The Cowboy and the Irish Girl

Following the trail, his gun heavy on his body, Roy rode into Fort Worth west of Dallas on a weekday, hoping to find a room without paying the weekend rates that he knew hotels charged. He was interested in seeing the stockyards.

It took several minutes until he found a suitable place to spend the week, maybe longer. "That'll be a dollar a night," said the desk clerk, pushing the register toward him with one hand and reaching for the money Roy proffered with the other.

"You know where there's a decent saloon around here?" Roy inquired.

"Next street over, the Red Dog." The clerk pointed down the street to the left.

Roy handed over a small box that he had all his gold coins in. "And where's the bank?"

"Street over from there, but they're closed now, open tomorrow at ten in the morning."

"OK, then let's lock this up in your safe, all right?" He opened the box and took out one hundred dollars in gold, had the clerk sign for the rest, and handed over the money to be locked up.

Roy left the hotel lobby and walked back up the street toward the saloon, thirsty after a long ride across the prairie. The saloon was about half full of cowboys spending their money after bringing in the cattle for the long rail trip to Chicago.

"Beer," he said, glad that it was cold. The barkeep set the mug down, sloshing a little over the rim. He put a small dish of popcorn next to it, an old trick to keep the thirst level high. "Can you get a girl here, or do you have to go somewhere special?"

"No, you can get a girl here... there is no other place."

"OK," Roy answered, "who do you have to choose from?" He looked around the saloon, wondering which girl was available.

"Right now, there's Susan and Mary. One's a blond and the other is a red head and with everything that goes with that."

"I like the idea of a red head ball of fire. Let's go that way."

The bartender left the front of the saloon and walked up the stairs, leading Roy past several doors until he knocked on one and asked "Mary?" The door opened and a red-headed girl put her face out into the hallway. "I've got someone for you."

The girl stepped back into the room and waited for Roy to enter, closing the door after he was inside. He liked her look and felt the evening would be fun. She had a summer dress on and bedroom slippers.

"How old are you?" he asked.

She patted the bed's cover and sat down. "Twenty-two. My name's Mary," she said, "what's yours?"

*****

Roy settled up with the woman, satisfied with the turn of events. "Let's have dinner," he offered. "Can you get a good steak around here?"

"The hotel has a good dining room. I've only been there once, when I first came here. I'm not allowed there anymore. They don't like whores in the hotel."

"I can fix that," Roy said, knowing that money spoke louder than words. He finished dressing and waited for her to make herself decent, wondering what she had to wear. "Let's go to a dress shop, first."

"Mister, are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. C'mon."

They went downstairs, Mary unsure of what the barkeep was going to say but if he noticed her leaving he said nothing.

Two streets over the whore pointed out the general store that sold dresses and other womanly needs. "Well, let's see what they have," Roy wondered, following the woman into the store. A short while later she had found something that pleased him and had her keep the new clothes on, her old dress wrapped up in brown paper. He took her by the hand, as if afraid she was going to bolt down the street with her newfound clothes.

Ten minutes later, they entered the hotel and if the clerk recognized her he gave no indication of it. Finding an empty table, he held the chair for her and then sat himself down. He ordered two steaks, mashed potatoes and green beans and apple pie for desert. He ordered her two bottles of root beer while he had a beer for himself.

They quietly ate, she rather quickly as if afraid the food would disappear before she could finish it.

"Tell me about yourself," he said in a commanding tone, wondering if she was really worth his time.

It became a long tale of loss. Loss of her homeland, loss of her husband, loss of her money saved from the old country...

"I'm sorry," he said, not really sure what else to say. "How much to spend the week?"

Silence... then "Twenty dollars?" she said more as a question.

"I'll give you fifty but I want all your time." He reached into his pouch and pulled out ten five-dollar gold pieces and placed them in her palm. It seemed more like a gift than a payment and had gone unnoticed by the other diners, none of which recognized the woman from the saloon.

Mary stared at the coins resting in her hand as if unsure what to do. She had never been in this situation before and was unsure what to do... accept the gift for what it was or get up and flee the generous stranger that she had just met.

Roy coughed. He would have thought it was a simple cut-and-dried proposition.

