Thief of My Heart (Watty Awards Finalist 2012)

Chapter 25

It was Evangeline's first time on a stagecoach.  She kept her head out the window almost the entire ride.  The scenery they passed as they made their way northwest  was the most beautiful and breathtaking she'd ever seen.  They passed by majestic mountains, sweeping valleys and multicolored canyons.  But the most spectacular sight of all was one that also had the boys enthralled.  It was  herd after herd  of wild mustangs running free through the canyons  and up into the hills.  One herd in particular was led by a beautiful white mare and one of her followers was the most magnificent black stallion they'd ever seen.  Heyes was enraptured watching the elegant beasts as they ran free.  He was also enraptured by the young woman sitting across from him.  He smiled at her enthusiasm and her joy at each new discovery she made on their journey.  He loved seeing her so happy. 

They arrived at the Red Rock stage depot  around five that  evening.   A driver was waiting for them with a surrey to bring them to Mr. McCreedy's ranch.  The surrey came to a halt in front of the walkway leading to the front porch of the large two story ranch house.   The robust older gentleman was genuinely glad to see them as they made their way up the walk and onto the porch.

"Welcome, Miss Webb, welcome.  Come in boys and make yourselves at home.  Georgia will have supper on the table shortly.  In the mean time, let's all go into the parlor.  I just had some cigars delivered all the way from Virginia. " 

Mac led them  into the parlor where he offered the boys a cigar.  Evangeline let her gaze travel leisurely around the spacious room.  Mr. McCreedy's home was very warm and inviting.  Rich dark wood floors, huge fireplaces with stone hearths, lots of windows with heavy brocade drapes.   The furnishings were beautiful and expensive looking.  As the boys lit their cigars and discussed the many wild horses they'd seen on the ride up to Red Rock,  Evangeline admired the handsome collection  of artwork on display in the large parlor.   That's when she saw it.  It stood in the corner at the far end of the room.  It was polished to a mirror-like finish.   The deck leaning back casually in invitation.  She walked to it almost entranced.  She had seen drawings and had heard stories but she'd never seen one in real life.  She ran her fingers along the shiny, slick curvature of its side.   She caressed the glossy wood.  It's lid was propped open  exposing the hammers and strings, the plates and dampers.  As she stood in front of it, she felt as if an old friend, long forgotten, and now rediscovered was standing in front of her.   Seating herself on the cushioned bench she let her fingers span the keys,  reacquainting herself with ebony and ivory that she hadn't realized she'd missed so much.  She sat in front of the grand piano, hypnotised by it's beauty.  The only piano she'd ever played was the old upright one that had been her mother's and the ancient relic they had used at her church.  She had always dreamed of playing a grand piano.  The sight of her hands on the white keys was so familiar except for the silver ring that now surrounded her left ring finger.  How she wished her mother were here to share her first experience with a grand piano.  This is for you, Mama. As soon as she struck the first note, it was as if everything else in the world disappeared.  It was just her and her music.  Her beloved music.

"Mighty fine, aye, boys?"  Mac asked the boys as they enjoyed the expensive cigars.

"Yep, mighty fine, Mac.  Now about those mustangs....."

All conversation stopped and all eyes turned to the far end of the room as the first melodic notes sounded from the piano.     All three men traded surprised looks before gathering around the piano to listen.  All stood spellbound as they watched and listened to  Evangeline play. 

Hannibal Heyes had never seen a more delightful sight than the sight of her at that keyboard.  Her eyes were closed and she was bent low over the keyboard.  She seemed to feel each note.  Her facial expression changed with the tone and inflection of the music.  Her fingers worked magic on the keyboard.  The music she drew from that piano was unlike anything he'd ever heard.  He didn't think she even realized they were standing there listening.  She was simply magnificent.  Another surprise.  Something else to love about her.

When she finished, she opened her eyes to find all three men standing there staring at her speechless.  "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. McCreedy, I hope you don't mind.  I should have asked you first.  It's just been so long since I've played and I've missed it so."

"It's perfectly fine, my dear.   You may play as much and as often as you like.  I only bought this piano to fill this empty corner.  I never did learn to play.  And I don't think I could play like that even if I had learned. "

"Thank you.  I do enjoy playing."

"How come you never told me you could play like that?"  Heyes asked.

"I believe I did tell you I played.  I told you my mother said I was a prodigy."

"Yeah, you said you could play, but I didn't think you meant, play.  I thought you meant like, "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair."    She played the the first few bars of the song.

"Or 'The Camptown Races,' Kid interjected.   She played a few bars of  that one as well.

"How many songs do you know in your head?"

"A lot.  I remember most of the songs that I used to play back home.  I can read music and I can play by ear.  And once I learn a piece I usually don't forget it.  Mama and Daddy said it was a very rare ability."

"Play something else.  Something like that first song you played."

