A Rancher's Touch
Chapter 4
As morning rolled around, so came the birds, their chirping making their way into the bunk houses of the ranch. This also signaled the time to wake up, pulling the men from their beds, and toward the tables for breakfast.
T
"Come on, time to wake up Chris."
It was Carlson telling me to wake up as he kicked at my bed a few times.
I just groaned in response, not wanting to get up quite yet.
"Come on, get up," he said, before grabbing my pillow and pulling it out from under my head.
"Damn it Carlson," I groaned, finally sitting up.
He just grinned at me before tossing it back at me and leaving the room.
I shook my head at this as I got up, shivering at the coolness of the bunk house. It was always chilly to a degree in the early morning, so I always had to wear my jacket. It was then that I was reminded of who's I held. I still had George's jacket and he no doubt would be a bit cold. Although, when I looked around, I found him to be absent from my view. What I did notice though, was my shirts and jacket at the end of my bed.
"Damn," I groaned, finding them to be dirtier than before.
I could only imagine what was on top of the roof, especially since the thing was flat. The guys had undoubtedly tossed them up there when they were still wet and now they looked down right disgusting. My jacket was perfectly fine though, it just had to be dusted off a bit and then it'd be good to go.
So, without further thought, I grabbed my stuff and headed out of the bunk house. My only problem was that if I wanted to get my shirts cleaned and hung, I'd likely have to skip breakfast so that they'd have time to dry.
"Damn it…" I sighed, making my way over to the tables.
If I couldn't have anything else, then I'd at least get some bread to eat.
"Hey, Whit!" I called, walking up to everyone.
"Yea-Ow!" he cried, rubbing the back of his head where I'd just hit him. "What was that for?" he whined.
"That, is for making me miss breakfast," I said flatly.
"Breakfast? But you're standing right here," he exclaimed, looking at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Yeah and now I have to miss it because my shirts are disgusting," I said in disgust, holding them up for everyone to see. "You idiots threw them up there when they were still wet."
After I said that, it seemed to click as he inclined his head. These guys knew that breakfast was probably the most important meal of the day. It's when you started off, getting the energy to work out in the hot sun.
"Oh yeah, here's your jacket back George," I said, holding it out to him.
He nodded in thanks, standing up to take it and put it on. I could tell he was a lot more comfortable now with having his jacket on.
"Don't worry Slim, I'll be done by the time you're ready to head out," I said, quickly grabbing up a piece of bread and walking off.
T
"Well, you two seem to be on pretty good terms," Carlson commented, before taking a drink of water.
"We are," George replied simply, taking a bit of food.
He wished that Chris would have been able to sit with them and eat, but he knew that she had to scrub her shirts out if she wanted to have anything to wear later.
"George?" Lennie piped up, looking at his friend as he paused in his meal.
"What Lennie?" he responded, turning his head to look at him.
"Why she no eat?" he asked, obviously confused when she had walked off.
"Because Lennie, she needs to wash her clothes," George explained, trying to go back to eating.
"But I thought everyone did that yesterday."
Laughter sprouted around the table after that, Lennie merely adding a friendly smile to it. Even with that thought, George still found his eyes traveling far over to the wash house where Chris sat with a basin of water in front of her, her face scrunched up as she scrubbed her clothes. He could only imagine how bad they were after sitting up on a flat roof the way that they had.
T
I groaned as I sat there scrubbing away at my shirts. They were just plain nasty. I was just glad that I hadn't decided to wash my jacket as well, otherwise there'd be some serious problems.
I could feel my fingers tingling as I sat there, the cold air of the morning attacking what were now prunes in my eyes. It was then that I heard someone mutter something about women, likely because of the fact I was trying to scrub my shirts clean.
Before I knew it though, it was time to go and I was hanging my shirts up to dry. I'd barely even touched the bread because I'd been too preoccupied with getting them clean. This left my stomach growling painfully as I walked toward the wagon, hat on my head as I began to nibble away at the bread. This was no way to start a morning of long work in the sun.
"So, you get them shirts of yours clean?" Slim asked, watching as I climbed up into the back and sat on the side of it.
"As best I could," I said, sitting across from George.
Lennie got in behind him, sitting beside him. Then, right after Slim handed Lennie a large canteen full of water, Curly showed up. He stopped his horse right behind George and Lennie, causing both of them to turn their heads and look behind them as he spoke.
"He talkin today?" Curly asked, staring George down all the while.
"No, he ain't talkin. He's too busy workin," Slim said, moving to make toward the front of the wagon.
At this, Lennie moved closer to George, slowly placing his hand behind his back and gripping the fabric of his jacket.
"Is he a good worker?" Curly piped up again, showing no sign of leaving.