Her hand closed on the coins just as the pie was set down on the table. "I haven't had pie in such a long time," she said, "thank you."

*****

They went for a walk after dinner, ending up back at the saloon where she picked up her underthings to take back to the hotel. She wasn't sure what would happen when they returned but decided that wasn't her problem. She had been embarrassed before.

They walked up the stairs to the second floor where his room was and left her clothing there, deciding to visit the vaudeville theater down the street near the bank. He reminded himself that the next morning he would have to visit the bank and deposit the rest of his coins.

He treated her more like a girlfriend than a lady-of-the-evening and was gentle that night as they came together several times. He felt comfortable with the touch of her body against his.

*****

The next morning, after breakfast of steak, hash browns and eggs, he got his gold from the hotel safe and they walked to the First National Bank, his hand on his gun just in case.

"I would like to deposit this gold," he told the bank manager. "I am bringing it from Alaska and want to settle down here. I have more in San Francisco."

The manager's eyes were wide open as he counted the coins, eventually coming up with a total amount of twenty-two thousand six hundred dollars. "I'm sure we can accommodate you, sir. Will you be needing paper bills?"

"Yes, leave me, let's say, five hundred."

Roy pulled out his billfold and put the money in. The manager gave him the deposit book with the entree.

"Time for lunch," Roy said, "let's go." The couple left the bank and walked to a nearby German cafe where they had sandwiches and coffee.

"I'm wondering where there's a real estate office around here. I should have asked at the bank. We'll go back."

*****

"I want to buy a ranch that's between ten thousand and twenty thousand acres. I want to raise cattle." He knew he was looking at 16 square miles.

The agent smiled to himself. The commission on such a sale would be tremendous. "I can take you out to see a few. There aren't that many for sale right now but the ones that are are well worth the asking price." He pulled out a large map that had several counties delineated and pointed out several parcels. "Here, here, and here," he said, "all have a good source of water for livestock as well as homesteading. How close do you want to be to town?"

"Close enough without being too close, I think you understand. I'm prepared to buy it today if that can be arranged."

"I'll bring my car around and we can leave in a minute. Have you had lunch?"

"Yes, we have, thanks."

Roy and Mary waited on the sidewalk while the agent, John by name, brought the car around the alley and waited in front of his office as the couple got in.

John pointed out various points of interest as they headed west along the gravel road, the heavy dust rising in their wake.

An hour later, they arrived at the first of the interesting parcels which had a small lake halfway back from the roadway. Roy got out his binoculars and inspected the property. He saw where a house could be easily built, close to the lake for water while not so close that it would be humid.

"I'll be looking for an architect, someone who really knows what he's doing."

John was happy. Things were going much better than he had hoped for and he stood to make even more with the referral of the architect.

*****

"I would like a six-bedroom house with a covered porch all the way around and a place for automobiles not too far away as well as a stable for six or seven horses. There has to be a water tower to supply the buildings. Am I forgetting anything?" He turned to his red-headed companion, seeking a response.

"Southern exposure for the parlor," she said, surprised that her opinion held any weight. What did he have in mind? She looked at him, wondering what was in his mind.

"I was thinking," he began, "would you be interested in marrying me? I think we would do well together."

'Well, that explains that,' she thought. 'Why her, though? There had to be plenty of women who were more suitable.'

He stood there, waiting for an answer, not used to the hesitation she was showing.

"Yes, I'll marry you," she said, having so much loss in her life that she was willing to reach for anything she could. "Yes."

"Anyone you want to invite?"

"Just my friend from the saloon. That's all."

*****

"... and do you, Mary Owens, take Roy Campanella, to be your lawfully wedded husband, so help you God, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live??

"I do..." and she was married, seeking a much better life than that which she had been trapped.

Roy and Mary had a wedding dinner, inviting her friend from the saloon. Only by the grace of God were their positions not reversed. Roy compensated the woman for her time.

