“Please, just do as I say, Mr. Turley.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sky Meadow Ranch
Duff Tavish MacCallister and his friend Elmer, a man who was in his late fifties, but looked much older, were working on the gate of his corral. Elmer was more than a ranch hand, and though he was second in charge of the ranch, he was also considerably more than a foreman. Elmer was a partner, his position in the ranch secured by the gold he had taken from a mine he had discovered on land that subsequently became a part of the large Sky Meadow Ranch. But he had more than just a monetary investment. Elmer had often put his life on the line for Duff. Their relationship could be described as symbiotic: Elmer had saved Duff’s life more than once, and Duff had returned the favor just as often.
“I seen that feller Houser in town the other day,” Elmer said as he lifted up on the gate so Duff could connect the hinge. “He was dressed up all fancy like he owned the world.”
“Aye, he does like to dress the dandy, now,” Duff replied.
“I tell you the truth, Duff, they’s somethin’ about that feller that just ain’t right. I cain’t hardly put m’ finger on it, but he just don’t sit right with me.”
“He is obviously a very well-educated man,” Duff said. “And while some men are subdued about their education in a way that is quiet and dignified, some, like Mr. Houser, wear it in a vainglorious way, as if it were a suit of pomposity.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know what it is that you just said,” Elmer said. “But it sort of sounded to me like you don’t take that much of a likin’ to the son of a bitch, neither.”
Duff chuckled. “That is most astute of you, Elmer.”
“Astute. Is that a good thing?”
“Aye, ’tis a very good thing.” Duff finished putting in the last screw. “Ye can be for letting it down now, I think it’ll swing free.”
Elmer released his hold on the gate, and Duff pushed it closed, opened it, and closed it again.
“There, we fixed it.”
“You fixed it, you mean,” Elmer said. “All I done was hold on to it.”
“Hello, someone is coming,” Duff said.
Looking down the long road that led toward the arch in which the name of the ranch, Sky Meadow, was worked in wrought iron, they saw a rider approaching. He was clearly coming toward the main compound, and he was pushing five Black Angus cows.
“That’s Percy Gaines, ain’t it?” Elmer asked.
“Aye, ’tis at that,” Duff replied.
At one time Percy had worked full-time on Sky Meadow, and even now, he often augmented his income by working for Duff. But last year he had started his own ranch.
“Wonder what it is that he’s a-doin’ with them five cows?”
The two men watched as the young cowboy brought the five cows all the way up to the corral.
“Good morning, Percy,” Duff greeted.
“Good morning, Mr. MacCallister, Mr. Gleason,” Percy replied. “I been roundin’ up m’ cattle the last few days, ’n yesterday I found these five critters wearin’ your brand, so I brung ’em back to you.”
“That was a decent thing for ye to do, lad,” Duff replied. “Would you be for enjoying a breakfast with Elmer, Wang, and me?”
“Better be careful afore you say yes,” Elmer warned. “On this ranch you’re as likely to wind up with haggis or rice ’n weeds as you are with bacon ’n eggs. Nothin’ American.”
Duff chuckled. “I believe Wang said he would be serving biscuits and gravy this morning. Is that ‘American’ enough for you?”
“Well, hell, why didn’t you say so?” Elmer replied with a wide grin.
When they stepped into the house a moment later, they were greeted with the rich aromas of sausage and baked biscuits.
“Hello, Wang,” Percy greeted.
“It is good to see you again, Percy,” Wang replied.
“Smells good in here,” Percy said.
After being rescued by Duff, Wang had dedicated himself to serving Sky Meadow. And though he had initially been hired as a cook, over the last three years, he had become much more than a cook.
“How’s your ranch coming along?” Duff asked Percy after the four men sat down for breakfast.
“It’s comin’ along just fine,” Percy replied with a proud smile. “I’m runnin’ a little more ’n a hundred ’n fifty head now. Oh, ’n I’ve named the ranch. I’m callin’ it The Queen.”
“The Queen, is it? This is just a guess now, Percy, but I’d be for saying that it would nae be Queen Victoria that the ranch is named for. ’Tis thinking, I am, that it would be for the young lass ye have waiting for you back in Kansas City.”
“Ha! You got that right,” Percy said. “Only she don’t know it yet. After we get married ’n I bring her back out here, I’ll tell her then that the ranch is named for her. It’ll be a big surprise.”
“When are you a-plannin’ on gettin’ yerself hitched?” Elmer asked.
“Soon as roundup is done. I ain’t got all that many cows to round up, ’n that’s what I’m doin’ now. That’s how I found them Sky Meadow cows.”
“Aye, ’n ’tis appreciative I am to ye for bringin’ them back to me.”
“Well, sir, I’m wantin’ to grow my herd fast as I can, but I’ll not be addin’ other folk’s beeves to my own.”
“You’re a good man, Percy,” Elmer said. “And don’t you pay no nevermind to any o’ them bad things Wang says about you. I don’t care what this here heathen says, I think you’re a good man,” Elmer said.
“What?” Percy replied.
“Elmer is teasing you,” Duff said. “Wang has made nae derogatory comments about you.”
“Elmer would speak without thinking, as he would sleep without resting,” Wang said.
“Now, see there?” Elmer said, pointing to Wang. “That heathen Celestial is always saying things like that, things that there don’t nobody
