Chapter One: Fired
Mr. Hyde came through the doorway with a sorry look about him, which said what his mission was even before he did. Willie Fae Marlyn stood up, picking up her hat as she did so.
"Well?" she asked, in that pronounced drawl of hers, even though she already knew what Mr. Hyde was going to say.
"The evidence isn't good to you, Willie Fae." Mr. Hyde said. "Even though it's only a minor thing, and even though it's since been pretty well cleared up, the fact that you didn't tell me about it before makes it look like you're hiding something."
Willie Fae looked him in the eye. "I wasn't. I just needed a job, and I figured with that on my record it'd be better if I didn't say nothin'."
Mr. Hyde nodded. "I understand your point, but I can't help this. If I keep you on here and do nothing about this it will make both me and you look bad."
"I know." Willie Fae answered.
"Under the circumstances, of course you understand that I'll have to let you go." Mr. Hyde concluded.
Willie Fae nodded and turned to go.
"Wait a minute-" Mr. Hyde interrupted her. "Where will you go?"
She shrugged, putting her hat back on over her light red hair. "I'll find somethin'. Always have." With that she headed outside of Mr. Hyde's office.
Joe greeted her as she walked around the corner of the offices. "Good morning Willie Fae!"
Willie Fae cast him a dark look. "What's so good about it?"
"Well, the sun's shining and it's not too hot or too cold and..." Joe could tell she wasn't interested in the explanation. "What's wrong?"
"Everything," she said, rather unhelpfully, as she headed for the stables in the back to get her horse.
Joe looped the reins of the horse he was leading over a nearby tree and hurried after her. She saddled up her horse, Kentucky Belle, a sorrel Mustang filly, and disappeared up the stairs into the side of the loft where she stayed, coming back to put her things into her saddle bags. Then she swung up into the saddle.
"What are you doing?" Joe asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She responded. "Hunting elephants? I'm leaving."
"But why?"
"Because I've been fired, that's why. Now get out of the way or you'll get stepped on."
"But why were you fired?" Joe wanted to know.
Willie Fae stared at him a moment. He was 14, worked at Mr. Hyde's horse stables in the summer to earn money. He looked up to Willie Fae as someone who did what he wanted to do- be a "real modern cowboy". Or girl in Willie Fae's case anyway. Did she need to tell him the real reason she was fired? No. She couldn't do that to him.
"That ain't none of your business!" she retorted.
"But why can't you tell me?" Joe pleaded. "Mr. Hyde can't fire you and if he does you have to tell me why so I can tell him not to!"
"It's too late for that," Willie Fae informed him.
"But what about Maggie? You know she only lets you handle her." he said of the delightfully peevish mare. "She won't do anything if you leave. What'll we do? What can I say to her owner?"
"Tell her the government swore me to secrecy." Willie Fae said sarcastically. "Now move. I'm sorry Joe but this is it. See you around."
With that she urged Kentucky Belle into a canter and disappeared from Mr. Hyde's stables.
She rode up the hill at the end of the road and turned Kentucky Belle up towards the hill, tossing her light red hair out of her eyes, her dark brown eyes searching the hilly area ahead of her. She wanted to go to the next town over to look for work. She never stayed working in one place very long but usually she quit-- never before then had she been fired.
The next town over happened to be Mayville, and she just happened to know the daughter of the mayor of that town. That was something good, since she knew that just might help her find a job.
It was only five miles to Mayville, so she spurred Kentuck to a canter and headed her up a large hill, which was a shortcut between the two towns that was faster than taking the roads.
She urged the filly in to a gallop as she approached the outskirts of a woodsy area. She headed Kentuck for a large fallen log, and Kentuck knew what she wanted. The Mustang moved into an even gallop and cleared the log with grace. It didn't take a genius to figure out that that sort of thing was what Willie Fae lived for.
