In 1954, Bill interviewed some men for two new ranch hand positions he had on his ranch. Bo Tremaine and Lamar Pettybone showed up for the interview together, presenting themselves as a package deal. Bo was a sandy-haired, rugged 30 year-old that looked to have led a rather hard life. He had a thick rural Texas accent and some minor dental problems. Lamar was a blonde, 34 year-old that had an affable face with a friendly smile. His accent was not as thick as Bo's but rural nonetheless. The men had been friends for their whole adult lives. Bill interviewed them in his living room.
"How long have you two been ranching?" Bill asked.
"I grew up poor, so I's always workin'. Can't remember a time I wasn't. I've worked lots of places, but mainly farms and ranches," Bo said.
"And I come from a large family. When I wasn't workin' around the house as a kid, I was workin' on our land and then when I was 16, I struck out on my own and rode the rails for a while since my family didn't need another mouth to feed," Lamar said. "I found jobs on farms and ranches after that."
"How did you two meet?" Bill asked.
"Let's see. Guess it was 'bout ten years ago on a ranch north and west of Galveston. We tended the horses and cattle and mended fences and such," Bo said. "Ain't that right, Lamar?"
"Yep. We built and razed our share of barns too. We're both handy with construction if need be," replied Lamar.
The front door to the house opened and Cattle Annie strode inside holding Mattlock's hand. The three men sitting in the living room looked over at them.
"Sorry to be interruptin' ya'll, Bill. I'm gonna take Mattlock up to give him a bath. I put him on a horse for a while, and you should have seen him….you'd thought he'd gotten the best Christmas present on Christmas morning. Isn't that right, Mattlock?" she said, looking down at him.
"I wanna do it again, Cattle Annie!" he exclaimed.
"You will, honey," she said to him with a smile.
"So, anyway, we went back to the barn to put the horse back and he stumbled into a pile of you-know-what," she said with a hearty laugh.
"Thanks, Cattle Annie," Bill said.
"I'd shake your hands boys, but….," she said showing her dirty hands. "You just heard my name. What's yours?"
"I'm Bo Tremaine and this is Lamar Pettybone," Bo said.
"Been ranch hands a long time?" she pried.
"Yes, ma'am," Lamar said, "Some ten years or so."
"Where'd you work last?" she asked.
"Stevens' ranch west of Dallas," Bo said.
"How long?" she asked.
"Three years," Bo said.
"Whew! That's a long time." She turned to Bill, "You should hire 'em, Bill, if you haven't already. I know that Stevens and he's an asshole. He doesn't hire incompetent people because he doesn't want to be bothered with 'em and you'd probably be doin' these boys a favor by freein' 'em from his clutches. You're a lot nicer."
Bo and Lamar looked at each other. Bill just shook his head.
"One more thing, boys… Do you play poker?" Cattle Annie asked.
"Yes, ma'am," said Lamar.
"Well, ya see there, Bill. It's a done deal. We need some more players for our poker nights," she said.
Bill said, "Thanks for your input, Cattle Annie."
She rolled her eyes and went upstairs to give Mattlock a bath.
"Well, Lamar and Bo, I guess you're in luck. I've known Cattle Annie a long time and I take her recommendations very seriously when it comes to ranching. You're hired."
They both took turns vigorously shaking Bill's hand.
"Thank you, Mr. Houston," Bo said.
"Yes, thank you very much, sir," Lamar reiterated.
"First thing you're going to start doing is calling me Bill," he said.
"Yes sir," Bo replied.
"And you can stop the 'sirs.' I'm not that much older than either of you," Bill said.
"When can we start?" Lamar asked.
"When will you be ready to start?" Bill asked.
"We can start tomorrah," Bo said enthusiastically.
"Great. Come tomorrow morning and I'll set you up with my other hands and they can fill you in on the operations around here," Bill said.
"Thank you, oh, thank you," Bo said, and shook his hand vigorously again.
"You're welcome. I'll see you both tomorrow," Bill said.
"See ya then," Bo said, grabbing Lamar by the arm and walked him out the front door.
Cattle Annie had put Mattlock in the bath water that quickly turned a light brown. She started put soap in his hair and twirled it into a single horn on the top of his head.
"Boy, you're lookin' like a wild child. I gotta tell your father to get you a haircut," she said, beginning to lather his body with soap. At the same time, Bill had come up the stairs and was listening from outside the bathroom door that was ajar.
