Ellen heard Slade’s breath catch
in his throat when he saw the horses.
She knew which horse had elicited the gasp. El Nino Negro had a carbon copy in reverse. The largest yearling stood taller than his
brother and sisters. But he was gray,
almost white instead of black. His large
dark eyes gleamed with intelligence and his nostrils flared at the strange
scents.
His brother was a dark bay. It would have been a beautiful horse except
that he was standing beside the gray.
The fillies, too, showed their fine breeding in the same large eyes and
pricked ears as their older brothers.
Ramon walked to the gate opening
into the colts’ field. He took the halter and lead strap from the post and slid
them on the inquisitive head. The light
gray colt pranced with anticipation, shaking his dark mane and poking his black
nose into Ramon’s shoulder. Ramon led
him to the adjoining round corral where he stepped to the center and clicked
his tongue at the colt. The horse danced
in a widening circle as Ramon played out the line. Responding to almost silent commands the colt
went from a walk to a trot back to a measured walk and finally to a stop.
Ramon’s pride was evident as he
gathered the line and led the colt to the fence where Raven and the admirers
were standing. “He will even accept a
rider on the long line, but I’ve only put Cecil on him. That Cecil, he is like a little burr on a
horse’s back.
“The mares have come along as
quickly as the colts, but this boy is my special pride.” Ramon patted the horse’s neck. “They need names, senora. We have not given them names because I
thought you would want to name them. My
father is agitated that such beautiful animals are not named for their sire and
dams… but I felt that was your responsibility.
“I’m afraid I know nothing about
horses or their lineage, Ramon. I barely
recognized Negro Nino. I have no idea
how to trace their line. How could I
give them names reflecting their parentage?”
“Never fear, senora. My father knows them by heart. He can tell
you the mares’ connections back for several generations.” Ramon reassured her.
“I will have to talk with him
then,” Ellen said, “to be educated about horse pedigrees.”
“He would be most happy to talk
with you, senora. Perhaps tomorrow you will sit down with him and the old don’s
stud books. He would be most happy to
help you complete them with this new generation.”
With the dog romping along behind,
they returned the gray colt to his field and spent time petting the other colt
and the fillies. All of them were
friendly and not at all shy. Even Raven’s friendly prancing didn’t bother
them. Ramon had done good work in
training them. Cecil was boosted onto
the backs of them all and they accepted his weight without objection, even
following Ramon back and forth led by the pressure of his hand on their neck.
By the time they finished
admiring the youngsters, the sun was sinking and Ellen was weary. They made their way back to the house, making
plans on the way to ride out the following morning to view the cattle gathered
from the hidden ridges to the east.
The Commandante’s wisdom in sending the Senora along was evident when
they arrived back at the house to a hot meal and plenty of strong rich coffee.
Ellen and Slade were met with warm water to wash in and conducted to the dining
room for dinner. Although the food was
good and they enjoyed the meal, both were uncomfortable sitting in state while
their companion by the campfire waited on them.
They thanked the Senora for all her effort, but made sure she understood
how much they preferred to have their meals at the big kitchen table with
her.
Both Ellen and Slade carried
their dishes to the kitchen where the Senora had the cooking mess cleaned up
and was waiting for them. She refused
any help but sent them on to their room.
“You have had a hard day and you
need to rest. I left a lamp and started
a fire to warm the room a bit. Go and
rest.” She handed them a lamp from the
kitchen shelf.
“Wait Senora.” Ellen said, “Are we leaving you without any
light in your room.”
“No, no, mis hijos. I have this lamp,
you see. My room is small and I have this lamp.
Everything is done.” She rinsed
the last dish and wiped it dry. “You go
and I shall go too, in a moment.”
They took their lamp and went
along the short passage way to their room. The big central court area loomed
darkly on their left and Raven followed close behind Ellen. He seemed to be concerned about her safety in
the big house. Perhaps some remnant of her
past abuse lingered in the atmosphere and odors.
