The Montana Widow's Husband (The New Montana Brides) (4 page)

“Clete, since I’ve only been here a little over a week, I would like for you and Buck to come show me the boundaries of the ranch, the grazing pastures, where the herds are, and the water holes.”

“Yessir,” Clete said.

During the course of their ride, he saw several problems. Some of the cattle were widely scattered. It was obvious strays had not been rounded up recently. He found two places where water should have been, but the streams were dry. He also found two of the grazing pastures were badly overgrazed.

It was late afternoon when they returned to the ranch. “See to your horses, and have Lem check their hooves. Make sure your string is in good shape. From what I’ve seen, we have a lot of work to do, and they need be ready to go.”

Buck reached for the reins of Jeb’s horse. “That’s okay, Buck. I’ll take care of him. I like to see to my own ride. It’s a holdover from my Cavalry days. You take good care of your horse, and he’ll take good care of you.”

Jeb rapped on the back door. It was opened by Emma a couple of minutes later. “Come in,” she said. “How did it go today?”

“It depends on how you look at it,” he said. “There were no problems with the men, but I found several things that need attention.”

“Such as?” she asked.

“The cattle are pretty well scattered”, Jeb said.. “The strays haven’t been rounded up for a while. The grass is overgrazed in several places so the cattle on those places have to be moved. We found some places where Clete and Buck said there should have been water, but wasn’t.

“We’ve pretty well got our work cut out for us, but we’ll get after it tomorrow morning. I have a question for you though,” he said.

“What is it you want to know?” she asked.

“Down in Texas, most of the ranches I saw were getting away from the open range. Have you seen or heard anything about it happening here?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, but when I go to church Sunday, I’ll ask Case Jamison from the Lazy J and Zeb Parsons from the Circle P. They’re the two largest ranches in the territory.

“Are you a man of faith? You don’t have to answer that if you prefer not to. It’s none of my business, but if you would like to go to church on Sunday, it would give you a chance to meet some of the neighbors.

“I also think we’ll be bringing Sam home then too,” she finished.

“When I was a shirt tail kid, my mother made us go to church every Sunday. I went a few times at the Point, but after that, I never seemed to have the time,” he said.

The ranch hands were in the saddle shortly after daybreak. Since he believed they should work in pairs, there were three groups when they rode out. He put Clete and Buck in separate groups, since they were the most experienced. He sent Clete and his partner off to move the cattle from one pasture to another for new grass. He did the same with Buck and his partner.

He teamed up with Shane, the youngest of the cowboys, and barely eighteen. They backtracked from one of the dried up water holes, for a little over a mile, before they came to the cause of the problem. They found a beaver dam spanning most of the creek, reducing the flow of the water to a trickle..

“Give me one end of your rope, and tie the other end off to your saddle horn,” he told Shane. He took the end of the rope, removed his boots and socks, and walked out to the base of the dam, where he tied the rope around several of the limbs. He mounted his horse and did the same thing on the other side of the dam.

“Now take up the slack, and let’s pull together. We should be able to break it up,” he said. “Ready? Pull!”

With the two horses pulling against it, the wall of the dam began to come apart. The force of the water did the rest, and with the dam broken, the water began flowing again. “Likely, they’ll build it back, and we’ll have to do this again,” he told the young cowboy.

“Let’s head back, and help move the herd,” he said. “We’ll back track the other stream another day. It’s probably another beaver dam.”

With Jeb directing the operation, the daily work of the ranch was accomplished with much more efficiency. He turned his attention to other parts of the operation.

One morning he went to the main house. “Miss Emma, what about the ledgers for the ranch? Are they up to date?”

Her face colored. “Jeb, I haven’t done a thing with them. Caleb always took care of them, and I don’t know anything about them. That’s not good, is it?”

“No, it isn’t. Do you have any idea what your financial situation is?” he asked.

“No, I guess I don’t. After the roundup, Caleb deposited the proceeds from the sale in the bank. Other than that, the only thing left was to buy supplies. He took care of that too,” she said.

“Where were the cattle sold?” he asked.

She brightened. “I do know that,” she said. “He drove them to the pens at the rail head and sold them.”

“Did Sam have anything to do with that?” he asked.

