A Man called Cooper (Part 2) (Saturnalia fic for __hibiscus)
Title: A Man called Cooper (2/2)
Author: Elffriend26
Rating/Warnings:
Word Count: 8,769
nbsp; A Man called Cooper
She watched Sheldon breathe in and out, slowly easing into his posture. She took one more breath herself and said, “Go!”
“He’s really good,” she told Phil as they drove into town the following day to get supplies. “Really, really good. You were right. He needed someone with patience who wouldn’t be on at him or responding to all his arguments and prattle all the time. And his body type is better suited for a rifle.”
“That boy’s a special one,” he agreed as they pulled up near the general store. “He’s just like most of us though. There’s a right way to handle him, and a very wrong way. Trick is how to find it.”
She stopped by Mrs. Morton’s to say hello as they were loading the cart. She had told them that she would have to give up her post to focus on looking out for her father’s farm, and Mrs. Morton had let her go with good grace. It wasn’t that busy anyway, and if Penny ever needed to come back, they would try to make room for her.
She enjoyed lemonade, while she kept an eye on the cart to see when it would be ready.
“That Dr Cooper’s mule hitched up to your uncle’s wagon Penny?” said the girl behind the bar slyly.
“Yes,” said Penny shortly. “He was kind enough to lend him to us while we gave the horses a rest.” Phil was actually a distant cousin of her father’s, but most people in the area thought he was her uncle and she and her father had been careful to encourage the assumption without actually discounting it. People out here weren’t as obsessed with reputation as they were in “civilization”, but they knew it was best if people saw her as Phil’s niece keeping house for him until her father returned. Penny couldn’t remember a time she had not known him and calling him her uncle was the most natural step considering their relationship anyway.
“I hear you and Dr. Cooper have been spending a lot of time together,” the same girl said looking sidewise at Penny with smile.
“You have something you want to say to me Amy Lou?”
“Oh no, no,” said the girl with a grin. “Just that Dr. Cooper’s kinda interesting looking. He’s not like the roughnecks around here anyway. He keeps himself tidy too, and he’s real smart.”
“Well, I don’t get a chance to see him all dressed up much,” said Penny coolly. “We’re just trading work is all.”
“Well, that’s a good thing then,” said Amy grinning. “Maybe I’ll be seeing if he wants to dance if he comes to that little harvest shindig the mayor is trying to organize.”
Penny shrugged her shoulders, took a long sip of her lemonade and said, “Yeah you do that.” The lemonade tasted extra sour in her mouth.
“Which one is she?” said Sheldon. “What is in this stuff?” he added looking across at Phil and narrowing his eyes. He was gingerly applying salve to the blisters which had erupted on his hands because of their rigorous work.
Phil gave him his widest grin. “You’re not going to be happy with what I tell you. Either you suck it up and do what you gotta do and get rid of those blisters or you find out and worry and complain about it like a dog with a bone, and keep living with the pain.”
Sheldon contemplated this for a moment then sourly continued what he was doing.
“She works at Mrs. Morton’s,” said Penny. “One of the bar maids. The short one. She’s really interested in you. She wants to dance with you?”
“With me? At Mrs. Morton’s?”
“No, at the harvest party the mayor is getting up.”
Sheldon looked at her blankly. “Penny, I have been working with you to get our fields ploughed for nearly two weeks now. My body is battered and covered with thousands of freckles. My hands are currently coated with a noxious substance which makes me shudder just thinking about its contents. At night, I only want to sleep, not spend by time strapped into my Sunday suit while some roughnecks attempt to pass their clumsy tramping off as dancing.”
“I was just saying,” said Penny grinning broadly. Sheldon made a scoffing sound and went back to his hands wincing every now and then.
The evening of the dance was windy. As usual Penny and Sheldon finished the day’s work as the sun began to set. Sheldon left almost at once, refusing supper and pleading tiredness. Phil had gone to town to check out the harvest dance though he had promised to come back early. If Sheldon were any other man, he would have offered to keep her company since she was home alone, but Sheldon definitely wasn’t like any other man Penny had ever know. She didn’t mind though. She could appreciate the opportunity to have a little alone time. She planned to enjoy it herself.
Phil had made sure he’d taken good care of her. He’d made up a plate for her supper. She peeked at it with satisfaction. A nice thick rabbit stew with parsnips, potatoes and herbs from the garden, a chunk of bread baked that morning and best of all, a piece of hard candy to melt sweetly on her tongue.
She was ravenous and felt like getting to it right away, but first she grabbed the lantern. Phil usually took a look around the little homestead before settling down for the night. She was determined to do her duty, but her mind was on the piece of hard candy as she walked.
The windows were shut. The few chickens were already roosting. Napoleon was in his stall, restless for some reason despite his busy day. Penny ran her hand over his soft nose, whispering soothingly to him, but he only tossed his head and looked away from her. She checked his feed and his water bucket, then let herself out of the barn, shutting the door firmly.