La Senora had indeed been busy in
their room. There was a burning lamp
sitting in the center of the long dresser between the windows. She had hung an old limp blanket at each window
by the simple expedient of stitching a casing along one end and sliding a pole
through it to hang over the window. The
blankets were pulled to the side, framing the dresser. It gave the room a warm coziness. A fire flickered in the fireplace lending its
light also. All of their clothing had been put in the drawers of the dresser
and the trunk placed on the other side of the fire place from the washstand.
Ellen sighed and collapsed across
the bed.
“It’s been a long day.” She
sighed rubbing the dog’s ears as he braced his front feet on the bed beside her. “I will probably sleep until noon tomorrow.”
Slade walked to the dresser and
opened the drawers until he found the one holding her nightgown. He tossed it to her on the bed.
On a shelf of the wash stand,
Ellen found their towels and washcloths.
She poured warm water into the bowl and quickly washed. She hung her shirt and skirts over the chair
beside the bed and flipped the nightgown over her head.
“Ohhhh. Feels so good.´ She
shivered and rubbed her upper arms briskly.
Where did I put my big shawl? I
think of all of Madeline’s things I have used, I probably like that the
best.”
She searched around the room
until she found the shawl where it had fallen beside the washstand. Ellen picked it up and wrapped it around her
shoulders.
“Come on, Raven, let’s go outside
for a while.”
“Where are you going, I’d like to
know.” Slade asked. “You cannot go out
in the courtyard in your night clothes!”
Ellen looked at him and
laughed. “Who’s to see? You come, too. I’ll show you the nicest place on the ranch!”
She took his arm and led him in
his stocking feet out of the room and around the corner. They had walked straight down from the
kitchen and Slade had not really paid attention to either side. Now he found that the double doors opened
into a private courtyard.
On two sides and part of a third
the walls of the house enclosed the little area. The third side facing the north east was
bound by another wall raising about waist high or a little taller. There was a
gate in the wall that opened into the open field beyond. The side partially enclosed by the wall had a
short section that extended to the corner.
There was a very small gate in this wall by the corner.
In the dim light Slade thought
perhaps he had stepped into a little fairy land. Even with approaching fall, the trees in the
corners spread graceful branches across the wall and drooped to the
ground. Bushes broke the harsh lines of
the wall and to one side was an empty fountain.
There was an arbor covering the section of the courtyard along the house
and its vines thatched the top of it. Long loops of vine drooped from the
edges. And pots of decorative plants
were sitting at each post.
Slade suspected that in day light
the courtyard would show signs of neglect and many of the plants, especially
those in the pots, would be dead. But in
the dim moonlight they still seemed lovely.
Raven ran out into the area and raced around, smelling the pots and
bushes, lifting his leg on spots here and there.
Ellen led the way across the
courtyard to the small gate and opened it.
When they went through, Slade discovered that amid all the stark
grandeur there was an outhouse on the other side of the wall.
“You didn’t want to take the dog
out! You needed to go out yourself!” And he laughed at her as she hurried ahead of
him into the little building. Raven ran
out across the open ground until Ellen had relieved herself and left the
building. She whistled for the dog and
Slade took his turn in the little building.
They went back into the
courtyard. Raven romped ahead of them.
“This is the family’s private
courtyard. We used to sit here in the
evenings, sometimes we had dinner here.”
She pointed to a table and only three chairs off to one end where doors
with windows from near the ground to the top opened into the kitchen. We used to have comfortable chairs here where
Tia and I would sit and sew or Alejandro would bring books and we would
read.
“Or sometimes he brought his
guitar. Don Francisco had one too. They would
play for us.
“The fountain had water flowing
then… I wonder why it doesn’t have any now.”
She stepped closer to Slade and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Maybe someday . . .”
He turned her gently and snapped
his fingers at Raven across the yard sniffing at the bars of the big gate.
They returned to their room. Ellen washed her hands and wiped her dusty
feet with the wet cloth. She hung her
green shawl on a hook of the armoire and hurried to bury herself in the
blankets of the bed.
“It is chillier out there than I
thought!” she exclaimed.
Slade poured clean water in the
basin and washed quickly. Raven
stretched on his side between the foot of the bed and the dresser. Slade took his own place beside his wife. They were both asleep almost before Slade
said Amen to their prayer.
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