Chapter 10

Falcon Ranch

Eventually, a tumbled-down split rail fence came up alongside the road. The horse had slowed to a brisk trot, and Leia watched absently as the fence posts ticked by. Finally, they came up on a break in the fence. Over the entrance was a large plank with a symbol burned on it: two vertical lines, crossed with a wide V-shape. Han turned the wagon in. Wheel ruts were barely visible in the grass. In the distance, she could barely make out a few small wooden structures.

"Well, this is it. Falcon Ranch. Hope you weren't expecting a palace," Han griped as they grew closer. "Was a little rundown before I got my hands on it, but I've been workin' real hard to get 'er fixed up. It's a sturdy little place, now. Made lots up modifications myself," he bragged. They stopped in front of the larger structure, which she assumed was the barn.

"I'm sure it will be fine," she responded. Four men came out of the barn: a large man with long hair and a thick beard, a middle-aged bald man wearing tan clothes and little spectacles, an older man dressed in dark brown leather chaps and a hat pushed back far on his head, and a young man with bright eyes and a dusty work shirt tucked into his denim pants. A white dog with brown patches lay in the shade near the barn.

"This is Miss Leia," Han introduced, jumping down from the wagon. "That's Chewie, CP, Ben, and Luke. They work for me," he explained, offering her a hand down as an afterthought.

"Pleasure to meet you," she greeted. They all nodded and smiled warmly.

"We need to get back out to the pasture. The sheriff's coming out this afternoon, and I want to have a count on just how many we're missing. I've got to get Millennium unhitched and saddled up; Luke, will you take Miss Organa's trunk into the cabin?" Han requested.

"Be glad to," he smiled.

"Alright then. Let's not stand here lettin' grass grow under our feet. Get stirrin'," Han urged, taking hold of Millennium's bridle and leading him around the barn.

"We're glad you're here. He's not always like this—'bout a hundred cattle were taken last night. He's gonna need the money from them to make his payments to keep this place," Luke explained as he pulled her trunk off the back of the buckboard.

Ben took the other end and they led her to the house, Luke chatting amicably the entire way. At least she'd have one friend out here, it seemed. The dog trotted along at his heels.

"That's Rusty. He's real friendly," Luke said, ruffling the dog's as he put the trunk down just inside the the door.

The cabin was dimly lit and filthy. It was obvious that four bachelors had been inhabiting the cabin for a long time. It looked like she'd have her work cut out for her. Solo's ad had told her that she had to be able to cook and keep house, and it looked like she'd be starting right away.

There was barely any light in the cabin with the door closed, so Leia changed quickly from her traveling clothes into one of the new calico work dresses she'd bought. She was glad to get back out in the fresh air after changing.

Han was rubbing down Millennium when she reemerged; the others were nowhere to be seen. He gave her a once-over as she approached the corral fence and leaned against it.

"I'm sorry I don't have time to give you the full tour of the place today. Basically, though: cabin, barn, chicken coop, bunkhouse." He pointed to each structure as he spoke.

"Some barn. Looks like it'd blow over if someone sneezed in that direction," she said, looking over the building.

"Look, Sweetheart, when I bought this place four months ago, it was trash. Fences fallin' down, holes in all the roofs, no door on the privy. You know who fixed this all up? Me. I've worked my tail off for this land, and I don't take kindly to uppity city women telling me what they think is wrong with a perfectly good barn," he sniped back. She rolled her eyes.

"Very well. I'll be sure to keep those comments to myself." It was Han's turn to roll his eyes.

"Well's around front, and there's a pump by the door. Privy's around back. The fellas 'n' I'll be down in the east pasture for a while. That's where the cattle are right now." He pointed towards some rolling hills. "You think you can handle things here for a while?" He hefted a large saddle onto the mount's back and cinched it carefully.

"Handle things? Handle things?" she demanded.

"Land sakes, woman! Calm down! I just meant will you be alright here by yourself?" he asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"I'll be fine," Leia insisted.

"Good. There's a shotgun over the door if there's trouble. Don't try to shoot it," he warned. "Just seein' a little thing like you aimin' a twelve-gauge should be enough to scare anybody. Kick-back's pretty strong though, so don't try to shoot it," he reiterated. "Send Sheriff Rieekan our way when he stops by," Han requested, tying on his chaps.

"Very well," Leia agreed, looking angrily at the ground as he swung up onto his horse. Leia watched as he directed the black stallion through the gate and took off at a full gallop in the direction of the hills. Honestly, some people just had to show off.

Leia blew out a breath and marched angrily back toward the cabin. She was determined to show from the outset that she was fully capable of doing what it took to be a farm wife, capable of holding up her end of the deal. It took a full five minutes of staring at the cluttered room for her to decide what to do.

Tying on her apron, she pulled the quilts off the bed and the clothes off the floor and dropped them into the woven washing basket. She found a galvanized washtub in the lean-to near the pump. She filled the basin and rolled up her sleeves.

She'd never actually done much cleaning or housekeeping in New York. They'd had servants for those things, maids and household staff. One of the maids had a daughter that was about Leia's age, however, so she'd spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen and seen the washing being done plenty of times.

Forty minutes later, Leia decided that beginning her career as a laundress with full size sheets and quilts was probably not the best option. Finally, though, she was able to throw the blankets over the line stretched between the house and a wooden pole.

The clothes were dirty—she had to fetch new rinse water halfway through the pile because of the prairie dirt that was embedded in the fabric. It was easy to see why this man needed a woman around.

Leia scrubbed until the basket was empty. Her shoulders ached from the repetitive motion, her knees ached from kneeling on the hard ground, and the skin on her fingers was bright pink from the harsh lye.

Her next task was to scrub through the grime on the stove. There was a bottle of black polish and a rag on a high shelf, and she gave it a coat of that, too. It got beneath her fingernails and soaked into the cracks on her knuckles, stinging in places where the lye soap had gotten the better of her skin.

Finding a broom in the corner, Leia swept out the dirt and dust from the rough-hewn wooden floor, flinging it out the open door with more force than necessary. It wasn't until she finally sat down to rest at the table that she realized she'd been muttering to herself the entire time she'd been working, berating Han and the ranch, the uncivilized world, advertisements, lye soap, and herself.

"You're a fully-grown woman," Leia admonished herself. "Whatever happened to making the most of a bad situation, keeping your chin up and all of that?" she asked. The childish part of her wanted to snap back and list all the things that were wrong with her life, but she refused to go down that road.

The sheriff came by in the afternoon, and Leia directed him to the pasture. She unpacked a few things from her trunk, trying to give the small cabin a touch of home. The bedding dried quickly in the warm afternoon sun, so she remade the bed, choosing to spread her own quilt over it instead of Han's tattered one.

A tiny timepiece ticked on the mantle. Nearly six o'clock—they'd be expecting supper soon. She tied her apron back on, and set to work.

AN: Y'all have been great about reviewing but I'm going to bug you anyhow...

When do you want more chapters? Tomorrow? Tuesday? Let me know!