Chapter Selection: 1 2 3

2.

As he rode aimlessly, he heard a wolf howl at an unseen moon and then, out the corner of his wind-teased eye, he thought he saw a light.Turning quickly, the light came into full focus and he could now see that it was an oil lamp twinkling in the night.Heartened by the sight, he turned his mount and headed toward the welcoming vision.He began to feel better at just the thought of a warm shack or cabin with a big, cosy fire and a hot mug of coffee…the owner of the lamp might even have some tobacco if he was really lucky.

Dusty made it to the log cabin in next to no time.Climbing down from his horse, he loosely tied it to the hitch rail out front then stepped boldly on to the wooden porch and knocked confidently on the door. "Who it be?" asked a strong sounding voice from within. "Excuse me, sir," began Dusty politely as he stepped back from the door as though he was studying it for flaws. He continued with, "I been out here in all this damned cold and such fer far too long an' I was just a-wonderin' if' I might just come on in and have me a hot drink? A coffee would do dandy, pardon the inconvenience, sir."

There was the grating sound of bolt being shot and the door was opened just a crack. A shaft of bright light sliced through the crack and lit up one half of Dusty's bearded face. His eyes hurt and he could not see the man on the other side but he could hear him all right. "Ye must be some kinda damned blasted idiot ta be a-ridin' out in this weather!" began the man as he opened the door a little more so as to gain a better look at his caller. He went on, "Only damned fools and hardy bears be wanderin' 'bout in snow like this. Ye better come on in. Afore ye do though, take yer horse round back an' stable it with mine. Make shure ye rub the animal down well and ye'll find feed in the lean-to on back. Dusty started to thank the man but he merely shut the door in his face and reshot the bolts.

The small cabin was everything that Dusty had hoped it would be and his host was short tempered but kindly. In no time, Dusty had his feet up by a blazing log fire and was sipping whiskey and smoking a cigarette whilst the older owner of the place was creating a heap of grub for the hungry cowboy. The rapidly defrosting cowpoke could hardly believe his own good fortune. Only an hour before he had been at deaths door and now here he was in the arms of good fortune and hot food. The older man had long white hair and a big beard to match. His clothes had once been expensive but they were now threadbare with age and patched with cotton. As he placed a large bowl of steaming hot stew at the table, he called to Dusty to come on over and commence to eating. Dusty Willis didn't need telling twice. As he ate hungrily, the old man talked. "Where ye from, stranger?" he asked of his guest. Between large mouthfuls of meat and potato's, Dusty replied, "Originally er about more recent times?"

"Make no difference," answered the older man. Then, "Just askin' is all." Dusty washed down the last of the stew with a mouthful of tepid coffee. Placing the mug back down he replied, "I be from Iowa originally but I spent most o' my time cowboyin' down Arkansas way." That yer trade, cowpoke?" asked the old man as he refilled Dusty's coffee mug without being asked. The cowboy thanked him kindly then said, "All my grown days, sir. I been a cowboy. Don't know no better an' don't really wanna!" The old man smiled kindly as he walked over to his big, bold set of bookshelves and produced more whiskey."Come on an' sit by the fire and take a shot er two with me, mister," he said. "Ye can tell me all about yer self while we drink. Truth be told, I be glad o' some company. Gets mighty lonesome out here on the plains on yer own."

And so the two men talked and talked all through the winter's night. Or rather, Dusty talked as the old man listened about the younger fellows entire life up until that point.
Dusty told him about how he had left home to escape his bullying father at the age of fourteen and he told him about how he had got a job as a cook's assistant for one of the bigger spreads in Missouri. The old man learned all about how Dusty had become one of the best wranglers in the business and how he had learned to run the cattle and shoot the breeze. As the drink flowed seemingly endlessly, Dusty talked and the old man just nodded his head at the appropriate point and occasionally added an "Aha" every now and then.

The cowboy told the old man all about the nameless saloon and the lewd Miss Ellie and the rough and ignorant Harry.