7
In late June, Ben bought a herd of cattle from a rancher on the pan handle. The rancher sold them to Ben at a low cost, no longer able to keep the cattle alive without water. The herd was big, at least 750 head, and Ben decided that all of them should go, along with most of the hands and Hop Sing.
They packed Elizabeth and her things into a wagon and took her to the Tungsten ranch outside of Reno, where Mrs. Rachel Tungsten and her daughters were happy to look after the little girl. Ben promised to send telegraphs marking their progress whenever possible and he and his boys headed east.
They loaded men and horses onto rail cars in Carson City and rode to Keeler, California. The trip from the rail head to the ranch was dry and hot. If the wind blew, the men fought through clouds of dust that choked the horses and crept into every crevice. If the wind was still, the heat was almost unbearable.
Ben and his boys discussed nightly what route they should take to bring the cattle back without losing half the herd. North would take them through the mountains and across better grazing land with more water, but they would be following the damage done by anyone else, rancher or settler, who had gone through the mountains, and do even more damage themselves.
South would take them through the deserts broken by forests and low mountains. It would take twice as long and they risked natives and pistoleros taking advantage of the large herd. In between the two routes were miles of dead grass, dry earth and abandoned homesteads.
The rancher recommended the southern route, having taken his own drive that way before in drought conditions. The decision made, Ben, his children, hands and cook, started the herd westward. They were outside the small town that had been built around Fort Sumner, New Mexico when they got word that it had begun to rain to the west. The rain had made news, and traveled on the dry tongues of those still waiting for the reprieve. Rain in California and along the borders of Oregon and Washington. They had already lost 50 head, and one of Ben's cowhands, when he got caught up in a stampede for water.
As they continued to push the cattle west, navigating some of the roughest country Ben had seen in over a decade, they kept their eyes to the skies. Even the slightest hint of a cloud would send excited shouts back through the hands, but the thunderheads, heavy with rain, didn't come.
When one of the remuda horses was bit by a snake, throwing Ben and tearing off into the brush to die, the herd stopped for a day. Ben had landed on his shoulder, dislocating the joint. He spent an agonizing two hours on the seat of the chuck wagon before they came to a town with a doctor. The medico put the arm back, and gave Ben a vial of powders that would help with the pain and lower the swelling. When the doctor said Ben should wrap the limb and apply cold water, Ben stared at the man, then asked if he had been drinking.
At Fort Mohave, Ben sold 25 head of cattle that were on their last legs. The military seemed grateful for the meat, even as lean as it was, and the soldiers received the cowhands as if they were long lost brothers. When Ben asked if they had seen any rain they reported that they had heard the same rumor that the drive had heard, that there was rain to the west, but they hadn't seen a drop.
The herd was watered at the Colorado River and Ben held the drive there for a few days while he recovered. They followed the river north to Lake Mead, and Ben stood on the edge of Death Valley, knowing that 15 days of hard, hot, dry desert stood between them and the railhead. They filled every container they had with water before they left. Ben paid dearly for extra barrels and hide bags to carry water. The weight was distributed as evenly as possible across the backs of the horses and in the chuck wagon and Ben rationed water from the first day.
It was the longest, hardest, hottest ground he had ever covered. They drove only at night, resting during the day. They used every scrap of shade that they could find to shelter the cattle during daylight hours, leaving a breadcrumb trail of dead steers behind. They had started with 750 head in Texas. Ben counted 560 head as they were led into the pens at the rail head. They poured what remained of the water in the barrels, into the bone dry troughs of the pens, before Ben sold the extra barrels in the town of Keeler. The train was two days late. When it arrived the cattle were looking healthier, and hopefully strong enough to survive the long trip north. The problem was, Ben's wire hadn't gone through in time. There weren't enough cattle cars to handle the whole herd. Ben loaded half the animals onto the train, sent half his hands and two of his sons along with them, and waited in Keeler an additional four days for the train to return.
When he got home it was nearly August. The remainder of the drive had been corralled in the north pastures where the grass was still green and the water still ran. Ben and Adam rode to the Tungsten ranch to collect Elizabeth, who had grown faster than Ben liked while they were away.
He was relieved to find that she hadn't taken her first steps yet, nor said her first words, but what came out of her mouth sounded more and more like speech. When Jenny Tungsten brought Elizabeth to the deeply tanned, white haired man, in trail worn clothes, she cried for only a moment before she heard Ben's voice. Ben's heart warmed and he nearly cried when she tucked her head to his neck, chubby hands grabbing his vest. He had been so afraid of what the time away from Elizabeth would do.
Rachel Tungsten smiled and said, "A daughter always remembers her father, Ben. Always."
Rachel also had news and a request. Sarah Tungsten, the oldest of her daughters, was now engaged to a sheriff's deputy in Reno. Rachel had since announced the wedding date and was wondering if Ben would do the honor of walking Sarah down the aisle and giving her away. Ben happily accepted the honor, and invited Rachel to hold the wedding on The Ponderosa. They discussed details over dinner. Ben and Adam thanked them over and over, repeatedly offering to pay them for their efforts, and repeatedly being turned down. They collected Elizabeth's things and returned home under a heavy gray sky.
Though Ben expected the rain to fall at any moment, the sky remained barren and overcast.
Ben and his boys went a full week without leaving the ranch, recovering from the long hard trail and touring the changes to the Ponderosa while they had been gone. They received news of a wildfire that had started in California and had come as close as 50 miles from Lake Tahoe before turning west again. Some of the trees along the western edge of the Ponderosa were still frosted with the ash from the fires. The water level in the lake had continued to decrease, leaving a wide rocky beach along the shore.
