Come What May

There was a tremendous amount of unrest in him today. The kind that kept eating at him. The kind that could not be ignored, it was all consuming. He could not put it aside and just go about his tedious task of milking the cows . This unrest had been building and multiplying in him for some time now. He didn't  know why he couldn't be content like his brothers. He did not know why he felt like there was something he had to do, somewhere he had to go. He just knew if something didn't happen soon, if something didn't change, he might explode, and today just might be that day.

         He couldn’t see how people could be happy doing the same routine, day in and day out, day after day after day. Get up before dawn, go out feed the chickens, gather eggs, milk the cows, let them out to graze, eat breakfast, head out to work  at the same mundane tasks until every muscle in your body aches, eat dinner,  and fall into bed. Only to rise before dawn the next day and do the same thing again.  The only variation to the whole procedure was when animal babies were being born or some piece of equipment broke and needed to be repaired. What is there to look forward to? There has to be something I can do to make a living that is more fulfilling than being a farmer.

         He wondered why he couldn’t be more like his brothers?  George and William are completely content with what their futures hold. William, at twenty-three,  the oldest Bennett male, is deliriously happy with planning what crops to plant.  What do we need to plant for the animals? What will mother want planted for her garden?  When should we plant for optimum yield?  What are the newest developments in farming equipment?  He gets excited going through the farming catalogs at Polk’s Mercantile for crying out loud!

Poor Daniel, he wanted more. He wanted adventure!  He wanted to see more  of the world than San Patricio, Texas. He often felt guilty for wanting more?  But, he also knew there was excitement to be had if he could just leave the farm.  Farming might be fine for some, but it sure was boring to Daniel. He knew if he had to stay on the farm, he would never put his mark on the world.  Nobody would ever hear of Daniel Bennett except someone who might read his tombstone once he was dead and gone. He was unsure of whether or not he was being ungrateful for wanting to be more than what he was born to be.  He struggled with the guilt. He just knew he couldn’t be the dutiful son like his brothers were. Staying on the farm for the rest of his life would be like a death sentence for Daniel.  “I just can’t stay here,” he told Bonnie, the cow he was presently milking.

The Bennett’s were not a wealthy family and they never would be.  They were able to grow most of the vegetables and fruit right there on the farm.  Clara canned and stored enough to last them through the winters.  They had meat from the cattle, chickens, fish and any game Charles and the boys hunted.  They sold a few head of cattle and some cotton every year.  It was enough to pay the taxes on the farm, buy the things they couldn't grow like coffee, sugar, fabric for clothing and afforded them some things that they just wanted.  They were comfortable.

They had recently built a new barn, complete with six milking chutes.  Each chute just wide enough for a cow and a man sitting on a three legged stool. George had built a trough to run down the front  of the chutes. They would place hay in the trough for the cows to munch on while being milked. It helped to keep the animals calm and occupied during milking. He thought it quite ingenious at the time as no one else  in the area had done this yet.

         The sweet smell of hay, and warm milk permeated the air, along with the ever-present smell of manure. “Just another boring day on the farm,” Daniel sighed.

“Gathering wool there, Daniel?” William joked. Would be nice if we could get the eggs gathered and these cows milked, before breakfast.”

“I’m milking, I’m milking! Would go faster if you’d help,” whined Daniel.

“I have been helping, I’ve milked two cows.  If you would  have been paying  attention you would know that. Now get your head out of the clouds and get back to work, little brother,” William teased.

William, being the oldest, bore most of the responsibilities around the farm.  Part of the time that meant prodding Daniel back into action instead of daydreaming. William was the ideal farmer. He even looked like a farmer or rancher. He had broad shoulders, easily able to carry those heavy fifty pound sacks of feed.  He was tall, every bit of six foot three. He had straight , light brown hair that curled  at the ends where it stuck out from under his ever present cowboy hat.  He looked the most like their father, Charles, although all the Bennett men had the strong square jaw with the cleft in the middle.  He was tall, lean,  but muscular, not an ounce of fat on him anywhere. He came by it naturally from working hard every day. He took care of the farming end of the ranch.  He was always plowing, planting, harvesting,  or repairing equipment.  He was busy from sun up till sun down every day. 

Daniel resented William’s dedication.  William loved waking up each morning and getting started on the chores for the day.  The exact things Daniel considered boring and mundane, William treasured.  The repetitiveness of the morning routine gave William time to have his quite time with the Lord.  Most mornings he could be heard whistling or singing on his way out to the barn. He had done these same chores so many times they could now be done without much thought.  He took delight in going out to the barn and seeing the cows lined up outside the doors, eager to get inside and be milked. He enjoyed the sounds of the cows munching on hay, the slight impatient shuffling of their feet as they waited to be milked. He was a natural, he could lay his head on a cows side and sweet talk her while he milked and she never moved.  Never once, did a cow he was milking ever try to kick at him.

Daniel was another story entirely.  He would come into the barn angry almost. It was as if the cows could sense his agitation.  They moved around in the chute quite a bit. Often stepping into the milk bucket or knocking it over completely.  Sometimes they kicked at Daniel. It was no wonder he  hated this morning routine.  It was hard work to try to be soothing to a cow when you were in turmoil inside.  There was no one soothing him.  Just his brothers nagging at him to hurry up and get done so they could go eat.

         Daniel finished with the milking, carried the buckets of milk up to the house to his mother.  Clara, was in the kitchen frying up bacon when Daniel came in.  “Just leave the buckets on the bench and throw those towels over the top of them to keep flies off.”

