Serial Western Romance Novel – Page 8

Go West~Chapter 25

Go West

Chapter Twenty five

Ellie

After a morning of shopping, Ellie, Lia and Enrico followed a haughty waiter to a table in the hotel dining room. They ordered chicken cordon bleu, which was delivered to their table accompanied by fresh, tender green beans and scalloped potatoes. After a baked Alaska for dessert, Lia persuaded Ellie to go with her to a shoe store she’d seen on the way there. They left Enrico with enough money to pay the bill and arranged to meet him later at the hotel.

Lia wanted to look at every shoe in the downtown area. Although they found the perfect footwear to match their ensembles, Ellie wanted nothing more than to go back to the hotel. If she had wanted to spend her time in stores, she might as well have stayed in Chicago.

When Ellie eventually got back to her room, she lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. An hour later, something awakened her, and she jumped up to look out the window. There she saw the top of a long, black automobile at the curb. Aldon got out and stood looking up. He must have come earlier to find out where their rooms were located. She waved and he motioned for her to come down. Although her granddad had taught her to wait for a gentleman to knock on the door, she shelved the rule, threw on her new, green, tea-dress, grabbed her light, cream jacket with the embroidery on it, and ran down the stairs.

In the lobby, she looked around for Aldon and saw him though one of the glass panes in the revolving door. There was a woman in one of the other enclosures. He let her get out, then maneuvered his glass box so Ellie could get into it with him. They had to stand close and synchronize the movement of their feet, but before Ellie had time to get in step Aldon had somehow wafted her out onto the sidewalk. He took her hand and they ran for the car.

As they pulled away, Ellie realized she hadn’t told Lia where she was going. She knew her employer would pout, but she’d like some time free from Lia’s possessiveness. She looked straight ahead as the car slid around a corner leaving the hotel and its guests behind.

Ellie had noticed that once the sun went down, the heat of the day passed quickly. She rolled up the windows on her side, and Aldon rolled his up too.

“Cold? Come sit close to me. My brothers always said I give off as much heat as a pot-bellied stove.

As she moved closer, she recalled how standoffish she had felt when they first met. He laid his hand open in the seat between them and she put hers into it. He was warm, indeed. He actually radiated love and comfort.

“Let the lower lights be burning,” Aldon began a chorus in his light tenor, and the joy in Ellie’s heart reached a new level. “Send a gleam across the wave.” They had sung that one in church several times now, and she loved it. “Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.”

They were on the open road approaching the foothills of the Rocky Mountains when the stars came out and began to twinkle as the sun receded behind the mountains. She knew she should feel guilty for running away from Lia and Enrico, but it was tiresome trying to please someone else all the time. Now, it pleased her to be with Aldon instead of just thinking about him all the time.

As the road began to rise, he let go of her hand to maneuver the curves. On their left, Ellie saw a rustic roadhouse. They parked and when they got out of the car, the air was sharp and fragrant with the aroma of hickory smoke coming from a brick chimney.

“Here’s the Oklahoma Inn. It’s run by one of my war buddies. I think you’ll like him. It’s the only commercial place where you can get real barbecue and it’s so good I’d eat it every day if I could.”

The door opened to a blast of noise and heat. A cowboy band played, “California Here I Come.” The room felt cozy with the odor of bathed bodies, Evening in Paris perfume, and hair pomade. Underneath, she smelled the pine that had been carpentered into walls and booths. Her mouth watered when she smelled the meat grilling under a vent. A tall man in a sauce-stained apron set down a pair of tongs and came to wait on them. Aldon jumped up to shake his hand, then the two men slapped each other on the back, a semi-violent rite that seemed strange to Ellie. She saw, though, that the two of them were simply hiding their liking for each other under a manly presence.

“This here’s my buddy, “Oklahoma,” Aldon said.

“How do you do?” Ellie stuck out her hand to shake the huge paw shoved toward her.

“How-do, ma’am. Welcome to, “Oklahoma Inn. I’m Oklahoma.”

“Oklahoma is his nickname, it was because that’s where he’s from. He was a code-talker during the war.” Aldon told Ellie. The big man grinned when he saw the puzzled look in Ellie’s eyes.

“I’m half Choctaw, half white. I lived with the Indians then with my white folks off and on. I learned both languages. When my Choctaw brother went to war, I went too. All we did was tell secrets in our own language. The Huns were flummoxed. My buddy here,” he slapped Aldon on the back, recommended I come to Denver for a job and I got on here. Eventually saved up enough to buy the place. He motioned for Ellie to sit down and then sat next to her squashing her up against the wall.

