Texas Bound

By Connie Carson

Seth had never cared for the easy life. When things got too comfortable he always found trouble--or it found him. He had found at an early age the prosperous plantation that had been in his family for four generations did not offer enough challenges to make him happy. In fact, the whole state of Virginia was too tame for him. So, as soon as he graduated from William and Mary, he struck out to find someplace he could have the freedom and space he desired. In 1836, after nearly a year of searching, he finds himself in Texas.

He enters the territory just days after the small, inexperienced Texas army, in it's attempt to win Texas' independence from Mexico, has met a devastating defeat at the hands of the large and powerful Mexican army. After establishing a rather large and prosperous cattle ranch in the Texas hill country he meets the woman who makes his life complete. They raise a family and together meet the challenges of the unsettled frontier. Together they establish a Texas dynasty and leave their footprints in Texas history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452073606

Connie Carson

Dr. Carson’s 35-year diversified career in healthcare has spanned oncology, speech-language pathology, and transplant medicine. For fourteen years, she acted as a healthcare consultant and website author to the oncology division of HCA Inc., based in Nashville, TN. She currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for the Colorado Cancer Coalition, the organization responsible for implementing the Cancer Plan for the State of Colorado. Most recently, she authored Exercise for Cancer Patients, which is available in hard copy and electronically.Her professional passion is to help cancer patients become more physically fit. Connie hosts a monthly fitness group for women called Feisty Fit Females and is President of the Board of Directors for Team CWW, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women of all fitness levels train for triathlon events. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Denver in Speech Communication, her M.S.in Speech Pathology from Washington University in St. Louis, and her B.S. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from Minnesota State University.An avid funologist, skier, golfer, open-water swimmer, and triathlete, she lives in Colorado with her husband.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Texas 1843

As Seth stood on the porch of the small ranch house looking out over the flooded ranchland, his almost-black eyes and his white-knuckled grip on the porch railing were all that revealed the fury and bitterness that was churning deep inside. Just as the ranch was finally beginning to prosper and life was again looking up, Mother Nature had played this cruel trick.

It had been a dry spring and an even drier summer. The rains that had started two weeks earlier had been a welcome relief to the drought-stricken countryside. But, as so often happens after a long dry spell when the rains finally started it seemed they would never stop, bringing flooding and devastation to the area. Before the worst of the torrential rainstorms had started, in anticipation of possible flooding most of the cattle had been moved from the range along the river to higher ground. Because of the deluge that had fallen the past three days he had not been able to check on them since. The ranch was large; but knowing the habits of cattle he knew some had made their way back to the lower pastures where they were accustomed to grazing. Even before seeing the damage firsthand, he knew those low-lying areas had been turned into a lake.

Reflecting back on the eight years since he had left the security of his family’s prosperous Virginia plantation to come to this untamed and dangerous Republic of Texas, Seth again asked himself if the price he paid daily for his desire to be his own man was worth the sacrifices he had already made and the unknown ones he was yet to face. As always, his answer to that question was yes. To him and other Texians, Texas was not a place; it was a state of mind. A feeling that only grew more intense with time and adversities.

All of this would have caused many men to give up and leave to look for something less risky, however it seemed each challenge and every adversity he faced only caused him to dig his boots deeper into the Texas soil and made him more determined to stay.

As he remembered the many times his mother had told him he was the most obsessed and stubborn person she had ever known, the anger left him and was replaced by a slow grin. She was probably right he thought, as his eyes again scanned the ranch.

You may be just dirt and trees but nothing or no one will ever take you away from me, he said to himself.

Thinking of his mother he recalled how he had always felt like a misfit among his light-eyed, fair-skinned family. He had his mother’s raven black hair; but whereas her eyes were emerald green and her skin was fair, his eyes were a dark penetrating brown and the hot summer sun always turned his skin to the color of dark copper. By the age of sixteen he had reached his adult height of six-feet two inches. Although the other men in the family were by no means short, he nevertheless towered over them. It was yet another feature that made him feel an outcast in his own family.

Shortly before arriving in Texas he had stopped in New Orleans and met his mother’s father. That was when he realized it was the maternal side of his family that he resembled in appearance.

