WHEN
YOU SEE MEWHEN
YOU SEE MEby Nesciri
"Jed! Kid! Supper's ready!"
"S'pose that does it," Jed said straightening himself with a hand on his back. The boys had been busy cleaning the small field of rocks and it was a heavy job in the summer heat but it was necessary if they ever would get a harvest from it. The rocks would have destroyed the plough.
"Think we're ready?" Kid asked and looked around.
"If I hit a single rock when I'm through with that field, I swear I'll pull the plough myself. We're done. I would say we deserve a drink at the saloon after this."
Kid frowned at his older brother.
"You know what mother thinks 'bout that," he warned.
Jed looked at him and shook his head.
"Here we go again," he sighed. "You know, Kid, if you weren't such a kid sometimes, I'd bring you with me and show you have to have a good time."
"We've got work to do here," Kid replied, not certain he would appreciate a good time in the saloon. He hadn't told anybody of the few times Jed sneaked off to get a drink in the saloon, but he didn't like it. Not that Jed came home drunk or anything, it just reminded him of their Pa. And if there was something Kid didn't wanted to be reminded of it was his Pa. He was the reason they had to leave Virginia, to make a new life for them out west.
"Did you finish that field?" Mrs. Sara Beth Darrow looked at her two sons.
"Yep. Ain't a stone left," Jed replied and placed himself by the table. "What's for dinner?"
"Roast," she replied.
"When is Luke coming back?" Kid wondered, referring to the man his mother had married four years ago. He had helped her and her sons get away from her abusive husband and despite the fact that she wasn't divorced they had decided to act as if they were. And she loved Lucas Darrow. But still the fear that the boys' father and her husband would find them. He had vowed to kill her if she ever left him and she had believed him. If she hadn't met Luke, she would probably had been dead now, she pondered.
"Day after tomorrow, I hope," she replied, happy that her sons had accepted Luke. She smiled at them as she placed the food on the table and sat down for blessings.
"Will you be alright after dinner if I leave for a while?" she asked when they helped themselves to the food.
"Where you going?" Kid asked at the same time as Jed replied "Sure," and winked at Kid. Kid frowned at him.
"Over to Emma's to see how she's doing. I can't believe she accepted that offer to turn her farm into a way station."
"It's good money, Ma," Jed said lightly, "and since it don't look like the marshal is very keen on farming, why not?"
"Jed," Sara Beth reprimanded her oldest. Mrs. Emma Shannon's romance with the marshal Sam Cain was part of the town gossip and everybody knew that he'd even moved out there for a while, but that he had returned. The talk of the town right now was if they would get together again or not. And the next gossip that had spread around was that Emma had replied on the ad from Russell, Major and Waddell in their search for a property for a Pony Express station. The town had been pleased to have the Express running close to them, but the thought of a bunch of rough youngsters invading their small and quiet town had raised a few eyebrows. Jed had scared the living daylights out of Sara Beth when he casually had explained that he planned to apply as a rider for the money's sake. Seeing his mother's distressed face he'd promised that it only was a joke, besides he was too old. Sara Beth never knew what to expect from her oldest. She was thankful that Kid was so much easier. He would never get such a crazy idea as being an Express rider. She was hoping he would find a nice girl in town and settle down with a farm on his own one day and give her grandchildren. Jed, well, she hoped Jed would too, but he was a restless soul and she never knew where he would be from one day to another.
"I ran into the station master yesterday," Jed said with a broad grin, ignoring his mother. "You should see him Kid, he looks like an old grizzly bear. Heard somebody saying that he just be a Texas Ranger. Bet you he got some great stories to tell."
"I don't like him," Sara Beth stated. "Can't understand how Emma can have him staying on the ranch. When I was out there he was taking a bath in the horses' troth. In his clothes and all!"
"Better that than as God made him, I s'pose," Jed said teasingly as Kid kicked him on the leg. That was no way to speak to your mother. Jed grimaced.
"Ouch, that hurt, little brother!"
"When will they start?" Kid asked ignoring Jed.