Several days later, the newlyweds met with an architect to see what he had drawn up and with just a few changes and additions, Roy approved the blueprints and sketches. The house was two-story with the covered porch all the way around, suitable for outdoor living in all kinds of weather except the most harsh of winters. The house had been shifted so that the parlor was facing south and the kitchen north. The master bedroom was twice the size of the others and had its own bathroom with both a shower and tub. There were four fireplaces, one in the parlor and three sharing the bedrooms.

The west side of the house had space for a vegetable garden while the stable had an attached coop for several hundred chickens. Nearby would be a water tower that serviced the buildings and boiler.

"I forgot," Roy said, "I need a bunkhouse for the cowboys and ranch hands. Put it on the other side of the stable but close enough that it wouldn't be a problem during the wet seasons and three fireplaces like in the ranch house."

A week later, the property had changed hands and building had started on the house. Roy and Mary had bought a large tent to live in while construction was taking place and two months later, the house had been completed. It was a bright white with blue trim and shutters. She supervised the planting of trees around the house to provide shade that would would be needed in the north Texan summer and Roy bought her a 1904 bright red Cadillac Model A for $750 and a Model B for $850, hiring a man to drive her to town for what she wanted to purchase. She was like a child at Christmas as she went from one furniture store to another in Dallas buying everything that caught her eye and arranging to have it delivered from French style sofas to bedroom furniture for the six rooms on the second floor. She wanted to wait for a cook before buying a stove and oven and icebox.

She was glad when the new furniture began to be delivered, tired of sleeping in the tent in a sleeping bag but was mature enough to see what tomorrow would bring.

Roy, on the other hand, had made arrangements for his fortune to be transferred from San Francisco to Dallas with a money order for one million seven hundred thousand dollars, just in time to avoid the great earthquake that leveled the city. When the bank manager realized the extent of his new depositor there was nothing he couldn't do for his visitor.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to telegraph the San Francisco bank to verify these funds." He made arrangements for Roy to have a room at the best hotel in Dallas and invited him to share dinner with him. It wasn't everyday that a millionaire walked into his bank.

There was no way for Roy to contact Mary but he had told her that he might spend the night in Dallas, the traveling distance not easy to traverse late at night.

Later that afternoon came the reply that the funds were legitimate and that they would miss the depositor.

He went to a lumber yard to arrange for ten cords of wood to be delivered for the winter.

*****

The next day, Roy went to the stockyards to price cattle, Hereford in particular, looking for a good bargain without losing quality. The cattle were known for many good traits including longevity and number of calves.

He wasn't sure how many to buy. His research had indicated that one head of beef would need two acres of grassland, which he knew he had plenty of, ten thousand three hundred acres, more or less. He decided to start out small and expand from there. But first, he had to fence off his property to keep the cattle from wandering off and to do that he needed to hire ranch hands and house servants for his new wife. She was his wife, he realized, not a servant.

Mary had returned to the ranch, driven by Peter who was very proud of driving the automobile and he kept the shiny red car in prime condition in its place of pride in the stable, polishing the car out of the sunshine.

Consuela, in her early thirties and with a small boy, Tomaso, was a widow, and busy in the kitchen preparing dinner. Roy was glad that he liked Mexican food for he was sure that that would be the majority of food offered. As time went on, he was sure that the fare would be expanded. Mary had bought two iceboxes for the kitchen and arranged for ice to be delivered twice a week, knowing that there were going to be many more people at the ranch. Groceries were bought by Consuela and Peter using the ranch wagon until arrangements were made to have them delivered.

Roy sat in the parlor, lit up by oil lamps and music provided by a Victrola, "I can't tell how I love you but I do," waiting for dinner to be called. For the time being, Consuela would live in the main house. Peter lived in the ranch hands' house. Every now and then Roy would grill steaks and the four would eat together.

*****

Peter and Roy took the Model A into town to hire hands for the ranch. They stopped for a cold beer. Roy was sure that he could find enough workers at the same place he found Peter. Unsure as to how many he should hire, he had visited the nearby ranches and asked what they had done. Among the six he hired were several that had been released from prison, having been convicted for what he considered minor offenses brought on by hunger. He made arrangements to get enough horses to outfit the workers and paid them the standard rate of a dollar a day.

