Now playing: Night Riders
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Episode One concluded with:
“If you really want to
help us, Miss Tantrall, tell your father to stay away from my fences.”
Lila tried to maintain a friendly tone. “I’ll
tell him, Mr. Ashley. I know that sometimes cattle can knock over fences.”
“It ain’t the cattle that’s doin’ it!”
Lila looked down briefly, then smiled at Stella.
“I need to be going. It was so nice seeing you again.”
“Thank you, Lila, thank you for everything.”
The young woman nodded politely at Jared as she stepped
off the porch. The homesteader didn’t acknowledge the courtesy. He stormed
inside the cabin.
Episode Two
“I’ve
got the table set, Daddy.” Seven year old Becky pointed at the dishes on the
table.
“Fine,” Jared’s voice was toneless.
Becky
didn’t pick up on her father’s dark mood. “How do you like my pretty new dress?
Miss Lila gave it to me today. She also gave me--”
Stella
entered the cabin. She had remained outside for a few moments to calm her
emotions over her husband’s behavior. “Leave your daddy alone, child. He is
tired from his morning’s work. Come help me in the kitchen.”
“Yes,
Momma.”
Stella
Ashley’s voice slashed at her husband. “Becky and I will have lunch on the
table soon. Go ahead and sit down.”
Jared
sat down without speaking. He noticed that Becky had done a fine job of setting
the table. Looking around the cabin, he once again realized how well Stella had
handled her responsibilities.
It
seemed that everyone was doing their job well except him.
Lunch
passed with Stella giving her complete attention to their daughter. The only
time her eyes went to Jared was immediately after Becky lisped through a prayer
giving thanks for the food. Her glance was accusatory. Jared hadn’t accompanied
his wife and daughter to church for several weeks.
After
the meal, Stella and Becky cleared the table. While Becky stacked the dishes
and got them ready for washing, Stella took a bucket outside to the pump. Jared
followed his wife and tried to speak to her as she filled the bucket with
gushing water.
“I’m
sorry I treated the Tantrall girl the way I did.”
Stella
pushed the pump handle with more force. “This was all your idea, Jared. We had
a good life in Ohio. You had a decent job and we didn’t have to accept charity
from anyone.”
“But
I wasn’t going anyplace at the factory. We weren’t getting ahead!”
The
woman let go of the pump and turned toward her husband. “Where exactly are we going now? We’re one
step from losing this place to the bank. You call that getting ahead!?” She
picked up the bucket and began to return to the house.
Jared
walked back to his plowing. He wanted to tell Stella how much he loved her and
Becky. He had brought them West for a better life. The homesteader laughed
bitterly at his own thoughts. “Better life!” he said aloud. “We’re barely
surviving.”
Plant
and hope for a good harvest, that’s all Jared knew to do. Well, maybe he should
go to church with Stella and Becky and join all those folks asking the Lord for
plenty of rain and no more droughts like the one last year. Couldn’t hurt.
He
walked around the barn to where his plow awaited him and stopped. Five men on
horseback were tying ropes to his fence posts. They were going to pull down the
fence with Tantrall’s herd grazing less than two miles away.
“Damn
Elijah Tantrall!” he whispered to himself. “The man thinks he’s king, doesn’t
even bother to do his dirty work at night anymore.”
Jared
ran back to the front of the barn and grabbed the Winchester he kept inside by
the entrance. This time the king has made a serious mistake, Ashley
thought. Tantrall would pay in blood.
Tomorrow:
Episode Three of Night Riders