THE VERY LAST OF THE STRAYS
Bonnie Nesvick*
December, 2001
Thanks again, to Meggy the Muse!
“Where have you guys been” Joe asked coming down the stairs as he heard
the front door open.
“Adam and I spent the morning getting that last little bunch of calves that
we missed before.” Ben said. “ We brought them down so you two could
brand them this afternoon. We have some things to see to in town.
We’ll leave right after lunch.”
Adam smiled smugly at Joe. “Shouldn’t take you long. There aren’t
many.
“Us two? You mean me and Hoss? Pa, we’ve been doing the work
of four men down here all morning. Why don’t you give us some time off
too?”
“See how long it takes you. Maybe you can meet up with us at town.
I know we can all use the break.”
Ben knew that everyone had a break coming but Adam’s presence in town
was going to be necessary for some legal documents. Everyone had been
working extra hard to make up for lost time.
“How ‘bout me? Do I get to go?” Lorrie came from the table where
she had been practicing letters having overheard the conversation.
“No, you’ll stay here. We have business to do. This isn’t a
fun trip.”
Lorrie thought Pa was probably wrong about that. Any trip away from
the house for a change would probably be more fun than being left home
alone.
“So you are gonna put brandy on some more cows?” Lorrie asked Hoss.
“Can I watch you?”
Ben interrupted. “No, branding is not a place for little girls either.
And it’s branding, not brandy.”
“What is branding?” Lorrie asked.
The men looked at one another. This could be a delicate subject.
Ben decided to try his hand at it. "Lorrie, all the animals we have
here...the horses, the cattle...even the sheep and goats...we make a mark
on them so everyone knows they are our animals. That they belong to
us."
"How do you put a mark on them?" Lorrie asked.
Ben sighed. The territory was getting more dangerous. "Have
you ever seen the design that looks like a tree on our horses’ flanks?”
Lorrie was intrigued. "No, could you show me?"
Joe offered, "Lorrie, I'll show you what it looks like as soon as we’re
done with lunch. You better hush and eat before big brother here starves
to death and we can't get any work done, okay?"
Lorrie was predictably ready to go outside sooner than anyone else and fidgeted
in her chair until Joe and Hoss were ready to go outside.
Hoss took Lorrie into the barn and showed her a couple of the horses that
had the famous Pinetree brand on them. “See, we put this on all our
animals...well the ones with hair anyway. On the cows, the horses, sheep...some
times we have a goat around here and we put that mark on them too.
Then everyone knows it belongs to the Ponderosa and if it gets lost, they
can bring it home.”
“Yeah, but how does it get there?”
“Well...we kind of...uh....burn the hair off right there, see, and it doesn't
grow back. It makes kind of a scar, see? And everyone who sees
ANY animal with that mark knows it belongs to the Ponderosa", said Joe.
"You burn it?" asked Lorrie. "Doesn't that hurt? (Lorrie thought
about her recent encounter with fire and that had been plenty scary.
Her hair still hadn’t grown out.)
"Heck, they don't hardly feel nothin' Lorrie”. Hoss said. “ They’re
just little...little cows and little horses like you and it only takes a minute".
"Can you show me which ones?" asked Lorrie? And what do you make that
mark with". Hoss and Joe both rolled their eyes. No conversation
could open without this little human sponge soaking up everything there was
to know.
Hoss agreed to show her the calves that were to be branded as well as the
tools. “But you go on back inside right after that!” He took her
over to the pen where the calves had been isolated. “See, these here
are the ones we’re gonna put the marks on, Lorrie.”
“Yeah, but I still can’t tell how it gets on there.”
Hoss swallowed a bit. This was an area to be skirted carefully. “We
have a kind of iron that puts it on. It’s made of...here come on, and
I’ll show you.” Joe was building a fire near the pen where the calves
were. Hoss picked up one of the branding irons that was laying nearby.
“See lookee here...this is that mark I was showin you.”
Hoss looked at Joe who was intent on the fire. “See we get it hot
in the fire, real hot, and then we put it on the calves and it burns
the hair off of em.”
“You sure it don’t hurt ‘em? Lorrie asked in awe.
“Aw no.” Hoss answered. “Just takes some hair off and it never grows
back. “
Joe glanced up at Hoss. He was usually a little more straight than
that. But he went back to tending his fire.
“How come I can’t stay here and watch?” Lorrie asked.
“Them critters can get downright unruly when we make em do something they
don’t want to do” Hoss replied. “In fact, we got to tie ‘em up and sometimes
they get away and we just want to make sure you don’t get hurt and that we
don’t have to worry about you.”
Lorrie hadn’t realized how awful her time alone had been until everyone
was home. She didn’t want to be excluded again.
Ben and Adam came out into the yard. “You boys got this under control?”
Ben asked.
“Don’t look like it’ll take long, Pa.” Joe said.
