Chapter 4

The trek to the hidden valley and the homestead that lay there gave Ben time to reflect on what he wanted to do, and what he needed to do. It also gave Blossom time to convince him to rethink his plans.

Ben had resisted Blossom’s suggestions at first. His only thought was that there was a woman out there somewhere that needed his help and he needed to go after her. After all, that was why he’d been sent back in time. He was here to pay his dues to society by helping people. He’d already helped Cecily and her family, and while in the long term they weren’t out of danger yet, they were safe for the moment. That meant that Ben could leave them at the homestead, under the watchful eye of Blossom, and ride off after the raiders to rescue the woman.

Blossom thought otherwise, and to Ben’s chagrin, she voiced solid arguments as to why Ben shouldn’t simply ride off into the setting sun on his own, to try and hunt down the raiders and to rescue the woman. In the end, Ben had been forced to listen to her reasoning.

The truth was that the day was spent by the time Ben and the family reached the hidden valley. There were a few hours of sun left and Ben, if he had truly wanted to, could have continued on once the family had been settled. By that point Ben hadn’t wanted to. He knew that even if he pushed his horse as hard as he could he wouldn’t catch up to the raiders before sunset, and that once the sun had set, following their trail would be nearly impossible. Instead Ben would wait until the next morning, riding out at the crack of dawn, rested and ready for whatever this place and time could throw at him.

The decision to stay opened other options for Ben. Blossom had insisted that Ben shouldn’t ride out alone, just in case whatever situation Ben encounter proved to be more than he could handle on his own. Ben eventually agreed with Blossom’s arguments, regardless of the fact that they left him with a quandary. Since Ben wanted Blossom to stay with the family, to watch over them and guard them while Ben was off in pursuit of the raiders; it meant that Ben needed to train either Amos or Cecily in the basics of using firearms, so one of them could ride with him. Since Amos had been so vocal and adamant that as a black man he couldn’t touch a weapon, Ben’s choice of trainees dropped to one. The fact that they were staying the night at the homestead gave Ben the option to train the woman properly.

Amos was opposed to the idea. When the option was put to him that Ben would train him instead of his sister, Amos shot it down. He wanted nothing to do with weapons, and he was adamant that his sister shouldn’t touch them as well. More importantly, he didn’t want his sister riding off with Ben and exposing herself to danger. She was a mother and she should stay with her children. He even put his foot down, as head of the small family, telling Cecily that she couldn’t do it. That simply set Cecily off and for a good fifteen minutes Cecily gave Amos a piece of her mind, pointing out to the man that if he hadn’t panicked back on the Master’s farm, they wouldn’t have run away and they certainly wouldn’t be beholden to the marshal for saving their lives. She left the matter at that point, bluntly saying that she for one would repay the marshal for the debt that they owed him. Ben and Blossom simply stood back and let the woman vent her thoughts, knowing that they really didn’t need to voice an opinion. Cecily was doing a really good job.

It turned out that Cecily was a natural. Ben took her off to one side of the homestead and he introduced her to both a long gun and a pistol. He spent thirty minutes acquainting her to the functionality of both weapons and then he let her fire them. He’d set up a small firing range, using broken crockery that he’d found scattered around in the sod house. He let Cecily start off by firing the pistol, feeling that it was the best weapon for her to get used to the noise and effects. Ben talked her through the first two shots, showing her how to cock the weapon and how to steady it by using both hands. Cecily wasn’t a big woman, but she wasn’t without strength in her limbs. She caught on without much effort, and to both Ben’s surprise and her own, Cecily hit her targets with very little effort.

The big rifle was another matter. Ben wished he had a sawed off shotgun for Cecily to use, but he didn’t. Since Cecily wasn’t a big woman it meant that she couldn’t fire the long gun in a standing or kneeling position without supporting the barrel of the weapon in such a manner that she could aim and fire. Ben had her take the first couple of shots in the prone position, laying the end of the barrel upon a fallen tree branch to keep the barrel from dropping off target. The kick of the big rifle took Cecily by surprise. It hurt like hell, even though she was holding the weapon properly, bracing it against her right shoulder. She just didn’t have the weight behind her to keep the weapon from slamming her back. When Ben allowed Cecily to fire the weapon in a standing position, supporting the long barrel on the railing of a fence, it was even worse. Her shot hit, but Cecily almost ended up on her backside. She would have, if Ben hadn’t been standing behind her when she took the shot, helping brace her slight frame with his own. It was the only time he let her do that.

