The Silent Cowboy Chapter 2 Part 1

The Silent Cowboy

Chapter 2

1918

The sun’s rays peeked over the Pinos Altos mountains.  The faint light lit Rachel’s face as she stood at the stove frying potatoes and onions for breakfast.  The coffee simmered as she set the table with four plates.  She moved stiffly around the kitchen as quietly for little Eblin still slept on the mat nearby.  Her garden was looking good after 3 days of hoeing the ground and removing stones.  The dusty ground was a challenge to make anything grow.

Elsie was on the front porch accepting the first load of laundry for the day.  She usually got three or four loads a day from the merchants, the wounded and single old men in town.  It was hard work but it was steady pay.  The Great War dragged on and they were ready to see the end of it.  The government enforced regulation “meatless Tuesday’s” and “wheat less Wednesday’s” but that was irrelevant here.  The sheep herds were a welcomed sight.  They seemed not to care wat they ate and their wool was a good source of income for some in the area.

As Elsie came in the door, she let the screen slam shut.  The sudden loud noise woke up Eblin with a start.  “For heaven’s sake Elsie!  You’ve woke up the baby!”  Rachel reprimanded. 

“It’s six o’clock, time to be up.”

Exasperated, Rachel walked over and gathered little Eblin in her arms.  She turned and walked out the back door; the young one will need the outhouse soon.  She smiled at her brother a she passed.  He had always been a very early riser.

Jacob carefully shaved using a small mirror nailed high on the wall by the back door.  The porch was just wide enough for a small table to hold the bowl he used every morning for his daily ritual.  Many in the area sported beards but he always preferred to be clean shaven.  It kept the suet and sand form settling on his face as he worked at the rail yard.

When he first started working for the railroad, he loaded the boxcars full of bricks all day long that shipped to San Francisco.  The great fire of 1906 had destroyed what was left of the city after the earthquake.  Bricks where hauled in from Silver City for years but had tapered off drastically when the war started.  The train still pasted through with goods going to and from that big city in California.

“Breakfast is ready, Jacob.”   Rachel said as she returned from the outhouse.  Eblin tottered by her side fully awake now and ready himself to eat the meager meal awaiting them on the table inside.

Jacob scrapped the last of the suds from his chin and swiftly wiped his face.  The mirror showed a handsome man older than his years. After breakfast, the day’s work would begin.