His older brother not only looked like the Blacks with his blonde hair and blue eyes, he also had been the ideal son and student. Seth couldn’t remember James ever getting into a fight and his marks in school had always been exemplary. He, on the other hand, had gotten into more fights than he cared to remember and his marks had never been anything to brag about. Although he seldom lost his temper, on those occasions when he did he tended to think with his fists rather than his head. The numerous parties he had gone to while attending William and Mary, along with the gambling and alcohol he had consumed at those parties had caused his study habits and marks to fall far below those of his brother. Nevertheless, in spite of himself he had somehow managed to stay in school and out of serious trouble. To everyone’s surprise, including his own, he had even managed to receive his degree.

His mother had wanted him to follow in his brother’s footsteps and attend William and Mary, and then eventually settle at Twin Oaks to help James manage the family plantation. The plantation had been large and prosperous for two generations; but the past few years under the capable care of James and their Uncle Beau, it had become one of the largest and most prosperous in the area.

His childhood had been a happy one. Still, like his father, he had known at an early age the confines of the well organized and prosperous plantation that had been in his father’s family for four generations was not where he wanted to spend his life.

So, a month after graduating from William and Mary and with enough money in his pockets to buy some land elsewhere he had mounted Banner, the sorrel stallion he had chosen from the family stable. Leading a pack horse and a young brood mare he bade his family good-bye and headed west–destination unknown.

After four months of traveling and still not finding what he was looking for he had found himself in New Orleans, the city where his mother was born and had lived before she and his father had married and she had moved to Virginia.

Before leaving Twin Oaks his mother had given him her father’s address in the event he should find himself in New Orleans and had the desire to meet his grandfather. After a week in the city he still wasn’t sure he wanted to see him until one day he found himself riding down the street where his grandfather lived. As he walked from the street and up the steps of the big house he knew he had made the right decision. Seeing the man was the only way he would ever know for himself what he was really like and answer the many questions his mother had been unable or unwilling to answer.

At his knock on the door Seth was greeted by an aristocratic Negro doorman who looked with contempt at Seth’s rather worn and casual clothes. Before he could tell Seth to enter at the back through the servants’ entrance Seth identified himself and explained why he had come. At that the man had reluctantly shown him to a dark, dreary parlor where he had been curtly told to wait.

To pass the time while waiting to see his grandfather he had gone to the window and was looking at the grounds that had obviously once been quite elaborate, but were now overgrown with weeds and in dire need of attention. From what little he had seen of the inside of the house it too seemed to be suffering from neglect.

After a seemingly long wait he was brought out of his reverie by the faint sound of turning wheels and a squeaking noise. Expecting to see a teacart in need of lubrication he turned in the direction of the noise. To his surprise, instead of the teacart he had expected, he saw the old black man who had opened the door for him pushing a high-backed oak chair fitted with wheels. Seated in the chair was a man who could be none other than his grandfather, George Deveraux.

When he looked at the man he found himself looking into the coldest, blackest eyes he had ever encountered. Eyes that would have made a lesser man quake. The man behind those eyes had thinning gray hair and a beard that was solid gray. His face was heavily lined, making him appear much older than Seth knew him to be.

So, you say you’re Amy’s son, the man said as a sneer curled his lip and he looked Seth over from the top of his head to the toes of his dusty worn boots. At least you look like a Deveraux.

Yes sir. I’ve been told that before, Seth answered trying to sound friendly. My brother, James, resembles our father’s side of the family.

Why are you here?

The abrupt, unfeeling question took Seth by such surprise it took him a moment to respond. He was not easily intimidated but this man was making him feel very uncomfortable. I was passing through New Orleans on my way west and wanted to meet you.

I don’t know what your mother or her lying sister told you but if you thought you could stop by here and get a warm welcome and a handout from a lonely old man you wasted your time. I have nothing to say to them or to you.

And I obviously have nothing to say to you, Seth thought. Respect for others was something he had learned at an early age and it had always come easy for him, until now. He had never had the desire to hit an old man until that moment; now suddenly the desire was almost uncontrollable. No one, not even their father, had the right to speak of his mother and aunt with such disrespect. He now understood why both women were filled with such contempt for the man who had sired them. He was just as cold and ruthless as they had claimed him to be. It was now plain to see that what they had said about the man had not been exaggerated.