“No, I don’t think so. Sam pretty much told the hands what to do, while Caleb did everything else.”

“Did Caleb learn from his father?”

“A lot. But both Caleb and I graduated from Montana State, so he got a lot of his knowledge from there,” she said.

“Would you like for me to look at the books?” he asked.

“Yes, I would like that. Caleb has… had a small office down the hall,” she said.

She led the way to the small office. It didn’t appear to have been used in some time. “Is it okay if I rummage around and figure out the system?”

“You can do that?” she asked.

“Yes, that was all part of my education, and my job with the 4
th
US,” he said.

“Then go ahead. I’m going to spend some time with Jared,” she said.

“Before you do that, would you ask Sam to come in here, please?” The rest of the morning was spent in the office, with Sam. He was still sitting at the desk, going over the ledger when he sensed her presence, and felt her hand on the back of the chair, her fingers touching his shoulder. The warmth of her fingers gave him a tingling sensation that ran down his back.

“Are you making any sense of it?” she asked.

“Yes. Your husband had a very efficient system. It’s all pretty clear to me,” he said.

“When you bought supplies, did you keep any record of what you bought?” he asked.

“Just the receipts Silas gave me,” she said. “They’re in the kitchen. I’ll get them.” She returned with a box of papers, and handed it to him.

“I’ll get these entered into the books. Will it be all right if I took them to the bunkhouse?” he asked.

“Why don’t you work in here?” she asked.

“I won’t disturb you?” he asked.

“No, it will be nice having the company.

After he talked to Sam, he had a good idea of the routine of driving the cattle to market, and negotiating a price for the herd.

He surprised Emma when he said, “I’d like to accompany you to church this week,” he said.

“I would like that,” she responded.

It had been his practice to have one of the hands ride into town with her as a guard, but on this occasion, he took the responsibility himself. Jeb took her hand and helped her up onto the wagon seat. He lifted Jared up and into the wagon, where he sat on the quilt she had placed in the bed of the wagon. He took the reins, clucked to the horses and they headed into Helena.

“What’s your opinion of the state of the ranch, now that you’ve seen the books, the herd, and the range?” she asked.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape, depending on the market for the fall roundup,” he said. He paused before going on. “If, and there are a few if’s, we have a good breeding season, and if the winter isn’t too severe, then spring should give us a nice increase in the herd size. Some good rain would help the grass come back after the overgrazing now that we’ve moved the herd.”

“You certainly came along at the right time. Based on what you’ve accomplished since you got here, I hate to think where we might have been,” she said. “By the way, I asked Case and Zebulon about having open range. They both said it’s not going to be long before it’s a thing of the past. They said we’re going to need fencing to keep the cattle in and the squatters out.”

“I like Montana, but I haven’t experienced a winter yet, Jeb said. “So, I’m not sure what to expect. We will need to get to work on cutting enough firewood to see us through the winter

She touched his hand. “I’m grateful you came along, and I appreciate what you’ve done. I was so over my head, I can’t believe it.

“You want to drop our list off with Silas, before we go on  to the church?” she asked.

“Good idea,” he said.

When they pulled into the livery yard, he held her hand to assist her, and then he took Jared, and swung him around in a big circle before putting him on the ground. “He liked that,” she said, looking at the big grin on her son’s face.

At the church, she began the introductions, “Carrie, Case, this is my new manager, Jeb Calhoun. Jeb, Carrie and Case Jamison of the Lazy J. They are about two miles northwest of us.”

Case extended his hand. “Welcome to Helena, Jeb. Where did you come from?”

“Pleased to meet you,” Jeb said. “Miss Emma has told me about your spread. I might call on you for some advice come breeding season.

“To answer your question, I was with the 4
th
US down in Texas. I spent a lot of time protecting the settlers.”

“Ask any time,” Case said. “I had a little experience with the Sioux myself. One of Red Cloud’s braves put an arrow in my chest. Here, let me introduce you to my wife, Carrie.”

Carrie said, “I’m glad Emma has some help. She’s had it rough since Caleb died.”

Zebulon Parker walked up, and Case said, “Zeb, meet Jeb Calhoun. He’s taken over the Flying W since Sam’s health problem.”

