Jodi's Journey (33 page)

Jodi kissed Hunt's cheek. “Concho, I should
have listened to you from the very beginning.”

Matt finally coughed. “Humph….can somebody
help me? I think I been shot.”

Jodi glanced his way and was dressing his
wound before he knew what hit him. It wasn't bad, just a flesh
wound, but it had scared him witless.

“The boss sure showed them, didn't he?” Matt
puffed up.

“Yes…he did,” Jodi said, smiling at her
husband, who was so weary he flopped down by the side of the wagon
and took a long drink of water as though he'd been starved in the
desert for it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

At Salado they stopped at Bill Williams'
ranch. The man was more than a little glad to see them, too. His
wife came out on the porch and waved them into the house, promising
them a good meal before they got back on the road.

Jodi was exhausted. Mrs. Williams could tell
and she told her to sit still while she prepared them a meal. Jodi
felt guilty for not jumping up to help, but she had a mother and
aunt who lived with them. They all pitched in.

“My Bill, he's so happy. When your man
offered to take those cattle up the trail for him, he came back
here whoopin' and hollerin' and makin' such a fuss I thought there
was something wrong. But he was just so relieved. And sure enough,
we had a visit from the Indians not long afterwards. Once they
discovered we didn't have any horses or cattle here, they took
off.”

“I'm glad. Hunt said the Indians would have
stolen them from you. It was no trouble at all to take them.” Jodi
smiled as she watched them cook. She watched all of the women
because she suddenly wanted to learn more. She was going to have a
full crew when they got home and she had to learn as much as she
could. She quickly realized that Mrs. Williams was some cook.

She had taken to wearing one of Hunt's shirts
over her so that it didn't squeeze the baby. They all noticed and
asked her about it.

“Oh…yeah, I’m expecting in about four
months.” She blushed.

“And you went on that drive?” Mrs. Williams
shook her head. “You've got gall, girl.”

Jodi laughed.

It was one of the best meals they'd eaten
since they left home and everyone had seconds and thirds. Mrs.
Williams laughed at them, but she was obviously very proud,
too.

The Williams’ three children were seated at
the table and the grandmother held the baby and fed it a bottle.
Jodi watched the interplay with interest, her eyes escaping to Hunt
every now and then.

Mr. Williams was so happy to get the money;
the amount really astounded him. He insisted they stay the night
and leave the next morning. Hunt nodded his approval, knowing that
everyone was bone tired, especially Jodi.

That evening, friends dropped by to pay their
respects since it was a Sunday and the Williams family hadn't made
it to church that day. There was a beautiful young woman almost the
same age as Jodi who came in and eyed Cole with curiosity. She had
long, dark hair and beautiful, aqua eyes. Cole was mesmerized by
her beauty. He smiled and was introduced, but he kept to himself.
Mrs. Williams was having none of that. “Cole, are you a married
man?” she asked.

Cole almost jumped out of his seat, but his
glance quickly slid to the young lady. “No, ma'am.”

“Well, how nice. Neither is Lucy,” she hinted
strongly. “Lucy is one of our neighbors.”

“I guess I never was in one place long
enough,” Cole offered by way of explanation.

Before the evening was over, Cole walked Ms.
Lucy to her buggy, smiling, and even talking to her. Jodi jabbed
Hunt in the ribs and grinned.

“Now would you look at that,” she said.

“Yeah, I see it.” Hunt smiled.

It was almost sad to leave such good company,
but come morning, they got up, and after a huge breakfast, they
paid their respects and headed for home again.

“Sometimes it's kind of sad to say goodbye to
people you think a lot of,” Jodi noted, not wanting Hunt to see the
tears in her eyes again.

But now they were headed for Matt's home and
Jodi wasn't sure she could say goodbye to him without crying
aloud.

It was a moment to behold when Matt walked in
to the house and saw his mother at the stove. He stood there
staring at her a full minute before he called out to her. When she
saw her son, her face illuminated.

“Ma…I'm home,” he cried and ran to kiss her
on the cheek.

His Ma was so flustered, she wiped at her
eyes, unable to speak for a long while. Nervously, she fretted
around Matt as though she couldn't quite move away from him.

