Chapter 10

I mounted on my horse, riding beside Tom Horn in the morning. We were almost to the farming area of the former Weatherly cattle ranch when we overtook Bob, Roland, and the freight wagon with the hides on it for the tepee. It couldn’t be timed better for Bob, who wouldn’t have known how to reach the location where the tepee was to be set up.

“Well now Kid, am I glad to see you? The way you spoke before we left, I figured we must be near the end of the trip.”

“Bob, we have a few short miles to go. The road goes around the farms, down a long hill, and across the creek. I own the other side of the ridge where my land begins, so some of the creek is on my land. The creek turns to the right at the bottom of the hill, and my land lies next to the road, all the distance to where there is a sign that says, Jenkins Road. I’ll have you follow me the rest of the way.

I motioned for Tom to ride beside me. “Tom, when we top the ridge, we’ll see where my land begins. The creek is on my land for a short distance, and the road follows beside mine.”

“Kid, does all that open land I see belongs to you?”

“640 acres are. The open land consists of about 500 acres.”

“I noticed that land when I traveled by it going north. It has some brush coming up. You could earn a ton of money by turning it into cropland. How come you haven’t done anything with it before this?”

“Tom, I had to leave when I was fifteen. Pa and Ma died, and I thought the same might happen to me, so I took off. I didn’t know I could still claim it until a few weeks ago. Now I’m of an age when I want to make it pay as my folks planned. Rocky is with me on this, and he is my mentor and partner. We’ll figure something out.

“Say, Tom, would you ride the rest of the way with Rocky? I want my wife next to me when we reach my boundary because she has never seen any of it?”

“Sure, I want to thank her for letting me ride her horse.”

I talked continually to Atea as we approached the first stone corner marker where my land began. The creek was on our left until the road reached the bottom of the hill. The creek turned right there, and we forded it as the road leveled out. I saw some new construction in the distance before reaching Jenkins’ road. That must be Sam Buckland’s new Blacksmith Shop.

We rode ahead of the ambulance, leaving it behind. “Atea, all the land on the left of us belongs to you and me. See that building in the distance. That’s the new blacksmith building. I’ll work part-time there, using the smith’s forge and some of his tools.”

“Kid, where is our new home going to be?”

“I don’t know yet. Atea, look way off across the fields to where the woodland begins, there is a log cabin you can make out if you look closely. Our home could be next to the cabin where we will build. I think of Karen and Jack living beside us in her tepee—nearby, anyway.”

“It’s a long way from your business, right?”

“It is, but not that far to walk. Just below the new Smith’s building is one more plot where we could build our shop and home. It is difficult to make up my mind. I’m depending on you and Mable to help me decide.”

“We’ll figure something out. Where will we be staying until we get our home built?”

“I think Mable will want to stay in some rooms at the hotel. The town lies a mile from the log cabin. You can too if you prefer.”

“I want you with me. We could live in the ambulance if you get a home built before winter, and I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“We’ll see. It is whatever you want.”

I pulled up in front of the blacksmith shop. Sam was nailing a shoe on a big draft horse. “Hi Sam, is there business enough already in your new shop to make a living?”

“There damned sure is. I parked the load of lumber I bought here. A farmer stopped and asked what I was doing. I told him I was moving my shop here from downtown. The next morning, I had three horses to shoe. Several other farmers were with them, and they started immediately by helping put up the shop. I even have a cement foundation under the sills. It isn’t done, and I haven’t done much of the building myself, too much work coming in. The roof will be going on in a couple of days.”

“Great, that’s good. The bank gave you financing to build, okay?”

“I took the deed into the bank, and they asked how much money I needed. I told the banker it was all on you who gave me the land. He asked me when you were coming back and wants to see you. You had better see him right off. He said something about hoping you would sell more plots of land. He asked why you gave me this plot of land, and I told him that you were also going into business and we would help each other with tools and such. I say, you can write your ticket, Kid.”

“Sam, where is your family? Are you still in town?”

“Yeah, we haven’t done much about moving. My wife thinks if you would, she would like to buy a plot of land along Jenkins Road rather than have it here next to my business.”