In between shooting, Ben drilled Cecily in the care and cleaning of both the rifle and the pistol that he’d given her to use. Cecily proved to be an attentive student. She wasn’t very fast at reloading, but that didn’t matter; or so Ben told her when she became worried that she couldn’t reload fast enough. Ben assured her that speed would develop over time as Cecily became more confident in the task and that for the moment, accuracy and doing the task correctly was more important than speed, both in loading the weapons and firing them.

Blossom cooked the meal that night. She made a venison stew from some of the deer that Ben had killed that morning. The remainder of the meat she cut into strips so she could dry it by the fire. She had Amos and the boys make her drying racks, and she had them fetch sticks so that she could stretch the skin of the deer and work it, once supper was done and the dishes had been cleaned up.

The meal proved to be a quiet one. Amos was still annoyed that his sister was handling weapons and refused to be drawn into any kind of conversation. Cecily was too tired and too sore from firing the long gun to take any note of her brother’s behaviour. She simply sat on a log, seated between her two boys, shovelling the food into her mouth. Her boys in turn, simply sat beside her looking nervously from one adult to the other, uncertain of what their status was in this small gathering, or whom they should support. Being uncertain they kept their mouths shut. In a way it was for the best. It meant the meal was eaten quickly, and it meant that Ben could take Cecily off to do a little more training before it got too dark.

In addition to teaching Cecily to shoot, Ben took some time, once the light began to fail to teach the woman to sit on a horse. If she was going to ride along with him, it was a skill she needed to know, and from speaking to Cecily earlier, it had become clear that she’d never sat on a horse before in her entire life.

Ben showed Cecily the basics. He wasn’t an expert himself, having only recently learned to ride back in his time and place, but he did have all the training that the instructors back at the detention centre had pumped into his brain, readily at hand to be recalled as needed, and he shared that knowledge with the woman. He taught her how to mount and dismount properly, and how to saddle and unsaddle her horse. He advised her how to keep herself while the horse moved at a trot and how to keep her seat when the animal moved into a lope. Ben kept Cecily at it until well after dark. Then he taught her to care for the animals. Once they’d bedded the animals down for the night, Ben sat Cecily down for a chat. By that time, Amos and the boys had gone off to bed, claiming the safety of the sod house as their own.

“I wanted to speak with you, Miss Cecily,” Ben murmured softly when he sat himself down across from the woman, putting the campfire between them. “It’s been a long day and I know that you’re probably tired, but I’ve got a few things that I need to say to you. I hope you don’t mind?”

“I don’t, Marshal, Sir,” Cecily responded without hesitation, smiling warmly and with reassurance on her face as she did. “I thank you for asking, though. It is kind of you, and I’ll try to listen well to what you have to say.”

Ben nodded in response. Then he glanced over to where Blossom was seated. The older woman was working the deer skin and pretending she wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation. Ben knew she was. He sighed openly and then he turned back to Cecily and he said what he had to say.

“First off, you’ve done very well today,” Ben told the woman in a firm, almost proud voice. “You’ve been a good student and you’ve picked up the basics of what you need to know, and to put it plainly, I’m thankful for that. It means that in a crisis, if you have the time and you keep your head, you’ll do fine. However, that is a concern for me. Bad things happen all the time, and sometimes people don’t have time to prepare themselves for it. I know you want to ride out with me in the morning, and I’m aware that Blossom has spoken to you about this, insisting that it is necessary; but I wanted to put the question to you again. When I ride out I’m going to push my horse as much as I can. It’ll mean a hard ride for you. In fact, if you come with me I’ll probably have to lead your mount while you simply hold on and try to keep your seat. Then there’ll be the men I’m hunting. They killed a man and a boy without giving it a second thought, and they took a woman with them when they left here. I’ll be riding into danger and if you ride with me, you’ll be risking your life. I wanted to point that out to you and to let you decide. You can always simply stay behind.”

“No I can’t, Marshal, Sir,” Cecily declared forcefully, when Ben stopped speaking. “I don’t know what drives you, Marshal. I think you’re a good man. You obviously believe in the law, but you also believe in helping people in need, even though it breaks the law. I pray to God that I meet more men like you as I go on through life. It would make my road much easier. In any case, I’m beholden to you for what you’ve done for my family. As I told my brother, I owe you a debt and this is my way of repaying you. I’ll be up in the morning when you’re ready to ride out, and regardless of what trouble we find, I’ll be there to back you up.”

