Jamie? Was that Walker’s wife? What had happened to her? I suddenly realized I was full of questions. But as expected in my position, I would only learn about the lives of people I encountered if they actually talked about themselves.
****
At the dinner table I discovered his son Dillon, and daughter Dannie, which I learned later was short for Danielle, were both in their twenties and busy helping out at the ranch till the next semester of college started. “Did you get to Ferguson’s today and pick up that load of feed?” Walker asked Dillon.
“Yeah, put it up in the barn this afternoon. Said there’d be another load of that special chicken feed coming in two weeks. Do you want some?” Dillon said through a mouth full of mashed potatoes.
Ignoring the question Walker spoke as if to himself, “Thinking about taking your momma’s things down to the church Sunday morning and having those ladies put ‘em to good use at the homeless shelter.”
It was Dannie that protested first, “Daddy! No! Those are momma’s things!”
“Baby girl, it’s been three years. Not gettin’ any use out of ’em here. And besides, I heard there was a young couple burned out of their home two days ago; lost everything. I’m sure that little gal could find something of your momma’s to wear,” his voice softened as he spoke.
“But daddy, what’s wrong with keeping everything the way it is? It reminds me of mom this way,” Danielle said as she set her glass down on the table.
“You know your mother as well as I do, and if she were still alive she’d be going through her things right now…mine and yours too…to give to that young couple. Now, that’s enough about the subject. Millie will pack up your mother’s clothes tomorrow,” Walker said dismissing any more objections. “Pass the rolls Dillon.” The subject wasn’t brought up again through the rest of the meal.
After the table was cleared and everyone said their good-nights before retiring to their bedrooms, I caught myself daydreaming about life on the ranch. As Walker retired to his room I heard the muffled sounds of music playing as he readied to turn in for the night. I thought it to be only nine o’clock and wondered why the early evening. But mornings start early on a ranch, I found out.
****
Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!
The Walker Ranch rooster’s crowing woke me before daybreak. My sense of time, not usually too far off, told me it was only 5am. As I tried to brush the dream I was having about the circus from my mind the wallet I resided in was picked up off the night stand and shoved into the pocket of a pair of Wrangler jeans. Not surprisingly, I smelled the delicious aroma of coffee wafting up stairs from the kitchen. Millie was cooking her vittles again I presumed.
Walker bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen where a steaming cup of black coffee must have been waiting for him. He took a sip and thanked Millie on the way out the back door. “Mista Walker, what about these here eggs ‘n bacon I fried?” Millie called after him.
“The kids will eat ‘em, I’ve got to get out to the pasture and check a fence this morning,” he shouted over his shoulder.
“Sun ain’t even up. How ya gonna see?” Millie asked not expecting a response. She knew Walker only too well, and wild horses couldn’t hold him back from something he set his mind to doing.
****
“Hey Tom, saddle up Jake for me I’m heading out to check on that fence in the north pasture,” Walker spoke to someone as he entered the barn.
“Sure thing, Walker. Want me to ride with you?” Tom said as he went to get a saddle from the tack room. “I need to make sure Sammy closed the south gate.”
“Well, if the gate didn’t get closed last night there won’t be any cattle to worry about this morning,” Walker responded.
“Dillon had us move the cattle to the east slope yesterday. Said the grass was sweeter there. Don’t know how he knows that; he must be chewing on some of it himself,” Tom said as he chuckled. “Said he’d tell you last night at supper; didn’t he mention it?”
Reflecting on the dinner conversation last night I realized Dillon hadn’t said much after Walker mentioned donating his wife’s clothes. The same thought must have occurred to Walker. “It must have slipped his mind,” he replied. “That’s fine, the east slope is better this time of year anyway. Let’s go.”
Riding a horse wasn’t what I expected. I found it to be rather bumpy, yet as we rode toward the north pasture I heard the sounds of the ranch animals welcoming the dawn. The rooster’s morning ritual faded into the background as Walker and Tom carried on a conversation about getting the sheep ready to take to market that week. “Make sure Dillon takes a head count and writes it in the log before they’re loaded up,” Walker was saying as Tom grunted his acknowledgement.
