Big Sky Daddy

by Linda Ford

“You did, indeed.” The memory came with surprising joy. A lively little stream ran through his ranch. Caleb often caught a fish or two for the next meal. Teddy had started talking about fishing when he could barely walk. Despite Amanda’s protests that the boy was too young for such adventures, Caleb had started taking him fishing as soon as he could toddle. He couldn’t have been more than three when he caught his first fish. “I’m surprised you remember.”

  “I ’member real good,” Teddy said. “Mama cooked the fish for breakfast.”

  Caleb remembered, too. It was a good memory. One where he had accomplished what he had hoped to, instead of failing his son.

  “Son, we need to go. Say ‘thank you’ to the Bells.”

  Teddy did so and hobbled over to Caleb. “Blossom is coming, isn’t she?”

  “We’ll load her in the wagon.” He thanked them all for their hospitality.

  Mrs. Bell handed him a jar of ingredients for making poultices. “Maybe you can come visit us again. We’ve really enjoyed your company.” Her gaze rested on Teddy as she spoke.

  Teddy turned his big blue eyes to Caleb. “Can we, Papa?”

  “We work at the Caldwells.” That said it all. Ebner would not look kindly at him consorting with the Bells.

  The others hadn’t followed him indoors. Although Rose was the only one who made her suspicions clear, the others likely shared her opinion.

  He insisted on paying Mrs. Bell for the medicine she had given him, and made sure the amount indicated his appreciation for everything, including the hospitality they had offered to him and Teddy.

  After another round of goodbyes and thank-yous, he managed to shepherd Teddy out the door and toward the barn. Cora, Wyatt and Lonnie were standing at the fence, watching the pigs and talking. Rose ducked into the garden shed. He saw no sign of Lilly.

  Not that it mattered, except he wanted to thank her for her help.

  He and Teddy stepped into the barn and he smiled. Lilly was kneeling beside Blossom, giving her some more tonic.

  “I’m glad to see you before we leave.”

  Her eyes snapped toward him.

  Had he sounded too eager? He hastened to explain. “I wanted to be sure to thank you for all you’ve done for Blossom and Teddy.” More than that, she’d given him hope that there was something he could do to help his son, but he couldn’t say that.

  “It was my joy to help them both.” Her gaze connected with his. A smile curved her lips and made him wish he could stay longer. Then she jerked her attention to the dog. “Blossom needs lots of rest and good food. You can take these drops with you. Give them to her three times a day. I’m sending along some ointment, too. Apply it every night to prevent infection.” She handed him the items. Her fingers brushed his palm and he felt an incredible urge to curl his hand around hers.

  Instead he thanked her and stuffed the things in his pocket. “I’ll hitch the horse to the wagon and get Blossom. Teddy, you stay here.” He rushed out. He couldn’t wait to get away while he still had his wits about him.

  He hitched the horse and then drove close to the barn, hopped down and hurried in to get the dog and his son.

  Lilly followed as he lifted the Blossom into the back of the wagon. “Don’t hesitate to bring her back if you suspect infection. I can help you with that.”

  “I’m sure we’ll be fine.” They had to be. He had a job to protect and a boy to take care of.

  And now an injured dog to tend.

  Everything would have to fit in around his work. He didn’t mean to give Ebner reason to fire him.

  With that thought uppermost in his mind, he thanked Lilly again and bid her goodbye.

  Teddy waved at her until he could no longer see her. “I like Lilly. Will we see her again?”

  Not willing to give the boy reason to be sad, Caleb simply answered, “It’s hard to say.”

  As he expected, Ebner was none too happy to discover Caleb had an injured dog with him. “A gimpy boy and now a half-dead dog. Have you forgotten you’re here to work?”

  Caleb silently objected to the way Ebner described his son, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He’d heard worse and so had Teddy. The world had more than its fair share of cruel people. “I haven’t forgotten. I’ll do my work as usual.”

  “Well, don’t think you can waste time looking after that sorry mutt.”

