sheep.”
“I believe they were Basque,” Rebecca said.
“They were what?”
“Basque,” Rebecca repeated. “It’s a group of people who originated in the Pyrenees between France and Spain.”
“How do know that?”
“I read about it,” Rebecca said. “The Basque have a long history of tending sheep, and a lot of them have come to America for that purpose.”
“Carmody, you are a most interesting young man,” Cornett said.
It took them forty-two days to reach Dodge City, and Cornett held them just south of the Arkansas River for two days before taking the herd into town. It was another two days before the herd was loaded onto the train and the cowboys were paid out.
Though everyone had missed a lot of sleep while on the trail, the cowboys were more eager to “have fun” than they were to catch up on their sleep. The first stop for most of them was a barbershop, where they had their hair trimmed and got professional shaves. Then they bought new clothes, took baths, dressed, and headed for the nearest saloon, dance hall, gambling establishment or whorehouse.
“Come on, Carmody, let’s go get a haircut and shave, then find us some friendly women,” Carter invited. “Well, in your case, I guess you’re too young to need a shave. But you ain’t too young to have yourself some fun.”
“Thank you, but I’d rather get a hotel room and catch up on my sleep,” Rebecca said.
“Sleep? Hell, why waste time sleepin’? You’re goin’ to die one of these days, then you can sleep forever. Come on. I’ll bet you ain’t ever even had a woman, have you?”
“I’d rather not, thank you just the same.”
“Leave the boy alone, Stewart,” Cornett said to the others. “When we start back he’ll still have his pay, and the only thing the rest of you will have will be bruised heads, hangovers, and a couple of cases of the clap.”
At the Dodge House Rebecca got a room, then asked for a key to the washroom.
“The men’s washroom is the one in front,” the desk clerk said as he handed the key to Rebecca.
For a moment, Rebecca hesitated. Should she take a key to the men’s room? She would have to, or she would be found out. On the other hand, what if another man came into the washroom while she was there?
“I, uh, am a very private person,” Rebecca said. “How private are the washrooms?”
“Sonny, once you go inside and lock the door, there ain’t nobody else goin’ to be comin’ in on you, if that’s what you’re worryin’ about,” the clerk said.
Rebecca smiled in relief. “Thank you,” she said.
Half an hour later, Rebecca let herself settle down into a tub full of hot water. It was the first real bath she had had since leaving home, and the sensation was delightful. After washing thoroughly, she just lay in the water for several moments, enjoying it.
Suddenly her moments of reverie were terminated by loud knocking outside.
“How long you goin’ to be in there, mister?” an insistent voice called from outside.
“I’m sorry,” Rebecca called back. “I’ll be right out.”
Rebecca got out of the tub, and drying herself as quickly as she could, put her clothes on over a body that was still half wet. Then, wrapping the towel around her head, she left the washroom and hurried down the hall toward her own room without making eye contact with the person who had hurried her so.
During the cattle drive up to Dodge, she had managed to keep one pair of denims and one shirt relatively clean, and that was what she put on now. She did not want to waste any money on buying any more men’s clothing, but neither did she want to buy women’s clothing, at least not until all the Rocking H cowboys were gone.
The Rocking H stayed in Dodge for at least two more days with the cowboys boisterous and noisy, sometimes riding at full gallop up and down Front Street, screaming at the top of their lungs, and often augmenting their huzzahs by firing their pistols into the air. Although every ounce of Rebecca’s being wanted to go look up her mother, she thought it best not to do so until the others left. And, since she had no intention of “rousting the town” with them, she spent all of her time in the hotel, leaving her room only to go downstairs to take her meals.
Finally, on the morning of the 25th of August, Cornett knocked on the door to her room.
“Carmody? Ron, you in there?”
Recognizing his voice, Rebecca put on her hat, then opened the door. “I’m here,” she said.
“We’re starting back,” he said. “We’ll be gathering out in front of the Wright-Beverly and Company General Store in about fifteen more minutes.”
“All right, thanks,” Rebecca said.
Rebecca closed the door and walked back over to look down onto Front Street from her hotel room window. She could see Julius Jackson standing with Parker and a couple of the others who had made the trip up. She had not yet told Cornett that she wasn’t going back, and thought about just not telling him, but was afraid he would come looking for her. So, she decided she would go down to the front of the store to tell him she wouldn’t be going back, and to tell everyone else goodbye.
When she got to the store she saw Cornett coming up the walk with Stewart. A deputy marshal was with them.
“I want to thank you, Deputy, for releasing Stewart to me,” Cornett said.
“Well, it wasn’t nothin’ but drunk and disorderly, so the marshal said I could let him go when you folks started back,” the deputy said.
“I didn’t appreciate spendin’ the night in jail,” Stewart complained. “I didn’t appreciate it none at all.”
“Son, you ought to be thankful you did wind up in jail,” the deputy said. “The way you was goin’, you could’a wound up in big trouble.”
“I was just tryin’ to have a little fun, is all,” Stewart said.
“Get on your horse, Stewart,” Cornett said. Then, seeing Rebecca standing on the porch, Cornett said, “Boy, you haven’t even saddled your horse yet.”
“I’ll not be going back with you, Mr. Cornett,” Rebecca said. “I’m going to stay here in Dodge.”
“You sure you won’t be goin’ back with us, boy?” Cornett asked. “You were a good hand. I could talk Mr. Hannah into takin’ you on full time if you wanted.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Rebecca said. “But I have an older brother who lives here, and he’s asked me to come move in with him.”
“All right, if that’s what you want,” Cornett said. He extended his hand. “If you are ever down our way again and looking for a job, look me up.”
“Thanks,” Rebecca said.
“Dodge ain’t as much fun if you live here all the time,” one of the cowboys said.
“Hell, that don’t make no difference to Carmody,” Stewart said. “He didn’t leave his hotel room the whole time he was here.”
“You men be careful on your way back,” Rebecca said, waving goodbye to them as they started back south.
“Carmody,” Stewart called. “If you are going to stay in Dodge, you’d better buy yourself a gun. There’s some bad people up here.”
“I’ll consider it,” Rebecca replied.
“Yee, hah!” Stewart shouted, and firing their guns into the air, the riders of the Rocking H left the town at a gallop.
