Chapter 10

Chris finished his breakfast while keeping his distance from Mary Anna. They'd only talked about the food so far. A fairly safe topic between them. He was in a hurry to meet Jake and kept looking at the clock on the restaurant counter.

"You sure are in a hurry." Mary Anna set her fork down.

"Sorry. I'm going to meet Jake at the Land Office. It's a big day for us." He smiled at her. "We're about to become ranch owners."

"I guess that would include me?" Mary Anna looked warily at him. "We are still married, aren't we?"

"Yes, of course. I hope to have the house all ready for you by the time you and me are really married."

Blush colored her cheeks.

"Let me walk you back to your room."

Mary Anna's shoulders slumped. "I can't spend all day in my room. It's too boring."

"I'll come and get you as soon as I get back. I promise."

"Oh, all right. I guess before I left Mississippi, I had prayed for some rest." She walked slowly to her room.

Chris made sure she would lock the door after he left. "I'll see you later today." He ran down the stairs and out of the hotel. Maybe his life was beginning to right itself. He prayed God wouldn't hurt his chances because of the men he'd killed during the war.

He'd never shot a gun before the war, but somehow, he turned out to be a good shot and was used as a sniper throughout the war. He hated it. Hated who he'd become and lost himself. If it hadn't been for Jake, Chris would have never survived. Jake helped him see that his gift helped save the lives of his troops.

Chris shook away the memories and looked up to see his friend.

Jake was pacing outside the Title Office. He stopped walking and grinned. "Finally, I was beginning to wonder if you changed your mind."

"Mary Anna is a slow eater. Sorry. But I'm here now. Let's get our new lives started." He glanced at Jake. "How about you and Sheila? Did you get to talk to her again?"

"No. She wouldn't even look at me." Jake frowned. "But after I have a place to offer her, things might change."

"I hope so. Mary Anna wasn't too happy to spend time alone in the hotel room. Let's get going." Chris opened the door to the office.

It didn't take them long to pay for the taxes on the Hibbins Ranch and change the title on the deed to Drifters Ranch. Chris and Jake left the office feeling like successful ranchers. Now, to see what they'd bought.

Chris trusted Jake, but after thinking about his friend, he had to admit he had some doubts about what they'd bought. He just hoped the ranch house was good enough for Mary Anna to move into. Jake said they had another seven hundred dollars left in the bank, but they'd need every bit of it to stock the ranch.

The first stop was the livery where they had put their horses. It was on the edge of town and near the stock pens. Even with most of the cattle gone and on their way to the east, Chris could smell their leavings. Oh well. He figured once they got their own cattle, it would smell like money.

Chris saw the look Jake gave him and then entered the barn. "Steve."

The owner of the livery came out of the office. "Chris. I was wondering if you two had given up on your horses. Did you bring money for the stalls and feed?"

Chris caught Jake glaring at him. "Yes." Chris was supposed to have paid him last week but had tried his hand at poker again and lost the money. Chris dug into his pocket and handed Steve the money he owed. "I hear you have a new bride."

Steve grinned. "Alice is all I had ever dreamed about. How about you?"

Chris frowned. "We have some things to work out. I wanted to marry a Yankee girl, but she's Southern through and through. Half the time, we're fighting the civil war all over again."

Steve shook his head. "You need to put that part of your life away for good. Both of you. I hope you can work things out."

"Maybe Alice can visit Mary Anna. She's at The Drover room 2B. I know she'd enjoy the visit." Chris took his horse and walked out of the barn to find Jake. He was already mounted and ready to go.

Steve nodded. "I'll ask Alice if she wants to visit her friend. I know they were close to one another in Mississippi."

Chris mounted his horse and waved. "Great. Thanks, Steve."

Jake reined his horse in a circle as the frisky animal wanted to run. "Let's go. The day is a wasting." With that said, Jake galloped out of town.

Chris grinned and followed him. There was a well-cut road leading toward the ranch. Chris liked that, as it would make it easy to get wagons in. After about an hour's ride, the road split.

Jake took the right fork, heading north. The land looked good, with grass as far as he could see. There were low rolling hills and a nice stream heading west.

Chris was about to ask how much farther when Jake pointed.

"Up that rise, and the ranch is just over the hills. We'll have to work on the road to get wagons in and out, but that shouldn't be too hard."

Chris couldn't wait to see the ranch. They'd been working for this for years. Talked about it during the war. Now, he was going to see what all the hard work had won for them. He rode up the hill and stopped his horse to stand by Jake.

He looked down in the small valley between the hills for his first sight of The Drifters Ranch. There was a barn and a corral. The ranch house looked small, and the bunkhouse was even smaller.

Jake grinned. "Look at the barn. You couldn't ask for better."

"I doubt my wife will be impressed by the barn. Let's go check out the house." Chris nudged his horse down the hill and toward the ranch. The closer he got, the smaller the house looked. It was definitely not big enough for the four of them.

Jake whooped and passed him. "We're home!"

Trying to get caught up in his partner's excitement, Chris galloped to the house. Jake was already off his horse and on the porch.

"Come on, buddy. I want to show it to you."

Chris walked up the step to the small porch and noticed the red-stained splotches on the step and the door. "Jake, is that from the previous owner?"

Jake glanced at the stains. "I guess. That or some of the Indians. Come on inside."

Chris followed Jake and saw that it was a one-and-a-half-room house, with one-half being the bedroom. "It's small, Jake."

"We can build on to it and then build another house over there toward the pond. It's got good water with a stream and a pond for livestock. It's perfect, Chris."

What kind of perfect Jake had in mind was certainly not the perfect he had in mind. And definitely would not be the kind of perfect that Mary Anna would want. "We got a lot of work to do to make it good enough for Mary Anna and Sheila if you can get her to marry you."

"Oh, Chris. It will be just what we need. Besides, I haven't shown Sheila the ranch yet. I'm sure she'll want to marry me once I do."

Chris stared at his friend. The man must have a fever and be delirious. He certainly didn't know about women. "Well, it's got potential. We have our work cut out for us, that's for sure."

"We're not afraid of hard work. Can't be any harder than pushing those silly steers all the way from Texas." Jake snapped his fingers. "The railroad is just a mile to the east. I was thinking we could lease some pastureland to the cattle drives coming from Texas. A good way to make some easy money."

"Good idea. Are the Indians gone? How long ago was Higgins killed?"

Jake shrugged. "A time ago."

"How much of a time ago?" Chris was beginning to wonder if this had been such a good idea. "We're going to have to whitewash that blood from the door and porch. I don't want the women to see that."

Jake stared at him. "The man at the Land Office said it happened last year. But you're right. We need to get rid of the blood. That will be the first thing we do."

"We need to get some good cattle to raise." Chris nodded. "It does have potential." He glanced at Jake and smiled at his partner. Now, all he had to do was to see if he could convince Mary Anna to come and live out here. From what she'd told him, she wasn't used to hard living.