When Hank leaves South Dakota for Montana, he carries a heavy heart and some dark secrets; all of his belongings fill just one small suitcase. A country boy who doesn't speak the King's English, he's willing to work hard and keep his head down. He finds that opportunity as a flatland ranch hand helping Russell and Lora with the chores and their cattle in the Missouri Breaks in eastern Montana. The family provides him with work, renewed faith, and a respite from his troubled past. They introduce him to Eileen, a beautiful, confident red-head. Their courtship revolves around working the land and the ranch, as well as truly learning what it means to be a family under the grace of God. MONTANA STORIES tells a fictional story of the joys and sorrows of the seasons of ranching, cattle drives, hard work, a clean life, and good morals.
Montana Stories
By Tim DaileyiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Tim Dailey
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4620-6025-2Contents
The Montana Man................................1Out to Pasture.................................11Old Buck.......................................15The Yellow Horse...............................24The Drive......................................31Gisselbeck.....................................36The Kisses.....................................39Grandpa's Homestead............................42Spring Planting................................46Oat Hay........................................51The Race.......................................58Fall Roundup...................................67Hancock and the Broken Leg.....................75The Reunion....................................83April Showers..................................90A Little Fight.................................95Hank's Scare...................................100Gathering the Bulls............................109The New Straw Hat..............................117Danged ole' Truck..............................122Thanksgiving...................................130Christmas......................................145The Blue Dress.................................155Happiness Died.................................162The Sad Days...................................167
Chapter One
The Montana Man
The far off sun was bright and the northwest wind was starting to blow as the first snowstorm of winter was blowing itself out. Hank could see his breath in the frosty morning air as he gazed across the windswept prairie. He put his suitcase into the bed of his friend's pickup. I'm 26 years old and about all I own is in this suitcase ... and in my old pickup, he thought; it's time to move on.
He was going across North Dakota with his friend, Frank. Frank was going to call two square dances: one in Minot and the other in Williston. Then they'd go on to Plentywood, Montana for a horse sale. Frank farmed and ranched and was looking to buy more brood mares.
There was a light skiff of snow blowing across the road and the farther north they went the more slippery the snow packed roads became.
After calling the first dance, they headed for Williston; there was less than an hour before the dance was scheduled to start there. The hall was filling up as they moved the sound equipment into the dance hall. Some of the dancers came over and asked if they could help with the setup. One of them asked about the condition of the roads?
"It was like ice skating in a pickup," Frank replied.
The following morning they started for Plentywood. The sky cleared and after a few miles the ice and snow started to melt. Antelope herds and a few white tailed deer were grazing on the winter wheat fields along the roads. They arrived after several hours, just a few minutes before the sale started. They had only a few moments to look over the horses.
Hank went and sat in the bleachers once the sale started. He introduced himself to the rancher next to him named Russell. Russell was a thin willowy man who stood five feet, eight inches tall and weighed about one hundred and fifty pounds. His wrinkled face showed his more than fifty years in the saddle on the Missouri Breaks. They talked for a few minutes and he turned and introduced Frank to Russell.
"I have brood mares for sale and it really isn't far out of your way. Why don't you stop at my ranch on your way home?"
They agreed and after the auction, stopped at several other ranches on the way to Russell's place. They looked but didn't buy any horses.
Before arriving at Russell's, they stopped and had supper, then went to the motel to get a room. After checking in, Frank asked if he could use the phone to let Russell know that he and Hank were on their way.
"Don't rent that cabin. Save that money for whiskey. I have plenty of rooms out here," Russell said.
"I have already paid the man for the rooms," Frank replied.
"Hand the phone to the manager."
The manager said into the receiver, "I will be happy to." He hung up the phone and handed the money back to Frank.
"What kind of whiskey does Russell like?" Frank asked the manager.
They left and stopped at the liquor store and brought a bottle of Ten High and drove to the ranch. Hank soon learned that here in Big Sky country, Russell's "not far out of your way," meant less than two hundred miles.
The next morning they looked at some of Russell's mares and Frank agreed to buy several of them.
"I got more mares near Circle, Montana," Russell said.
"Sorry," Hank said, "I've got be getting' back." He was too embarrassed to tell Russell had to be back in town for a court hearing.
"We'll look at the other mares next week," Frank assured Russell.
The following week he and four others started back to Montana with two pickups and horse trailers. They hit a snow storm in western North Dakota and the roads got very bad, there were times they couldn't see fifty feet in front of them because of the white outs.
"It's like driving in a cloud," Frank said, "all you see an in any direction is white."
The forty miles per hour headwind made it difficult to move forward and from time-to-time they found themselves driving on black.
Frank thought it was best to pull over at the next fuel stop. When he got out he saw a black and white angora cat huddling next to one of the fuel pumps.
"Nice cat you to there," Frank said as the paid the manager for filling up both pickup trucks.
The manager said, "If you like the cat, take him."
He thanked the manger, telling him he would give the cat to his children.
He climbed into the pickup with cat. His ranch hand Steve was in the passenger's seat. When they pulled back onto the road Steve said, "Do we have to have the cat in the cab with us? I'm allergic to cats."
Frank pulled off the road. Hank, who was driving the second pickup, pulled over behind Frank not knowing what caused him to stop so soon after leaving the gas station. He watched Frank put the cat into the tack box on the trailer.
The trip was very slow and it was late when they arrived at Russell's. The next morning Hank got out of bed and went downstairs to the smell of coffee. He stepped out to check on the cat, but it wasn't in the trailer. He saw Russell over in the corral and went over to give him a hand with the horses. He asked Russell about the cat.
Russell said, "Frank let the cat out and it went into the barn," Russell replied. But when they were ready to leave Montana, the cat was nowhere to be found.
The blizzard they have arrived with continued in the Missouri Breaks and they didn't leave Russell's home the rest of the day.
After breakfast the following day Russell took them to a friend's ranch to look at horses. On day three they met Harold, an old friend of Russell's, then went to Russell's other pastures near Circle, Montana.
After driving for over an, hour Russell pulled over to the shoulder. He got out, pulled a pouch from his pocked and rolled a cigarette from the can of Price Albert tobacco.
Hank walked up to his pickup and asked, "How much further is it to the mares?"
Russell replied, "Just over there and he pointed off to the southwest."
He asked again, "How many miles from here to the mares?"
Russell put his hand on his chin and said, "I would say close to thirty miles from here."
When they arrived Harold unloaded his horse...
