Cecil was startled, he had thought she would jump at signing them and he would be on his way, he hadn’t planned on staying around this small town another day. “Have you changed your mind?” he asked.
She smiled and shook her head, he was only sorry she didn’t look more feminine, she had a nice smile and face but not exactly a looker that would help sell tickets, he could however imagine her in a tuxedo with tails and a top hat controlling the magnificent beasts, maybe they could pass her off as a man, that was something to consider. “No, I didn’t change my mind but you understand these are my babies and I’ll read this over carefully” she indicated the papers he had handed her.
Cecil nodded not sure about this unprecedented procedure, most people when presented with an opportunity such as this jumped at the chance. Not much money was to be had with the depression in full force but they made do with the money they made through their various acts and the crowds they drew, people still needed entertainment. He was curious that she would delay but he didn’t want to jeopardize the deal as he remembered how excellently they had behaved for her. They had been very impressive and he knew his father and brother would slap him on the back for finding this act. “Um okay, I’ll be at the Baxter Boarding House in town when you are ready” he told her as he realized he was dismissed.
Maggie nodded and watched with several horses looking on curiously as well as he climbed into an ancient and well used Model T and drove away from the farm, he saw the odd looking dogs watching him silently again and wondered that they hadn’t barked. As soon as he was out of sight she sprinted onto the back of the nearest horse and sped away from the farm through the woods. She made better time than he did by sticking to the road and she soon found herself at an adjoining farm long before he even hit the town.
“Whoa Maggie” a tall blonde man called as she came running up barebacked on her black horse.
She grinned unashamedly as she brushed back her short hair from her eyes with her hand and showed him the papers “Can you read these to me?”
“What have you got here my Maggie?” he said with a hint of a Norwegian accent but over riding it all a Southern twang and began to read the contracts aloud to her.
Maggie listened intently and nodded as everything she had discussed with Cecil was read aloud to her. It took a while with the legal words mixed in but she understood it completely by the time her friend finished reading to her.
“Are you really going to do this Maggie?” he asked curiously as he realized what the contracts were for.
She nodded “I’ve got to Peter; I need more money for the farm and my babies.”
“You should sell more of those hay burners” he teased knowing it would annoy her as he tweaked her nose.
Maggie pulled back from his playful gesture, a habit of long standing and didn’t see the disappointment in his cool blue eyes. “I want to work out a deal with you for my crops and horses while I’m gone” she began and they spent the next half hour talking about him working on shares for what she had already planted and taking care of the horses she would be leaving behind. It took a while about the horses and he understood what a wrench it was to leave any of them behind, they were her whole life and her babies, he promised to take care of them as well as she did knowing he would probably not be able to lavish the affection on them that she did, she had the ‘touch.’
By the time the sun began to go down Maggie had painfully signed her name where Peter indicated and was on her way into town to the Baxter Boarding House. With her was ten of her horses, none of them had halters or saddles and trotted obediently around her in a herd only occasionally jostling each other for space or position. She was out front on one of her favorite mounts named Sampson but any of them would have proudly allowed her on their backs and the one she was riding was showing off perhaps prouder than the rest at the privilege of carrying their Maggie. She didn’t own them, they owned her. It was an impressive display of black horses that trotted in perfect synchronicity into the small town. The townspeople stopped whatever they were doing to watch the woman riding bareback among her noble steeds, the thunder of their hooves announcing their arrival across a wooden bridge. No one else had such control over horses and hers did it willingly, not out of fear but out of their love for the woman who rode so nobly in her own right, her back ramrod straight, and her legs effortlessly holding onto the sides of her horse. Maggie O’Malley was an odd woman and the townsfolk gossiped about her and her strange family over the years but she was ‘their’ oddity and they knew her to be a good woman, a chaste woman, and an honest one.
Maggie pulled up in front of the Baxter Boarding House, her horses ranging out as though they had invisible bridles and were tied up to an invisible hitching post in front of the white picket fence, ranging out naturally so they could all get a look as Maggie slipped from the horse she had ridden and opened the gate. She looked up at the large Victorian house with plenty of rooms and a large wrap around porch, its cupola badly in need of a new roof and its walls badly in a need of paint. She saw the Model T that Cecil had driven parked in the driveway as she walked up the walk towards the front door. Before she could raise her hand to knock the door was opened by Mrs. Baxter.
“Why Maggie, this is a nice surprise!” she looked up at the line of ten horses at the fence line and shook her head “that’s going to make a mess” she commented wryly.
Maggie grinned knowing she was being teased, horse plops in the street were a common occurrence but ten horses, all black and shining, and waiting patiently for her were not so common a sight. “I’m looking for Cecil Bigelow? I believe he is staying with you?” she asked politely with a grin.
“Why yes he is, we just finished up dinner, are you hungry?” Mrs. Baxter asked and was immediately curious as any townie would be in this small town.
