Chapter Four
After Grover placed Felix’s bag in the travel chest at the back of the carriage, he motioned to the right side. “Climb aboard, Felix.” The covered carriage dipped as Grover pulled himself into his seat. “The buggy ride to the ranch takes about an hour.”
Felix climbed on board and sat against the rail at the right edge of the padded seat.
He was unsure how to act around Mr. Sterling or the Sterling family.
With his father, he never sat close to him.
Father didn’t like closeness with other men.
Felix decided to exercise the same caution with strangers.
“Thank you, Mr. Sterling.” He held out the two wrapped items. “Mother made a sandwich for each of us.”
“That was gracious of her, Felix.” He pulled out his pocket watch and flipped open the cover. “By golly, it’s almost noon. We’ll be hungry before we reach the ranch.”
Grover shook the reins, clicked his cheek a couple of times, and the carriage began to move.
A shudder flowed down Felix’s back. Sent to live with strangers on a ranch for the summer filled him with worry.
Was he expected to be the hired hand? And what about this Joseph Mr. Sterling mentioned?
Would he laugh at Felix for not knowing how to do ranch things?
Would he be sleeping in the barn? What did his father mean about making him into a man?
The ride stretched on forever. A clearing throat caught his attention, and he turned to Mr. Sterling.
“I take it by your reaction that you did not expect a summer on my ranch, Felix. Did your father not mention his plan until I arrived this morning?”
Felix shook his head. “No, sir. Father said nothing to me about spending the summer away.” He set the sandwiches on the seat between them. “It did surprise me. I don’t understand what he expects.”
“Relax, Felix.” Grover jiggled the reins and clicked his cheek again. The horse went into a trot. “You will enjoy the ranch. It’s not all work. Joseph, we call him Joey, will like having a guy his age on the place.”
Felix turned to Grover. “May I ask how old your son is?”
“Joey turned seventeen a few weeks ago, Felix. How old are you?”
Felix caught his inquisitive glance and couldn’t help puffing out his chest as he announced his age. His father discouraged pride, but did Mr. Sterling? “I turned eighteen in February.”
Grover chuckled. “Eighteen makes you a man, Felix. Something to be proud of. I remember that age. I knew everything, or at least I thought I did. You’ll do fine on the ranch. We’ll teach you to rope, brand, and herd.”
Everything he mentioned sounded foreign to Felix. Fear of failing tied his stomach in knots. His father did not prepare him for this. The summer on Sterling Ranch would be a total disaster. “Those tasks are unfamiliar to me, Mr. Sterling. I hope I can learn.”
“I do not expect you to know anything about ranching. I assume you lived in town your entire life, so you never had a reason to learn the things I mentioned. But Joey is an accomplished rancher, so don’t you worry. He is eager to teach you.”
“He is? How did he learn about me?”
“Mabel and I stopped in your father’s store yesterday.
He mentioned wanting you to experience hard work.
I considered hiring someone to help Joey this summer, and I suggested that Cornelius let you spend the summer with us.
He said you graduated from high school this year, but didn’t mention your age.
I assumed you were near the same age as Joey.
When Mabel and I got back to the ranch yesterday afternoon, we told Joey you might be coming for the summer.
He got excited about having someone help him with the chores. ”
“Would those chores be the roping, branding, herding thing you mentioned?”
Grover chuckled. “Those you will learn, but branding and herding are not done daily. You two will also ride fences, which happens once a month. Daily, you will help Joey with the upkeep of the horses, including mucking out stables.”
“Our family owns two horses, and I take care of them. But I never rode a fence before. It sounds kind of painful.”
Grover barked a laugh. “Son, I’ll let Joey show you what to do. It’s not painful at all.”
Felix glanced at Grover. “Do you and Mrs. Sterling have other children?”
“Mabel and I have one other son, Jacob. He’s off at college.”
The knot of uncertainty tightened Felix’s stomach. He longed to attend college, but his father wouldn’t hear of it. Later in the summer, he hoped to find out more about what going to college involved. He wondered about asking Mr. Sterling if he would speak to his father.
“Will Joey go to college, too?”
“In another year, I will send him to the university in Austin. But first, he needs to finish school here. Your father said you did well in school, but didn’t have many friends. Joey’s a friendly guy. He makes friends easily, so I’m sure you two will get along.”
“I'm glad.” Felix tensed. What if Joey didn’t like him or teased him about wanting to read? What if he couldn’t do those things Mr. Sterling mentioned? “Does Joey realize he’s getting a bookworm for a helper?” The popular guys at school were not kind to Felix. What if Joey is a popular guy, too?
