The Ranch 2

I woke and looked at the clock.  Six Ten AM.  I rolled over with the intent to go back to sleep. 

Then I heard a horse stomping around outside.  So, I got up and looked, then I looked again.  I could hardly believe my eyes.  Everything had changed overnight.  Gone were the houses that were around me.  In their place was grass, and a herd of white face cattle.  Looking around more I saw a large barn with an open shed on one side.  On the other side I saw a large fenced in area and with two good looking horses in it. 

I thought I was dreaming, until I heard a voice in my head.  It said, "You and all of your positions have been moved back in time till April 6, 1821.  We have given you weapons of the time.  Use them wisely.  All of your electrical equipment will work normally.  The power source has been well hidden.  Your stove and furnace have a natural gass supply that will last well beyound your lifetime.  Your vehicles have been exchanged.  You now have a heavy duty wagon, a light spring wagon and an enclosed coach.  We have imparted all of the knowledge to run a ranch of this size". 

I sat heavily on the bed.  I was trying to get my mind around what I had been told.  It was almost impossible. 

I sat there for almost an hour, and slowly my mind accepted the news.  I didn't think that there was anything I could do about it anyway.  So make the best of a situation that I could not control.

I knew that I had to feed the stock.  I got dressed and went out to the barn.  I fed and watered the stock that were in stalls, and I knew that the horses outside had enough to eat and drink, so I was done for the morning. 

I wanted to look around, so I saddled a big black horse that had white stockings and a white star on his head.  I led him outside, got him saddled,  and climbed aboard.  The horse seemed to know just where I wanted to go.  I had not done much horse riding before, but this one had the smoothest gait of any horse I had ever been on.  I rode out and checked the herd over.  They all seemed to be doing well.  I rode all the way around the herd and then spotted a group of people about a half mile away.

I headed for them.  As I got closer I saw that they were American Indians.  I slowed down and stopped when a man stepped out of the gathering.  He walked up to me and I saw he was as skinny as a rail.  I looked closer and saw that all of them were on the thin side.  When he got to me he said in his language, "We have had a bad winter, and all of us are hungry.  I know that these animals belong to you.  We would like to trade for one of them".

Hell, trade.  I pulled my Sharps 45-70 and took aim at the biggest cow in the herd.  BOOM!  The cow dropped.  I said, "You can have the one I just killed". 

They were on it like flies on a dung heap.  It didn't take them a half hour to gut, skin, and cut it up into pieces that one woman could carry.  The only thing that was left was, The blood and what had been in the guts.  I guess that they had a use for everything.

As I turned to go back to the house, I found a girl standing there.  I said, "You had better hurry and catch up with your people".

She smiled and said, "The leader told me to stay with you as your mate.  He knows that you do not have a mate, and wants you to have one".

I asked, "What is it you want to do?  Do you want to be my mate"?

She said, "You are a man different from any I have heard of.  All other men would have just taken me and that would be the end of it.  But you asked me if I want to become your mate, and the answer is yes, I want to be your mate". 

And just like that I had a mate. 

I moved the black over to the girl.  I held out my hand.  She grabbed it and I pulled her up on the horse.  She sat the saddle just as a man would. 

I let the black pick his own speed on the return trip. 

On the way, I asked the girl what her name was.  She said, "My mother called me Dawn, because that is when I was born".  I said, "Your mother is right, you are as beautiful as the dawn of a perfect day.  So I will continue to call you Dawn".

With that, she leaned back into me and pulled my left arm around her waist.

The big black went right into the barn and into his stall.  I got down and then helped Dawn down.  I took the saddle off and put it in the fence.  We left the big black , chomping on some hay. 

I led Dawn into my house.  Her eyes were bugged out, and trying to look in every direction at once.  I led her into the kitchen and asked her if she were hungry.  She said that she was a little hungry, so I started breakfast for us.  Bacon, eggs, toast and coffee.  As soon as the meal was done cooking, I set a plate in front of Dawn.  I had to show her how to use the knife, fork and spoon.  She tried to act like me while we ate but her hunger made her eat as fast as she could.

I asked her, "When did you eat last"?  She said, "Three days ago in the morning.  We killed a rabbit and the four of us ate it".  I had to ask, "The four of us"?  She said "Yes, my mother, and my two sisters and me"!

I asked, "Where is your father"?  She said, "He got killed when a herd of bison ran over him.  He was a good man".

I sat there and thought about the situation for a while.  Then I asked, "Will your mother and sisters be alright, without a man to hunt for them"?  She said, "Our father got killed more than one moon ago.  We have had very little to eat from that time.  They might be alright, but the men of the tribe thought that my sisters were unlucky".

I thought some more.  It dawned on me that those women might starve this coming winter. 

I knew that the ranch had plenty of food.  Hell, the pantry was full of things.  The root seller was full to overflowing.  I made up my mind then and said, "Dawn, if you want to, tomorrow we will travel to get your mother and sisters".

SLAM!  She ran into me with a full head of steam.  She was hugging me.  Then she was trying to kiss me.  Then she said, "They are with the tribe.  The tribe was moving to a new spot near the hills.  How will we find them"?

I said, "Dawn we will find them, don't worry".