Brian and Doc Ferris arrived at the Frayne estate. While Brian had known Mr. Frayne his entire life, he hadn't seen much of him in recent years, since his wife Nell died from a rattlesnake bite. Alicia, the young house servant greeted them at the door. Alicia was a classmate of Bobby's, and had an older sister Brian had admired when in
school, but never worked up the courage to court. "Good morning!" Alicia dropped them a curtsy. "Good morning, Alicia. I heard James isn't feeling well?" Doc Ferris asked. "No, sir. He’s rather poor this morning, though his nephew's arrival has made him quite happy!" "Nephew? I didn't know James had any family left," Doc Ferris handed his horses’ reins to the stable boy that had come out. "Yes sir. He had a nephew in upstate New York, who sent his son out here. He’s James
II but says to call him Jim. Brian, I think he’s about your age." That intrigued Brian. At twenty-one, there weren't too many fellows still left in town his age. He would have to stay until he earned enough to go back and finish medical school. It was looking like this fall wouldn’t be it. Brian was paying close attention to Doc Ferris’s exam when he heard someone enter the room very quietly. Turning, he smiled. "You must be Jim," he rose when the exam was finished. "I'm Brian Belden, this is Doc Ferris." "Well you certainly have the red Frayne hair," Doc Ferris said with a smile. The three men shook hands. Jim nodded. He was slightly taller than Brian, and broader across the shoulders, husky all the way through. His eyes were intensely green and he had a number of freckles splashed across his face. True Irish, Brian thought. "So I'm told. Just like my Father's and Uncle James here." Jim said, guessing Brian around his age. "We didn't even realize Mr. Frayne still had family,” Brian said politely, grateful Trixie wasn’t here. She would have it in her head that this young man was an imposter and try to find out why. "Uncle James here left us all back in New York years ago. I was born there. This isn't my first time out West, but it's my first time to the territory," Jim answered. "Well then welcome to Oklahoma," Brian smiled. "There’s not much company for men of our age." "Yes, it seems to be a quiet town," Jim said dryly. Brian had noted the strong grip, and calloused hands. Jim was no dandy from New York; he knew how to work, and his frame was the typical solid shape of a farmer. "Uncle James, how are you feeling?" Jim asked. "Just fine if these blasted men will leave me alone. A little heat in the chest is nothing to worry about at my age!" Doc Ferris' pale eyes twinkled. "It’s that fire that keeps you going, you old goat! Drink your elixir, I’ll see you Saturday night for poker." "Don't be late!" James Sr. barked. *** With the bandanna tied tightly around her head, Trixie's curls were restrained. She wished she could cut them closer like Mart's, but it was bad enough she had to borrow his second pair of breeches. Thankfully laundry day had been the day before. Frowning, Trixie wiggled into the pants. Had they shrunk? She knew Mart was only a few inches taller, and both were of the sturdy build. Yet the pants were clinging to her thighs, and making it more difficult to breathe and move. It didn’t occur to her that her shape was changing, and rounding out. Pulling on her boots, she grabbed her hat and dashed out to the stable, where she saddled Susie, her black mare. It didn't take long to arrive at the Frayne estate. It wasn’t a far ride and Trixie hurried on her way, eager to accomplish her mission. Outside, repairing a fence, lined with white prairie roses, was a tall, broad shouldered, shirtless young man with shocking red hair. Trixie thought him to be about Brian's age, and figured she'd ask him for the foreman. Jim glanced up at the rider approaching. With a double take, he realized it was a woman riding by the way she moved. His suspicion was confirmed when she dismounted, her full hips hugged by the breeches. Women wore breeches out here? Jim had heard the stories about Western women but didn't believe them. Trixie took a nervous breath as she approached the bare-chested young man, wondering why she suddenly felt a bit faint as she studied the strong back and muscled arms. Clearing her throat, she tried to drop her voice to sound more like Mart. "Excuse me, I'm looking for the foreman," she said confidently. Jim turned to face her and caught his breath. The petite, pretty pixie that stared out from under the low pulled hat had bright blue eyes and the loveliest mouth he had ever seen. Why is her hair covered? he wondered. She has a very nice shape too, he thought, hiding his smile. I wonder what her game is? "What'd ya want him for?" Jim drawled. Trixie bristled. Surely he couldn't see through the dirt she had smeared on her cheeks! Yet the way his eyes were looking at her said otherwise. "I want to be a cattle hand," she kept her voice low. Jim bit his lip to keep from laughing. This little girl wanted to chase cattle all day? "What are your credentials?" he asked. Trixie realized this must be the foreman after all. Then she realized she was