I haven’t been in their room since—since they died. It might help having someone else with me.”
“Of course I don’t mind. Let me rinse the dishes while you rest. Then we’ll go up together.”
Penny sat there finishing her coffee, fighting the guilty feelings as she watched Harriet work. “I feel bad leaving all the work to you, Harriet.”
“Nonsense, child. That’s why I’m here. Believe me, if I’d ridden a horse all day, I wouldn’t be able to walk.”
A few minutes later, the pair went up the stairs together. Penny felt her feet dragging and blamed it on her day’s activities. But she could feel the emotion building in her throat.
Her parents had been dead now for a number of months. It hadn’t been until recently that she’d thought about cleaning out their room, but she just hadn’t had the courage to go through with it. It had been impossible to face erasing all memory of her parents.
“Do you want a few minutes alone or do you want me to go in with you?” Harriet asked.
“No, I—I don’t want to go in alone.”
Harriet opened the door and walked through, letting Penny take her time.
“My, your mother was a good housekeeper.”
“Yes, she didn’t like to leave a mess behind.” Penny looked at the room that hadn’t changed since she was a child. The lavender print on the bedspread had faded with the years, but it still looked good.
“Do you have any idea where the journal would be?” Harriet asked gently.
“I think it’ll be in his bedside stand. Mom always complained about him writing in it when she was trying to go to sleep.”
Penny moved to the right side of the bed and opened the drawer. There it was. He bought the same brand every year. She took it out of the drawer, letting her fingers rest on the binding for a moment. Slowly she opened the book, looking for his last entry. Then she found the book that preceded that one, in case Jake wanted to go back any further.
“Is this room much bigger than yours?” Harriet asked.
“Yes, it is,” Penny answered in surprise.
“I could clean the room out for you, if you want to move in here.”
“Oh, no! I—I couldn’t do that.”
“It’s up to you, Penny, but your parents aren’t going to be able to enjoy the room anymore—it’s your home now.”
“I know, you’re right, but it still feels too soon—maybe in a week or two.”
“You just let me know, but the clothes could be put to good use, the ones you don’t want to keep. It gets cold up here in winter.”
“That’s true. I’ll come up tomorrow night and take out any clothes I want to save. Then you can clean out their closet for me. If you have time.”
“I’ll have time.”
“Thank you, Harriet.”
Penny donned her coat and wool cap and gloves and went back outside in the cold night air.
She knocked on the door of the bunkhouse. There was the sound of scrambling as men grabbed for clothes. She waited patiently. When the door opened, she recognized one of the men, Barney. “Would you tell Mr. Larson that I need to see him?”
“Yes, ma’am, Penny. Just a minute.”
Leaning against the wall of the building, she waited for the door to open again. When it finally did, Jake stepped outside. “Yes, ma’am?”
“I have my dad’s journals for this year and last. Take your time with them.”
Jake took the leather bound books and held them in his big hands. He turned the books over gently as though he knew their value and a sudden pain struck in Penny’s chest. “Thank you, Penny. I appreciate you loaning these to me.”
“Yes, well, good night Jake.” She didn’t wait for him to respond. She spun around and headed back to the house. In the distance she finally heard him say good-night.
Jake had learned several things about his new employer over the last day. One thing she wasn’t a flirt, and further she didn’t complain when the going got tough. Both of those won high marks in his book.
He’d worried about her asking for a lunch break, thinking she would complain about the hard day they faced. But it turned out he’d been wrong. She hadn’t made her eating any big production. In fact, she’d almost acted as if she were ashamed that she needed to eat. And although she clearly wasn’t used to riding such long hours, she’d never complained.
Now she’d delivered her father’s journals, trusting them into his care. They would help him a lot in understanding the workings of the ranch. He already had a lot of questions and he didn’t think she could answer all of them.
He took the books back inside.
“She assign you some homework, boss?”
“Yeah, she did. It appears her dad kept a journal about the place. I thought it could bring me up to speed quickly.”
Several of the cowboys sat up, staring at him.
“Journals? You mean he kept notes about everything?”
“Yeah. I take it you didn’t know?”
“Uh-no. You think he wrote things about us in there?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll let you know after I read them.”
“Oh, yeah, sure, you do that, boss.”
Jake went into his room and closed the door. It shut out the television the cowboys seemed to enjoy after a day’s work. He wanted peace and quiet for what he was about to read. After only half an hour, he had already found the journals immensely helpful. The man hadn’t wasted ink on poetry and the information he’d written had been detailed and to the point.
Settling back against his pillow, Jake turned back the pages and read to the day before the man died. Described there was just an ordinary day without a hint of the tragedy that was to follow. Penny’s father had written about the cattle in the top pasture and how much he was expecting to make for them at a sale. He’d also documented his concerns regarding Gerald and a number of the other cowboys that still worked on the ranch. Jake knew that some of them would love to get their hands on the books now in his possession. He put the journals in a lock box he took with him wherever he lived. After he locked the lid, he slid the box under his bed, out of view. He’d read more tomorrow night, but he wanted to guarantee their safety until then.
He’d noticed the reaction of some of the men when he’d mentioned the existence of the journals. He hadn’t taken a liking to one or two of the men right away. He might be wrong, but he’d thought those men might deserve a little extra attention.
There had been several comments in the book about some of them,
