A Spooked Horse

With their stomachs full of biscuits from the store and a few cups of coffee from Jack’s pot, the men were ready to saddle up and go. Jack drew them a crude map and also wrote out a page of clear instructions on how to get to Gene’s ranch. He thanked them again for delivering the horses and gave each of them a dollar. Each man quickly tucked the money in their bindle. They agreed to follow Harley, since he had the map, of course. Adam and Ed rode behind Harley, each on their own horse. Leo was bringing up the rear and Clarence was on the back of Harley’s saddle, hands grasping the rear of the seat. He said he didn’t feel quite right putting his arms around Harley’s waist, but Harley knew his arms would get tired or he would have a hard time hanging on going up or down steeper inclines they might come to. He told Clarence it would be okay…nothing personal, they were just riding a horse together.

In his mind, Harley wondered what kind of upbringing Clarence had that made him so skittish about touching other people. Probably from his dad beating him. Harley felt bad but did not want Clarence falling off the horse. He told him to hang on tight and grab him fast if he needed to. Harley was a good rider, but he could not hang on to Clarence. Harley had to hang onto the reins and Clarence was going to have to hang onto Harley.

So off they went, heading east out of town. It was about nine o’clock in the morning and there were clear roads out to the ranch. There might be a few cars going past them, but they just needed to stay along the edge of the roads and even move a little farther away if a wagon or automobile was coming past. Jack had drawn a shortcut that took them away from the road and along a creek for a while, if they wanted to water the horses or when they camped that evening. As they rode out of Chelan, it was a bright sunny day with fluffy white clouds already in the sky. Nice riding weather, for sure.

The men did not have much to say to each other. Most likely, they were all having their individual thoughts about their near future. They were no longer going to be hobos. Ranch work could be a twelve-month job. Animals, buildings, and equipment had to be taken care of year-round. These did not have to be just seasonal jobs. Of course, for Harley it would only be for the summer and a little bit into the fall. He was determined to start college at the University of Iowa in January at the latest, but the other men still did not know that. Harley hoped when they did eventually find out that they would understand. He also hoped and imagined that they would keep working in Washington State. It was quite a scenic place, he noticed, as they rode into some small hills. Growing up on the farm, Harley learned to love all the seasons; the dry, the wet, the snow, the baking heat. In this moment, Harley was truly enjoying his thoughts and the view on this trip.

“Hey, Clarence, check with the fellas how they are doing back there, would you please?” asked Harley. “Just give a little turnabout and holler at them.”

Clarence did that. He looked over his shoulder and gave Leo a holler. He was on the last horse, but Clarence used a pretty darned big voice to holler back about fifty yards. Harley was afraid he was going to scare the horses with the really loud shout. “Tone it down, you’ll spook the horses. They aren’t that used to us. I don’t want anyone falling off a buckin’ horse. These are huge critters,” Harley warned.

Clarence toned it down and Harley received a good report on everyone. The saddles were doing well and staying on tight. Ed and Adam, in the middle, were doing a fabulous job. Harley’s horse was the largest one and he was under perfect control.

They just kept moving along. It was a good clip, but not pushing the horses. These horses had to look good when they got to the ranch. Harley wanted Uncle Gene to see he had taken good care of his valuable property and that the other fellas were responsible types who could be trusted. Hobos don’t have a very good reputation lgg and Harley wanted his rail-riding friends to make a good first impression. He kind of felt responsible for helping them get off the rails. It was a good feeling. His mother and father would be proud of him.

They got to the creek that Jack put on the map, indicating a good stop for lunch and a break for the horses. The water there was clean; Jack had assured them that it was something both the men and the horses could drink. And drink they did. The men drank upstream and the horses drank downstream. The horses chewed on the grass along the banks and the men settled under a tree with their jerky and apples. Leo joked that they should have brought some apples for the horses; Ed and Adam agreed, but no one made a move to share their juicy fruits with the animals. After they got to the core, however, the men all got up as if they had the same idea at the same time and took an apple core over to their horse. Harley and Clarence’s horse, of course, was the lucky one and got two apple cores. He was carrying twice the load, after all.

