The Diary of Jerrod Bently - J.W. Osborn (mobi ebook reader TXT) 📗

the place, but she was determined to make a success of her project. “You have a visitor,” Victoria said as she went to the stove and opened the oven door to check on her baking loaves. Sam looked up and smiled. “Are those for me?” she asked seeing the prairie flowers in Hap’s hand.
“They are,” he said “How are you Sam? Are we going to ride this week?”
“No,” she answered as she tended to her work “But maybe in a little while. Right now I don’t think I could get on Trouble and stay there.”
Hap handed her the flowers “Guess we’ll take that ride next week.”, the young man teased.
“And maybe I will go along too,” Victoria chimed in as she pulled a pan of golden yeast rolls out of the oven.
“Ma says you ride better than any lady in Portersville, Ma’am”, Hap said. “Even J. W. Titus.”
Victoria grinned “, Thanks Hap,” she said. “Did you say you had something for Sam?”
“Yes, I do,” the young man replied “Some old tinker came by the livery to get a new wheel for his wagon and gave this to Pa.” He withdrew a stack of letters from his jacket pocket and set the neatly tied bundle on the table in front of Sam. “I bet they are from that sweet heart beau of yours,” Hap teased as Victoria put the flowers he’d brought in a glass vase.
Sam did not say anything. She got up from her chair, dusted off her hands, and picked up the letters. “Thank you,” she said. He saw the tears in her eyes as she turned away. “I am sorry,” he said “I didn’t mean to upset you, Sam.”
Sam Dodge was not a person who shed tears in front of anyone, even if they were tears of relief and quietly she went to her room.
Hap turned to Victoria. “I am sorry..” he said “Did I say something to make her cry?”
“No, Hap,” Victoria replied “ She is fine. She misses her Grandfather and all the excitement , but most of all she misses that boy and has been worried sick over him.”
“Those letters I brought her are from her beau.”Hap said , “ I remember his name. Jerrod Bently, and that was on the outside of them letters. That ought to cheer her up.”
“I am sure it will,” Victoria answered, “She needs to be alone, right now. Come, sit down here and try the bread.
“Don’t mind if I do, Miss Victoria,” Hap replied as he pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down.

Sam lay down on her bed, holding the treasure that Hap had brought to her. She could hardly believe it. She ran her fingers over the rough paper and pencil marks that formed her name and tried to imagine that she was touching his cheek. “Jerrod,” she said to herself. “You didn’t forget.” She opened the first letter and began to read. Sam laughed, and cried through Jerrod’s hand written account of his adventures and in the end, his words made her miss him even more. Victoria had told her that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but with that fondness came the pain of being apart and longing to be together again. Two halves of a whole, she was one and Jerrod was the other.


++++++++++++++++++++++


The door of his office was standing open that morning when Doc strolled down the boardwalk on his way to work.. He’d been back in town for a good while now and it had been a few months since he shot that skunk outside the jail. However, he could still detect the odor it left behind.. He had to do something about Ned Travis. The outlaw been in jail for what seemed an eternity and the judge was due back in town, but he had not showed up yet. When he did, Doc would have the papers drawn up to extradite Ned back to Texas to stand trial for a laundry list of crimes including attempted murder. He walked into his office and found Old Pede dozing at the desk. “Where’s Titus?,” Doc demanded.
The old man woke with start. “Gone over the court house,” Pede replied with a yawn. “Then he said he was going home.”
“Has young Johansen been by yet?,” Doc replied as he looked around his office.
“Yup,” Pede answered “Brought Ned his breakfast, then went off to help his Pa over at the barn. Said he’d be back in a hour.”
Realizing that he needed to vacate the sherif’s chair, Pede eased himself up and moved away from the desk. “It still stinks in here,” Doc commented as he sat down and looked at the stack of mail in front of him.
“Sure does,” Ned commented from his cell “You ever going to do anything about it?”
“Just after I get you back to Texas, Ned,” Doc replied as he began looking through the envelopes and papers on his desk.
“I told Mister Jake that I can get rid of that pole cat stink,” Pede said “Just need some....”
“I know,” Doc cut in “Whisky and coal oil.”
“That’s right,” the old man stated, a wide toothless grin on his face. “How’s that little gal, you brung home , Sherrif?”
“She’s doing fine,” Doc replied “Thanks for asking.”
“Your Missus had me to feed them horses up there at your barn yesterday,” Pede said “That stud is a mighty fine animal, and so is that mare.”
Doc grinned proudly “Yes, they sure are. “, he agreed.
Pede started toward the door. “Ye know, Sherif,” he said “That red stud is fine, but if ye was to run him and Smokey Joe against Mr. Jake’s Wind Walker, I think Joe would take them both. Wind Walker ain’t never been beat, so Mister Jake tells it.”
“ Of course my horse could take him, Pede,” Doc said with a confident and cockeyed grin on his face ,“Smokey Joe’s the fastest horse ever to come out or Texas.”


Abilene Kansas

I will never know a total of the miles we went that summer, but I would never forget it. If I learned anything that year, it was that the life of a cowboy is far from how he is depicted in the stories told and written about him. We were lucky, we moved that herd all the way from North Texas, crossed the dangerous Oklahoma Territory and into Kansas and our long tedious journey ended at the cattle pens at Abilene. It was over, and I had accomplished far more than I ever dreamed I would. I was contemplating that as I stood on the porch of the paymasters’s office. We had delivered the Hinkely cattle as promised , accounts had been settled and the men paid off. Ely Jax folded his money away into the pocket of his worn dungarees as he stood next to me watching the people and horses in the teeming street of this busy town.
“Guess you will be heading back to Portersville,” he commented.
“Reckon I will,” I replied .
“Nobody’s seen Vickers, “Ely added “I think he’s yellow and won’t show his face again.”
“We got the job done, Ely,” I said “I am not dead. So I guess I am blessed after all.”
“Jerrod,” he said “That man swore he would kill you, yet you seem less than concerned.”
I am concerned,” I replied, not really wanting to talk about Vickers. I shot his cousin, and the time would come that it would be him or me.”
“You been over to the post office yet?” Ely asked to change the subject.
“No.,” I replied. “Didn’t know they’d have one out here. Why?”
“Just thought that Sam might have written you and sent the letter there,” he said “That’s all.”
“May be I ought to go take a look.,” I replied.
“She’s a fine woman, ain’t she.”, Ely declared “Right pretty one too. It ain’t been the same with her gone.” His words sent jealousy coursing through my blood. But I bit it back and chose to ignore it. Did he not realize that I was the man who was going to court Sam Dodge and hopefully convince her that she needed to marry me. Then he looked me straight in the eye, “I want you to know, Jerrod, that I intend to make Sam my girl when we get back to Texas.”
There it was. I knew he’d had something stuck in his craw for a long time , ever since the day he began to realize that there something between Sam and me.
I glared back at him. “May the best man win, Ely.” I said and at that I walked away before I lost my temper and took a swing at him. He walked off in the direction of the saloon. Though I was stinging