"Best I ever had," Slim said.
"What about his partner?" Curly asked quickly, pointing to George who's back was now to him as Slim made to climb up in the front seat.
Slim stopped at that point and turned to look at him, giving him a skeptical look.
"What about him?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Is he a good worker?" he asked again. "My old man wants to know." He added.
"Yeah, he's a good worker," Slim said, before climbing up into the wagon's driver seat.
A couple of the guys smiled at this, I merely tried to avoid eye contact with Curly as he glared at me. Nobody else paid him any mind though as he sat there for a moment, Slim yelling at the mules to get going. After Carlson jumped up on the back though, Curly finally started moving again, riding up behind us, before making his way over to my side. Lennie seemed to be watching him the whole time as he kept close to George.
It wasn't until a couple minutes later though that I felt a hard tug on my hat behind me, a feeling of falling rushing over me, my eyes going wide. It was like no one even realized what had happened as I went backwards, until someone reached out and grabbed hold of my wrist, quickly tugging me back before I could fall out of the wagon.
Everyone around me was stunned as they sat there, watching as I came face to face with George. He'd managed to grab hold before it was too late, something that likely would have ended me with a broken neck or something if I had landed wrong.
It wasn't until I heard laughing though that I stood up, making to jump out of the wagon. That was cut short though as Carlson twisted around and grabbed me by the back of my pants and tugged me down. As a result, I ended up landing on George and Lennie, my face going red when I found an arm being wrapped around me.
"What the," I started, only to stop when I noticed it was Lennie, that one arm keeping me in place like a doll.
I tried to get up, but his arm wouldn't budge.
"Lennie, let me go," I said quietly, making to moving.
He just held tighter as though scared for some reason.
"George," I groaned, turning to look at him.
At this, he gave Lennie a look, before telling him to let me go. He said something, reminding him about no trouble and that was all that it took before he let me go, looking down at his feet.
"T-thanks," I mumbled, taking my seat back next to Mike.
I was a bit shaken for a few moments as I sat there, just rubbing my arms. I wasn't used to being touched like that or really having a guys arm around me holding me still. It reminded me too much of my ex at times and that's why I tried to avoid it as much as possible.
T
When we got to the fields, everyone piled out of the wagon. One by one they got off, leaving me standing there at the end. I just sighed and made my way to the edge, intent on getting out before George appeared in front of me, his hand offered in help.
"Thanks," I said, giving him a small smile as I took his hand, placing my other one on his shoulder before jumping down.
Something like that made it a lot easier when trying to get down, especially when you're short. That would always be something that I'd have to live with.
"And George?" I turned toward him for a moment as I stood there.
"Yes?"
His eyes met mine, easily meeting my gaze.
"Thank you," I said softly, before quietly turning around and walking off.
I had a job to do and I was going to do it, one way or another.
T
By the time I was done with my job, George was coming back with another mule. Slim had sent him off with Violet back to the stable because she had a sore foot and now he was returning. Although, when I looked more closely, it was obvious that there was something wrong. Then again, it might have just been me, but I was always very observant.
I went up to him after he handed the mule off to Slim, curious as to what had happened.
"Somethin happen down in the barn?" I asked, taking a swig of water from my canteen.
"Just Curly," he sighed, whipping his forehead.
The poor guy wasn't even wearing his hat.
"Don't tell me, his wife was in the barn talkin to ya, wasn't she?"
"How'd you know?" he asked, his brows furrowing in question.
I just sighed, before handing him my canteen. He needed the water as much as I did at the moment.
"That's how the last guy got canned," I started, rubbing the back of my neck.
It was sticky with sweat.
"She's done it to a few others, but the last one, Curly beat him up pretty good. The man is vicious with jealousy," I said with distaste. "That and his wife is always gettin guys in trouble whether she means to or not. Nearly did the same thing to me when I first got here."
He seemed curious about this so I continued.
"She thought I was just another 'good lookin guy'. Thought she'd chat me up a bit, flirt around I guess and try to get my attention. Nearly got me a broken nose for it too," I said, glaring at the memory. "Just do me a favor and stay away from her alright? I'd hate to see you gettin canned because of someone like her," I told him, watching as he took a few more drinks from the canteen.
Once he was done, he handed it back to me, a friendly smile on his face.
"You don't gotta worry about me none. I know well enough to steer clear of people like her," he said, pulling his pitchfork from the wagon.
"Good. Make sure it stays that way," I said, a faint laugh escaping my dry lips.
Okay, that was chapter 4. I hope that everyone liked it? Please, remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, ideas, opinions and feelings on this chapter/story. I love to hear feedback. Thanks everyone. Chapter 5 should be out a little later today.