The black stallion was not only the most magnificent animal on the ranch, but he was also very particular about which human he allowed to sit in his saddle. His father had been the one who’d managed to get the Emperor to accept the bit but never was able to tame him into anything approaching docile. Jake was sure that it was intentional. Of course, when Jake was sixteen, he decided to try to ride Emperor. After he’d been thrown four times, the big stallion must have been impressed with the skinny boy’s persistence and let him stay in the saddle.
Jake had then fallen into typically foolish young man behavior and committed the egregious sin of riding Emperor to the western herd to show his father. His father never rode the proud stallion when he was working as he considered the Emperor to be too special to be used for mundane purposes. He was a stud stallion and was only ridden when his father rode into town.
When Jake spotted his father, he waved and even expected his father to be proud of him for having the courage to ride the Emperor. He soon learned otherwise. His father had him dismount, remove his boots and socks then told him to return to the house. The ranch hands had all laughed as he pulled off his boots and socks and thought he’d never earn their respect. Jake walked the three miles in bare feet with a powerful mixture of shame and anger. It was only later that Dave told him that they laughed because they knew that his father expected it. Dave told him that every man on the ranch not only respected Jake, but were very proud of him, too. Dave could always find a way to make him feel better.
But now, when he desperately needed to talk to Dave, he still hadn’t seen the foreman before he dismounted in front of the ranch house. He tied off the sheriff’s borrowed horse, pulled down his duffle and stepped onto the wide porch. He stopped before the door and hesitated to turn the knob. Even though he knew the house was empty, he wasn’t sure if there was any residual evidence of what had happened to his mother. There wasn’t another woman on the ranch to do the cleaning, and he couldn’t imagine Dave or even the cook removing any blood stains. The ranch house was the family home and only someone with the Elliott surname could enter without invitation.
Jake took a deep breath and opened the door. He didn’t even inhale again as he entered and dropped his duffle on the floor. He didn’t want to detect the scent of death. He slowly turned and looked at the floor before the fireplace and was relieved to find nothing but bare wood. He noticed the open windows before he resumed breathing. It had been almost three weeks since his mother had been murdered and it was as if she had never set foot in the house.
He left his duffle where it was but pulled off his cavalry hat and hung it on his usual peg near the door. He stepped across the large front room and entered the hallway, then turned into his parents’ bedroom. He stopped just past the doorway and studied the room. It was still tidy as his mother always kept it and even the dresser drawers were closed. He had expected to find them still open after his father had quickly packed his things to make his escape. Jake then walked past the foot of their bed to the large chest of drawers and pulled the lowest drawer out. His father kept his clothes in the bottom two drawers, and if Jake found any remaining inside, he’d burn them. It was empty, so he closed it then opened his father’s second drawer. It was empty as well, but he didn’t want to see his mother’s clothes, so he turned and walked to the closet. After opening the door, he only took a few seconds looking at his mother’s coats and shoes before he closed it again.
Jake left the room and continued walking to the kitchen just glancing into the other rooms as he passed by. His room was no different than it had been the day he left, which hadn’t surprised him. He then entered the kitchen and except for a light coating of dust on the large table, counters and cookstove, it was unchanged as well.
That left his father’s office as the only other important room to visit. Before he left the kitchen, Jake opened the back door and stepped onto the small back porch hoping to find Dave Forrest. While he didn’t find the foreman, he caught sight of Charlie Shimshock, the ranch’s cook as he exited his chow house. He waved when Charlie looked in his direction and the cook seemed surprised to see him before he waved back.
Jake waited as Charlie crossed the two hundred yards. He didn’t expect to learn anything more from the cook but would ask him where Dave was.
Charlie had been very surprised when he saw Jake. It took a few seconds for him to even identify him because of his changed appearance. After Jake waved, Charlie realized who was standing on the back porch and was still surprised that Jake had returned. As he hurried to the ranch house, he was forming his own questions to ask the ranch’s new boss.
Jake smiled as the cook drew near and said, “Hello, Charlie.”
“I’m happy to see you, Jake. But I’m
