Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 (30 page)

When they arrived at the ranch, it was close to dinnertime.  Paul drove the wagon close to a large barn and a hired hand immediately came out of the barn to help unload the supplies.  Paul left him to it and helped Serena down from the wagon.  Serena enjoyed the next few hours.  Paul showed her the cabin which was theirs and helped bring her belongings inside. Serena decided to unpack later.  The cabin they would be sharing was small, but adequate. There was a bed in one corner and a small table with a lantern beside it.  On the other side of the room was a wood stove with a coffee pot on top.  Next to the stove was a small square table with two chairs. 

When Paul showed her the large main ranch house, Serena could see that the cabin she would share with Paul would basically only be used to sleep in.  It looked like everyone spent most of their time together in the main house and it was set up for such.  There was a large kitchen with many shelves and a pantry full of food and staples.  In the middle of the room was a table big enough to hold about ten people with benches and chairs surrounding it. 

Sage was at the table eating a slice of brown bread with jam.  Anna was at a counter busily chopping vegetables.

“Dinner is going to be later than usual,” Anna explained as she greeted Serena and Paul.  Anna wiped her hands and greeted Serena with a hug.  “Welcome to Big Spring Ranch.” 

“Not a problem,” Paul reassured Anna about dinner. “I am just showing Serena how things are set up around here.”  Anna nodded her head in understanding and turned to continue chopping the vegetables for a stew.

Paul showed Serena another large room that had a few sofas and soft chairs.  She imagined this room was used to gather in the evenings.   A sewing machine had been set up along one of the walls with sky blue fabric draped beside it.  Serena could tell that Anna was probably making a dress for Sage. 

Behind the large room and kitchen was a hallway that led to two well-sized rooms.  In fact, the rooms were almost as large as the cabin she would be sharing with Paul.  Paul explained to her that these rooms were not being used at the moment, but that Anna had used one of them when she first arrived.

Dinner was a fun experience for her.  After Anna had rung a bell announcing the food was ready, everyone had quickly gathered.  A prayer was said by Sage and then Serena enjoyed a tasty beef stew along with biscuits and some cut up apples.  She was quiet during the meal, preferring to listen to the men talk about the cattle drive.  Katrina and Anna were talking quietly to each other, but Serena wanted to know as much as she could about the trip and so she focused on the men’s conversation.

She heard Paul tell his brothers that Serena would be accompanying him.  Luke looked sharply at her and then spent the next five minutes arguing with Paul about her going.  He definitely felt women should not be on cattle drives. 

Paul finally let Luke know quite firmly that it wasn’t his decision to make.  Luke quickly finished his stew and left the house soon after.  To Serena, he seemed very angry.

Paul insisted that they retire to their cabin soon after dinner.  Serena had wanted to help with the cleanup of dinner, but Anna and Katrina shooed her away, encouraging her to spend the first evening on the ranch with her new husband.

When she was alone with Paul in their cabin, she immediately apologized.

“I am sorry Luke got so upset about me going on the cattle drive.  I don’t want to come between brothers,” she told Paul.

“Are you sorry enough to change your mind about coming?” Paul asked and Serena’s heart dropped, but then she noticed his eyes twinkling with his words.

“I still want to come,” Serena stated.  “I promise I’ll…”

“I’m just teasing, Serena.  I admit at first I was against it, but now I think it will be nice to have you along.” 

Serena smiled at his words, glad that they both agreed on her going.  They spent a very nice evening together, mostly talking.  Paul told Serena about Luke and how his wife had passed away about three years ago.  He explained that his wife’s death had been very hard on Luke and he had been very hard to live with for quite a while. Lately, though he seemed to be mellowing, and Paul expressed his hope that Luke was finally moving on from his wife’s death.

That night, as they shared the bed together for the first time, Serena felt content with her new life.

****

The next few days were busy as they got ready for the cattle drive.  The largest group of cattle Serena had ever seen had been moved to a huge fenced field near the cattle barn.  Paul had already hired some extra men and they were helping him get wagons, horses, and supplies ready. 

There were two wagons filled with supplies and food.  Curly, the man who would be cooking for everyone, seemed pleased that Serena would be helping him, and he allowed her to help him make sure they had enough food and staples on hand.  The food that would be served would be very basic; beans, dried meat, biscuits, bacon, cornmeal, and canned stew, but Serena was able to talk him into taking a few spices to help make the food different.  The wagons were covered with thick canvas tarps to help keep the supplies from getting wet and dusty.  Curly did not talk much and mainly only said enough words to get his point across, but Serena felt that they would be able to work well together. 