“Sam, this is my wife, Atea. We were married just before we left from up north. We have Rocky and his wife with us, and they married at the same time as we did. His new wife, Mable, is behind us in an Army Ambulance, and Rocky is driving. In addition, one freighter wagon with the bunch started a few days ahead of us. We caught up with the freighter this morning.”

“That all of you?”

“No, three more freight wagons will be along in another two or three days. Point them toward Jenkins Road and the log cabin when they arrive, if you would. About the lot where to build our homes, we’ll all get together and see where we can live close together. I haven’t made up my mind yet, myself.”

“Good, I want to finish my shop here first, and it won’t take long before it is done.”

“Good enough. Looking back, here comes Rocky and the freight wagon. I won’t have them stop. He’ll be over to stop and talk after we get the tepee up for our Indian woman and her child to live in. The hide coverings for the tepee are on the freight wagon. See you in a couple of days.” I waved and motioned for Rocky to fall in behind me.

We turned onto Jenkins Road and stopped. Rocky came down off the ambulance seat and threw the saddle onto his horse. “Atea, would you let Tom Horn ride your horse again? He is excited about buying land from you and the Kid to build a farming equipment store.”

Atea bailed off the horse, and I gave a hand up to sit on the horse behind me. Her arms came tight around me.

“Horn wants the lot between the Smith’s shop and the corner here. When he realized how close to the railroad station your property is, he claimed it was perfect and what his concern was looking for.

“Don’t settle for his first offer because it won’t be high enough. He thinks if his business can build a store here, he can sell every farmer and rancher equipment and everything they need within a 50-mile radius.”

Tom rode up beside me on Atea’s horse and began asking questions about where my land was concerning the railroad. “Kid, I’m telegraphing my outfit tomorrow morning to have one of the owners look at your property. Right now, I’m confident when he goes back East, you’ll find yourself much richer than you are now.

“Don’t be too quick to build your homes until he leaves. From what I can see, there is enough distance between Jenkins’ road and the railroad right of way to lay out a commercial district by putting in more roads. If you don’t want to handle it personally, start a land real-estate company managed by someone you trust to operate it. That would make two roads with businesses located on both sides.”

We rode our horses briefly before I replied to Tom’s assertions. “Tom, are you going to be located here if your outfit follows your advice about building an equipment store here?”

“I’m almost sure I can talk my bosses into this project. If it is as much of a success as I believe, they will have to reward me in some favorable way. That is when I step up and ask to become a partner.”

“Would they do that for you, and how can you be sure?”

“I’d just tell one of the bosses that his grandchildren need their father home all the time, not chasing farmers out in a field to sell a plow. I’ve been writing to my wife Jenny since I got on the train coming west. The wife wants to live somewhere away from her family, and we make it alone, not under her mother’s and father’s thumb. It can be my chance and yours to make things happen.”

When Tom and I pulled into the yard, Burt Weatherly was sitting on a bench in his yard. “Hey, Kid, I been expecting you for the last couple of days, and here you are. Did Rocky return with you?”

“He is right behind me. Our wives are with us. Is my mother’s bed still empty?”

“It is, and I aired the blankets out recently. I imagine you brought sheets with you?”

“We did, and my wife will thank you. She is with Rocky and Mable, his wife. Mable and Rocky are going into town to get rooms in the hotel. “Burt, this man with me on the horse had some trouble, and his horse was killed. He is riding Atea’s horse and will be going into town tonight. I’ll tell you more about him when I get a minute.

“Burt, did you get a chance to cut poles for the tepee?”

“I did, and I assumed you would want a level surface to put up the tepee. I have the ground ready to dig in the poles. Climb off your horse, and we can walk to the site.”

“We’ll walk, and the freight wagon can follow. There is room to park the Army Ambulance nearby.”

“Sure, there is room both in and out amongst the trees. That will be staying, I assume. You have many bodies that need shelter until you build living quarters.”

“I’ll talk to Bob, driving the freight wagon; he has a say if I want to buy it.” I climbed back on my horse, following Burt, who went by the cabin and into the field. He stayed near the woods until we approached several poles for the tepee lying on the ground. The poles were lodge pole pine used for a small portion of the tepee construction.

“Kid, I figured you would want the bark stripped off cause it would fall off after the poles dried.”

“Good, that makes it more permanent.”