It was less than thirty minutes later that horse and rider came into Mayville. As usual they attracted a lot of attention from passers by, likely because a horse and rider are not common sights in a town, certainly not in a time as modern as the 1970s!
Willie Fae knew the address she needed off the top of her head- 114 South Stamp Drive. She came up in front of it within the next five minutes or so.
There was no missing the correct townhouse- it was a row of townhouses, lavishly expensive ones- on a street lined with them, and all in the "upper level district" of the town. But 114 South Stamp Drive stood out from the other red bricked, white shuttered townhouses, with their steps in front with the black wrought iron rails and their brown doors and plain windows.
The reason was that 114 had a pale red front door with the panels in it painted blue and with matching trim around its window, which had sub-lime green curtains in it. Every window in the three story town house had a red painted window box full of vibrant flowers. All the windows had blue trim and even the mailbox was painted with yellow and green chevron stripes. The wrought iron rail was orange and white. It was jokingly nicknamed "The Fun House" by the others on the street, after the wild colored fun houses for children found at carnivals and festivals.
Willie Fae tied Kentucky Belle to the railing and walked up to the door, pausing to shake her head at the plate around the doorbell as it was in the shape of a flower. She pressed it and in a moment a French girl, whom Willie Fae knew to be the girl who came to clean every Monday, opened the door, smiled at Willie Fae and called into a room behind her somewhere "Daisy! You'll want to see who it is at ze door!"
Then the maid scurried off and Daisy Mae Carter, the mayor's daughter, appeared.
She had blue tinted eyes, and black hair, a perfect figure and in general a perfect disposition. Willie Fae remembered back in grade school with Daisy Mae, she had earned the nickname "Ditzy Daisy Mae" for a very good reason.
"Oh, Willie Fae! I thought I wouldn't see you again for ages! Oh my goodness!" Daisy raved. "Come inside!"
Willie Fae shook her head. "You know I ain't going in there. All them colors would make me dizzy."
Daisy Mae didn't argue- she knew better than to argue with Willie Fae - but she giggled. Giggling was Daisy's answer for everything. "Why, I live here and they don't make me dizzy!"
"Well, you're naturally that way." returned Willie Fae.
That was the way the two's friendship went- Willie Fae could say such things all she wanted but Daisy never took offence and just giggled like she always did for everything.
"Are you staying here?"
"I hope not." Willie Fae said with a little laugh. "I'm just looking for a job here and whatever I get I hope will pay for me to stay somewhere."
"But at first you might." Daisy said hopefully.
"I doubt it." Willie Fae muttered. "I was hoping to get a job today."
"How?"
"Well..." Willie Fae began. "I was a-thinkin' that you might be able to help out with that."
"Oh!" Daisy exclaimed. "Well... I could ask Daddy about any jobs."
"That'd help." agreed Willie Fae.
So Daisy disappeared into the house for several minutes. The mayor didn't come outside- he rarely did unless there was a pretty good reason- but he gave Daisy Mae a piece of paper with a name on it. It was for the local cattle auction barn.
"He said Mr. Salsburry at the auction barn is looking for some cowboys and they might take you even though you're not a boy. And Mrs. Lester's boarding house will do for you to stay at he said. It's cheap and most the cowboys stay there so you could get a ride into work every day maybe."
Willie Fae promised Daisy she wouldn't leave town without seeing her again and headed for the auction barn. She rode up to it with Kentucky Belle about a half hour later and Mr. Salsburry hired her on the spot; Mrs. Lester accepted her and Mason, one of the other cowboys, agreed to let her ride with him to work so she didn't have to ride.
Lunch was at 1:00 instead of at 12:00 like one would think. On one of her lunches she was standing outside, holding her lunch - a candy bar - in one hand and trying to open it with the other, when she felt something cold against her leg and it caused her to jump. She looked down to see a brown and white farm dog. He was wagging his tail to and fro and had his mouth open in a grin.
"Well, howdy, pooch." She reached down and scratched him behind the ears. The dog wagged his tail back and forth, slapping her on the back of the leg. "You want a piece of my lunch?"
