Chapter 4

The terrain was becoming rougher than they’d experienced so far. The fifty miles took them almost two days, as the trail twisted and turned, and back tracked through the jagged rocks of the first foot hills as they came closer to the Southern Rockies.

By the mid-afternoon of the second day, they had ridden down into a big grassland that covered most of the valley. The horses were hungry for fresh grass and they stopped to let them graze near a cool, clear river.

Juni and Tin Yu were naked in the cool clear water before Eli and Duncan had gotten the horses taken care of.

Duncan was back in the brush, hunkered down with both hands full of dry grass to wipe with. He saw the shape of two Indians slipping past him through the bushes and tried like hell to cut it short. He was hung up with his job half done.

He didn’t know where Eli was, but he sure hoped he was close to the girls, or they’d be kidnapped again.

Duncan reached back and knocked the end off that crusty ‘bad boy’ hanging back there, then got his mess cleaned up. He slowly pulled his pants up and buckled his pistol around his waist. He never heard a ruckus out there, so he knew that either Eli wasn’t around and they took the girls without a fight, or Eli saw them and had already killed them.

Duncan made his way back to the campsite and saw the girls still playing and splashing in the river. He still didn’t see Eli and was worried even more. He checked the horses and their gear, all was good.

Eli walked up behind him, looking all around like Duncan was.

“What are you looking for?” he asked and Duncan jumped, nearly falling down.

“Eli, dammit, I’ve asked you not to walk up on me like that. I just saw two Indians slipping through the brush back there and was afraid they’d get the girls or maybe jump you,” Duncan said, still looking all around.

“I saw them; there were four of them,” Eli said as he pulled his moccasins and buckskins off, then pulled his buckskin shirt over his head.

“Eli, did you run them off?”

“No, they’re all piled up back there by our horses. I took their scalps and hung them in the brush over their bodies, so if more comes, they’ll see what happened to their friends,” Eli said as he walked naked to the river.

Duncan walked back to where the horses were and saw the four Indians. They hadn’t been there just a few minutes ago and he saw where they’d been dragged through the dirt and stacked up like cord wood, near the horses.

The four Indian ponies were tied next to their horses, with their bows and arrows tied across their backs. Duncan shook his head, smiling as he walked back to the river. He stripped his buckskins off and waded into the river with the others.

Juni and Tin Yu were hanging all over Eli as they washed and played in the water. They saw Duncan walking naked into the water and ran through the knee deep water to jump him. The two girls, though skinny and frail, managed to take him down as the three rolled and splashed in the water.

Eli was standing in deeper water, washing his long black hair when Tin Yu swam and splashed through the water to help him bathe and wash his hair. She felt this was her duty, since he had saved her from prostitution or worse, then killed her captors.

She used her long fingernails to scrub his scalp and comb through his thick hair. While his hair was still dripping water, she parted it with her nails, and began to braid it for him.

She braided his hair all the way, then with the last tendrils of hair, she tied the braid to keep it tight.

“Tin Yu, I will braid your hair now, sit in the shallow water,” Eli said as he lifted her frail naked body and carried her closer to the river bank.

Still in the water, Eli sat behind her, his long legs spread and on either side of her.

He wet her hair with his cupped hands full of water, then he parted her black hair that was even longer than his own. He braided it all the way from the top of her head and tied it in the same manner she had tied his braid.

Tin Yu jumped up and turned quickly to sit astraddle Eli’s legs. She scooted close to his naked body and hugged her small tits against his chest.

“Hold me, Eli. Tin Yu love you. Please not let me go to house where bad people will hurt me. Juni tell me they hurt girls bad down there when they put girls in bed with them. I want to stay with Eli, Juni and Duncan,” Tin Yu said as she held her head against his chest.

“You will stay with us, Tin Yu, you have my word. You have no need to worry. You just eat lots of food and grow to be a big girl,” Eli said as he put his arms around her thin body.

“Tin Yu eat big food, make body big, then Eli have more to love. You will see Eli,” she said and looked at him, her eyes dark and flashing as she talked.

“Let’s get dried off and back on the trail. We don’t have far to go, then we’ll go back to Arkansas when we take custody of our prisoner,” Eli told her as he stood, lifting her in his long arms.