"The riders would be there tomorrow," Sara Beth replied. "That's why I thought I'd go over to Emma tonight."
"I'll take you there," Kid offered. He liked Emma and he was glad his mother had found a friend. There hadn't been too many of those while they had lived with his father. He was pleased that she smiled a lot more often now than she had before and if he could do anything to help her continue to smile he would do that. He knew that she hoped that he would find a nice girl and settled down, and he every intention of doing that for her. She was the most important person in his life.
It was three weeks later until he saw Emma again, and met the riders for the first time. The town gossip had already revealed that the stationmaster, a "Teaspoon" Hunter had been training them for their new work for the past weeks, and apparently it was a rag-tag group, all of them orphans. Kid couldn't imagine what life as an orphan could be like. He hadn't lost any of his parents, although he no longer knew where his father were. But Luke had filled that void for four years now, and he did not miss his father. He couldn't help being a little curious about the riders, that, he knew from the town gossip, apparently was his own age.
He and Jed was loading the wagon with supplies from Thompkins' store when Emma and Teaspoon entered the town with the riders following. They had stopped outside the store and Kid and Jed had stopped loading and watched the riders dismount. They were nothing like Kid had expected. All of them were armed and although Kid was a good shooter he preferred not to carrying a gun. Jed always did, but Kid always felt hampered with it. There was always a rifle in the wagon and Kid was content with that. The one closest to him and Jed was a blond fellow dressed in a fringed jacket and his gun-belt decorated with beads. He seemed to have some sort of argument with the fellow next to him, dressed in a black hat and wearing a gun low. Kid knew what kind of people that carried theirs gun like that. Gunfighters. And he didn't like it. The boy looked like trouble and he decided to stay out of his way. The third one was a boy wearing a bandanna beneath his hat and Kid wondered why. It must be warm. He was even more confused when the boy started to move his hands rapidly in front of him as he turned to the blond boy. To Kid's amazement, the blonde fellow seemed to know what it meant since he quickly replied with a, "Don't you start on me too, Ike!". The comment caused some amusement among the riders, except the last two, one of them an Indian. It surprised Kid. He didn't think anyone employed Indians, especially not for important jobs like delivering mail. The Indian looked carefully around him with his dark eyes as if he expected trouble and Kid couldn't help noticing the knife attached to his boot. The last rider was the smallest one. Wearing glasses and keeping his head hidden under his hat, Kid had a hard time catching the rider's features. He was still staring at the small rider, when his brother called for him.
"Kid! We better get the rest of those supplies if we'll ever get back."
Kid immediately returned to their loading, unable to let go of the small rider. There was something different about him, but for the life of him, Kid couldn't figure out what.
"Well, hello there Kid, Jed." Emma nodded to the two loading the wagon. Jed, being the easy-going one smiled at her.
"Hello, Mrs. Shannon. Nice to see you again." Then he nodded to the riders. "Any of you guys that play poker?" he asked grinning. "I could help you spend those salaries…" He didn't had time to say more, before Emma gave him a stern look.
"Jed," she said harshly, and then she turned to the boys. "Boys, this is Jed Darrow and his brother Kid. And you're not supposed to listen to a word Jed's saying. 'Cause if you do, you'll answer to me." She winked at Jed. Despite the harsh tone, Kid was well aware that Emma liked Jed, despite his faults. Then she turned to both of them. "And these are Jimmy, Billy, Ike, Buck and Lou."
"Nice to meet you," Jed said after introductions had been made. "If you excuse us, we have to get back before Ma has our hides."
"Tell Sara Beth I said hello," Emma reminded them as she continued down the street, telling her boys what to do and not to do.
Kid looked after them until Jed hit him on the arm.
"What are you dreaming 'bout? Jealous? You wanna be an Express rider perhaps? Maybe my little brother finally started looking for adventure?"
"It's enough with one in the family," Kid muttered. "And I wouldn't be in their clothes - they might get well paid, but then they might not even survive their first run. I'm better off where I am."
Jed sighed.
