The Ogallala Trail

by Ralph Compton

  “You had lunch?” Kathy called from the house’s doorway.

  “No.”

  “You two get cleaned up. This goat in the oven is about ready.”

  His saddle in the tack room and Sorely out in the lot, Sam and Billy headed for the house.

  Billy was using his fingers to count. “Mayberry, Tom Jacks, Toddle, Cristian Webber and Pacho. That’s five.”

  “Five what?” Kathy asked when they came in from washing up.

  “Hands he thinks we can hire to drive Tom’s cows up to Buffalo Gap next month I guess.”

  “Who’s going to cook for you all?”

  “We’ll get someone in San Antone, I guess.”

  “What about me?” Hands on her shapely hips, Kathy looked at Sam with resolve in her blue eyes.

  “Cows, pigs, kids in school and, oh, yes, the chickens I’m supposed to get.”

  “I guess,” she sighed and brought the big roaster over to the table. Inside, with onions and potatoes floating around, was the cooked kid goat.

  The two men set in to eat and Kathy filled their coffee cups. Then, after fetching a platter of fresh biscuits, she joined them. Sam decided she would spoil him and Billy to death.

  “How’s school?” Sam asked absently between bites.

  “Fine. You must ask Rowann.”

  Sam frowned at their snickers.

  “What’s so funny?” He searched them for an answer.

  Billy buried his head in his eating, shaking it in disbelief. Kathy simply smiled. “She can tell you.”

  “What about Sloan?”

  “Oh, from what I can tell, he likes it.”

  “Good. Maybe they can teach him.”

  “It won’t be easy, but Rowann has him writing his first name. You know that new colt?” Kathy asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Sloan has him broke to lead.”

  “What? Why, he ain’t a week old,” Sam said.

  “I never knew a thing,” she said, “till Billy came in and told me.”

  “I saw him doing it. Couldn’t believe my eyes,” Billy said.

  “I scolded Rowann for letting him do it. But she said, ‘Mother, Sloan has a way with animals.’ And he does.”

  “Just so he doesn’t get hurt. Colts can kick and bite you in a second,” Sam said.

  “You will have to see him do it.” She rose. “Save room for some apple pie.”

  “I’ll be too full to work,” Billy complained.

  “When you two are eating some old man’s cooking on your way to Buffalo Gap, you can recall it.”

  “Yes, ma’am. No pie for me this time,” Sam said and wiped his mouth on his kerchief.

  “Why not?” She had a disappointed look at him.

  “I don’t want to get too spoiled here before we go on that drive,” he teased.

  Billy broke up and slapped his legs in laughter.

  “You’ll see who gets the last laugh around here,” she said and gathered up plates to wash them.

  Sam put on his hat and stopped at the doorway. “Can you drive over and get the kids this afternoon? Bill and I need to round up some ponies.”

  “Sure. I want to meet their teacher anyway.”

  “I can hitch the horses for you—” Billy said.

  “No, Billy. You two go on. I’m a teamster’s widow, remember?”

  “Sure?” Sam asked.

  “Of course, I am.”

  Horses saddled, the two set out across country. Sam knew an area the ponies liked to gather, and in an hour, the two men were on the rim rock. Setting their horses, they viewed the ponies in the timber and open glens.

  “Let’s get them up. There’s a trap at Tom’s place where we can keep them for a while,” Sam said.

  Billy and he swung their horses down a steep trail and hit the bottoms. Sam sent Rob flying off to the east. The horses fled southward but soon the ones Sam drove in joined the herd and they dropped to a trot.

  A wise mare in the lead needed little coaxing to head for home. The men stood in the stirrups and let their mounts trot at the back end while Sam counted heads.

  “Forty-two head. With mine, we should have enough.”

  “We taking mares?” Billy asked.

  “I hate to, but they need to get up there. That stud can stay here for my part.”

  “Won’t Tom want him?”

  “What he wants and what he gets are two different things.” Sam undid his lariat and pushed Rob around the outside of the herd. He had the loop ready at his side, but he didn’t want the foxy stud to see it. Then he pressed Rob on.

