The Replacement
By Yankee01754
The stage rolled to a stop at the depot in Cheyenne. A young man, in his early thirties, stood outside the depot waiting for the arriving passengers to disembark and the driver to unload their baggage. Then he stepped forward with his small package to give to the driver when he had a minute.
When Mose climbed down from the box Gordon McAllister approached him.
"Hi Mose! How was the trip from Laramie?" Gordon turned up the collar on his sheepskin jacket as he stepped forward. For the middle of October it was quite cold and breezy.
"Well, young McAllister. How's that pretty little cousin of yours? Is she with you?" The veteran driver reached out to shake hands.
"She's home with my mother. She just getting over a bad cold so she's confined to the house for the time being. I wouldn't have brought her with me this time anyway. I'm leaving for Denver on the morning train and Mother and Father don't like for her to ride - or drive - this far without someone being with her. It was the same way with my sisters fifteen years ago." He handed Mose the package. "She wanted me to be sure to deliver this to you to take back to Laramie. Threatened me with bodily harm if anything happens to it," Gordon told the older man. "It's a replacement for something that her puppy was responsible for destroying last month."
He then proceeded to entertain the old man with the story of how Mike and Cam had conspired to get Jess into the pie eating contest while his father had pressured him and Slim into entering the greased pig contest. Mose ate it up and stored the image of a pie-covered Jess in his mind.
"Now that it's in your hands it's on your head if anything happens to it," McAllister told him. "It's very important to her that this get to Slim's place, and into Jess' hands, as soon as possible."
Mose gave a mock shudder and grinned as he shook hands with the young lawyer and climbed back up onto the box after closing the door behind the new passengers who had just boarded. The package was stored under the seat.
"You tell Cam to get better soon and that I'll personally deliver this to Jess. I guarantee it will be in the same condition it was in when she handed it to you to give to me."
"Safe trip. Mose. I'll see you in a few weeks. I have to take the train to Denver tomorrow, to conduct some legal business. I'll let Cam know you have the package and it will be in Jess' hands later today."
With a "hah" Mose shook the lines and started the coach on its return run to Laramie. Gordon McAllister turned back toward the hotel where he had taken a room for the night.
It was mid-afternoon when the stage came to a stop in the yard at the Sherman Ranch and Relay Station. The cold wind blew down off the mountains making the waiting team of horses restive. They stamped their feet as dry leaves and dust swirled around them.
Neither Slim, nor Jess, was in plain sight as Mose pulled back on the reins but both came out of the barn upon hearing his "whoa".
There were no passengers aboard this trip since they had all disembarked at Cedar Creek and another stop, but Mose wandered into the house to get a cup of coffee to warm himself up. He forgot about the package he had for Jess.
Outside, in the cold and wind, Slim and Jess worked quickly to change the teams and put the tired one in the barn for shelter. There they would strip them of their harness, rub them down and give them a good feeding of grain and hay and plenty of water.
It took a little longer than usual as both teams were upset by the howling wind but eventually the fresh team was in place. Mose came out of the kitchen with some of Daisy's ginger cookies in his hand which he stuck in his vest pocket for safe keeping while he climbed back up onto the box.
The veteran driver picked up the reins as if to signal the team to move out but suddenly remembered the package he'd been given in Cheyenne. He found it, safely tucked under the seat when he accidentally kicked it.
"Hey, Jess, I almost forgot - I got a package for you." He reached down and retrieved the box Gordon McAllister had given him. "Hope it ain't damaged 'cause young McAllister said we'd both be in trouble with a certain young lady, if it didn't get to you unharmed."
He handed the parcel to the Texan who took it with a confused look on his face. He couldn't figure out what Cam would be sending him.
Slim and Jess waved as Mose drove out of the yard, then went to the barn to make the horses comfortable. Jess put his package down on the shelf just inside the door while they worked.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Slim asked, light blue eyes twinkling.
"When we go inside," Jess answered. "We got those horses to tend to first."
It took them about half an hour to get the four horses unharnessed, groomed, watered and fed. Fresh straw was forked into the stalls for bedding. By the time they were through Daisy was ringing the triangle for supper. The two men finished what they were doing and put their tools away. Then they headed for the house with Jess carrying his mysterious package.
