The Gunslinger (Barnett Ranch) (6 page)

He took a long look at his new herd of horses and smiled to himself before calling it a night.  This was what it felt like to accomplish something you’ve always dreamed about.

Virginia rode out to the ranch.  She needed to get away from town. She felt cooped up like she couldn’t breathe. 
She inhaled the smells of the ranch.  The cattle grazing and the horses running was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.  She rode through the cattle until she came to the house.  She was so happy, to have the day off from her granny’s restaurant. 

The house was empty, as expected, since her pa and her brothers were gone.  Her pa hadn’t had to take a herd up to Montana since he was a young man, but since he lost his trail boss and couldn’t find one on such short notice he had to take care of things himself.  Her brothers were old enough to do it but neither of them had done so before, so he intended to train them on the way.  He left his foreman in charge of the ranch while he was gone. 

Virginia dismounted and walked her mare over to the barn.  She found the foreman, and asked him if he had some work she could do.  “I need something to do, Martinez.  I’m so sick of housework and the restaurant.  Well, Miss Virginia I’ve got
to check on the cattle and then I’ve got to clean these stalls and work with the horses.  You can do any of those, if you want.”  “Thanks, Martinez, I think I might like to work with the horses, and later I’ll help you clean stalls.”  “That’ll be fine, Miss.  I’ll see you when I get back.” 

Virginia had always been good with the horses.  From an early age, she understood them better than most.   She learned everything she knew from Martinez, who was the best horseman she’d ever known.  She’d always heard tales that her mother was good with the horses.  She wouldn’t know though, because her mother passed on just shortly after giving birth to her.  It would have been nice to know her, Virginia thought.

There was a painting, hanging above the fireplace in the house, of her mother with a big black horse, much like the horse that Jax owned. 
She lay across the horse’s back, with her head laying on the horse’s neck and her arms encircling his neck. 
There was no saddle.  Her brothers swore their mother always rode bareback.
 

Her mother had black hair and dark skin, which spoke volumes of her Indian roots. 
Virginia stalled her mare in the empty stall that was, reserved for her.  She took one of the horses out to work with it.  He was a big grey stallion named Captain.  He’d been a gift from a cattleman named Goodnight, who was a good friend of her fathers.  They’d become friends many years before when Goodnight brought a herd through Cheyenne and her father let him water them on their ranch.  The following year, Goodnight brought him the horse. 

Her father made many friends over the years, through cattle trade and she couldn’t even begin to know half of them.  He corresponded by letter with most of them, as they had all been pretty much from anywhere and everywhere. 

She longed the horse in a wide circle around her, and thought about her father. 
He was a strong quiet man, always thoughtful, but he was not one to mess with.  He earned the respect of many a good man, that way, and she didn’t question it. 
She loved her pa and she missed him along with her brothers.  Most of all she missed being on the ranch.  She hated town. 

She popped the whip and clucked her tongue for the stallion to pick up pace. 
She knew cattle but she had a passion for horses, especially horses like Captain.  He was as good as Jax’s stallion
any day
. 
If her father would ever let her breed him, he’d sire some fine colts. 

She worked with him a while then put him up and worked with a couple of others.  Most of their horses were accompanying her father to Montana.  The ones left behind were those that they would keep for ranch or work or breeding, plus the young colts that weren’t old enough to go yet.  She especially liked working with the young colts. She preferred it.  She was good with them because she nurtured them while she disciplined.  The men usually didn’t take the time to nurture them.  They wanted to get the job done as fast as possible.  Martinez had taught her to take her time and have patience with a horse.  “It’s the same as raising a child,” he’d say.

The young colt she was working with now, proudly danced around her.  He had a high and mighty prance about him. He held his tail high and his head in the air.  He could spin on a dime to, which would make for a good cow horse.  She hoped her father would keep this one.  He was a deep red sorrel with a white blaze on his face. 

Martinez rode up and jumped off his horse.  Walking over to the corral fence he said, “That’s a mighty fine one, isn’t he?  He will do your father proud, should he keep him.  If he doesn’t want him, I think you should ask for him.  Maybe you should ask for Captain too, since he responds better to you than anyone else.”  “He will never give them to me.  My brothers will get them before, I do.  You
know that Martinez.”  “Si, it is true your brothers often get the very things you want, but you remind him of your mother and she was the one who knew horses.  Your father sees that in you.  I think he is waiting for you to ask.  If not he would have already given Captain to one of your brothers.  He watches you when you work with him.  He sees what I see.”

“Martinez, I hope you don’t think I’m jealous of my brothers because of what I said.  I’m not, it’s just that, I wish Pa respected me the way he respects them. I’ve worked very hard to prove myself to him, but still I don’t think he sees how hard I work.”  “I don’t think you are jealous, but I would not worry on it too much, because the men they have more respect for you than they do your brothers. Most of the men, they would kill for you.  Do you not know this?”  “I don’t want them to kill for me.  I just want the respect I’ve earned.  I care about all the men, Martinez.  You’re all family to me.” 

Martinez joined her in the center of the corral and took the colt from her hands.  “Come, let’s get those stalls cleaned and get you back to town, before Senora Ellen gets upset with you for being gone so long.

             
Jax sat atop a new ho
rse, he picked out of the herd
.  It was a buckskin mare with a white star on her forehead.  She was the prettiest mare he’d ever laid eyes on and he was itching to ride her.  He turned the rest of the horses out to pasture this morning and turned his stallion out with them. 