"Cattle Annie, how was I born?" Mattlock asked.
"Well, honey, you've seen the calves born here on your ranch. It was like that," she said.
"Oh," he said with a disappointed tone in his voice that she could not ignore.
"Well, listen, honey, I'll tell you the story," she said.
Bill craned his neck to hear better and wore a worried look on his face.
"Ya see, Mattlock…I've known your parents for quite a while now. When your mother was eight months pregnant with you, she crashed her car out in the middle of the boondocks and luckily for her, I happened to be traveling that way that day."
Mattlock listened intently with a worried look on his face but with his hair still twirled to a point on the top of his head. "What happened next, Cattle Annie?"
"When I got to the car, I pulled her out and she was in labor…"
"What's labor?" he asked.
"It's complicated, but you were about to be born and there wasn't a doctor in sight," she replied. She continued, "So, I got your momma comfortable as I could, and soon as she was ready, I helped deliver you right on the spot," she said.
"Is that true, Cattle Annie?" he asked.
She crossed herself with her fingers. "Why, cross my heart and hope to die," she said.
"Wow," Mattlock said with a look of wonder on his face.
"But here's the deal, now. This will have to be our little secret," she said.
"Why?" he asked.
"You can't tell anyone because I don't want people knowin' that Cattle Annie has a heart. They'll take advantage of me, ya understand?" she said.
He nodded yes with a look on his face that revealed that he thought he was privy to some very special information.
"So, it's just our secret, then?" she reconfirmed.
"Yes, Cattle Annie. I promise," he said.
She then began rinsing him off and then stood him up out of the tub for towel drying. Finally, she combed his hair and put him in the new clothes that she had previously laid out for him in the bathroom.
Bill heard them finishing up and snuck back downstairs and sat down on the couch. Minutes later, Cattle Annie walked down with Mattlock, hand in hand.
"It's like a new boy, I tell ya," Cattle Annie said.
"Looks great," Bill said. "Why don't you go back outside and play for a while, son," Bill said.
"Okay Daddy," Mattlock replied.
"Don't get all dirty again, Mattlock," Cattle Annie admonished.
"I won't!" he yelled as he ran out the front door.
"So, did you hire those boys?" Annie asked.
"Yes. I did on your recommendation," he replied, seeming a little peeved.
"Good. We need some more poker players around here," she said.
"They start tomorrow morning," Bill said.
"Great," she said.
"Cattle Annie, I heard what you told Mattlock in the bathroom."
She looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Oh, you did, huh?"
"Yes," he said coolly. "Why did you tell him that lie?"
"It's just a little white lie, Bill," she said.
"Seemed like a big black lie to me," he replied. "What if he grows up and starts looking a story like that up in the papers or something?"
"He's four years old, Bill. I doubt he'll even remember it in few years," she said.
"Still, what does he gain by believing such a story? It seems like you told it for your sake and not his. Makes you sound pretty good. I think it was pretty selfish," he said.
"Think what you want. He asked me a question and I wasn't going to say, well, Mattlock, your mother died giving birth to you and your daddy now isn't your real daddy," she said defensively.
Bill looked hurt when she said that.
She tried to take it back. "I'm sorry, Bill. I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't know what to tell him so I made up a story. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Sorta did it on the fly," she said.
"Well, what's done is done," Bill said. "You can't unring a bell."
"I told him to keep it between he and I, if that's any comfort," she said.
"I just hope he forgets it. Please don't tell him again," Bill said.
"He probably will," she said, though she didn't make any promises one way or another about telling him the story again.
"You could have come up with something less dramatic," Bill said.
She sighed. "I can see we're going to keep going over this again and again."
"Why not something like, 'your mother went into labor after a loud thunderstorm?'" he asked.
"I don't know. I guess you're right. Part of me wanted to put me smack dab in the middle of the story. I was selfish, I guess. But not entirely," she said.
"What do you mean?" Bill asked.
"Don't you remember being a child and being so enthralled by those adventure stories. I was a tomboy and I can tell you, I was. Every one of those hero types had an exciting birth story. Made all our birth stories boring by comparison and we wished ours were better," she said.
"I think I see what you mean," Bill said.
"It's like this, Bill. Every boy and girl needs something legendary to believe about themselves at some point to move them ahead and to help them face challenges," she said.
"When did you become an armchair psychologist?" Bill asked.
"What do you mean? I've been one all along," she said.