'Heck yes, I do!' the dog seemed to be saying- he sat down and swept his tail across the ground, looking at her with brown eyes brimming with expectancy.
She broke off a half of her candy bar - which was a payday, by the way- and ate one, and tossed the other towards the dog. He snapped it right out of the air. She smiled at him and brushed her out of her eyes. "Well, you can catch, but you ain't much to look at. I'd wager you're about one tenths cowdog, seven tenths roundworm, and two tenths fleas." The dog sat back on his haunches and "stood up", tail still going, and put her paws on her legs, looking for attention. She gave him a pat on the ribs and said "But just 'cause I shared my lunch with you don't mean I filed for adoption. I'm mean and gripey and hard hearted and I ain't got time for a stray dog."
'But if you'd take me with you, I wouldn't be a stray dog anymore!' The dog looked up at her with remorse filled eyes.
She gave him one last pat and headed for the back of the lot. Another trailer was backing up to the alley. She had cattle to drive.
The dog, meanwhile, trotted around the building. He tipped a trash can or two but there wasn't anything worthwhile in them. Most had stale crackers, or concrete chunks in them. The dog never ate rocks or stale crackers, but he wasn't too hungry anymore, not after the candy bar.
He came around the back of the barn into the area with pens, and ducked under the bottom boards of several fences, all of which were empty. He came out on the east side just in time to see Willie Fae make a running leap over a fence, one step ahead of a cow.
Once on the other side she heaved a great sigh and turned around to study the cow, who was glaring at her from the other side of the fence. "Well ain't you just a ray of sunshine. Old hag." She noticed the dog sitting a few feet away, watching her. "That cow's determined to get into my back pocket!" then she stopped herself and scowled. "What am I talkin' to a dog for?" She sat down on an upside down five gallon bucket and answered her own question. "'Cause nobody else is hard up enough for somethin' to do that they'll listen, that's why."
The dog came trotting up, and sat down next to her. She looked down at him.
"Any ideas?"
He wagged his tail very slowly, as if to say 'No... but I know we'll think of something.'
Then a light came on in her face. She stood up and walked to the pick up of the man she rode to work with, and opened the door. The dog watched with his head cocked, as she reached across the seat and grabbed her catch rope. She walked back to the dog, and gave him a half smile. "How'd you like to be promoted to my official assistant?"
The dog just looked at her with a cowdog grin.
"Then follow me." She hung the rope over her arm and started walking towards the pen, at the other end of the alley. The dog followed, at her heels. When she got to the end of the alley, she turned around and got down on one knee. The dog came closer, as though expecting something. She gave him a pat on the head, and then slipped her catch rope around the dog's middle.
The dog seemed to be staring at her in an enpuzzled fashion. She rubbed him behind the ears, stood up, and started walking towards the gate on the pen. The dog, being attached to her rope, had no choice but to follow.
She opened the gate, and turned to look at the dog. "Go on in there, puppy."
The dog's ears jumped. 'Me? Go in there? There's mad cow in there! And I'm not in the mood to get shiskebobbed!'
When the dog didn't budge she reached down and picked him up, and proceeded to put him the pen. She stood in the gate, and he couldn't get out. Meanwhile the cow at the other end of the alley saw him. Her ears pricked up. Her eyes focused. She snorted. She pawed the ground.... and here she came.
The dog looked at her for a moment, before making a dive from the pen. Of course it didn't work because of the rope. He bounced back. By now that cow was almost there, but suddenly the dog found himself sailing through the air, one step ahead of the posse, so to speak, as Willie Fae pulled on the rope, and the game slammed shut. Willie Fae dropped the rope and rushed to shut the gate sealing the cow off from the alley.
Out of breath, she leaned on the alley fence and grinned down at the dog. "Well, maybe you an' me'll get better than I figured."
The dog looked up at her with a confused expression- for a dog anyway.