  Caleb nodded, directing a steady look at his boss to inform him Caleb was his own man, even if he had to take orders from Ebner. “I’ll give you no cause for complaint.”

  “Huh.” Ebner stalked away.

  Teddy glowered at Ebner’s back. “Papa, I don’t li—”

  Caleb held up a hand to silence the boy. “He’s my boss. No bad-mouthing him.”

  “Yes, Papa.”

  Caleb settled Blossom and Teddy, leaving them in the wagon, and then hurried to do the evening chores. It was late by the time he finished and turned his attention to making supper for them.

  Teddy sighed softly when he saw it was to be beans, stale biscuits and peaches.

  “I know I’m not the cook Mrs. Bell is, but I don’t have time to make a proper meal.”

  “It’s okay, Papa.” Teddy’s voice lacked even a hint of enthusiasm.

  Caleb hurried through the meal knowing he still had both Teddy and the dog to take care of. He made the poultice and left it on Teddy’s leg while he applied ointment to Blossom’s wounds and got her to take the drops and some food. Then he did Teddy’s exercises. It hit him how much time was involved in doing everything.

  There was only one way to accomplish it without upsetting Ebner.

  The next morning he rose before any men or animals had stirred and slipped from the wagon. He paused a moment and looked back at his sleeping son. Don’t wake up while I’m gone. Teddy would panic if he found himself all alone.

  Caleb glanced at the cold coffeepot. He took a step toward the place where he built a fire to make their meals then forced himself to turn away. He could wait for coffee. He’d ignore the pounding that entered his head at the thought.

  He hurried to the barn and surprised the horses, who were still sleeping. They shuffled and stomped as he rationed out oats and hay for each of them. Then he grabbed the fork and cleaned the pens and alley. Satisfied that should give him enough time to take care of Teddy and Blossom, he trotted back toward the wagon.

  Cowboys staggered from the bunkhouse, scratching and groaning. Caleb overheard grumbling about the horses waking early, but he didn’t say anything about his part in it.

  He jogged back to the wagon, anxious to drink coffee and take care of his son. Perhaps he could hope to have the first cup before Teddy stirred. At the wagon, he peeked inside to assure himself all was right.

  At the sight greeting him, his heart fell like a stone.

  Teddy was curled up beside Blossom, one hand pressed to the dog’s head, the thumb of the other hand in his mouth. His eyes were wide as twin moons.

  “Teddy, what’s wrong? Did you have another nightmare?” Caleb jumped up and pulled the boy to his knee, holding and rocking him.

  Teddy clutched at Caleb’s jacket and burst into tears.

  Caleb rocked back and forth and rubbed Teddy’s back. He should have never left the child. But if he meant to do the things Lilly had suggested, he had no choice.

  “I thought you’d gone,” Teddy managed to say around his sobs.

  Caleb tipped Teddy’s face up toward him. “I will never leave you.”

  “Something bad might happen to you. Like it did to Mama.”

  Caleb pulled his son to his chest. He couldn’t promise that nothing bad would ever happen to him. There simply weren’t any guarantees in life. “I will do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to me, but if—God forbid—it does, you let Grandma and Grandpa know.�
�� Amanda’s folks would come and get him.

  “How?”

  “Well.” He shifted so he could reach the satchel containing letters and other important papers. “Everything you need to know is in here.”

  “Papa, I can’t read.” Teddy sounded like he couldn’t believe Caleb had forgotten that little detail.

  “You take this to some adult you trust and let them read it.”

  Teddy nodded vigorously. “Like Miss Lilly.”

  “Miss Lilly would be a very good choice.”

  Teddy sighed and curled against Caleb’s chest. “I like Miss Lilly, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Amen to that. No one must be allowed into Caleb’s life who would turn one ounce of his attention from this precious little boy of his.

  “Now I better make us some breakfast so I can get to work.”

  He hustled over to start the fire and set the coffeepot to boil.

  Teddy watched his every move. “You ain’t had coffee yet?”

  “Haven’t.” He corrected Teddy automatically, his mind counting down the seconds until the coffee would have developed enough kick for his satisfaction.