“Maybe you can meet up with us in town, then, and have a bit of a break
if you get done in time.” Ben saw the disappointment on Lorrie’s
face. “Maybe we can bring something home for Lorrie.” he added, glancing
her way again. Her face brightened somewhat but she still looked sad and it
was hard for Ben to leave. “You go on inside, Lorrie. Let these
guys do their work, okay?”
Lorrie turned reluctantly and went into the house. She didn’t get
to do anything fun. She went upstairs to see if she could find a place
to watch. Pa’s bedroom would work fine. She left the window closed
so she wouldn’t hear but at least she could see what was going on. Those calves
did make a noise, alright. They hollered. But maybe it was because
their feet were tied. Lorrie couldn't tell. But it went
very fast and soon Hoss and Joe came in back in the house.
"Hey, Hoss, since we got that out of the way, do you think Pa would mind
our company in town for a beer?" Joe asked his big brother.
Branding was always hot, dirty and a little nerve wracking. Hoss agreed.
**************************
Lorrie walked into the kitchen. It was lonely again! Hop Sing
was busy as always and resented the intrusion. "What you want,
missy? Hop Sing going to catch chicken for suppah!"
Lorrie wanted no part of that. She ran outside and looked at the now-empty
pen....the irons were no longer glowing. She went over to them and picked
one up. It did kind of look like a tree. She wondered. If she
had a mark like that everyone would know she belonged to the Ponderosa and
maybe they would keep her here forever. On her way back into the
house she took one of the metal sticks and brought it in. The fireplace
wasn't going, but Hop Sing always had a fire going in the kitchen. Something
was always cooking.
She put the iron in the by the sideboard when she came back in and told
Hop Sing she had returned from outside. "You stay now. Hop Sing
go in garden and then get chicken. You go outside, Hop Sing tell Mista
Cartlight. Be velly angry at Missy! You stay here.”
"I'm staying Hop Sing," Lorrie said. She knew how fast Hop Sing would
get mad at her and that might upset Pa. It was scary enough wondering
if she would get to stay here all the time but she would fix that when Hop
Sing went out to get that chicken.
As soon as he was gone, she got the iron and put it in the cookstove.
She wasn't sure how long it would take to get as hot as the ones were outside.
Where should it go? The horses were easy but she couldn't reach that
place on herself. It would have to be high as she could make it.
She looked out several times to see if Hop Sing was coming in yet. The
house was still empty. Lorrie pulled the iron out of the cook stove
and grimaced at it; for some reason it wasn't turning white like the
other ones had. It was a dull red. She considered sticking it
back into the stove but then remembered that Hop Sing might be back anytime...maybe
she better hurry up and try this. Once she had the mark she would forever
belong to the Ponderosa. She would be safe then!
When she tried to grab it lower down on the stem so she could turn it around
and reach, it was too hot to touch. She grabbed one of Hop Sing’s
kitchen towels. It didn't occur to her that if the handle was hot, the
end would be hotter. Hoss said it didn't hurt and he wasn't a liar.
Nobody could dare lie in this house. Lorrie pulled her skirt way up
on her right leg and took the iron by both hands, wrapped in the towel and
pressed the dull red end into the flesh of her upper leg. It made a
sizzling noise. It DID hurt, Hoss was wrong. She shrieked, dropped
the iron and fell down. The still-hot iron began to etch its design into Hop
Sing's kitchen floor.
***************************
Hoss and Joe rode into town and headed straight for the saloon. A
beer was the way to end the work of the work day. They didn’t see Adam
or Pa anywhere so they sat down and ordered.
“I didn’t think we’d ever get done with that!” Joe said. “It sure
takes a long time if you don’t have help.”
“Yep” Hoss agreed. “But I think we got it all caught up...hey Joe,
there’s Pa and Adam!”
Ben and Adam came into the saloon and joined Hoss and Joe at their table.
“You get all those calves branded?” Ben asked.
“Ever’ one of ‘em.” Hoss replied.
“Looks like you boys made fast work of it.” Ben smiled wearily. “This
has been a rough spring so far.”
“Well we wanted to take a break too, Pa.” Joe replied. “We didn’t
waste any time.”
“Matter of fact, you beat us to the break,” Adam said and signaled the bartender
to serve their table.
******************************
Hop Sing came in and saw Lorrie on the floor, grimacing in pain, trying
not to scream and holding her leg. He saw the branding iron on the floor
and his eyes widened. He had dealt with a lot of injuries in
his past and went over to Lorrie. "Let me see." Lorrie held her hands
tight over the burn. Hop Sing pried her hand from her leg and tried
to hide his panic. "You stay here and stay still!”
Lorrie wasn’t aware of Hop Sing’s instructions. She had retreated
into a safer place.
Hop Sing went into the kitchen and found the floor smoking as the hot iron
seeped lower and lower into the floorboards. That girl had done her
own damage to herself - maybe he could keep the house from burning down.