Apparently Walker Ranch covered a large piece of land because we rode for almost half an hour before coming to a stop where both men dismounted and walked toward the fence. “Let’s walk from here,” Walker said. “I want to see if the barbed wire is holding up since we fixed it last month. Don’t need our bulls getting into Smitty’s pastures again.”
“Yeah, he’s still sore you bought that stallion out from under him at the auction last year. Ain’t he?” Tom chuckled.
“Not sure he’ll ever get over that. He had his heart set on that horse,” Walker said sounding satisfied in his decision to buy the horse. “Heck, he can barely feed the ones he’s got now.”
“Thinking, he thought, it would change his luck with the foals it’d bring.”
“If that man had any luck to change,” Walker said dismissing the subject. I was getting the impression he always had the final say. But it was his ranch, after all.
Apparently, there wasn’t anything about the fence that raised concern because after an hour of walking the pair mounted their horses and headed back to the barn. “I’m heading into town when we get back. Need to pick up a part for the tractor Garrison said would be in today,” Walker spoke in his smooth, southern drawl. “Take the mare out for a bit in the corral and herd them sheep in. We’ll take them in the morning if it doesn’t rain tonight,” Walker instructed.
“Sure thing,” was all Tom had to say. They rode the rest of the way in silence. Seemed to me, in the south folks just said all they needed to and nothing more.
After we returned Walker left Tom to tend to the horses as he got in his pickup truck and headed into town. The ride was long and I could tell the day was warming up. Turning on the radio I heard a commercial about the county fair starting that evening and wondered if Walker and his family were going. He didn’t strike me as a man that would go to a fair, but I was hoping I was wrong.
Finally arriving he got out of the truck and strode into a hardware store saying hello to several people on his way. “Howdy, Garrison did that part come in yet?” he asked the man behind the counter.
“Yes sir, Mr. Walker; came in yesterday. I called the ranch and Dillon said you were on a buying trip again. Let me get it for you,” Garrison said turning away from the counter and entering a back room. Another, thing Dillon hadn’t mentioned I realized, and Walker knew it too. “Here it is. Hard to believe such a small part can stop an entire tractor, huh?” Garrison was saying as Walker reached for his wallet to pay.
“Yeah, these new tractors just don’t run like the old ones,” Walker replied. “What’s the damage?” he asked.
“That’ll be $16.47, would you like that on your tab?” Garrison asked the rancher.
“No need for that, I’ll just pay for it.” Walker said as he pulled me and some of my peers out of his wallet. Sadly, I knew I wasn’t going to be heading back to the ranch in his pickup truck.
“Calling for rain tonight, you going to the fair?” Garrison asked. As he held us in his hand I could see the store was a small but well-kept hardware store that seemed to have everything. Shelves were neatly stacked with a little of everything. It occurred to me that this must be a small town and one of the few stores to shop for anything from toothpaste to
tractor parts. How appealing.
“Nah, not since…um…no, we won’t be going,” Walker stammered as he picked up the part and started to turn toward the door.
“I’m sorry Walker; I forgot Sandy fell off that horse at the fair. I’m really sorry. Forget I asked, okay?” Garrison said sounding embarrassed.
“Forgotten,” Walker said as he strode out the door, his face not giving away the emotion he must have been feeling.
“Well, it’s gonna rain anyway!” Garrison called after him, but Walker was already getting in his truck. Placing us in the cash register I ascertained that’s how Walker’s wife had passed away. It must have been a riding accident.
****
As if to wash away the awkward moment the bell chimed as the door opened and I heard a woman’s voice. Not able to hear what was being said I realized she must have purchased something when Garrison rang up the total. I was removed and placed in the hand of a woman in her mid-thirties. Her hands were calloused, not like the hands of a woman unfamiliar with hard work. Hard work was written in the lines on her brow. She folded me with some other bills and put us in the back pocket of her jeans.