“Your father mentioned you have no ranching background, so Joey knows. He’s excited about your stay and has planned your training.”
Felix exhaled a breath. “I’m sure I’ll need lots of help.
” He hoped Joey wouldn’t hate him. After a few days of frustration, Joey would complain to his father about worthless Felix.
He'd better try extra hard to learn from Joey.
Learning ranching would be more pleasant than risking his father's wrath again.
“You do much riding, Felix?”
“I do currying and saddling and general animal care. I’m comfortable on a horse, but never raced or roped. Father isn’t fond of competitive things.”
“Joey won the calf roping competition at the rodeo last summer, Felix. Competition keeps the mind sharp and the senses keen. I’m sure you will make a fine horseman.”
Felix enjoyed his books and spending time alone.
His chest tightened at the news about Joey winning at the rodeo.
He knew nothing about competition. His father never encouraged him to compete.
As the dirt road stretched out ahead, Felix realized the extent of the isolation he faced.
He enjoyed spending time alone in his room at home, amid familiar surroundings.
This ranch was far from everything he knew.
To stem his uncertainty, Felix took in the vast open prairie with tall grasses waving in the breeze and early summer wildflowers dotting the landscape.
In the distance, tall mesas jutted up like guardians of the plains.
His primary introduction to anything outside Blackfield was through books.
He read about mountains, prairies, and wildlife, but had never experienced them firsthand.
His despair morphed into excitement as his eyes, ears, and nose absorbed all the new sights, sounds, and smells.
Felix drew in a deep breath. How could he have missed experiencing the clean, fresh breeze scented with prairie flora?
He found the open land remarkable. Surrounded by the beauties of nature, perhaps being on the ranch wouldn’t be so bad.
“The expression on your face tells me this is all new to you. Have you never been out of Blackfield?”
Felix shook his head as his eyes kept darting across the landscape. “No, sir. Father doesn’t like leaving the store, so our family never travels. I am amazed at the scenery.”
“Felix. Over there.” Grover pointed to his left. A small herd of antelope grazed a quarter of a mile away. The buck lifted his head high, displaying his antlers as a warning not to approach his harem. The herd seemed oblivious to the buggy, grazing on the tender grasses.
“Wow. I never saw live deer before.”
“Those are antelope, Felix. Notice how the buck protects his herd?”
“He’s magnificent.”
“On the ranch, you may see deer or antelope herds.”
“On the ranch?” Felix expected those animals to be much further away.
“Wildlife abounds out here, Felix. Years ago, plentiful buffalo herds roamed the area.”
Felix eyed Mr. Sterling. “Buffalo?”
“Yes. I’m surprised you didn’t learn of that in school. Buffaloes remained plentiful here up until a few years before you were born. By then, the herds were hunted almost to extinction.”
Felix couldn’t imagine buffalo roaming free.
His schoolbooks contained drawings of buffalo, but not in this area.
The further they rode, the more of nature he saw.
A twinge of excitement stirred in his gut.
Spending the summer on a ranch might not be the disaster he expected.
His father’s life was in the dry goods store he owned, so Felix wasn't exposed to the beauties of nature so close to his home.
He loved studying the sciences in school.
Botany, zoology, and biology. What he saw today, he had seen only in books.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting kinda hungry.” Grover grinned at Felix.
Felix handed Grover a sandwich and unwrapped his own. They ate in silence as Felix surveyed the vista surrounding them. The rolling plains were beautiful. More beautiful than he imagined.
Finished with their sandwiches, Grover pulled a bottle from behind the seat and offered it to Felix. “Water?”
Felix took it. “Thank you.” He uncorked the bottle, took a few swallows, and handed the bottle to Grover. He took a few swallows and held his hand out for the cork. “Indians once roamed this territory. Primarily Comanche, although a few other tribes also inhabited the area.”
Felix handed the cork to Grover. “Indians? I thought Indians lived back in history.”
“Then you learned the Indians populated the entire country before settlers arrived and started pushing west. Indians still lived around the area when I was born in 1855, although not as plentiful as in history.” He placed the bottle back behind the seat. “We sometimes find arrowheads on the ranch.”
Felix drank in every bit of information Grover gave him. Summer on the ranch sounded better, although he remained uncertain about being around people he had never met.
“There she is, Felix. Our home and your summer home.” Grover pointed to a couple of buildings about a quarter of a mile away, surrounded by trees.
“It looks nice, Mr. Sterling.” While they traveled miles from Blackfield, if Mrs. Sterling and Joey were as friendly as Mr. Sterling, the summer started as a learning experience he would never forget.