The wind was still blowing hard so the men washed up at the kitchen sink. There was a vigorous splashing as Jess not only washed his face and hands but pumped water over his head to get some of the dust out. When he shook his head to get rid of some of the water he sprayed both Slim and Daisy - and the stove as well. This earned him a mild scolding from Daisy.
When he was finished he picked up his package from where he had put it down, and brought it into the main room where he placed it on the mantle for safe keeping before sitting down at the table.
Mike, ever curious, eyed it and asked, "What's in the package Jess?"
"I don't know, Tiger, I haven't opened it yet?"
"Why not? Who's it from?"
"It's from Cam and I haven't opened it yet because Slim and me had chores to do first and now we're going to have supper. I'll open it later."
The youngster was disappointed; Daisy had once said that he couldn't stand an unopened letter. The same - and more - could be said about unopened packages. He was dying of curiosity. All through dinner his gaze kept straying toward the package on the mantle. The men were hard pressed not to laugh at him while Daisy scolded him for his inattention to his meal.
They had barely finished their dessert of blackberry cobbler when Mike started in on Jess to open his package.
"Now are you going to open your package?" the young boy asked anxiously.
Jess exchanged looks with Slim and then got up to retrieve the parcel that was the cause of so much excitement and curiosity.
Not having a knife handy would have been problematic except that Slim reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his jackknife and handed it to Jess who
used it to cut the string holding the package together.
Slim took the string and put it down on the table as Jess placed his parcel on it to open it. His face was a study when he saw the glint of a silver trophy. As he took it out of the box a folded piece of paper fell to the floor. Slim saw it and leaned over to pick it up.
"What the heck is this?" Jess wondered.
"It's a trophy, Jess," Slim told him with a grin.
"What's Cam doing sending me a trophy?"
"Why don't you read the note and find out?" Slim said as he handed it to him.
Jess opened the note, read it and put it down. Then he picked up the trophy and looked closely at the front.
Jess Harper
First Place Winner
Pie Eating Contest
Evergreen Fair
1872
"It's a beautiful trophy, Jess," Daisy said.
"Sure is. I'm puttin' it up on the mantle so Buttons can't get to it."
As he did so Slim asked, "What did Cam have to say in the note?"
"The note's not from Cam," Jess told him.
"That's her handwriting on the package. Why would she be sending you a note from somebody else? Is it from her aunt? It doesn't look like Mrs. McAllister's hand writing, or Gordon's or the doc's either."
"No."
"Are you going to tell me or do I have to read the note for myself?" Slim was only half joking. If the note wasn't from Cam who could it be from?
He snatched the note from the table before his partner could get it. When he saw what it said he started laughing and couldn't stop.
"'Woof. Woof. Hi Jess'," the note started. "'Woof, woof. Hi Mike!'" Slim had to stop for a minute to get himself under control.
"'Arf, Arf! Hi Mrs. Cooper!'"
Daisy started giggling herself as Slim continued on.
"There's lots more barking and woofing and some whining," he said. "Cam's translation says that Duncan is apologizing for causing Mike to trip - but he enjoyed the trophy until Cam made him eat it all. Then he got sick. She says it's just punishment for his behavior and he's not allowed any more special treats and he's not getting any new toys for a long time. He was a bad boy."
"She talked to the members of the fair committee, and told them what happened so they decided that they'd send a replacement that can't be eaten and can't be destroyed by a rambunctious puppy."
The tall blond reached into the box and picked up the fourteen inch tall silver trophy. Walking over to the fireplace he put it on the mantle making sure it was out in front where everyone could see it.
"You know what Daisy? Jess' appetite finally did him some good." Slim grinned at his shorter partner who was glaring at him. "His sweet tooth won him a prize and we have Cam and Mike, here, to thank for it."
Daisy and Mike started laughing right along with Slim. Jess' glare had no effect on them. They only laughed harder.
Jess went to the wood pile and dug through it until he found what he was looking for. Going back inside he sat in "his" rocker and started whittling.
"What are you making, Jess?" Mike asked.
"I don't know yet," the Texan confessed, "but it's going to be for Duncan. Cam's being too hard on him."
"She's hardly going to thank you for it," Slim warned his friend.
"She'll get over it," Jess replied. "She never stays mad at me. It's you and Gordon she stays mad at."
The other two adults just shook their heads as he concentrated on what he was doing. Mike was sent off to bed wondering what Jess would create for the puppy. He could hardly wait to find out.