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113 Tamale Ridge by: Chuck Cusimano

We sat around and drank a couple of cups of coffee and then Gilberto and I went outside to feed

the horses, while Juan and Claudia started getting breakfast ready. We came back into the cabin

and ate. Then it was back outside to find something else to do. Juan was milking the cow while

Claudia was cleaning up the kitchen. Gilberto was shoveling a path to the old outhouse and I

went and saddled a horse. I was going to ride into town and get the items that we needed.

It took me a while to get through the snow. The drifts were pretty deep in some places but I

arrived that afternoon and got the few things we needed. I also picked up the mail. There was a

letter from Rosemarie. I didn’t wait long to open it. I went to the café, ordered a cup of coffee

and a piece of apple pie. I opened the letter and read it like it was the last one I’d ever get.

She said that her brother had been working with her father and he was starting to act like a

normal person, for which she was glad. I was also glad to hear it. He had started to develop a

lot of hate and his young life had only just begun. She also said that she missed some of the

mares and colts that she had sent. She had gotten the money and she was saving it for

something special. She said she hadn’t decided what it was yet. Then she dropped a hint about

wishing we could see each other. That was the best news of all. I wasn’t able to do anything

without thinking of her. I decided to set right there and write back to her.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Rosemarie had a bad feeling and she couldn’t explain it. Something was wrong but she

didn’t know what, or what to do about it. She was never really close to Contesa but they were

both women and they had a lot of conversations without any strain. She went to Contesa and

told her that she felt that something was wrong but knew not what to do. Contesa consoled her

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