Hunt, Jodi and the rest stood at the door,
waiting to be invited in.

“Well now, you folks come on in and have some
supper with us,” she insisted as she flittered about to put supper
on the stove.

They all nodded and Jodi made the
introductions.

At the table Matt was telling about all the
adventures, and his mother was gasping when he told about the
Indians and how nice they acted in camp. She shook her head. “Ain't
it funny how they can raid some, and get along with others?”

Everyone had a big laugh over their buffalo
adventure. He didn't enlighten her about the bad parts and Jodi
understood why. If he'd told her everything his ma might not let
him go back up the trail. She noticed his wound right away, but he
laughed that off. “It's just a scratch, Ma, really.”

He'd be talking about getting shot for weeks,
Jodi bet.

As everyone finished up and complimented his
ma on her cooking, Matt went to get his bedroll from his horse. As
he came inside, he laid his money on the table.

“Now, what's this…?” his mother asked,
obviously surprised at his actions.

“It's yours, Ma. I earned it for you. I got
double wages, and now you can make curtains for the place and buy
you a new dress, and the girls. And we can maybe go to church on
Sunday 'cause you can buy the boys some shoes. It's for you, Ma.
All for you.”

Mrs. Pruitt looked at the money, and how much
it was. Her mouth fell open. “But this is yours, son. You earned
it. I can't take it from you,” she insisted, the tears rolling down
her cheeks at the gesture he was making.

“Well, you have to,” Matt laughed. “That's
why I went with them, Ma, for you. So you could have better now.
And Mr. Hunt's already said I could go again next year. That way
we'll have enough money so you won't have to work so hard, Ma.”

She looked at her son. It was as though
everyone in the room had disappeared. Her eyes clouded with real
tears and she put her apron to her mouth. “Oh now…son…this is too
much. I mean…you're a man now. You earned this…”

“I know Ma…for you. Just like Daddy would
have done if he'd have been here,” Matt declared proudly. The
sunshine on his face illuminated the entire room. There wasn't a
dry eye in the house. Even Cole had to excuse himself to go outside
for a bit.

When it was time to say goodbye to Matt, Jodi
hugged him. “I’m so proud to know you, Mathew,” she whispered for
his ears alone. “I don't know what I'll do without you. You are
quite a man.”

Matt cried too. But when he said his goodbyes
to the men, he merely choked on his words and shook their hands the
way a man would.

“We'll be seeing you next spring, Matt,” Hunt
declared.

“I'll be ready.” He beamed as he grabbed his
mother and hugged her. She was still crying when they left.

Jodi was emotionally drained by the end of
the day. She'd met so many nice people and had to say goodbye to
too many friends.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

When they reached San Antonio, Concho and
Jose promised to help with the spring roundup. They hugged everyone
and kissed Jodi and left yelling and laughing.

Jodi was glad they hadn't prolonged the
leaving; she couldn't take much more of that. She didn't want to
tell Hunt, but she'd had begun to feel very tired and many more
goodbyes would have put her in bed.

When the small, pitiful little ranch came
into view, it was a welcome site for them all. Cole and Willy
didn't seem a bit disappointed. The very fact that they were needed
so badly made them happy.

Smoke came from the chimney as they rode up.
Clem was fussing at the Mexican girls who had been tending to him
almost non-stop when Jodi walked inside.

“You ornery old coot, why don't you leave
those girls alone and let them wait on you?” Jodi fussed, brimming
with a grin as she went to him.

Clem cleared his throat and smiled bright,
but he wasn't able to move.

His gray eyes sought her out. “Did you get it
done, girl?”

“We did, Clem. We did. We got more money than
we expected.”

Clem smiled. “Now who's this fella lookin' so
pie-eyed at you?” Clem asked as he spotted Hunt.

“I have a feeling you know him almost as well
as I do. It's Hunter Johnson, my husband.” She beamed.

“Well now, ain't that somethin'.” He hoorayed
her like he hadn't been expecting it all along.

“Clem, this is Cole and Willy, they are our
new hands. They are going to help fix this place up and we are
going to have a real working ranch from now on,” Jodi declared.

