Maggie's Beau

“She’ll do fine,” Maggie answered, turning to the table. “I’ll feed her extra, if you don’t mind. They ought to be good pups. I think the daddy’s a big shepherd from the next farm to my pa’s.” She reached for a spoon. “You don’t have a dog, do you?”

Beau shook his head. “There was one hanging around when I bought the place, but he died.” He watched as scrambled eggs were turned out onto his plate. “Does Maisie belong to your pa?”

She frowned, spoon held midair. “What are you thinkin’? That I stole her?” She exhaled noisily, and stomped back to the stove. “My pa wouldn’t give the time of day to an animal, let alone food to fill its belly.” The skillet settled on the stove with a clatter, and Maggie went to stand before the door.

“I’m sorry,” Beau said quietly. “I just need to know where the land lays, Maggie. If someone comes to my door looking for a stolen dog, I need to be sure you don’t have anything to do with it.” She was silent, and he darted a look at her.

“Maggie, come on and eat something,” he said. “I didn’t mean to doubt your honesty, thinking you’d take a dog that wasn’t yours. I had to be sure. Though to tell the truth, the poor thing doesn’t look like she’s worth much anyway.”

Maggie spun to face him. “She’s worth a lot to me. When I leave here, she’ll be my protection.” Her eyes glittered, and Beau motioned to the chair across the table from himself.

“Sit down. We need to talk a little bit.”

She moved across the floor and slid into the chair. “Go ahead. Eat your eggs,” she said. “I’m not goin’ anywhere for a while. And that’s another thing I need to mention.”

Beau ate steadily, willing her to continue. She was a far cry from the female he’d coaxed into his house only three days past, and the difference was most gratifying. “Go ahead,” he said. “Talk away.”

“Well, I thought I’d find enough to do for you to earn my keep till Maisie gets her pups weaned. I was worried about having to keep us safe and dry in the woods till she had them. Now, with being here and all, I thought I could work for you for the next five or six weeks.” She broke off, her eyes seeking his, her hands clenched tightly against the tabletop.

Beau nodded, as if he considered her plan. She’d made it easy for him, given him six weeks to figure out some sort of future, and it was all he could do not to beam his approval. “That oughta work,” he said slowly. “I’ll need an extra hand here while a couple of my men take horses to Dodge City this month. You can…”

“You didn’t answer me before.” Her words were eager and her hands lay flat now, as she leaned forward, sitting on the edge of her chair. “Do you think I could help work with the yearlings you keep?”

“I don’t want you too far from the house, Maggie. If your pa comes hunting you down, I’d just as soon he didn’t see you.”

She nodded, considering his words. “Maybe I could work in the corral. You know I can do barn work.” Her head turned to the door as a man’s voice rising in protest caught her attention from outside.

“Damn dog!”

Beau was on his feet. “I’ll bet somebody set Maisie off. Probably got too close.”

From the porch, Pony called his name, and Beau headed for the door. “The girl’s dog won’t let Joe in the barn,” Pony said through the screen. “You better come on out, boss.”

“I’ll come,” Maggie said, pushing away from the table and hurrying past Beau. She brushed against him and retreated, her glance quick. “Sorry, didn’t mean to shove at you that way.”

She’d flinched from him, and again Beau felt a moment’s anger at the man who had instilled fear into her very being. “Run on out, Maggie,” he urged her. “I can’t take a chance on a dog bite. We’ll have to tie her, I guess. She’s not going to feel safe with those pups nursing.”

Maggie ran before him, her feet flying across the packed earth. Even with the heavy boots she wore, her gait was more graceful, the limp subsiding, and Beau followed close at her heels, his eyes intent on her. She pulled up short before Joe, keeping a distance as she spoke to him.

“She won’t hurt you none if I tell her who you are. Come on in with me,” she urged in a rush of breath. “She needs to know you.”

Joe tipped his hat back and shook his head. “I’m sorta attached to my fingers, ma’am. I’d just as soon not have her take after me.”

Maggie looked up at Beau. “Tell him. Tell him she’ll listen to me.”

Beau nodded. “I believe she will, Joe. Let’s take a look.” He led the way, opening the doors fully and walking toward the back of the barn, the rest trailing behind him. Maggie hurried past and spoke to the new mother in soft tones, then stood as the men approached.