  At the last minute, the stud realized Sam’s intentions and broke to run, but too late. The hard-thrown noose sailed over his ears and head. When Rob set down, Sam swung the big horse sideways and shut him down. The stud rose on his hind feet in defiance and pawed the air. For a long second, Sam considered charging off and busting his butt good, but reconsidered.

  He rode in close. The stud acted hostile to Rob, but it made Sam no difference. He popped the slack in the rope a few times to show the stud he meant business, and soon they were off after Billy and the rest of the herd.

  The horses finally in the trap, Sam recalled the corn he had to sell for Tom when they rode by the yellowing stalks.

  “You hire some boys ahead of time and we can gather that corn and yours too before we go to Buffalo Gap,” Billy said as they went up the wagon tracks beside the rail fence and led the stud. Sam was taking him home so he didn’t lead the mares astray.

  “Good idea.”

  When the two men were home at last, the kids ran out to see what they had brought back with them.

  “He yours?” Darby asked, climbing on the corral.

  “Naw, he’s Tom’s stud,” Billy said.

  Sam noticed Rowann wrinkle her nose. No doubt she could smell the male’s musk.

  “He’d be a handful to ride,” Hiram said, looking impressed as he grasped the tall post and squatted on the top rail.

  “Don’t get in the pen with him,” Sam said. His arms full of saddle, he went for the tack room.

  “I guess he’s some horse. I like Rob better,” Rowann said, accompanying him on the way.

  “He’s all right, but I agree. How’s school?”

  “Fine, we are really busy.”

  “You like Miss Ralston?”

  “Oh, yes.” She ducked under his arm. “She asked me again today how you were.”

  “You tell her I was all right?”

  “I told her you were fine and she could come see for herself.”

  “Oh, why is that?”

  “Well, she asked where you lived. I said in the bunkhouse, of course. We lived in the house. I think it upset her or she was worried for you. She asked me again, ‘Doesn’t he live in the house, too?’ ” Rowann shook her head. “I told her there simply wasn’t room for you in that house. Besides, you have a nice new bunkhouse in the new barn.”

  “Glad you told her the truth.” He patted her on the back. That should settle Etta Faye’s concern about him living in sin. “Come on. We’d better go wash up.”

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Hiram on the top rail holding his finger to his mouth for them not to talk. Sam frowned. What was going on?

  “Oh, no—” Rowann said in a soft gush.

  The stud horse grunted with a squeal and stomped his front hoof. Through the corral rails, with dread stabbing his heart, Sam could see Sloan with his hand held out, advancing on eleven hundred pounds of impatient fury.

  Chapter 17

  The next five minutes, the onlookers stood frozen. There was no way Sam could climb that fence and snatch the boy away before the stallion could fatally strike or bite the small boy. The stud made suspicious grunts. Then he stomped his front foot like he was impatient with this small invader. With its nostrils quivering and wide-open, rollers came out of his nose. He peeled his lips back and showed his long, powerful teeth. His short ears rose in seconds, then fell back again. The horse could not decide if th
e boy was a threat.

  At last, the small hand stroked the horse’s nose, like that of any child who reached out and petted a newfound puppy. The stud made gurgling sounds in his throat. His head was so low that he blew small puffs of dust up from the dirt around the boy’s feet.

  Sloan began to pull the burrs from the stud’s forelock. The horse nudged his head against Sloan’s stomach. For a long moment, Sam wondered if he would butt the boy hard enough to hurt him. But the smile on Sloan’s face told the tale. He was tickled by the horse’s action.

  They played a game, which was not what Sam expected from a pawing defiant stallion. Then Sloan patted him on the forehead and, as if satisfied, turned and headed for the fence. Sam and Billy rubbed their sweaty palms on their pants. Each step Sloan took drummed like thunder in Sam’s chest. The stallion squealed and pawed the ground, but made no effort to pursue Sloan. The boy looked back at his new friend from the fence, then ducked underneath it. “Sloan, don’t you ever do that again,” Rowann cried. His bland face beaming, she shook him. “I know you can’t hear me. Look at my face. I don’t know what we’ll do with you.” She dragged him toward the house.