On the far side of the barn, she looked for Josephine in the paddock. She had not come trotting over to Penny as she walked up, but that probably meant she was munching on the grass under the tree the farthest away from the barn where a small stream bubbled up.
Penny stared for a moment scanning the field slowly for the massive horse. Slowly she raised the lantern, twisting it carefully as she turned her head. There was no Josephine by the tree. She wasn’t down where the paddock sloped to the west either nor could she see her in the few shrubs which grew to the north. Penny kept looking, her skin numb, her heart pounding. There was nothing to see. It wasn’t a large paddock. Josephine was gone.
“Tracker!” yelled Penny and at almost the same second, she remembered seeing the lean form of the collie mix tripping after Phil as he walked toward town.
Penny ran, her skirts and the long grass suddenly seeming to cling and drag at her legs. Her eyes scanned the horizon for the horse currently carrying the future of her home, but there was no sign of her. She thought frantically of when she had last seen her. She was sure she had been in the paddock when they brought the plough home. After that she and Sheldon had chatted for awhile in the kitchen while they washed their faces and just rested for awhile, then he had gone home. Penny had pinned up her hair after it had spent a day being tossed and whipped around her face, and then gone her rounds.
More than half an hour had passed. In the meantime, the Clydesdale could have wandered anywhere. Penny stumbled to the end of the paddock, the wind whipping her hair across her face. “Josephine!”
If the mare was close she would respond and come trotting back. She was as obedient as Napoleon, but there was nothing, not even a whinny. The lonely breeze continued to murmur mockingly past her ears.
Penny ran back toward the barn, feeling as if she was moving through molasses. Napoleon trumpeted anxiously as she entered the barn. He had realized something was wrong from early on. She had not known, but Napoleon had.
Her hands fumbled wildly with the latch and with getting Napoleon’s bridle on. No time for a saddle. No time for anything. Wild images of what could have happened to Josephine and her unborn foal flew threw Penny’s head. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes and paused for a moment. If she let fear slow her down, she would make it worse. Josephine had just wandered off. She would find her and bring her back. Everything would be fine.
She had to climb the side of the stall and manoeuvre herself onto the broad back. Trying to get up there with the lantern was even more difficult. She had blown it out not wanting to try to balance a fire as well as ride the great horse. By luck, she remembered to slip some of the matches they kept on an edge of the wall into her pocket. Napoleon trotted out of the barn eagerly the moment she let him snorting as he scented the evening air. Penny urged him on and he coaxed his heavy limbs into a canter.
As they moved past the paddock, Penny noticed an irregularity in the fencing for the first time. She paused, hesitated, then clumsily slid off the horse. She used his body to shield her and after a struggle she lit the lantern again.
She could be losing valuable time, but more time would be lost if she went in the wrong direction. Two of the four fence posts were lying on the ground. The other two remained. Low enough for Josephine to jump over, but not easily in her pregnant state. She scanned the ground with the lantern and was able to discern hoof marks in the uncertain light, but it wasn’t easy, the grass obscured most of it.
If Phil was there and Tracker it would have been easy, but Penny knew very little of the craft, and Sheldon would know less. She thought of going to him anyway, asking for help, but she couldn’t think of what he could do, and that meant losing more time. Her anxiety level rose. She blew out the lantern and clumsily climbing back onto the horse again by using the fence.
he thought the impressions led east, skirting Sheldon’s claim. Napoleon eagerly started off in that direction. For several minutes, he cantered, passing Sheldon’s house, passing the grove of trees near his claim, and they went on and on and on right into the wind, and there was no sign of her.
“Josephine!” Penny shouted. “Jo! Josie! Josephine!”
It seemed an hour, an age that she went on this way with the stallion bumping uncomfortably beneath her then she heard it, or she thought she heard it, and Napoleon’s ear swivelled. She pulled him up, and they both listened. Penny called again and now she heard it properly. Josephine was crying an answer.
Napoleon snorted excitedly. The erratic wind made it difficult for his rider to tell where the sound had come from, but it didn’t matter. The moment she gave him his head Napoleon turned north and plunged that way and ran.
Josephine called again and again, louder and closer. Why didn’t she come to them? Penny wondered urging the heavy horse faster. After another minute, the land began to gently slope downward and after several seconds, Penny saw movement then they were at a better angle, and she saw her horse plunging and snorting near the foot of the slight hill. She was struggling with a man who was gripping her bridle and peremptorily calling out commands.
The mare was clearly torn between her usual obedience to orders and her fear and distrust of the stranger. The sight of her mate and hearing Penny’s cries seemed to decide her though and she easily pulled away from the man who fell back to the ground.
“Get away from her,” shouted Penny, signalling Napoleon to stop.
The stranger got slowly to his feet. In the last light of the setting sun, Penny could not see his face perfectly, but she knew that she had never seen him before. She had heard of no newcomers. He was probably a drifter. Her mind flew to the harvest today. No doubt passing strangers would be attracted to the festivities.
