Rena's Cowboy

by Agnes Alexander

  “We can’t ask you to do that.” Jake was nearly too stunned to speak.

  “You ain’t asking us. We’re here to do it. Now, let’s drink this good-smelling coffee and eat this pie. The others will be here in the morning.” Grover took the cup Adela offered him.

  “My wife and I have already discussed sleeping arrangements,” Silas said. “Finn, would you talk with our hands? I’m sure they’ll volunteer to take their bedrolls and sleep outside. They’ve been doing that most of the time anyway. We wish we had room in the house for the families, but we’re going to turn the bunkhouse over to the women.”

  “Our hands keep it neat and I’ve got clean sheets for all the bunks,” Adela said.

  “That sounds great,” Grover said. “We’ve been sleeping in wagons and on the ground all the way from New Mexico. I suspect the womenfolk and the children will think they’ve been blessed to have a sound roof over their heads and clean sheets under their bodies for a change.”

  * * * *

  Rena and Adela cooked a mound of bacon, two big pans of potatoes, a huge dish of scrambled eggs and four pans of biscuits for the men’s breakfast. They opened three jars of homemade blackberry jelly. “We need to get more chickens,” Rena mused as she put the food on the table. “We used every egg I found this morning.”

  “I agree. And maybe we should get a pig.” Adela smiled. “I’ll mention it to Silas.”

  “Excuse me.” A woman’s voice came through the back door.

  Adela went to the door. “Come in. You must be with one of the families.”

  “Yes. I’m Leona Toler. I come to help you ladies this morning.”

  “We’d be glad to have another hand in here.” Adela smiled at the slightly rotund woman in her mid-thirties. “We’ll have to eat in shifts because there are so many people to feed.”

  “No problem. I told everyone to stay in the bunkhouse until the men were fed. We’ll eat after they leave to do whatever it is that men do with those stinky cows.”

  Rena smiled at her remark about the cows. “I’m Rena. You can help me keep the bowls full while Adela watches the biscuits.”

  “Lord have mercy, my brother will think he’s in heaven to have fresh biscuits. He ain’t had good biscuits since we left New Mexico.”

  “I’m sorry about what’s happened to your family,” Rena said.

  “We was luckier than most. I was in the hen house when them men showed up. My nephew, Billy, was helping me because I had stepped in a hole the day before and sprained my ankle. The men came riding in and started shouting about wanting a woman. Billy pushed me under one of the roosts and throwed some sacks over me. I couldn’t move or get out the way he wedged me in. He went out the hen house door and told them his mother was dead and that weren’t no woman on our place. Some of the men wanted to kill Billy, but one got the bright idea to maim him instead.”

  Tears came to her eyes. “They took the boy to the wood pile and chopped his foot off. They laughed at his screams until he passed out. Then they ransacked the house and took what they wanted. They set the place on fire and left. When Billy come to, he somehow got back to the hen house and got me out before the place went up. It near ’bout broke my heart. Billy is like a son to me. His mother died ten years ago and I’ve been looking after him and my brother, Owen, ever since.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Rena had tears in her eyes.

  Leona swiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Well, what’s done is done. I hear some commotion in the yard. The men are coming, so we best get on with feeding them.”

  In a matter of minutes Jake, Silas, Finn, the two hired hands, and seven other men filed into the kitchen. Rena poured coffee, Leona kept the bowls full, and Adela kept a hot supply of biscuits coming.

  “We’re going to brand in the North pasture today. Grover said he was leaving his son, Aaron, to help you ladies with the chores today,” Silas said/

  “He’s used to helping his Ma, so I thought it’d do him good.”

  “Thank you,” Adela said.

  “Billy will be here, too. He’ll do what he can to help,” Owen said.

  “Of course he will,” Leona said. “He’s trying hard to overcome his loss.”

  “My girls are young, but they’ll want to do anything they can,” Whitt Gentry said.

  “We appreciate everything all of you are doing, and I guarantee when we sell our cows, if there’s any profit we’ll divide with you.”