"Oh, you wasn't in any danger. Scaredy cat."
There was a beeping sound from behind her, and she looked back behind her to see a pick up pull in. It was Mr. Salsburry.
"Uh oh." she said to the dog. "That man can start a conversation in an empty house. And if there's one thing I think's overrated, it's talking. Talking to people anyway. Dogs ain't so bad. They don't require answers."
"Hello Willie Fae! Great day isn't it?" Mr Salsburry greeted her.
"Yalp." She glanced down at her boots and then leaned against the fence again. She never looked people in the eye when she talked unless she had to- what was the point?
"Things going okay? How do you like working with the cowboys?"
"Fine."
"You know," Mr. Salsbury said, "I'm happy to hear that! Last cowboy I hired, he didn't like it at all. He kept saying he wanted out, wanted to go to a cooler climate. Guess where he moved to? Alaska! Imagine that, a feller from right here in Texas moving to Alaska! Ha! He moved to Juneau, as I recall.... Yes, Juneau is was. They say they have some cattle in Alaska too, but I don't know about it... too cold for me. But just imagine, all the way to Juneau! Pretty big change in climate, Juneau is, huh? Ha!"
Then he looked at his watch. "Better let y'all get back to work. See you tomorrow! Say, maybe I'll tell ya about the time I wore down a bronc stallion one handed!"
Willie Fae sincerely hoped not. The idea made her brain hurt.
"Yep." was all she said, and she nodded to his wave, before he drove off. But she didn't look at him. She wasn't even paying attention to him. She was looking at the dog. She had been throughout the entire, one sided conversation. Every time the man had said "Juneau" the dog had reacted- by wagging his tail and coming closer, by looking up at him with expectancy, by nudging him with his nose. Mr. Salsburry hadn't noticed that either, apparently, but now she knew....
"Is Juneau your name?" She got down on one knee, on the dog's level. The dog started wig-wagging his tail in a rapid fashion. "Hmm. Funny name for a cowdog... or any dog in Texas. But if your name's Juneau, fine with me. That's what I'll call you."
"Well?" she asked, in that pronounced drawl of hers, even though she already knew what Mr. Hyde was going to say.
"The evidence isn't good to you, Willie Fae." Mr. Hyde said. "Even though it's only a minor thing, and even though it's since been pretty well cleared up, the fact that you didn't tell me about it before makes it look like you're hiding something."
Willie Fae looked him in the eye. "I wasn't. I just needed a job, and I figured with that on my record it'd be better if I didn't say nothin'."
Mr. Hyde nodded. "I understand your point, but I can't help this. If I keep you on here and do nothing about this it will make both me and you look bad."
"I know." Willie Fae answered.
"Under the circumstances, of course you understand that I'll have to let you go." Mr. Hyde concluded.
Willie Fae nodded and turned to go.
"Wait a minute-" Mr. Hyde interrupted her. "Where will you go?"
She shrugged, putting her hat back on over her light red hair. "I'll find somethin'. Always have." With that she headed outside of Mr. Hyde's office.
Joe greeted her as she walked around the corner of the offices. "Good morning Willie Fae!"
Willie Fae cast him a dark look. "What's so good about it?"
"Well, the sun's shining and it's not too hot or too cold and..." Joe could tell she wasn't interested in the explanation. "What's wrong?"
"Everything," she said, rather unhelpfully, as she headed for the stables in the back to get her horse.
Joe looped the reins of the horse he was leading over a nearby tree and hurried after her. She saddled up her horse, Kentucky Belle, a sorrel Mustang filly, and disappeared up the stairs into the side of the loft where she stayed, coming back to put her things into her saddle bags. Then she swung up into the saddle.
"What are you doing?" Joe asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She responded. "Hunting elephants? I'm leaving."
"But why?"
"Because I've been fired, that's why. Now get out of the way or you'll get stepped on."
"But why were you fired?" Joe wanted to know.