The ranch hand house had been finished along with a basement for protection from tornadoes and the seven men now working there were established in the quarters. The next day, they went to work fencing the property into four parcels of four square miles each.

In the meantime, Roy and Peter had rode into Fort Worth to arrange for several hundred chickens to be delivered into the new coop. He figured he needed ten roosters to accomplish what he wanted to do and Mary was waiting with Consuela for their arrival. The two men returned with the knowledge that there would be enough eggs and fresh chickens to eat after they had been settled.

Mary asked Roy if she could hire her friend from the saloon to help Consuela in the house and he agreed, anything to keep Mary happy for he had fallen deeply in love with the Irish girl. He hoped that she had felt the same way about him.

Peter drove Mary back to town to meet with Susan and after a short talk, Mary was able to convince her to return to the ranch with the two of them. The life of a prostitute was not one to be...

*****

Susan, the new girl, and Consuela divided the chickens into two groups, one for eggs and one for eating. The second group was allowed to hatch their eggs and raise the chicks to adulthood. When she wasn't working with the chickens, Susan kept up the housecleaning and helped in the kitchen. While it was different than working at the saloon, she knew that it was a much better life than what had awaited her before and she could see her friend everyday now.

*****

That night, Mary reached over to Roy and held him in her hands, bringing a strength that she had only felt occasionally in her previous life. She leaned over and kissed him, whispering, "Make me a baby."

He had waited for her to give her feelings known to him, and now he was sure that she cared for him as much as he cared for her.

*****

The following morning, Susan collected eggs in her two large baskets and then fed the hens, calling them "here, chicky, chicky," She decided to wait before harvesting five hens to chicken dinner.

Roy had bought several Fannie Farmer cookbooks for the three women to use as he realized that Mexican food would not be accepted for long. The smell of baking cornbread filled the house as well as steak and baked potatoes. Fresh bread was prepared every morning for the evening meal and served with softened butter and honey. He thought about getting some hives but was unsure if that was a good idea with the women working outside the house... and if there were children, so much not so.

Peter assumed the role of foreman based on his early hiring and driver position. He took a shine to Susan and would spend time with her in the evening on the back porch, sharing ice tea with her as they talked about the future and what it had in store for them. As the time went on, their romance blossomed to the point where they thought about getting married.

*****

"There are some men here who want to speak with you regarding oil leases on your property." The bank manager had driven out to see Roy, ever interested in making more money for himself by commission. There had been great talk about what was being called the "Fort Worth" basin, rich with natural gas and Roy's property was located in it.

"We can drill in just a parcel of your property and you can still run cattle on the rest of it. The going rate is a dollar a barrel and we anticipate that you will get about the same commission as oil production."

Roy thanked the men for their interest and promised to get back to them through the bank manager but wanted to talk to his wife, first.

After dinner he met with his wife in the parlor about the visitors they had earlier in the day.

"Well, that explains what they want. What do we want? I don't want to miss out and yet I don't want us to be cheated."

"It would double the amount of money we would have," she said, doing the math in her head quickly.

Roy looked at her, glad that she was more than a pretty face. "I think it would be a good idea," he said, "money with no work, although that's not the way I was raised." He kissed her cheek. "It'll be for the baby."

"What baby?" she asked.

"This one," he answered, pushing her toward the bedroom.

*****

Papers were signed and the following month oil men arrived to drill for gas on the farthest piece of property that Roy owned.

*****

Roy looked for his wife and finally entered their bedroom, finding the three women kneeling on the floor next to the bed, saying the rosary. He was surprised, not thinking she was that religious. He quietly stood in the doorway, watching, finally walking away.

Christmas came that year and with it the winter early enough so Roy had everyone sleep in the ranch house, the fireplaces keeping the building warm. The men took turns sleeping in the bedrooms. It fell to Peter to keep the fires going in each room, having used coal oil to start.

Christmas dinner started with roast beef, roast pork, mashed potatoes, greens, and for desert there was cherry pie and apple pie. After Christmas Eve dinner, he handed out holiday cards with one hundred dollars in twenties each for everyone that worked there although he knew that until the weather cleared it would be a while until they could take advantage of their largess.

