“Uh, actually I need to talk to a Marshal Wilerson,” Amos stammered. “I, uh, my sister has a friend in the area, and she told me to ask the Marshal to take me out to their place.”
“Well, that’s good you’re going to meet someone,” Eli replied, relieved the young man wasn’t on his own after all.
“After the meal, I’ll go to his office and ask for his help.”
Edna Clancy, the cook’s wife stopped by their table to refill their coffee cups.
“I overheard you talking about Marshal Adam. He’s out of town today,” Edna informed them.
Eli watched as Amos’ eyes widened in panic. Was he scared to wait until the marshal was back in Clear Creek?
“Who’s the family? I’m sure we know them and can help you make contact,” Eli assured him.
Amos hesitated but apparently decided he wanted to know.
“My…sister knew Tina Hamner back in Texas, and I’m supposed to visit her family while I’m in the area. Do you know her, or her husband, Leif, by chance?”
“We see Tina and her family quite often,” Zach answered with a reassuring grin. “Our boss, Dagmar Hamner, is Leif’s brother.”
Eli studied Amos’ face as he relaxed with the news.
“Do they live close to the Bar E Ranch? Could I help you drive the bulls home and then you point me towards the other Hamner place?”
“Leif’s family is currently driving a group of yearling heifers up to Nebraska with the Hamner parents, Oskar and Annalina. The elder couple takes care of the bunkhouse and ranch hands on the Bar E,” Eli informed Amos, not surprised at the change in his face. “They should be back in a couple of weeks. You’re welcome to bunk and work short term on the Bar E until they return.”
Amos took a deep breath, then nodded his head.
Eli turned to study Amos’ face again. Amos had scrubbed a thick layer of dirt off his face. Maybe that’s why he looked pale now.
After Eli settled their bill with Edna, he watched Amos put his hat on and trail out of the door behind Zach. Eli felt protective of the young man for some reason. Why was that?
*
Dagmar waved to them as he opened the corral gate by the barn, wanting the bulls in that pen. Once the bulls ran it, Dagmar shut the gate and met the three while they dismounted their horses.
“Bulls look good. Who’s the young man riding double with you, Eli?” Dagmar asked as he approached Amos.”
“Dag, this is Amos Sanders, the young man who traveled with the bulls and took care of them.
“Nice to meet you, Amos. Thanks for making the trip up here. You traveling back or staying in Kansas?”
“Actually, Amos’ sister knew Tina, and he planned to visit her family. But since they’re in Nebraska, I offered he could stay here until they return. Working for room and board, if that’s all right with you, Dagmar.”
Eli glanced at Amos and realized he was staring at the ranch house. It was an imposing two-story sandstone-rock house with a large wrap-around porch. But then none of the buildings on the ranch yard were shabby.
The massive rock barn was a wonder in itself and a different layout than the Amish barns he was used to in Pennsylvania.
All the other buildings, chicken house, shop, granary, and the bunkhouse were neatly kept up wooden structures. Everything on the ranch homestead had been built at the same time when a wealthy English family had started a sheep ranch a few years after the War between the States.
Fed up with the hardships of living on the open prairie, the English family sold the ranch to the Elison family from Boston and moved back to England. Last year, the daughter, Cora, moved to the ranch and married Dagmar Hamner.
Eli couldn’t want for better employers. The couple was as opposite as two people could be, but they made a solid pair anyway. Cora owned the ranch and Dagmar managed it. Cora was barely five-foot tall, and Dagmar had to be over six and a half foot tall. Cora’s dark hair was always in a neat bun in the back of her head. Dagmar’s shaggy straw-blonde hair always looked like it needed a haircut.
Cora insisted she learn to ride and rope since she was going to be a rancher and spent more time with the hands than in her house. Well, until lately. Now Cora looked like she’d swallowed a whole watermelon and Dagmar insisted she stay off a horse until her first baby was born.
“You’re more than welcome to ride for the Bar E brand for a while, Amos,” Dagmar said as he stuck out his hand to Amos. “Välkommen till Kansas prärien.”
“Excuse me, say what?” Amos looked puzzled.