It seems I made a mistake coming here, Seth said through clinched teeth as he met the old man’s glare with an equally cold look. Without another word he turned on his heels and was about to walk out of the room when his grandfather’s next words stopped him in his tracks.

You’re just like your father, spoiled and worthless. You’ll never be worth a damn. Some woman will end up supporting you.

No one insulted his father. He almost turned around and went back to hit the man before he realized that would accomplish nothing. Instead he clinched his fists and continued walking as the man shouted insults and obscenities after him.

An hour later, his temper still not completely calmed, he found himself on a street he remembered his Uncle Beau telling him was in a part of town where respectable ladies didn’t venture. Good, he thought as he looked at the run down buildings that lined both sides of the dusty street, because at the moment I certainly don’t feel like a respectable gentleman. What I do feel like is a stiff drink, or rather several, he mumbled to himself as he looked to the other side of the street and saw an open door that obviously lead into an establishment that offered every vice a man could possibly desire.

Approaching the building he heard loud music and laughter coming from within. As he walked through the open door his arm was seized by a buxom wench dressed in a low-cut yellow dress, voluminous red hair and an inviting smile.

Hey handsome, she breathed, as she ran her hand down his forearm and her eyes raked his tall lithe body, why don’t you come upstairs with me where for a few coins I can wipe that frown off your face.

As his eyes went from her hair to her plump breasts that were fighting to escape the tight bodice that barely contained them, he felt his carnal desires were about to be satisfied. Lead on, he said without a second thought, as he followed her up the narrow, dimly lit stairs.

Coming down the stairs a short time later, he noted his pockets were considerably lighter but he was feeling much better and sure enough, he realized he was smiling. Looking around the room he noticed the bar was packed with drinkers and the tables were occupied with well-dressed and obviously well-heeled gamblers. Remembering his funds were getting rather low and feeling lucky, he decided to try his luck at the tables.

Seeing a table with an empty chair and three men sitting there who looked like they had already had more than their share of strong spirits, he went up to the table and asked if he could join them. One of the men glanced up at him and without a word motioned to the empty chair. He sat down and was dealt a hand.

As he left the table early that next morning he was tired; but he noted the smile was still on his face and his pockets were considerably heavier.

Later when he had written his mother he was in New Orleans he had told her about visiting his grandfather and the cold reception he had received; but had not mentioned the angry words that had been exchanged. She had written back saying it sounded as though the years had not mellowed her father and she was sorry he had experienced such an unfeeling reception.

It was a cold wet night in March and Seth had again found his way to the Cajun Palace; a place he had become very familiar with the past few months. He had just come down from Carmen’s room and was standing at the bar rolling a glass of rye between his hands. He was thinking about where he was going after leaving New Orleans, as he did nearly every evening, when a wiry little man of indeterminate age and a week’s growth of beard came up beside him and introduced himself as Hobie. When Seth asked if Hobie was his last or given name the man had given him a wry grin and simply said, both, leading Seth to believe it was neither.

It had been from Hobie that very night that Seth had first heard about Texas and the land grants Stephen Austin was offering anyone willing to settle in the territory. He immediately knew that was where he was destined to go and it had taken little effort to convince Hobie to go with him. They had purchased the necessary supplies the next day and two days later, at dawn, the two men had headed for the untamed territory.

The spring they crossed the Sabine River into Texas was not a happy time for the people of Texas. In it’s quest for independence from Mexico the small Texas army had recently fought and experienced a devastating defeat at the hands of the large and powerful Mexican army.

As the two men rode toward the heart of the territory they passed scores of women, children and old men fleeing in front of the Mexican army that was killing and destroying everything in its path. The mass exodus would later be referred to as The Runaway Scrape.

Looking for land, not trouble, they bypassed San Antonio, where the battle and defeat at the old Spanish mission had taken place. Instead they followed the river west until they topped a hill overlooking a valley of green grass and trees with a wide creek running through it.

Seth had known instantly this was what he had been looking for since leaving Virginia. The land was almost as green as Virginia and there was an abundance of water and grass. He instinctively knew it would be good land for cattle. The potential for success was there and the rugged land offered the challenge and freedom he had been seeking.

This is it, Seth said.

Remind you of home? Hobie asked.