The cold snap stayed until after New Year's and it was like a huge party for everyone involved. Roy passed out Hershey chocolate bars to the men each evening while they had roast beef sandwiches for lunch and dinner and oatmeal cookies for desert. Each morning scrambled eggs and biscuits...

*****

As soon as the weather warmed, the men continued to fence off the property to keep the prospective cattle out of the oil fields. Mary spent her time with Roy in the bedroom, hoping to have that baby she wanted so much, for everything that he had done for her she could only wish it would be enough.

"Sweetheart," she began, "we still want a baby, don't we?"

"Of course, why?"

"I don't know, nothing's happened." She was on the verge of tears as she looked at her husband.

Roy moved over to her and held her in his arms. Even though their romance had only grown in the recent months, he was deeply in love with the woman. "Don't worry, baby, we'll be alright." He leaned back with her in his arms, slowly taking her clothes off one piece at a time. He kissed her breasts with reverence and then moved his fingers to her thighs with a gentle rubbing that soon brought a response from her deep within her heart. He brought his face down and began to kiss as she lay moaning privately to herself.

He brought her to the privacy of their bed and smoothly entered her and back again until he could wait no longer and exploded even though he tried to wait.

*****

The seven hands met the cattle drivers along the roadway and brought them to the closest parcel of land. It held the lake for the cattle could drink without having to be assisted. Each day the men would ride around the one thousand cattle to make sure everything was all right. They took turns riding at night in pairs to protect the herd from predators and thieves. Each man wore handguns that Roy had obtained for them.

In the house the women were listening to Billy Murray on the Victrola as one popular song after another was played. Roy sat in the parlor reading "War of the Worlds" by Wells, finding the disaster story very interesting. He wondered if it would ever happen.

Consuela was preparing hamburgers for everyone, two each, that were brought out to the men by Peter by horseback. The new sandwiches were becoming popular and were easy to eat, especially while riding a horse.

The cattle huddled together to stay warm in the slight breeze that brought cold air down from the north, along with coyotes and other varmints.

Roy was glad he wasn't out in the cold, remembering his time in Alaska while he searched for gold... and here he was, a year later, rich and in the warmth of a good woman. He put the book down and opened his newspaper. There was a small article about the Wright brothers and their flying machine.

"Bring the men in," Roy told Peter, seeing that it was getting colder and colder and would serve no purpose keeping them out. There was nothing they could do about the temperature. Peter left the kitchen to seek out the riders.

It began to snow and Roy had realized that his decision was the right one. The men eventually came in after putting their horses away in the stable and settled down in the parlor where the fireplace was giving off warmth. They spread out on the floor and did the best they could to soak up the heat.

Mary took Roy by the hand and led him upstairs to their bedroom where the fireplace had been heating the room for a while, already. He closed and locked the door, not wishing to be interrupted for what was to come.

*****

The next morning the snow was three feet deep and Roy knew nothing was going to be done except feeding the horses and chickens and so that was done by the men, the women staying in the house. A rope was strung between the house and the stable to make sure they didn't get lost in the snowfall.

With no new provisions from town, they were left with chicken and eggs and freshly baked bread. Each day they lit only one house lamp to conserve lamp oil, knowing that whatever they had had to last until the winter blizzard had gone.

Lunch consisted of chicken soup and bread and dinner was fried chicken and biscuits. Roy wondered how much longer they could last and promised himself that he would buy a tremendous amount of canned food to alleviate the next time.

"I am so hungry," complained Mary, wishing for something more to eat than just a piece of chicken and one piece of biscuit.

*****

"The men were thinking," said Peter, "that there's a lot of frozen beef out there waiting for us to eat it. We can try and bring some of it in."

"Isn't to cold to send the men out?"

"They're will to try, Boss. Let's do it."

"Volunteers only, Peter."

The ranch hands rode out to drag back one frozen cow, desperate times need desperate measures. It took two hours to drag one back to the stable where they took turns with an ax chopping up the cow. One roughly cut roast was carried into the kitchen and put into the preheated oven. Consuela promised to watch the meat bake carefully, guessing it would take a couple of hours. The men stayed in the kitchen for its warmth having taken off their heavy jackets.

