CHUCKWAGON COOKIE - Chapter 1

 

 

A new continued Story begins today. 

It is only three chapters, but you will enjoy it.

 

Chuckwagon Cookie

On The Trail

 

Shorty or Cookie as he was called on the trail had been at it for more years than he wished to remember.

Over the years he had tried to save a little money and that was what it was, a little.

Though he never got to town but every two months it was hard not to spend his wages on having a good time. If he went to the saloon and had a drink with the boys it was over for he followed them to the house of pleasure.

Two months wages spent in a few hours whose memory faded with the crowing of the rooster.

There was a few times when he got cleaned up, had a good meal, and settled in a nice hotel room for the night. Then the next day bought some personal things he needed and again had a good meal before heading back to the ranch sober.

Unfortunately this was the exception instead of the rule. Most times the next morning he would have trouble climbing aboard the horse he left tied at the hitching rail all night and tried to stay on him till he got back at the ranch.

He always swore he wasn’t going to take that first drink but yielded to the insistence of the hands that were willing to prime the pump by buying the first one. From there on he was buying for all his friends.

This time he drove the chuck wagon into town and went straight to the general store and bought supplies for the coming roundup.

His spices were limited to salt, pepper, chili powder, and cayenne powder. He needed a barrel of flour and a lot of side meat, beans, coffee, and some oats. There were a few things more but these were the most important things.

The store keep had to put the cayenne and the chili powder into some cans for they came in bulk. He said I guess you can tell them apart by tasting them. Cookie made his mark on one of the cans and said I guess that’d do it.

The foreman told Cookie to hire a Mexican to help him on the roundup so he stopped by a house where he knew a man that had helped him before and tried to find him.

A woman named Maria said the man he was looking for had returned to Mexico but that she could do anything the man could do and more. He was in a hurry so he said for her to get her stuff and to load up.

As they started off he was beginning to regret bringing her along for cowboys can get a little rowdy at times especially after being out on the trail for a few days. He was thinking I guess I can beat them off of her with a skillet if necessary.

It was then Maria reached in her bag and pulled out a knife and scabbard. She then pulled up her dress and fastened the scabbard above her knee and put the knife in it.

At first he thought she has nice legs but seeing that knife changed his line of thinking completely to I hope she doesn’t have to use that knife on one of the trail hands.

When the foreman saw her he started in on Cookie and said you know what is going to happen when we’re out on the roundup and especially when we hit the trail.

Cookie said I don’t think there will be much trouble after the first day or so and besides she was all I could get and I had to have someone to help me.

The foreman said, “Well just remember I gonna hold you responsible for what she does and what she gets.”

Cookie said, “Fine then let me get on with getting ready.”

The woman spoke pretty good English so there wasn’t a language barrier between them. He wanted to tell her about how he wanted her to conduct herself around the ranch hands but wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it.

He knew she would need some way to have some privacy at times so he rigged up a small tent and gave her a bucket once they were on the trail.

He knew the cowboys would be trying to get a glimpse of her so he was trying to get this across to her when she said, “I know how to handle these kinds of problems.”

He said, “Okay I’ll leave it up to you to do what’s best but no messing around for it will only lead to fighting among the men.”

She just rolled her eyes and shook her head for she had dealt with men who were rowdy before and was ready for what may come.

As it turned out the man Cookie had wanted to hire - had tried to take her by force and he got cut up in the process. That was the reason he went to Mexico for he was afraid of her.

Cookie told her that they were ready for tomorrow, so get some sleep for they would be leaving long before daylight.

To be Continued