They spent about an hour by the creek and then remounted the horses and lined up again, in the same positions as the first part of the ride. Harley had forgotten about Jack’s warning to watch out for bears and snakes. Mostly what they saw along the way were eagles, hawks, and rabbits; nothing much to frighten a horse. They were in wide open space and Harley didn’t figure a bear would wander out there. And snakes like it warm, so they would probably stay near the warmer rocks, not along the side of the road in the cool foot-high grass where the men and their horses were riding. The afternoon passed with them telling a few tales about riding horses when they were younger and talking about the clouds and the smell of the leather saddles underneath them. Harley assured the others that these horses were going to a good owner. They were going to have great stables, lots of straw to sleep in, and lots of oats to eat.

It was about four hours more until they got to the next milestone on Jack’s map, where the one road split off into two roads. They started to follow the road that went a little bit north, to the left. After a while, they began to discuss where to stop and camp for the night. The old guys wanted a place with a lot of trees. Leo and Clarence wanted some wide-open spaces, so they could see the stars. The four finally asked Harley to choose; after all, he was still their unofficial leader.

“Well, I prefer the open space. Better for a fire and gives the horses more grass to eat. Not too many trees near here now,” Harley reasoned. “There’s another creek up ahead on the map and I don’t figure it’s too far. Let’s hustle these horses a bit and get there before dark.”

After ten minutes of a faster trot, the men came upon the creek and found a small cluster of bank trees where they could tie up the horses. They scrounged for some wood branches and bigger wood to put a fire to. With a fire growing in warmth as the sun was going down, they sat down to heat their beans and rest their achy bones from a day of riding. There were backside complaints from all five of the men, because none of them had ridden a horse for a whole day in many years. Ed and Leo had the least experience on the saddle and were totally unprepared for how sore they were.

“How many more days are we doin’ this, Harley?” asked Leo.

“One more day, buddy. We are half way there, I promise,”

“It may take me a day or so to recover from this,” Leo warned.

“It’s alright. Uncle Gene and I will have some time to visit. I am pretty sure he isn’t going to shove us out the door into the barn in the first twenty-four hours. He knows I have been traveling a while. I’ll talk to him, don’t worry. We’ll have time to rest up and get ready to earn our keep,” Harley reassured all of them. “Remember, though, we came to work and earn us all some real money. There are men all over this country who would give their eye teeth for a real paying job like this. I hope you all remember how to work.”

The men warmed up and ate most of the rest of the food from the store; then they laid out their bindles for one last night as bums.

Looking up at the brilliant stars in the night sky was a refreshing change from sleeping in a boxcar. The fresh air, with the scent of the grass and the rushing of the creek, was intoxicating. Even when the night breeze brought a whiff of the horses into Harley’s nostril, he felt relaxed and even somewhat peaceful for the first time since he left home. He was one day away from being with family again. He was one day away from starting to work on his dream of college. He made a mental note to himself; he had to make sure Uncle Gene did not reveal his higher learning ambitions to his rail riding friends. Harley had become very fond of all these bums, even the two crusty old men. Adam and Ed traveled with the three younger men, but really stayed by themselves most of the time. The five of them were together, but something about the older men made them tougher to get to know.

His four hobo friends slumbered on their bindles, but Harley was having a hard time sleeping. It was not the snoring of Adam, and it was not the increasing buzz of the early summer insects in the grass. It was thoughts of his mother and father. He wondered about his father’s health. He knew his friend Michael was working hard and probably having a good time playing at being a farmer…or else he was finding out how hard life on the farm really was. He could not wait to talk to his mother and get all the news. Finally running out of thoughts and plans, Harley closed his eyes and was asleep like the others.

The breakfast fire sent little tendrils of smoke upward. The men used their last bit of coffee and then tended the horses, making sure they had water. Clarence was thinking that maybe he could ride the fourth horse today and that Leo could hitch on behind Harley. Leo was not hearing any of that.

“That will be too much weight on that horse, Clarence. You are the little guy. I’m sorry, but you are gonna be hitchin’ behind Harley again. It ain’t right to ride that heavy on another man’s horse. Just ain’t right. I’m keepin’ my horse to myself.” Clarence had to concede that it was the right thing to do.

The men headed east into the rising sun. At the end of the day they would be home. Not their real home, of course, but to a place with a roof, running water, and plenty to eat. A place where they could get their humanity restored by proving their worth through an honest day’s work. This was going to be a home with strangers, but kindly strangers who would treat them with respect. They would hopefully be working for Harley’s uncle and Harley was a good fella.

