Chapter Eight
For Runa, the wedding party passed in a daze. Partly because excitement was fading away to leave only exhaustion; she had barely slept since leaving Washington D.C. and what little sleep she had managed had been poor. It was also in part because of the revelation that something was not right involving Steve, Bucky and herself; as well as partly because she was overwhelmed by so many people wanting to meet her and talk to her. For the past nine years of her life she had worked as a maid. The only people she had any interaction with were Titus, Iris, Polly, and the Rumlows themselves. Occasionally there were others, like the pastor at her church, but never a crowd of people all swarming around her and wishing her well, introducing themselves and asking her how her trip was, how she liked their little town so far. She had gotten separated from Steve shortly after they had eaten the plates of food handed to them, and Runa was feeling as if she were lost, adrift at sea.
Thankfully, the gathering only lasted about two hours before everyone began to disperse, taking plates and tablecloths with them, some of the men remaining to put away the planks of wood and sawhorses that made up the makeshift tables. Steve reappeared by her side, giving her a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, I got caught up talking business with some others.” He explained, and she managed a smile, though it didn’t really touch her eyes. All she wanted was to sit alone in a quiet room by herself for a while, and perhaps take a nap.
She had a feeling naps were a luxury that she wouldn’t be afforded very often, remembering how many he had said she would need to cook for.
“It’s all right.” She said softly. “Is it time for us to go home now?” She ventured.
He smiled slightly at that, a quirk of his full lips. “Yeah. Let’s get you home.” He escorted her to the wagon, and helped her up before he climbed up himself. Soon, they were on their way, on a worn dirt road leading away from Amaranto Springs.
“It’s about an hour to the ranch.” He explained as they left the town. “But it is a beautiful ride.” He assured her. “You’ll like it.”
“I’m sure I will.” She was silent a moment, trying to keep her eyes open as the heat and early June afternoon sun bore down on them. She had retrieved her new bonnet, and had tied it on, but it only helped a little bit. “Tell me more about the ranch.” She said, to try and find something to focus on to keep awake.
“It’s a good sized spread. We raise cattle for the beef market, but we have a lot of horses too. Falsworth is our main wrangler, he sticks closer to the house than the rest of us most days, because he stays near the stables and the closer corrals. Happy Sam sticks around the house and barns to do odd jobs and work with the animals. He broke his hip and legs about two years back. He got thrown from his horse and trampled by a few of the cattle that were stampeding, but even though we had Doc Banner come out he didn’t heal quite right. He can’t stay in the saddle for hours at a time any more, but he didn’t want to leave Bluestone, so he works with the animals, does odd jobs around the area of the house and outbuildings. He’s been acting as our trail cook when we’re on drives because we can’t get anyone else, but he’s not very good. None of us are.” Steve confided. “If you could teach him to improve his beans, the rest of us would be much obliged. We won’t go on long drives any longer, though. With the new spur line, Amaranto Springs is serving as a railhead where we can sell off the cattle, but it’s best to be prepared.”
Runa laughed softly at that. “I’ll see if I can teach him a few things. So he’s been doing the cooking for the ranch?”
“Well, he has been doing some of it. More of it than the rest of us.” Steve admitted. “We all took turns cooking and doing the dishes, but it’s hard, after a long day. It also means we aren’t used to supper at a set time, since some days it’s early, some days it’s late, and half the time it’s not fully cooked, but we’re just so hungry.” Steve confessed.
“Well, I will try to make sure all the meals are on time, every day.” She promised. “Do you want lunches to take with you, or should I expect all of you to come back to the house for lunch?”
“Out here, the afternoon meal is dinner, and the evening meal is supper. Lunch is a word I hadn’t heard in a while.” He grinned. “We still slip up sometimes, but we’re getting used to it. You will too.”
“It will just take a little time.” She said quietly, looking down at her hands.
“You’ll get used to it soon.” He promised. “As for dinner, a bit of both. We’ll probably be coming back to the house most of this week, at least. We’ll let you know when that changes. Sam will, at least. He’s sort of our trail boss. Bucky and I do plenty of work so he looks to us, but he’s third in command, as it were.”
“And Sam is not Happy Sam?”
Steve laughed. “No, Sam Wilson and Sam Sawyer are two different people. Happy Sam is Sam Sawyer. He’s had the nickname since he was a kid in Georgia. We knew him as Happy Sam long before we met Sam Wilson, so Sam Wilson became Sam, and Sam Sawyer stayed Happy Sam.”
