jed and even Bailey and now the Bentleys and Sheriff Davis as well.

  Grabbing a wooden pole as a brace he pushed it through the wheel leaning his weight into it and keeping the wheel from turning while Bill loosened the bolts that held it on the axel.

  Ten minutes later he was helping the older man lift the wheel from the wagon and rolling it toward the woodsh
op.

  “I’ll take this on over to the shop,” Bill said. “You see if you can get that tree hardware off and bring it over. I think the brothers can probably make us new pieces pretty quick.”

  Titus nodded, letting go of the wheel as Bill moved away.

  It felt good working with his hands, being a deputy in the sleepy town of Hester hadn’t given him much reason to use his hands, but this felt familiar.

  Carefully unfastening the wooden pole that separated a team of horses while connecting them securely to the wagon, he wondered if he’d ever done this kind of work before.

  “Titus?” Sarah Jane’s voice caught him by surprise, and he turned from his seat on a wooden box to look at her as she stepped into the shed.

  “Miss Bentley,” he said, wondering what would have brought her here.

  “I just spoke with Father John, and one of the young men has agreed to take the message to Shady and have it wired to both Biders Clump and Hester. Everyone will know we’re fine in a few days,” she finished with a smile.

  Titus smiled back. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “I’m sure your kin folks up in Wyoming are worried about you.”

  “I’m sure Old Jed is worried about you as well.”

  “If he isn’t, his new wife Birdie will be,” Titus agreed. “She was always fussing over me.”

  “You know good people,” Sarah Jane mused. “That speaks well of you.”

  Titus smiled. Perhaps it did. Perhaps whatever good he’d done since Jed had found him helped to make up for what he didn’t know about his past.

  Chapter 23

  “TITUS,” SARAH JANE said stepping closer. “I know you’re worried about what I said yesterday but don’t be.” Her deep brown eyes pleaded with him to obey. “You have a good heart.”