Preparations for the wedding included renting a large tent that was erected in a meadow near the shores of Lake Tahoe. Supplies and decorations were delivered to the ranch, paid for by Rachel Tungsten, who insisted on bearing the cost herself. A spirit of anticipation filled the residents of the largest ranch in Nevada, as if Christmas were coming.
As Elizabeth began to improve her mobility, crawling most of the time, and pulling herself up on furniture to bounce or try a sideways shuffle, she was even more of a handful than she had been before. It soon became necessary for one of the four men to 'ride herd' on Elizabeth throughout the day. If she wasn't in the pen that Adam had built, playing with toys or napping, she was 'helping' with tasks that could be done without any harm coming to her.
The day that she 'helped' Ben he plunked her down in a pen made of hay bales, and watched her stumble in happy circles. When she helped Joe in the garden, he barely stopped her from uprooting every carrot or beet that had dared to poke it's leaves up out of the dirt. She 'helped' Adam collect eggs, taking them out of the basket as quickly as he was putting them in.
Hoss came back from a 'helping' trip to Virginia City, smiling gleefully. The three others demanded to know how he had managed to be so successful. It seemed that the sight of giant Hoss, carrying tiny Elizabeth around town while he ran his errands, had attracted the doting attentions of every eligible and attractive female on the streets, who heaped compliments on Hoss, cooed and begged to hold Elizabeth. Ben had to put his foot down to stop all of his boys from using Elizabeth as a magnet for members of the fairer sex.
Sarah Tungsten, her groom, family, and a column of over a hundred guests arrived on the ranch at the site near Lake Tahoe on August 17th. The day was cooler, and the skies had fluffy clouds that turned to a gray overcast. A sweet breeze blew through the tent, blowing the pests away from the waiting food and keeping the guests and wedding party comfortable. While she dressed in a private tent to the side Sarah asked for Adam to come to the tent and Ben watched his eldest disappear into the canvas.
When Adam reappeared Ben met him, his eyes asking questions. Adam smirked at him. "She's nervous."
Ben laughed. "Of course she is. She'll be alright."
Ben handed Elizabeth to her oldest brother and stood guard outside the tent. Joe and Hoss, acting as ushers with Bucky and Jimmy, gathered the guests on the benches that Ben had borrowed from several area churches. A steam boat, a former showboat that had an 88 key steam calliope built into the top deck, had been docked near the meadow. The boat would carry the bride and her groom away on a honeymoon trip that would take them to California and around the lake. The calliope was used to play the wedding march and provide entertainment for the guests at the reception.
When the first notes of the wedding march began to play, Sarah left the tent. Here dress was a light pink color with white lace cascading in tiers down the skirt. She wore a white lace veil that hid her face, and white lace glove-lets. Her fingers tight around a bouquet of pink flowers. When Ben offered his arm to her she whispered, "I'm terrified, Ben."
"Of what, dear?"
"I've been alone for so long." She said.
Ben turned her to face him and asked, "Do you love him?"
Sarah looked at him through the veil and nodded. "I sure do."
"That's all you need think about, my dear. You're going to meet the man you love."
Sarah took a deep breath, then turned back toward the big tent. Ben guided her down the aisle to the nervous man standing by the preacher, gently guided Sarah's hand into her groom's and sat next his eldest boy at the front of the tent. Adam had carried the rings in his pocket and provided them at the appropriate time. Sarah and her groom both stumbled through their vows to soft laughter from the group and they were married.
The reception was a massive success. The music, food, games and cool weather gave it the air of a carnival. Guests ventured out onto the dock and toured the show boat, played games on the green grass in the meadow and lounged in the shade of the trees on blankets. Hop Sing and Rachel Tungsten's french cook got along like a house afire, and both were beaming at the praise heaped on their shoulders for the food.
They saw Sarah and her husband off at the dock, tossing flower seeds instead of rice. As the guests began to gather their things and return to their buggies, the first drops of rain began to fall. The celebration that followed was almost bigger than the wedding. Ben stood in his best clothes out under the heavens, head tilted back, enjoying the rain. Elizabeth, attached to his side, was confused by the rain, her head jerking around every time a raindrop landed on her head. Ben settled his hat over her blonde curls, and carried her around the meadow seeing the guests off. Aside from the bride, Elizabeth was the prettiest girl at the wedding, even with Ben's oversized hat on her head.
The next day, before the rain could turn the pastures to mud, Ben ordered his hands to gather the healthiest and fattest of the yearlings and older, at the northernmost edge of the Ponderosa, preparing to drive them to the cattle yards in Reno. They would be sold in San Francisco, and Joe and Hoss had already volunteered to go with the cattle. The short, two day drive ended on a Friday and as the cattle were charging up the ramps into the cars, more fat, cold rain drops began to fall.
It rained, and it rained, and it rained. The land soaked up the rain and the risk of flood became a real concern along the banks of the rivers. The water level rose in the lake, reclaiming the rocky beaches, and green things began to sprout, growing feet instead of inches, every day. Adam's drainage ditches did their job and the tanks in the lower pastures began to fill. Ben watched his land come back to life, felt the pressure of the drought ease out of his chest, and began to look to the work that would fill the fall months.
On the fifth day of rain, a rider came to the main house. He was out of breath and had come from Virginia City with a telegram from Tahoe City. The showboat making a pleasure cruise around the lake had missed it's scheduled stop, and searches of the shore of the lake had turned up no sign of the boat. All towns bordering the lake were asked to put boats in the water and join the search.
Adam recognized the name of the craft immediately. It was the boat Sarah and her husband had chartered for their honeymoon.
Adam, Bucky, Joe and Jimmy Carnes were out on the lake, paddling through the rain for hours as they searched the shoreline, and the choppy waters beyond it. Hoping for survivors.