The Rocky Train Ride

The Rocky Train Ride

Hisssss, Hissss, ca-chink, ca-chink. The loud breaking of the train coming to a sudden stop shook me awake or was it the gentle nudge on my shoulder that woke me? Whichever it was startled me causing me to sit straight up and jerk my head side to side to clear my head from a deep nap and understand my surroundings. It was an uncomfortable nap anyway, so whatever woke me was welcoming but in wonderment.

Trying to come fully awake and calm my jitters from a feeling that there was something wrong, I looked up at the stranger who shook me awake.

“What’s going on?” I asked him.

“There’s a problem with the train’s fueling system. We are currently broke down,” the tall drink of water of a man replied.

“Oh, well thank you. Do you have any idea how long we will be stopped?” I asked while standing and leaning looking outside the dusty window.

“It’s going to be awhile. I hope you are not in a big hurry to reach your destination,” he smiled and answered in response.

I cupped my hand around my small bump that was forming in my stomach and felt regret or was it relief that we had stopped for an unknown amount of time. I sat my bottom back down onto the train’s hard cushioned seat with a thump.

“Are you alright, mam?” he asked.

He apparently noticed I was shaken just a bit from the staling of the train.

“I am fine. Sort of,” I expressed.

“You will be just fine. We won’t be stalled for very long. We have a very experienced engineer working on the problem. We will be back to the repetitious clicky-clacking of the iron wheels soon,” he explained with a smile.

The heat of the enclosure of the train began bearing down on me. I took a folded card, with his address on it, from my purse and began waving it for air. I stood up and faced the rest of the passengers on the train looking for the stranger. He was nowhere in sight.

“Are you alright, young lady?” an elderly lady asked.

“I am fine. It’s just this heat. And how are you doing? It’s got to be getting to you, too. It’s been hours sitting here.”

“I am doing fine. You must not be from these parts, Miss Humm. Not use to the heat of the summer in the south, I would say,” the woman said.

I did not respond to her question of my name but said, “You are right, mam. I am not use to this heat,” I continued looking for the young man who nudged me awake.

“If you are looking for Rocky, he’s up with the engineers,” she said.

“Oh, I wasn’t looking for him,” I lied. “I want to know how much longer we will be here. I need to be in Waco by tomorrow. I didn’t think we would have a problem like this since the railroads have improved so much from when they first started carrying passengers. After all, it is 1875,” I said disgruntledly.

“It doesn’t matter if it is 1875 or 1955, there will always be problems,” the deep voice came from behind me.

I didn’t know if my expression showed that I was relieved he was back or not, but I noticed I breathed a little easier knowing he was.

I turned around, looked him in his eyes, as we were both 6’ tall. “Thank you,” I said and squeezed in front of him to get back to my seat. I felt my heart quicken at the closeness.

The engineer stepped into the car and gave us the bad news. He would not be able to move the train down the tracks until he got a very necessary part to fix the boiler. He explained we would be staying overnight so get used to it and rest up. He gave a weak apology and shuffled down the car to the rear of the train.

I began breathing deeply and Rocky grabbed my arm and eased me onto the seat.

“Are you going to be ok?” he asked.

“I have to have something to eat, or I may pass out,” I told him weakly.

The elderly lady I spoke to earlier handed me an apple. I was afraid to take it as I knew she was hungry too. I denied the apple and thanked her and leaned back in the seat waving my fan.

I wiped sweat from my brow and turned at the faint smell of smoke. I looked out the window and saw Rocky bending over a small fire. He seemed to be cooking something.

In about 30 minutes, Rocky was passing out bowls of what he called rabbit stew to everyone on the train.

It was getting dark out and everyone began trying to make themselves comfortable on the seats of the train. I watched Rocky out the window sitting alone by the fire. Before I knew it, I had quietly stepped down the steps of the train and went to join him.

He stood up as I approached him and the fire.

“Mind if I join you,” I asked? It’s much cooler outside of the train car,” I stated.

“I guess you can.” He got up and laid a blanket on the ground across from him and I sat down.

“They say your name is Rocky. Mine is Sadie,” I said.

“Aren’t you afraid there will be talk about you coming out here alone, Sadie?” he asked.

“No, not really. Let them talk. They would probably talk about me if I came out here or stayed inside,” I said with a smirk.

If it wasn’t for the distant coyote yipping or the rustle of the tree leaves in the gentle breeze, there would be no sound at all.

“Not much of a talker, huh?” I asked.

“Oh, I can be. Do you want to talk about cows or horses or old Indian trails?” he asked with a grin.

I laughed. He was already handsome without that sly looking grin. But the grin only made him more handsome.

“Where are you headed?” he asked.

“Oh, to a ranch.” I answered and brushed the blown hair from my face.

“That tells me a lot. And which ranch would that be?”

“I don’t know the name of it. Someone is going to meet me at the railroad station which was supposed to be tomorrow. He is going to be angry, I mean disappointed if I don’t show up. He will probably come looking for me,” I continued.

His eyebrows wrinkled and he asked, “So, you have a husband?”

“Where are you headed?” I asked changing the subject.

“I am a Texas Ranger. I hire out to be security on the trains every now and then. I don’t want to worry you, but there have been some outlaws raiding the trains lately. So the railroad is taking precaution.”

“A Texas Ranger? Goodness, that’s a dangerous job,” I looked him in his eyes with concern.

After several hours visiting with him, I told him I wanted to go back inside the train. He helped me up and walked me to the steps of the car. At the entry of the car, I turned and waved and he did the same. He sat back down and added some wood to the fire.

Around noon the next day, the locomotive engineer announced we would be headed out. The boiler was fixed and would be firing up soon.

