The morning passed calmly. Ellen walked along talking to her oxen as
though they were pets and Slade dozed on the wagon seat while the horses
trailed along behind the milk cow tied to the covered wagon. The mules calmly followed along, tied to
their wagon. Slade was truly tired.
Walking beside the oxen had tired him as much as digging the grave and
clearing the spring.
In addition to that, for the
last two days in Santa Fe
It all indicated an intentional
plan to ravage the ranch and obtain the property. Ellington seemed to have been
collaborating with Viejo in some way since he accepted the man’s claim as an
heir of Aguilar so easily. The arrival
of two respected men to verify Ellen’s identity had shaken Ellington and
Ellen’s shooting of the outlaw during the night had diminished his confidence
even more. Slade hoped the death of Viejo had ended whatever scheme had been
made.
There was a sudden jolt and
Slade tilted off the seat, catching himself at the last minute. He sat up and rubbed his face. Seeing the height of the sun, he called out
to Ellen to stop a minute.
Jacob and Esau were always ready
to stop and Ellen left them to come back to the side of the wagon.
“I say it is time for a rest,” Eli
told her.
“I saw you ‘resting!’ ” She
teased, “but I think it’s time to stop a
while, too. How much farther is it?”
Slade jumped down. He pointed off to the northwest aways, “See
that rock sticking up over there?”
“Yes, yes! It’s the rock on the
hill behind our house! Why can’t we see
the buildings? We’re almost home!”
“Well, not quite. That rock is farther away than it looks! And there’s a low rise between us and our
little bunch of buildings. It will take
several more hours so let’s allow the animals to rest and we can rest a
while. Then we’ll have only one more
push to be home!” He swung Ellen around
and put her down beside the wagon.
“Let’s make some coffee and
maybe open a can of tomatoes or something.”
He pulled the coffee pot out and filled it with water. When Ellen took it Slade rummaged in their
box and came out with a can, the bag of ground coffee and a wrapped half of
cornbread.
They collected wood to build a
little fire, just large enough to heat the coffee water. The wind had picked up just a bit so sitting
in the shelter of the wagons felt good.
The horses dozed and the oxen took advantage of the free time to chew
their cud. Raven stretched out under the
wagon for a snooze.
When Ellen picked up the can to
open it, she found it contained peaches.
They would be good poured over the cornbread. She dug a couple spoons and a plate from the box. She made the coffee and set the pot to the
side. In a few minutes she had their peaches and cornbread ready. Slade sat up from where he had been stretched
out on the ground. They sat cross legged
with the plate between them and shared it.
The milky coffee went well with the sweet of the peaches and
cornbread.
After about an hour, Slade
forced himself to get up. They simply
rinsed their dish and spoons and tossed them back in the wagon box. Ellen admitted that she was tired of walking
and agreed to drive the wagon so Slade started off with the oxen. Raven trotted back and forth between the two
of them.
Knowing home was so close made
the time creep even slower, but finally they topped the rise and saw their
buildings below them. Slade came back
and hooked long lead lines from the horses to the back of the first wagon. He moved the long suffering cow up beside the
front wheel of the covered wagon. That
way he and Ellen could walk together down the long, long slope and across the
flat to their house.
Fetcher heard or saw them coming
as they started down the slope. He came
bounding toward them, yelping in excitement.
Ellen called Raven to walk close to her, worried that there might be
some disagreement. Fetcher ignored him
in his joy to see Slade again and when he did come to greet Ellen he politely
touched noses and introduced himself to Raven.
The anxious moment was over.
Slade put his arm around Ellen
and walked ahead of the oxen. They could
see Joseph come out of the barn and run toward the little ‘dobe house. First
Slim Man and then One Who Laughs hurried across the space between the
houses. Joseph couldn’t wait for them
to get to the house. He ran toward them along the double rutted track. Slim Man and One Who Laughs walked behind him
more sedately.
