Page 3 of A Letter to Adaya
“We’ll be back in a few days, and I’ll let you know how it goes.” Beau watched Bass leave and he turned to Simon. “I better get packing.”
“Do you have any idea what you are going to say to Jesse?”
“Nope.” Beau dragged his hand down his face. “I’ll pray for the words to come.”
“Praying for a wife would be easier.”
As Beau left the office, he couldn’t help but shake his head. Bass and Simon always seemed to be worried about Jesse’s behavior, but to Beau, it just seemed like typical teenage antics. He understood it. Jesse was growing up, and he was bound to make mistakes along the way. In fact, Beau remembered making plenty of them when he was Jesse’s age, but not the same type Jesse was making.
Exhaling loudly, Beau headed to his bedroom to pack. Being an older brother was hard. As he entered his room, he began packing the few things he needed for the trip into his rucksack. He tried to keep his thoughts on the task at hand, but the more he thought about Jesse and his behavior, the more frustrated he became. He knew it wasn’t his place to judge his younger brother, but Beau couldn’t help feeling like Jesse needed someone to guide him.
Beau knew from experience that tough talks like this were no fun. Closing his bag, he headed out to the barn to find Jesse and Bogey and prayed some of the heaviness in his heart would leave before they arrived in Grand Platte.
Beau had been keeping silent the whole ride to Grand Platte, not wanting to start a quarrel with Jesse concerning his misbehavior until they were back home. It was going to be uncomfortable enough already trying to find a time when Bogey wasn’t around for them to talk. At least the ride to Grand Platte was easy enough.
The horses trotted along the even terrain, keeping a respectable pace until they stopped for the night under a cluster of mountain junipers. Beau didn’t know why they were called that, since the closest mountains were hundreds of miles away. Nebraska had more rocky buttes and sloping hills than mountains. Jesse and Bogey laughed around the campfire while Beau leaned against a tree, watching them.
In the morning, Bogey made a quick breakfast, and they saddled up again to ride the rest of the way to Grand Platte, going straight to the livery when they arrived. If the horses arrived in town before Beau did, the livery would keep them for five days. If Beau didn’t arrive to collect the animals, he would lose them, and the livery could sell them at the livestock auction.
He was quite pleased to see ten fine looking horses sequestered in a small grassy paddock behind the livery. They didn’t look as wild as he expected.
“Those the horses?” Jesse asked.
“I think so,” Beau replied, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. “The seller mentioned a spotted gelding and there is a spotted horse in the herd.” Beau nudged his horse towards the livery. Tying the animal to the hitching post, he dismounted and headed inside.
The stable master finished up with a customer before approaching them. “May I help you?”
“Beau Pickett. This is my brother Jesse and one of my men. We are picking up ten horses today.” Beau reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to the stable master. “I have the bill of sale here.”
The stable master took the paper and looked at it. “They arrived this morning. When are you headed out?”
“Right after we grab a bite to eat. I want to look at the horses first. Is it alright to keep them here for a few hours?”
The man gave Beau a skeptical glance. “You can keep them here all week. The seller prepaid the cost of their care through Saturday.” He continued in a stern tone. “There aren’t any refunds just because you arrived early.”
Beau nodded and followed the man towards the back pasture. “Are they still green?”
“There are a few in there that are green-broken. Those could use some more training. The rest appear trained, but you never know until you try to saddle them.”
As they neared the paddock, Beau noticed the gelding in the back of the string. He was tall, his spotted coat adding a bit of personality, but his eyes spoke of disinterest in the men approaching the herd.
“No trouble with any of them?” Beau asked, not glancing away from the horse.
“Nope,” the stable master replied. “Give them a look over and when you are ready to take them, I’ll be here to help. I’ll be in the front when you’re ready to lead them out. And I mean lead. You need to show them you’re in charge.”
The tone reminded him of the Flat River stable master, Hiram King. The man never minced words nor tolerated anyone not doing exactly as he instructed at the livery.
“We’ll get all of them back home. I just want to know what I’m up against.”
Jesse chuckled, stepping up beside Beau, “What are you seeing that I’m not?” His eyes roved over the gelding before turning back to his brother.
Beau waved at the gelding. “He looks like Bass when he’s grumpy.”
“He looks like you.” Jesse took a quick step out of reach.
Beau nearly snorted. That was precisely what he’d been thinking, but he had no desire to feed the rumor that he was the grumpiest Pickett brother.
“I want to see how they react when I’m in there. Jesse, you and Bogey look at who we can pair up.” Beau placed his hands on the top rail and his boot on the bottom, pushing himself up and over the fence. He landed on the other side with a thud and quickly straightened, flattening himself against the rail post.