No, Seth thought, as his eyes scanned the valley; it doesn’t remind me of home. It is home. Everything except for the mesquite trees and the lack of mountains in the background. It even feels like home. Let’s go take a closer look, he said as he spurred Banner down the hill toward the creek.

A closer look only convinced him his first impression had been correct. They spent the remainder of the day riding over the land and that night was spent under the stars on the hill where he had first viewed the valley. The next morning at sunrise they rode into San Antonio and Seth put in his claim for the land.

The trip from Virginia to Texas had taken nearly a year and it had been a costly year but, even with that, he had arrived in Texas with all the money his mother had given him. Along the way he had made money racing Banner and breeding him to mares whose owners had seen the stallion’s speed and wanted horses with that capability. The gambling skills he had acquired while attending William and Mary that had gotten him into so much trouble at the time had finally benefited him. The money he had won in the gaming houses in New Orleans had also reduced his expenses.

The first thing the two men did was build a small lean-to house with a shed attached where they could get out of the weather and where they could shelter the horses. When that project was completed they had gone to El Rio Negro Ranchero, the ranch across the river, and had bought some cattle.

Seth had only intended to buy a small herd of shorthorns but when he had seen the young longhorn bull with the wide expanse of horns he knew he had to have him. So, along with the shorthorns, they had come home with the bull and four longhorn cows.

Hobie had told him he was crazy for buying the longhorns. Maybe he was. But for some reason the longhorns seemed to represent Texas and his reason for being here.

It hadn’t taken long for Seth to discover that Hobie might be small in stature but he had an unlimited supply of energy and a willingness to work that was equal to no man he had ever known. He couldn’t help feeling that between the two of them they could accomplish anything they set out to do.

Along with Hobie and two men he hired Seth spent the first year in Texas clearing land on the vast spread and building a house and barn and bunkhouse. The small log dogtrot house wasn’t anything like the big two story house at Twin Oaks where he had grown up, but it gave both him and Hobie a comfortable and private place to live. Most important, it was his.

The wanderlust that ran through his veins that had brought him to Texas was the same his father had had but his father’s had lead him in a different direction. A year after his father, William Black, had graduated from William and Mary he and his friend Beau Dupree had joined the army. It was the next summer while they had been in New Orleans visiting Beau’s parents his father had met Beau’s cousin, Amy Deveraux. That fall Beau had married Will’s sister, Megan; the following spring Will and Amy had married and she had moved to Twin Oaks. They had spent the next ten years seeing each other only on those occasions when Will was able to make it home on leave.

Since Will had chosen to remain in the army, Beau had stayed at Twin Oaks to help Seth’s grandfather manage the plantation.

Then in 1814, when Seth had been an infant, his father’s troop had again been sent to New Orleans to help defend the city and the Mississippi River against a British invasion. It was there he had lost his life at the Battle of New Orleans. The battle, that unbeknown to the soldiers at the time, had been fought after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed ending the war. Although his father had died at an early age leaving a wife and two young sons, he had left them well cared for and loved.

Seth couldn’t help wondering if his quest for a different lifestyle would end the same for him as it had his father. He hoped not but he knew the way he felt about the ranch and Texas that if he had arrived in Texas a few months earlier he would probably have been one of those men who had fought so gallantly, giving their lives for Texas independence at the Battle of the Alamo and at San Jacinto.

CHAPTER 2

One spring evening, after clearing an exceptionally rocky section of land and killing more rattlesnakes than he had thought could have lived in the entire Republic of Texas, he and Hobie had put the horses in the barn and were walking to the house when Seth asked, Are you ready to reward yourself for the hard work we’ve done this past year?

Sure Boss, but don’t we need to git more cattle and finish tha’ job first? Hobie asked as he rolled a chaw of tobacco around in his mouth.

No. I feel like celebrating now and that’s what we’re going to do. We could wait until we get more cattle but I’m afraid after we do there will be no time for anything but work for a long time to come. So, we had better take advantage of this slow time while we have it.

As Seth and Hobie talked Seth thought of that night when he had first met Hobie. He had been almost certain the man was either on the run or hiding from something, but he still knew him only as Hobie. He had not inquired again since that first meeting and Hobie had never offered more. Hobie had never given him a moment of doubt about his honesty or his loyalty and, in fact, had become the best friend Seth had ever made. So the question of Hobie’s name or his past had never been an issue.