completely unprepared for an interview. "Been ridin' all my life," she drawled. "Got a pack of siblings, figure cattle can't be all that different." Jim's sides were starting to ache from holding in his laughter. "Well, sir," he said, emerald eyes twinkling, "I'm afraid I don't have any positions open." Why are his eyes making my stomach feel so funny?They're so green and . . . mysterious. Trixie wondered. He is very handsome, she thought, with a strong jaw line and twinkling dark green eyes. Her whole body felt warm. "Are you sure?" Trixie asked quickly, forgetting to drop her voice. "Mr. Frayne has so many cattle-I was really hoping to get on with him!" "What's your name?" Jim asked, ignoring her question. Trixie hesitated. "Mart. Mart Belden." Jim raised one eyebrow. Belden? But this pretty thing looked nothing like Brian! "Well, Miss Belden," he smiled. "We don't hire women cowhands." "You-you knew?" she demanded, her fact hot from embarrassment. "How-I look so much like my brother-" "Miss Belden, you look nothing like your brother. You are quite a bit lovelier however. Is it normal protocol out here for young ladies to run around in men's clothing?" Trixie shook with humiliation and anger. He had known all the time and let her go on like a fool! "I was going to help Mr. Frayne catch the rustlers!" she exploded. Jim couldn't hold his laughter back anymore. "It's no place for a young lady." He said, eyes twinkling at her, noting a blonde curl starting to escape from her bandanna and he resisted the urge to reach over and pull it. "Even if you do try to pass for your brother, it wouldn't take anyone very long to realize you're a girl, especially at bathing time. Unless you're not a lady." Trixie knew now her face was redder than his hair at this point. How dare he! "You-you-scalawag!" she exclaimed. "How dare you suggest such things!" Jim bit his tongue as he laughed, his emerald green eyes sweeping over her. "Miss Belden, you go on home and back to your knitting. I'll take care of the rustler problem. It's why I'm here." Trixie almost stamped her foot in frustration. Instead, she turned on her heel and remounted Susie, taking off. Jim laughed and shook his head. He wondered what she looked like in women's clothing. And out of them. Somehow he knew the serious young man he had met earlier in the week wouldn't find it funny his sister had borrowed his clothes and tried to pass herself off as his brother. If she really was his sister. They were as different as night and day. *** "So, Uncle James, do you know the Belden family well?" Jim asked that evening as they sat down to supper. "Oh sure. Good people. Peter is a good farmer, a good man. His wife is a lovely little thing. Their daughter is one of the flightiest, harum-scarum girls I've ever seen. Just ask Frank Lytell, who runs the general store. And they have a few boys, don't remember how many. Good boys. There’s Brian of course, and two or three more. If they'd had more girls, that one might not so wild. She’ll get herself in trouble one of these days, mark my words."
Jim hid his smile. The harum-scarum girl could liven this town up, he thought. Several boys . . . then maybe it wasn’t Brian she was trying to impersonate. Jim decided he needed to know the daringyoung lady’s name. *** Trixie and Mart headed for the Lynch farm, bickering as usual over who would carry the basket of goodies. Finally they settled for each carrying a handle. Bobby had run on ahead, leaving his older siblings to make their way through the woods. Mart had promised to help Edward Lynch dig a new well that day, and he was anxious to see Di. He knew the only reason he didn't have competition fighting for her hand was because her family was so poor, she had no dowry. Mart didn't care. He had loved those big violet eyes since he was a small boy. Bobby ran ahead of them, eager to help and see his friends. Mart knew they'd have their hands full enough with the well and that they didn’t need the smaller boys getting in the way. Mart figured they'd be helpful for digging a little at least. He’d be able to take a break when the sun began to burn in the sky, and make the younger boys shovel. Di was hanging laundry when they arrived but she gave Mart her pretty smile as Trixie sent Bobby into the house with the basket. The tiny log cabin they shared had heavy tarpaper stretched over a hole in the roof. Trixie and Mart both knew it needed to be repaired before another freezing winter could set it. It was hours later when Mart noticed the sudden change in the soil they were bringing it up. He had selected what he thought to be a prime place for the well, not too far from the tiny house. The snad Bobby’s shovel had just tossed out looked different. Leaning over, Mart looked closely at it. It was a bit wet, but it didn’t quite look like water. "Hey, Bobby, come out of there for a minute," he called. Bobby, surprised by the concerned tone of Mart's voice scrambled out, aided by Terry and Larry. "What is it Mart?" Bobby asked. "I don’t know, but stay up here," Mart climbed down into the hole. Kneeling he ran the silt-like dirt through his hands. "What’s