Chapter 36

“Kit, would you and Ruby want to wear buckskins like we do?” Caleb asked as they all talked, ate, and became friends.

“We sure do. Marshal Eli told us we could, and said he’d even give us our own horse,” Kit answered.

“We’ll have to round up our horses in the morning and see how many we have now. Daddy may have to get more horses from our friend, Iron Hammer. He’s the main man in the Cherokee Tribe that owns all the lands around us,” Little Eli said.

“Momma told me we could all go down to the leather shop and get y’all some buckskins after we eat. We’ll have time, if y’all want to,” Caleb told them.

“Heck yeah, we want to. I already like the way Kia, Lee Yu, and Michi look with them on. ‘Sides that, I have trouble keepin’ my dress tail down when the wind blows,” Ruby told him.

“We like wearing buckskins too, Ruby, and when we ride our horses, we can sit on the saddle better,” Michi told her.

“How old are you, Michi?” Kit asked.

“Kia and I are ten, we’re twins.”

“I’m nine and Ruby is ten,” Kit told them again.

“Little Eli, Caleb, Isaac, Micah, and Ezra will be nine soon. Lee Yu and Lilly Beth are almost nine. All their birthdays are only a couple of days apart so they just tell everyone they all have the same birthday. Lee Yu is only one day older but she likes to tell our brothers that she is the oldest. Pike is a half a year younger and is eight and a half,” Michi told them.

“Will Isaac get to go with us when we go to the leather shop?” Ruby asked as she smiled at Isaac.

“We’ll have to make a way for him to go. Us boys go together, no matter what,” Little Eli told her.

“Little Eli, does your eye and your neck hurt where you was sewed up?” Kit asked as she leaned close to look his stitches over good.

“It sorta burned a little when Lettie was sewing me up, but now it just feels kinda numb, like my skin is asleep up there.”

“You and Isaac are very brave for trying to save Lilly Beth. All of you boys must take after your daddies. Them’s the biggest, baddest, bravest men we ever saw in our lives. Y’all shoulda seen them take out all the bad men up where we come from.

“We showed them how to use dynamite and they blowed the whole bunch of them up, after they’d killed seven of them with their guns, that is,” Ruby told them.

“What is dynamite?” Ezra asked, just as the others were about to.

“The marshals brought back two wagons loaded with it. It’s like a short round stick and when you put a blasting cap on it and light the fuse with a match, it blows up.”

“Yeah and the more you use, the bigger and louder and badder it is too,” Kit added.

“How did y’all know enough about that dynamite to show our daddies how to use it?” Micah asked as they all stopped eating to look at the Halloran sisters.

“Gramps showed us all about it, ‘fore his eyes went bad. He says we’re as good as he’s ever seen at it too,” Kit told them proudly.

“Do you use a cap like an old rifle or pistol cap?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah kinda, but made like a long skinny bullet, so it’ll go up inside a stick of dynamite,” Ruby answered.

“I can’t wait to see that stuff work. Is it real loud when it blows up?” Little Eli asked.

“Heck yeah, it’s loud. It sounds like thunder and lightnin’ just hit right next to you. We throw it in the river and it knocks the breath out of the fish. Ruby and me swim out and catch the big catfish and throw ‘em on the bank.” Kit explained more about the explosive.

“You had catfish up there too? We got lots of them here. Big ones too,” Little Eli said.

“Yeah, we had some big ones up there too. We like the five to ten pounder’s best for cookin’ and eatin’ though,” Ruby told him.

“We’ll have to get our daddies to let y’all show us how to do that. We all love to eat catfish and Tin Yu can cook catfish that tastes so good,” Little Eli told her as Kit moved over between him and Caleb to talk.

“Me and Ruby can cook fish good too. We cooked the marshals some up there and they said it was real good,” Kit told them.

Moses walked out on the porch to check on the young’uns and Pike was ready for him.

“Daddy, will you take us down to the leather shop before dark so we can get Kit and Ruby some buckskins? They said their dress tails blow up too bad in the wind,” Pike said.

“Sure, I’ll get Duncan to help me and we’ll hitch one of the teams to that wagon we got left. We’ll come around here and get all of you when we’re ready.”

“Thanks, Daddy. I knew you’d want them to wear buckskins and not dresses, for when we ride horses.”

“Isaac, I’ll sit next to you if you want me to, so I can help with your broke leg,” Ruby told him.

“Thanks, Ruby. I’d like that,” he said, his face turning red when the other boys grinned at him.

Moses and Duncan drove the wagon around front and helped Pike and Isaac in the wagon. Ruby sat right next to Isaac and smiled at him.

Kit made sure she was sitting right next to Little Eli in the wagon bed, as they rode the bumpy wagon down to the river and crossed into Tulsa.

Adalee and Cadalee were working in the clothes shop and Jack and Bill were in the saddle shop when the wagon pulled up. They had all come back across the river after news that Little Eli, Lilly Beth, and Isaac were alright.

Little Eli and all the boys ran over to the saddle shop, while the girls took the Halloran sisters to see Cadalee and Adalee.

Moses and Duncan told Jack and Bill Robertson about the girls and their gramps who came home with them and that they were getting some buckskins to wear.