Rocky pulled the ambulance beyond where the tepee was going to be. The doors opened, and Jack and Karen came out. Karen inspected the plot of the prepared ground. Then she went to the pile of poles and tumbled them apart to see more than a few. “Who cut these?”

Burt spoke, “I did. I hope they will be okay?”

“Much good, me Karen, your name?”

“Call me, Burt.”

Karen looked at me, “Kid, it’s too late to make tepee tonight. I cook and sleep early. Cook early in the morning, put up poles, put hides on, and need two braves to help.”

“I’ll be here. Roland will be here too. Rocky, you and Mable might as well go on into town. Tom will ride in with you. He has to send a telegram. Atea, do you want to go in and spend a night with Mable?”

“No! My place here with you.”

Burt spoke, “Your Pa and Ma’s bed is made up so you can stay with a roof over your head.”

I asked Roland and Bob where they were sleeping, thinking they might sleep in the ambulance. “Naw, I’ll bunk under the freight wagon.”

“Okay.” Burt again spoke, “I’ve got enough beef steaks for everyone if your wife would cook it. I also have two dozen ears of early corn that came in on the train from down south. It is wilted, but I have been soaking it.

Karen said, “Kid, build me a fire. I like corn and beef. Bury the corn in coals. It has been a long time since I have corn.” It wasn’t long before Atea, Jack, and I had built a fire out of some dry limb wood Burt had stacked up. It was almost an hour before we raked the coals aside and buried the corn ears, raking the coals back over them.

He returned to the cabin and brought out a flat cast iron skillet that went half the width of a fireplace. It was ten inches wide and two feet long, making it large enough to fry all the steaks at once.

Tears came to my eyes when I saw it. It was my mom’s, and she cooked with it while traveling when we started west. The fireplace in the cabin was large enough for it to fit. We hadn’t used it as much because we had a cooking stove after we arrived.

There was just a bit of light showing in the window in the morning. Atea and I had gone to sleep last night from the excitement of arriving at our destination. This morning, it was different, “Kid, I woke up early. I heard that the Burt man go out and didn’t come back. Are you feeling brave this morning? I am feeling very brave.”

“That’s because you have feelings for me,”

“I know, and that’s why I’m feeling brave. Kid, I feel like this when I’m near you. You won’t ever leave me or go off somewhere for a long time, will you?”

“I never intended to. I hated it when you stayed with Mable, and I couldn’t see you every day.”

“I believe you, my Brave. This nice house, how come you no keep?”

“Atea, I thought Burt killed my folks, so I destroyed his home and all his buildings by fire. It was his son, who did it, the law hung his son, and he lost everything. Burt moved in here because he didn’t have any place to live. The sheriff allowed Burt to stay. When I was here last, I found out all about what happened the day my Pa and Ma died. He apologized to me for what his son did.

“It was only fair that I admit I burned everything at his ranch, and he accepted that it was something I did in retaliation. By him living here on the land for six years, no one wanted to take my land when I abandoned it. This way, we now have my father’s land, and he has a home.”

“You good man, my Brave, we should go see Karen and help put up a tepee.” We walked outside and looked over at the parked ambulance. The horses were feeding close by in the fields. There was smoke rising from a campfire. Everyone but Karen was drinking coffee. She had what looked like a pole a little less than ten feet long. There was a peg sticking down through near the ends.

Jack had one of these pegs in a hole. Karen was at the other end. Karen backed around, marking the ground while Jack made sure his peg didn’t come out of his hole in the ground. Soon, there was an eighteen-foot circle. When Karen went around marking the ground, her marks came together. She smiled at Jack and uttered. “Good.”

Atea was in the center when this tepee was constructed the last time. Now Karen took another stick and went around the circle, laying a marker at the end of the stick from where she had begun. Surprisingly, she arrived at the beginning with the first marker, precisely the stick’s length. I had seen this once before, and it still amazed me.

I knew it was time to start digging a shallow hole at each marker. Karen watched at first. She had shown me when we built this the last time, and I knew it was for the bottom end of the poles to sit in.

Atea had our breakfast cooked and motioned to eat. Karen motioned for Roland to help her pick up a pole and carry it to a position where one end would go into one of the shallow holes I had dug. The pole lay across the circle and extended out four feet or so. One more pole for the adjacent hole and the small top end were lying together, crossing about a foot from the top.