  “Son of a bitch,” Billy swore and sagged against the fence. “I knowed he was dead. How did he do that? He can’t even talk.”

  “Oh, he can talk to them,” Hiram said, coming off his perch. “I don’t know how, but they savvy him. That new colt sure does, too.”

  “You’re right,” Billy agreed.

  “Mexican woman said Sloan had God’s gift.” Darby simply shook his head. “No mean dog ever bit him when we lived in town. He could catch a loose burro anywhere.”

  “Boys, all of us have to watch him closer,” Sam warned them. “That horse ain’t no dog. One kick and your brother will be dead.”

  Chapter 18

  When the word went out Sam needed trail-drive help, the hands began to drift in.

  Lacy Mayberry rode in on a dish-faced bay horse with a long running walk that made Sam’s mouth water when he watched. In bat-wing chaps, the teenager swung down and took off his new white hat.

  “You Mr. Ketchem?”

  With a nod, Sam hung his hammer on the fence, then stripped off his gloves and shook the teen’s hand. “Billy and I are building a chicken coop today. Got word we have some pullets coming.”

  “Oh.” The youth shifted his weight from one boot to the other and wet his lips.

  “You do farm work?” Sam asked,

  “I thought this was a trail-driving job?”

  “We have about forty acres of corn to harvest first.”

  With a perplexed look on his face, Lacy slapped his hat back on and shook his head. “I can do that at home. Reason I rode over here was I wanted to get off the damn farm.”

  “Damn farm or not, we have to get some things done around here before we can make the first drive.”

  “First drive? There’s more than one?”

  “First drive is taking my brothers cows and calves to Buffalo Gap, Texas.”

  “That ain’t fur.”

  “Take a month to get the cattle up there, then come back.”

  “When you leaving?”

  “After we get the corn gathered.”

  Mayberry rubbed his nose. “You’re saying I’ve got to pick corn to go along?”

  “All pays the same: twenty and found.”

  Lacy nodded. “Where we going up north? I hear Kansas was closed to Texas cattle.”

  “It is. We’re going up the eastern side of Colorado to a place called Ogallala, Nebraska.”

  Mayberry’s green eyes looked confused. He wrung his hands and started to speak twice.

  Sam folded his arms over his chest. “Lacy, you want a day or so to think on it? Come back then. We ain’t filled up yet.”

  “What if you are and I can’t get on?”

  “Well, then I won’t need your help.”

  Lacy wiped his palms on his chaps. “Can I leave Jeepers here while we’re gone on the drive?” He indicated the bay horse.

  “Sure. But why?”

  “Aw, ’cause my stepdad would sell him if he got the chance.”

  “Meet Billy Ford. He’s my foreman.”

  “Well, damn, Sam, I just got a promotion. Nice to meet you, Lacy. Put your stuff in the barn. We’ve got new bunks in there. Put Jeepers in the lot till we ride out.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Nice to have you on the crew. We’re working on this coop. Come help.”

  “Sure and, Mr. Ketchem, sir, thanks.”

  “Sam’ll do.”

  At lunchtime, Tommy Jacks Riddle rode up. He was in his early twenties, a tall drink of water with a shock of gold hair, a deep tan, and bowed legs. He wore a red silk bandana with a vest that lacked half the buttons and was frayed at the edges. On his head was a Mexican straw hat.

  “Buenos Dartes,” he said in a Texas drawl. “You Senor Ketchem?” He dismounted and made two giant steps to clasp Sam’s hand in a rock-hard, callused one.

  “Yes, I’m Sam.”

  “Tommy Jacks Riddle. Applying for work, sir.” His deep-set blue eyes looked like polished coal.

  “Let’s go eat lunch and we can talk at the table.”

  “Nice place you got here,” Tommy Jacks said, looking around.

  “Thanks.” Sam introduced him to the others.

  Inside, Sam spoke to Kathy. “Two more strays to feed.” He gave her their names.

  “You’ll have to build a bigger table next,” she said, going by Sam for the rest of the food.