After they had dried and dressed, they saddled their horses and watered them once more. Eli took the bows and arrows from the Indian ponies and tied them across the back of Tin Yu’s horse. He knew the weapons may come in handy on the trail.

They came out of the rocky hills and headed down into the fertile grasslands. Just before dark they saw the town of Cimarron, New Mexico Territory, just across the valley. Like all small towns on the western frontier, Cimarron is made up of a few small businesses, a few houses, a stable, blacksmith shop and a saloon/gambling hall.

Eli had told Juni Moon and Tin Yu to put their buckskin shirts on before they rode into the small town of Cimarron.

He knew from the looks of some of the men they had seen, this place was about as rough as it gets.

After asking about the local law enforcement, they were told to go see the town commissioner, the only local official in the town.

Duncan went to the man’s office and inquired of the whereabouts of Conner Brownlee and was directed to the ranch of Lucien Maxwell, the largest landowner and rancher in New Mexico Territory.

“Eli, the man said that Conner Brownlee works out at the ranch of Lucien Maxwell and that Brownlee was mean as a snake,” Duncan said as he mounted up.

“Then we will ask permission of the man he works for, to arrest this man and take him back to Arkansas. We’ll do it the right way and if he resists, we’ll take him none the less.”

“I sure hope none the less don’t mean killing him. Judge Story wants him alive,” Duncan responded, worried once again that Eli would just as soon kill the man.

After being told where the Maxwell Ranch was located, the four mounted once more. Eli and Duncan felt it was better to take custody of Conner Brownlee and leave these parts soon. They figured a man of his reputation would certainly have those around him that would want to keep their friend from hanging, once back in Arkansas.

They made camp outside the town of Cimarron, against a tall bluff, with a small creek below it. The girls bathed and splashed in the cold waters that ran from the mountains nearby. They ate jerky and hardtack biscuits and slept once more in the warm bedrolls.

The night air was cooler and the girls both slept snuggled up to Duncan and Eli.

Author’s Note:

Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell had come to this area as a scout, trapper and hunter with the American Fur Company. While employed there, he met and married Luz Beaubien, daughter of one of the company’s owners, Carlos Beaubien.

At the death of Carlos Beaubien, Lucien Maxwell purchased all the holdings of Beaubien and Beaubien’s partner Guadelupe Miranda, as well as the holdings of Beaubien’s daughter, Luz who was now Maxwell’s wife. Thus in twenty year’s time, Lucien B. Maxwell went from being a frontier hunter and scout to become the largest land owner in the United States and its territories. In later years, when New Mexico Territory was to become a state, he was given the largest land grant in the history of America.

Maxwell’s holdings at one time were over one million-seven hundred-fourteen thousand acres. His long time best friend and constant companion was Christopher ‘Kit’ Carson, the famed scout for explorer and map maker John C. Fremont, The Path Finder. He had many friends other than Kit Carson, among them Charles Goodnight, the Texas rancher, cattleman and businessman.

Charles Goodnight drove cattle through New Mexico Territory on his way to Colorado and Nevada for the U.S. Cavalry and the Indian tribes along the way. He’d met Lucien Maxwell on one of his trips and they became lifelong friends.

Lucien Maxwell was also good friends with Robert Edward Ted Turner Sr., grandfather of Ted Turner III. (present day, largest civilian land owner in The United States).

Billy the Kid – born Henry McCarty (alias, William ‘Billy’ Bonney) in New York City Nov. 23, 1859, was killed by Sheriff Pat Garret on July 14, 1881, in Lucien Maxwell’s Fort Sumner, New Mexico home, then owned by Lucien’s son, Peter.

Billy the Kid’s body was later moved and buried a few feet from the grave of Lucien B. Maxwell, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. They were friends.

Early in the day, Deputy U.S. Marshals Duncan and Eli Crow rode onto the Maxwell ranch with the two young girls dressed only in buckskin shirts. They were welcomed and introduced to Kit Carson, who was on in years and Charles Goodnight, the Texas cattleman.

Before Duncan could step to the front and explain their business at his ranch, Eli stepped in to politely ask Mr. Maxwell’s permission to arrest and take one of his hired hands into custody.

