Chapter 9

Sky was in the barn, saddling his horse as his dad walked in. They had talked and decided it was time he rode over the great plains, to see the lands of his forefathers of the Sioux.

“Sky, I’ve been thinking that maybe you need to use another name as you travel. This will give you the opportunity to observe people and not be the center of attention as you travel. If people find out you are Sky from the Dakotas, you’ll be hounded wherever you go.”

“I respect your judgment Dad, you know more about the world out there and the men in it. Do you have a name for me?”

“Your mother named you Tomas Sky Crenshaw, after the Sioux wanted to call you Sky. My granddad’s last name was Cooper, I know he’d be proud to share his name with his great grandson.”

“Then from this day on, I am Tom Cooper to those who don’t know me. Dad I’m so grateful that you see things that may cause me trouble before the problems even arrive.”

Raif grabbed his hand and shook it, placing two five dollar gold pieces in his hand as he did.

“You’ll need some money to start, then you can get work along the way.”

Sky had his clothes rolled up in his bedroll, his Henry in his rifle scabbard and his shiny new Colt tied low on his hip. His saddle bags were packed with food from his mother as well as two boxes of .44 cartridges and one of the blue steel Colts for a back up. The sun was just now a red ball on the eastern horizon, starting a new day on the prairie and a new day in the life of Tom ‘Sky’ Cooper, still Brother of the Eagles.

Tom and his horse walked out of the barn into the post yard. He met his mother at the steps and gave her a hug, turned and hugged his dad, before he swung to the saddle. He rode to the edge of the post yard and turned to wave again. As he sat his big horse and waved one last time, his outline was centered in the big red ball of the rising sun on the horizon. Above him were the three giant eagles, silhouetted against the red sun as they soared overhead in the distance.

Tom rode to the house where the General and Jane were waiting. Both were proud of the man he’d become, yet concerned about this journey. He hugged them both and turned to see Cap and the other men standing there. He shook their hands and swung to the saddle and rode out south.

The General had slipped two gold coins into his hand and winked.

Tom came to the east west trail in a few hours, and turned east. He had looked at a map his dad had shown him to get his bearings and knew he would turn south again about mid day. He let his big horse set his own pace and they covered ground in an easy lope. When he came to a crossing trail that showed heavy travel, Tom knew it must be the one that led south into Iowa and Nebraska. He had been on the trail a few miles and met three wagons headed north, one of them had a broken wheel and all the men were trying to decide what to do.

The travelers had seen him coming and though wary of strangers, they were hoping for help. Tom rode up and stepped to the ground to ask if he could help.

“Hello to all of you, I’m Tom Cooper,” Tom said as he neared the group.

“Hello.” Came the lone response.

“I see you don’t carry a spare wheel or a spare spoke.”

“We had both the wheel and the spoke, but used them already.” An older man said.

Tom walked to the back of the wagon and looked in, it was loaded but not over loaded. He walked to the other two wagons and looked inside, none were over loaded.

“I think I know of a way to help you, it will take some work but we can get you to the next blacksmith shop where you can get help.”

“If you are going west then you will find two wagons that have been abandoned about five miles from the cross road, there you can get a wheel or even two.”

“We’ll be forever grateful for your help, we can’t pay you but we can feed you,” the older man said.

“Lets get this wheel off and take it apart, you have three broken spokes side by side here, we’ll take them apart and make one, if you have some wire or plenty of rope.”

“We have wire, you boys get the wheel off and let’s get started,” the older man spoke.

The younger men grabbed the wheel and soon had it off, with the help of the coupling pole from underneath the wagon. Tom took the hammer they had and beat the outer iron ring off the wooden wheel, then he knocked the shorter spoke out of the hub and placed it alongside the other broken one in the center middle hole of the three open spaces.

“Take your axe and sharpen the shorter spoke to fit tight inside the hub, then we’ll wire them together as tight as we can, as we hold them in place,” Tom told them.

The men nodded in agreement when they saw what he intended to do, the answer to the problem was a simple one now. It would not be a permanent repair, but would get them to the abandoned wagons so they could get wheels to replace this broken one. The repair took a good two hours but they had the wagon repaired. Tom suggested they take some of the load from over the broken wheel and put in the other wagons to lighten the load.

“I’m not trying to take over your command, but if the broken wheel is still in good shape when you get to the wagons, I would get the parts I needed and keep going until night. Then when you make camp, you men can replace the wheel, not losing any more daylight.”