Serena learned that each of the hired hands would ride horses.  Paul made sure there were enough horses on hand for each cowboy to rotate, so that each man rode at least two or three different horses a day.  A few teenage boys had been hired to care for all the horses and were called wranglers.  This was their only job. 

Curly was also in charge of medical supplies and Serena learned he had a general knowledge of medicine and fixing minor injuries.  She was pleased to learn that Curly would be willing to allow her to also help with this area.  She had always been interested in medicine and was glad for this opportunity to learn a new skill.

Serena also discovered that they would be meeting up with other ranchers and their cattle along the way.  They would be traveling to Bozeman, Montana and the trip would take about ten days from the Big Spring Ranch.  They would only travel around ten to twelve miles a day.  Paul did not like to move much faster than that because the cattle would lose too much weight and they needed to have time to graze.

Once they arrived in Bozeman, the cattle would be turned over to an agent whom Paul had hired.  The agent would make sure the cattle were loaded onto the train and taken to Chicago where they would be slaughtered.  Once the cattle were turned over to the agent in Bozeman, they would return home.  The trip back to the ranch would not take as long since they could move faster on horseback.  The entire trip was estimated to take about two weeks.

When Anna and Katrina found out that Serena was planning on going with Paul on the cattle drive, they had mixed feelings.  Anna understood why Serena wanted to go and supported her in her decision, but Katrina felt she was crazy for wanting to go on such a dangerous trip and should stay home where it was safe.  She tried to convince Serena to stay at the ranch and help her set up the school so it could start as soon as possible, but Serena was adamant that she was going on the cattle drive.  She wanted to be with Paul and she wanted to experience all she could about her new life.

A few days after Serena and Paul married, they were on their way.  Serena rode in the chuck wagon with Curly.  The wagon was in the front of the cattle.  The intent was to ride ahead with some men who acted as scouts and to set up camp before the others arrived with all the cattle.

They left first thing in the morning before it was even full light.  The air was cool, but Serena could tell it would be a warm day.  She enjoyed the scenery that they passed.  The mountains in the distance were beautiful.  She saw pine trees clustered around sharp jagged rocks.  A small river ran alongside them and Curly let her know that they would follow the river for as long as they could so the cattle would have water to drink. 

Serena sighed with contentment.  She was glad she insisted on coming on the cattle drive.  She had hardly seen Paul since the first evening she arrived on the ranch, and she felt sad about that, yet she also knew Paul had been very busy getting things ready to go.  She understood that and she tried to be patient.  She had spent her time helping with the food and medical supplies and spending time with Anna and Katrina.

Anna was thrilled to have her friends finally with her.  She was due to have her baby in a few weeks and she expressed her happiness that Serena and Katrina would be around for the big event.  Serena got to know Luke’s little daughter, Sage, and enjoyed being around a young girl again.  Sage seemed to bond instantly with Katrina and followed her around, with her best friend, Aida, whenever they could.  Aida was the daughter of one of the men who worked on the ranch and who had the title of foreman.  The two girls were so excited that they were going to school as soon as Katrina had things ready for them.

Katrina had been given a room to use in the main house because the small cabin that Luke had wanted her to use was no more than a shack.  It was rugged and part of the roof was not sound.  Everyone insisted that Katrina stay in the main house rather than by herself.  Katrina seemed fine with the change in plans even though she would need to walk every day to the schoolhouse, which was about a 30 minute walk away from the main house.

About mid-morning, Paul rode up to the chuck wagon on his horse and greeted Serena.

“Sorry I didn’t get to talk to you this morning,” he apologized.  Serena shrugged her shoulders.  She knew he was busy and did not mind being on her own.  She actually was avoiding him a little bit because she did not want him to have any reason to complain that she was a burden to him on this trip.

“Would you like to ride with me for a while?” Paul offered.  “I would like to ride ahead to check some areas out.  We will be meeting up with another rancher later today and I would like to have our area claimed before he gets there.”

Serena was not sure what he was talking about when he said he wanted to check some areas out, but she did know she wanted to ride with him.  Luckily, she knew how to ride a horse, having learned from a school friend in Maple Grove whose family owned a small farm.