“I think I’ve got it.” Runa said. “It’s going to take me a few days to remember everyone’s names, I’m afraid.”
“We’ll help you through it.” Steve promised her. “Now, I spoke to Missus Barton a few weeks before you came. She and her husband, Clint, have a farm not too far from our ranch and they’re pretty neighborly. We didn’t have much in the pantry besides coffee, salt meat, beans, rice, and cornmeal, so I asked her what someone would need to feed a ranch for about a week. She made out a list and we got all the supplies she suggested, to give you a bit of time to get situated and figure out what you want and need for the kitchen.”
Runa smiled slightly. She had taken lessons in cooking from Iris for eight years, had even made quite a few meals on her own (well, with supervision) and the Rumlows had never mentioned a difference. And at the bottom of her carpet bag, there was a notebook filled with recipes that Iris had copied out into it in the weeks leading up to Runa’s departure. She had every confidence she would be able to handle the kitchen. “Thank you for thinking of that. I would have figured something out with what you had, but it will be nice to have a wider variety.”
“We also have chickens and dairy cows so there will be plenty of eggs and milk. And cream for butter.”
She laughed. “Butter?”
“We haven’t had butter since Old Gus died about three years ago. Closer to four, now. He was our cook. We just… Haven’t been able to find a replacement.”
“Well, I can’t promise any butter tonight, but I’ll see what I can manage tomorrow or the next day. I have to find out what needs to be done around the house before I can plan anything like churning.”
“We would all appreciate that.”
She smiled, and looked out at the landscape, feeling a bit better about things, despite the apprehension and confusion of earlier. She closed her eyes a moment and just listened, hearing the insects buzzing in the grass, the steady clip-clop of the two horses pulling the wagon, the creak and rumble of the wagon itself.
Before she quite realized it, she was half asleep. A few minutes later Steve glanced over at her and smiled, before using a gentle hand guided her to lean against him. Runa did so before letting out a content little sigh, and slipping further into slumber.
~*~
Runa was startled awake by the lack of motion. She raised her head and looked about, blinking owlishly, taking in the amused, smiling faces of several men who were moving around the wagon.
“Thought you could use the nap.” Steve explained quietly, also giving her a bit of a smile.
“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s all right. You had a bit of a journey to get here.” Steve assured her.
“You want both of these trunks in the bedroom?” Bucky asked from the back of the wagon.
“Heavy one has books and things, right?” Steve asked Runa, who nodded. He looked back to Bucky. “Put the heavy one in the sitting room.” He said as he got down from the wagon, before going around to help Runa down. “I’ll show you around a bit while they get your things inside.”
“All right.” Runa said, still feeling a bit groggy as she looked at the whitewashed wood buildings as Steve helped her down.
“You won’t have to worry about getting eggs or milk in the morning.” Steve assured her as he led her to what looked almost like a small barn, but turned out to be a henhouse. “Happy Sam takes care of that. I’ve lost count of the number of chickens we have, we started with about thirty and they’ve multiplied, but it’s enough for everyone to have three or four eggs at breakfast in the morning. I know some are getting older, so there are more than enough for us to butcher some for cooking. Happy Sam knows which ones are getting too old for laying, so he would be the one to ask.”
She managed to nod, staring at the chickens that were scratching and pecking in the yard. Steve then showed her the paddock where the four cows were grazing, then showing her the stables where the horses were kept, promising to introduce her to the horses within later. He showed her the pig pen where she would take any leftover food scraps and slops, then the smaller outbuildings including the spring house, and then, to her surprise, a bath house.
“A bath house?” Runa asked in surprise as she stared at the wooden building that had a raised concrete area looking almost like a fireplace on one side.
“It was Morita’s idea. He’s from Japan, and I guess they’re more particular about keeping clean than most people here are.” Steve gave a wry smile. “Rigged a pump inside that pours right into a big tub, and you heat the water by lighting a fire in this part here. I’ll show it to you when you want to use it. It’s much more comfortable than it sounds.” He assured her. “Sort of the effect of a boiler, without one.”
“But you’re sitting in boiling water.” She protested.
“No, you only heat it up about half way before adding the cool water, and you aren’t sitting on the metal, but…” Steve sighed. “I’ll show you when you want to use it.” He promised.
“All right.” She frowned.
“Two more things I want to show you before we head to the house.” He smiled at her, before taking her hand again and leading her out behind the ranch house to a large stand of trees.
Runa looked around, not quite certain what she was seeing, what he was showing her, before it clicked. “An orchard?”