“Well, well ma’am,” said the man, smiling broadly and raising his hands in a placating manner. “What’s all this fuss?”
“Where are you taking my horse?”
“Looks like she took me....nearly off my feet that is.” He kept smiling pleasantly while his eyes never seemed to be still. “Seems hard that I saw this poor mare wandering and realized she belonged to someone, and I get knocked around for my pains and yelled at by pretty young ladies.”
“Where are you from?”
“Nowhere in particular ma’am. Just passing through. Thought I’d take a look at the fun back at the town, but too many people don’t know how to be hospitable around here, so decided to head out. Did you have a posse out looking for her ma’am?”
Penny hesitated and hesitated a little too long, she realized before she said, “Yes.” And the next moment, she was staring down the barrel of an old service revolver. She couldn’t stop herself from blurting out a scream and her panic caused Napoleon to rear up and trumpet his own fear. Penny couldn’t keep a grip without the saddle and she half fell, half slid from the Clydesdale, managing to land heavily on the side away from the stranger and his gun.
“Come here!” yelled the man. “Come here now! I’m going to need you to help me get these horses out of this place.”
Napoleon pranced wildly and several feet away from them Josephine plunged and reared. Penny struggled to keep her footing and keep behind her horse. For a moment, Napoleon pulled back and she could see the stranger frantically trying to get a line on her. Then there was a sharp report. The man screamed and dropped to the ground, frantically clutching his leg. He screeched and grovelled on the ground.
Napoleon raced away from him and Penny looked wildly around the grassy area and then upward. A man was standing at the top of the slope in the last of the light. She recognized Sheldon’s height and stance a second before she could panic again.
He stood very, very still; his grip was perfect, his rifle trained on the man cursing on the ground. The wind seemed to pick back up again. The two Clydesdales trotted and snorted nearby but Penny paid no heed to them as she watched Sheldon.
“Breathe,” she whispered.
“That was a great shot in that kind of light,” the sheriff told them, a day later. “A perfect break Doctor Cooper. He won’t be walking on that leg for quite awhile.”
Sheldon, who had been an extra shade of pale all day, began to look very green instead.
“Good thing you thought to follow Penny when you saw her riding by And ou remembered to go armed.” He gave Penny a sideways look. “No knowing what you can run into out there.”
“I thought about it,” said Penny for the thousandth time. “But I thought there might not be time. I don’t think I could have balanced a rifle on Napoleon and held the lantern and kept riding in the dark, and besides I didn’t think of her being stolen. I’ll bring my revolver next time.”
She looked over at her neighbour. “Thanks Sheldon. Thanks to you and Melvin for coming when you did. That’s a fast mule.”
“He gave me some trouble,” said Sheldon distastefully, “but it helped that by chance I was rather closer to Josephine than you were when we heard her cry out.”
“You were very brave,” said Penny, catching his eye and holding it. “You’re a hero.”
Sheldon looked distracted and pleased. He raised his head and looked pointedly at her. “It’s the least I could do. My mother always taught me to repay debts. It’s a non-optional component of human interaction.”
“Not for everyone unfortunately,” said Phil while Penny was still trying to figure that last one out.
Sheldon had stood up and was heading for the door. He paused and looked across at the farm hand. “Not for the Coopers,” he said.
Sheldon paused after the final push as they finished the final part of his field two days later. Penny let out a scream which made Napoleon start then turn to look at her reproachfully. Sheldon jumped and looked at her in a way that so reminded her of the horse, Penny laughed out loud. Her muscles ached but joy eased her pain.
“We did it,” she said to Sheldon running up to him. “We did it.”
“Thank goodness,” said Sheldon. “Let’s get this horse out of here and put away this plough and never touch it again all winter.”
“That would be great. What are you going to do then?”
“Buy some supplies and bury myself in my books until winter blows over.”
“That’s all?”
He raised his eyebrows at her. “What else is there to do?”
She walked up to him, looking cautiously up at him from beneath lowered lids. “I thought you might like to go walking sometimes. Maybe you’d want to sit by the fire with friends and sing and tell stories sometimes. I thought you might like to drink some of Phil’s Christmas punch. He makes it so strong it makes your eyes water. Thought you might want to go sledding sometime. The hills here aren’t high, so it would be nice and easy. Thought you might want to help us plan out how we can do the spring planting in the most efficient way. You know. Stuff like that.”
When she glanced at him, she saw that Sheldon was giving her his thoughtful, unfathomable look, and she stopped speaking and held her breath a little.
After a long moment, Sheldon said, “I might be willing to consider some of those activities during the coming months. As to sledding in these temperatures, I--” But his comment was drowned out by a delighted squeal from Penny who darted forward and took both his hands enthusiastically and swung him off to do several dance steps while Sheldon protested breathlessly.
-END-