“You are back,” he cried. “I had thought you were staying in Santa Fe
“Oh, how glad we are to be
home!” Ellen told him, “We had many
difficulties in Santa Fe
“We bought so many supplies that
we had to go more slowly so the horses could pull it. Then yesterday we found this wagon whose
owners had died. The oxen and cow were
wandering protected only by the dog.”
Slade told them, pointing to Raven standing at attention beside
Ellen. “I took us a while to get things
organized to bring the wagon along.
“The good thing about it was
that we were able to transfer some of the supplies to the second wagon and
lighten the load for the horses.”
They continued walking beside
the first wagon as they exchanged news with Joseph. Slade explained the purchase of the mules and
how they had switched teams every day at noon to keep either from getting over
tired. “If the poor horses had to do all
the work we would still be on our way home,” he said.
After a few minutes of standing
apart, Fetcher and Raven decided to go chase nothing the way playing dogs
do. When Raven slid to a sudden stop to
check a trail through he sage, Fetcher did a quick turn around and came back to
investigate. Ellen watched them nosing
around in circles until they hit the scent and tore off barking a warning to
the hapless rabbit.
Slim Man and One Who Laughs met
them happily. Ellen surprised herself by
wrapping One Who Laughs in a giant hug.
She had truly missed the old woman.
She whirled to Slade and urged,
“Tell them, Eli. Tell them the best
news!”
Slade looked at her in mock
incomprehension. “Tell them? Tell them what?” Then he couldn’t help laughing. “Joseph, we have the joy of telling you and
your grandparents that we were married four days ago in Santa Fe
He and Ellen stood grinning in
delight as Joseph translated for the old lady and man. One Who Laughs clapped her hands in glee and
Slim Man reached out to shake Slade’s hand again. Joseph settled for pounding Slade’s
back.
They led the oxen into the yard
and backed the wagon up at the end of the porch. The horses stopped voluntarily in front of
the door. Slade un-yoked the oxen and
led them to the water trough. The cow followed behind them. When the three finished drinking he dropped
the poles of the fence and drove them into the small corral on the north side
of the barn. There the three went to
picking at the grass.
Joseph unhitched the horses and
led them toward the gate into the big pasture.
Ellen led the mules along behind.
The four were used to being together and when Joseph slapped the rumps
of the horses turning them loose to go get water, the mules trotted willingly
behind them.
“I don’t know about you all,”
Slade announced, “but for just a little while I’m going to sit down in my
comfortable chair and rest.” He went
inside and dropped into his chair. When
Ellen came by on her way to the table with the dirty dishes, he reached out a long arm and swung her into
his lap. “Sit with me, Ellie. We’re
home.” He pulled her close enough to
kiss her neck.
“Eli! Joseph is liable to come in any minute. You mustn’t!”
Ellen’s face was red.
Eli released her to scramble up
but looked at her smugly. “I’m allowed
to, you know. You’re my wife.” She ran her free hand around the nape of his
neck and went a couple more steps to set the things on the table. Then she came
back and pulled the stool close to his chair, leaning against his leg.
“I’ll sit here quiet for a bit,
too. I am so weary.”
They only had a few minutes
though until Joseph began carrying things in from the wagon before the
door. Slade hauled himself from the
chair and they began distributing the supplies to their various
locations—flour, cornmeal and dry goods up at the top of the ladder, some of
the canned things there, too, and others to the ‘dobe house along with a bag of
cornmeal. The material for clothes and
towels, still in their brown paper wrappings, was stacked against the wall in
the loft. Some of the bacon and ham went
in the pantry; some went in the cold house at the north side of the big
house. Compared to how long it had taken
to load the wagon and bring it home, the unloading went quickly.
Slade pulled out the supplies he
had moved to the bigger wagon to lighten the horses’ load, but didn’t bother
doing anything more. He tightened the
end covers and left the big wagon sitting in silence at the end of the
porch. “Plenty of time tomorrow. It has been sitting all winter, another day
won’t hurt.”