“Welcome, Jeb, good to have you among us. That beautiful lady talking to Emma is my wife, Charlotte. Everyone calls her Lottie.

“How long have you been here?” Zebulon asked?

“Almost three weeks”, Jeb said. “I wandered up from Texas and Harry Simpson was good enough to point me toward the Flying W. I look forward to picking your brains about ranching. Men I can handle, but I’m new to the ranch management business.”

“Case is the professional,” Zebulon said. “He’s taught me what little I know.”

“The music has started, we’d better get to our seats,” Case said. “Come see me anytime, Jeb.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” Jeb said.

As they walked toward the door, Emma linked her arm with Jeb’s. “Aren’t they nice? Case has always been a rancher, but Caleb told me Zebulon was a gold miner in Virginia City, and then struck it rich here. Both of them have mail order brides. Dr. Palmer’s wife, and Zebulon’s wife are both from Maryland, while Carrie came from Ohio, I believe.”

“I’ve often wondered where a woman gets the courage to take a step like that,” she said. “Imagine, going all the way across the country to marry someone you never met. And it works. Those are three of the sweetest women I have ever met. They made me welcome from the first day. When Caleb died, they all came and brought food. It was unbelievable.”

“Life itself is a risk. Case told me he took an arrow in the chest, Jeb said.

“Rustlers ambushed some of Zebulon’s men, and killed one. They shot Zebulon too,” Emma said.

“I think I’m going to barricade myself in the bunkhouse when I get back to the ranch,” he said. “Even then, one of the hands might shoot me, the way I’ve been working them.”

She tightened her arm around his forearm. He became aware of the pressure of her breast on his arm, as they walked to the seat. He stepped back to allow her to enter the pew first. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Letty’s right
, Emma thought.
He is one handsome man, and so self-confident.
She tightened her grip on his arm and felt the contact of her breast with his arm. Even through the fabric, it gave her a rush.
I’m acting like a silly schoolgirl, she thought. Well, I don’t care. It’s time I moved on.

Jack Owens walked to the pulpit and gave the call to worship and the opening prayer. He asked the congregation to stand together and join in singing hymn number 143. Emma and Jeb both steadied the hymnal with their hand. The hands touched. Neither made a motion to move.

As the hymn ended, a late worshiper and her son came to the edge of the pew looking for a seat. Emma, Jared and Jeb scooted over as far as possible to provide room for them to be seated. The close contact made it difficult for her to concentrate on the preacher’s sermon.

When the sermon ended, Jeb picked Jared up and carried him as they exited the church, Emma mingled with her friends as she waited for Letty.

“Am I seeing a change?” Letty asked, with a smile, as she came up to them.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Emma said.

“I had my eye on you in there. You seemed awfully close,” Letty answered.

She leaned in close, “Go for it, Emma, you deserve it and Jared needs it.”

Embarrassed, Emma’s face flushed. “I am,”.

“Jeb, are you ready to collect Sam and head for home?” she asked.

“I am,” he said. He hoisted Jared, to his shoulders, as they headed for the livery stable for their wagon. They loaded their supplies at the general store, and picked Sam up, and were ready to head for the ranch.

Before they left for town, Jeb had mounted a second seat in the wagon so Emma and Jared sat on the second seat with Sam up front with Jeb. “Man, it feels good to get out of that place,” Sam said.

At the ranch, Emma said, “Sam, would you come in for a few minutes?”

“Yessum,” Sam said.

They sat at the kitchen table. Emma said,“I don’t know how to put this, so I’m going to plow ahead. I want you around, and I don’t want you to be doing anything that might cause you a problem. It’s working out well with Jeb, so you don’t need to worry about us. He will need your advice and help for the roundup and breeding. He’s taken over the books from me, and has made sense of them. You know you have a place here for the rest of your life, and I want that to be a long time.”

“Miss Emma,” he said, his voice filled with emotion, “that’s kind of you, but I have to do something, I can’t just sit around and whittle.”

“I understand,” she said, “you can help Jeb, or Lem or whoever, just don’t overdo it.”

“I need to move into the bunk house, it ain’t right him being in there and me being in the manager’s house,” Sam said.

“We talked about building new quarters, for him, but this is the way he wanted it,” she said. “It’s good to have you home, Sam.”