Leather And Lace ~A Barbed Wire Hearts Novel

Chapter One: Familiar Times

Piney Woods, Texas.
April 7th, 1840
Anna Barlow swung herself back into the saddle and watched as the horses trailed down into the pasture, peacefully grazing. The view was intoxicating, and Anna could sit here for hours and hours. There was something relaxing about sitting atop a horse and watching hard work pay off. Seeing new life and welcoming new horses into the world and seeing them through to payday.
Though the work is hard, and much of the ranch's responsibility rests on her shoulders, this is what Anna lives for. It didn't matter that she was only a nineteen year old girl, to these animals she was just a part of their life. "And I wouldn't trade it for the world." She whispered to herself as she bent over and rested on her horse's neck, stroking him. As much as she cherished these moments, they had to be short, because if she and Sampson didn't head home now, she wouldn't have time to eat supper.
And boy was she hungry.
•
Daniel Barlow downed the last of his coffee and turned to his old friend Jed, hoping he would listen to his new idea. "Jed, I've been thinkin'." Daniel said. "That's dangerous." Jed replied, eyeing Daniel suspiciously. Daniel rolled his eyes before he spoke again." Very funny, now this is serious. I want to send Anna to a finishing school in Austin." Daniel said the latter proudly. "You want to what!" Jed said as he slapped the table and sputtered his coffee.
"You heard me!" Daniel spat. " Yeah, I heard you. But that's about the most absurd thing you ever told me in our fifty years of friendship. Why in the world would you want to do a thing like that?" Jed asked. To which Daniel replied, " Anna is a nineteen year old girl who works like a thirty year old man, and she has been doing so since her mama passed when she was all of eight years of age. That's no life for a lady, she deserves to find a suitable husband and to rest easy." He said.
"I can see where your coming from, but do you honestly think that's what she wants? To rest easy?" Jed questioned. "I don't know, I just know that she deserves better than a struggling horse ranch held together by two old men and a teenage girl. Well, plus that Andrew kid who helps out." Daniel chuckled.
"She ain't goin' to cotton to the idea. If I was a betting man, I'd lay every penny I had on that." Jed said with a grin.
"If you was a betting man, you'd be even more broke than you are now!" Daniel said.
Both men then burst into a riotous laughter.
•
Anna slowed Sampson as they entered the yard and walked towards the barn, then swung off and led him inside. She started stripping off leather and gave him a good rub down, then put him in his fresh stall and gave him new hay and water. Then fed and watered the rest of the horses in the barn before heading for the house. At the steps, she was greeted by Sadie, the old farm dog. "Hey sweet girl. You keep those two old coots out of trouble today?" Anna asked as she gave the dog a nice belly rub before continuing into the house. She was then greeted by the sight and sound of two old men hunched over the kitchen table, laughing and smacking the table. Which of course prompted her to ask" What's got you two farts so tickled?" She said chuckling. Both men sobered quickly and said in unison "nothing!" Followed by a go ahead and wash up, supper will be ready in an hour. While she desperately needed the bath, that didn't stop her from wondering why they were acting so strange.
•
An hour later, Anna was clean and in a fresh dress. She only wore these things when she wasn't working or when she was at church or a special gathering.
She made her way downstairs and came to the table to eat supper. Father and Jed, or uncle Jed as Anna called him, still looked very guilty.
While they often bore the look of young children who were caught with their hands in the cookie jar, this look made her feel that there was more to it than their usual cantankerous behavior.
The meal went on as normal, mindless banter, good hearted humor and simple food. But as Anna went to bed that night, she determined to figure out what was going on.
•
{meanwhile on Circle S ranch in Austin}
"Mark! Get over here and explain yourself!" Matthew Sawyer demanded of his brother. Mark jogged over to where Matthew stood and asked" What's the matter?" "What's the matter? The matter is that there are expenses in the ledger that are unaccounted for!" Matt spat. Mark then realized the problem and explained " Oh, I forgot to tell you that I bought some supplies for the widow Garret. She hadn't enough money for her essentials, so I used some circle S money to help her out. Go ahead and take it out of my pay this week."
"Damn right it will come out of your pocket! You are not to do that again without my consent, you got that!" Matthew yelled before storming back into the house.
Mark couldn't be certain, but he was pretty sure his twin brother sat on a stack of cash he had hid somewhere in the house. Matthew barely lifted a finger around his ranch since it became successful. Other than doing business out of town and poring over the records, his brother simply rode around the herd every once in a while. And he only did that when he got the notion that he could do a better job counting than the people that spent every day with these horses could. But hey, who was he to judge, he may be foreman and boss to to the hands, but to his brother, who was a whole hour older than him, Mark was just the baby brother who would never amount to anything that could even come close to Lord Matthew David Sawyer. That was the nickname mark had come up with for his brother when Mark was more of a reader than a rancher. Those days are long gone now, for he had his brother's ranch to run, and horses to train. Lucky for him, Matt was gone more than he was home. And that gave plenty of time for Mark to plot his escape from Circle S ranch and break out on his own.
•
Anna awoke the next morning and headed over to the Simpson home. She was looking for her favorite spy, Andrew. Well, he only spies when Anna begs him to, but he is very good at it. "Andrew, I need your spy skills!" She said as she entered the hayloft where Andrew was usually working on his "home away from the house" which consisted of a bookshelf, a table and two chairs, an oil lamp, and oh that's new, a orange rug. " I told you, my spy skills are a secret. If you say it too loud, my sister may want me to spy on all of her "perspective beaus" as she calls them." Andrew chuckled as he climbed down from where he was attempting to build a bed. " As if you didn't already do that." Anna said. Andrew's younger sister, Mary is always going on about the different boys she could court. The girl was only thirteen years of age. " Well, she is so bent on not being an old maid, that I have to keep a close eye on her" Andrew said in a mock, duty bound manner. He loved his sister more than he would ever admit. "Now, what is it you need from me? " he asked. "I told you, I need you to spy for me" Anna answered. "Who is my victim? The last time you came to me needing a spy, it was to make sure your father quit eating bacon behind your back." Andrew asked with a grin. "I need to know what has Father and Jed acting so strange lately" Anna said. "Okay, it won't be easy, but I will do it. If you do something for me in return." He stated. "What do you need from me?" Anna asked. Andrew always had a catch for her. "Make Cassie love me." Andrew replied. "What! I thought you had given up chasing her years ago." Anna said, shocked that he wanted to court their mutual friend Cassie McMurray. " Well, I tried but I can't let all five of her brothers scare me away. They may be big Irish brutes, but Cassie is worth ruffling their feathers a bit." Andrew said as his eyes took on a dreamy haze and his smile broadened.
"Fine, I will talk to her, but that doesn't mean that she will listen. She is just as stubborn as her brothers you know." Anna said warningly.
"As long as you try I don't care." Andrew said before wrapping her up in a big bear hug.
"Come over to the ranch later today and just say that I needed your help with something. You can take my place at lunch and I will go over to Cassie's." Anna instructed before getting back on Sampson and heading into town to get a few things.