It was about then that One Who
Laughs came carrying her iron kettle full of a rich stew. She spoke to Joseph
who ran off to the ‘dobe house and returned with three loaves of sourdough
bread. One Who Laughs proudly pointed to
the bread.
“She said that she had learned
to make good bread as Ellen showed her!
And here is stew for us all to eat tonight. I’m told to make coffee.” Joseph picked up the big coffee pot and
filled it with water. He set it on the
stove where Slim Man had built a roaring fire.
They sat in silence while the
water began to boil for the coffee and the stew kept warm on the coals at the
side of the fireplace. Slade got up and kindled
a fire, as much for light as for warmth.
He lit their candles and set them on the table. After the brightness of the buildings in Santa Fe
Ellen didn’t even have to get up
to serve the food. One Who Laughs
directed Joseph who brought out dishes and silverware. He poured coffee and added milk and sugar for
Slade, Ellen and Slim Man.
Slim Man squatted on the hearth
as he had always done. Ellen and Slade
used the stool between them as a table for their coffee and bread. One Who Laughs and Joseph sat at the table. They were all used to Slade praying before
his evening meal. So the family waited while he spoke to the Lord.
“Father God, thank you for
bringing us home safely. Thank you for
our family here and for the good food prepared for us. Thank you for love and security and safety. In Jesus’ Name Amen.”
There was another quiet pause
filled with the murmur of Joseph’s voice as the translated for his
grandparents. Ellen noticed the old
woman’s face when Joseph explained that Slade had called them all family. She looked deeply into Slade’s face and then
Ellen’s. An unspoken bond forged around
the five in the room.
Then Ellen sighed and dipped her
bread in the stew. It was heavenly. She was weary of the bacon and beans and
tortillas that most times composed their quick meals on the road. She looked across at one Who Laughs.
“Joseph, please tell your
grandmother I thank her very much for cooking this good food for us. I’m so thankful I didn’t have to cook
tonight.”
When Joseph had relayed the
words, the old lady chuckled in delight.
Joseph translated her words. “She
says, grandmothers always cook for working daughters!” And the old lady laughed again.
She stood up and collected the
bowls and silverware, putting them in the kettle and giving it to Joseph. She herded her menfolk, still carrying their
coffee, ahead of her chattering at them as they went. Joseph turned at the last minute and told
them “Good night, see you in the morning.”
Then the house was empty of all
but Ellen and Slade.
This time she got up voluntarily
and came to sit in Slade’s lap. Ellen
snuggled down against his chest and laid her head in the curve of his neck and
shoulder. “I’m so tired I don’t know
what to do next.” She told him and they
sat in the quiet as full darkness fell outside.
“Just think,” Slade said. “We don’t have to go outside until bright
morning. Joseph even has wood here for
the night. And I’ll bet the water tank
is full too. It may not be hot, but it
will at least be warm.” He shifted his
shoulders against the sheepskin. “Maybe
we should wait a bit and let it get warmer.”
Neither fell deeply asleep, but
both napped a little in the warmth of the little house. A scratching on the door woke Slade and then
Ellen.
“Now, THAT is Fetcher, come to
show Raven our sleeping arrangements.”
Slade said as they both stood up.
Sure enough Fetcher swept in the opened door with Raven at his
heels. Both of them nosed around the
floor beside the chairs and poked Ellen and Slade with their inquisitive noses
before they found places to stretch out.
“I think I want a good bath,”
Ellen said. “Four days of road dirt make
me more weary than the actual travel.”
“I’ll get you the wash pan,”
Slade volunteered. “You can wash right
here by the fire.” He moved one of the
chairs and set the wash pan on it. Then
he filled the pan with steaming water from the tank in the fireplace.
Ellen abruptly realized that
having a bath meant taking off all of her clothes. The house was very small and
she wasn’t entirely sure she was bold enough to do that in front of her still
brand new husband. At the same time,
Slade grasped her discomfort.