Ellie had believed that Indians were stoical and close-mouthed, but Oklahoma nodded and smiled and went on talking at Aldon. “That Aldon, he’s a fine man. We weren’t in the same division, but when we found out how much we both liked horses we got to be real good friends.”

When they finished the meal, Aldon stood and held out his arms inviting Ellie to dance. Hoping the evening would never end, she tried to concentrate as he led her in the two-step to the tune of, “Putting on the Ritz.”

DiVoran’s Promise Posters, Paintings from Go West as well as other art can be purchased as note cards and framable art

Creative Arts

Go West~Chapter 24

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Twenty Four -Shopping in Denver

Ellie

Ellie couldn’t help a sigh of relief at being surrounded by tall buildings and noisy traffic. She loved the mountains and the clear fresh air in the valley, but she supposed most people felt more at home in the kind of place where they grew up.

Denver, she had heard, was the capitol of Colorado and growing fast. She could hardly believe that when it came time to choose a capitol, one of the small towns in the Wet Mountain Valley had lost the designation by only one vote. Just think, if it had won, it would be the city, now and maybe Denver would be the almost abandoned ghost town. At the hotel, bellboys carried the luggage to the separate third-story bedrooms assigned to the three of them.

Ellie’s room had a large double bed with art-deco designs in the duvet and pillows. A window looked out over the busy Denver street. She went into the tiled bathroom and washed her face with a generously sized, pristine-white wash-cloth.

A knock came at the door, and when Ellie opened it, Lia swept into the room, walked straight to the window, and stood looking down at the traffic.

“Are you ready to go shopping, now? Enrico is waiting.” Lia had changed into a light summer dress. The skirt floated out as she turned back to Ellie. “He is excited to get his measure for the new suit. He wants a black fedora, two ties, shirts, and I believe I will buy him a set of diamond cuff-links. What do you think of that? I did not want to wear any of my old hats. They would not fit now that my hair is cut. We will select a new one first thing and they will let me wear it. We will tell them to throw the old one away. Straw, I think.

“Am I all right like this?” Ellie asked. She was wearing the same blue serge suit she’d traveled in.” Looking at Lia’s voile made her feel hot and uncomfortable by comparison.

“Oh, poof, you are, of course, fine. For it will be a new dress, perhaps of the chiffon for you. That suit will go into a box and be sent back here. You must have also a light summer jacket for evenings. We will buy dresses for Molly’s birthday party and for the Independence Day Dance. No one in the valley has ever seen any such as we will be in our finery. Come now.” She led the way to the elevator and they went down to meet Enrico in the lobby.

“Please go ahead,” Ellie said as they walked along the crowded street. “I’ll catch up with you at the store. I assume you’ll be in men’s outfitters or ladies apparel?” She nodded first at Enrico who stood in his soiled white suit with his hair falling over the collar of the jacket. “They may have a barber shop.”

“Oh yes,” said Lia. “He will have a hair-cut.”

“Yes, signora,” he bowed, then turned and stalked off. Ellie noted that Lia and her step-grandson were not getting along as well as they had at first. Enrico’s appearance was not her business, but he wasn’t as attractive now as she had at first thought. He could never approach Aldon in manliness.

Ellie went into the bank on the corner to cash the check her grandmother had sent for the wigs and postiches she had made from Lia’s hair. The hair that had grown all her life was a gold-mine for Ellie. She would thank her again for the gift of it. Grandmother was thrilled with the strength and thickness of the wigs and with Ellie’s workmanship, too. She had surprised Ellie with a large amount of money, and Ellie knew the profit for the store would be good, as well. She could well afford the two dresses, new summer coat, a Stetson, a pair of boots, a long-sleeved tailored shirt, and trousers that would stand up to riding.

After cashing the check, she waited for the light to change and crossed the street to the May Company. In the elevator, she watched the numbers climb. When it stopped with a ding the operator slid the door open and Ellie emerged into the ladies department. When she heard Lia’s voice shouting, she knew exactly which direction to go. She saw three clerks in long-sleeved black dresses rushing back and forth with piles of chiffon and taffeta over their arms before she saw Lia. One of the clerks nodded in the direction of the voice which was coming from a dressing room.