Willie Fae stared at him a moment. He was 14, worked at Mr. Hyde's horse stables in the summer to earn money. He looked up to Willie Fae as someone who did what he wanted to do- be a "real modern cowboy". Or girl in Willie Fae's case anyway. Did she need to tell him the real reason she was fired? No. She couldn't do that to him.
"That ain't none of your business!" she retorted.
"But why can't you tell me?" Joe pleaded. "Mr. Hyde can't fire you and if he does you have to tell me why so I can tell him not to!"
"It's too late for that," Willie Fae informed him.
"But what about Maggie? You know she only lets you handle her." he said of the delightfully peevish mare. "She won't do anything if you leave. What'll we do? What can I say to her owner?"
"Tell her the government swore me to secrecy." Willie Fae said sarcastically. "Now move. I'm sorry Joe but this is it. See you around."
With that she urged Kentucky Belle into a canter and disappeared from Mr. Hyde's stables.
She rode up the hill at the end of the road and turned Kentucky Belle up towards the hill, tossing her light red hair out of her eyes, her dark brown eyes searching the hilly area ahead of her. She wanted to go to the next town over to look for work. She never stayed working in one place very long but usually she quit-- never before then had she been fired.
The next town over happened to be Mayville, and she just happened to know the daughter of the mayor of that town. That was something good, since she knew that just might help her find a job.
It was only five miles to Mayville, so she spurred Kentuck to a canter and headed her up a large hill, which was a shortcut between the two towns that was faster than taking the roads.
She urged the filly in to a gallop as she approached the outskirts of a woodsy area. She headed Kentuck for a large fallen log, and Kentuck knew what she wanted. The Mustang moved into an even gallop and cleared the log with grace. It didn't take a genius to figure out that that sort of thing was what Willie Fae lived for.
It was less than thirty minutes later that horse and rider came into Mayville. As usual they attracted a lot of attention from passers by, likely because a horse and rider are not common sights in a town, certainly not in a time as modern as the 1970s!
Willie Fae knew the address she needed off the top of her head- 114 South Stamp Drive. She came up in front of it within the next five minutes or so.
There was no missing the correct townhouse- it was a row of townhouses, lavishly expensive ones- on a street lined with them, and all in the "upper level district" of the town. But 114 South Stamp Drive stood out from the other red bricked, white shuttered townhouses, with their steps in front with the black wrought iron rails and their brown doors and plain windows.
The reason was that 114 had a pale red front door with the panels in it painted blue and with matching trim around its window, which had sub-lime green curtains in it. Every window in the three story town house had a red painted window box full of vibrant flowers. All the windows had blue trim and even the mailbox was painted with yellow and green chevron stripes. The wrought iron rail was orange and white. It was jokingly nicknamed "The Fun House" by the others on the street, after the wild colored fun houses for children found at carnivals and festivals.
Willie Fae tied Kentucky Belle to the railing and walked up to the door, pausing to shake her head at the plate around the doorbell as it was in the shape of a flower. She pressed it and in a moment a French girl, whom Willie Fae knew to be the girl who came to clean every Monday, opened the door, smiled at Willie Fae and called into a room behind her somewhere "Daisy! You'll want to see who it is at ze door!"
Then the maid scurried off and Daisy Mae Carter, the mayor's daughter, appeared.
She had blue tinted eyes, and black hair, a perfect figure and in general a perfect disposition. Willie Fae remembered back in grade school with Daisy Mae, she had earned the nickname "Ditzy Daisy Mae" for a very good reason.
"Oh, Willie Fae! I thought I wouldn't see you again for ages! Oh my goodness!" Daisy raved. "Come inside!"
Willie Fae shook her head. "You know I ain't going in there. All them colors would make me dizzy."
Daisy Mae didn't argue- she knew better than to argue with Willie Fae - but she giggled. Giggling was Daisy's answer for everything. "Why, I live here and they don't make me dizzy!"