“It’s got several types of trees.” He agreed. “Apples, black cherries, peaches, plums, and pears. The ranch’s previous owner put them in for his wife. We’ve been eating the fruit as it ripens, but with no way to preserve it, well… What we can’t eat gets fed to the pigs. There are some blackberry and raspberry bushes too, they’ve mostly been growing wild, but we take care of the orchard and replace the trees as needed.”
“Oh, we’ll definitely have preserves this year.” She agreed, wide eyed. She hadn’t thought there would be this wealth of fruit.
“There’s also a kitchen garden. Happy Sam looks after it, mostly. Again, we eat a lot of it fresh, but don’t often preserve it. What we can’t eat gets fed to the pigs.”
“A garden will be a blessing.” She murmured, wondering at all the food they had wasted. “And the pigs are going to have to learn they can’t eat like kings while the masters starve.”
Steve grinned like a child that had just been promised a treat, before taking her to see the inside of the house.
Once they were inside, Runa realized why he had kept this for last. The inside was… Not quite filthy, but close. Oh, it looked like they had tried to make it better for her arrival with sweeping and dusting, but she doubted the bluestone tile floor or the wooden walls had been scrubbed since they had bought the place. Steve led her through the house, showing her the four bedrooms, the sitting room, the large dining room with the piecemeal table and chairs, the kitchen and the pantry. He seemed so proud to show it all off to her that she kept her mouth shut about the state of the place.
When he asked her if she could have a late supper ready by seven, though they preferred eating around six or six thirty, she looked at the clock on the mantle of the sitting room and nodded. “I can manage something.” She promised him, before going to the room he said they would be sharing so she could swiftly change into a calico work dress, not wanting to spoil her challis with the work that was going to need doing.
Then she went to work, heating water for cleaning before going to the orchard, spring house, and garden to find what she wanted for supper. She was glad to find that while it was not nearly as clean as she would have liked, the kitchen and everything in it was well cared for. They kept the knives sharp and the dishes clean. It made her job much easier.
In between the necessary cutting, chopping, peeling, mixing, and so forth, she scrubbed. She worked harder than she ever had at the Rumlows, and felt that there was not a part of her that didn’t ache as it neared seven and she set the table with twelve place settings. She knew the salt pork cutlets with milk gravy would be devoured, and she hoped the scalloped eggs would at least be tolerated. She was more confident in the boiled squash, string beans, and the cornbread, as well as the pans of cobbler she had made for dessert.
Silently, she blessed Missus Barton for the list she had given Steve, and vowed she was going to make the woman a pie or a pan of gingerbread or something to show her thanks.
She went to the sitting room, where Steve looked like he was writing in a book, and Bucky was whittling on a piece of wood.
“How should I call everyone for supper?” She asked softly, the two looking up at her.
“I’ll do it.” Bucky said as he set aside his whittling and got up. Runa stepped aside so he could get past her and head out to the porch.
“There’s a dinner bell on the porch. Well. A triangle.” Steve said as he stood, “Supper smells amazing.”
“I hope it tastes just as good as it smells.” Runa smiled, before turning and heading into the dining room. “Should I have coffee or water for supper? I wasn’t certain, so I made a pot of coffee just in case…”
“Most will want the coffee.” Steve said, looking around in surprise as he saw the dining room. “It looks like a different place in here.”
“I still need to scrub down the walls and take down the curtains.” She sighed as she went to the kitchen to start putting food on the table, “I should probably just replace the curtains.”
“Is something wrong with them?” Steve looked over at the yellowed curtains, confused by her desire to replace them. As he looked at the curtains, the sound of Bucky vigorously ringing the triangle on the porch was heard easily.
“They’re so sun faded I can barely make out what color they used to be, and they haven’t been washed in a long time. I think they’re going to fall apart as soon as I wash them.” She confided as she brought in two large platters of cornbread and set one at either end of the table.
Steve stared at the cornbread as if he hadn’t seen anything like it before, hurriedly taking his seat at the head of the table as the farmhands began hurrying in and taking their seats. Runa hurriedly brought in the pans of scalloped eggs, the bowls of string beans and the bowls of squash, and then came out with the pork cutlets smothered in gravy. She swore she could almost hear a collective growl of stomachs as she set the tray in front of Steve. She glanced at the table, saw that the seat at the foot was available, and she moved to sit down quickly, as no one seemed disposed to start eating yet.
Almost as soon as she sat down she almost laughed at the speed at which everyone joined hands. She found her left taken by a tall, powerfully built man with carrot colored hair and an equally orange bristly moustache. Her right was taken by a more compactly built man with brown hair and a thin moustache. Further inspection of those at the table had to wait, because everyone was bowing their heads, and Runa did so as well.