  Teddy sat back on the bed and bent over Blossom’s head. “He hasn’t had coffee yet. And he didn’t even growl at me.”

  Caleb grinned to himself. See, he wanted to say to someone, I can change. I’m not a creature of habit. But there was only one person he cared to tell. And she was back with her parents and sister at the Bell farm.

  The coffeepot hissed and spat. He poured a cupful and sucked back the hot liquid, gasping when it burnt his tongue.

  From inside the wagon, he heard a little giggle and smiled again. He let the liquid cool a bit and then drained the cup. He quickly threw some sausage and potatoes into a skillet and set it over the rocks he used as a stove.

  “Now, young man, let’s get this poultice done.” He put Blossom on the ground to do her business. Teddy had gotten into his clothes and sat with his pant leg rolled back.

  That done, Caleb stirred the contents of the skillet and then tended Blossom. Next he broke six eggs into the skillet and stirred the mixture. While he did Teddy’s exercises, the eggs set. “Good enough,” he declared. He had no time to waste. He dished the food out and gulped his down. He had barely finished when the cowboys started to pour out of the cookhouse. The majority of them saddled up and rode away.

  Ebner headed toward Caleb. Caleb grabbed his hat and rose to his feet. No time to do dishes. “Teddy—”

  “Papa, can I stay here with Blossom?” Teddy whispered.

  Caleb gave it a moment’s consideration. From where he’d be in the yard, he would be able to see Teddy. Truth was, he could accomplish his work a lot faster if he didn’t have a tagalong.

  “Okay, but don’t go anywhere.” He hurried toward Ebner, who immediately barked orders at him.

  “Get the barn chores done, then—”

  “They’re already done, boss.”

  Ebner’s only sign of acknowledgement was a narrowing of his eyes. “Good, because it’s too late in the season to be mollycoddling a hired man just ’cause he’s got a gimpy kid. I want the big corral ready for use. When yer done that we need about half a dozen gates built. Then—” By the time Ebner finished, Caleb had enough work for most of the week. Did Ebner mean for him to do it all today? He didn’t ask because he didn’t want to know the answer.

  With a quick glance over his shoulder to check on Teddy, Caleb hustled to begin his tasks.

  He worked steadily all morning and then trotted back to the wagon to throw together some food, do the poultice and exercises and tend Blossom.

  Ebner dogged Caleb’s trail all afternoon. The minute one job was finished, he ordered him to do another.

  Throughout the day, Caleb barely had time to glance at Teddy, let alone go over and see if the boy was doing all right. From what he could see, Teddy wandered about the wagon and sat next to Blossom most of the time.

  This was no life for a child. But what choice did either of them have?

  He finished his chores. Ebner had disappeared into the cookhouse, allowing Caleb to escape being assigned any more tasks. He rushed over and threw some food together for supper. Teddy needed to be fed better. No doubt he was thinking longingly of the meals at the Bells’, even as Caleb was. But Caleb had plumb run out of time and was getting a little low on energy, too.

  It was dark before he finished tending Teddy and Blossom and cleaned up the dishes from three meals.

  He lay beside Teddy in the wagon, too weary to do anything but seek the bliss of forgetfulness in sleep.

  This was the way things would be now. He’d manage somehow.

  But after two more days of rising early, two mornings of ignoring the complaints of those who’d had their sleep disturbed by the horses thumping about before dawn and two days of work that could keep two men busy, Caleb came to a conclusion.

  He couldn’t do everything and be everywhere, and Teddy was the one suffering.

  As suppertime and the end of the day approached on Wednesday, Caleb found Ebner. “Boss, we need to talk.”

  Ebner crossed his arms and faced Caleb. “So talk.”

  “I can’t manage taking care of Teddy and doing the amount of work you expect.”

  Ebner had been saying so since Day One, and now he wore a gloating look. “You quitting?”

  “No, sir.” The man would have to fire him to get rid of him. Although he hoped Lilly’s methods would help Teddy, he wasn’t prepared to cancel his plans to go east to see that doctor Amanda’s folks had found. He needed this job to accomplish that. “But if I get someone to look after Teddy during the day it would sure help me.”