“We can never thank you enough Tom, you’ve been a life saver to us,” the older man spoke and all the others agreed.

“Where you folks from and where are you headed?” Tom asked.

“We’re from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on our way to Oregon to make a new life. These are my sons and their wives,” the older man spoke again.

Tom shook hands with the men and tipped his hat to the women, then swung to his saddle and was on his way south once more as the four wagons rolled on north along the rutted trail.

The three younger men were walking along side the wagon with the broken wheel as their Pa drove, and the other two wagons followed.

“How old do you think Tom was,” one of the brothers asked as they walked by the wagon.

“I figure he was about twenty, but he sure looked menacing with that black hat and that gun on his hip,” another said.

“I agree, he didn’t look be twenty to me, but he is taller and bigger than Pa is,” the other said.

The three younger women were in the middle wagon and the older woman was driving the first one.

“I wonder how old Tom was, he sure looked young in the face didn’t he?” One of the women said.

“He couldn’t have been twenty could he,” another agreed.

“I know one thing, he sure was a tall one wasn’t he,” the third one added.

“He looked to be part Indian to me, with the long braided hair and the buckskins and moccasins,” another said.

The land had flattened out into more low rolling plains now than higher hills on the prairie where he lived. Tom could see up ahead for close to a mile. He made a clicking sound with his tongue. The big horse began his easy, ground eating lope once more.

He saw two men riding wide apart side by side, meeting him. Not wanting to ride between them, Tom nudged his horse off the trail and kept his gait. As they met, one of the men said, “You better get yer dirty ass off the trail injun,” and they both laughed loudly.

‘I guess this is where it all begins’ Tom thought as his horse came back to the trail without being told.

The first day of his journey was coming to a close as sunset was upon him. ‘Sunset, thought Tom. I wonder what the sisters are up to now’.

Nearing a small river, Tom decided to bed down for the night. Not wanting to camp too close to the main trail, he rode west about a mile and found a place to cross over the small river and camp. He slipped the saddle from his horse and let him wander off for food as he spread his bedroll next to his saddle. His Henry lay across his saddle and his Colt was by his side under the heavy blanket and waxed bedroll as he settled in for the night. Tom slept light, and dreamed of Indian girls, eagles, wagon wheels and the trading post.

Daybreak came without a cloud in the sky and as the red sun peeped over the horizon, Tom was already miles from his camp the night before, having cut back south and east at an angle toward the main trail.

He saw two more wagons early on, headed north and waved as they met. Mid day came, the sun was heating up and the heat felt good to him as he let his horse set his own pace.

Tom was nearing a town on the Missouri River, he didn’t know the name but it sure looked like a busy place. As he rode near the bank of the river, he saw a wagon pass by with ‘Sioux City, painted on the side. He rode on into the center of town and boarded the ferry, standing with his horse to keep him steady as they were pulled across to the other side by a team of six mules on the far bank. I’m in Iowa he thought, I’m no longer in the Dakota Territory for the first time in my life. Tom walked off the ramp and his horse followed him with people watching in disbelief as the tall man mounted his horse and rode off away from town.

“Did you see that, he had no bridle on that horse.” One man pointed and the others near him looked to see.

He rode for hours, and twice the trail came up to a river on his left. He remembered from the maps his dad had shown him that he should be on the east side of the Missouri. This meant that he had crossed into Nebraska back at the ferry crossing. Tom wasn’t worried, he wanted to see the railroad in Omaha that went west. He would just ride the west side of the river, stop and see the railroad then cross the Missouri again at St. Joseph.

Clouds were moving in before sundown and Tom began looking for a good place to bed down. He spotted a grove of trees off to the west away from the river about a quarter of a mile and rode that way. He slipped the saddle off his horse and lay his Henry across it next to where he spread his bedroll. He looked the place over good before pulling his Colt off and placing it under his blankets and bedroll.

Deciding against a fire, he ate jerky and biscuits for supper and slipped into his bedroll. He woke with a jerk as his horse nudged him. His Colt was in his hand before he got his eyes open good. Without a sound he rolled out of the bedroll and slipped out a ways so he could try to see in the darkness. He could make out the outline of his horse but that was all. Tom sat squatted down for over an hour before the break of day began to spread light slowly through the trees.

