Dark Ranges

Breakfast

The atmosphere of the kitchen stood in stark contrast to the menace of the morning. Thanks mainly to the charm and ability of Edward Murdock's daughter Tess, another cousin of Joshua's. This one he held in considerably higher esteem than Degory. Tess was the image of feminine grace and practice. Her father had seen to it that she would not neglect her studies and, much like Joshua's father had sent him to his brother to learn the value of hard work, so had Edward sent his daughter to Boston to learn the value of academics and etiquette. This, coupled with boundless energy and a desire to please, made Tess an ingratiating companion to both the denizens of Harvard Yard and the cow punchers of her fathers farm.

This morning, like most mornings, Tess could be found putting the finishing touches a tin a biscuits and setting the table with lard, ham, cheese, and milk. This warmed the hearth and the heart of even Joshua who favored his cousin without guile – something nearly alien to him in every other facet of his life. It wasn't just that she could cook that made Tess so special to Joshua. She was also an accomplished poet and critic and he took special fondness in their late-night chats regarding the merits of everyone from Chaucer and Shakespeare to more recent discoveries such as Coleridge and Yeats. Tess loved the Brontes and Shelley while Joshua considered them weak-minded sentimentalists and preferred Sir Philip Sydney and Spenser. Men of action, reason, and nationalism – able to back up their words with deeds; a characteristic that Joshua deluded himself into thinking he shared with those men.

For her part, Tess welcomed the affection of her cousin if only because it presented a diversion from her daily routine on the farm, but she had been sent to Boston as unwillingly as Joshua had been sent to Kansas. While she eventually embraced literary pursuits, it was not where her heart lay. In fact, she wished her father would treat her more like he treated Degory. She loved to ride and she loved the animals on the farm, but the task of keeping the household kept her away from both most of the time – especially during the shortened days of winter.

Still, she carried on without complaint, rising early and pulling her long, flaxen hair back into a pony tail and going to the kitchen to perform tasks that her mother had barely had the time to teach her before her death four years earlier. Her father doted on her even as he insisted how she should live her life.

"Something smells delicious," said Edward, coming into the kitchen.

"Mmm, I couldn't agree more," Joshua stated.

For her part, much as it hadn't escaped her father's watchful eyes, the gloom of the morning's visitor had not gone unnoticed by Tess either. She detected her father was hesitant to bring it up and, perhaps, had even warned Joshua not to mention it as well. He likely wouldn't want to frighten her unnecessarily. Winter months had a way of taking their toll on even the heartiest souls. She smiled warmly at both men as they waited at the table for their breakfast. She wouldn't ask the question unless her father wanted to answer it. This had been her way – as much as it went against her nature – since her mother's death. It had changed both the children. Edward Murdock, a great man in the provincial sense, nearly laid low at the sight of his beloved wife's coffin being lowered into the ground. But they pulled together, in their way, and each adapted to form a family unit that was perhaps more united than they had been when their mother was alive and served as the center of the family. Degory, for his part, had taken up the mantle of strength and compassion – the former demonstrated most often by his father and the latter most often by his mother. Tess became the listener and the homemaker – a source of quiet support and a treasure to be protected and held dear.

In his children, Edward found the will to live and to not return to the hard drinking ways that threatened to claim his own father before him.

And now as he watched his lovely daughter, laughing quietly at something Joshua was saying, and admired his tall, broad and handsome son entering the kitchen tousling his wavy chestnut hair, he struggled not to allow the thoughts of that stranger enter his mind. He felt them coming on like a headache – forcing their way into his mind in a way that only served to reinforce that it was important that they eat their breakfast and get to the task of securing the property as soon as possible.

Once all the food had been placed on the table, and everyone was seated - it was a family tradition that, out of respect, no one should eat until the cook had seated herself – everyone bowed their heads to ask God to bless the meal. Each person sat quietly enjoying the food placed before them. Hunger has a way of silencing even the most boisterous. However, each had things on his or her mind today as well. With the exception of Degory who had slept as late as he could before rolling over in his bed to stare at the morning light streaking across the deep blue and violet winter skies. If there was anything good that could be said about the harsh winters is they created in nature a quiet and mysterious beauty that could only truly be appreciated, Degory thought, from the comfort of his bed, wrapped in as many blankets as everyone else could spare. The big cowboy took his comforts as seriously as he took his work.

Since he felt nothing of the stranger's passing, Deg was the first to break the silence.

"How're them cows this cold, cold morning, cousin?" he playfully asked Joshua.

"Big and stupid – just as everyday, Degory," replied Joshua with a sigh. His inference going either unnoticed or misinterpreted by everyone at the table except Tess – although she did not like Joshua to pointedly look towards her bother when he used the words big and stupid.

"Ah, Josh, they's just playin' with ya, son. You gotta know how to convince 'em. You're not lovin' em right," Deg continued.

If Joshua was Deg's superior in intellect and wit – he had several weaknesses that the larger boy did not mind playfully exploiting. The chief of these being Joshua hated the farm and farm work while Degory loved it and was far better at it. The smaller man would allow his temper to get the best of him when Deg offered him his useless advice. When the inevitable outburst came, Joshua was left to sit in shame at his anger while amusement crept across the faces of the rest of the family.

Today would be no different except that today the patriarch was in no mood for it.

"That'll be enough, Degory. Finish your breakfast and get your gear on. We'll all be riding out to check the fences and bring in the stragglers." Edward stated.

Degory glanced respectfully towards his father, cleared his throat and got back to business of filling his belly.

"Looks like a cold one, father," Tess said, "I'll fill the wood box when I get the table cleared."

Edward glanced at his daughter sitting at the other end of the table and nodded slightly. He then found himself looking out the kitchen window towards the wood shed some 25 yards from house and following a line along one of his fences back to the door. He pinched his lower lip thoughtfully, measuring in his mind how long it would take his daughter to fill the wood box. How many trips to the shed; how many steps in each.

"...is the something wrong, Daddy?" He heard Tess asking. It snapped him out of his reverie.

"Pardon?" he asked.

"I was asking if there was something wrong with breakfast. You haven't eaten much. Are you feeling OK?" The sincere concern from his dear daughter caught him.

"No, dear, no," he chuckled at himself, " I was just thinking you have enough to do around here. Before we saddle up, Deg and Josh can fill the wood box."

Tess giggled, "Daddy, I can do it..."

Degory rolled his eyes, set his fork down and agreed, " C'mon, dad she's right. Do I have to do everyone's chores today?"

Edward stared hard at his son. "You and Joshua will fill the wood box. Now get to it."

With that the son said nothing. He knew better by now. He just shot a glance at Joshua who wisely had his head down showing an unusual level of interest in the buttering of his biscuit. Deg would find no quarter with either of the men at the table – not this morning.