  “Don’t even consider that, Jake,” Grover said. “Like we said last night, you’ve more than paid us. Now, let’s decide how we’re going to do the work today.”

  The men made plans to set up the branding and who was going to do what job.

  When there was a lull in the conversation, Jake said all in one breath, “I know this won’t mean a thing to you people who have come to help us, but since everyone connected with the ranch is here I guess it’s as good a time as any to tell you all something.”

  “What’s that, Jake?” Silas asked.

  “Rena and I are getting married.”

  For a few seconds everyone seemed stunned, then Adela set the pan of biscuits down and grabbed Rena. “I’m so glad you’re going to be my sister-in-law.”

  The men began to shake Jake’s hand and congratulate him.

  “Now I see why you told me to keep my distance from Miss Rena,” Curly said as he slapped Jake on the back. He looked around at the others and said, “Miss Rena was an angel to me when I got shot a while back. I asked Jake if he thought it was all right for me to ask to court her. Not only did he tell me to steer clear of her, he said he’d break my neck if I came within fifty feet of the woman unless he was around to watch me.” Curly cleared his throat, and added, “Of course I cleaned up his words a little because of the ladies in the room. He weren’t so nice when he told me these things.”

  Rena glanced at Jake and he winked at her. Everyone else was laughing.

  Grover Beeson said, “Well, I don’t guess there’s any two people more suited to each other. Look what they can accomplish together.”

  “You better never make her mad, Jake,” Finn teased. “She’s a better shot than you are.”

  Everyone laughed again and Silas asked, “When is this wedding going to take place?”

  “I told her last night that we’d find a preacher today.”

  “Well, look no further, my friend. I’m a full-fledged preacher. I can tie the knot any time you want,” Reverend Abernathy said.

  “That’s great.” Jake’s eyes couldn’t hide his excitement. He reached for Rena’s hand. “Want to do it right now?”

  She blushed in spite of herself.

  “You know she’s not going to marry you here at the breakfast table, Jake Haywood,” Adela said. “A woman has things to do to get ready to marry.”

  “Of course, she does,” Leona Toler added.

  “Then what about this evening when we get through branding today?” Jake looked down at Rena, hope in his eyes.

  She searched his face and couldn’t miss the excitement there. “This evening will be fine,” she whispered.

  Chapter 13

  When the men left, Adela started cooking another breakfast for the families and Rena began washing the dishes. Leona went to get the women, then returned to help.

  Mrs. Coxette, a widow, came in first. She was the oldest person among the families. Rena figured she was in her seventies, and offered to give her a bed in the house. The old lady refused. “I want to stay with my daughter and her girls,” she said. “I think the bed in the bunkhouse will be a nice change for us. Me and Iris and the children have been sleeping in the wagon. Her husband, Whitt Gentry, slept on the ground most nights.”

  She then told them that Iris and her three youngest children had taken her to Cheyenne to visit a sister when the murderers came to the ranch. “They killed her son and badly wounded her husband. He pulled through, and we all decided to come on the trip. We didn’t really have anywhere else to go. They burned our ho
use.”

  Rena wanted to hug and comfort the older woman, but before she could, a younger woman and three girls from ages six to nine came in.

  “Grandma, I saw a pretty bird by the barn.” The smallest child bounced with excitement.

  Rena took a deep breath of thankful relief. All three of the children who went with their grandma to visit her sister were girls. They’d escaped the horror of what those men would have done to them.

  A boy about ten, who Rena assumed was Aaron Beeson, and a skinny teenaged boy who had a foot missing and walked with a crutch, came in. Rena knew immediately this was Billy. She smiled at him, but didn’t acknowledge his foot. Everyone was polite and a little subdued as they ate. When they finished, Leona refused to let Rena or Adela help them clean up the kitchen.

  “We’re all going to help,” Iris said. “My girls can clear the table.”

