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Bitter is the Dust
Chapter Eight/Moving On
Scott A. Gese
Chapter 8
Moving On
As Mac and Jason rode back, they had a chance to talk some. "This isn't the way I wanted you to know me, Jason. What I did was wrong, but it was either that or lose my ranch. I figure sometimes a desperate man has got to do desperate things to hold onto what he has, and I was desperate. I almost got caught this time, so I'm making it my last."
"This time? You've done this before?"
"A time or two," Mac admitted, laughing.
"You don't seem like the type of person that would do something like this."
"I didn't think so either, Jason, but one thing led to another and before I knew it, I was caught up in it and making some really stupid decisions, and well, here I am."
"You know, Mac, aside from everything else that's happened tonight, what I really want to know is how did you manage to get a train?"
"The engineer and I know each other. He owed me a favor, plus, he made some good money tonight. Look, Jason, I know what I've done is wrong, and I don't know what you think of me right now. You and Miles both have every right to be mad at me, but like I said, I was desperate. I didn't know how else to get the money I needed to keep my place.
"This may not be the way you wanted me to know you, Mac, but it's too late for that. This is how I know you. I won't hold it against you, but just don't expect me to be any better and we'll get along just fine."
"I'd like you to be a better man than me. But I won't expect it if you would rather I didn't. Listen, Jason, I don't know what your plan is right now, but why don't you think about hanging around here for the winter? I've got plenty to keep you busy."
"I just might take you up on that. It's getting too cold around here to stay out at night."
Once back at the ranch, they took care of the horses and headed up to the house. "Remember what I told you," Mac reminded Jason as they walked in through the door. Jason barely made it over the threshold before Sarah got hold of him. She pestered him with a million questions most of the night until he couldn't take it any longer. As soon as he had the opportunity to excused himself, he took it and went to bed.
After Jason had left the room, Sarah talked with Mac. "I don't know what the truth is, Mac. I don't believe a word about Jason being held for ransom, but I don't think I want to know the truth either. I'm just glad he's back home safe."
Jason and Mac both laid low for most of the winter, busying themselves around the ranch. Ben had been out a few times to visit with Sarah, and she insisted on traveling into town to work. During the worst part of the winter she stayed at the boarding house in town. Mac didn't get the bull he wanted from Miles, but the two he had, kept themselves busy and when spring calving came around they added a healthy number to the herd.
It was late spring on a Friday afternoon. Jason was getting restless and needed to get away from the ranch. He decided to head into town for the weekend. A card game was on his mind as well as a drink or two.
When he arrived, he stopped in at Ben's office to see Sarah before heading over to the Hoof and Horn. As he entered, Sarah was busy at her desk. She was surprised and delighted to see him.
"You sure seem to be in a good mood today," commented Jason.
"I have good news."
"Really? What is it?"
"Ben proposed to me. We're getting married."
"Wow! That is good news. Does Mac know?"
"No, not yet, and don't you tell him. I want to surprise him."
"So when?"
"Later in the summer, when Ben's house is finished."
"He's building a house?" He picked up a paperweight from her desk and played with it; tossing it back and forth before setting it back down in the exact same place it had been before.
"Yes, not far from here. It's very nice. Maybe he can show it to you when he gets a chance."
"Well I'm happy for you, Sarah. I really am. I'm on my way to the Hoof and Horn. I thought I might play some cards. I'm glad I stopped by."
"I'm glad you did too, Jason. Good luck with your card game."
As Jason walked his horse over to the Hoof and Horn, he thought about Mac, and how he seemed to have turned the corner on his place. It looked like he was going to make a go of it raising cattle. He thought about how Sarah was starting over with a new husband and a new house. He was happy for both of them, but somehow, it made him feel out of place.
After tying his horse, he walked into the Hoof and Horn, Ike noticed him right off. "Well I'll be damned. If it isn't the son of Satan himself." Ira lifted his hands up, palms out. "Only joking. How the hell are you, Jason? Come on up here and let me buy you a drink. Now let me see, the last time you were in my saloon you were holding the barrel of a gun up under somebody's chin." Ira glanced over to his left.
The man standing at the bar turned his head toward the two men. "That would be me," replied Wiley, raising his glass. "And I'll be keeping my mouth shut this time around."
Jason smugly smiled in Wiley's direction as Ira poured him a drink. "Here you go, son."
Picking up the glass, he toasted it toward Ira. "Thanks, you're a good man." He gulped it down. "I see the XO boys are here," he commented as he looked at the corner table where a game of poker was being played. "I don't see Wes."
"Oh yeah, Wes. That's a whole other story. The way I hear it, seems not too long after you left town, ol' Wes decided he'd had about enough of the XO and decided to head out. He packed his bags, collected what pay was owed him and headed west, or maybe it was south. I don't rightly remember. At any rate, he rode out. Said he was tired of seeing a lot of nothin' around here and wanted to see where all those longhorns were coming from, and what a real mountain looked like. I miss ol' Wes, and I missed you too come to think of it. But now you're back. So, what are your plans?"
"My plans? Well, I'm not rightly sure Ira. I think I want to head west, or maybe south. I want to see where all those longhorns are coming from, and I want to see what a real mountain looks like." He laughed; he always did like Wes, and now he knew why. "Thanks for the drink." Jason turned around and slowly walked back out the door.
"Well, if that don't beat all," Ira murmured under his breath.
Jason rode back out to Mac's place and packed his bags. As he was walking out the door he met Mac on the front porch. "Mac, I'm leaving. I'm not going to try and explain it. I just feel the need to move on." He reached out his hand and Mac accepted it. "It was good to get to know you, Mac."
"Jason, are you sure you won't change your mind?"
"Nope, tell Sarah not to worry, I'll write."
He mounted up and rode on past the corrals, now full of cows.
He headed west.
-The End-
Continue Reading
Chapter Three / On the Trail to Fort Scott
Chapter Five / Good News, Bad News
Chapter Six / Trailing the Dog
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A full length novel by Scott A. Gese
The day Sarah McKinney finally escaped the clutches of her abusive husband, she and her adopted son, Jason, began a perilous journey and a new life on the run. The future hangs in the balance as their unhappy past and the man they left behind threatens to catch up with them.
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