Rocky plopped down next to me without saying a word. I so wanted to touch his callused hand but didn’t. He made me dread what was facing me at the railroad station in Waco. I did not want to finish this trip. I knew where I wanted to be and who I wanted to be with and he was sitting next to me.

“I don’t have a husband waiting for me, Rocky.” I said.

“Excuse me?” he replied.

I grabbed my little handmade fan and began waving it quickly over my face.

“Who is waiting for you then?” he asked.

“My future husband who I have not met yet,” I answered. "He paid my father for my hand.”

He turned facing me with a questionable look. “Are you saying he bought you?”

“Yes, that is what I am saying.” I showed him the fan with the Triple 3 ranch address written on it.

He gazed upon it and said, “I know that ranch. It is near a small community called Crawford. I also know the old man who owns it. He’s a bachelor and lives alone on a 3,000 acre ranch. Is this who you were promised to?”

“Yes. I haven’t met him. Is he an old man?” I asked.

“Yes, if that is the man you are to marry. He’s about 50 years old. His wife died about a year ago. He’s not a bad person. Is this what you want to do?”

“No. It is not what I want to do. But he is willing to marry me and take care of me and my baby,” I explained and turned my eyes away from him and rested my hand on my small bump.

I heard him let out a long breath and sink down into the seat.

“I need to go check on things before we get started,” he said.

My heart sank as I watched him walk out of the railroad car.

“What did you expect him to do?” the elderly lady leaned over the back of my seat and whispered.

I twisted around and gave a stern look and turned back around. I heard her giggle.

After about an hour, I felt him slip into the seat next to me.

“You will be fine. His name is Oscar in case you didn’t know,” he said.

“Whose name is Oscar? You mean the rancher I am to marry? Yes, I have his name. We have corresponded through letters for a few months. I can’t tell what kind of a man he is through his letters. He just talks about cows and horses,” I giggled. Sounds like someone else I know,” and elbowed him in the side.

We sat together for hours and became comfortable talking about the moon and the stars, our dreams, our pasts and our families. He described the mesquite trees, cactus and the barren land of Texas as this Missourian was very unfamiliar with the new environment I was traveling into.

The engineer came back to the car and announced we would be in Waco in about 15 minutes. I was relieved as I, among everyone else on board, were relieved as well. We could finally get something to eat.But not so relieved as I would be parted from my Ranger.

“My Ranger?” I asked myself.

“Is Oscar supposed to meet you at the depot?” he asked.

“No. He is sending someone who will be holding up a sign with my name on it,” I said reluctantly.

The slow, rolling, screeching wheels eased the train on up to the depot. The hissing brakes stopped us in front of the station. Then the clinking sound of the disconnection of the couplings finalized the end of our trip.

I became very nervous. Rocky had jumped up quickly and was outside of the train before I had a chance to say bye. I searched and searched intently for him looking up and down the train car. I leaned across the seat to look out the window. I looked up and down the wooden sidewalk, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s got things to do, Missy,” the elderly woman said. "You might as well forget about him as he doesn’t want a used woman. You can bat those pretty blues all you want, but it won’t work on him. He’s a Texas Ranger and they never settle down,” she said with a smile.

My 20 years of age and my Christian upbringing stopped me from being down right blunt with the old lady. I didn’t say anything.

My boots clicked down to the first step and then down to the second one. Standing on the boardwalk I slowly walked around and through all the people towards the overhang of the station. I stood on my tiptoes and raised my head to search for the person who was to pick me up. Height could be a good thing at times. And it was a good thing now as I could see over the heads of most people. Moving my head back and forth, I searched through the crowd looking for whomever held the sign with my name on it.

My eyes landed on my Ranger standing straight as an oak tree holding the paper sign with my name between his hands. I walked up to him. We looked into each other eyes with a softness. I felt him caress me with his caring eyes.

“You? You were sent to pick me up?” I asked wonderingly.

“Sort of. I relieved the literate cowhand who was sent here. I would never understand why Pa would send him to pick you up,” he laughed.

“Your dad? I am marrying your dad?” I asked with a shaky voice.

“It seems so. Oscar Hillsboro is my dad. He owns the Triple 3. I had no idea he was searching for a wife. We haven’t talked in years,” he said as he looked down at his feet.

I stood still for a moment looking around before saying, “Well, I guess I go then, huh?”

“I guess so. I’ll get your luggage.”

We arrived at the ranch and approached a beautiful big ranch house under the shade of enormous oak trees. The pasture land was covered in green and was dotted with cattle and horses. The rose garden that outlined the front of the house reminded me of home. It all took my breath away.

Rocky clicked the backs of the horses with the reins and we rode up to the ten foot double wooden doors of the house. Rocky did not bother to dismount from the buggy but urged me to go on. I stepped out, looking at Rocky, expecting him to help with my baggage. I unloaded the three pieces, and Rocky quickly clicked his tongue and patted the horses with the reins and was gone. An older man walked outside and greeted me as I eyed Rocky’s leaving.

I married Oscar seven days later.

At night, I would walk by the bay window in the attic and look out over the hills. In the distance, I could see him. He sat tall in the saddle. I watched his soldier-like silhouette every night. He waved his lantern at me and I waved mine at him.

For 15 years, our goodnights were shared from the attic window and from the hill. I longed for him but my feelings were never exposed.

He never came for a visit and my love for him never changed.

Then one night I found Oscar had passed away in his sleep. While he laid at rest in his bed, I took his cold hand and told him about Rocky.

The goodnights from the attic and from the hill beyond finally ended. My Ranger, my protector was by my side. On the other side was my daughter, Alice.