“We may as well throw two of these saddles on the wagon then. They’ll be wanting to ride as soon as y’all get the horse herd gathered back up,” Jack told them.

“I think Kit would like this one, Jack. It’s sort of like the one you made me,” Little Eli told him as he ran his hands over the smooth black leather of the saddle next to him.

Isaac looked at Eli, and as soon as he stopped talking, Isaac spoke up.

“I kinda think Ruby would like this one over here. I like the one I got and it’s made just like mine,” he said and his brothers laughed at him and Little Eli.

“We’ll put them in the wagon then. I think you boys made some good choices,” Duncan said and winked at Moses. Moses knew what Duncan meant and smiled.

Over in the buckskin shop, Cadalee and Adalee were fitting the Halloran sisters with some buckskin shirts and britches to match the Crow girls’ clothes.

“These britches will fit you just fine, Kit. They may be a little tight on your butt at first when you ride, but we girls kind of like them to fit like that, don’t we girls?” She said and they all laughed as Kia and Michi turned to stick their butts out to show their tight buckskin britches across their butts.

“They’ll have to have some bigger shirts, Adalee, both of them have way bigger titties than any of us already,” Lee Yu told them and all the girls laughed again.

“Here Ruby, you’re the biggest. Try this one on and we’ll see how it looks on you,” Adalee said as she handed her a new buckskin shirt with leather fringe along the sleeves and on the front across her chest as well as across her shoulders in back.

“GOLLEEE, Ruby. You got some big titties for ten years old. I hope mine get that big when I’m grown,” Lee Yu told her when Ruby and Kit pulled their dresses over their heads to stand naked in front of them.

“Yeah, Michi and I are ten and we barely got these bumps,” Kia laughed as she pushed her chest out against her buckskin shirt.

“All of you girls are going to be big in the butt and big in the titty too, just wait and see,” Cadalee told them.

“Really, Cadalee? We sure hope we are. Our momma’s all have big ones and they look so good. I just hope mine are as big as yours and Adalee’s,” Michi told her.

“I want some as big as Aunt Miranda’s. She’s got some big pretty ones too, doesn’t she?” Lee Yu said and they all laughed.

The girls were having fun as they helped Ruby and Kit dress in new buckskins and moccasins. They wore one set and carried another set with them. This was the most fun the Halloran sisters had ever had in their lives. This was the first friends their own age they’d ever had too and they already felt like sisters with the Crow girls. They both liked being around boys for the first time too, and the Crow boys had already proven they were as brave and tough as most grown men.

Duncan lifted Isaac back into the wagon and the Halloran sisters helped Pike and Little Eli aboard. The sun was almost down as they crossed the river and rode up the long slope to unload back in front of the house.

The recent days of destruction, pain, and hurt were starting to pass as the members of the Crow family and their friends sat on the wide, tall front porch and watched the peaceful sunset.

“Kit, you and Ruby come go with me. We need to get that beautiful red hair washed and you both need baths since you now have new buckskins to wear,” Clarissa told them as she stood and held out her hands to both of them.

“We’ll bring the bath water for them, Aunt Clarissa,” Michi said as she, Kia, and Lee Yu jumped up to go with them.

Kit and Ruby Halloran were ready to do whatever they were asked, just to be with their new friends. They gladly went to the back room with Clarissa, followed by the three Crow girls with buckets of water.

Jeb Halloran had met and become friends with all the men and women of the big family. He’d already met and talked with the oil men and even exchanged stories of the times he worked in the coal fields in Kansas and the coal mines back east in his younger days, until he’d lost his eyesight.

Doc and Lettie had George Barkley bandaged and sitting up in bed. He was still spitting up blood and hurting in his chest when he coughed and Doc had concluded he’d suffered bruised ribs and a bruised lung from the flying debris. His bump on his head was more than likely a concussion and could take weeks for him to remember things. He was awake and talking to his wife and brothers, but couldn’t even remember the storm coming or being hit.

Doc Harrod told George’s brothers to keep him talking and make him try to remember. They brought him some hot coffee and sat around his bed talking.

Eli, Duncan, Moses, and Joe sat on the porch at sundown with the six boys. Jeb, Smitty and all the drilling crew were there. Howard and Jefferson were still inside, working on their plans to begin purchasing mineral rights.

“Eli, I see a rider coming across the river. Looks like the messenger boy from the telegraph office,” Moses said as they all watched the boy ride his pony right up to the front porch.

“Marshal Eli, got a telegraph message here for a Miranda McLoughlin. Sure am glad to see all y’all made it through the storm alright,” the boy said as he reached out and handed Eli the paper.

“Want me to go get her, Daddy?” Micah asked, already standing.

“Yep, tell her it’s from her parents,” Eli said as he saw the name on it.

Miranda came out onto the porch, grabbed the paper and read the message aloud in the fading light.

Miranda McLoughlin stop June twenty stop S McLoughlin stop

“Eli, Mother and Daddy are coming the twentieth, that’s next Friday. Can we get married on Sunday the twenty second?” she asked, hugging his neck with her good arm.