“But you don’t really owe me anything, Miss Cecily,” Ben informed the woman. “I saved you and your family because it was my job. That’s all it was. You’re certainly not in my debt.”

“I don’t think what you did was just your job, Marshal, Sir,” Cecily declared with a shake of her head. “I might be a simple Negro girl who’s never been more than two miles from her owner’s farm, before running away, but I’ve seen men and I’ve known men, and I can feel it in my heart that you’re different from most men that I’ve ever spoken to. You could have just ridden off once those men told you that we were runaway slaves. Nobody would have thought wrong of you if you had. You didn’t. You killed those men and then you comforted my family by saying you’d help us. There aren’t many Christian men who’d have made that promise regardless of what they thought about slavery. You’re different, Marshal and I know it, so regardless of what you’ve just said to me, I’m riding with you.”

Ben sighed aloud in reply and glanced over at Blossom. The old woman was actually smiling. Ben just shook his head tiredly, and then turned his gaze back towards Cecily.

“All right then, Miss Cecily, I gave you a chance to back out, and you said no,” Ben stated in a matter of fact manner. “That means two things; one we both need to get to bed, since we both need to be up in the morning and ready to ride by daybreak, and two, you need to start calling me Ben. It’s my name, and if you’re backing me up, you’ll need to start using it. Do you understand?”

Cecily understood, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. The best she could do was to call Ben, Marshal Ben. Ben simply had to live with that. With that said and the night creeping towards the next day Ben suggested it was time for sleep. No one argued with him on that point; and once Ben had taken a quick walk around to make certain that everything was in order, he headed for his bedroll. To his surprise, Ben found Cecily lying in her bedroll, next to his.

“What’s this?” Ben enquired in a low voice, indicating towards where Cecily was lying as he asked the question. “I thought you were sleeping in the sod house.”

“Nope,” Cecily replied with a hint of cheekiness in her voice. “I’m sleeping out here beside you, Marshal Ben. It’s for the best. It means that we can wake early and be off without disturbing Amos and my boys. That will keep him from causing a scene.”

Ben sighed in response to Cecily’s statement. Then he nodded his head, acknowledging the truth of her statement. She was correct in her assumption. It was for the best. Accepting it, Ben simply started to undress. To his surprise, Cecily watched him do it.

“Not embarrassed about this?” Ben enquired when he got down to his pants.

“I’ve seen plenty of men naked before, Marshal Ben,” Cecily admitted freely, although Ben noted a touch of embarrassment in her tone as she said it. “I’ve lain with more than one man, and most times as not, it wasn’t my choice. Now you’ve seen me, so to my point of view, I should see you. After all, we will be travelling together.”

“We will,” Ben concurred smiling as he did, “but I think you might be a little disappointed in what you might see. The night is a bit cold and I’m keeping my long underwear on. Sorry about that.”

“Spoil sport,” Cecily tossed back teasingly when Ben did drop his pants, but he left his long underwear on.

With that the woman rolled over and away from Ben. Ben didn’t reply. He just smiled to himself and then climbed into his bedroll. Within minutes he was asleep.

Blossom woke Ben and Cecily well before dawn. Both rose reluctantly and both had gotten dressed quickly, particularly Cecily who’d slept naked in her bedroll.

That hadn’t surprised Ben, but it had put a smile on his face. The woman was quick to pull on the heavy flannel shirt that she’d claimed as her own, quickly covering her nakedness from Ben’s appreciative gaze. Ben had to admit she was an attractive woman, and modesty was certainly not an issue for her. She didn’t even bother slipping her trousers on while remaining covered by her blankets. Instead she’d hopped out of bed once the shirt had been buttoned up against the chilly air, and had stood there pulling on her bottoms while giving Ben a good look at her firm, round ass. It was definitely a distraction, and Cecily was the first of the two to get dressed.

“You could do worse, Lawman,” Blossom told Ben as she handed him a cup of coffee, while Ben stood and watched as Cecily headed off to the outhouse.

Ben didn’t disagree with Blossom, however he didn’t agree either. He did point out the facts of life.

“That might be so, and I won’t deny that it’s a pleasant thought,” Ben told Blossom in a low voice, “but the fact is our roads lead in different directions. Sooner or later, Cecily and her family must ride westward, if only to stay ahead of slavers who want to track them down and carry them back for the reward offered on them, while I’ve got my own life back east to return to once I’m done here in Missouri. Now let’s not talk about it again.”

