Sometimes Things Are Different
Chapter 1
"Do you think that's a wise thing ta do, Slim?" Jonesy looked intently at the tall rancher.
"I don't know, Jonesy, but what else can I do?" Slim ran his hand through his blond hair as he took the last swallow of his coffee. "Ya know I hav' ta be in Cheyenne on Friday for the meeting with the stage officers. We've got ta keep this franchise so I hav' ta be there."
"You could send me ta the Millers' house instead ya know," Jonesy stated matter-of-factly as he cleared the cups off of the table and took them to the kitchen.
"With your bad back? Ya know ya can't ride that far that fast. And we don't have time to let ya take the stage."
"But he's only been here a few months. Can ya trust him with that much money?" Jonesy looked out the kitchen door to make sure that Jess and Andy were not already on their way back from town with supplies, "That money is just what we need to pay the bank on time, and ya can't afford to pay late again."
"Yeah, I know that. But Jess has never even come up a penny short when he's gone for supplies." Slim had followed Jonesy into the kitchen and was also looking out the window in the door.
"Maybe that's because Andy usually tags along with 'im. Ya know Jess enjoys the way that Andy looks up ta 'im. Don't think he'd want to lose the way Andy makes 'im feel." Jonesy turned from the window to look straight at Slim. "But $700 is a whole heap of temptation, and Andy won't be with 'im. What would keep 'im from just ridin' off with that much money and never lookin' back? He'd never see Andy's face shaming 'im."
Slim shook his head in frustration and indecision and walked back through the living room, "I've got ta go finish that fence repair today. There's just a little more ta do, and we need ta move the cattle down ta that pasture as soon as I git back from Cheyenne. If I do send Jess ta git the money while I'm gone, we hav' ta finish the fence today. Tell Jess ta meet me out there as soon as they unload the supplies."
"Will do, but ya know he'll want coffee fore he joins ya." Jonesy shook his head as he followed Slim to the front door, "That boy can put away more coffee than anyone I know."
Slim walked over to the desk and picked up the letter from Ellen Miller, but then he turned back grinning, "Guess I can't say anything after I just drained the pot."
"Yeah, but ya don't do it three times a day. And you better think about what I said, Slim. I'd hate for your Pa's money to be gone before ya ever git it ta the bank. Do you remember when your Pa loaned Frank Miller that money?"
"I had forgotten it until I got Ellen's telegram. But when I read it, I did remember. And then Ellen explained so much more in this letter. I also remember what Pa told Ma when he loaned it to them."
"Yep." Jonesy smiled remembering his long friendship with the elder Shermans. "That was the one time that your parents had extra money. Things had gone really well that season, and then poor Frank and Ellen had lost everything that year. All they could do was try to move on with that mining company. But they didn't even have the money ta git there. I will never forget the conversation in this very room that night. You and their son were supposed to be playing in there," Jonesy pointed to the bedroom. "But I saw you both standing in the doorway and hearing part of that conversation."
"Yeah, I remember Frank Miller promising to pay Pa back every cent with interest. And I remember Ellen crying into her handkerchief."
"Your Pa wouldn't have ever loaned 'em the money to leave town if Ellen and yer Ma hadn't been cousins. But they promised that he and Mary could trust them."
"And Pa told Ma that he'd work twice as hard to make up for losing the money if they never saw it again."
"And then your Ma told him that she would have been disappointed in him if he hadn't loaned 'em the $600 dollars." Jonesy put his hands on his hips. "That shore was a heap of money. And yet I never heard 'em mention it again."
"Guess they thought it was gone for good. Who would've thought that they would git it back after all this time, and with $100 more in interest."
"A lot has happened since that year. You and Tommy Miller grew up, and then the war. And now Ellen is a widow who's selling their house and moving to be with Tommy in California. Guess that's how she's finally come up with the money to pay it back."
"According to this letter, paying it back weighted heavily on both of 'em, especially since they couldn't do it while Ma and Pa were still alive." Slim grabbed his hat off the rack by the door, "And it couldn't have happened at a better time. Don't know how we'd pay the bank this time without it." With that he headed out the door, "Tell Jess I need him as soon as he can git ta that fence."