Tiago. Follow me. By the way, your English greatly improved since I saw you last.”
There was nothing to say to that, so she trailed behind Jackson, walking faster than she was used to in order to keep up with him. Stepping out from the protection of the trees, she took a deep breath and reminded herself she was a boy.
Cook was wider than he was tall, not that it was a difficult feat. Straight up on his toes, he might be five feet tall. Under a bushy mustache and white beard, he had a smile that stretched from ear to ear. He called out to the cowboys to come get their meal.
When Jackson introduced her, the little man lifted his chin and looked down at her. “You know how to work hard, mijo?”
“Sí, señor.” She forced herself to nod with confidence she didn’t feel. Sweat ran down her spine.
He looked apprehensive.
“Whatever you need, I’ll do it. You won’t know how you did it without me on all those other drives.”
He laughed and reached up to pat Jackson on his shoulder. “I think I like our little Tiago.”
“Yeah, he has that effect on people. I’m going to talk to the boys before we head out.”
Without pausing, Cook handed her a knife. “Take care of the bacon.” He moved quickly around her, getting several things done at once. All the while, making jokes she didn’t understand.
He explained her job was to tend the mules and chickens along with hauling, fetching, cleaning and anything else he needed doing.
This was happening. She was part of the crew that would drive cattle to New Orleans for her father. She might be cooking right now, but she was cooking outside, not in the kitchen like a woman. She was ready to ride over the country and out of Texas. She wanted to sing and dance.
Head down, she flipped the bacon and whistled as she checked the pot of beans. She was a boy on a trail drive.
In front of the bunkhouse, her new trail boss talked to a few of the men. She forced herself to look away. He could be her biggest threat to this new life.
When he was around she’d have to keep her head down and make sure not to look like, talk like or act like a woman. Jackson McCreed might make that difficult.
The sun started peeking over the hills and highlighted the details of the rugged camp. Several cowboys walked outside, their boots hitting the old wood of the porch. They gathered around Jackson. After a few minutes, they started heading directly toward her as a group.
She wanted to find a place to hide. She hadn’t really thought what it would mean to live as a boy for the whole trip.
“It’s a kid. Where’d you come from?” She had never heard that cowboy’s accent before, and she wasn’t sure what he looked like because she kept her eyes down, focused on the sizzling bacon.
“I could use someone to polish my boots.” Laughter followed.
Someone pulled her hat off. “Not sure I’d trust him. He has the look of a scamp who would steal everything he could and sneak off in the night.” The new one speaking had a very strong Southern accent.
“Give me back my hat.” She grabbed for the black felt hat that belonged to her brother.
The cowboy laughed and held the hat high above his head. Even if she jumped, she wouldn’t be able to reach it. All she could do was glare.
“He looks more like two bit of nothing than a cowboy.”
“Boss, we running an orphan camp now?”
“Hey, Two Bit, you gonna stare at your boots or actually pass out the bacon?”
All the excitement she felt earlier drowned under a wave of doubt. She had been stupid to think that putting on her brother’s pants would immediately help her fit into the world of men. These cowboys would never talk to her like this if they knew she was a De Zavala. She was tempted to tell them, just to see the look on their faces.
The closest cowboy to her spat on the ground by her feet.
Jackson joined the group. “That’s enough, Will. This is Santiago. He goes by Tiago. He’ll be helping Cook and only answers to him.” He took the hat from the man named Will and handed it to her. “You stay with Cook. We’ll be heading out to the cattle station as soon as these yahoos finish eating.”
Standing as straight as her spine allowed, she used the knife to pass the bacon onto their plates, along with a ladle full of gravy and a biscuit.
Under the mesquite trees, she made a resolution. No matter what they threw at her for the next few weeks, she would ride and learn with these men.
As they sat on the ground to eat, they joked and harassed each other. Jackson stood in front of her.
“You sure about this?”
She couldn’t back out now, just because the cowboys teased her. That would only prove she didn’t belong here, and she knew she did. “Why wouldn’t I be?” She added a shrug to make sure he knew she could be one of the cowboys.
“Okay. Once you get everything packed, you and Cook will head out first thing in the morning. The horses, then cattle will follow the wagon.” His eyes narrowed. “This is it. There is no way out once we start moving the cattle.”
She hesitated. To the core of her soul, she knew the next step would decide the direction of her life. Independence she never dreamed possible would be hers, along with all of the dangers.
Could she move back into the safe world her father had created for her? Where he also had an unknown groom waiting.
The men who worked for him, the business, the family...everything would be better off with her being a true partner of the ranch. In order to prove it to her father, she had to first prove it to these men. And herself.
Looking around the bare bunkhouse and outside cooking area, she knew this was easy living compared to the trail. She’d be sleeping on the ground, surrounded by wild animals.
Jackson looked at her expecting an honest answer. He didn’t rush her, just stood waiting. He didn’t know it, but she just put her life in his hands.
With a quick nod, she ran to the spot she had dropped her things.
The minute she walked back to the wagon, carrying her saddle, rifle and lasso, laughter erupted from the wranglers on the porch.
“That there’s some pretty fancy equipment for Two Bit of a cook’s helper.”
“Two Bit, you going to be riding the big stew pot over hills and hunting down our dinner?”
“Naw, he’s going to use his papa’s rope there and saddle the biggest bull. You going to lead us all the way to New Orleans.” They laughed at their stupid jokes.
They
