“They are beautiful,” Kitty said. “And it looks like they all match.”
“I tell you the truth, Mrs. Wellington, they are near ’bout all as alike as peas in a pod,” Tyrone said. “But you are right. They are a good looking bunch of horses. I bet you hate to sell them off.”
Kitty laughed and held up her hand. “Well, let’s not go that far with it,” she said. “I don’t have any choice. I have to sell them off.”
“Yes, ma’am, I know,” Tyrone said. “But don’t it make you feel good to know that you got ’em right here, ready to go?”
“It makes me feel very good,” Kitty replied. “You and the others did a really good job. And when you get back up to the house, I’ve got something that will show my appreciation.”
“Now, Mrs. Wellington, you don’t have to do nothin’ to show your appreciation,” Tyrone said. “You are real easy to work for, and the boys and me are glad to be here. And roundin’ up these horses? Well, that was our job, that’s all.”
“Then let’s just say we’ll be celebrating the fact that the horses will be sold soon, and there will be enough money to keep you and all the others working here.”
“Yes’m, well, keepin’ a job, now, that is somethin’ worth celebratin’.”
Even before the riders returned to the compound they could smell the rich, enticing aroma of cooking meat. Then, when they rode up the bunkhouse they saw, on the lawn between the bunkhouse and the big house, a huge haunch of beef on a spit, glistening a deep brown as the cook turned it slowly over an open fire.
“Yahoo!” Crack yelled, taking his hat off and beating it against his trouser leg. That action raised so much dust that some of the riders nearest him had to cough.
“Tell you what, boys,” Tyrone said. “I think maybe before we set down to this meal, we ought to get cleaned up.”
“Hell, I always wash up before I eat,” Crack said. “That’s somethin’ my mama taught me a long time ago.”
“I don’t mean just wash your face and hands,” Tyrone said. “I mean take a bath and put on clean clothes. This here is an occasion, and we need to act like gentlemen.”
“Tyrone is right,” Prew said. “We need to take us a real bath.”
“Hell, I took me a bath no more than two weeks ago,” one of the riders said.
“You’re goin’ to take another one today,” Tyrone said. “That is, if you want to eat with the rest of us.”
“All right, all right, I’ll take me another’n. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me none if you didn’t start sayin’ we had to take a bath ever’ other week, or so.”
Tubs were hauled out, filled with water, and the men, in turn, began washing away the dirt. As Matt and Kitty sat together on the back porch of the big house, they couldn’t see the ranch hands because the tubs were blocked by the bunkhouse, but they could hear the loud laughter and teasing as the men took their baths.
“Damn, Jake, look at that! You were so dirty you done turned that water into mud!” somebody shouted, and the taunt was met with more laughter.
The cook brought out a big pot of beans and several loaves of freshly baked bread to augment the meal. The aroma of the cooking meat continued to fill the entire compound.
“I hope they enjoy it,” Kitty said.
“Are you kidding? Listen to them. They are having the time of their lives,” Matt replied.
“They are one of the reasons I so want this to work,” Kitty said. “I’ve never had a family, Matt. The closest I ever came was at the orphanage, and Captain Mumford was so cruel that any sense of family was eliminated just by the effort of surviving. These men are truly my family. It’s not just for selfish reasons I want to save the ranch. I want to save this family.”
“You are not going to lose this ranch, Katherine. I promise you,” Matt said.
“Matt, after we go to Chicago, sell the horses, and get the money, you will come back with me, won’t you?”
“Yes, of course,” Matt said. “The way I see it, delivering the horses is only half of the job. The job won’t be finished until the bank has been paid off, and the ranch is in your hands, free and clear.”
“Then what?” Kitty asked.
“What do you mean?”
“What will you do after the bank is paid off, and the ranch is mine, free and clear?”
“All right, here we are,” Prew shouted, coming around from behind the bunkhouse, bathed, and wearing clean clothes. His appearance and shout precluded Matt from answering Kitty’s question.
“Yeah, when do we eat?” Crack asked.
By now, every rider had appeared, freshly scrubbed, all wearing clean, and in some cases, new clothes. Jake was particularly proud of his new yellow shirt, for which he was soliciting compliments.
“Hah, if you ask me, it looks like somethin’ a whore house piano player would be wearin’,” Prew said.
“All right, fellas, come and get it!” the cook called, and there was a rush of all the ranch hands to get plates, and get them filled. Kitty had even bought a barrel of beer, and within minutes, the evening meal had turned into a party.
“The only thing we need now is some women and music,” Crack said. “Iffen we had that, why we could dance and have us a fine time.”
“I’m a woman, and I can dance,” Kitty said. “And Jake, I’ve heard you play the harmonica.”
