don’t you go into the libery and see if there’s
a book you’d enjoy? I’ll come with you and light the fire.”
A morning, a
whole morning, with nothing to do but sit in front of a warm fire and read a
book? It sounded like heaven to me. At least it would keep my mind occupied,
stop the circling of all my questions until Russ came back.
“When will
Russ be back, do you know?” I asked Janet.
“I ‘spect
he’ll be in for lunch with the others,” she said. “Speakin’ o’ which, I should
get it started. I hear there’s another storm fixin’ to come down on us, so
they’ll be hunkerin’ down for it.”
After a minute
to interpret the meaning of ‘fixin’ and ‘hunkerin’ in that context, I sighed.
Great. Another of those storms would trap me here, and force Russ and the
mysterious owner to feed and shelter me. Not that I wanted to leave Russ, far
from it. But, it seemed that until I had a plan of action, my life was on hold.
I wasn’t a particularly patient person, so it was irritating, to say the least.
Setting my
irritation aside, I selected the narrowest spine I could find, which turned out
to be an old favorite, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I was deep in the familiar story,
living Scout’s life again instead of my own narrow, confined existence, when
Janet returned with a cup of hot chocolate and two oatmeal raisin cookies. If I
didn’t find something physical to do pretty soon, I was going to be as fat as a
pig. But, I consumed every drop and every crumb anyway.
§
Lunch was corn
chowder with thick chunks of ham, and sandwiches we built ourselves from
platters of thinly-sliced ham, turkey and roast beef, all cold, along with
plenty of condiments, lettuce, onions, pickles, and amazingly, tomatoes. The
latter were the largest and tastiest I had ever seen, and I didn’t hesitate to
say so. The response around the table full of men was disconcerting. Everyone
stopped what they were doing and what they were saying to look at me. I wondered
if there was some sort of taboo about discussing the food. Russ had yet to
appear, so Janet took on the role of spokesperson.
“We grow them
here, hon. In our greenhouse.”
With that, the
men resumed talking amongst themselves, building their sandwiches and wolfing
them down, and slurping their soup. I decided to keep my mouth shut, since
opening it brought all activity to a halt. Then Russ came in. He had added a
ten-gallon hat and a leather duster to his apparel, and both had a light
dusting of snow on them.
“Looks like
we’re in for it, boys,” he addressed the table. “Have we found that last 20
head yet, since the last one?”
One of the men
spoke up, saying, “No, boss, I’m gonna look up in that cedar holler this
afternoon.” Boss? My eyes flew to Russ, but he was glaring at the cowboy, who
clapped his hand over his mouth and looked chagrined.
Shaking his
head, Russ spoke in a kind voice that belied the look he had just given the
poor man. “Okay, Hank, but take a couple others with you, and rope yourselves
together if the storm catches you. Try to be sure you get back here before it
gets too bad. Losin’ cattle is one thing, but losin’ a good man is another.”
With a
grateful smile and nod of his head, Hank tipped up his bowl and slurped up the
last of his soup, then jerked his head at two more of the cowhands and left the
kitchen.
As this scene
played out, I looked from Hank to Russ and back again. Hank had called him
Boss, and Russ wasn’t happy about it. Why? The only reason I could think of was
that Russ didn’t want me to know his position at the ranch. I didn’t understand
why he wouldn’t, but it was time for some answers, whether or not it made him
angry for me to ask. But, not here, with most of the men and Janet listening.
No, I’d wait until after lunch. I kept silent, but felt Russ’s eyes on me from
time to time. I knew it was he who stared at me, because that tingling in my
core was unmistakable. He may be able
a book you’d enjoy? I’ll come with you and light the fire.”
A morning, a
whole morning, with nothing to do but sit in front of a warm fire and read a
book? It sounded like heaven to me. At least it would keep my mind occupied,
stop the circling of all my questions until Russ came back.
“When will
Russ be back, do you know?” I asked Janet.
“I ‘spect
he’ll be in for lunch with the others,” she said. “Speakin’ o’ which, I should
get it started. I hear there’s another storm fixin’ to come down on us, so
they’ll be hunkerin’ down for it.”
After a minute
to interpret the meaning of ‘fixin’ and ‘hunkerin’ in that context, I sighed.
Great. Another of those storms would trap me here, and force Russ and the
mysterious owner to feed and shelter me. Not that I wanted to leave Russ, far
from it. But, it seemed that until I had a plan of action, my life was on hold.
I wasn’t a particularly patient person, so it was irritating, to say the least.
Setting my
irritation aside, I selected the narrowest spine I could find, which turned out
to be an old favorite, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I was deep in the familiar story,
living Scout’s life again instead of my own narrow, confined existence, when
Janet returned with a cup of hot chocolate and two oatmeal raisin cookies. If I
didn’t find something physical to do pretty soon, I was going to be as fat as a
pig. But, I consumed every drop and every crumb anyway.
§
Lunch was corn
chowder with thick chunks of ham, and sandwiches we built ourselves from
platters of thinly-sliced ham, turkey and roast beef, all cold, along with
plenty of condiments, lettuce, onions, pickles, and amazingly, tomatoes. The
latter were the largest and tastiest I had ever seen, and I didn’t hesitate to
say so. The response around the table full of men was disconcerting. Everyone
stopped what they were doing and what they were saying to look at me. I wondered
if there was some sort of taboo about discussing the food. Russ had yet to
appear, so Janet took on the role of spokesperson.
“We grow them
here, hon. In our greenhouse.”
With that, the
men resumed talking amongst themselves, building their sandwiches and wolfing
them down, and slurping their soup. I decided to keep my mouth shut, since
opening it brought all activity to a halt. Then Russ came in. He had added a
ten-gallon hat and a leather duster to his apparel, and both had a light
dusting of snow on them.
“Looks like
we’re in for it, boys,” he addressed the table. “Have we found that last 20
head yet, since the last one?”
One of the men
spoke up, saying, “No, boss, I’m gonna look up in that cedar holler this
afternoon.” Boss? My eyes flew to Russ, but he was glaring at the cowboy, who
clapped his hand over his mouth and looked chagrined.
Shaking his
head, Russ spoke in a kind voice that belied the look he had just given the
poor man. “Okay, Hank, but take a couple others with you, and rope yourselves
together if the storm catches you. Try to be sure you get back here before it
gets too bad. Losin’ cattle is one thing, but losin’ a good man is another.”
With a
grateful smile and nod of his head, Hank tipped up his bowl and slurped up the
last of his soup, then jerked his head at two more of the cowhands and left the
kitchen.
As this scene
played out, I looked from Hank to Russ and back again. Hank had called him
Boss, and Russ wasn’t happy about it. Why? The only reason I could think of was
that Russ didn’t want me to know his position at the ranch. I didn’t understand
why he wouldn’t, but it was time for some answers, whether or not it made him
angry for me to ask. But, not here, with most of the men and Janet listening.
No, I’d wait until after lunch. I kept silent, but felt Russ’s eyes on me from
time to time. I knew it was he who stared at me, because that tingling in my
core was unmistakable. He may be able
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