She waited for someone to begin the prayer, but everything remained silent. She frowned, starting to raise her head, when Steve said “Amen.”
Immediately her hands were released, and the ravening horde descended upon the table. She watched in surprise as bowls were passed around and everyone served themselves quickly. She was even more surprised at how quickly the cornbread flew off the platters as they were passed around the table, and how swiftly the bowls and pans were emptied.
“Did I make enough?” She managed to ask as a bowl was passed to her and she quickly served herself some string beans before passing it on, taking the squash from the man with the thin moustache and serving herself, before passing it to the man with the carrot colored hair.
“Oh, this is a fair plenty, ma’am.” He assured her. “We just haven’t had plenty of good vittles in a while, except for earlier today, and we couldn’t stuff our faces as much there.”
“What Dum Dum is saying is that we had to be polite for the church ladies.” The man on the other side of the carrot haired giant laughed, his accent thick. He had a sun reddened skin, the sort that burned even through his tan, a receding hairline with threads of gray in his dark hair, his moustache well kept, particularly compared to the man beside him.
“Dum Dum?” Runa ventured, confused, as the platter of pork cutlets made its way around the table.
“That’s my name, ma’am. Leastways, that’s what everyone calls me. I don’t mind it, to tell the truth. Dum Dum Dugan.” The big man said, giving her a grin as he passed her a pan of scalloped eggs.
“Forgive me, Mister Dugan, but I don’t know that I can call someone ‘Dum Dum’.” Runa said as she served herself, then passed the tray on. Everyone at the table laughed at that.
“That’s because you’re a lady, Missus Rogers. And since there’s a lady at the table now, we should be showing some manners.” The man sitting to Steve’s left pointed out as he helped himself to two pieces of cornbread. His black hair was cut short, and he wore a goatee similar to Pastor Fury’s, only smaller. “I’m Sam Wilson, ma’am, and this spread is the finest thing to grace this table in a long time.”
“This dish is very different, but it smells good.” The man beside Sam agreed as he helped himself to the second pan of scalloped eggs. “Egg and meat casserole?” He questioned as he inspected what he had dished onto his plate, before looking over to her with kind brown eyes.
“Scalloped eggs. I suppose it is a sort of an egg and meat casserole. With a few other things added.” Runa agreed with a smile as the cutlet platter finally reached her. She served herself one quickly, before passing the tray to her right.
“I am Jim Morita.” He added. “I am glad to meet you. We all are.”
“If we had to endure another night of bland, half cooked beans, I think we would have rioted.” The man to Runa’s right chuckled in a light accent she recognized as being from somewhere in Britain from overhearing some of Mister Brock’s friends speaking. “I am James Montgomery Falsworth, Missus Rogers.”
“I’m Sam Sawyer, but everyone calls me Happy Sam. Keeps me from getting confused with Sam over there.” The dark complexioned man with the round face and serious expression seated to Morita’s left said. “I expect it’ll take a few days to know us all. We all hung back at the wedding when everyone was introducing themselves, thought it would be easier on you to learn us later.”
Runa couldn’t help but smile at him. “That was very thoughtful, and I thank all of you for it. While the reception was very pleasant, it was a bit overwhelming to meet everyone in town at once.”
Bucky chuckled, his attention primarily on his food, “Didn’t show it. Don’t worry. You’ll settle in soon.”
“I hope so.” She sighed, before the rest introduced themselves. Between Happy Sam and Falsworth was Pinky Pinkerton, who seemed to have a ready smile. To Bucky’s right was Gabe Jones, a brawny man whose full lips curved in a way that made him look perpetually amused. To his right was Junior Juniper, possibly the youngest one at the table. Runa wasn’t certain he was long outside of the school room. Between Junior Juniper and Dum Dum was the man with the reddened skin and the accent that sounded familiar though she couldn’t place it. He introduced himself as Jacques Dernier, and was the first to praise her cooking, though they all did at one point or another. There wasn’t a good deal of talking, everyone too busy eating, and Runa noticed that there wouldn’t be any leftovers for the pigs tonight with a bit of relief, but also a bit of worry that she hadn’t made enough.
Junior started to stand once his plate was cleaned, and Runa shot him a look. “Supper isn’t over yet.” She pointed out.
Junior flushed, before quickly sitting back down. “Sorry, Ma’am.”
“I don’t mean you have to wait until everyone is finished, but I haven’t even brought out dessert yet.”
