Of Twilight and a Nomadic Traveller
“Why?” Pansy asked sadly. “We could do with your help still, Theo. And next season - well, I don’t know what we’ll do without you.”
“It’s not like you won’t find anyone else,” Theo pointed out. “Cowboys are ten a penny around here.”
“Yes, but you’re worth four of the average cowboy, even if you don’t look up to much hard graft,” Pansy countered, eyeing his stringy figure, still amazed at the things he could lift and the ropes he could throw. “You get more done in a day than most of them would get done in a week. Stay, Theo, please.”
“I’m better off alone,” he said gruffly. “I’m sorry, Pansy. It’s been a good season, but this is how I work.” He half-turned, patting his gelding’s dappled neck. “It’s time we made tracks.”
“Then stay for dinner,” Pansy wheedled. “Set out on a full stomach.”
But Theo shook his head. It was time, he could feel it in his gut. Anyway, now he’d made his intention known, the meal would be full of pseudo-casual inquiries into his family, the existence of a wife or children. He didn’t need that. It was why he kept moving, and for all this was the nicest ranch he’d had the opportunity to work for a few years, it was not home.
Theo didn’t have a home.
Three days later, Theo dismounted with a sigh to answer the call of nature, saddlesore and weary. The weight of his pistol was comforting at his hip and the wide brim of his hat kept most of the sun off his face.
His horse snorted and snuffled at the ground, wandering under the shade of some trees and splashing in a shallow ford. Theo followed and scooped some of the brackish water onto the back of his neck. It wasn’t good enough to drink.
“Come on, then. Let’s make tracks, or we’ll be late,” he told the gelding, and vaulted lightly back into the saddle. His feet found the stirrups but he felt no need to pick up the reins. Twilight knew where they were going.
Josiah looked up at the sound of hooves and his face broke into a wide smile. “Theo!” He called. “You remembered!”
“I always have, haven't I? And I always will,” Theo told him. He reached down, and pulled the boy up with a bit of scrambling that Twilight accepted without complaint. “It’s not every day your young man turns eleven.”
Josiah beamed. “Mum’s going to be thrilled you’re here,” he said. “The barn had to be emptied after the storm because the wood’s all rotted and one of the beams is close to falling, so she’s worried about calving.” He seemed to consider how his words sounded, and added, “and she’ll be glad to see you anyway, obviously.”
Theo laughed and tickled the boy’s sides, making him squirm and Twilight toss his mane, snorting. “For that, Josiah, you can help me fix it,” he said.
No, Theo had no family, and more enemies than friends. But this fatherless boy, and this ranch that he came back to for every off season, when the hired help was hard to come by - it was close enough. The quiet acceptance of his patchy history was enough. And he wouldn’t change it for the world.