“Go to the men’s department,” Lia commanded when Ellie stuck her head through the curtains.“See to Enrico. He is such a child! The suit will have to be measured perfect because it will come in the mail barely in time for the parties and there will be no time to send it back so they can alter it.”

Ellie went downstairs where Enrico postured while a tailor attempted to wrap a measuring tape around his waist. She decided to wait a few moments before she approached the two men, each intent on a goal.

“Yes sir,” sighed the clerk, at last, bowing in mock humility.

For the rest of her time in the men’s department, Ellie nodded or shook her head over the clothes and accessories offered to Enrico. He tried on a black suit and the hat he wanted. He and Ellie then went to find Lia who, when she heard them talking, stuck her head between the curtains and commanded, “Enrico, you sit over there in the slipper chair and Ellie you come in here with me. I have selected a few things for you to try.”

When Ellie saw the pale green-gold frock with gold embroidery on the wide belt, she threw off her skirt and blouse and tried it on over her chemise. It flowed over her slender body as if cut and fashioned just for her.

“You will wear this one to Molly’s birthday,” said, Lia. “And here is mine,” she picked up a rose colored with layers of gathered silk falling to mid-ankle in tiers. Ellie admired how it balanced Lia’s small hips with her larger top.

They bought casual clothes, too and when they stepped into the lunch room each of them wore something new.

DiVoran’s Promise Posters, Paintings from Go West as well as other art can be purchased as note cards and framable art

Creative Arts

Go West~Chapter 22

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Twenty Two

Aldon

The next morning, they led the horses down from the line cabin and got home in time to do their regular chores. Kenny put his horse away and went back to town to help his folks with their many enterprises.

That night, Aldon dropped onto his cot in the loft and slept like a dog. By five a. m., he was shaved and ready to meet Ellie in the kitchen. Today would be different. They would shorten their coffee time and head for the corral where he would show her how he trained horses.

He mentally thanked Molly’s Daddo (grandfather) from County Cork who had taught the Leitzinger sons about horses. Once they’d learned all he could teach them, he called them Sullivans after a relative of his, the first known horse whisperer in Ireland long ago. Aldon wondered who had come up with the words horse whisperer. A good trainer used the technique of understanding them by watching the ways in which they responded to people and other animals. American Indians had developed similar traditions since they’d been introduced to the horse by the Spanish. Aldon shook his head thinking about the horses that had been tormented and injured over the years in the name of breaking them when the gentle truly was the best way for everyone.

Asking Ellie to wait outside the corral, Aldon went into the barn to get the horses. When he shooed them out, they trotted to the other side of the corral and stood shuffling their feet and looking at him.

He checked to see where Ellie was and was impressed with how well the golden color of the Palominos complimented Ellie’s blond beauty. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to stand and stare like a love struck youth, but he knew Ellie would rather have him get on with the job at hand. Suddenly he knew how important it was to make Ellie happy. Whatever she wants, he thought, she gets. Now and always.

Aldon took a long line from his pocket, and holding one end began tossing the end of it in the direction of the mare and foal. As it floated downward in their direction they began to canter around the inside of the corral trying to get away from it, their white manes and tails flowing in the breeze they created. Aldon knew that instinct compelled them to run before they looked back to see what was chasing them.

As he circled slowly and watched the animals, music began to play in Aldon’s head as it so often did when he was working. The song this time was, “The Emperor’s Waltz, a perfect three-quarter rhythm for the canter. He had learned it from one of the few records Nancy bought for the wind-up Victrola. No one else in his family had this strange quirk, but he enjoyed the tunes his mind served up, they always seemed appropriate somehow. It must be the sub-conscious he had learned about in college that caused it.

Never having been abused by man, the Palominos had nothing to unlearn. As he shortened his line bringing them closer to him in the center of the corral, the dam slowed down and started licking her lips and making chewing motions. She dropped her head which told him that she was looking for a friend now, someone to help her in a terrifying situation. It was time to put the line away along with his aggressive stance and became more approachable. He turned his back, let his shoulders slump slightly, and became a figure of welcome and comfort. The less attention he gave her the closer she came. He turned sideways ignoring her, but one of her ears twisted in his direction showing she was aware of his presence and valued it. The minute the mare stopped moving the colt began to nurse. She ignored him and touched Aldon’s back with her nose.

He shifted to make a slow turn to face the horse and then scratched the long bone of her nose and told her what a good girl she was. In a moment, he quietly asked Ellie to bring the rope halter to him. She nodded and came through a narrow opening between the gate and the rails to give him the halter. He slipped it over the horse’s head and handed the end of it to Ellie.

