The Land(69)

Right after Luke Sawyer bought the horses, I took on the training of them one at a time. I worked with one horse, keeping it separate from the others for as long as it took, and when that horse was trained, Luke Sawyer would sell it, and each time he got his price. Luke Sawyer was mighty pleased, and so was I. Throughout the time I was training Luke Sawyer’s horses, I was also training the palomino. I nourished him. I fed him the best of the grains, and he gained weight and his coat healed. He became a magnificent-looking animal. I didn’t neglect the others, but the palomino was special. I already considered him mine, and I trained him to race. And he was fast, faster than any horse I’d been on in quite a while. He was so fast and spirited that when I rode him, it was almost like riding Ghost Wind again. I named him Thunder. But I didn’t let my feelings get close to Thunder, not like I had Ghost Wind and Appaloosa, for I knew I had to sell him one day, and I didn’t want to have to give up another thing I loved.

“Looks like I made a mistake letting you keep that horse,” said Luke Sawyer good-naturedly after he’d seen me ride Thunder.

“He’s a fine horse, all right,” I admitted.

“That he is.” Luke Sawyer leaned against the corral fence and stared out at the palomino. “How’d you like to race him?”

“Race him? Where?”

“Here in Vicksburg with some gentlemen I know. I can sponsor the horse. After all, he still belongs to me. You can ride. You win, we split the purse. How does that sound to you?”

I considered.

“You can make yourself some extra money.”

“All right,” I said. “I’ll let you know when I think he’s ready.” It wasn’t until near winter that I raced Thunder. He was plenty ready by then; he won. Luke Sawyer claimed the purse and that was all right with me, for unlike Ray Sutcliffe, Luke Sawyer kept his word. He split the purse with me, right down the middle, and I put that money away. It was to be the first of several races and the first of several profitable purses.

I saw Mitchell again at Christmastime. He came and stayed Christmas Day, and left right after. I saw him only once during the next few months, but then, I hadn’t expected to see him much more than that. Mitchell knew where I was. I knew where he was. Each of us had his own work and his own pursuits, and both of us knew if one of us needed the other, he’d be there. I missed Mitchell, but I wasn’t lonely. My work filled my days and much of my nights. There was no time for socializing, even if I’d been inclined to do so. In addition to the horse training, the furniture orders had been steady, and folks were pleased with the furniture I had made, and those folks included B. R. Tillman and his wife. I had made their chifforobe for them and they had been mighty pleased. That meant, of course, Luke Sawyer was too. Things had worked out well for both of us. Luke Sawyer could now provide his customers with a new service, and he had increased his business. As for me, I had a roof over my head, food to eat, and most important to me, a few more dollars accumulating. The winter passed quickly.

Spring came and settled toward summer. It was during this time that a man by the name of Sam Perry came to see me. Luke Sawyer brought him to the shed. Sam Perry had with him two of his children, a boy of about twelve called Nathan and a young lady named Caroline. I smiled when I saw the young woman. She was the same young woman who had helped the harelipped boy the day after I’d arrived in Vicksburg. I rose from my bench to greet them. Sam Perry was a big man, tall and muscular, dark in coloring, and he wore a huge mustache. I shook his hand and gave a nod to the boy, Nathan, and the young lady, Caroline. I noticed that Caroline’s hair was not in braids this time, but was tied with a ribbon and hung long down her back. Caroline returned my nod, and I looked into her eyes for the first time. They were intensely brown and seemed to smile.

“Now, Sam Perry here,” said Luke Sawyer after the introductions, “come to see you ’bout making him a piece of furniture.”

“That’s right,” said Sam Perry. “Heard ’bout you, seen some of yo’ work too. It’s mighty fine.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Seems he thinks it’s so fine,” Luke Sawyer interjected, “that he’s thinking on having you make his wife a rocking chair.”

Caroline hooked her arm into her father’s. “Mama’s been wantin’ a really fine one for the longest time, ain’t she, Papa?”

“That’s a fact,” Sam Perry confirmed with a loving glance at his daughter. “Sho’ has. Had an old rickety one ’til a few years back, and I kept mendin’ it best I could, but finally wasn’t no more I could do with it but chop it up for firewood. Now I figures t’ get her one made, if we can come t’ some understandin’.”