Chapter 2

The women were still trying to recover from the stress of the funeral, so I didn't bother them with piddling details. I could see that there were several chores that needed to be done, so I set to them. Mainly, I checked on the stock in the barn and made sure that they had food and water. Somebody had been looking after the two horses and the mule that were in there, so I had a relatively easy job. I took care of my horse at the same time, so I was ready when Mrs. Johnson called me into the house for supper.

As I walked in, Helen Johnson was wearing an apron over her dress and carrying a stew to the table. We ate in the kitchen at a large table. To my surprise, they had me sit at the head of the table. I didn't argue, but sat down where I was directed. The stew was beef and beans, but it had a lot of vegetables in it and it tasted better than any stew I had ever encountered in a restaurant. When I complimented Mrs. Johnson on the stew, she quickly said, "Oh, no, Mr. Walters, the stew was all Helen's work."

I turned to Helen Johnson and repeated my compliment, and she turned bright red, as if this were the first time anyone had complimented her on her cooking. Right after the compliment, I added, "Y'all ladies are going to get right tired of calling me Mr. Walters, and I will get tired of looking around for my pa. Let us make things a lot simpler: y'all just call me Jim."

The women laughed, and Mrs. Johnson said, "Very well, Jim, we will do that, and you can call me Martha and my daughter Helen. That will make things a lot simpler."

We talked about trivial matters regarding the Circle J ranch for a little while, then I said, "You ladies know what a mean rat Jake Holbein is, so I hope that you both can shoot. If you cannot, tell me now, and I will try to do something about that."

Helen said, "Pa taught me some about shooting, but I ain't no expert. I probably could use some instruction on both the rifle and the pistol."

Martha said, "My husband tried to teach me how to shoot, but I never took him seriously. I realize now that I had better learn all I can about shooting, especially after nearly shooting you by accident last night."

That was about what I expected, so I asked for a list of the guns that were available. They had the 10-gauge muzzle-loading shotgun, two Henry rifles, and four Colt pistols modified to use the Henry rimfire metallic cartridges. There were also three spare Colt revolver cylinders that could be swapped off to simplify reloading the revolvers.

Well, I had two Starr DA pistols modified for .44-40 Winchester cartridges, four spare cylinders, and a Winchester in .44-40. All of those guns would come in handy if Jake attacked the house, but that required that the women know how to use the guns. I was going to start a shooting class first thing tomorrow.

At least, the house and the barn were made of adobe, and the house had a metal roof just recently installed. That way, the house could do a good job of standing up to an attack, and it was not likely to burn easily. There were bars on the windows dating back to the Indian wars, so we did not have to worry so much about things coming through the windows, such as flaming torches.

The out-buildings were all of wood, so they could be burned. I was kind of concerned about the bunkhouse, so I was going to try to move into the main house for as long as I stayed around, and that looked like it might be for a spell. I mentioned the fire hazard of the bunkhouse, and Martha immediately said that I should plan on moving into the house. Well, that was a relief. At least, I did not have to do a selling job on my moving.

I asked about ammunition, and that was the problem. No one had planned on a war, so there was not nearly enough ammunition in the house to satisfy me. There was no two ways about it: I was going into Bloody Gulch tomorrow to stock up on ammunition. The shooting class would have to wait until the afternoon or the next day. I had to act fast before Jake decided to attack the house while I was in town. Yes, tomorrow was the day I went shopping.

Dammit, this was getting complicated! The grocery list required that a wagon be used for hauling everything we needed. That meant that someone was going to have to drive the wagon. I wanted to be free to fight if I had to, so one of the women was going to have to drive. Well, there was no way that I was going to leave a woman alone here at the ranch, so all three of us would have to go into town tomorrow. I did not like that, but I could not see any alternative.

I explained the situation to the women, and they actually looked relieved that I was taking them with me. I hated leaving the house unguarded, but I could not think of a way around the problem. Oh, well, maybe we could catch Jake unprepared.

The house did have a spare room, but it had no bed. Well, that was simply solved: I hauled a bed in from the bunkhouse and took that over for me to sleep on. Neither of the women seemed upset that I had moved into the house, so I relaxed a little bit on that subject.

The next morning, we had breakfast and then prepared for our trip into Bloody Gulch. I had Martha bring the shotgun and plan to be the driver. Helen brought a Henry rifle and the four Colts. She also brought all of the spare cylinders and the loose ammunition. I wondered how much real good all of those guns would do for us, but the women felt better with them handy, so I did not argue. Personally, I hoped that we would have no use for any of them.

We arrived in Bloody Gulch about mid-morning, and the women went to the general store for food and a few other things they needed. Meanwhile, I went to the gunsmith for ammunition. As expected, everybody in town was afraid of Jake Holbein, but I was able to buy us a lot of ammunition once I glared at the proprietor. He quickly figured out why I wanted so much ammunition, and I expected him to run to Jake as soon as I left the shop with a list of what I had bought.

I paid for the ammunition, but I had to leave it there until I could bring the wagon around to load it. I pointed out that the ammunition now belonged to me, and people who took my stuff generally did not live long. I think that made an impression because the gunsmith appeared to be rooted to the spot when I walked out the door.

I went to the general store and found that the women were also having trouble with the clerk. I convinced the clerk to fill the order for food just by glaring at him. It ain't that I am so big, I am 5'-9" tall, but I can muster a convincing facial expression when I need to. Under the right circumstances, that there glare is as effective as actually drawing one of my pistols.

Anyway, we got what we needed and loaded it onto the wagon. Then, Martha drove to the gunshop to pick up our ammunition. When that was loaded, we headed home. That's when I saw the gunshop owner run to the saloon to report to Jake Holbein.

We made it home safely, but I wondered if that would happen again. We unloaded the wagon and the women started fixing dinner (midday meal). While the women were doing that, I found a place where we could practice our shooting. I set up several targets at about 10 yards range for the women to practice on. I was going to start them out on the pistols, and that was enough to get them started. I was not going to worry about them shooting at more than 20 yards, because that would be pushing too hard on the accuracy of them Colts.

After lunch, we walked the few feet to the shooting range. I wanted the women to learn to carry their pistol in the cross-draw position, so I had rigged some gun belts so that would be possible. Both women found it a bit awkward to have to reach around their rather large tits to reach for the guns, so I did move the holsters a little closer to their belly buttons. That did make it easier for them, and it quelled the complaints. I explained that a gun worn this way could be worn over a dress, while a gun strapped to the thigh made a dress impossible. The logic of that was irrefutable, so they went along with me. Besides, I used the cross-draw style, so I had to know what I was talking about.