So Much to be Thankful For
By Kayak Lady
With grateful thanks to my loving husband for the beta read.

Disclaimer – I do not own the rights to Laramie and its characters. The story however is mine.

Andy perched in his chair by the dining room table, a warm glow of lamp light shining on his book. The only sound he made, intruding upon the oppressive silence, was the quiet flutter of each page as it was turned. Across the room, Jess sat by the fire in his rocker. He soundlessly wove leather strips into reins. Occasionally he raised his dark head to cast a frowning glance at his boss, sitting in hunched concentration at the great roll top desk.

Slim Sherman labored intently, his quill making gentle scratching sounds on the ledger paper. Smaller white rectangles of parchment shuffled quietly about the desk, with one or two getting knocked to the floor. These escapees didn't lie un-noticed forever. They were soon scooped up and scattered throughout the various paper piles littering the desktop landscape. Eventually, the broad shoulders stretched and Slim's head came up. The snapping sound of the accounts book being closed sounded like a gun going off in the tiny room.

Jess and Andy's heads snapped up and Andy asked, "Well, how is it?"

Slim swiveled the chair to face his brother and ranch foreman. His face was an unreadable mask until the twinkle in his eyes melted his expression and he joyfully announced, "That is it. We are in the black."

Cheers erupted through the once quiet room. After things calmed down a bit Slim said, "Let's celebrate. Ben can handle things here. Why don't we take tomorrow off and go elk hunting?" He looked across the room at his little brother and added, "Give you a chance to try out that new Winchester before you head back to school."

"Yahoo!" Andy shouted. He threw himself across the small space hugging Slim for all he was worth.

Jess grinned and said, "I'll go out and tell Ben what we need him to do tomorrow."

Crossing the yard to the bunkhouse Jess moodily kicked a small rock. He was sorry they couldn't let the old wrangler/cook go with them. However, when he told Ben of the days plans the man just shrugged and said, "Getting too cold on that mountain for my taste anyway. I think I'll spend tomorrow cooking up something special for when you get home."

Jess smiled at the man's comment. "Glad you still got a place to work?" he asked.

"Yep"

Jess turned and headed towards the door, pausing he turned back into the room, and said, "Me too."

The dark haired Texan collected gun oil and rags from the barn before he returned to the warmth of the house. The rest of the evening was spent cleaning weapons; while teaching Andy stalking signals.

As Andy finished cleaning his rifle Slim said, "You know what pa did for me the first time we went elk hunting?"

Andy's ears perked up at this rare glimpse into Slim's childhood. He cautiously responded, "No what."

"He let me have the first shot, but then he backed me up so that if I didn't get a clean hit the elk would still go down. Pa didn't like to see animals suffer, or meat wasted. "

"Did he have to back you up when you shot at your first elk?"

"Yeah, he sure did. We were walking down a trail when a big bull came straight at us. I got so excited I just snapped a shot off; missed him clean. Fortunately, pa dropped him. "

Jess' voice took on a humorous tone and he asked, "Let me guess, you aimed right at the biggest part of him you could see, that big open space right between his antlers?"

Slim looked just a little sheepish as he answered, "Yeah. How'd you know?"

Jess laughed; turning his attention back to his rifle he said, "Cause that's the place where I shot my first buck." Then his face darkened and he went on flatly, "Pa tanned my hide for wasting the powder." His head rose up, his face brightened, and he looked at Slim and Andy, "I like how your pa did things," he stated returning his attention to his rifle.

Andy looked at Slim and asked, "Will you back me up tomorrow?"

Slim's eyes shone in the lamp light, "I'd be happy too. Now you better get some sleep while you can. We'll leave way before first light."

Andy happily headed for bed churning over the signs that he'd been taught that night. Suddenly he realized that Slim and Jess had been teaching each other the signals as much as they had been teaching him. "Why was that?" he asked himself. A chill crossed Andy's shoulders as he realized that the signals could as easily be used to point out enemy troops as elk. Each man had his own set of signals, not from their fathers, but from their opposing armies. Andy said a quiet prayer of thanks that these two friends had never crossed paths during the war.

S/R * S/R * S/R

In the still dark quiet of early dawn the three hunters left the ranch. Traveling by the light of a setting moon they rode across the slightly snow dusted ground. Slim was in his element as he told them of a place along the lower slopes of the mountains where he'd seen elk sign earlier in the week. He patiently explained to Andy that, while deer tended to stick to set trails, elk shifted all around depending on the time of year and the availability of food.

Reaching a low meadow they hobbled their horses, and then worked their way up the mountain on foot. As the sun stared lightening the sky the hunters spotted a small herd on the opposite ridge line. The elk were making their way down the slope toward a stand of Aspen.

Now was the time when the hand signals came into play. Elk hearing was sharp and they didn't want to scare off the small group. Each step the hunters took was carefully chosen so that a snapping twig wouldn't give the trio away as they worked their way down to the bottom and then up into the Aspen grove.

