Home Before Sundown

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“I’m really proud of the way you sit that mustang, George,” Papa said, “but we’ve got to get you a saddle.”

“Yes, sir.” George grinned up at him. Papa was the best horseman he knew—even better than the Sioux and Cheyenne they’d crossed paths with—and hearing that made him proud.

By the time they arrived at the town of Woody Draw in the Black Hills of Dakota a year or so later, George was riding Nightfall most of the time—except when memories of those last days on the rancho threatened to overcome him. Then Papa would take him up before him on Sunrise and hold him until he felt better.

Woody Draw wasn’t much of a town at that point, although its populace had great hopes for it—since the stage line already had a stop there, it made sense to them that the railroad would have a branch as well. That was somewhere down the road, though. Now, mostly it was still a tent city. However, wooden buildings were starting to go up. On the main street there were a number of houses leading into town and a number leading out—the better, Papa said, to avoid the dust of summer and the mud of winter and spring. In between were clusters of businesses, consisting of the jail, a telegraph office, the stage depot, the livery stable, a general store, a hotel, and a couple of saloons.

George stared wide-eyed at the women who lounged on the wooden walk in front of one of the saloons that had a sign above the door that read Diamond Garter.

“They’re so pretty!” Not as pretty as his Mama had been, but still very nice to look at.

“Thank you, young man,” one of the women called out, and George blushed.

“She called me a man, Papa!”

“So she did.” Papa tipped his hat to them and said in a quiet voice, “Those ladies live over the saloon. They have to work for their living, and while I don’t want you mingling with them—at least not until you’re older—you’re always to be polite to them.”

“Yes, Papa.”

Papa raised his voice. “Ma’am, can you tell me if your fine town has a saddle maker?”

“That it does, handsome. Ike down to the livery stable has a talent for them, along with mucking out the stalls.” She laughed. “It’s right down thataway.”

“Thank you kindly, ma’am.”

“I’m Polly.”

“Polly.” Papa tipped his hat again.

“Come back and see us,” one of the younger women called.

“Shut up, you cow. “ Polly slapped her. “He’s got his kid with him.”

“Hey! I gotta work tonight! Oral’ll dock me if you mark my face.”

“Then watch your tongue.”

As they began to ride on, George heard the woman say in a soft tone, “Ma’am. You hear that? I’m a lady, I am.”

Their raucous laughter followed George and Papa down the dusty street.

It didn’t take too long to reach the stable, and as Polly had mentioned, a man was mucking out a stall.

“Are you Ike?” Papa asked.

“I am.”

“I’ve been told you’re a good saddle maker.”

“I am.”

“My boy needs a saddle.”

The man leaned on the pitchfork and looked over Papa’s saddle. “I can make you a saddle,” he told George. “Can’t promise it’ll be as fancy as the one your pa is setting on. Not to say I couldn’t make it, just that all that fancy leatherwork would take me about six months.”

“I don’t need anything fancy, sir.”

“That’s a right polite boy you’ve got there.”

“Yeah.”

“For the black?”

“Yeah,” Papa said again. Nightfall was bigger than Papa’s mare, but he had a calmer temperament, which was why Papa had George ride him. That didn’t mean George couldn’t ride Sunrise…

George could see Papa was nervous. He always got nervous when anyone commented about him, afraid word might get back to his grandpapa. But George wasn’t worried. Don Jorge hadn’t caught up with them yet.

“How long will it take for you to finish the saddle?”

“How fast do you need it? What I mean is, if you’re not in much of a rush, I can do a bang-up job, but I’ll need about a month.”

“That long?” Papa didn’t like to stay in any one place for long.

“I don’t have the leather just now, but a man I know should be coming into town in a few days.” He grinned at George, showing a gap between his teeth. “Want me to dye the leather? I can make it black like your horse.”

George would like that, but they couldn’t stay that long. He glanced at Papa, surprised to see his intent gaze. “Papa?”

Papa turned back to the saddle maker. “How much?” he asked.

Señor Ike told him, and Papa let out a whistle.

“It’ll be worth the wait.”

“It’s gonna cost enough,” Papa said.

“Tell you what. If you ain’t happy with it, you won’t owe me a single red cent.”

“What do you say?” Papa glanced at George.

“I don’t need a saddle now.” He knew the money belt Papa wore under his shirt was starting to get thin.

“You’re breaking my heart, kid. A man’s gotta make a living.”

“I reckon so. It’ll be your birthday soon, son,” Papa said. “Okay, Ike. You make that saddle, and if it’s as fine as you say it will be, I’ll pay your price.”

“You won’t regret it, I promise you.”

“What are we going to do for a month, Papa?”

“What do you say we take a look around? There seems to be some mighty pretty scenery in these parts.”

“I say I’d like that.”

“All right, then. We’ll stop at the general store, restock our supplies, and then head on out.”

While they were in the general store, Papa let it be known if anyone had any horses they wanted broke, they should look him up.

The townspeople laughed until Papa shook out his lasso and put Sunrise through her paces, sending her dancing across the dusty street and weaving through the huge loop of rope. She ended with one leg bent at the knee and the other stretched out in front of her, surprising everyone with a bow. Papa swept off his hat and bowed too.

The people applauded and a few even tossed some coins their way. George slid from Nightfall’s back and gathered them up while Papa wound the rope and tied it back to his saddle horn.