"This is the best meat I've ever had," said Steven, chewing on the meat that was still a little tough. A great laugh rose from table as each man nodded his head in agreement.

Following that culinary discovery, meat and chicken was on the table each day until it had warmed up that the animals could survive on their own.

Mary sat down in the parlor, keeping track of the number of cattle the men said had died, They lost half the chickens and about two hundred cattle. She felt bad, knowing that the losses could have been worse if the blizzard continued much longer. She was aware of Roy's gross worth and kept it to herself, feeling it was no one's business except for her husband and herself.

*****

The weather turned for the better, the grass grew again, the chickens laid their eggs and hatched them, and life returned to what had been thought of as normal. Because of the winter's effects, Roy decided to not sell any and use them to build up the herd to its previous number. The women planted tomatoes, carrots, beans and potatoes.

*****

The Fourth of July finally arrived and Roy hosted a barbecue for the orphans at the church orphanage sponsored by the Church. He had told his men to construct a coop for fifty chickens so that the children could have fresh eggs every morning.

Mary and Susan had made friends with the nuns and supported them each week with donations. They felt it was penance for their previous life as prostitutes although they now lived the straight and narrow. Once in a while they stayed for morning Mass, feeling better about themselves that ever before. Mary sometimes felt bad when she saw the young orphans, still wanting a baby of her own. Was it never to happen for her?

She walked hand in hand with Roy, watching the ranch hands give the orphans rides on their horses. The weather was calm and the afternoon was cool, even though it was the beginning of July. That evening the fireworks for the Fourth were set off, bringing the day to an end.

Mary spoke to the Sister, "Are all four sisters? Two sets twins?"

"Yes, Mrs. Campanella, that's true. Their parents died with the flu last year and they've been quiet ever since. They're four and five years old."

"You've named them with French names?"

"Their parents were from New Orleans. Martine, Claudine, Antoinette and Cosette. Why are you so interested? Do you want to adopt them? What would your husband say? Four children all at once nothing to be laughed at."

"I want them. I have help in the house and we can afford four children and my husband will do what I ask."

And so, Mary and Susan escorted the four girls into the house and prepared them for bed, keeping the twins together and in each room. Mary wasn't sure how she was going to tell Roy of her decision but knew it would have to be before the next day was over.

The hands took the children back to the orphanage with six wagons from the ranch and then were to stop in town at the dance hall and return the next morning. Roy remembered his own time in town when he first came to Fort Worth and didn't say anything to the men about their behavior.

The next noon, the men returned to the ranch, several dollars poorer and slightly hungover and with smiles on their faces and ten cases of Coca-Cola.

*****

That same morning, Mary brought the four girls downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Roy expressed surprise at seeing the girls, wondering where they came from. "Mary?" he asked.

"Good morning, Daddy," she said, and introduced each girl in turn, wondering how he was going to take the surprise so early in the morning.

"Mary... what do you mean?"

"I want this... I need this."

He could tell she was serious. He got up from his place at the table and embraced her, she resting her head on his shoulder. She began to cry. He couldn't bear to see her cry. Roy looked at the four small figures on the other end of the table and could see that they were going to start crying themselves.

"Well," he started to say, but then was quiet, knowing that speaking would accomplish nothing and so he moved toward the girls, who backed up in fear until he put his hands out and held them together, hoping that was enough to express his acceptance of them into his house and home.

"Bonjour, papa," the older girls said, "merci."

Consuela brought plates of scrambled eggs to the girls. Tommy was already eating. He had already thought of Roy as his father and now understood that he had four sisters to add to his family. Each girl got a breakfast roll to eat with their eggs and a glass of milk.

Roy finished his breakfast and carried his plate to the sink, finally heading into his study where the paperwork for the month was. He always checked what Mary had written but never found anything to correct.

Between the three women and himself, he figured they would learn English fast enough. He wondered if Mary had any other surprises in store for him. A man doesn't need to understand a woman, just make her happy.

He brought the German Shepherd into the house and introduced him to the girls. "Chien," said Claudine, kneeling down next to the dog and petting him, her head resting on the animal.