He presented the warrant for his arrest, issued by Judge William Story, out of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

“Deputy Crow, I have been repeatedly warned of Mr. Brownlee’s complete disregard for the laws of the land. I suppose I knew there would come a time this would happen,” he spoke to Eli. Then he turned to a Mexican vaquero – speaking Spanish fluently, gave orders for Conner Brownlee report to him at once.

“Lucien, do you suppose Brownlee will report to you when the Mexican tells him of the lawmen on your premises?” Kit asked his friend.

“I sent Miguel, since he speaks no English. Perhaps he will return with Brownlee and there will be no need for violence during his arrest.”

While the Deputy Marshals waited for Brownlee’s report to his boss, they and the two young girls were invited to have a quick meal of leftover food from their last meal.

Eli walked from the back of the house after leaving the kitchen. He saw Lucien Maxwell talking to a stocky, heavy built, bearded man. The man had his hat in his hand. He wore a gun strapped low on his hip.

“Mr. Maxwell, I came here to work for you because I was told you were a fair man. I never knew you would sell me out to the law,” the man was talking loudly.

There was a crowd of men gathered around, expecting to see a showdown of sorts, if Conner Brownlee lost his temper. He was a man known for his ill temperament and fast gun hand. Most folks just walked a wide path around him.

“Mr. Brownlee, I am a fair man. I always have been or I wouldn’t have the land and cattle I have today. The respectable people of New Mexico Territory are attempting to parlay a course to statehood. The day of men living outside the law and hiding in this Territory will soon come to an end. You made the choices that brought you to this place in your life. These deputy marshals are here with a warrant issued by U.S. District Judge William Story out of Fayetteville, Arkansas. They have orders to deliver you to the judge to be tried and hanged.”

“Then I’ll not go. I’m sure not going to be taken by some God Damned Half-Breed Indian and a fat Deputy, all the way across Indian Territory,” Conner Brownlee spoke as he looked at Eli and Duncan standing near him.

Eli took two steps and swung his right fist, hitting him on the point of his chin before he could bat an eye or duck his head. When the man woke up, he was shackled, sitting on his horse. His feet were even chained together, under the belly of his horse.

His hands, though already shackled, were chained to his saddle.

“Mr. Maxwell, I reckon we’ll be headin’ back to Arkansas. We do thank you for your help and the hospitable welcome to your ranch,” Eli said as he shook hands with the man.

“Deputy Crow, if you ever come back to New Mexico, please look me up. We’ll need good men like you soon.”

“We’ll be sure and do that Sir, and good day to you,” Eli said, tipping his hat before swinging to his saddle. Turning his horse, he headed northeast with his prisoner and friends.

They were told to follow The Santa Fe Trail up to Raton, in the northeast corner of the Territory, then cut back east through Raton Pass into the Texas Panhandle. The traveling was better and the time was shorter, though the miles were longer.

“Lucien, what did you make of that Half-Breed Deputy U.S. Marshal?”

“Kit, I hope we can convince him to come back here one day. When we become a state down here, we’ll need men like him.”

“I was thinking the same thing, Lucien. Though he’s willing to talk to a man, he don’t waste time nor words in making his point.”

The travel was faster today, as the five riders rode up the long valley headed toward Raton, New Mexico Territory. Conner Brownlee was sullen and quiet as he sat in the saddle. They had him riding lead, ahead of the deputies and the two girls. He wished for a chance to look them over, to try and think of a way to find a weakness among them.

He knew they’d be on the trail for possibly two weeks – he’d have his chances. He’d get one of the deputies down one way or another when he made his move.

Late afternoon on the second day out of Cimarron, they met a train of freight wagons headed to Santa Fe. Eli kept the girls and Brownlee on a wide path around the wagons as Duncan rode over and talked to them.

They were told it was twenty miles over to Raton and Duncan and Eli decided to camp for the night at the small river the wagon master told him about.

When they arrived at the river, Duncan and Eli took the shackles from Conner Brownlee and pulled him from the saddle. With his hands shackled behind his back they led him to the river to drink and lay in the cool water.

Before he was through drinking, Eli pulled him up and led him to a small tree, away from the bank. He loosened the shackle from his right hand, then pulled his arm around the tree. Jerking his left foot from the ground, Eli shackled him around the tree. His right hand shackled to his left foot.

