As a rule, Scott did not make decisions in his life quickly. Or without a great deal of forethought. Weighing pros and cons of whatever situation
he was trying to work out.
This time was no different. True to his own inherent nature, he went to bed that night in thought, and woke up with the same in his
head the next morning.
He ate his breakfast, and drank his coffee, all while greeting Charlie when she came up to wish him a good morning, and then maintaining conversation
with his family at the table.
Even as he answered his father about work needing done, or heard Johnny ask Charlie what her plans were that day, his mind was at work.
As the family members were rising to their feet, and pushing up their chair to the table, Charlie was helping Maria clear the dishes.
"Can I go with you today?" Charlie asked him, pausing on her way, her hands full of plates. "When you go to check on the cattle with Cipriano?"
"It'll be hot," Scott reminded her.
"I won't complain," Charlie promised.
Scott ran a hand down the side of her face. "I know you won't."
"Can I then?" she asked again.
"May I," he corrected, absently, still looking at her with his thoughts elsewhere.
"May I go? Please?" Charlie amended.
"If you get the things done that Maria needs your help with, then yes. You may," Scott said, giving permission.
Charlie looked to Maria then, her face hopeful.
"Si," Maria said, in agreement, and Charlie happily went on with the dish clearing.
Scott went to take his hat off the hook by the door, and set out to begin the first part of his morning' work. He did his work, but his mind was
as busy as his hands, struggling as hard as his arms did with the posts he was setting.
When he went to the house to collect Charlie before he and Cipriano left to check the cattle, he found her, already with the new horse,
saddling him, while standing on a crate in order to reach.
Jelly was standing nearby, fussy as a bantam chicken. "Told her I'd do it for her, but she won't have none of it," he reported to Scott.
"Mmmm," Scott said, in reply, pausing to watch as Charlie settled the saddle onto the horse's back, and then hopped down from the crate,
to begin tightening the cinch.
"Johnny says it's important to tend to your own horse," Charlie said, a bit breathless from the exertion. She brushed a curl back that
had escaped from her braid.
Jelly walked away, muttering, and Scott couldn't help the ripple of pride that he felt at her tenatiousness.
When she had done the tightening of the cinch, she paused to look up at Scott.
"Will you see if I did it right?" she asked. "See if it's tight enough?"
"Sure," Scott said. "If you can lay two fingers flat between the cinch and your horse, then it's right." He spent a couple of moments checking what she'd done.
"Well done," he said, and Charlie smiled, her dimples showing.
"Look," she said, gesturing down at her legs. "Teresa got these for me before I got here."
Scott surveyed the denims she was wearing. "I see," he said, with a smile.
"I think that was real nice of her," Charlie said, earnestly.
"It was nice," he agreed.
"It's like having a big sister, or something," Charlie said.
"I'm glad you feel that way," Scott said. "Are you ready to go?"
Charlie nodded, and after Scott had saddled his own horse and Cipriano was waiting, they set out, along with another one of
the longtime ranch hands, Jeb.
During their time out, Charlie stayed fairly near to him, for the most part. At one point, when he and Cip and Jeb were in a horseback
circle, discussing things, Charlie rode a bit away into the fence row.
After a few moments, when he saw that she was beginning to dismount, intent on something in the brush, he called
to her, "Come back over here!"
"There's something here!" Charlie called back, pointing downward.
Scott motioned to her with one hand. "Come on."
Charlie cantered back over to the trio of men, and waited, teeming with excitement, until they finished their conversation.
As Jeb rode into a different direction, Cip looked at Charlie and then to Scott. "The little one has something to say," he said to Scott, with
an amused smile.
"I think you're right," Scott said, and turned to Charlie. "What is it?"
"It's a nest. Of baby animals. I don't know what they are-" Charlie spoke breathlessly.
"Hmm," Scott said, leaning back in the saddle a bit and looking at Charlie, and then at Cip.
"What do you think? Should we have a look?" he asked the other man, teasing Charlie.
"Perhaps," Cip said. "Before she bursts."
When they rode over to the brush row, Charlie pointed out what had her so animated. "There," she pointed.
There in the knee-high grass, were several tiny creatures. It was hard to tell exactly how many there were, because they
were lying, overlapped together.
"What are they?" Charlie asked.
"Look to me to be raccoons," Cip said, and looked to Scott. "You agree?"
"I agree," Scott said, leaning over a little in the saddle to look closer.
"Where's their mother?" Charlie asked.
"She will return," Cip said.
"How do you know for sure?"
"Raccoon mothers stay with their young for a time," Cip told her. "She did not abandon them."
"Oh," Charlie said, and looked at the tiny animals longingly. "Could I hold them?"
"No," Scott said, without pausing to consider.
"It's not good to handle wild things," Cip said. "The mother wouldn't like it if they had your scent when she returns."
"It's best to leave them alone," Scott told her.
Cip had turned to ride out, and Scott followed, pulling up his reins when he saw that Charlie was still in the same spot,
watching the baby raccoons.
"Charlie," he prompted, and with obvious reluctance, Charlie followed, coming up beside his horse.
They rode for a time, and Cip went his own way, leaving Scott and Charlie to ride alone the remainder of the distance
to the ranch.
"I've never seen anything like that before," Charlie said, sounding wistful.
"Not many people get the opportunity to see a kit like that."
"A kit?" she asked, looking puzzled.
"That's what a litter of baby raccoons is called," Scott explained.
"Oh." She looked thoughtful. "I wish I could learn more about them."
"We could read about them."
Instantly, her face was alight. "We could?"
"We could look them up, in Murdoch's encyclopedias."
"Can we?" she asked.
"Sure. Tonight, if you like."
"Yes. I'd like to," Charlie said.
They rode in companionable silence for a time.
Charlie broke that silence with a tentative, "Scott?"
"Hmm?"
"I have something to tell you."
He looked to her at his side. "Alright."
Charlie very pointedly kept her gaze on the far horizon, not looking at Scott as she talked.
"Remember yesterday, when we were on the stage? And there was that lady that I was talking to?"
"I remember."
"Well," Charlie hesitated, "She sort of got the wrong idea about us. You and me, I mean."
"Did she?" Scott asked, watching as Charlie struggled with her emotions.
"Yes. She thinks that we're a family. That the ranch is my home." At this last part, Charlie took a deep breath. "She thinks that
I belong to you."
Scott hesitated, trying to find the right words. Words that would not condemn, but also would not condone non-truth.
"I know I shouldn't have let her think it," Charlie went on, still looking outward, away from Scott's gaze. "It was just-that it was
nice for a little while." Her voice trailed off and she risked a look his way.
Scott gave her a kind smile, to encourage her. "You probably shouldn't have let her come to conclusions that aren't true," he said
gently. Charlie's face drooped.
"The truth is always best," he said, and Charlie nodded.
"Yes," she said, looking sad.
"In this case though, there are things that are a little bit different," Scott went on, and Charlie looked at him with interest.
"For one thing, when you're here, visiting with us, then Lancer is your home. And you are a part of our family. From now on, you
always will be, whether you're here with us or not."
With Charlie's eyes on him, hanging on every word, Scott went on, "And, while we're talking about the truth here, then I need
to tell you that I heard the conversation you had with the lady on the stage."
Charlie looked startled. "You did?"
"Yes. I did."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Charlie asked.
Scott sighed a little, looked out towards the view in front of them, and then back at Charlie again. "Because I was thinking
about how nice it would be. If things were like you said."
"Really?" Charlie asked.
"Sure."
"You mean if I really was yours?" she asked.
"Yeah. That's what I mean," he said, and smiled at her.
Charlie beamed at him.
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