*****

Roy drove into town to the bookstore and bought one hundred of the best titles for Mary and Susan. He also found a number of children's books for Tommy and the girls. The book clerk wrapped up the books and helped carry them out to the automobile for the trip back to the ranch. He found several Spanish language books for Consuela. He was very happy with the woman and the work that she did.

He wanted to make another trip to the candy store and bought LifeSavers and Hershey kisses, keeping an eye on his car to make sure nothing was stolen while he was in the candy shop.

It was a long drive back to the ranch, warm in the early afternoon, and he was glad to finally arrive at the ranch but as he walked into the house he noticed it was silent, something that with five children was unusual. And then he saw them... a stranger had Claudine by the throat, holding her in front of him with a gun aimed at her head.

"Tombe," said Roy and she fell to the floor, dead weight that the gunman was surprised to hold and Roy pulled out his own gun and put three into the man's chest. "Where's Peter?" Roy angrily asked, wondering where the man was.

"He's in the kitchen," answered Mary, starting to cry. "He's..."

Roy walked in the kitchen, then stopped, seeing Peter on the floor, bleeding from a gunshot to the stomach. "Oh, Jesus," Roy prayed, and went to his knees next to the man that he now thought of as his best friend. He lifted the stricken man onto the kitchen table and tore open Peter's shirt to find the bullet hole. He took a steak knife from the drawer and put it in a pot of boiling water that was being prepared for lunch. He scrubbed his hands in the sink and then cut open the man's stomach to find the bullet. He eventually found it and turned to Mary who had been standing there the entire time and told her to get a needle and thread and put them into the boiling water so he could suture the work he had done.

He put a kitchen towel under Peter's head and then went into the parlor to see the man that he had killed... at least, he hoped he had killed for he was going to shoot him again if he had to.

The man was dead. "What happened?" he asked Mary who had calmed down by now.

"The man said he was making a delivery for you and then he shot Peter and took Claudine by the throat and said he wanted five thousand dollars and then you came home and..." and she started to cry again. And then he saw the dog laying on the floor, bleeding from its own gunshot wound. He quickly picked up the dog and searched for the wound, knowing the brave animal deserved as much help as he could give it. Twenty minutes later he was finished, doing the best he could.

"Chien attacked the man and got shot. He deserves whatever we can do."

*****

"Take that scum outside and bury him in the oil field," Roy told three of his men who had arrived after hearing all the gunfire. He held the little girl to him and told her it was going to be all right, the bad man was gone. No one felt like eating.

"How did you learn how to do that?"

"Army... Alaska."

She wondered whatever secrets he still kept hidden.

Mary lay on the bed, her arm over her eyes. She had stopped crying and just looked at the man she had married who had taken control of the situation without hesitation. "You saved our daughter," she said quietly. "Thank you."

"She's my daughter, too. Here, let me hold you." He moved over to the edge of the bed and put out his arms. She moved into his embrace and kissed him, secure in his warmth and it wasn't too long until they were making love.

*****

There was little talk about what happened, especially after Peter was up and walking slowly around the house. He told Roy that he was jumped without warning, shot without warning, left to die on the kitchen floor. He apologized for what he considered a dereliction of duty, failing to protect the household. Roy responded by giving him five thousand dollars. The money came from the monthly oil payment that Roy received. Peter responded by asking Susan to marry him.

She said 'yes'.

*****

It was a small wedding with four flower girls, a matron of honor, a best man and groom and a blushing bride who had never thought the day would come. Roy paid for two weeks in Galveston for a honeymoon, something that he and Mary never had.

*****

Roy decided to get a tutor for the girls and Tommy and wrote to the University of Texas proposing a position at the ranch at the rate of fifteen dollars a week plus room and board. Two weeks later a young woman by the name of Anna Vozza arrived and introduced herself along with her letters of recommendation and transcript. Roy was satisfied with what he saw and showed the young woman to her bedroom and then introduced her to the five children. Her smile advertised her acceptance of the situation and she began to speak to them in French without hesitation.

Chien wandered into the parlor and lay down. The dog survived its brush with death and continued its self appointed task of guardian for the children, especially Claudine who had a special place in her heart for the dog who moved a little slower now.