"That was Bach. It was Mama's favorite."  A melancholy smile creased her lovely face for a moment.    "How about some Mozart? 'Sonata in C."   She began the lively masterpiece and played it without missing a note.  When she was playing it was like she was in a trance.  The song ended with an eruption of applause from  the three gentlemen.  She captivated them yet again when she played her favorite piece by her favorite composer, Beethoven's "Fur Elise."  She thought she could have played all night, and might have had it not been for the announcement that supper was on the table.

"Supper's on the table.  Y'all come on and don't let it get cold."   The announcement was made by Mac's cook and housekeeper, Miss Georgia Moon.  Georgia was an emancipated slave who had come west after the civil war.  She had showed up on Pat McCreedy's ranch and asked for work.  One taste of her southern cooking and Mac had hired her.  She'd been running his household now for fifteen years.  She had her own room just off the kitchen at the back of the house.  She was a petite woman in her late fifties with dark brown skin and eyes.    "Well, Mr. Jones, it's good to have you back wit' us.  Sho' hope you'll be stayin' longer this time."

"It's good to be back, Miss Georgia.  I've missed all that good home cooking."   Kid patted  his stomach for emphasis.

"Don't look like you missed too many meals to me,"  Miss Georgia said skeptically as she looked Kid Curry's fit muscular frame over.  That comment put a smug grin on Heyes' face.  But it  quickly disappeared when Miss Georgia eyed him closely and said,  "But this one here....you need some of Miss Georgia's good home cookin' for sho.  Now sit on down there all of you.   Especially you young lady.  You can't be 'spectin' to find you no husband being all skinny like that.  Men folks likes a woman they can hold on to, not one that's gonna be pokin' him with bones when he go to  huggin' her up.  Well, don't just stand there lookin' stupid.  All of ya sit."

"Yes, ma'am,"   all three said as they hurriedly took their places at the large oak dining table with Big Mac at the head.  They ravenously dug into plates piled high with fried chicken, roasted sweet potatoes,  turnip greens, creamed onions and cornbread.  The meal ended with hot apple dumplings.

During the meal Mac asked about their trip up from Alpine and was troubled to hear of the highway robbery that had left them penniless.   But he had to laugh out loud when the boys recounted Evie's successful swindle of the unsuspecting cowpokes.  When Evangeline treated him to an energetic description of all the wondrous sights she's seen on the stagecoach ride,  the subject of the wild horses came up again.   He too had seen them and was very interested in the possibilities they presented.  With that in mind he made the boys a proposition. If the boys could wrangle some of those mustangs,  he  would supply the corral and stables,  feed and equipment for them to break the horses.  They could have the empty bunkhouse all to themselves.  Apparently there was a huge market for western colts and there were plenty of them free for the taking out in the hills and canyons.  After the horses were broken then sold,  the boys would split the profit with Mac fifty fifty, in exchange for using his corral,  stables and bunkhouse.   It would be a perfect arrangement.  And an opportunity for the boys to earn an honest living while doing something they loved. As many wild horses as there were out there, and considering the amount of time it would take to train them to harness and saddle, it could turn into a long stint of employment.   Staying here on Mac's ranch instead of in town, meant there was little chance of running into anyone who might recognize them.  As Evie listened to the men make plans for wrangling and training horses and lining up potential buyers, she couldn't help but wonder what all this meant for her. Where would she stay?  Did she figure into the plan at all?

As if reading her thoughts, Big Mac announced,  "As for you young lady,  I've got a surprise for you."

He motioned for them all to follow him.  He led them up the stairs and down the hallway to a corner room at the back of the ranch house.  He opened the door and allowed Evie to step inside first.  Her breath caught in her throat.  She stood inside the most gorgeous room she'd ever seen.  The large bed in the center of the far wall  was covered with a pale blue lacy spread and piled high with pillows.  The tall bed posts supported a canopy and shear blue drapes that hung to the floor.  A chaise lounge sat by the fireplace to the left of the bed, a large cherry wood wardrobe stood in the far right corner and to her immediate right a vanity table with attached wash basin.  Next to the bed was a night table and a standing mirror.  A large window to the left of the bed and another to the right of the wardrobe were dressed with frilly blue curtains.  Beneath her feet was a thick Persian rug.   She felt like she had stepped into a fairy tale.  She spun around with a questioning yet hopeful look.

"It's yours if you want it.  I'm extending an invitation for you to stay here at the ranch as long as you need to.  I don't figure it will look too proper for you to be staying in hotel rooms or bunkhouses with two young men.  This house has four bedrooms and servants quarters, but there's only me and Georgia here.  The whole place was going to waste.   I have a library full of books,  you can study any subject you like.  You can help Georgia out around the house if you want.  And you can play that piano all day if you want to.  And the boys can come and visit any time they want.  In fact,  I insist that they be here for breakfast, lunch and supper.  When they're not out wrangling them wild mustangs that is."

"This is so generous of you, Mr. McCreedy.  I don't know what to say."  She looked expectantly at Heyes, as if asking his permission to say yes.