"Well, you're naturally that way." returned Willie Fae.
That was the way the two's friendship went- Willie Fae could say such things all she wanted but Daisy never took offence and just giggled like she always did for everything.
"Are you staying here?"
"I hope not." Willie Fae said with a little laugh. "I'm just looking for a job here and whatever I get I hope will pay for me to stay somewhere."
"But at first you might." Daisy said hopefully.
"I doubt it." Willie Fae muttered. "I was hoping to get a job today."
"How?"
"Well..." Willie Fae began. "I was a-thinkin' that you might be able to help out with that."
"Oh!" Daisy exclaimed. "Well... I could ask Daddy about any jobs."
"That'd help." agreed Willie Fae.
So Daisy disappeared into the house for several minutes. The mayor didn't come outside- he rarely did unless there was a pretty good reason- but he gave Daisy Mae a piece of paper with a name on it. It was for the local cattle auction barn.
"He said Mr. Salsburry at the auction barn is looking for some cowboys and they might take you even though you're not a boy. And Mrs. Lester's boarding house will do for you to stay at he said. It's cheap and most the cowboys stay there so you could get a ride into work every day maybe."
Willie Fae promised Daisy she wouldn't leave town without seeing her again and headed for the auction barn. She rode up to it with Kentucky Belle about a half hour later and Mr. Salsburry hired her on the spot; Mrs. Lester accepted her and Mason, one of the other cowboys, agreed to let her ride with him to work so she didn't have to ride.
Lunch was at 1:00 instead of at 12:00 like one would think. On one of her lunches she was standing outside, holding her lunch - a candy bar - in one hand and trying to open it with the other, when she felt something cold against her leg and it caused her to jump. She looked down to see a brown and white farm dog. He was wagging his tail to and fro and had his mouth open in a grin.
"Well, howdy, pooch." She reached down and scratched him behind the ears. The dog wagged his tail back and forth, slapping her on the back of the leg. "You want a piece of my lunch?"
'Heck yes, I do!' the dog seemed to be saying- he sat down and swept his tail across the ground, looking at her with brown eyes brimming with expectancy.
She broke off a half of her candy bar - which was a payday, by the way- and ate one, and tossed the other towards the dog. He snapped it right out of the air. She smiled at him and brushed her out of her eyes. "Well, you can catch, but you ain't much to look at. I'd wager you're about one tenths cowdog, seven tenths roundworm, and two tenths fleas." The dog sat back on his haunches and "stood up", tail still going, and put her paws on her legs, looking for attention. She gave him a pat on the ribs and said "But just 'cause I shared my lunch with you don't mean I filed for adoption. I'm mean and gripey and hard hearted and I ain't got time for a stray dog."
'But if you'd take me with you, I wouldn't be a stray dog anymore!' The dog looked up at her with remorse filled eyes.
She gave him one last pat and headed for the back of the lot. Another trailer was backing up to the alley. She had cattle to drive.
The dog, meanwhile, trotted around the building. He tipped a trash can or two but there wasn't anything worthwhile in them. Most had stale crackers, or concrete chunks in them. The dog never ate rocks or stale crackers, but he wasn't too hungry anymore, not after the candy bar.
He came around the back of the barn into the area with pens, and ducked under the bottom boards of several fences, all of which were empty. He came out on the east side just in time to see Willie Fae make a running leap over a fence, one step ahead of a cow.
Once on the other side she heaved a great sigh and turned around to study the cow, who was glaring at her from the other side of the fence. "Well ain't you just a ray of sunshine. Old hag." She noticed the dog sitting a few feet away, watching her. "That cow's determined to get into my back pocket!" then she stopped herself and scowled. "What am I talkin' to a dog for?" She sat down on an upside down five gallon bucket and answered her own question. "'Cause nobody else is hard up enough for somethin' to do that they'll listen, that's why."
The dog came trotting up, and sat down next to her. She looked down at him.
"Any ideas?"