  Ebner studied him intently a moment and nodded. “You do that.” He strode away without asking who Caleb meant to ask, and Caleb wasn’t about to tell him.

  He jogged back to the wagon, hurriedly tossed his belongings aboard and lifted Blossom and Teddy into the back.

  “Papa, are we leaving?”

  “Son, I’m taking you where you can be properly looked after while I work.”

  Teddy’s face drained of color. “You’re leaving me behind?”

  “I think you’ll like what I have in mind. Now, wait here while I get the horse.” When he returned, Teddy sat on the bench, grinning at Caleb.

  “I know what you’re planning,” he said.

  Caleb climbed up beside him and smiled at his son’s joy. “Let’s see if you’re right.”

  * * *

  “Company coming.” Pa, about to come in for supper, paused at the doorway.

  Lilly stirred the pot of stew that simmered on the stove and then joined Pa in the doorway. It was a covered wagon. She knew of only one person in the area who traveled about in such a fashion.

  Caleb.

  “It might be someone passing through,” she said, as much in explanation to herself as to her pa.

  “Could be,” Pa agreed.

  Rose and Ma emerged from the garden shed where they had been the past two hours, as Rose continued to catalogue Ma’s herbs and remedies.

  Rose shot an accusing glance at Lilly.

  Lilly shrugged. If it was Caleb, she had nothing to do with his return. When he’d left Sunday night, she thought it would likely be the last she saw of the Craigs and their dog.

  The wagon drew closer and she could see it was Teddy and Caleb. Teddy waved and grinned.

  She lifted her hand to return the greeting. Then curled her fingers and lowered her arm, pressing it to her stomach. Her initial curiosity had bounced to gladness to see them again, but just as quickly she’d quelled the feeling. After all, he hadn’t come to see her.

  Why had he come?

  The wagon passed the barn and drew up before the hous
e.

  “Evening,” Pa said.

  “Evening.” Caleb nodded and continued to sit beside Teddy.

  He’d come all this way to say that? Lilly almost laughed.

  “What can we do for you?” Pa asked as Rose and Ma joined Lilly.

  Lilly realized she was holding her breath, and she eased it out slowly and quietly so Rose wouldn’t notice.

  Caleb got off the wagon and came to face Pa. He clutched his hat in his hands. “Sir, Mrs. Bell, ladies.” He nodded to each of them. “I have a very large request to make.” He sucked in a breath. “I find I can’t take care of Blossom, do Teddy’s extra care and keep up with my chores.” The hat twisted round and round. “Lilly said to come back if I needed anything.” He swallowed hard.

  Lilly suspected he wanted to ask for help, but the Bells waited, letting him do it in his time and his way.

  “I’m here to ask if I can pay you to look after Teddy for me while I work.” His gaze caught and held Lilly’s, as if he meant the question solely for her.

  Ma and Pa looked at each other and then Pa said, “Why, of course we’ll help with your son and the little dog. Bring them in.”

  “Thank you.” He planted his hat on his head but didn’t move. “Shall I put Blossom in the barn?”

  Ma turned to Lilly. “What do you think?”

  “Do you plan to leave Teddy here overnight?” Lilly asked, thinking Blossom might provide Teddy with comfort if that were the case.

  The hat came off again and twisted round and round. Caleb’s mouth pulled up at one corner. “I don’t want to, but what choice do I have?” Agony tightened each word. “How can I bring him here each morning and get back to work then come get him each evening after work? It wouldn’t take much to convince Ebner to fire me and I simply can’t have that.”

  Lilly reached out a hand to him and then she pulled it back. Her sympathy must be contained, for if she expressed it as deeply as she felt it, she would squeeze his arm and smile reassuringly. Rose would object on the sole basis he worked for the Caldwells. Ma and Pa would warn her to be more circumspect. Instead of following her instincts, she slipped to Ma’s side. “We can make sure he’s safe and happy, can’t we, Ma?”