“You God Damn, fucking Half-Breed, I’ll kill you before we get out of Texas, you’ll see. I never been treated this way. All the times I been arrested, I never was treated like this,” Brownlee cussed and yelled at Eli. He had his head on his left arm, lying on the sand. His body was twisted and curled around the tree and there was no way he could move.

“Brownlee, you best get some sleep. We got a long way to go and this cussing and screaming ain’t gonna get you nowhere but dead,” Eli told him and walked away.

The next day they rode into Raton just after midday. They rode straight for the blacksmith shop, where Eli and Duncan loosened Brownlee’s saddle and dragged him and the saddle off together.

Eli showed the blacksmith what he wanted and stood aside as the man commenced to hammer and beat out the iron rings and chains.

When he was through, Eli and Duncan lifted Brownlee, saddle and all, back onto his horse. His feet were shackled to his stirrups, and both his hands were shackled to the front of his saddle tree.

They filled five grub sacks and were on the trail soon after.

Tin Yu and Juni Moon could tell the difference in Duncan and Eli. They never took time to play in the water when they came to a river or stream. They hardly laughed and joined their fun.

Conner Brownlee never uttered a word until they took him, saddle and all from his horse, or mounted him back onto his horse.

Then he cussed and swore and threatened until he ran out of breath.

They rode relentlessly across the northeast corner of New Mexico Territory and on into Texas. They stopped each day only long enough to sleep, eat, rest, and water the horses – then they were on the trail once more.

They never took the shackles from the prisoner’s feet or hands, just laying him on his side to let him drink from a river or water holes. They put his food in a pan, letting him eat from the pan with his head down like a dog.

“You sumbitches, I need to shit. I already pissed all over myself. This ain’t no way to treat a white-man,” Conner Brownlee told them, not nearly as strong with his words now as before.

“I’d say that was your concern, Mr. Brownlee,” Eli told him and still they rode on.

The nights were cooler, even on the sun parched prairie of the Territory. They had been on the trail to Arkansas for fifteen days and there had been no rain. The water holes were almost dry, the creeks and rivers were low and muddy.

“Tonight we will need a fire, gather wood,” Eli told Tin Yu and Juni Moon as they made camp late the next day.

“Eli, are you sure? I mean it sure has been hot for this late in October,” Duncan said, scratching his head. He was well aware that Eli knew a lot of things about the weather, horses, and people, but he just wasn’t sure about it this time.

“We will have frost before morning. The horses have their long hair now ... this will be a hard winter. The geese have already flown south and the Mallards have begun to flock along the muddy river banks,” Eli pointed out to Duncan.

“Eli, I reckon I just never put things like that together in a way to know when the cold days will start. I’ll help the girls gather wood for a fire,” Duncan said as he scratched his head and walked off, wiping the sweat from his forehead in the hot hours before dark.

Conner Brownlee lay quietly on the warm dirt. He was now a beaten man. He longed for the day when his shackles would be loosened and he could stand once more like a man. His britches were filled with his own excrement and he stank like a wild boar hog feeding on green acorns.

Duncan watched as Eli took one of the Indian bows and a handful of arrows from the campsite and walked into the brush.

Eli came back with two small deer and a Jackrabbit. He threw them to the ground near the small creek and turned to Duncan.

“Get the girls to help you skin and dress the meat. We have men scouting us in the brush. I’ll return soon and we’ll eat,” Eli said as he once more slipped into the brush.

Duncan gathered the girls and told them to bring the rifles and lay them close by, then get the knife and start skinning the two small deer.

“There’s men out in the brush scouting our camp. Eli’s more’n likely gonna kill them and scalp every last one of them before he comes back.”

It was dark when Tin Yu looked up to see Eli walk back into the light of the camp fire. She ran to him and stopped in her tracks as she saw him toss five scalps over near the fire. He had four knives and beaded scabbards tied to his waist and dropped them in the light of the fire also. He had four leather pouches tied to his gun belt with drawstrings.

When he had washed his hands in the muddy creek waters, Eli turned and held his arms out to Tin Yu as she stood looking at him. She laughed and ran to him. This was the first time he had even smiled on this leg of the trip.

“Tin Yu love Eli ... Eli love Tin Yu?” she asked softly in the glow of the fire, her eyes searching for the answer in his eyes, hoping to hear him say he still loved her.