             
He
kicked
the mare toward town.  It was nearly breakfast time at Mrs. Ellen’s and his stomach growled just thinking about it.  The horse res
p
onded well to his cues
.  He saw Virginia step out the door as he rode past. Her mouth dropped o
pen as she watched him
.  He stabled the horse at the livery and headed to Mrs. Ellen’s
place
.  Virginia was there waiting on him.  “Where did you get that horse?” she asked.  “I bought it.” He replied.  “When, did you buy them?” “When, I bought the others.”  “What others,” she asked, frustrated that he only gave her clipped answers.  “Not that it’s any
of your business, but I bought
fifty head of horses yesterday from one of the herds heading up to Montana.”  “Well can I see them?”  “What, no smart remarks, as usual, what’s wrong with you?  Are you feeling alright?”  “I’m fine, I just happen to love horses.”  “Really, I didn’t know that.”  “You don’t know a lot about me.”  “I’d say that’s mutual.”
 

             
She crossed her arms, “Well can I see them or not?”  He exhaled a deep breath, “after closing time, you can ride out and see them.”  “Ok then, I’ll see you later.”  “Wait, where are you going?”  “I’ve got things to do, people to see, and places to be.”  “Like what,” he asked.  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going out to the ranch again today.  I want to work with the horses.”  “Don’t your father, pay somebody to do that.”  “Yeah, me,” she stated.

             
A few minutes later, she rode out of town on her mare.  Jax watched from hi
s usual position on the porch, shaking his
head at the hurry she was in then picked up his whittling stick
.

             
It was a slow day as most of the drives had already come through for the summer.  Cattle drives were becoming a thing of the past as railroads had moved across the country, and could easily be used to transport cattle.  Soon, this
town would no longer see cattle that did not belong to the ranchers and farmers who lived around here.  He learned most of the men who lived in Chugwater worked on one of two ranches that the town sat between.  The residents living in town were only about a handful and most made their living off of travelers and the cattle drives during the summer.  He wondered if that meant some would leave and take their businesses to Cheyenne. 

             
There were only about two hundred men and women total living in the area, ranches included.  This was the kind of town he could lay low in, because there were so few people, and the cattle drives were becoming a thing of the past.  He suddenly started seeing himself having a future, more so than he did before.  He could now see, not having to worry about strangers passing through who might recognize him.  That meant he was open to the idea of getting married and starting a family. 

             
He wondered what it was like for a father living here, building a ranch, fighting off Indians, and losing his wife.  Jax wondered what kind of man Virginia’s father might be,
and then
he wondered about her brothers too.  Were they anything like her?  If they were, they were tougher than most.  They were
probably more honest than most too.  Virginia told you what she thought and she didn’t care if it hurt your feelings.  Not that anything she said could hurt his feelings.  He wasn’t easily offended.  People could say near about anything to him and it wouldn’t bother him.  He was unbreakable.  Then again he’d never been in love.  He imagined there was one thing that might break him, and that would be losing someone he loved more than life itself.  He remembered losing his mother.  He hadn’t been unbreakable then.

             
Mrs. Ellen walked out on the porch and sat a spell with him.  He’d been lost in his thoughts until she spoke his name.  “Jax, I don’t know wha
t it is about you, that makes you so dangerous, and to tell you the truth, I don’t want to know.  I do know that you’re a good man, and you may not know it but you’ve lit a fire in Virginia, that I’ve never seen the likes of before.  She’s a good woman.   I know she’s stubborn and strong willed, but what most men fail to see under that tomboy façade is the tender heart of a woman.  You may not see it but
its
there.  So please be careful, with what you say and do around her.  I don’t want to see her hurt.” 

Jax looked at Mrs. Ellen and his eyes narrowed.  Just what, was she trying to say?  It wasn’t as if he and Virginia were courting.  He’d imagined a kiss once or twice but nothing more than that. 
He thought about her words.  What did she mean by saying he lit a fire in Virginia?  He looked at his boots propped on the post.  His thoughts centered on those very words.  Was Virginia interested in him?  That couldn’t be.  He was too old for her. 

             
He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.  His mind grasped the thought of Virginia as a woman in love with him.  What would that be like to be
,
loved by her?
What would it be like to have any woman love him he doubted, he’d ever know.  He was sure Virginia wasn’t in love with him.  She could barely even stand him. 

             
Virginia rode out to Jax’s place that evening.  He’d promised to let her see his herd.  Part of her heart kept telling her it wasn’t just the horses she wanted to see, but the man who owned them.  She caught a glimpse of him sitting on his porch, tossing a string over the tip of his boot like a lasso.  The sun cast shades over his darkly tanned skin.  He was so good looking, her heart had nearly stopped the first time she’d seen him.  She cleared that thought from her mind and rode on in to make her presence known. 

             
Jax dropped his feet to the floor.  “Howdy, I for
got you were coming by.”  “Howdy, I wanted to have a look at your horses.”  “Well hang on a minute and I’ll get the buckskin
, so we can ride out to the herd.” 

             
Jax stretched his long legs out, stood up and headed to the barn.  Grabbing a lead rope
,
he snapped it to the horse’s hal
ter looped it over her neck and jumped up on her bareback.  The
herd was about a mile out, when they found them at the bottom of a rock basin.  The stallion strutted up to them, shaking his head and whinnying loudly.  Jax let out a little whistle and the horse came trotting up to him.  “Whoa now, Midnight, that’s a good boy.”  Jax raked his hand through the stallion
’
s mane.

             
“There fine horses.  I always wanted to raise horses, myself.  I probably won’t ever get to though.  I won’
t ever get
that land my pa promised me, cause I ain’t likely to ever marry.
” 
Jax looked at the woman beside him.  She wore a white shirt buttoned up to her neck,
boy’s pants
with suspenders to hold them up.  Leather chaps that hung just below the knees and a man’s hat topped her head.  A long braid draped down her left shoulder.  She was pretty as the morning.
  He could not for the life of him, understand why she felt the
way she did.