The year, 1873. My handle is Blue, I ride herd for the Bar MM ranch in Montana. At 32 you would think I would be married and have a passel of kids on my own place, but settling down never appealed to me much. I could handle a rope and a horse with the best of them, and could hold my temper and my own with a gun, one of the reason's I was still alive I reckon. I don't drink much and fight less. The main reason I left home and never went back, I didn't want to kill anyone, and there were a couple of old boys I might have, if not for leaving my home State at 21.
I traveled around a lot for a few years, looking for a place to hang my hat and found it here 7 years ago. Miss Millie had asked me many times to Ramrod her place, but the responsibilities of being a ranch foreman on a 25000 acre ranch holding 1500 head of cattle and 75 horse's plus a crew of 30 wild hard living men wasn't my cup of tea! I helped were I could and stayed out of trouble, less than some, more than others.
The hardest thing about this life wasn't the bitter cold of the long winters or the blistering heat of the Summer, it was my pecker. The damn thing got me in more trouble than the day's when I did drink and fight, that was another reason I had left home. I got caught in bed the Sheriffs wife and it was run or kill him, I ran! Judges didn't look to favorable at a man who shot a Sheriff that had caught him in bed with his wife. He was a good man, wasn't his fault his wife was such a good looking woman or that she liked to find a man to have a poke with when he was out of town. I just happened to be the one he caught poking her!
Miss Millie had owned this ranch since her older husband had died from a broken neck a few years ago. He got bucked off his horse when a rattler struck at his horse on the trail home, he landed wrong and ended up dead. So goes life, his was over, hers had many years to go. She is a pretty little woman, thick Auburn hair and she was built nice as any woman I had ever seen. Her breasts were not that large but you could tell they were nice in the clothes she wore, and she's got some good breeding hips on her. The kind that can spread out to have a baby or take a man.
I never thought more than that about her, it aint proper for a man to think thoughts like that about the boss lady. And Miss Millie is a lady, raised back east had proper schoolin', high class type lady. How she ended up married to old man McKenny I will never know, because I aint gonna ask.
I was getting close to the ranch when a bunch of the boys were heading to town riding hard and fast, being it was Saturday Night, they were looking for fun, trouble or both. Which ever came first.
"You coming to town later Blue" Billy asked me as they rode past me at a gallop.
"Nope, Gonna eat me a big steak, have a shot or two of some good rye whiskey and a long soak in hot tub boys!" I hollered as they past me. After two weeks riding trails looking for scrub brush cows and calves, That was all I had on my feeble mind. I was too tired to think about the two hour horseback ride to town. I was ready to scrub my nasty ass off. I just cleared the gate when the second batch of fellows passed me, Yee Hawing and riding hard to catch the others, I pulled my tired sorrel to the side and let them pass.
After taking the sorrel to the barn and rubbing it down and giving it a good brushing and some extra oats, I turned it loose in the corral with the other work horses. I went in to see if Maria, the cook was still there and get me that steak my mind was on. She was, and sliced me off a huge piece of meat, cooking it up just right for me. Pouring me a cup off hot coffee and a big slice of fresh apple pie.
"You look tired Senor Blue, You gone long?"
"Yeah Maria, about two weeks of me and the heat and damn cows!" I grinned at her.
She left me to my meal, and start finishing her cleaning up. I ate like I had never seen a plate of food before, this Lil Mexican gal could cook, surprising she wasn't married, not a bad looker either. Dark eyes and hair, Firm tits and a thin waist and hips. Her teeth were white as a new snow and she showed them all when she smiled. Some day I was going to try to get me a poke with her, but not tonight, I was dirty, tired and ready for a two day sleep.
I finished up my meal got up and went out to the corral, rolled a smoke and leaned against the post smoking it. Miss Millie walked up to me and leaned on the fence with me.
"Have a rough ride Blue? Find much out there?"
"Found about 25 head, one mean ole cow, I almost had to shoot her. Something about a good looking man on a horse making her mind she didn't like! Kind of like some women I know of." My eyes showed that I was joking as she looked into them.
She laughed, her voice sounding like a song when she did. I finished my smoke, grinding it out in the dirt with the heel of my boot,
"If you don't mind Miss Millie, I got to wash some fo this dirt off me, I know I must be smellin' kinda ripe about now. I did notice you was standing up wind of me."
She smiled, her pretty face showing the fine laugh lines in it with the glow of the moon coming up, "I didn't intend to be so obvious about it Blue!" Then we both broke out in laughter. She headed up to the main house and I went and got me a razor and soap, some clean clothes and my bottle of Rye Whiskey, then headed out to the horse trough out behind the bunkhouse for a bath.
I stripped down, knowing the women folk hardly ever came out back in case one of the boys was bathing and I slid into the cool water. Laying my head back I rolled another smoke, lit it and took a swig of my Rye. Damn this was living, looking up at the clear starry night, the moon about half full and rising. I started scrubbing off the two weeks of dirt, sweat and grime. I shaved the thick whiskers off and looked kind handsome if I did say so myself, I cleaned up pretty good for a trail rider.
I lay back and had to scratch my hairy balls, I did and it felt so damn good I didn't stop there. As I was stroking myself off, I heard a noise come up from behind me. I reached for my gun hanging by my head, turned with it cocking it as I did. Shit, I was half a second from shooting Miss Millie. I uncocked it, set it back in the holster and grabbed my hat to cover my hard pecker from her eyes.
"Miss Millie, you know better than to sneak up on a man, I could of shot you. Why in the world would you do something like that?"
"I, uh I, I'm sorry Blue. I didn't mean too, I thought that perhaps you would like to have a drink with me. It is kind of lonely out here tonight with everyone gone to town. I forgot you were taking a bath, Oh I'm so sorry!"
"Ah shucks ma'am, It's nothing to get all upset about, you just kind of shocked me creeping up on me like that, hell, I thought you was a Indian or something."
She smiled at me and I smiled back. Then trying to ease the embarrassment of the situation she said.
"Your hats getting wet Blue. It don't seem right to soak it down like that." With a gleam in her bright blue eyes.
