Randle Chimes chapter 10 - Choosing a Ranch Forman

Pecos Was my First Choice

Chapter ten

I hadn’t really paid much attention to what the judge had said about buying the ranch for thirty thousand dollars, but when Grandpa said he would take it but he wanted to put my name on the deed.

For some reason the idea of my name on some property seemed rather far-fetched. This was partly because I didn’t actually have much money of my own. I could charge anything I wanted in town but there wasn’t much I needed.

Each month grandpa gave me some money for my working on the ranch but I always put it in a can under the floor. I never counted it so I wasn’t aware of how much I had.

Grandpa told me to get my ranch in order which meant hiring some hands and more importantly a foreman.  My first choice for foreman was Pecos. He knew more about ranching than I’ll ever know. He agreed on the condition that he get the ranch house to live in.  He had a girlfriend that he wanted to marry but so far he couldn’t provide for her. I said sure move right in but get started hiring enough hands to make the ranch run efficiently.

There was a lot to be put in order and I wanted it to be done as soon as possible. I took my tin can to town along with Pecos and opened an account for the ranch. I put a thousand dollars for running expenses that Pecos could draw from.  I encouraged him to pay with cash instead of charging everything.

With things put in place I found the man that was keeping track of what was going on with Jenny.  He had only a little understanding because Jenny’s mother was distraught and the doctors were not giving much information.

Once I called upon George to find out what was happening. After two long days he contacted me and said he was sorry but the news was very bad. They had saved Jenny’s life but there was extensive brain damage. He went on saying she doesn’t remember anyone or for that matter nothing about her past.

They have moved her to a sanitarium where she is getting excellent care and seems to be happy.  Her mother is almost ill herself and the doctors insist she return home because the Jenny she raised no longer exists.  George said I and your mother are going to accompany her so she won’t be alone on the trip.

They arrived and I could see Jenny’s mother was in bad shape. I insisted she go to see the doctor before she went home.

Jenny’s younger sister Nellie had come home from boarding school where she had spent the last few years. I didn’t really know her but upon our first meeting I could see that she and Jenny were worlds apart in personalities. It made me wonder if they were really sisters.  Not that she wasn’t a good person; she was just different from Jenny.

When her mother had recovered from what she had gone through I visited her and told her I wanted to visit Jenny in the sanitarium but she immediately objected and said, “Absolutely not.”

She then described the scene she encountered each day and Jenny’s condition with no hope of recovery. She said the best thing for you to do is remember her as she was and think of all the happy hours you had together and not see her as she is which will destroy the image you have of her.

After much agonizing thought I had to agree with her. There was no more Jenny and I had to accept it.

TO BE CONTINUED