“She’s all yours, happy birthday. Walk her around,” he said. Ellie’s eyes widened and she gave him a delighted smile. He knew she couldn’t speak for fear of startling the horse, but it didn’t matter. He had a warm feeling in his chest knowing he had made her happy.

Go West~Chapter 21

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Twenty One

Ellie

Ellie and Aldon had fallen into the habit of starting their days together. The sun was not yet up, but it was time to meet in the kitchen for coffee and a chat. Aldon sometimes prayed and sometimes read a bit of the Bible to Ellie, but mostly they admired the sunrise and talked about their lives and their dreams.

“We’re going to catch Chief’s brother, this time around,” Aldon said finishing his coffee. For this particular day, June 21, Ellie’s birthday, he had invited Kenny and her to help capture some wild mustangs. “Chief was once the leader of the band. Bill and I caught him after I came back from the war.” Ellie saw Aldon’s excitement sparkling in his eyes. “Man, do I ever love chasing those beautiful animals and bringing them home to train.”

“But doesn’t it mean that you’re breaking up a family?” she asked.

“In a way it does, but after the colts grow up, they don’t seem to care whether they’re with their mothers, as long as they can be with other horses. And we’ve got to keep the herd culled so that it doesn’t over-populate the range. Any land can only support so many large animals or even small ones for that matter. For example, at one time we had too many rabbits in the valley. That caused the loss of whole species of plants, including some trees because the rabbits eat bark and root sprouts. They caused erosion because the topsoil became exposed, and blew away. The land hasn’t recovered yet. It could be even worse if we got too many wild horses, so I say let’s cull a few and give some people the pleasure of riding them. Or we can send them out to Hollywoodland. Bill says he can make them into movie stars and sell them to the studios for westerns and historical movies.”

After they’d left the kitchen as tidy as they’d found it, they went out to the barn. From there, they heard Kenny’s motorcycle roaring up the drive. They went out to meet him as he pulled up.

“Get a horse,” Aldon joked. Kenny waved happily and went on his way to saddle the horse he boarded at the ranch.

The three of them rode up past the line cabin to the first stand of aspens where Aldon expected to see the mustangs. As the trio paused in a copse of trees, the ranch horses were careful not to step on crackling sticks, or to whinny, or to make any noise at all. They had found a place where they were well-cared for, and their wild blood had been tamed. The first mustang Ellie saw was a palomino standing apart from the rest of the herd guarding her colt. Close by, with heads bent to graze, were forty or so wild mustangs in a variety of colors from sorrel to the browns, blacks, and whites of appaloosas.

“There he is, that black stallion with the main herd.” When Aldon leaned over to speak to Ellie, the leather of his saddle creaked slightly; and the horse raised his head and sniffed. As quick as the wind, he bolted followed by the herd, which made a river of horses flowing through the meadow and down the slope of the mountain. Aldon and Kenny took after them immediately while Ellie, stunned, looked on. As soon as she realized what was happening she nudged Ribbons with her boot heels and they followed not far behind the palomino and her colt who had fallen behind.

Aldon and Kenny, by driving them, guided the wild herd into a narrow box canyon at whose end the family had built a rough-hewn corral.

Before going into the corral, however, the lead stallion made a quick turn and led the herd back past their would-be captors. A wily old horse, Ribbons moved as close to the rock side of the canyon as possible in order to stay out of their way. When he palomino saw the herd coming back toward her she tried to turn too, but by that time the men had their ropes around her neck and their horses were digging in their hooves to stop her progress. Once she realized she was caught, she began to rear and twist. The colt danced to stay out of the way of his dam’s flailing hooves. They were both so beautiful as the sun bounced off their white manes and tails and highlighted the molten gold on their sides that Ellie breath caught in her chest. Back at camp the mother and colt went into a small corral, and Chief sauntered over to inspect them over the rails.

Ellie recalled everything Aldon had told her about horses. He’d said that they needed to be with other animals — almost any creatures from dogs to goats to humans would do. A human was preferable to no company at all. Ellie thought such neediness put the animals at a disadvantage, but the knowledge of it touched a deep place in her soul and she knew she was needy too. She could hardly wait to get to know the beautiful palomino better. Suddenly it became clear — it’s not just the company of a horse I need. It’s Aldon, too, and he’s my friend now. The thought gave her a fine, warm feeling.