“Well is that peach pie I smell?” Maggie asked her grin widening at the thought, a bonus with someone else making the pie. Cooking wasn’t Maggie’s specialty and any food she didn’t have to cook herself was a good thing.
Maggie was welcomed into the Baxter dining room and saw several people she was acquainted with, regulars who paid Mrs. Baxter for meals or lived there year round as she rented out rooms in her large house. Maggie greeted those she knew and was introduced to a few who she hadn’t met before. Cecil was pleased to see her and the contract in her hand as she handed him the papers. He looked them over and saw her neat if childish signature in the appropriate places. He pulled out the copies that were hers and handed them back explaining she was entitled to her own copies. Everyone listened as Mrs. Baxter served hot peach pie and home-made ice cream and they dug in appreciatively.
“You’re going to work for the circus Maggie?” Mrs. Baxter asked surprised.
Maggie nodded “yep” but didn’t elaborate as Cecil jumped in.
He was a born salesman and having pride in his ‘family’ businesses had the ability to tell tales that enthralled his listeners and intrigued them. “Maybe we will perform hereabouts and you can see Maggie perform with her amazing horses” he offered generously.
“You’d do better to get over to Jackson with that and get more people” Maggie told him and several people agreed with him. “You should travel through the south during your winter months.”
Cecil was surprised that she offered that up so easily, he would have thought she’d want her friends and family around town to come see her. Her thought though that a bigger town and through the south was a good idea, they could do the southern route instead of taking off during the winter months and disbanding until spring. It was something that other groups had started doing and Bigelow Circus was innovative; he would have to discuss it with his father and brother.
They all listened enthralled as Cecil told of places he had seen and things they had done in the circus, making it all sound intriguing and exciting and only elaborating a little. It was no wonder many poor kids during the depression ran off and joined the circus. Not realizing that there was
a lot of hard work involved they were frequently disappointed, none of the fame or fortune or excitement they expected materialized. The townies listening though and had enough gossip to share for coming years and they listened avidly.
After their pie was gone, Maggie left a dime for Mrs. Baxter even though an entire meal would have been a quarter or even fifty cents depending on the size of the meal, and got up with Cecil to discuss a few remaining details. She and her horses would have a railroad pass from Jackson and would meet up with the circus which was traveling in the Northeast right now and heading west. They sat out on the wide porch and watched the horses waiting patiently in the twilight.
“Amazing animals” Cecil said admiringly. They were held there by an invisible bond, ten perfectly behaved horses, not moving other than to shift their weight occasionally or to swat their tails at the ever present flies, waiting on this woman, tied without being tied. He was impressed. “How many will you be bringing for the show?” he asked and looked around for one of the dogs, relieved not to see either.
“I thought a dozen would be more than enough, I have more but there are a few young ones and they aren’t ready” she answered honestly.
They talked about what she would need which had been outlined in the contract and Cecil promised that he would leave word in Jackson for her to be provided with two railroad cars and food and fodder for her horses. He did ask that she provide them with halters and gear, the circus would purchase the feathers and ornaments for the horses but she would have to teach them not to be afraid of those things or the crowds. Watching the contented horses waiting patiently for the woman though he didn’t have a doubt that it would be no problem to train them for the act, he watched as they ignored a sputtering car that went put-putting behind them on the road, none of them flinching, barely flicking an ear, only whipping their tails occasionally at a pesky or persistent fly.
“Well Maggie, it’s been a sincere pleasure to meet you, I’ll see you in two weeks” Cecil shook her hand and thought briefly how much of a shame it was that she didn’t have the looks necessary to perform in the ring with her horses. They could glam her up a bit and would for the show but she wasn’t womanly enough to draw the men and woman who would pay to see a beautiful woman perform with the black horses.
Maggie effortless bounded onto the back of one her horses and they turned as one and headed up the street, tightly packed, intimidating, and yet so very free with their heads held high and their tails streaming out behind them in their trot. Cecil watched in awe as they behaved with invisible strings and no apparent control. The woman was amazing and he hoped his father and brother would appreciate her as much as Cecil did. This act and the others he had signed meant a sizeable addition to their small circus but he felt it was worth it. He hadn’t cheated Maggie as much as he had the others, after all money was business, but there was enough for her and the dozen horses she would be bringing with her and they would make it back after a few performances, he could already visualize the posters and banners they would make to draw in the crowds.
A week later Maggie had her things packed into two duffel bags. One contained changes of clothing, she had ‘indulged’ and bought a couple of more pairs of dungarees and shirts, as well as some personal items. The other contained things she would need for the horses, medical supplies, bandages, and other thing she had packed, it was heavier than her personal things but for her beauties nothing was too good. She had a saddle on Ebony, one of the geldings she bringing, in fact most of the dozen she was bringing were geldings and only a few mares. No stallions with their fractious personalities. All of her geldings were ‘gelded with pride’ which meant they retained certain parts of their personalities that a stallion contained but didn’t lose their ‘spirit’ with the gelding. They still had tempers and were a bit strong willed but Maggie handled them effortlessly or perhaps they handled her.