this about?" he murmured, rubbing the oily sand. Oil. Mart looked closer at the sand. Sure enough it was looking gray. "Bobby, hand me the shovel!" he called. Bobby did so and the three boys peered over the edge as Mr. Lunch returned from the outhouse. "What's the hubbub?" he asked. "Dunno. Mart’s looking at somethin'," Bobby answered. "Mart? Everything all right?" he called. "Yes. I think you got more than dirt or water down here though!" "Such as?" Edward leaned over. "Watch," Mart replied, continuing to dig deeper. A moment later a thin stream of black oil suddenly shot up. The boys scrambled back. "Dear God," Edward whispered. Mart scrambled up from the deep hole, oil splattered all over him. "I don't know how much is there!" Mart said excitedly. "But it's surely got to be a large amount, to cause that kind of pressure.” Terry and Larry raced for the house, shouting for their mother as Edward Lynch and Mart began to dance in gleeful joy. *** Trixie waved to Madeleine and Di as she approached on Susie. Madeleine sat primly on her dappled gray, Lady, and Di was stroking her palomino Sunny’s head. Sunny was part of the Wheeler stables, but Diana had fallen in love with her at first sight, so Madeleine had Regan saddle her for the girls afternoon ride. “You’re going to love Mrs. Vanderpoel,” Trixie grinned at Madeleine. “She makes the most divine cookies!” Di added. “She’s from Europe, and says everyone eats them by the dozen over there!” “Mart can eat several dozen by himself,” Trixie giggled, wishing she was slender like her friends so that she could eat as many as Mart. “I believe she calls them windmill cookies,” Di spoke as the girls began their ride. They found their longtime friend sitting on her porch in a rocker, and she waved cheerily as she saw the three young women approaching. “I was hoping I’d have some company today!” she beamed, her plump frame rising. “I just made a special batch of windmill cookies!” Trixie and Di introduced Madeleine to Mrs. Vanderpoel, and the girls stayed to chat for a while. Since Mrs. Vanderpoel lived further out than most, she didn’t get into town often, so Trixie liked to bring her the latest news. Her nephew Thaddeus Webster, one of Trixie’s schoolmates, lived with the older woman and worked the farm. Called Tad by his friends, he was a goofy young man with a good heart. His older brother was a deputy sheriff in Tulsa, known as Spider because of his love for the eight legged critters. Trixie had often seen Tad casting fond looks towards Di. Di however, had never seemed to notice any other boy than Mart. *** Within a couple of days, oil surveyors arrived on the Lynch farm. The Oklahoma Territory had been declared an oil goldmine the year before, and surveyors were everywhere, looking for prospective land. The Beldens’ dinner was interrupted a few days later when Edward and Laura Lynch arrived. Di trailed excitedly. "Come in," Peter smiled at his old friend. "Thank you. We won't stay long, because we know it's supper, but we have something for you." Peter looked surprised. Edward held out a thick envelope. Puzzled, Peter took it, and looked through it, his eyes widening. "You've been so kind to us all these years," Edward said, "and I would have lost the farm had you not intervened, not to mention the food you've given us. The oil reserve Mart found had been such a blessing-for the first time ever we have money in the bank, and we're going to build a new house, further back on the property, near the woods. Since they're setting up drills, they estimate the oil down there is a huge reserve. It might even stretch onto your land Peter, but we wanted you to have this," Edward's blue eyes were misty. "Ed, this too much," Peter said gently. Edward shook his head. "No. Not after all the help you’ve given us. And I have something for Mart too." Mart rose, thoroughly puzzled. "This is a copy of the deed to our land. It names you co-owner of the section of land where the oil was," he said quietly. Mart's mouth fell open. "I never would have dug there. It was your idea and you found the oil. It's only right. And Diana will have a sizeable dowry now, which means you can officially court her." For once, Mart was struck speechless but Trixie hugged Di tightly. “We’ll really be sisters!” "I've already placed orders for new dresses," Di confessed in her ear, making Trixie giggle. "I-I don't know that I can accept this, sir," Mart said, dazed. "Well, even if you don't, it's on register, so it's official," Edward smiled. Turning to Peter, he hugged his friend. "You're the best neighbor a man could have Peter. You’ve always shared with us, and we decided that was the first thing to do, share with you. Besides, that should help send your Brian with his last year of schooling as well," Edward smiled. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as the Beldens and Lynches celebrated thier good fortune.
 
***
Author Notes
- Thanks to Julie, my wonderful editor!
- No, in the series, Tad Webster wasn’t Mrs. Vanderpoel’s nephew. But this isn’t the series. ;)
- Word Count, 2,763
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