Chapter 6

Tressie awoke and immediately began to wonder where she was. The room she was in smelled of flowers and was much cooler than her room at home. She looked around the dark room and saw a sliver of light through a small opening in the heavy drapes. She pushed back the blankets and put her feet on the floor. They landed on a rug but she could tell the floor was very cool beneath it. She wiggled her feet into her slippers and walked toward the window. Drawing back the drapes, she looked out onto the ranch compound. She had a view of the side yard that included a vegetable garden and a corral where she could see a couple of cows. She could also see a small building she had a feeling was the privy, which she needed to use. She pushed back the curtains to let in light so she could see while she dressed behind a screen in the room. Then she brushed her hair and tied it back with a ribbon. She hoped she wouldn't meet anyone at this hour, but wanted to look decent just in case. Satisfied with her grooming for now, she opened the door and entered the hall.

She crept down the hall as quietly as she could so she didn't wake anyone. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned toward the kitchen, which she had been told had a door that was nearest the privy. On her way through the kitchen, she noted that it smelled of spices and was a very large room. She also noticed that someone must be up because they had built the fire up in the cook stove in preparation for breakfast.

She exited the kitchen and headed toward the building she identified as the privy. She decided it was a bit primitive but better than some of the facilities she found during her travels. Some of the small towns she'd stayed in had privies that could barely be called private. She finished her business and re-entered the kitchen where she stopped dead in her tracks. A man stood by the stove with his back to her. She thought she might be able to keep going and he wouldn't know she was there, but he turned before she could make her escape. Her breath caught in her throat.

Suspecting that he scared her, he offered an apology. "I'm sorry, Miss. I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't know Victoria had company. My name's Blue."

Tressie was still in shock but managed to say, "Hello."

He continued, "I'm gonna' make some coffee. Want some?"

Tressie seldom found herself speechless, and if she did, she tended to recover quickly. This time, Blue probably wondered if she was tongue-tied. She nodded and wondered where her voice went.

He pointed to the chairs around a table. It was a large table but not as large as the one in the dining room. "Sit down and I'll fix it." He turned back toward the stove and finished putting the ground coffee into the pot that he'd already added water to. As he worked, he talked. "Don't worry. Victoria taught me to make coffee and it's her special blend. I can't mess it up."

Setting the pot on the stove, he checked the fire one more time. Satisfied that everything was ready, he turned and came back to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "So, what are you doin' at High Chaparral?"

Tressie's mind tried out several things she could say, but she finally settled on a sort of true statement. "I came to see you."

Even in the twilight light in the kitchen she could see his blue eyes grow large. "See me? What for?"

"I'm Tressie Daniels. My father was here several months ago and his drawings and stories made me want to come. Besides, I've never met any of my cousins before."

Tressie saw the moment that he realized who she was."Tressie! Tressie Daniels! Hey, where's Jasper? I can't wait to see him!"

Tressie smiled at his excitement. She was glad that Blue liked Father. "He didn't come with me. I came alone."

Blue's excitement changed to a look of incredulity. His eyes narrowed and he stared at her for a moment. "Whadaya' mean you came alone? Jasper knows better than that. It's not safe for a girl alone."

Tressie looked at the tabletop. "Yes, I've been told." She looked back up at Blue. "I just had to see you. I sneaked out and Father doesn't know where I am."

"What was so important that you'd risk your life?"

The pot on the stove had started to boil and the smell of coffee started to waft across the kitchen. Tressie weighed out the stories she could use versus saying the truth. She decided to not reveal the whole story yet. She had an idea that might give her a little time to get to know Blue. "I just wanted to see the ranch my father told us about and the family we never met. I knew he'd never bring us with him."

Blue got up and poured some of the coffee into a cup to see if it was ready yet. He tasted the liquid and poured the rest into the sink. He knew it wouldn't be ready, but needed to do something. He'd left the campsite before daylight and knew it would be a long day. Pa was coming back tomorrow and he had a lot to do before then. He'd need to keep busy to stay awake today. He looked back at Tressie. "I can't believe you risked your life just to come here."

Tressie looked down at her hands, folded together in her lap. "Father wouldn't bring me. He said he couldn't come back for a long time. I wanted to see you." She looked up at Blue, who was staring back at her.

"Tressie, how old are you? Seems to me that the oldest girl was about 18 and I'm pretty sure her name ain't Tressie."

"That would be my older sister, Alyssa. I'm almost sixteen." Tressie smiled at Blue, who was still staring at her.

He sat down on the chair again. "You're fifteen, and you came all this way by yourself? Do you know what could have happened to you along the way?"

Tressie couldn't help laughing. "I've heard that many times since I got here. I guess I should be thankful that I did get here without all those awful things happening to me."

"Tressie, this ain't funny. It's not safe for a girl to travel out here by herself. A girl that's only fifteen is just asking for somethin' awful to happen to her. I've seen some really bad things and I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Don't you leave the compound without an escort. Ya' hear?"

Tressie sat up straight and laughingly replied, "Yes Sir!"

Blue got back up and filled his coffee cup this time. He cooled it with a little cold water and tasted it again. Satisfied that it was done, he poured Tressie a cup before he sat back down. Tressie distracted him from asking more questions about her mission at High Chaparral by talking about her father. They talked while they drank their coffee and when Victoria entered the kitchen, Blue excused himself to go get the day's work started. He told her he would be back when he could but he was quite busy since Big John would be gone for another day or so.

Tressie and Victoria talked while they prepared breakfast. Tressie was curious about the ranch and Victoria was always happy to talk about it. They got breakfast on the table and rang the bell to call the men in. Buck showed up first. He didn't appear as if he slept well. He was polite but Tressie could sense that he wasn't happy to see her, adding to her feeling that he knew the secret too. She was pretty certain, from their conversation this morning, that Blue didn't know.

Mano was next to come for breakfast. He was wearing his usual smile that stretched into dimples on his cheeks and greeted Tressie with a kiss on the back of her hand. Blue came in last and joined the group around the table. Buck was the first to speak, "Blue Boy, when did you git back?"

"We left camp just before daylight and got back a little while ago. Did you meet Tressie?"

Buck looked at Blue, then at Tressie. "Yeah, we met last night. Did you know she was comin'?"

"No, I'd never met her till this morning. I told her she was loco comin' all this way by herself, especially bein' fifteen."

Victoria and Buck, together, turned their attention to Tressie and asked the same question, "Fifteen?!"