Clem could barely shake their hands as they
all came close and smiled down at him. The old man seemed tickled
to have so much company. Jodi surmised that he just might have
missed her a bit.

Clem had them telling all the tales along the
trail, as he enjoyed every minute of their stories. Jodi was sure
he was reliving a few of them himself.

They all sat up drinking coffee most the
night and telling tall tales about their adventure so Clem could
actually be a part of it too. The old man seemed happier to Jodi
than she'd seen him in years.

Later that night, Jodi and Hunt walked around
the place as Hunt got a feel for the land. He looked off into the
distance and saw the mighty oak trees and pines, and heard the
birds chirping. He also smelled the sweet smell of spring ending
while summer began.

“It's not a bad place, Jodi,” he surmised,
casting his gaze over the land.

“I'm so glad you like it. I was afraid you
might not. I mean, it does need a lot of repair,” she began, only
to be cut short by him.

“That's part of its lure. Work is good for a
man. Without it, he's not complete. Me and Cole and Willy, we can
put our hearts into this land, sink our teeth here and make
something of it. How many acres are yours?”

“We got twenty-five hundred acres, Hunt.” She
leveled that one on him and he rolled his eyes.

“Good grief, girl, we can raise a lot of
cattle on this land. I had no idea. Why…if Cole and Willy want to
stay, we might even section off some land for them, if you'd agree
to that.”

Jodi smiled. “You know I would. It would be
so much fun watching Cole and that Lucy girl get serious about each
other. And who knows? Maybe someone will come along for Willy too.
I mean…who knows?” She giggled as he drew her to him.

“You're tired, aren't you?” he whispered as
he kissed her ear.

“Not that tired,” she giggled and pulled him
back inside and into their bedroom.

≈≈≈

The entire town was shocked at Jodi and Hunt
coming home with so much money, and the other cattle owners were
more than a little pleased at the price they’d gotten. Everyone
seemed to be jubilant. Jodi and Hunt were able to inform the other
ranchers that next year would be a dandy good drive. A lot of
people seemed to have raised spirits hearing this.

It was almost as if the whole town came alive
after that. Men seemed to perk up and realize that, even though
they'd lost the war, there could be a future.

Hunt and Jodi began making repairs. With Cole
and Willy's help, the place began to take on a ranch look. In less
than two months they had made multiple improvements on the
place.

The time to attend the auction was near and
the three men planned their trip to San Antonio to buy cattle.

Summer’s end had the hills full of flowers
and beautiful green trees just beginning to turn color, and the
brook running behind the place was full of fish. They had
everything they needed except what few supplies Jodi had to get at
the local store.

That's when she ran into Hershel again. She
had just paid for her supplies and was loading her wagon when he
bumped into her. She tried to ignore him, but he was quite
insistent.

“Now Jodi, what's all this?” He looked at her
condition and frowned into her face. “When did this happen?”

“I got married,” she snapped indignantly.
“Not that it's any of your business.”

“Married…to who?” Hershel laughed.

“Hunter Johnson. Now will you please let me
go?” She tried to push past him.

Hershel laughed again, but spun her around.
“Well, I'll be. Married. And to that no-good coward. That's okay by
me. I'm not afraid of him. I'll be by to see you again. You can bet
on that.”

Pushing him away, she got in her buggy. “You
better be careful, Hershel. You might get your head blown off.”

“By that sniveling coward?” he chuckled
aloud. “That'll be the day.”

“Hershel, you really should grow up,” Jodi
said.

He bent close and whispered in her ear, “Now,
honey, you know you're my woman.”

“If I had a gun, I'd blow your head off.” She
pushed him away.

“Same old Jodi Parker I've always known,” he
chuckled again. “That's what I like about you. You're so
honest.”

She whipped the horses and took off, leaving
him laughing in the street.

She knew she'd have trouble with him, but she
thought maybe it might wait till she had the baby. Right now, she
wasn't up to jostling with him.

She hurried home. By the time she reached the
house, she was in tears. Clem heard her and yelled for her. “What's
wrong, girl?”

“Nothing, Clem, I'm just tired. You know how
women are when they're going to have a baby, don't you?”