  “We’re so grateful for what you did, that this is the least we can do,” the young mother said as she handed her baby to Adela. “My name’s Eliza Winfree. Sam and I were lucky. There’s only the three of us in our family and nobody was killed, but they destroyed everything we had. We’d gone into town to get supplies. Sam’s family disowned him because he married me, but he wanted to show them he was doing fine as a farmer instead of the banker he used to be. He made arrangements for us to stay a couple of days in the hotel.”

  She sighed. “I think he really hoped his father would forgive him for marrying a woman like me, but none of his family came around while we were there. When we got home, everything we had was burned to the ground. All our livestock was either gone or laying dead. They’d shot the animals we keep at the house, including the chickens and the pig. We didn’t have nowhere else to go, so when we heard about the group coming to Arizona Territory, we decided to come, too.”

  “I’m glad nobody was hurt physically,” Rena said.

  “Well, folks.” Leona snagged everyone’s attention. “We’ve got a lot to do today and everybody can help. Looks like there’s going to be a wedding tonight. Rena here is getting married and we want to make this a festive and wonderful day for her.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful,” Eliza said. “What can we do?”

  “Everything has to be done,” Leona explained. “From what I gather, the man proposed to her last night and wants to marry her today. Now we’ve got to put on a wonderful wedding for these two people. After all, they’re the ones who stopped those awful men.”

  That was all she had to say to turn the group into a hive of activity.

  “What should we do first?” Liza asked.

  “We have to do a lot of cooking,” Leona answered.

  “We can help too, can’t we, Mama?” one of the girls asked.

  “Of course you can, and I’ll go with you. There’s a big meadow of wildflowers not far from here. You can gather them and we’ll decorate inside and out. Nobody will recognize the place when we finish,” Iris said.

  “We’ll bake a wedding cake and cook the best wedding supper anyone could have,” Leona informed them.

  “I’ll help get the bride ready,” Mrs. Coxette offered.

  “I need to work on something for Rena to wear,” Adela said. “She lost all her clothes when she came here from Atlanta and mine are all too big for her.”

  “I have the perfect dress. It was the one I got married in and I’m not a lot bigger than Rena and I don’t mind if you take it up. I’m not going to need it anymore.” Eliza became excited. “I had taken it to town with me and I didn’t lose it in the fire.”

  It wasn’t long until the women were all caught up in the wedding preparations. Including Rena and Adela. The ivory colored wedding dress was fitted to Rena and by noon most of the plans for the evening were laid.

  When Rena modeled her dress, Eliza said, “I’ll never be able to get in it again, Rena. You might as well keep it.”

  “I’m sure Adela can let it out again.”

  “Don’t bother. Sam got the dress from one of his sisters. Since they don’t like me, I just as soon not have anything that belonged to them.”

  “Rena,” Iris came up to her, “which room will you share with your husband?”

  “I’ll show you,” Adela said.

  “Since you’re not going on a wedding trip tonight, my daughters and I want to decorate it with flowers, too.”

  “Thank you, Iris.”

  “Rena, my Sam plays the fiddle real pretty. I’ll get him to play the wedding march for you,” Eliza offered.

  “That’s a great idea,” Leona said. “Every woman needs music at her wedding.”

  Everyone was excited and the rest of the afternoon was spent cooking and decorating. They heated water so Rena could have a hot bath. Mrs. Coxette was to help dress and prepare the bride. “I haven’t had the pleasure of helping a bride since my Iris married Whitt Gentry. It’ll be a thrill to help you.”

  “I’d be delighted, Mrs. Coxette.” Rena smiled at the older woman.

  * * * *

  Gil relieved Jake who’d been holding the steers down to be branded and castrated. Curly took over the castrating and branding from Silas. The two brothers walked a distance from the fire.

  “Sure is hot,” Silas grumbled.

  “You sound like Rena.” Jake grinned. “She complains about the weather.”

  Silas looked at him. “You really going to marry her tonight?”

  “Absolutely. I know being married to her will be a challenge, but I think I’m up to it.” He nodded at Silas. “I love her, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. I always thought you might marry up with Widow Jordon’s daughter.”