The dog took up its place of honor next to the oven, now warming up with its propane charged heart.

Mary called Roy and asked him to the study, wishing to present her latest report... the monthly report of what she considered the best thing to do with the herd. The number of Hereford cattle was almost back to the numbers they had started with before the blizzard and she wanted to wait another season before selling some of them off. It was usually six months before the calves would be ready for market and after she explained her thinking Roy readily agreed. Marrying her had been a wonderful surprise for the two of them, each finding something that brought out the best in the other.

Roy looked down, Chien had joined the two of them and Roy reached down to smooth the dog's warm fur. He had come to respect the dog's feelings for the children, especially after the animal had put his life on the line for the girl.

"I have an idea," said Mary, "we can grow peaches and strawberries in the open pasture. If we took all the men it would only take a couple of days and we could plant a few hundred trees... what do you think?"

He hesitated for only a second. "I think that's a great idea. All we have to figure out is where do we get the trees."

"Harvester peach trees are the one to get for a good bounty," she said. "We can get them shipped in from Georgia by train and sell them in town in the fall."

Mary did her homework and sent a money order for two hundred trees to be shipped by rail. Two weeks later the trees arrived in Fort Worth and were picked up by wagon. The trees were planted ten feet apart in the best area for moisture.

That day at dinner Roy announced that the hands were going to get ten dollars a week effective immediately. He had already spoken with Anna and told her she would get fifteen dollars a week, the same as Consuela. He had done the math and was prepared to support his men without hesitation. Besides, the annual payments were only equivalent to one month's gas payment.

Susan spoke with Peter and convinced him to plant tomatoes, wanting to make some extra money selling the vegetables in town on Saturdays. He promised to speak to Roy about it the next morning.

*****

Roy handed Consuela a new cookbook... an Italian cookbook, with the idea of expanding the tastes of his workers and family. Using tomatoes from the newly established garden, she began to learn how to prepare sauces and salads in the Italian manner for which Roy congratulated her. He decided there was nothing like homemade spaghetti noodles which he had learned to like in San Francisco.

He left the woman and rode out to the gas fields, interested in how things were going with his property. He saw pipes galore and was glad that he picked the furthermost pasture for the exploration and knew right away that the monthly payments more than made up for any inconvenience.

The next pasture toward the house was the one with the herd and closer in were the newly planted peach trees. The ranch houses made up the remaining pasture land and Roy was satisfied with his planning. He thought about Mary and took his horse back to the house in a quick gait, wanting to see his wife. He knew that she had desired a baby of her own but he hoped that the four girls adopted would be enough for her.

He rode by the lake wondering if it were warm enough to go swimming. It would be fun to take Mary to the water but by the time he arrived at the house he found that she had left for town. Susan said that Mary was going to see the doctor and Roy immediately worried that she was feeling ill.

He wrote away for another icebox to put the colas into for the men and two weeks later it arrived. He had it situated in the ranch hands' house and arranged for extra ice to be delivered for it. They were heading into the summer months and he knew how hot it could get.

Along the way he signed a contract to provide beef to Camp Bowie just east of his property, but first he stopped at the Texas and Pacific Railway to buy two round trip tickets to New Orleans. It was going to be a surprise for Mary and he had Susan pack two suitcases suitable for a two week stay in the French Quarter.

*****

Peter drove the two to the Fort Worth station for the railway's overnight trip to New Orleans and they had a sleeper compartment for the journey. They made love to the vibration of the rails but when they arrived at New Orleans they found a yellow fever epidemic in place and immediately booked tickets to return to Texas to their disappointment. Roy realized that he should have done better knowledge before booking the tickets. He wondered what to do but Mary told him it was the thought that counted.

Going to Fort Worth, though, he got tickets to San Diego on the coast to spend the time with Mary at the ocean.

*****

They spent the time at the famous Coronado Hotel at the beach and he took her shopping at all the stores that catered to wealthy women. That evening they saw the new electric lights on Fourth Avenue. "You know," he said, "its time to bring electricity to the house.

"That's good," she answered, "because I'm pregnant."