“Are you taking the kids to the fair tonight Mary?” Garrison asked her.
“Got to get some chores done first, if the good Lord will hold off the rain, that is,” Mary answered as we left the hardware store. Outside I could hear the sounds of traffic and knew folks were starting to go about the business of their lives. Mary walked down the street and turned a corner where I realized she had parked her car. We drove out of town as she listened to country music on the radio. It was the first time I had heard country music and I found it profoundly true to life.
We pulled up the drive to her small home she shared with her two boys who went by Tommy and Jimmy I learned as she got out of the car and called for them to come help bring in the groceries she had bought. Bags were rustled as the three of them made several trips from the car to the kitchen of the house. “Did you get your rooms cleaned?” Mary asked the boys.
“Aww, mom, my room doesn’t need it,” one of the boys protested. I only learned it was Jimmy when Mary spoke back to him.
“It always needs it. Go now, or no fair tonight,” Mary retorted.
“Yeah, go clean it now,” Tommy said in a teasing tone.
“Shut up, turd!” Jimmy yelled back.
“You shuddup!”
“Stop! Both of you and go clean your rooms now! And don’t come out till they’re clean,” Mary scolded them. “I’ve got to clean Ms. Simpson’s house this afternoon; then take some mending over to Claire. And I don’t want to hear you two carrying on all day,” Mary said sounding exasperated.
“Go!” she shouted.
The sound of the boys shuffling out of the kitchen was interrupted by the sound of a screen door slamming.
“Daddy! Daddy!” the boys shouted in unison as I heard Mary sigh.
“I just sent them to clean their rooms,” Mary spoke to her husband as if to have him reinforce her request.
“You heard your mother boys,” he said followed by the moans of his boys as they left the room. Turning to his wife he spoke more softly, “You’re doing too much Mary, let me do this and you go sit down.”
“I’m fine Hank, really,” Mary tried to reassure him. “Besides, I have to clean Mae’s house today, her son’s coming with his family to go to the fair.”
“Then go now and I’ll take the boys to gramps so they can see the new foal,” Frank said still speaking softly.
“I can’t, I have chores to do here first,” Mary spoke sounding frustrated.
“Make me a list. The boys and I will take care of things around here,” he offered.
Mary burst out in laughter, “You and the boys are going to wash clothes, vacuum, mop the floor and mend Claire’s sundress?” she asked still laughing.
“Well, maybe not the sundress. But we’ll manage the rest. So off with you; we’ll be fine.”
“I love you,” Mary said speaking softly now too, as she stood on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek before turning to tend to her sewing. I heard Hank calling the boys to come help him as Mary walked away. Humming softly as she worked on the sundress I wondered if she would remember I was in her back pocket. However, she didn’t seem to be intent on anything but her mending as I tried to determine the tune she was humming. It wasn’t quite familiar to me, and I wondered if it was one of those country songs.
Some time had passed before Mary finished her sewing. After which she gathered the items she needed to clean and still humming she placed everything in her car. Not changing her clothes, as I anticipated she would, I found myself on my way to Mae’s home. Arriving she went to unlock the door first before returning to the car for her cleaning supplies. The house must have been large because there was a slight echo as Mary walked across the marble floor in the foyer. Still humming Mary busied herself with dusting, so I decided to take a nap in case we went to the county fair that evening.
CHAPTER 5
County Fair
I awoke to the voices of Jimmy and Tommy talking about what they wanted to ride at the fair. “I’m going in the ‘Tower of Terror,’” Jimmy was saying.
“Who cares! I’m driving a go-cart and I’m gonna beat everyone on the track!” Tommy claimed excitedly.
“Boys, there will be plenty of time to do everything,” Frank was saying and I realized I had somehow been put in his wallet. “Now get in the car so we can get going.”
“Where are your jackets?” Mary asked them.