“Just squat down here by me, all of you,” she said firmly. Then, turning to the dog, she spoke the names of the men who watched, reaching with one hand to touch each of them in order, her fingers barely grazing the backs of their hands. Her other hand curled atop Maisie’s head, and her monologue was continuous as she introduced each of them to the watching dog. Only as the velvet nose sniffed at the back of Joe’s hand did Maisie hesitate, her low growl signifying doubt.

“I want you to be a good girl,” she said finally, and then bent low to whisper soft phrases in the animal’s ear. Maisie whined and tilted her head, then barked and stood, wagging her tail.

“I’d give a passel to know what she’s sayin’ to that critter,” Pony muttered beneath his breath.

The same thought had just crossed Beau’s mind, and he nodded. “Whatever it is, I think…”

“She won’t bother you none,” Maggie said, cutting off his train of thought. “Just leave her be, and she’ll be fine.”

Joe sent her a doubtful look. “You’re sure?”

Maggie stood before the five men, dwarfed by their size. And yet, Beau thought she was, on some level, an equal. And the men seemed to consider her a bit differently than they had that first day.

“I’m more than sure. I’m dead certain,” Maggie told them, looking from one to another. “If you leave her a bite of your leftovers once in a while, she’ll warm up. Just don’t reach for her pups.”

She looked across the aisle to an empty stall and her eyes lit up. “There you are, Cat. I wondered where you’d got to.” From the darkened area, the lean three-legged feline hobbled toward the group, and Maggie bent to pick up her pet.

“I fed her this morning, over by the bunkhouse,” Joe admitted shyly. “I figured she couldn’t do much hunting on her own, what with…” He shrugged, as if unwilling to speak aloud the cat’s infirmity.

“Thank you kindly.” Maggie nodded at him solemnly. “I surely appreciate it.”

Beau cleared his throat. “I think we’ve been lollygaggin’ around long enough this morning. There’s work to do.” The men broke ranks, two of them heading for the back door and the corral, the others picking up pitchforks. “How about taking a look at the cow while we’re here, Maggie?” he asked.

She was already heading in that direction and he followed. “She all right?”

Maggie squatted by the spotted Guernsey and ran her hands over the udder. She looked up at Beau and grinned. “She’s not hot anymore. I wouldn’t drink the milk yet, and I’d better put some more oil on her today, but she’ll be fine, I think. I’ll just milk her first.”

He’d thought to do that chore himself, but there was no sense in arguing with success, he decided, and right now it looked like Maggie was on a roll. “I’ll get the oil.” He’d play nursemaid this time around, gladly, if it meant his cow was on the mend.

Supper in his kitchen was late again; the men in the bunkhouse were already doing the evening chores by the time Beau sat down at his table. The potatoes were underdone, but the steak was rare. He’d convinced Maggie to throw it in the pan and let it sear for only a minute or so before she turned it over. She’d cringed, shivering as he cut into the tenderloin, watching as the juices ran bright red on his plate.

“How can you eat that?” she asked, her nose wrinkling in disgust. “It’s a wonder it’s not still moving.”

Beau chewed the tender morsel and swallowed. “You can fry yours to a frazzle if you like, but I want mine fit to eat.”

Maggie turned back to the stove. “I want it good and dead when it goes in my stomach,” she told him. The pan sizzled as she turned the piece of meat again, and finally after a few minutes, she speared it, transferring it to her plate. “That’s more like it.”

She helped herself to green beans, leaving Beau a second helping in the dish. “I churned butter today, and finished up with diggin’ the potatoes,” she said after a few minutes. “They’re all in the root cellar.”

“Did anyone help you?” He’d told Shay to keep an eye out for her this afternoon.

Maggie shook her head. “No. Shay offered, but I told him I could do it. He watched me from out by the barn while he was shoein’ a horse.” She took a bite and chewed slowly, then pushed her potatoes around on the plate. “I helped him a little bit. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not if he doesn’t,” Beau said. “Shay’s not much for small talk. Don’t have your feelings hurt if he doesn’t say much.”

“He didn’t say anything, only nodded his head when I took hold of the mare’s halter and held her steady.”

“It was her first set of shoes,” Beau explained. “She was probably a little spooked.”

“I know. I felt like she needed someone to talk to her,” Maggie explained. “So I did. But I got the potatoes done anyway.”