The next morning the two men had ridden into San Antonio to celebrate what they had accomplished the past year. It was on that trip when he had been invited to the dinner party of a friend that he had met Athena Jackman, the daughter of a prominent San Antonio businessman and political leader.

He had not been consciously looking for a wife when they met; but she had been everything he had thought he would ever want in a wife. She was intelligent and pleasant to be with and pretty. Although Athena had lived in San Antonio all her life to his surprise she had been willing to lead the solitary life of a rancher’s wife. So a month after meeting and a whirlwind courtship they had married and he had brought her to the ranch.

They had been married nearly three years when Athena had told him she was carrying his child. He had thought he would have everything a man could possibly want. A loving wife, a future heir and a ranch that spread as far as the eye could see. But it had been a short-lived dream.

Since the ranch was so far from town, a month before the baby was due Seth had hired a midwife to come stay with Athena and be there when the baby was born. However, as so often is the case, things didn’t go according to plans.

Two days after the midwife arrived Athena told them the baby was coming. All that night and most of the next day she was in labor. With each passing hour Seth worried more about his wife. He had never been around a woman in labor before but he knew things were not going well. The midwife tried not to alarm him but he knew she too was worried. When the baby was finally born late that afternoon Athena had opened her eyes just long enough to look at Seth, smile faintly and close them again for the final time. The baby had given up his feeble struggle for life early the next morning.

Suddenly he had again found himself alone. But this time he was left with a lost and empty feeling he had never before experienced. His only outlet had been to devote all his time and energy into building his ranch into one of the largest in the area. The only ranch larger and more prosperous was the adjoining ranch, El Rio Negro Ranchero, where he had bought his first cattle.

As Seth watched Hobie ride across the muddy ground from the barn to the house leading the big palomino stallion he had appropriately named Diablo another memory came to mind. The stallion was from the Arabian stallion, Banner, Seth had brought with him from Virginia and the palomino mare Alejandro had given him in return for the help Seth had given him in rescuing his daughter when she had been taken hostage by a tribe of nearby Comanches.

He had first met Don Diego Alejandro Tomas Romero five years earlier. Although Seth had been on El Rio Negro Ranchero several times he had not met Alejandro until the distraught man and several of his vaqueros had ridden across the ranch on the trail of the Comanches. Without a second thought and with Athena’s blessing Seth had joined the men in their pursuit. He had heard of the tortures and unspeakable abuses the Indians would put their captives through, especially young girls, before eventually killing them.

After several days on the trail tracking the Indians, then negotiating with them for the better part of a day, they had finally made a trade of a generous number of horses and rifles in return for the girl. Much to everyone’s surprise and relief she had not been harmed, in spite of her youth and beauty. It was apparent the Indians had taken her in anticipation of the generous trade they had obviously known Alejandro would make for his daughter’s return.

Since that time Alejandro had treated Seth like a son. Although Alejandro was rather reserved Seth had grown very fond of him as well. He had given Seth much valuable support and had patiently answered the many questions he had about ranching. Seth had a great respect for Alejandro both as a friend and as a rancher. He knew without Alejandro’s advice and friendship his ranch wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it was today.

Hey Boss, ya’ ready to check out the damage? Hobie asked as he brought the horses to a stop in front of the house.

As ready as I’ll ever be, Seth answered with a deep sigh, as he swung his long leg across the back of the restless stallion and settled into the saddle. "When we’re finished, if we still have the spirit we can ride into San Antonio and drown our sorrows in the cantinas and in the arms of every beautiful senorita who will have two drunken cowboys."

Hobie looked at Seth cautiously. He didn’t say anything but Seth knew his words had surprised the other man.

Don’t look so surprised my friend. We must all move forward. It’s time I buried the past.

It had been a long time since he had been into San Antonio. Two years to be exact. He hadn’t been there since Athena had died. The town reminded him too much of her.

They rode into San Antonio late that next morning. As they passed the old Spanish mission where so many gallant men had lost their lives fighting for Texas’ independence, a surge of pride and sorrow swept through Seth as it always did when he thought of that hard fought battle. He felt he could almost hear the shots that had been fired during the days of the fateful battle.

Looking at the Texas flag that now flew proudly in front of the abandoned mission he knew if it hadn’t been for those brave