Caleb: A Western tale, circa 1880's

Chapter Five

She could have asked some of the boys from the ridge to help but none of them were much of a hand with an iron. Any one of them could catch and break the horses, was a fair hand at hunting and regularly maintained the miles of fencing that kept trespassers at bay, but not one of the hidden residents of Infinity Ranch was fond of the annual chore of branding the calves and they refused to castrate any bull-calves they found.

For some reason 'the boys', as Kitty referred to them, found that particular chore loathsome and refused to do it. Kitty couldn't very well simply hire someone local to help since Infinity's reputation generally scared off anyone who might be able to help her, so the chore usually belonged to her alone. At least, she reflected as she maintained a steady rhythm with her hay fork, they didn't mind rounding up the calves.

Once the calves were rounded up and secured within the big corral down in the draw, it would fall to Kitty to handle the branding iron and the castrating blade. Not for the last time, Kitty missed her parents, who had both been a part of that annual activity for their entire lives. Tom and Kathleen Slocum were both passed on; Tom to a renegade bull and Kathleen several years later to a nasty bout of pneumonia.

She was throwing hay when he found her again, covered in chaff and grunting with exertion as she moved forkful after heavy forkful of loose hay from one part of the mow to another. Chaff floated in the air, ringing her in golden light that made her seem almost angelic. His saddle blanket and bags sat neatly beside the ladder. Knowing that throwing hay would likely set his side to bleeding again should he join her and not wanting to be caught gawking, Caleb fetched his things in order to stow them and then start the jobs she'd given him. She saw him though and paused before stabbing her fork into the hay pile again. "Leave that blanket on the porch and I'll wash it for you tomorrow."

"I don't reckon the horse cares whether or not there's a stain on it," he pointed out, refusing her offer.

"No but having that much blood on it in the barn will likely invite comment, should the marshal return," she warned. "And the smell of blood, even dried like that, can call every catamount, bear and wolf on the ranch if you get caught in the rain."

"Yes'm." She was almost obsessive about having things clean, he thought, but it was her ranch and she was the boss so he did as he was told. She'd finished moving her meager hay pile by the time he'd stowed his gear in the bunkhouse and returned, so she showed him the tack room in the barn. There was the one saddle on the rack aside from his, but three others were stored in the tack room along with several hackamores, and the harnesses also hung inside there. On the bench were various lengths of leather harness strap and enough spare buckles to build another whole harness. She showed him the oil for the leather, the pliers, hammers, awls and punches necessary for making or repairing any harness or saddle that might need it. "This here's a real nice harness shop you've got," he complimented despite the thick layer of dust over everything.

"Thank you. My grandfather loved leather. Those barrels under the workbench are used for curing hides."

"I don't suppose you have a forge as well, do you?" he asked, thinking of shoeing the horses once his side healed.

"We have about everything," Kitty laughed. "Infinity has been designed to be self-sufficient, over the years. Besides that, we Slocums are known for our odd hobbies. My grandmother started the farming operation; Mother added the sheep and spinning wheel. If it were more than just me here, we could fence off the road too, and never need to leave." There was such wistfulness in her tone that Caleb wished he could oblige her and do just that. It sounded real good to him about then, too.

"Except for needing the doctor sometimes, and ammunition," he pointed out.

"Dad was a doctor and there's reloading equipment in the house," she retorted with a grin, but the flash of pain in her eyes told him just how much she missed her parents. "Do you know how to use a bow?"