  “At one time, I did think about marrying Becky, but that was before I met Rena.”

  “The Jordon girl would make a good rancher’s wife.”

  “She probably would.”

  “You sure you don’t want to reconsider? Adela likes Becky Jordan, and she’d fit in here.”

  “No, Silas. I don’t want to reconsider. Becky Jordon might fit on a ranch, but she doesn’t make my heart pound or my pants get tight every time I look at her. Rena does.”

  “Then I guess there’s no need to tell you that you’re from two different worlds and—”

  Jake interrupted, saying, “No, Silas. I’m aware of all the reasons I should steer clear of Rena, but I’m not going to. I’m going to marry that little woman and we’re going to have a good life together. We’re even going to make you an uncle someday.”

  Silas looked at him a long minute, then said, “Want to make a race out of it?”

  “Out of what?”

  “Adela and I may make you an uncle before you do me.”

  Jake’s eyes twinkled. “Why not.” He held his hand out to his brother. “It’s a bet.”

  Burt Abernathy walked up. “Well, how’s the bridegroom doing?”

  “Getting anxious,” Silas answered for him. “You’d think the man had never…” His voice trailed off.

  Burt laughed. “I know what you mean. I may be a preacher, but I’m a man. I know how anxious I was when I first met my wife. Couldn’t wait to make love to that woman.”

  “When did you lose your wife, Burt?” Jake asked.

  “About three years ago. It was a freak accident. She had our ten month old son in her arms and was running from the buggy to the house in a thunderstorm. Lightening hit her parasol and killed her instantly.” He dropped his head. “Of course our son died, too.”

  “My wife and I lost our son, too. It died in its sleep and it was only a few days old.” Silas’s voice was softer than Jake had ever heard him speak.

  “I’ve heard of that happening. A seemingly perfectly healthy baby will suddenly die and nobody has any idea why.”

  “I’d never heard of it before.” Silas looked at him.

  “It doesn’t happen often. I guess there are a lot of things that go on in this world that we can’t understand. That’s when our faith takes over in our lives.”

  “You’re right about that.�
� Jake knew from the way he looked at him that Silas was thinking the same thing he was. Rena’s appearance in their world was something they couldn’t understand. But they’d take it on faith that it was meant to be.

  Finn walked up. “Hey, Jake, what time are we going to knock off today?”

  “We’ll stay at it until supper as we always do.”

  “Jake Haywood, you know we can’t do that. You’ve got to leave here early and get ready to marry Miss Rena.”

  “I know, but…”

  “Finn’s right,” Silas said. “You’ve got to stop in time to get yourself a bath and shave. You can’t go in to your bride tonight smelling like cow shit and horse sweat.”

  The Reverend grinned. “Why don’t I see if some of the men who don’t know you folks well will volunteer to continue the branding and keep watch on the heard while the rest clean up for this wedding?”

  “That’s a great idea, Burt. What do you think, Jake?”

  “I think everyone should knock off for the day. Hell, I’m getting married and I want everyone to know it.”

  “Then everybody will quit and clean up a little, but you’re the one who has to be clean all over.” Silas looked at Burt. “My brother isn’t thinking straight. Since I’m experienced at it, I guess it’s up to me to tell him how a bridegroom should act.”

  Chapter 14

  The visiting women were in the kitchen cooking and chatting. “A wedding is just the thing we need to make us realize life goes on,” Leona said. She turned to Adela. “Why don’t you take Rena out on the porch and give her a good talking to. I can see she’s getting nervous and you can calm her down.”

  “But I need to finish cooking the…”

  “Please, Adela. We’ll do the cooking. A wonderful meal will be ready by the time the men come in.” Eliza smiled at her. “It does me good to cook for my Sam again.”

  “Well, Rena, it doesn’t look like we’re needed. Let’s go sit on the front porch a bit and watch the children decorate. They’ve brought a ton of flowers to do the outside, as well as the ones in the house.”