“I would like that,” Serena responded and Paul grinned at her response.  His smile made her heart skip a beat and she stared after him as he rode away to get her a horse.  He really was one of the best looking men she had ever seen and seeing him on the back of a horse made him even look more handsome.  He had a cowboy hat on that shaded his face.  She could see the muscles on his arms ripple as he directed his horse towards another that was walking nearby with a small group of horses.  They were being controlled by one of the wranglers.  She secretly could not believe her good fortune to have been chosen by this man. 

Soon she was riding along with Paul.  He had placed her on a nondescript brown horse that seemed well trained.  He had called the horse “Blossom” and told Serena that she would have access to this horse throughout the trip whenever she wished. 

Blossom was willing to follow Paul’s horse and when he kicked his horse into a trot, she followed without Serena giving her any commands.  Soon they were ahead of the chuck wagon and the cows behind it.

The next few hours were some of the most enjoyable Serena had spent since she had arrived in Montana.  She asked more questions about the cattle drive and the town they were heading towards.  She learned Bozeman was actually a small city that had a large train station with multiple trains coming and going each day.  Serena actually knew what Paul was talking about as he described the train station since she and Katrina had ridden a train to Billings, which sounded similar to what Bozeman might be like.  She remembered seeing some men load cattle on a long train but had thought little of it at the time.

Serena could see other ranches and farms in the distance and when they passed them, Paul told her about the families that lived there.  A few of the families were close enough that they were going to send their children to the school that had been built on the Big Spring Ranch.  He described the layout of the land they would be traveling through.  She learned they would be traveling through valleys, but also over mountains and through mountain passes which were hard terrain, and the first few days would be slower and harder than the days toward the end when they approached Bozeman. 

“Thanks for agreeing to let me come,” Serena said when Paul finally stopped talking about what she could expect on the cattle drive.

Paul slowed his horse down and looked at her.  “I am glad you wanted to come.”

Serena smiled and felt totally at peace for the first time.  No matter what happened during the next few weeks, she knew coming was the right thing to do.

****

The rest of the day was very difficult.  Serena helped Curly with each meal and she was amazed how much the men ate.  The meals were pretty much the same; beans, bacon with a little molasses to flavor, along with cornbread or biscuits.  Dried beef strips also were offered.  The men did not seem to mind the bland food and would come into the camp Curly and Serena had set up, grab a plate and load it with food, eat quickly and leave soon after. 

Most of the men were polite to her, although one man did not approve of her being there and was very vocal about it, saying a woman had no place on a cattle drive, and she should turn around and head back to the ranch as soon as possible.  His name was Judd, and he kept voicing his opinion to anyone who would listen.  The way he looked at her made Serena feel very uncomfortable.  She made a vow to avoid this cowboy as much as possible. 

Paul had specifically given her orders to not go off anywhere on her own and she could see now the wisdom in not doing so.  She shuddered to think what could happen if she was on her own and ran into this cowboy.  She hoped this man was not one of Paul’s permanent hired hands and that she would not need to be around him on the ranch when the cattle drive was over.

When the first day was over, Serena fell into her bedroll that Paul had provided her.  She expected to instantly fall asleep because she was so tired, but she didn’t.  All she could think about was everything that had happened that day.  The rest of the day after her ride with Paul had been packed with things to do.  Besides helping with the meals, she had helped set up camp where they were spending the night.  The cowboys made sure the cattle stayed away from the main camp, but Serena could still see, hear and smell them as she did her assigned tasks.  She could tell Curly appreciated her help and she had already helped bandage a cowboy’s hand after he had accidently cut it with a knife. 

She had managed to avoid Judd after Curly sent him on his way with some harsh words to keep his mouth shut and she was thankful she had not seen him since. 

She wondered if the cowboys were going to get tired of eating the same types of food day after day, meal after meal, but Curly did not seem to think it would be a problem. 

“They’ll just be happy to have a meal,” he commented when Serena had brought up the subject.

The bedroll Paul had laid beside her for himself was empty and Serena assumed she would be asleep before he finally joined her, but soon she felt his presence in the dark. 

“Serena?” Paul whispered to her, wondering if she was still awake.  When Serena rolled over and lifted her head, Paul scooted closer and pulled her toward him.  For the first time since she had married him, she felt secure and safe and instantly fell asleep in his arms.