“Like I don’t know to put the towels on top to keeps bugs out,” he thought to himself. Always treating me like some little kid.”

George  strolled into the kitchen with the basket full of eggs, leaned over and placed a kiss on his mothers cheek and asked, “How much longer?” Clara reached up and patted his cheek, “‘bout ten more minutes the biscuits will come out and I’ll start frying up the eggs, why?”

“I just wanted to know if I had time to go down to the spring house and move things around so you will have room for the cheese you will be making.” George, was the thoughtful son.  Since he had so many females chasing after him all the time, thoughtful must be something women liked.  It didn’t hurt that George was very easy on the eyes.  All of  Clara and Charles’s boys were handsome.  All three had inherited Charles’s strong square jaw with the cleft in the middle.  For some reason females just wanted to reach up and touch that spot. He wasn’t as tall as his other two brothers, probably about six feet tall, but what he lacked in height he made up for in muscle. Of the three boys, George was the one who got the sturdy, stocky, muscular body.  He was the cattleman of the family.  He spent long hours in the saddle. He would be on the open range searching for strays that he could bring back to the ranch and brand as his own.  He would constantly be checking the fences around their property as they were always needing repair. Consequently he had thighs that were massive. Struggling with these strays had built up the muscles in this arms, back and chest.  The young ladies in town had not missed the fact that when George walked, you could see those muscles ripple just beneath his clothes. He was tanned a nice golden brown from being out in the hot Texas sun all day. He kept his dark brown hair under his cowboy hat all day, but had to take it off every time he entered the house. (Momma’s rules.) When he took it off, he had gorgeous, thick almost black wavy hair that accented his hazel eyes.

That’s what Daniel felt he had to compete with.  William was the do-gooder and George, the charmer.  No wonder he felt like he could  never measure up. Daniel, at twenty, was at an awkward stage in his life. He was taller that both of his brothers, he was six feet four inches. His feet were a size sixteen. He was often teased about tripping over his own feet.  They were hard to see down there.  Half the time the problem wasn’t necessarily his big feet. He  also had black straight hair that was in need of a good cutting. It hung down past his collar in the back and if  he didn’t keep it pushed  up and back under  a hat well, it would hang down over his beautiful green eyes.  So between the big feet, the long unruly hair, and his tall gangly frame, Daniel was quite awkward. He also felt like he wasn’t as smart as his older two brothers either. William was always trying to come up with better ways to plant and harvest the crops. George was always excited for an opportunity to visit with other ranchers and discuss raising cattle. Hoping to glean some information that he could implement into his breeding program. Daniel wasn’t really being fair to himself though. He was just as smart as his brothers were. He just didn’t care about anything enough to try to make it better. Daniel  also would never  be the smooth talking charmer, like his brothers were because he just blurted out whatever came to his mind. What Daniel needed, was to  find something that he wanted to do, something that he would be good at, something that would be fun and exciting. But what?

There was nothing else for him to do in, San Patricia,Texas.  It was a small town. There was Polk Merchantile, which  also served as the post office and farmers supply.  There was a doctor, Doc Baker, who in addition to being the town physician also served as the town mortician and dentist.  There was one church, which everyone from the surrounding area attended. Recently a jailhouse had been built for Sheriff Clogburn. There was nothing in San Patricio, Texas for a young man seeking adventure.

         As if on cue,Daniel’s  best friend, Boyd rode into the yard.  “Hey, you busy?” he asked.

“Not right now. Pa is still talking to William and George about what needs to be done today.”

“You don’t need to be in on that?” Boyd questioned.

“Na, I just do whatever they tell me.  You know, dumb Daniel, you can’t tell him too much at once or he’ll get mixed up.”

Not knowing how to respond, Boyd said, “Pop and I just got back from San Antonio. You ever hear of the Texas Rangers?”

“ Yeah,” replied Daniel. “Everybody in Texas has heard of them.”

“We met up with some while we were eating one night.  You should have heard some of their stories.” Boyd hopped down from his horse, and tied her to the post and sat on the top step of the porch next to Daniel.  He was excitedly retelling some of the Rangers tales of chasing cattle and horse thieves, and of fighting the Apache when Charles stepped out onto the porch.

“Morning Boyd,” greeted Pa.

“Morning Mr. Bennett.” answered Boyd.

“What are you doing over here this time of day?  Anything wrong?”

“No sir, Pop and I were just heading home. We’ve been up in San Antonio.  I asked if I could stop by and talk to Daniel for a minute. Wanted to tell him we had met some real Texas Rangers. You ever heard about them, sir?”

“Course, I imagine most anyone living in Texas has heard about them.  They are a hard bunch of men.  Doin’ all the jobs nobody else can do.  They are a determined lot if ever I saw one.  I hear tell they always get their man or die trying.  They never give up, they just keep on coming. Takes a special kind of man who would give his life to protect others like that. I don’t know if all the tales I’ve heard about them can be believed, some sound too exaggerated. But, I’ve never met one myself. We don’t have much trouble down here, so it’s hard to say if the stories we’ve heard are true or not.  Pretty special you and your Pa having an opportunity to meet some.” William and George walked out onto the porch. Charles turned to the group and said, “Boys, you’ll have to visit with Boyd here some other time. We’ve got work that needs doin’. Maybe ya’ll can catch up after church on Sunday. Boyd,  been nice seein’  you.  Give our regards to your pa.” With that Charles started toward the barn. The boys said their goodbyes to Boyd and followed Charles .