He waved a hand to signal the twins to come over, "Nettie, Cody - say hello to our new foreman, Mike Wentworth and his brothers, Sam and Charlie. Sam will be working for Mike on the range and Charlie will be helping out with the livestock and chores up here for a bit. My niece and nephew own the other half of the ranch."
Mike, Sam, and Charlie acknowledged the children and said hello to them. There would be time to get to know them later on.
"The biggest threat to the ranch, to the twins and their inheritance are the Steelgraves. There's a longstanding rivalry between them and the Thorntons that's spilled over into outright feuds in the past. You might as well know, I had to kill Calvin Steelgrave to protect Regina's honor some thirteen or fourteen years ago. Missoula's sheriff considered it a self-defense shooting but because of the bad blood, I left the area." Shade chose not to tell them that his father had pretty much disowned him and sent him away. "Lost Lake Ranch shares a portion of its northeastern border with Evergreen Ranch, the Steelgrave's property although old man Elias Steelgrave considers his place to be part of Whitefish and not Kalispell. You'll need to watch out if your work takes you to that area. Don't go alone. Can't promise there won't be trouble in town either. Steelgrave likes to send his hands into Kalispell just to stir things up."
Mike nodded. Shade was pretty much confirming some of the things Matt had said about the Steelgraves. Working here could make them targets but he knew both he and Sam could handle any trouble that might crop up. Charlie was another matter. The boy was only used to city life and what he knew of life out here was what he had experience on the trip to Kalispell. They had already started giving Charlie lessons on how and when to use a gun, but he would need a lot more learning before he could look after himself. Hopefully, as he was learning how to be a ranch hand, he would also learn the other things he needed to know to survive life in the west.
After a moment, Mike replied, "Thanks for letting us know the situation. I hate to go into something blindly and find out something later that I should have known in the beginning."
He looked over to his brothers and back again to Shade, "My brothers and I appreciate the opportunity you are giving us. I hope we won't be a disappointment.
‘Over the Mountains of the Moon, Down the Valley of the Shadow, ride, boldly ride, The Shade replied - If you seek for El Dorado
Shade carefully got to his feet, managing not to put too much weight on the injured leg. Picking up the cane, he grimaced at the brothers, "I hope to be back in the saddle soon. Right now, we are working with a skeleton crew."
As he slowly walked the Wentworths out, he continued, "Report here when your come in for work day after tomorrow...as early as you can. I'll have Sage Miller, our night foreman, hold over so he can get you settled and get you whatever gear you need. I'll also get your first month's pay." He paused at the door, "About getting paid upfront, it means if you leave the job or are let go, that's it. So far, paying in advance has never let us down. In fact, we've found our trust rewarded more than otherwise. The gear is yours to keep, as is a mount if one is needed."
As he slowly walked the Wentworths out, he continued, "Report here when your come in for work day after tomorrow...as early as you can. I'll have Sage Miller, our night foreman, hold over so he can get you settled and get you whatever gear you need. I'll also get your first month's pay." He paused at the door, "About getting paid upfront, it means if you leave the job or are let go, that's it. So far, paying in advance has never let us down. In fact, we've found our trust rewarded more than otherwise. The gear is yours to keep, as is a mount if one is needed."
"I'm usually used to getting paid after doing the work, but I guess I can get used to the way things are done here." Mike didn't want to tell Shade that he felt a bit dishonest taking money before he had done anything for it but for now, he would see how it would go. Once he knew more about his new bosses, he might be able to offer some suggestions but now was not the time.
On the surface, Shade seemed to be on the level, and he had no doubt he was a good man or Matt wouldn't have told him about the job here. It was his remark about killing a Steelgrave and having to leave town that made him a bit curious. The incident had happened years ago and Shade had only returned due to the untimely death of his brother and his wife. What had he done for all those years?
Knowing that he would have some time in town before returning here to find out things, even if it was a rumour, Mike left it at that. He liked Shade and hoped that he was a man worthy of being called boss and maybe one day a friend.