  “Always something.” Sam chuckled and drew a disapproving look from her.

  “Mighty fine food,” Tommy Jacks said as he prepared to fill his plate. “Where I’ve been, you get sand-filled tortillas and hot peppers twice a day.”

  “Where’s that?” Billy asked.

  “Well, me and a federale had us a misunderstanding in Chihuahua. Him being a colonel, I lost. So he told me I could stay in his hotel awhile.”

  “How did you get out?” Billy asked, swapping a gravy bowl for some green beans.

  “Made me a new door and let myself out. That’s why I got this straw sombrero. The wanted poster showed me wearing a big felt hat.”

  “Was there even a trial?” Kathy asked.

  “Trial? I didn’t have no money for a lawyer.” Tommy Jacks shook his head with his lips pursed out.

  “Don’t pay to get in trouble in Mexico, does it?” Billy asked.

  Tommy Jacks waved his fork at him. “You are exactly right, amigo. I ain’t ever going back either.”

  After lunch, the four-man crew finished the chicken house and began planing boards for the new tables and benches. Sam cut them and Billy assembled them. With knives and rasps, Tommy Jacks and Lacy worked on the surfaces. Kathy went after the children with the light wagon.

  Later that afternoon, Toddle Karnes came in on a thin pony. The gray about fell over when the teen dismounted. “You needing drovers, mister?”

  “How far you rode that poor thing?” Sam asked.

  “San Antone to here. Why?”

  “He looks weak.”

  “That’s what I told the guy that sold him to me. He said he was tough. Guess he is—made it here anyway.”

  “You been on a drive before?”

  “No, sir, I’ve never been up here before either, but I can ride and rope and I ain’t afraid of a grizzly bear.”

  “Might pay to be cautious around one though.”

  “What’s that, sir?”

  “Be careful around a grizzly bear. Sam’s my name. That’s Billy, the foreman, and you can introduce yourself to the others. We’ve got some work to finish. That bother you?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Billy, show him the bunks. We pay twenty and found.”

  “That mean I’m hired?”

  “You want the job, you are.”

  Toddle sailed his hat in the sky and whooped loud. Billy waved for Toddle to follow him.

  “What do they call you?”
>
  “Toddle Karnes.”

  Sam wrote his name in the tally book, wondering how the hell he had got that handle.

  New tables and benches were moved inside in time for supper. Kathy’s children stared wide-eyed at the strangers. And the new hands worked up their nerve and flirted with Kathy.

  “You need to go and buy supplies tomorrow,” she informed Sam at the end of the meal. “And I like the tables. They’ll work fine.”

  “You wish to go?”

  “No.” She frowned at him, like he was strange. “I have way too much to do.”

  “All right. I’ll drive the kids to school and go from there.”

  “If you don’t get back in time should I go after them?”

  “No, I can make the trip easy.”

  “Unless you shoot another Wagner while in town.”

  She glanced over at him with a wary mother’s face.

  “I’m not looking for any trouble.”

  Her head back, she looked at the open rafters over head for heaven’s help. “I keep thinking it will be you and not one of them the next time. I guess, like most men, including my departed husband, trouble simply finds you. Anyway, I’ll make a list.”

  After conferring with Billy about the crew’s plans for work that day, Sam loaded the kids in the wagon and headed for school. Rowann was standing behind him holding on to the iron rod over the seat.

  “You better stop and see Miss Ralston today.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Well, like I told you, she was sure worried about you getting enough sleep.”

  Sam flicked the team with the reins to keep them trotting and suppressed his amusement. “I’ll do that when we get there, Rowann.”

  “I know she will be glad to see that you are fine, even though I told her so.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Sam said.

  “Mr. Ketchem?”

  “Yes.”

  “I sure wish you had a daughter so I had someone to play with.” The wagon ran over a rut and made both of them sway. “Besides, taking care of so many boys is lots of work and now you’ve hired more.”

  “Big job, but I appreciate you.”

  “I know.”

  “How can you appreciate anyone who talks your ear off?” Hiram asked from his seat on the crate in back.

  “Oh, don’t be so harsh. She means well,” Sam said.