The horses seemed happy to be moving again. Perhaps they could sense the excitement and anticipation from Harley and the others. The three younger men were a bit more pleased to be settled soon. The two older men wore the skepticism of many disappointments, and were obviously reserving their contentment for later when their situation could be proven. Regardless, the horses had their spirits up and so did most of the men. Clarence had resigned himself to being the smallest one and the tag-a-long rider behind Harley. He had gotten used to holding onto Harley’s waist and Harley had adjusted also. Sometimes, just to change position, Clarence held onto the back of Harley’s belt, but not so tight as to pull on it. He mostly reserved hugging Harley tight when they were headed up or down a steeper hill. They had a nice road to ride on, but it rolled with the terrain of west central Washington. It was warming up as they rode and the sky got brighter. There was not a single cloud or wisp of a cloud anywhere.

“You old guys ain’t got much to say, huh?” Leo hollered to Ed and Adam, from the back of the pack.

“No, we ain’t,” returned Ed.

Old was relative here. Harley, Clarence, and Leo were all under twenty-five. Ed and Adam were probably in their forties but looked so much older. Their longer lives had been harder lives, obviously, and they wore it on their faces. The wrinkles of frustration and failure ran deep into their cheeks and foreheads. It was the times, mostly, but probably some of it was just bad circumstances. They did not come from the rich side of any town.

Leo could tell from that reply, and from them not turning their heads even a tiny bit to acknowledge his speaking to them, that they meant it. Clarence and Harley were riding where Leo felt was too far in front of the rest of them and he did not feel like yelling up there at them.

“Could you move along a bit faster and keep up with Harley?” Leo urged Ed and Adam.

There was no reply.

“We are falling behind. Let’s scoot along quick for a minute and get up ahead with them, huh?” Leo tried again.

Still no reply, but he did detect a slight increase in speed. He settled for what he could get at that point. He had committed at the beginning of this journey, to Harley, that he would bring up the rear to be sure Adam and Ed were okay. Both of them had admitted to not having much riding experience. The blacksmith had called them “greenhorns” which provided the three younger men with quite a laugh. It brought only deeper scowling wrinkles to the old guys’ faces. From the looks of it, it appeared to Leo that they might catch up with Harley and Clarence in about ten minutes. It was gonna be a slow haul, even after they picked up the pace a bit.

Leo hummed as he rode. Harley and Clarence were silent, as were the older men. Those men in the middle could see where the lead horse was, but they were not within shouting distance. It was not noon yet but getting close. The sun was high overhead and starting to bring the sweat out on the men and their horses. Leo wanted to know if Harley knew how much farther they had to go but guessed he would have to wait until they paused for their noon lunch break. Still, he really wanted to know.

Finally, Leo decided not to wait. He kneed his horse to get him to pick up the pace, and told the old men as he rode past, “I’m gonna go see how much longer we got ‘til we stop. I’ll either come back or wait for you up there. You gonna be alright back here?”

“We ain’t babies,” grumped Adam. “G’wan ahead. We’ll be along right behind you.”

So, Leo took off at a good trot and expected to catch up quickly with Harley and Clarence. He was nearly caught up with them. Clarence must have heard him coming and turned around to wave at him.

“Whatcha doin’, Leo? Leavin’ them old slow pokes behind?” Clarence hollered back at him.

“I got a question,” Leo replied. He kept gaining on them. “I’ll ask ya when I get up there, just hang…” Leo didn’t have time to finish the sentence.

Suddenly, Harley’s horse reared back with a frightening, squealing noise, twisting sideways and Clarence went flying into the air. He had let go to call back to Leo and had no way to guard himself against falling off the crazed horse.

“It’s a damn snake,” screamed Harley, who was holding ferociously onto the reins of the bug-eyed horse. The poor horse was frightened out of its wits by a Western rattler, lying low under the edge of a rock along that road.

“We riled up a rattler by ridin’ too close to him. Are you okay, Clarence?” called out Harley.

Harley and Leo looked around. Clarence was lying in the scrubby grass along the side of the road, right where he landed after his sudden ejection from the back of the horse. He was not moving.

“Get up, fella, are you okay?” called out Leo this time. Still no answer and still no movement.

Harley got there first, but his horse was still jumpy and Harley didn’t want to get off him, fearing the horse would pull the reins out of his grip and run away, so he tightened the reins and tried to talk reassuringly to the horse. This was difficult as the alarm for Clarence rose in him.