Working through the trees Jess signaled, "Drop." They crouched down, trying to blend in with the forest debris around them. In the new light of dawn glimpses of brown could be seen moving through the trees ahead. Each man held his rifle at the ready. Slim signaled, "Eleven animals: 2 rag horns, one bull and 8 cows."

Andy watched the slope ahead of him and was soon rewarded with glimpses of the tell-a-tale tanned rumps of their quarry. When the first rag horn broke cover, he raised his rifle, but Slim's signal, "Wait, too far," stayed his hands. Fortune smiled and the wind was in their favor letting the hunters stalk closer.

The cows and rag horns were well within range when the herd bull made his appearance. Crossing out of a stand of trees the magnificent animal moved first in front of Jess' position. Andy saw him signal, "No good, you take him."

Andy concentrated all of his attention on the enormous bull, and he slowly moved his rifle into position. Heart pounding, he slowed down his breath just like Slim taught him. He was so focused upon finding the perfect aim point that he failed to see his brother's signal, "Tree in my way."

Andy squeezed the trigger, the gun roared, and the bull reared on his hind legs. Then he spun around and began to run back toward the cover from which he'd come. Jess rose up, clearing the brush that had concealed him, and snapped a shot off at the sweet spot behind the shoulder. The big animal stumbled once, and then went down.

The hunters approached the elk cautiously making sure the huge antlered animal was truly dead before they got too close. Each man's face bore a smile while they watched Andy's reaction as he discovered that the bull's antlers reached almost to his chest.

As the men readied their knives, Andy caught a glimpse of Jess with his hat off and head bowed, "Jess? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, an old trapper taught me to always say thanks to the spirit of the animal you kill." Jess answered.

"Sounds like a wise man," Slim remarked then turning his attention back to Andy he continued, "Come on little brother, we had best get to cleaning him."

"We sure do have a job ahead of us." Andy answered. Then he turned back to examining the kill. Noticing the two bullet holes near the shoulder he looked up at Slim and said, "I'm not real sure which one of these is mine. Thanks for backing me up."

Slim shook his head, "Thank Jess. I was blocked."

Andy turned and said, "Gosh, thanks Jess. I bet you know which of these is yours and which is mine."

"Not real sure Andy. Let's see where each wound up. "

Cleaning the kill revealed that one shot had ruptured an artery and shattered the animals shoulder. The other went through the heart and both lungs. As they worked they talked about how both shots would result in a kill, but how one worked faster making the animal easier to find. Jess ended the discussion saying, "It doesn't matter which of us brought him down Andy. The point is he isn't suffering, and we have the meat. You've also learned a bit from today, and that's all that counts. "

Later when Andy was out of earshot, Slim said to Jess, "If Andy's shot had gone through that bull's heart he wouldn't have been starting to run like that."

Jess answered, "I know, just wanted Andy to figure it out - on his own."

Slim smiled in appreciation at his once ranch hand and now foreman's gentle teaching style that he used with Andy. It was so different from what he'd learned about how Jess had been raised. But all he said was, "Thanks for backing him up."

To which Jess just shrugged his shoulders and said, "No problem."

S/R * S/R

The sun painted the sky a brilliant red as the hunters returned, riding down the hillside overlooking the ranch. The faint sent of smoke and spices touched their nostrils. Whatever Ben was cooking smelled wonderful. As Jess and Andy headed down the slope toward the barn Slim paused. There were a few times in his life he figured that he would never see this place again. That business this last summer at Parkinson Town was just the latest.

He watched his not so little brother cutting up with Jess and the faint sound of laughter came to his ears. He remembered how it was Andy who first tossed a loop of friendship toward the two legged stray. The kid had seen the good in Jess straight off. It took him a little longer to see it but Jess had a good heart. "Best spur of the moment job offer I ever gave out," Slim thought. He remembered all the times that Jess had backed him up, the times when he'd returned the favor, and the times he'd chased after the Texan when trouble came a calling. "Who'd have thought that we'd end up as best friends, or that he'd wind up setting stakes down right here?"

Slim looked up from the yard and out across the little valley they all called home. The sunlight played across the distant butte, highlighting the yellows and reds in the rock. Closer in, a herd grazed and reminded him that this year the ranch was running with a nice profit. The extra money would be able to keep Andy in school, and maybe even give him a chance at a professional career.

President Lincoln had the right of it. It was a fine idea to set aside a time in November to stop and remember to give thanks for the good things in your life. It was even better that President Grant had taken the impromptu holiday and made it official last year. While today was the chosen day the local church hadn't gotten around to having a service yet.

Slim took off his hat and faced the setting sun. Then thinking about: his home, his family and his friends he cast his gaze toward the heavens and addressed the Almighty, "Thanks God. Thanks God, for everything."

End

Authors Notes: Rag horns are immature bull elk. Old enough to grow antlers, but not old enough to breed, they are permitted to remain by the herd bull.

With thanks to Stan Lynde who drew a cartoon about backing up a young hunter when elk hunting.