"And here I thought that you might wanted just a hint of adventure. I s'pose the only adventure you'll have is what girl you're gonna ask to the Founder's Day Dance."
"What's wrong with that?" Kid asked.
"Nothing," Jed said smiling. "Absolutely nothing."
Kid grabbed the reins and urged the horses forward. There was no way he could have told his brother that his mind had been on the small Express rider. He couldn't even explain himself why he couldn't get the small boy out of his head. There was something odd about him and he wanted to know what. discarding the riders from his mind, he begun to think about his brother's last words. He hadn't ask anybody to the dance yet, but it was high time he did. He just couldn't think of any to ask. The dance was only four weeks away.
"What's Founder Day, Emma?" Cody asked on their way back.
"It's a celebration of the day Sweetwater was founded," Emma replied. "There will be a horse race, contest and a social dance. It's a very nice event."
"A race?" Cody asked interested.
"Yes. Right through town. The winner gets a gold dollar."
"Can we enter?" Cody looked expectantly at Emma and Teaspoon.
"If you do your job, I can't see why not," Teaspoon replied.
"We're gonna beat those town people hollow," Cody declared. "We're the best riders around here."
Emma smiled at him.
"Don't underestimate the townspeople," she smiled. "Kid has won that contest for two years in a row now on his horse Katy. He'll be tough to beat."
"He's a farmer," Jimmy said. "What does he know about riding?"
"He knows about horses," Emma replied, "and before you get on your high horses, a little humility would suit you."
Lou looked at them talking. Going into town had been nerve-wrecking for her. Even if she had managed to pass as a boy among the riders for three whole weeks now, she still felt uncertain about her disguise when she met new people. And she had been especially shy meeting the subject of Emma and Cody's conversation. She had noticed him as soon as they rode in and she hadn't been able to take her eyes of him. And then she had been forced to say hello to him. She didn't know why he had that reaction on her, but there was something in the way he held his head, the way he walked and stood that made her wish that she was wearing a dress instead of the glasses and trousers. She had even managed to notice that he had blue eyes. She looked over to Buck and Ike hoping to find something to distract her thoughts from the young man called Kid. There was no use pondering over him. She was sure he already had a girlfriend and as long as she was disguised as a boy, he would never notice her.
<It was a nice town,> Ike signed.
"We've only been there once," Buck replied, not intention of getting his hopes up. "You can't tell a town from only one visit."
Lou only had to take one look on Buck's face to know that he wasn't too pleased with their trip into town either. Well, that makes two of us, she pondered.
"Better lock Katy up tonight," Luke Darrow told the boy brushing down the painted horse.
"Why?" Kid asked as he looked up.
"The marshal told me there had been some trouble with horse thieves. Some of the Express stations had been hit."
"Emma's?"
"No, they're alright. But just in case, we better keep the horses locked in, especially Katy."
"I'd hate to loose her," Kid admitted.
"I know you do, son, know you do. Have you decided who you'll take to the dance yet?" Luke smiled at the boy. He had really grown fond of Sara Beth's two boy and especially Kid. Kid shook his head.
"I know at least two young ladies that hope you'll ask them, but you better do it soon, or somebody might snatch them away right under your nose. The dance is only two weeks away," Luke hinted.
"I know," Kid sighed. Luke looked at him and changed the subject.
"By the way, you think you and Katy can check out the new grazing fields by Olsen's old farm? The town's council's thinking of using that for common use."
"Sure, no problem."
Kid looked out over the fields. So far he hadn't found anything odd or anything that would prevent the town from using the land for grazing. Pleased with the result he was about to turn back when he remembered that the Express run passed closely to the land. Maybe he should check it out. Just out of curiosity.
He looked down the almost invisible track, wondering how anyone could find it, especially when riding at full speed. He shook his head, happy that he hadn't do that for a living.
"And you are too, ain't you Katy," he mumbled to the horse. Riding that way could easily kill a horse.
He was just about to turn back when he saw the horse. It was just standing there. He looked closer and saw the mochilla on the saddle.
"Something's wrong," he mumbled and urged Katy down the trail.