Chapter 5 #5
“Seems early,” Jake said. “Winter’s not set in.”
Max lifted the platter of ham and slid a second thick slice onto his plate. “The herd’s easy pickings in the basin.”
Jessop asked, “You find the den?”
Max shook his head. “Tomorrow. I’m going out again tomorrow.”
Morgan said to Jessop, “You’re going with him.”
“Sure thing.”
Jane set her fork down and smoothed the napkin in her lap. “Is it safe?” She blinked as the men and Morgan turned on her as one. She did not know how to interpret their regard, although she certainly felt foolish.
Morgan said, “Safe enough. They know what they’re doing.”
Jessop carefully balanced a forkful of ham, potatoes, and peas all the way to his mouth. Before he swallowed the bite, he said, “What it is, ma’am, is necessary.”
“Will the wolves attack you?”
“Not likely. And Max here is a sharpshooter. We’ll set up a blind and pick them off if we can. Might have to sacrifice a steer. It’s something we’ve done before, so you shouldn’t worry about us.” He paused. “Though I have to say, there’s something real nice about you bein’ concerned.”
Morgan’s expression was wry as he looked at Jane. “Perhaps the answer is just to pretend to worry.”
Jane sighed. “It appears to be the only sensible solution.”
Jem scratched his head. “So from now on when you say you’re worried, it’ll be for show.”
“See?” Morgan said. “The seed’s been planted.”
She nodded and looked at Jem. “If I’m very good, you’ll never know.”
“Huh.” Jem went back to his meal, ignoring the smiles all around.
Morgan caught Jake’s attention. “I noticed the henhouse coming in. Looks like you finished the roof.”
“Sure did. Got most of the things done on the list. Jess and me also brought down that clothes cupboard from the loft like your wife wanted.”
Morgan looked at Jane. “You asked them to do that?”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I did. Was that wrong?”
“I told you I would do it.”
“You said you would get one of them to help you do it. It’s almost the same thing.”
“Except it isn’t.”
Jane opened her mouth and closed it again when she observed Max and the Davis brothers fiercely concentrating on their plates. Her point could wait. She could only hope that Morgan appreciated her discretion.
Morgan said, “Seems as if you found everything you needed. I guess we didn’t know half of what we had in the pantry.”
Jane accepted the change of subject. “It’s an impressive inventory but in need of organizing. I intend to do that tomorrow.”
“If you make a list of what you think is missing, Jem will pick it up in town tomorrow afternoon.”
Jem’s head snapped up. “I’m going to town?”
“It’s your turn, isn’t it?”
“It was my turn two turns ago.”
“Well, that makes it your turn now.” He arched an eyebrow at Jem. “Do you really want to argue?”
In the event that Jem did not know how to answer the question, both of his brothers kicked him under the table. “No,” he said, jerking his chair back until his shins were out of danger. “You’ll get no argument from me.”
Morgan eyed Jem’s distance from the table and crooked a finger to encourage him to return. “You heard me say tomorrow, didn’t you?”
Jem grunted, glanced under the table, and glared at his brothers. “I heard.” He carefully scooted his chair back into position and took up his fork.
Jane pressed her lips together and kept her eyes on her plate until the urge to laugh passed. Mercifully, at least in her opinion, the remainder of the meal passed without further assault on Jem.
* * *
Jane learned that if she positioned herself a little to the right of the sink, she could see most of the corral from the kitchen window.
That was where her attention was fixed while she dried the dishes.
At Morgan’s direction, Max had helped her clear the table after dinner and stayed to wash.
Jessop and Jake were sent off to the barn to finish chores.
It was Morgan and Jem who were working with one of the mares in the corral.
Jane only knew the horse was a mare because Max told her it was.
Occasionally he would look up from his washing duties and explain what was going on.
Jane learned that the recalcitrant mustang was a recent acquisition, not purchased, but captured.
It was Jessop who first spied the wild herd that had moved onto Morning Star land, but it was Morgan who was successful in cutting the mare out.
The rest of the wild horses were driven off so they would not compete with the livestock for grazing land, but according to Max, they had not strayed far, and he and Jessop still had a notion of getting a mustang for themselves.
Jane watched Morgan simply stand beside the horse for the longest time.
He appeared to be talking to her. Sometimes he would stroke her neck.
If she shied sideways, he would wait until she calmed and approach her again.
He held a halter in his left hand. He showed it to the horse, let her smell it, rub her nose against it, and when he held it up in front of her in both hands, he let her toss her head and nudge at it so in effect she helped him get it over her head.
Morgan quickly attached a lead line. There was some push and pull after that, but Morgan gave up some of the length to let her have distance and then gradually guided her back.
“He’s gotten this far before,” said Max when Morgan started leading the mustang around the corral.
“It’s the bridle that makes her bolt. She wants no part of the bit.
That’s why Jem’s holding it out. See how the boss is nosin’ her closer to where Jem’s sittin’ on the rail every time he makes a pass?
He’s trying to accustom her to the sight of it, although how she knows it’s different than what she’s wearin’, I ain’t figured out yet. ”
Jane had been wondering the same thing. “What’s her name?”
“Doesn’t have one. Boss said he wanted to think about it. He’s like that. A thinker, I mean, but I expect you know that about him.”
Jane merely smiled. She picked up a wet plate, wiped it down with a towel, and set it behind her on the table.
She did this without ever looking away from the window.
She felt a twinge of sympathy for the mustang.
Harnessing that beautiful animal struck her as vaguely cruel, although she certainly understood the necessity of it.
The mare’s coloring and glossy coat made her think of cinnamon sugar glaze.
“She looks to be a very fine animal,” said Jane. “Is she?”
“Well, she’s no dink, I can tell you that. The boss wouldn’t cut a dink out of the herd.”
“Dink?”
Max shrugged his thin, ropy shoulders. “Nothing special, I suppose you’d say. Ordinary. Mustangs are just mixed-breed horses. You can’t be sure what you’ve got. There’s some spirit in that one, maybe a little thoroughbred in her lines. She’s strong and quick. Pretty, too. Definitely not a dink.”
“Oh,” Jane said softly. She felt unaccountably sad. It was that sudden rush of feeling that made her finally look away from the window.
That was how she missed Morgan being thrown against the fence and Jem falling backward over the rail. That beautiful and spirited animal had decided she was done being led around by the nose.