He came up behind her and
wrapped her in his arms. “I’m going to
have a bath too. I’ll use the pantry
table as I always have so we will both have a bit of privacy. I’ll give you that concession since you’ve
been my wife for such a short time. But
that won’t always be the case,’ he warned.
And pulling a curl that had wandered across his face he took the big
dipper of hot water back to the tub in the pantry.
Ellen hurried up her ladder and
back to her own “bedroom.” She pulled
clean clothes from her trunk and the box that had always held her clothes. She chose the pretty night dress Mrs. Coulter
had made for her and a pair of the ruffley pantalettes
that were shorter than the pantaloons and were so silky soft against her
skin. She felt very daring as she hoped
Slade would like her in them.
Leaving her hair until a later
day, she used the remaining bit of Madeline’s white soap to scrub herself all
over. She quickly dried off and slipped
the night dress over her head. She
stroked the soft fuzzy material and thought of Viejo’s blood on her
–Madeline’s- old night dress. The
thought of the shooting didn’t disturb her in the least. It was nothing compared to the joy of being
Slade’s wife and being home at last.
She wiggled her toes against the
cold floor, thinking she should have brought a pair of stockings. Then Slade stepped out of the pantry and
wiped every other thought from her mind.
He wore his pants but his under shirt hung open over them, fastened only
with a couple buttons at the waist. His
shoulders were very broad and the muscles in his chest rippled with his simple
movement tossing the dirty things in his hand to the floor beside the
closet. He had even washed his hair. The
rough toweling he had given it to dry the extra water left it tousled and
curled. His beard still shadowed his
chin. Ellen thought she had never seen
such a beautiful man. All memory of
Alejandro fled her mind.
Slade held his breath as he took
the few steps across the room to his wife.
The ruffly fluffy nightdress enveloped her from chin to toe, but the
firelight behind her highlighted her form through the soft material. Her hair was piled on her head and held in
place by the long pin he had carved for her, but curls escaped in every
direction diminishing her face and leaving her huge dark eyes to draw him
in.
“You will always be the most
beautiful woman in the world for me.” He
told her. “I will never stop being
amazed at how God brought you to me and more amazed that you would ever love
me! Me!
A dirt farmer and cowboy. And
there you were a Spanish lady!” He
wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet.
“Could we go to bed now?” He asked plaintively. Ellen giggled, feeling a strange kind of
power over this big man who held her so close.
“I would love to go to bed,” she
told him. And all of the quick kisses
and embraces of the past days on the road came rolling over her. “But would you mind if we slept in the loft. It is so cozy and warm and comfortable. I would like to spend my wedding night
there. I mean, I know we had the hotel,
but this is our homecoming, our real wedding
night.
“Come on.” She picked up the candle in one hand and took
his hand with the other. He would have
followed her to a cave on the mountain at that moment. They left the fires to burn themselves out or
hold till morning. They left the dogs
stretched out by the door. They left the
bath things where they stood and the towels where they had fallen.
Slade took the candle from her
as she gathered her skirt in one hand and climbed the ladder. He followed close
behind her, remembering the night he had stood at the bottom and averted his
eyes while she went up. She took the
candle from him and led the way across the loft.
He stood up in the point of the
roof and his head barely missed the center pole. He remembered the piles of bags and boxes he
and Joseph had shoved up here. The chaos
was gone. Sometime Ellen had found time to set the place
to rights and it didn’t appear that they had added a hundred dollars worth of
supplies to their store.
“Here.” Ellen called from the buffalo robe. She was kneeling in the center of her ‘bed’
and had set the candle off to the side on one of the boxes he had stacked so
many months ago to make a wall of privacy around the bed. She had pulled the
pick from her hair and it floated around her shoulders. “Come on to bed. Blow the candle out when you
are close enough not to trip.”
And she held out her hand. Slade wondered how long it had been since he
had taken a breath. From somewhere he
summoned enough air to puff across the flame.
And amazingly, in the darkness Ellen seemed to glow in front of him.
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