Then Leo arrived and was able to get off his horse. The offended snake was long gone, so he ran quickly to his friend’s side. Leaning over Clarence, Leo shook his shoulder. Clarence’s head moved in an odd way. Leo saw blood, and then felt Clarence’s chest. He was not breathing, He looked for any sign of life, but found none.

“Harley, Clarence is dead! I think he done broke his neck in that fall! He’s done kilt! Damn that snake!”

“What, what? Are you sure? Is he breathing?” Harley demanded.

“He ain’t movin’, he ain’t breathin’. He’s dead. Gone, dead, gone...gone...” Leo sounded stunned and panicked.

Harley finally got the spooked horse under control and rode closer. The horse still wanted to walk a little bit sideways, but Harley got close enough so he could see Clarence clearly.

“Come here and hold my horse, Leo. Come here and hold this damn horse,” Harley said.

Leo came obediently and silently but said, “He’s really dead, Harley,” as he took the reins. He walked away with both his horse and Harley’s, back towards where Adam and Ed were riding up to. He left Harley there with Clarence’s body and proceeded to wave to the old men to hurry up. They did hurry up a little and got there in just a minute or two.

“A damn snake spooked Harley’s horse. Stupid animal reared way back and Clarence went flyin’ off! Broke his damn neck and is kilt. Clarence is dead, right here.”

“What the hell!” said Ed

“Dead, right here?” asked Adam.

“Yep. Dead. What is we supposed to do now?” fussed Leo. “What are we gonna do now? Harley,” he hollered, “what are we going to do now?”

Harley walked away from Clarence and approached the three other men.

“We are going to put him on the back of my horse again and take him to my uncle’s farm. We sure aren’t going to leave Clarence here. We don’t have anything to dig a grave with, we only have about four hours riding time left, and we have to tell the sheriff in Chelan what happened. Maybe they can let his family know somehow.”

“Geez, Harley, that’s a lot of good thinkin’ all at once,” said Leo admirably.

“That is all just common sense, Leo,” said Harley. “My mother says I have a lot of it. Got it from my father, I guess. This actually reminds me of a story my father told me about when he was working in the wheat harvest. A man died during a tornado, real sudden like this, and everyone was shocked. We didn’t even have any time to pray over Clarence like my father did over that guy, though. I think we should say a prayer before we move him. He went so suddenly.”

“We ain’t doin’ no prayin’,” said Ed and Adam, at exactly the same time.

Leo and Harley looked at them.

“That was just plain strange,” said Leo. “Sayin’ the same dang thing at the same time. I don’t pray neither, but it sounds like Harley prays, so let’s have him say one and then get out of here with Clarence.”

The three others silently followed behind Harley as he walked back over to Clarence’s crumpled body.

“I’m just going to pray the Lord’s Prayer,” said Harley, which he proceeded to do.

“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen” ...and then he continued, “Bless Clarence as he comes up there to Heaven so suddenly, Lord. We are so sorry he left us like this. He was a good man.”

For a few moments, no one moved. The rest of the men appeared to be waiting for Harley to be done. When he realized this, he said “Amen.”

“How we gonna do this?” asked Leo. “I ain’t never touched a dead body before.”

“He’s barely dead, Leo. Don’t be a damn baby,” commanded Adam. “This is Clarence, your friend. Pick up his feet and help us get him on the back of the damn horse.”

Leo went right to Clarence’s feet as directed, and helped Adam and Ed reverently hoist his body onto the horse, behind Harley’s saddle.

“I’m going to have to tie him to the saddle so he doesn’t slide off. You have some of that rope we bought, Ed?” asked Harley.

“I’ll get it, hold on,” Ed replied as he went back to their horses.

It seemed peculiar how calm all the horses were now. They had gathered together, making no attempt to run off or even wander away. Harley realized it could be his imagination, but he thought the horses looked a bit sad now. Not as happy as when they had started their sunny journey yesterday. Seemed natural, Harley supposed, since the fellas all seemed more solemn, too. Clarence was dead. Harley’s mind flashed forward to having to explain this to Uncle Gene. He knew Uncle Gene would believe him, but it was going to be one heck of a thing to explain. He knew they would not get in trouble, but this was not how he wanted to start his visit to his uncle’s ranch. Burying a dead hobo. But, Clarence was more than a hobo. Harley felt even more sad right after he thought that. Clarence had a family who loved him; he was young and full of adventure. His getting killed was just wrong, but it happened. Harley felt a twinge of guilt for not being able to control his horse, but he remembered how fiercely he had to hold on to that scared-witless horse and he had the reins to cling to. Clarence had no chance of staying on the horse, and Harley knew it wasn’t his fault, but still, it was awful.