“You know something, mister?” the grocer said. “You don’t need to break any horses. Just put on another show like that, and you should do fine.”

Papa just gave him a little smile. “I’ll be back in town in a few days. You good people let me know.”

“Was that a good idea, Papa?” George asked as they rode out of town, their supplies stored on Sancho Panza’s back. He could have done those same tricks on Nightfall, but they still worried about drawing attention to them.

“We need the money.” He patted the pocket of his vest, where he’d placed the coins. “We’ll just have to make sure we keep our eyes open.”

* * * *

Papa spun the tale of how he’d met George’s uncle Guillermo, whom he called Bill. “You come by your horsemanship honestly, George. Your Tío Bill was a wild man on horseback. We were celebrating an excellent roundup, and he had that bangtail of his jump onto the bar in the cantina we were in from a standstill. A standstill, Georgie! That bar had to be about four foot high. Even I couldn’t pull off a stunt like that!”

While Papa spoke about that time, he let Sunrise have her head and didn’t pay much mind to the trail she selected.

That was how they found the valley tucked away in the Black Hills. A series of small waterfalls descended to a stream that ran the length of the valley, watering it. Deer, elk, and antelope, along with beaver and bobcats made their home there. Pine, quaking aspen, and bur oak grew within its boundaries. A small herd of buffalo grazed at the far end of the valley.

“Well.” Papa blew out a breath. “Why don’t you fetch some firewood? I’ll see whether that stream has any fish for dinner.”

“What about deer, Papa? Or maybe a buffalo?”

“Only as a last resort. We don’t want to spook them.”

“We could use my bow and arrows.” They’d stayed with a few Indian tribes, and the boys had not only showed George how to craft the weapon but they’d taught him how to shoot it.

“That’s a good idea, son. But first we’ll take care of the animals.”

George nodded. Papa had taught him that was the most important thing, because you could never tell when you might need a rested horse.

Papa took the pack saddle tree from Sancho Panza’s back, watered and grained him, and set him out to graze. George rubbed down Nightfall.

“Good work, George. Now why don’t you see what you can get with your bow and arrows? I’ll take care of Sunrise, then go fishing.” He grinned at George, and George felt his heart swell with the confidence Papa had in him.

He managed to get a prairie dog, and he skinned and gutted it the way Papa had shown him, then gathered twigs for kindling and deadfall for firewood and got the fire started.

As it turned out, there were fish in the stream, which was cold and swift- running, and Papa caught a couple of brown trout.

After he cleaned them, he laid them on a woven grill of green twigs and set to making coffee.

“Can I have a cup, Papa?”

“No. It’ll stunt your growth.”

“When can I have coffee?”

“I’d say in about ten years.”

“The same time I can visit with those ladies?” Although George wasn’t too sure what he was supposed to do with them.

Papa chuckled. “Yeah, I reckon.”

“Can we stay here?”

“I think…yes. And you know what? Once you have your saddle, we’ll go buy a few head of cattle to stock the valley.”

“What are we going to call it?”

“Home, Georgie. I think we’ll call it home.”

* * * *

The next day, Papa took an instrument from his saddlebag. George hadn’t seen it before. “I’m going to survey this valley, son. When we go back to town to get your saddle, I’ll file a claim on the land. It’s going to be ours.”

“How will we pay for it, Papa?”

Papa grinned at him and yanked up his shirt. He opened his money belt and took out a brooch. “I was going to give this to your mama when Mora was born, but…”

George went to him and wrapped his arms around his Papa’s waist. “I miss her.”

“So do I. Oh God, so do I.” There were tears in his eyes. “You know something, Georgie? There’s an old saying. A woman’s heart is like a campfire. If you don’t tend to it regular, you’ll soon lose it.”

“You tended Mama’s heart, didn’t you?”

“I did. I’ll tell you something. I consider myself the luckiest man on earth, because your mama loved me.”

“Will I find someone to love?”

“Yes. Do you know why?”

“Why, Papa?”

“Because you’re a very lovable young man. And when you find someone you love and who loves you in return, you hold on for all you’re worth. Promise me you will.”

“I promise.”

“Good boy. Now what do you say we explore our new home? We’ll need a shelter to weather the winter months, and we won’t have time to build us a cabin, so we’ll find a good spot and dig a soddy.”

* * * *

In the month they were in their valley, they rode into town once a week or so to work with some horses or put on a show with Sunrise, earning them some spare money. They also got a lot done on the house they built from squares of sod. Papa dug out a space under a hillock and showed George how to cut the sod and place it. It had one large room, but Papa intended to add a couple more for bedrooms, a room for cold storage, and a storm shelter in case a tornado touched down.

“I’ll get my own bedroom, Papa?”

“That you will. Now, go get cleaned up. It’s time to ride to Woody Draw to pick up your saddle. And I think we’d better stock up on more supplies.”

George shivered with excitement. He could ride bareback, but he was ready to have a saddle. His butt tended to get sore without one.

“And once I’ve got my saddle, we’ll ride to the nearest ranch and buy a few head of cattle to start our own herd, just like you said, Papa.”

“Yeah, Georgie.” Papa grinned at him. “We will.”

George could barely contain his excitement. They were going to be vaqueros!