The horses she had chosen were acting up, sensing something was in the air. Maggie had put halters on all of them and looped ropes through all of them loosely. She knew she could have left them without any of these contraptions on them and had done so many times riding into town but she was going much further than town and she didn’t trust other people around her babies and this way they were vaguely protected by being tied together. She had her certificates of ownership for all the horses, her local doctor, also the local vet, had written them out for her. She didn’t know what kind of slicksters she would run into in the big cities but she had been warned against them. Several well-meaning friends and townies had warned her about going into the big cities but she knew they also were curious about what she was planning to do, some about the farm, some about her horses, but most of it was for gossip. A small town was ripe with gossip and hers was no different.
Peter had been terrific, coming over to talk over their plans for the crops and horses and taking one or two of the younger ones back to his place to work with and protect. They were valuable and as Maggie wouldn’t be here he wanted to be sure she would have them to come back to. Maggie was leaving one of her two dogs at the farm, both of them long haired beasts, similar to golden retrievers in temperament and size but totally black. Some people called them flat-coated retrievers. Maggie didn’t care what breed they were but she loved them as much as her horses. She knew leaving one of them and taking the other would be hard on both of them but she wanted the one with her to help with her horses if she needed it and for additional protection although if someone messed with her the horses would take care of them, she just wouldn’t be with the horses all the time. As an after-thought she also had her father’s pistol packed in her duffel if need be.
It would take her two days to reach Jackson even if she changed the saddle to another fresher horse midway. She wasn’t going to rush them or take the main highway which was why it would take longer with the route she was taking. She didn’t want this many valuable horses that visible, there were a lot of out of work people on the roads these days and being a woman alone who knew what they might think they could get away with. She was going by the back roads that she knew that would get her there much more safely if by a longer route. She was also leaving sooner than anyone expected to catch the freight cars that had been put aside for her. Cecil had written and Peter had read the letter telling her that the arrangements were made and he would see her in Ohio where the cars would travel and she would meet up with the circus. He also wrote that he might have a woman willing to work with her and do the part of the act. He had been very careful how he approached Maggie on that part of the deal not sure how she would react to another person involved with her terrific horses or how she would feel about her own looks but Maggie was fine with what they had planned. She didn’t want to be the center of attention anyway or wear the outfits Cecil had outline and she was curious who this woman was or what she looked like.
Maggie looked around the farm one last time as the sun came slightly over the horizon lightening up the yard enough that she could look. This had been her home for over twenty some years. She had been raised here, her father, her grandfather had all been born on this very farm. The O’Malley’s had emigrated from Ireland way back when and wanting to avoid Boston where masses of Irish immigrants headed as well as New York had taken a boat to the far south and come up the Mississippi to find their own lands. They had done well enough and kept to themselves raising fine crops and fine horses. Mixing bloods of various breeds as they found them, adding even a mustang or two to their beautiful lines, creating a breed without a name, O’Malley horses were known for their beauty, their stability, and their hard work but Maggie looked on them as family. Her brothers and mother lost to what was loosely termed ‘swamp fever’ she had always been hale and hearty and her father’s hope for the future. He had hoped she’d find a nice young man that would take on the O’Malley name and it wouldn’t die out with him but his dreams were not to be fulfilled. Not that there weren’t men about that would gladly have inherited the fine farm, the beautiful and valu
able horses, but Maggie hadn’t found one that suited her and her father had died holding his hopes and dreams inside.
Maggie had known her father’s secret longings, a fine son, a fine grandson to take on the O’Malley dreams. What he didn’t realize is that Maggie had those dreams and ambitions herself. Raising fine horses and training them had come naturally to the girl. But she was a girl and therein laid the problem. She couldn’t carry on her family name, she was just a girl, and she was only as good as the man she married. Maggie knew that her brother’s death as well as her mother’s had nearly defeated the proud Irish man that had been her father, but he hadn’t known of her brother’s dislike for the farm, for the heat of the south, for the animals that she and her father adored. He would have sold the farm and the horses without a second thought. Lost in her father’s grief Maggie had cut her hair and tried to be the son he wanted, he didn’t even notice. He continued farming and raising the fine beasts, imparting knowledge in his daughter without giving it another thought, he didn’t see her for years until she came of age and he began to think of finding her a husband who could help carry on his dreams. He hadn’t realized Maggie would be so off-putting to most men or even the boys he brought around. She appeared to be a tom-boy that never grew up, dressed in men’s clothing, and doing a man’s job. She had a fine face but as a father he didn’t see why the men couldn’t see it, instead they saw the fine farm, the fine horses, and stared in horror at the woman they were expected to marry and bed. She competed with them in their masculinity and few if any were brave enough to try and win. The farm and horses were an enticement but the way her father had left his property to his daughter and expected any son-in-law to sign away his ‘rights’ as well as his name was an outrage that few could get past, at least no one around their area had.
Sapphic Cowboi Page 2