Harley tied him securely onto the back of the saddle, face down, and covered him with Clarence’s own bindle. It was going to be a long four hours or so to the ranch.

“We should ride a little farther and then get a rest and something to eat. Horses can get some water, to,” Harley suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” answered Leo. “Sure enough, we do not want to eat around here. I can’t believe what just happened, Harley. I can’t believe it. So, now we’re gonna move on, just go…like nothin’ happened?”

Harley, thinking things had settled down, replied tersely, “We have to get to the ranch today, Leo. We have to bury Clarence. What do you want us to do? Build a church right here, invite a bunch of his family, and have a funeral?” Harley was perturbed with Leo. Leo had not wanted to touch the body but doing so had made this more real to him. Harley simply did not have the time or the patience to deal with Leo’s reaction.

“I guess we have to go on, but this is just so bad. Clarence is dead. What else can we do?” asked Leo.

“We can try to notify his family after we get to the ranch. We know he was from outside Racine in Wisconsin. Uncle Gene can have the sheriff in Chelan contact their sheriff. I am not sure, but we have to stay practical, because there is nothing we can do to change this accident. That’s what it was, Leo, an accident. He wasn’t murdered or such. No gunfight or knifing, just a bad fall. A bad fall. At least he died quickly,” Harley reasoned.

“Can we get movin?” Adam asked. “Can we just get goin’ to this ranch and sleep in a bed tonight?”

“I agree. How ‘bout you Leo, you ready to go now?” said Harley.

“You’re right, we gotta move on. We really can’t do anything to help Clarence now, except find him a good place to be buried,” sighed Leo. “Let’s just go.”

They rode another forty-five minutes and finally came to a small creek. It was the size that probably dried up in the summer, but there was still enough water for the men and their horses. The last of the jerky was divided among them and the last can of beans was eaten. All of them were hoping, or rather counting on, eating dinner at a real table tonight. It did not matter if it was in Uncle Gene’s dining room or in the bunkhouse, they just wanted a chair to sit in and a table to eat off of. It didn’t seem real yet, but when Harley imagined his rear end actually sitting in a real chair, he knew he would have made it to where he needed to be for a while. He was hoping he could earn enough for a train ride back to Iowa. A real train ride in a passenger car, not a boxcar.

He did not share this thought with Leo or the old guys and he wasn’t sure why. It may have been that the old guys were used to riding the rails, although they sounded anxious to settle down here for a bit. They never indicated they would be in any hurry to leave, but maybe they were just experts at leaving their options open. Leo, on the other hand, may have wanted a place to settle down. Sometimes on this rail journey they had all been on, Leo would start taking about meeting a girl, getting married, and raising kids, after he sent money to his parents, of course. No one took him seriously because he could not even get a job to support himself. What woman would want that? This Depression was going to keep a lot of men from having families, as well as take men who already had families away from them, like when Charley had to leave Harley and Lena. Harley hoped he would never have to do anything like that to his family when he had one. His family would have it better; that is what his mother always told him. She said to get his education, get a good job, and then look around for just the right gal to share it with.

He was starting to daydream a little bit about that girl, when he heard Adam talking to the horses.

“You’re almost home, fellas. I guess your new owner is gonna be glad to see you and we hope he’s also glad to see us. Shall we get on the road? Are you ready to ride?”

“I’m ready, fellas,” said Harley.

“Me, too,” added Leo.

They made sure all their gear was packed and Harley tugged gently on the ropes that secured Clarence. They rode off to the east again. By now the sun was on their backs, but Harley knew they would get to the ranch before dusk. There was not much conversation. Now and then, one man might notice a critter or an unusual tree, or a rock formation. No one mentioned Clarence, but he was most likely on all their minds. He had been the most eager to get to the ranch, except for Harley. Since Clarence was a farm boy himself; he wanted to see the ranch, herd a cow or two, shear a sheep, and other familiar farm duties he had grown up doing in Wisconsin. Now they knew that all Clarence could do was rest in peace.