“I said welcome, Amos. My family’s been in Texas for years, but we’re immigrants from Sweden,” Dagmar explained with a chuckle.
“You come up from Texas on a cattle drive?” Amos asked with interest.
“My parents and siblings traveled the trails up and back for several years before finally settling down in the area. My twin sisters, Rania and Hilda, married brothers on ranches south of here. My brother, Leif, and his wife and her children, settled on a homestead between the two of them,” Dagmar explained.
A slight smile graced the boy’s face, giving Eli an uneasy feeling.
“I’d be much obliged to take you up on your offer, Mr. Hamner, and I look forward to meeting your family too.”
“Good! I think you’ll like it on the Bar E Ranch. My wife’s family bought the ranch a year or so ago and have slowly been making changes to it. We’ve sold the sheep flock and have built a large cattle herd on the forty-thousand-acre ranch. The farmstead already had the buildings and corrals in place.
“The bunkhouse has an apartment on one end where my parents reside. Besides four shared bunk rooms for the hands, it has an oversized living and dining area, complete with its own kitchen.”
“Dagmar, I’m not sure there’s an extra bed in the bunkhouse right now,” Eli tried to stall Dagmar’s decision.
“Can he stay with you in your cabin until then, Eli?” Dagmar asked, knowing Eli wouldn’t say no. “I think he’d be more comfortable in your extra bunk, than on the floor in the living area of the bunkhouse.”
“Uh, of course,” Eli had to agree because he couldn’t refuse Dagmar’s suggestion. It would only be a short stay, and then Amos would leave to visit Tina’s family.
“Say, you wouldn’t happen to know how to cook would you, Amos?” Zach asked as he looked at Dagmar. “With Annalina gone, we’re scrounging for edible food. Mrs. Cora is in the family way and upchucks at the thought of cooking bacon.”
“Oh, that’s an excellent idea, Zach,” Dagmar’s eyes brightened as he turned to Amos hoping the young man would cook.
Amos’ eyes flitted between the three of them, then lowered his eyes and nodded. “Yes, my ma made sure all us kids knew how to cook basic meals. I can cook for the hands…and anything else you need to be done inside the bunkhouse.”
“Washing clothes would be high on my wishlist,” Zach commented. “I’ve already turned my drawers inside and out twice.”
Did Amos just roll his eyes?
“Anything you have time for would be much appreciated, Amos,” Dagmar announced as he slapped the young man on his back, almost knocking Amos over.
“Now, what can you tell us about these bulls? Any lameness? Any off their feed on the trip?” Dagmar asked as he walked to stand by the corral fence and the rest followed.
“Overall, I say Ferguson sent a good group of bulls. All have sound feet from what I could tell with them moving around in the car,” Amos said more confidently than Eli had heard him speak since arriving in Kansas.
“Armando is the leader of the group,” Amos pointed to the front bull watching them warily.
“Berto, the one beside Armando, with more red hair across his shoulders, is very intelligent. Cedro, white spots on his rump, will be the biggest bull.”
“You’ve already named them all?” Dagmar asked with a grin.
“I had time on the trip, so I thought up Spanish names for them. You can change or drop the names,” Amos quickly sa
id.
“Not a problem. Our favorite horses are named for things in the sky. Comet, Star, Juniper, Dip—for the Big Dipper,” Dagmar flashed a smile. “My little sisters started naming our horses on our trail rides, and we’ve stayed with the theme.”
“Except Snot,” Zach snickered.
“Snot?” Amos looked at Zach to explain the horse’s name.
“A pinto gelding on the ranch. The first time Snot was ridden he tossed snot, foam, and his rider on his very first buck. The rider yelled ‘you big snot head!’ and the name stuck,” Dagmar grinned and shrugged his shoulders upwards.
“What’s the other bulls names, Amos?” Eli asked, wondering what else Amos had come up with. Being from Back East, he wasn’t familiar with Spanish names.
“Damian has a laid back nature. He’s the solid red in the back of the group not paying attention to us. Eduardo moving forward is the guardian of the group, and the one I wouldn’t turn my back on, ever.”
“And the smallest bull reaching his tongue through the corral fence, trying to touch you?” Zach pointed at the bull trying his darndest to touch Amos, even though they were standing three feet from the fence.