He wagged his tail very slowly, as if to say 'No... but I know we'll think of something.'
Then a light came on in her face. She stood up and walked to the pick up of the man she rode to work with, and opened the door. The dog watched with his head cocked, as she reached across the seat and grabbed her catch rope. She walked back to the dog, and gave him a half smile. "How'd you like to be promoted to my official assistant?"
The dog just looked at her with a cowdog grin.
"Then follow me." She hung the rope over her arm and started walking towards the pen, at the other end of the alley. The dog followed, at her heels. When she got to the end of the alley, she turned around and got down on one knee. The dog came closer, as though expecting something. She gave him a pat on the head, and then slipped her catch rope around the dog's middle.
The dog seemed to be staring at her in an enpuzzled fashion. She rubbed him behind the ears, stood up, and started walking towards the gate on the pen. The dog, being attached to her rope, had no choice but to follow.
She opened the gate, and turned to look at the dog. "Go on in there, puppy."
The dog's ears jumped. 'Me? Go in there? There's mad cow in there! And I'm not in the mood to get shiskebobbed!'
When the dog didn't budge she reached down and picked him up, and proceeded to put him the pen. She stood in the gate, and he couldn't get out. Meanwhile the cow at the other end of the alley saw him. Her ears pricked up. Her eyes focused. She snorted. She pawed the ground.... and here she came.
The dog looked at her for a moment, before making a dive from the pen. Of course it didn't work because of the rope. He bounced back. By now that cow was almost there, but suddenly the dog found himself sailing through the air, one step ahead of the posse, so to speak, as Willie Fae pulled on the rope, and the game slammed shut. Willie Fae dropped the rope and rushed to shut the gate sealing the cow off from the alley.
Out of breath, she leaned on the alley fence and grinned down at the dog. "Well, maybe you an' me'll get better than I figured."
The dog looked up at her with a confused expression- for a dog anyway.
"Oh, you wasn't in any danger. Scaredy cat."
There was a beeping sound from behind her, and she looked back behind her to see a pick up pull in. It was Mr. Salsburry.
"Uh oh." she said to the dog. "That man can start a conversation in an empty house. And if there's one thing I think's overrated, it's talking. Talking to people anyway. Dogs ain't so bad. They don't require answers."
"Hello Willie Fae! Great day isn't it?" Mr Salsburry greeted her.
"Yalp." She glanced down at her boots and then leaned against the fence again. She never looked people in the eye when she talked unless she had to- what was the point?
"Things going okay? How do you like working with the cowboys?"
"Fine."
"You know," Mr. Salsbury said, "I'm happy to hear that! Last cowboy I hired, he didn't like it at all. He kept saying he wanted out, wanted to go to a cooler climate. Guess where he moved to? Alaska! Imagine that, a feller from right here in Texas moving to Alaska! Ha! He moved to Juneau, as I recall.... Yes, Juneau is was. They say they have some cattle in Alaska too, but I don't know about it... too cold for me. But just imagine, all the way to Juneau! Pretty big change in climate, Juneau is, huh? Ha!"
Then he looked at his watch. "Better let y'all get back to work. See you tomorrow! Say, maybe I'll tell ya about the time I wore down a bronc stallion one handed!"
Willie Fae sincerely hoped not. The idea made her brain hurt.
"Yep." was all she said, and she nodded to his wave, before he drove off. But she didn't look at him. She wasn't even paying attention to him. She was looking at the dog. She had been throughout the entire, one sided conversation. Every time the man had said "Juneau" the dog had reacted- by wagging his tail and coming closer, by looking up at him with expectancy, by nudging him with his nose. Mr. Salsburry hadn't noticed that either, apparently, but now she knew....
"Is Juneau your name?" She got down on one knee, on the dog's level. The dog started wig-wagging his tail in a rapid fashion. "Hmm. Funny name for a cowdog... or any dog in Texas. But if your name's Juneau, fine with me. That's what I'll call you."