Red River Valley

Greetings! I am Tom Bill M’Caw, a cowboy in this picturesque place among the mountains, the Red River Valley. It is named after the renowned Red River, which flows through this valley. This river is said to be a spot where lovers loved and perished…1

Tranquility and sorrow smothers me everyday, when I stand by the river; in the place where I met her, in the place where she left me…2

I met her when I was in my teens. A wondrous sensation, I felt when I saw her and finally when she stepped into my life. That empty space in my life was filled by her love and care. When I close my eyes, I can still see her eyes, which held me captivated, and feel her hair cascading into my face. I still hear her soft voice calling out to me, ‘Billy Boy! Oh Billy Boy!’ Often, her wealth led me to shame. I couldn’t afford things that she could. I couldn’t give her much. To get rid of this feeling, I started calling her ‘Betsy Mme.’ Betsy Mme’s parents were the wealthiest in the valley and loved throwing money, but unlike them, Betsy Mme was simple.3

Many a times, I asked Betsy Mme, ‘What is your dream?’ She used to reply that she wanted to go to America for further studies and prove herself. She could afford to dream big, I couldn’t and it made me sad that one day she would leave me to reach her dream. But Betsy Mme always said that she would pack me in her luggage and take me. These words always contented me…. until the final day arrived…4

It was her sixteenth birthday and her parents threw a huge bash, to which the poor society wasn’t invited. Though uninvited, Betsy Mme dragged me to her party, but afraid her parents might do something to me, she hid me behind some bushes. Her party began with her father’s announcement. I wasn’t really paying much attention to it but my ears perked up as soon as her father mentioned something about Betsy Mme’s higher education. Listening to her father carefully, I learnt that Betsy Mme would be leaving for New York, for her higher studies. Unstoppable tears rolled down my cheeks as I fled from her party. Reaching the rocky place near the Red River, where I first met Betsy Mme, I sat down and cried; I cried for the parents who had left me forever, and cried for the person who had brightened up my life, Betsy Mme. 5

The next morning, Betsy Mme came running up to me. Seeing her enthusiasm, my eyes welled up with tears and as soon as she noticed that, the color drained from her face. Weeping, she said that she was leaving the very next day. I tried hard to hold back my tears but they rushed down my cheeks. 6

We spent the whole day together, dancing in the ‘Town Hall’, feasting in ‘Wild Wild West’ and riding horses. It was Betsy Mme’s day, but I couldn’t enjoy that much. A lonely feeling seemed to haunt me.7

The very next day, I saw Betsy Mme, running towards me with her luggage. Happily she said that she was leaving, and embraced me. I stood still, my face blank, my heart lonely. I didn’t feel anything except for a sharp pain that seemed to tear my heart. Kissing me she said, ‘I am going away, but I promise to come back someday. Wait for me!’ She left me there, on the spot where we met, just turning back once to say, ‘I love you, Billy Boy’ 8

I have grown old now…but I am still waiting…I am still waiting for you, Betsy Mme, and I will wait everyday, at the same spot where you left me…aren’t you ever coming back? People here say, you never will…but you promised me, Betsy Mme…I am still waiting…9