Blossom knew when to keep her mouth shut. She said nothing in reply. Instead she served up Ben with a plate of breakfast, and when Cecily returned, did the same for her. Then while Ben saddled the horses and made ready to leave, Blossom provided the two with a grub bag.

“I’ll be heading towards the trading post, once the man and the youngsters are up,” Blossom informed Ben just before he rode out. “I know you wanted us to stay here, but the trading post isn’t that far away and I’m expected. I’ll take care of the family and see to it that Big Ed doesn’t rob them blind. I wish you luck, lawman.”

Ben simply grunted an acknowledgement. It wasn’t his plan, but Ben had learned in the short time in Blossom’s company that his plans didn’t really matter to the woman. In this instance it really didn’t matter. Ben figured that the family would be just as safe at the trading post, and maybe even a little more so, than they were here. He glanced at Cecily for a second, but he didn’t see an objection in her eyes so Ben let the matter lie. With a final farewell he rode off, leading Cecily’s mount behind him.

The track left by the raiders was still visible, even after a day and a night had passed. The track had cut out across the open plain and the passing animals and wagon had pushed down or aside much of the tall prairie grass. Some of it had ‘bounced’ back into place with the passage of time, but some of it hadn’t. It made Ben’s job that much easier.

The pair rode for two hours with Ben leading the way and setting the pace, and Cecily simply holding on to her saddle as best she could. Ben didn’t push his mount too hard yet they managed a good distance in that time. For the most part they crossed the open plains seeing nothing but tall grass and the occasional tree. They definitely didn’t catch up to the wagon. They did however find a well-travelled trail.

The trail had appeared and cut the track that they’d been following since sunrise, putting an end to the track. Ben spotted it upon cresting a rise that overlooked the surrounding terrain, making the trail visible from that height. On seeing it, Ben reined in his mount, bringing the animal to a walk and then to a halt. Naturally, Cecily’s horse followed suit, once it realized that Ben’s big bay wasn’t moving on.

“What is it, Marshal Ben?” Cecily enquired anxiously from the back of her horse, huffing and puffing a bit from the exertion of trying to keep her seat during the ride. “Did you spot the wagon?”

“No,” Ben replied without pause. “I’ve spotted a trail cutting our course, and from here it looks like the wagon must have turned on to it. I’m going to get down and have a look.”

“Should I get down as well?” Cecily enquired nervously, glancing about as she said it.

“No,” Ben told her pointedly. “I’d rather you stayed mounted while I’m on foot. I’m going to wander down and have a look to see what I can see. With you up here and mounted, you can see further and better than I can. You can shout out if you spot trouble coming my way.”

Cecily smiled at that suggestion and then nodded to Ben letting him know that she understood. Then she took up her watch. Ben smiled at that, pleased that Cecily had gotten the idea without too much discussion. Then he headed off.

The walk down to the trail took very little time. Ben led his horse behind him as he went, and kept the animal with him once he got there. He walked along the grassy edge to the trail, keeping off of it as he checked it out. Ben was even forced to travel down its length for a bit, before he was ready to call an end to his inspection. When he finally did, Ben mounted up and then waved Cecily down to join him.

“From the look of it, the wagon went this way,” Ben stated when Cecily brought her mount to a halt beside his a few minutes later. “It was hard to tell, given that other wagons used this track yesterday, but I was able to spot a hoof print from one of the raiders’ animals. It makes a distinctive mark when it strikes the ground just right. It does mean we’re going to have to pace ourselves in our pursuit and double check the road if there are any turns in it. Are you still up to this?”

Cecily declared she was and Ben accepted her reassurances. He then took up the lead rope of Cecily’s mount once more, and without uttering another word, turned his own horse down the trail in the direction that the wagon had gone, prodding it into a trot.

The two of them rode on for another hour, with Ben keeping their progress to a trot. The landscape proved unchanging for the most part; which in a way was good, as there was no way that the wagon they were following could leave the trail without leaving behind some sort of sign. It also meant that they could hurry on without too much concern. Unfortunately their luck didn’t last forever. Eventually the two came upon a fork in the road.

“I think they stayed here last night,” Ben informed Cecily after he’d dismounted his horse and had a look around. “All the signs are here of it. From what I can tell, they headed towards the northwest.”

The fork in the road split in two directions, both cutting a course across the great open plains. The first branch turned left from where Ben was standing, and struck westward. The other branch turned right and headed towards the northwest. Both trails looked well-travelled.