Eli stood and walked to the porch steps. He whistled as loud as he could and the young messenger boy slid his pony to a stop and looked back. Eli waved to him and the boy rode back at a hard gallop. Eli had a telegraph message to send. He reached over and picked up the pencil Clarissa had left in her chair and scribbled a note on a piece of paper.

“Boy, can you make out my writin’?” He asked.

“Yes Sir, Marshal Eli, it says...”

“Never you mind what it says, just make sure it gets sent right now.”

“Yes Sir, Marshal Eli,” he said, grinning when Eli flipped him a half-dollar coin.

Early the next day, the messenger boy rode up to the house while they were still at the breakfast table.

Eli walked out on the porch when the boy yelled telegraph. Eli read the message and smiled, then put the paper in his pouch at his waist. The young messenger was still on his pony, smiling at Eli.

Eli reached into his pouch and pulled a half-dollar out, then flipped it out to him.

“Thanks, Marshal Eli.”

“You’re welcome, Boy. Just keep all our messages coming to me and my family as soon as they come in.”

“Yes Sir, Marshal,” the boy said as he whirled his pony and rode down the slope to the river.

The next day was spent with the boys who could ride, gathering up all the horses that had scattered in the storms. Little Eli, Micah, Caleb and Ezra rode out following the paths of the three storms as they rounded up their horses.

They found one of the Paint geldings with a broken foreleg, standing next to Lilly Beth’s paint filly. Micah and Caleb jumped to the ground, trying to get him to lead. Micah lifted the horse’s leg and ran his hand up and down his lower leg. After trying hard to get the horse to put weight on its leg, they gave up.

“His leg is busted up bad, Eli. The bone is about to stick out.”

“I never killed a horse or any other animal before, but I know what Daddy would do if he was here. He’d never let a horse suffer. I got to put this one down,” he said as he pulled his daddy’s Winchester from the saddle boot.

“Wait, Little Eli. Let me rub his neck and pat him before we put him down,” Ezra said as he jumped to the ground.

Little Eli joined them as they stepped off their horses and patted the crippled Paint on his neck, then they stepped back as Little Eli raised his rifle.

He’d seen his daddy do this, but it took all he could muster to look into this horse’s eyes and pull the trigger. The rifle shot broke the silence in the still, damp morning air, making all their horses flinch and all the young boys jump too, as they watched the Paint horse hit the ground with a thud.

Each of the boys had tears in their eyes when they mounted and rode off toward home, leading Lilly Beth’s Paint and the other horses.

Eli, Moses, and Jon David had ridden over to Iron Hammer’s lodge to check on them. The Cherokee had very little damage to their place, and all their livestock was accounted for.

They rode back over to where they’d set all the oil storage tanks along the pipeline. They saw two tanks completely destroyed and two more dented, but usable. On their way back, they rode to the railroad to check the loading pens and the main oil storage tanks at the loading facility. There were lots of limbs and leaves piled against the corrals, but no damage to any of the corrals or tanks.

The two windmills were spinning and pumping water slowly into the water troughs. Each of them had a single twisted blade on the rotor, but nothing to keep them from running until they could be repaired.

“I reckon we all come out of this storm kinda like them windmills. We got some broken bones and some cuts and scrapes. Lilly Beth’s coming out of that thing with her banged up head. George really took a bad hit on his head, but we’re all alive. We lost a horse, a calf and a goat. We lost a few chickens and maybe some turkeys. The good thing is, we didn’t lose any of our family or friends,” Eli spoke as they stood looking over the loading pens and the huge oil storage tanks they’d ordered to hold all the oil that will be pumped here to load onto tank cars.

“I agree, Dad. We’re very fortunate the storms weren’t as strong as some we’ve heard of in the past. From what Doc said, Lilly Beth should be fine in a week or so, and looks like Sissy’s baby is going to be fine. Doc told me this morning that George may take a while longer to heal than he first thought. Doc even said he may never have all his memory back but other than that, he should be alright in time,” Jon David said.

“Let’s get on back and help get the repairs done on the houses and barns. The boys will be back by dinnertime with what horses they’ve rounded up,” Eli said as he mounted up.

“Eli, are we still gonna go ahead and start drillin’ for oil, now that we got some damage to the tanks?” Moses asked as they rode along the ridge toward the house in the distance.

“I talked with Smitty and the others last night and told them I wanted them to kick it up a bit more even. They said it’ll take us a month or so to get the repairs done after the storm. Then we’ll have to move the first derricks back there and get them set up with the water piped over to ‘em. We’ll be getting the steam tractors in here soon. We’re getting close but we still got a lot of work to do. I told them I wanted to have the first oil well pumping before Christmas. They all told me that their plan was to have the first one pumping by the first of the year anyway.”

“Dad, Smitty told me the steam engines and the steam tractors should be here in a week or so and we’ll have to pay the freight. We ordered them right after we talked about using them for pumping the oil, the day after all of you left for Kansas,” Jon David told them.

“Will the steam engines have pumps on them, or will we need to get pumps too?”

“They ordered some of the steam engines with oil pumps attached, then they ordered a half dozen oil pumps to set up and use the tractors to run them with drive belts,” Jon David answered.