Apparently, dessert was not a word they were used to hearing, but it was one they were very fond of. Runa stifled a laugh and rose from the table, going to the kitchen and returning with a large pan of cobbler, and then she fetched a second pan, followed by a bowl of whipped cream.
“I made both plum and peach cobblers. I wasn’t certain what everyone would prefer.” She ventured, beginning to take the empty pans and platters from supper to the kitchen.
“Don’t you want any cobbler?” Steve ventured from his place at the head of the table.
“Just save me a little bit of the peach and some whipped cream, if you can.” She called, wishing there was a pump in the kitchen. As there wasn’t she picked up the tin bucket and carried it outside to the well, glad that had a pump.
Once she had the pots and pans and platters clean, she stepped back into the dining room to fetch the rest of the dirty plates, but paused, seeing Steve alone at the table, all the dirty plates neatly stacked for her, the empty cobbler pans as well. But in front of Steve were two plates, each with a helping of cobbler topped with whipped cream.
“You didn’t have to wait for me.” She said softly, feeling almost like an intruder as she moved to sit where Sam had sat only a few minutes before.
“I wanted to.” Steve smiled at her, sliding the plate with the smaller helping of cobbler her way.
“Thank you.” She smiled at him, “For waiting, and for saving me some of the cobbler. I didn’t realize how popular it would be.”
Steve laughed softly, shaking his head. “You worked some sort of miracle in the kitchen to make all that out of practically nothing.”
“Thanks to your foresight and Missus Barton’s list, I had plenty to work with.” She countered, taking a bite of the cobbler and almost sighing with delight. “After this I’ll finish working on the dishes.”
“I’ll be in the sitting room. Bucky and I usually spend our time after supper there. We generally go to bed around eight or nine.” Steve explained, before looking down at his plate rather intently. “Normally, Bucky will be in the room across the half from us, but he said he’s going to spend tonight in the bunkhouse. Since it’s our wedding night.”
Runa flushed and looked down at her own plate. “Oh. That… That is very kind of him.” She knew that husbands and wives came together, and Iris had taken her aside to explain a few things the night before she left for Texas, but she had managed to forget about that with how busy her evening had been.
“But, I was thinking…” Steve wasn’t looking up at her.
“Yes?”
“You’re still pretty tired from your trip, and… Well, we don’t know each other very well yet. What if we take a few days so you can rest up, get better acquainted?”
Runa felt relief at his suggestion, but also a bit of disappointment and apprehension. She didn’t feel ready for marital relations, but… She also wondered what was wrong with her that he didn’t want her, wondered if it had to do with his sudden look of panic in his eyes during their wedding, or the looks Bucky had been casting Steve’s way.
“I would be grateful for the rest.” She murmured, “Sleeping on a train was far from easy, and certainly not very restful.”
“I can imagine.” Steve smiled slightly, “Bucky and I couldn’t take a train here the way you did, but I do remember the few days we spent on the train. It was tiring, and hard to keep still so long when we were used to moving around so much.”
“That it was.” Runa agreed. “It’s strange, you know. I didn’t much like the work I did for the Rumlows, I thought of most of it as thankless or tedious… But today I didn’t mind scrubbing the kitchen and the dining room. I was glad to, after having to sit still on the train for so long.”
“Might be just because you were inactive on the train so long. But it also might be that it’s different, cleaning your own home, instead of one you’re hired to clean.”
She smiled. “Might be.” She agreed, finishing her small serving of cobbler. “I’ll start in on the dishes. You don’t need to rush, but could you bring yours in when you’re done with it?”
He gave a nod. “All right. That’s easy enough.”
Runa gave him another small smile, before getting up and gathering up the plates and pans to begin washing them. She finished the dishes soon enough and then set up a pot of beans to soak for dinner the following day before finally going to the sitting room, where Steve still had a charcoal stick and a book in his hands.
“Is it all right if I head directly to bed?” She asked softly. Steve looked up, startled.
“No, that would be fine, considering the time. I’ll give you fifteen minutes or so before I head in myself.” He said.
“Um… Which side is yours?” She asked, feeling her cheeks heating up at the question. It seemed so personal, and she knew that they were married, and she should know things like that.
“I’ll, uh, I’ll take the side closest to the door.” He said, quickly looking back down at his work.
“All right. Thank you, Steve.” She murmured, before going to their bedroom and preparing for bed.
Runa expected she would have trouble sleeping, would be too anxious about sharing a bed, but her worries were for nothing. She was asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow and she settled in on her side of the bed.