He picked the iron up, put it on top of the stove and watered down the
scorched floor. The burned design would forever tarnish the kitchen
floor, much like the matching scar on the girl’s leg. Hop Sing set about
making a poultice that would minimize the damage.
************************
The men returned to the house, relaxed and relieved that the load had been
lightened. They saw to their horses and walked toward the house
together. Hoss had worked up an appetite on the ride home from town
but the smell that hit them when they opened the door couldn’t be dinner!
They could hear Hop Sing yelling in Chinese in the kitchen. As they came in
the door, Adam just slightly ahead of the others, caught sight of Lorrie’s
crumpled form on the floor just outside the kitchen. Adam closed the
distance trying to see what was the matter.
“Lorrie? Can you talk to me?” He rolled her over.
Hop Sing came running out of the kitchen, brandishing a branding iron and
shouting unintelligibly.
Ben turned his head toward Hop Sing, back to the girl on the floor and then
to Hop Sing again.
“Would you tell me what in the world is going on, Hop Sing? IN ENGLISH?
“Velly bad girl, Mista Ben! Velly bad. I go back to China.
Burn floor. Make mess. Burn leg.” Hop Sing advanced on Ben
shaking the branding iron. “You NEVER leave girl with Hop Sing or I
go back to China right then.”
“Pa” Adam interrupted softly. I don’t know what is wrong but she doesn’t
look too good. Lorrie?”
Hoss took the branding iron out of Hop Sing’s hand and returned it outside.
Joe ushered him into the kitchen. Joe was known for having a soothing
effect on Hop Sing. “What happened, Hop Sing?”
Joe suffered another tirade in Chinese with gestures going in every direction.
There was a dead chicken lying on the counter top. Hop Sing pointed
to the floor. Joe saw a charred mark on the spotless floor. He
looked up at Hop Sing, perplexed.
*************************
"Pa why would she go and do such a thing?" Hoss said sorrowfully. "Maybe
it was somthin' I said."
Ben looked at the bleeding and cooked sore on Lorrie’s leg and picked her
up. “Hop Sing’s got a start on this...let’s bundle it up to keep the
damage from going deeper."
Joe nodded "I’ll go get somethin to wrap it, Pa."
Hoss got close to Lorrie’s face. "You branded your leg youngun'! What made
you go and do a thing like that?”
“I wanted to be part of the Ponderosa, just like the cows.” Lorrie
looked at Hoss. He should understand.
“Pa, I’ll go get the doc.” Hoss said and walked outside.
*************************
The buckboard hadn’t been put away when the men came back from town and
Hoss and Joe walked toward it.
“What in the world would make a kid think...” Joe trailed off.
Hoss looked glum. “I wish I hadn’t told her it didn’t hurt. Maybe
then she wouldn’t....”
“You can’t think like that, big brother,” Joe said. “If you hadn’t
said that, we would have spent twice as long trying to explain that.
Besides, it doesn’t hurt the animals that much. They’re up and running
right away. Look at her! She doesn’t have any hair to burn off.
That’s the main thing, anyway!”
Hoss morosely climbed aboard. “Wanna come with me Joe”?
“Sure thing, Hoss. This ain’t the place to be right now!”
****************************
“I don’t know Ben”, Doctor Martin finished tying the dressing around Lorrie’s
wounded leg.. “Looks like she made a fair job of it. I think it’s
there to stay!”
“Well do we need to do anything more”?
“Just watch it for infection. You know what that looks like.
I don’t have anything more to offer. Keep it wrapped till it heals a
bit more.” Paul said.
************************
Ben sat next to Lorrie’s bedside. He was dumbfounded. He had
never seen someone inflict injury on themselves before. And certainly
not to this extent. He waited, considering and reflecting on Lorrie’s
words...”I wanted to be part of the Ponderosa, just like the cows”.
She did seem to be part of the Ponderosa - and not a cow! What went
on in that girl’s mind!
Lorrie began to stir. The first sound was a moan.
“Lorrie, are you awake”? Ben asked.
“Pa”?
“I’m right here.”
“I don’t...I...”
“Lorrie you hurt yourself! Hop Sing and Doc Martin had to come fix
you up. Why did you do that”?
“Pa...I wanted to be part of the Ponderosa like Hoss said. That’s
what those markers did! They made you part of the Ponderosa and everyone
would know!”
Ben signed and put his head in his hands....that was the purpose of a brand...but
not on people!
“Lorrie, we’re all part of the Ponderosa. Adam, Hoss, Joe, Hop Sing,
me, even you. You don’t need a mark to prove it. Nobody here has
one. If I say you belong here, that’s enough”.
Lorrie lay in bed, with Pa next to her. It did feel good. Maybe it
was even enough. But if she ever had to prove it, she was glad for that
pine tree on her leg.
*Formerly posted under pen name Lorrie Wood
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