“Aww mom, it ain’t cold,” Tommy answered.
“Isn’t. And it is supposed to be cold later tonight. Now go get your jackets and then get in the car or we’ll leave without you,” she said teasing. That was all the prompting the boys needed to quickly get their coats and climb in the backseat still talking excitedly about everything they wanted to do at the fair.
“Look out the window boys; can you see the Ferris wheel?” Hank said loudly over the noise of his son’s conversation.
“Wow!” they said in unison.
“Okay, let’s park and start having some fun!” their dad said to them over his right shoulder. “But first we’ll need to buy some tickets.”
“Can we park close, honey?” Mary asked.
“Feeling okay, sweetheart?” Hank’s voice was soft.
“Oh yes. I was just thinking about after the fair, the walk will be shorter.”
“True.”
“Okay kids, help your dad find a parking place close,” Hank said as he turned into the parking lot at the fairgrounds.
“Hey dad, there’s one in the front row!” Jimmy was shouting from the backseat.
“Well, how did we get so lucky?” Hank said to himself as he pulled into the parking space. Everyone exited the car and started the short walk to the ticket booth. Although, I wasn’t used to purchase tickets I knew I wouldn’t last long in his wallet at the fair. I could already hear sounds of excitement from young children as they tried to take in all the sights, sounds and smells at once. There were gasps from little boys, squeals from little girls and laughter from their parents. Oh, I so hoped Mary and her family would have a grand time.
“I wanna ride go-carts first!” Tommy said.
“No, I wanna play games!” Jimmy interjected.
“There will be plenty of time for everything, boys. Let’s see what your mom wants to do,” Hank was saying as he looked around for Mary.
“Mary…Mary…?” Hank sounded puzzled and it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard her say anything for about ten minutes.
“Over there dad!” one of the boys shouted, but I couldn’t tell who spoke. “Mom’s sitting on that bench.” Hearing hurried footsteps I realized Hank was rushing to Mary’s side.
“Mary, are you alright?” Hank’s voice was soft again and full of love. “Do I need to take you home, darling?”
“Yes…I mean, no. I’m fine, really,” Mary said to her husband. “I just had a long
day doing extra cleaning for Mae. I’ll be fine. Go on and take the boys to play games. I just need to sit for a minute.”
“Are you sure? Cause we can comeback another night,” Hank offered. “The fair will be here for a week.”
“No, no, don’t disappoint the boys. I’ll be fine, go,” Mary was insisting. I could feel Hank hesitate. When he spoke it was almost a whisper so the boys wouldn’t hear his concern.
“Is it your heart again, Mary?” love accenting his every syllable.
“Long day, I just need to rest for a bit. Take the boys; they have been waiting for this all month. Now shoo.” Mary was insisting harder this time.
Reluctantly, Hank turned toward the boys and explained, “Mom’s going to wait here for bit. Let’s go play some games first; then we’ll come back and pick her up before we ride rides.”
“Mom?” Jimmy spoke as softly as his father.
“I’m fine Jim-bo. Go with your dad,” Mary said trying to reassure the boy by using his nickname. The boys hesitated at first; then left their mom sitting on the bench.
“Come on buck-a-roos, your ol’ man is about to smear you like grease,” Hank said loudly as he laughed. “I see a game right now I’m gonna beat you both at!” Apparently, the threat of competition was all the brothers needed to spur them into action. In a burst of activity the boys were running ahead of their father in the direction he was looking.
“No way, I’m gonna win!” Tommy hollered.
“I’m first!” Jimmy called out.
“No! I’m first! I’m five minutes older than you,” Tommy protested. Ah, they are twins…explains the closeness in their voices as I’ve struggled to decipher which one was speaking at times.
“Jimmy called it first Tommy; you’ll have to wait your turn. Which won’t be long once I butter his toast,” Hank said laughing as he teased the boys. Reaching for his wallet to pay the three-dollars-for-five-throws price I was handed to a young boy calling out the game rules.