“Eli love Tin Yu,” he told her and pulled her to him. He felt her body through the buckskin shirt as his arms went around her tall thin body. She was gaining weight.

Though she had only been eating trail food, she was beginning to put meat on her bones. She felt good to him. She reminded him more and more of his sister Rose. When he thought of Rose, he wondered if she was still back in Missouri and if she was alright.

Eli knew in his heart that as soon as he could, he’d go back and see about her to make sure she was alright, maybe even bring her back with him if she wanted to come.

Then he thought of Mary Connor, back in Boones Crossing, Kansas. He wondered if she was still waiting for him. His heart felt heavy, loaded with the memories of all those dear to him. He knew he had to go soon – he had to go see about them. He felt as if they were calling out to him. He looked to the dark skies, wishing his ma would come dancing out of the clouds and give him some answers to the things that haunted his mind.

He thought about their pa, wondering if Rose had heard anything of him, wondering if he was still alive.

Three days later, they rode into Fayetteville, Arkansas and up to the almost deserted courthouse.

Duncan saw a man he knew and shouted out to him as they rode up with their prisoner.

“Where’s Judge William Story? Why is the courthouse all closed up like that?” he asked.

“Judge Story was relieved of his duties by order of the new President Ulysses S. Grant. Some say he may not get his judgeship back after they investigate him for some kind of corruption. I think he left and went back up to Wisconsin for the winter, least ways that was what his wife told his housekeeper.”

“Well, don’t that beat all? Where do we report to now, anyone have any idea?” Duncan asked as the crowd of people stood nearby, looking at the two young girls and the filthy bedraggled prisoner that was shackled to his saddle.

“I heard some of the other deputies talking about them being moved down to Fort Smith, under the jurisdiction of a new judge who’s about to be appointed to the U.S. District Court there, replacing Judge Story. Now, that was just what I heard talk of, I have no way of knowing if that was fact or false.”

“Eli, what do you reckon we’re supposed to do now, ride on down to Fort Smith, or what?”

“I reckon we got no choice, Duncan. If that’s not right, at least there’ll be somebody there to tell us what is right.”

“I reckon you got a good idea ... what will we do with Juni and Tin Yu?”

“I been thinking about that, since we’ve been here listening to what this man has told us. We need to go over to see Little Duck, Catt and Eva, and see if Tin Yu and Juni can stay a spell with them. At least until we know more about what’s to become of us. Duncan, we may not even be deputy marshals now that all this has happened.”

“I never thought of that, Eli. You want to take the girls over there and see if them Injun’s would let them stay there, while me and you go see what the hell we’re supposed to do? I’ll keep an eye on this pile of buzzard shit while you’re gone.”

“Duncan, you and Eli won’t throw us away will you?” Juni sobbed as she rode up close to him, after hearing Eli and him talking.

“No Juni. We just got to get some things settled, then we’ll be back. I kind of like you a lot and I’d like to be with you. It’s just that we need to get some business took care of first.”

Juni leaped from her horse to his, grabbing the fat deputy, hugging him and crying.

“I want to be with you too, Duncan. Please come back and get me and Tin Yu, we don’t want to be give away. I love you, Duncan.”

“I love you too, Little Girl. We’ll be back. Now you go with Eli, he’ll make arrangements for you to be safe until we can come back and get you.”

They hugged and Juni looked into his eyes, “Duncan, when I get bigger and start looking like a woman, will you let me be your woman?”

“I want you to be big and healthy and stop crying. I want you to be my wife, Juni Mae Moon.”

“Oh Duncan, I could just fuck you right here on this horse, I’m so happy. You and Eli hurry back to get us, you hear?”

“We will, now go with them. Eli will make sure you and Tin Yu are well took care of.”

Eli rode through the dirt streets over to the rougher, lawless side of Fayetteville to the trading post. Juni and Tin Yu were looking at each other, crying with big, heaving sobs, knowing they were about to be dropped off with people they didn’t even know.

“Little Duck,” Eli called aloud, as he saw her in the post yard.

“Eli Crow, you big handsome man-buck, you did come back for my girls. I’m glad too, they didn’t get a baby the last time. Who is this you done drug up with you? You got more women now?”