“Felix. I bet he was an orphan fed by humans,” Amos sighed. “I haven’t touched him because he could knock me down, not knowing his own strength.”
The bull let out a frustrated bawl at not being able to reach Amos.
“We’ll just have to see how he does. After a week we’ll turn the bulls out with the herd. Felix will either make it, or he won’t,” Dagmar said matter-of-factly.
“Dag, Cora’s waving at you,” Zach pointed to Dagmar’s wife standing on the front porch of the house.
“I better see what she needs. Zach, please take care of the horses. Eli, show Amos around the bunkhouse,” Dagmar told them before turning to jog to the house.
Eli watched Dagmar lean down to hug Cora and felt a pang of loss. He shook his head to clear the thought and turned to Amos.
“Can you handle cooking for ten people tonight?”
“Yes, sir. What time do the men come in to eat supper?” Amos asked without hesitation.
“Six-thirty this time of year,” Eli answered as they walked toward the bunkhouse.
“It will be ready.”
“Uh, Eli, can I talk to you a minute?” Zach stopped Eli with a hand on his forearm.
“Sure. Amos, go ahead, and I’ll be there in a minute,” Eli said as he waited for Zach to ask his question.
Zach stayed silent, keeping his eyes on Amos until the boy was halfway to the bunkhouse.
“If that’s a young man, then I’m an old granny with twenty grandkids,” Zach said under his breath to Eli. “He is a woman.”
“What? You’re wrong, that’s just a fourteen-year-old boy.” Eli whispered back to Zach.
“She’s kind of homely looking, with that short hair and all, but her chest…looks kind of perky, if you ask me.”
Eli scrunched his eyes shut, refusing to think about the ah…person’s chest.
“Why would a woman pretend to be a man, and pretend she could work like one, too?”
Zach wasn’t going to quit bugging him with questions, but Eli didn’t have the answers.
“Think we should just ask her?”
That question popped Eli’s eyes open. “No!” Now he was thinking of his—or her—chest again. “There’s a reason she’s hiding, and unless the job puts her in danger, I think we should just pretend…”
“She’s one of the ranch hands? That would make it a little hard in close quarters...like in the four-hole outhouse.”
Zach sucked in his breath on Zach’s last comment.
Ah heck, now he’d convinced himself Peter was right. As foreman, it was up to Eli to manage the ranch, livestock to workers. So, he’d have to get to the bottom of “Amos” deception.
Chapter 5
Amy stood in the doorway of the bunkhouse, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, after being outside in the bright sunshine.
Although the open room, featuring groups of rocking chairs and two long tables with chairs around them looked comfortable and homey, the floor needed to be “mucked out” as bad as a horse stall. How long had the elder Mrs. Hamner been gone? A few days or a few weeks?
Amy walked further into the room. A galley kitchen was on the west wall of the main room. She turned to walk down the hallway to the left, walking by four bedroom doors before coming to a door at the end of the hall. She guessed it was the entrance to Mr. Hamner’s parent’s quarters.
“Uh, sorry about the living room mess,” Mr. Fisher called to her as he came through the front door. Amy walked back to meet him.
“We planned to clean it before Annalina comes back,” Eli stammered, embarrassed at the mess they’d caused?
Well, Amos would be the person to clean the bunkhouse instead.
“Kitchen’s back here. Pantry to the right,” Eli pointed out as he walked toward the large kitchen stove and the wood box to the left of it.
“There’s a stack of wood on the back porch to refill the box. Just go out the back door there. That door’s the handiest way to the...uh…outhouse too.”
Amy looked at Mr. Fisher, surprised at his beet red face. Why had the man’s demeanor changed so abruptly when he walked in the bunkhouse?
“Eli! Zach! Help!” Mr. Hamner’s panicked voice boomed across the ranch yard. “Help!”
Mr. Fisher twisted his body at the yell of his employer and ran out of the bunkhouse door. Amy followed too, wondering what in the world was wrong. The man sounded so laid back and calm when Amy had met him minutes ago.
Zach raced from the barn, arriving a second after Amy. “What’s wrong, Dag? Is it Cora?”