Holding out his hand to shake Shade's, he smiled, "Well, it's been nice meeting you. We should be here some time tomorrow afternoon. Your night foreman can show me around the day after tomorrow if he's okay with that. It will give me and my brothers a bit of time to settle in and at least look over the stables and our lodgings."
‘Over the Mountains of the Moon, Down the Valley of the Shadow, ride, boldly ride, The Shade replied - If you seek for El Dorado
"I look forward to working with you when I am back in the saddle," Shade said, giving Mike's hand a firm, warm shake. "Charlie, we'll talk more about what you'll be doing around here then and how to carve out time for you to work with your brothers on the range."
The rancher was pleased to have hired the brothers. He did not sense anything wrong about them and after years on the drift, Shade had a good nose for when people were just off. Now he needed to find Clara and the twins. Maybe they could go outside for a little while, take the easy trail down to the lake. He needed the exercise.
I took an oath for this job. The oath says bring him in. That's what I'll do.
I look forward to working with you when I am back in the saddle," Shade said, giving Mike's hand a firm, warm shake. "Charlie, we'll talk more about what you'll be doing around here then and how to carve out time for you to work with your brothers on the range."
Charlie went up to Shade, "Yes, Mr. Thornton and I would like to thank you for the opportunity. I may not know much about ranching, but I am willing to learn."
Stepping back to allow Mike to conclude his business with Shade, Charlie thought about how lucky he had been to land the first job he had gone for. Albeit, it was Mike who had done all the talking but he was okay with that. Mike had faith in him and faith that he could do the job, or he wouldn't have said anything. Now all he had to do was prove that faith was justified.
Looking around the house, Charlie thought about the meeting and especially about how surprised he was to see that girl Clara again. Hopefully, his work in the barn would mean that he would rarely come in contact with her as there was something about her ways that annoyed him. Even though, he knew he had behaved badly the other day, he didn't regret anything that he had said. He was of the opinion that the less he had to do with her the better.
"I look forward to working with you when I am back in the saddle," Shade said, giving Mike's hand a firm, warm shake.
"Likewise." Mike replied.
He listened to Charlie's response before speaking up, "Well, I guess we'll be on our way. We might take it a bit more slower going, so that we can start to familiarise ourselves with the land. See you tomorrow."
Mike, Sam and Charlie made their way back to their horses and began the ride back to town. When they had gone far enough, Sam spoke, "That went well. I kind of expected it would be a lot harder going from what I heard in town about Thornton."
Looking over Sam, Mike smiled, "Why I am not surprised that you did your research before coming here."
Sam smirked, "Matt's not the only who likes to know what he's up against...and I know that you're the same. The only one who probably didn't was Charlie, but he's got problems of his own. Isn't that right Charlie?"
Charlie frowned, "Of all the darn places she would have to be..."
"So, the young lady looking after the children was the Clara from the other day," Mike asked.
"Yeah she was...and one talking to about it is enough. Besides, I thought we were going to learn more about the land on the way back and not how I acted towards some kid I met in town."
Both Mike and Sam looked at each other, surpressing the urge to laugh out loud. Mike knew that Charlie needed to work out things for himself, now that he knew the reasons why he would have to learn to control himself where his drinking was concerned.
As they continued the ride back to town, Mike took mental notes of things that needed to be done. He knew he was seeing only a small part of the ranch and there was some fences that needed to be mended. With the owners dying unexpectedly only a few months ago and the former foreman being injured, there was bound to be some jobs to be done. One of the first things he would have to do is to take stock of the other ranch hands. With the odd payment system here there was bound to be some who would be taking advantage of it, especially at a time like this.
Thinking about how things had turned out, Mike found to his surprise, that he was okay with it. It was good to know that most of the family would not be far away from each other. If he was being honest with himself, he would have to admit that he had missed all of this brothers. Now, that they were back together, the only real worry was their father and it was only a matter of time before he would come for Charlie.