“Little Duck, I need to talk to you and Catt and Eva, I need some help.”

“Get down off that big old horse. I can’t even see up that high. You young girls get off them Indian Ponies and get over here so Little Duck can give you a big old hug. Ain’t you both some pretty little white girls. Oh Hell, one’s not a white girl, damn it all. You sure are pretty any way, little girl.” Little Duck grabbed Tin Yu and Juni, hugging them to her big fat chest.

Catt and Eva ran out the door of the trading post, the front of their buckskin dresses bouncing as they ran.

Tin Yu looked at Juni, then down at her own little shirt that barely had bumps under it.

She looked back at the Indian girls that were just about to pop out the front of their dresses they were so big.

“Eli, you did come back to us.”

“Who is this, Eli, you got more women now? I hope you get rested up, we’ll all four have you now,” Catt said as she ran to him and hugged herself to his side, as Eva hugged him from the other side.

“Little Duck, Catt, Eva, I want you to meet Tin Yu and Juni Moon. Girls, meet my friends here. These girls are my women and I want all of you to stay together while I take care of some business.”

“Tin Yu, Juni, you come with us. We’ll all be friends and we will love our man. Come to Catt and Eva,” the sisters told them as they pulled them away from the ponies and hugged the frail young girls.

Tin Yu looked at Juni and they both shrugged their shoulders as the Indian girls kept hugging and running their hands all over them.

“How you get big titty? Tin Yu want big titty like Catt and Eva,” Tin Yu was warming up to the girls as they laughed and hugged them.

“You come stay with us while our man, Eli Crow goes to do business. Little Duck will make you have big ones too,” Catt told her.

“I can get big, like you?” Tin Yu asked with a big grin.

“Catt, you and Eva take the girls inside.

“Girls, I will make you as big as my girls. All of you will be Eli’s women then, yes Eli?” Little Duck said.

“Yes Little Duck, you take care of them for me. I’ll be back soon to get all of them. Tin Yu, you and Juni let Catt and Eva help you and you help them too.”

“Eli, when I get big, will you love me more and let me be your woman?” Tin Yu asked.

“Yes Tin Yu, Eli wants you to be my woman.”

“I love Eli, I get big and love you more. We will stay with Catt and Eva.”

“Eli, how did it go, over at Little Duck’s? Did the girls holler and cry some more?” Duncan asked when he saw Eli.

“No, they were happy to meet Little Duck, Catt and Eva. They were laughing and talking about big titties when I left.”

“Talking about big titties? How in the hell did you get them so happy?”

“Little Duck told them she would help them grow some big tits and they were ready to stay.”

“Well, she better be careful. Them two little Wildcat kitten-cubs will tear into her if she lies to them about that,” Duncan laughed.

“Little Duck told me they would have big tits when I come back to get them.”

“Damn Eli, do you reckon? I mean hell, I kinda like Juni with her little tits, but hell man, I’d really like her a lot more if she had big tits like Catt and Eva. HOT DAMN, them two’s got some big titties.”

Fort Smith, Arkansas November 15, 1874

After two long days on the trail, Deputy U.S. Marshals Eli Crow and Duncan rode into Fort Smith, Arkansas with their prisoner.

Crossing the Arkansas River just inside the town limits, the two lawmen rode with some apprehension down the main streets of Fort Smith and right up to the courthouse.

“There’s Hawkins over there. I rode with him when I first signed on. Maybe he’ll know some of what’s going on, now that Judge Story’s not judging anymore,” Duncan said as he waved to a fellow deputy marshal.

“Hawkins, what in the hell’s happened, man? Me and Eli was sent all the way down to Cimarron to get this booger. We get back and all hell’s busted loose on us. Do we all still have jobs?”

“I reckon we do. The new judge is supposed to be here in the spring and he’s supposed to be needin’ a lot more men, so the man from over’n Washington, DC told us.”

“Where’s this man you’re talking about? Is he overseeing the prisoners? We need to turn this stinking polecat over to somebody.”

“That’s him over there in that stingy little white hat and white britches ... the short, red haired man.”

“Hell, he don’t look like no marshal I ever saw, but we need to talk to him. Do you know his name?”

“No, he’s just kinda acting like he’s scared of all of us, like he’s never seen real lawmen afore.”