“Yes! She says the baby’s coming! And it’s too soon! And my Moder’s not here!”
The tall man had become an arm-waving lunatic and Amy couldn’t understand half his words because he seemed to have reverted back to his native Swedish tongue.
“It shouldn’t come until next month, or my moder would have never left!”
Zach, the calmest of the three, took a deep breath and turned toward Amy.
“Have you by chance helped with baby birthing...Ma’am?” Zach said in a serious, knowing tone.
“What?” Dagmar turned to stare at Zach, and then at her chest.
So much for keeping her secret. Now she knew why Mr. Fisher wouldn’t look at her when he came into the bunkhouse. Zach had told Mr. Fisher he guessed her gender.
Rather than panic herself, it was time to state the facts and help Mrs. Hamner.
“Yes, I’m Miss Amy Sanders. I posed as my brother, Amos, to get away from Texas. Tina Hamner had sent me a letter inviting me to come to Kansas, and here I am.” Amy folded her arms against her chest, now embarrassed at her bound chest.
“But have you ever helped with a birth?” Anyway, that’s what Amy thought the worried Mr. Hamner said.
“Yes, I’ve delivered several babies, including Tina Hamer’s baby, Oliver,” Amy hoped hearing his sister-in-law’s name would ease the man’s anxiety.
“Thank the Lord for that load of bulls arriving today!” Mr. Hamner wiped his face with his hands and leaned over at the waist. Was the man going to be sick?
“Come on, Miss Sanders,” Zach held out his elbow to her as a proper gentleman would do. “I’ll introduce you to Cora and let you women deal with the birthing.”
“Should I go get more help?” Mr. Fisher asked from behind them.
Amy looked over her shoulder to see if he was panicking too. No, he seemed more concerned instead.
“Let me see what the situation is first, but I think I can handle it,” Amy said as Zach ushered her up the porch steps and opened the front door.
“Oh, my…” Amy laid a hand on her chest when she viewed the interior of the rock house. The opulent upholstered furniture was unexpected, but the crystal vases, bowls, and figurines displayed on side tables, wall shelves, and glass-doored curio cases was
such a glaring contrast to the primitive rough-cut stone exterior and the endless prairie surrounding it.
“How does…” Amy stopped, not sure what else to say.
“How does the towering Dagmar Hamner live here? First, he always takes off his boots before he comes into the house, then he squeezes his elbows tight to his ribs and tiptoes through the house,” Zach answered what Amy was exactly wondering.
“Zach? I’m in the kitchen,” a cheerful voice drifted through the house, somewhere to the left of where they stood.
“Come meet Cora. She’s the one having the baby, but she’ll be the exact opposite of Dagmar’s hysteria.”
The tiny woman with the bulging middle met them in the hallway, smiled at Amy as she wiped her hands on a towel.
“Hello. I didn’t realize we had company. I’m Cora Hamner, and you are?” Cora reached out to Amy, palm up, ready to shake her hand.
“This is Miss Amy Sanders, Cora. She was the ‘young man’ who traveled with the bulls up from Texas,” Zach introduced them with a sly smile on his face.
“Young man? Well, I never would have guessed that. Welcome to the Bar E Ranch, Amy. Please call me Cora.”
“Thank you, I’d be pleased to,” Amy answered back.
“Miss Amy met Tina Hamner in Texas last year, after the train wreck she was in. She delivered little Oliver. Ain’t that something?” Zach explained Amy’s background.
“Oh, how wonderful to meet you! Were you the woman in the red dress?” Cora asked as she clasped Amy’s right hand in both of hers.
“Yes, I was. Tina wrote to me recently. She said if I could ever get away from my…situation, I was welcome to her home.”
“And now you’re here to help me with my baby’s’ birth,” Cora smiled as she patted her bulge.
Dagmar wiggled past Amy and Zach to place his hands on his wife’s arms and leaned down to peer into Cora’s face.
“Let me carry you upstairs, Cora. You need to lie down,” Mr. Hamner pleaded.
“Dag, calm down. It will be hours before the birth.”
Amy Admires an Amish Man: A Historical Western Romance (Brides with Grit Book 12) Page 3