He waited for good light and looked all around before he stood to move back to his saddle and bedroll. He slipped his Colt back in the holster and strapped it around his waist. Then he rolled his bedroll and tied it behind his saddle. Just as he threw his saddle over his horse, he caught movement in the trees.

His heart gave a jump. He finished with his saddle, reached and picked up his Henry and slipped it barrel first into the scabbard, all the while looking for more movement in the trees.

Tom bent as if checking his horses hooves, all the while keeping his eyes on the bushes behind him to his left. He saw a bare foot at the base of a small tree. Dropping to the ground and lunging at the same time, he grabbed the foot and jerked it hard toward him.

He got the surprise of his life as a naked girl was dragged into the open, she was holding a blanket in an attempt to cover herself.

“Who are you and what’re you doing here?” Tom asked as the girl kicked at him while finally getting herself covered.

The girl was scowling at him and spat at his feet as she kept kicking at his hand that was holding her ankle. Tom saw her eyes switch to a place behind him as she stopped kicking. Tom jerked her foot hard and stepped over her as she slid on the leaves and sticks on the ground. His left hand was on his Colt as he turned to see a young boy standing there with a blanket tied around his waist, holding a long stick ready to swing at Tom.

“Drop the stick and come here boy,” Tom said as he drew his Colt.

The boy dropped the stick and started crying as he walked to where the girl was lying on her back and looked down at her.

“Millie, I tried but I couldn’t get a swing at him.”

“It’s alright Danny, don’t cry I know you tried,” the girl told him.

“Who are you and what’re you doing out here?” Tom asked again looking at the girl and then the boy.

“All we want is some food and some clothes and we’ll be on our way, we really meant you no harm mister,” The girl said.

Tom dropped her foot and she scrambled to her feet trying to keep the blanket over her nakedness.

“I have food in my saddle bags, you’re welcome to it. You still haven’t told me who you are and what you are running from.”

“How do you know we’re running from anything,” the girl said defiantly.

“Why else would you be out here naked, hungry and trying to steal from me or cause me harm?”

Tom turned to his horse and opened his saddlebag, as he did he heard leaves rustle and the shuffle of feet.

“If you run or try to jump me, I’ll shoot your naked ass,” he told them while he was still getting some jerky out.

When he turned back they were about three feet from where he left them, frozen in mid step.

“Here, eat this and sit over by that tree and tell me your story, I still haven’t made up my mind whether or not to whip your butts.”

The two took the offered jerky and moved over to sit down and eat. Both of them sat with their knees up as they ate like they were starved.

“Cover your nakedness with that blanket, don’t you have any shame?” he scolded them.

“Now once again, what are you doing here?”

“We’re running away from home and you can’t make us go back either,” the boy said with a sob.

“Why are you running away and why don’t either of you have clothes?”

“Mister, if we tell you the truth will you help us, we’re scared and we don’t know anyone that’ll help,” the girl whimpered.

“Tell me your story and if there’s anything I can do that won’t get me killed or put in jail, I’ll help you.”

“I’m Millie Croom and this is my brother Danny. We’re running from Sam, he hid our clothes and made us sleep in the barn. Sam was drunk and was trying to hump me from behind like a dog and Danny hit him with a shovel. We grabbed these blankets from the barn and ran, that was two days ago, and we’ve been running since.”

“Who is Sam and why was all of this going on,” Tom asked.

“Sam took up with our ma and he’s a mean man to us, he’s been after Millie to lay down with him for over a month now. I caught him trying to mount her in the barn once and hit him on the jaw with my fist. He was cussing and shouting and he tore her dress then grabbed her and made me take off my clothes too,” Danny said, crying now.

“He told me he was gonna breed me and get him some kids to do the work for him. I fought him off but he was about to stick me when Danny saw him.”

“What does your ma say about all this?”

“Sam keeps her all lickered up and she don’t know nuthin,” Danny said, his head down in shame.

“Have you tried to talk to the law about all this?” Sky asked.

“We did sneak into town one day and talk to a deputy, but he told Millie if she would let him stick her, he’d go talk to Sam for us.”

“Millie told him to rot in hell and we ran.

“The deputy told Sam that we’d tried to bribe him with Millie’s body to help us get away. That’s when he said that he’d be the one to stick Millie if she got stuck,” Danny was sobbing and crying hard now.

“Where do you live with your ma?”

“We live about ten miles from here, Ma has a small ranch that dad owned when he died. Sam took up there to help out and then he just moved in the house with Ma,” Millie said with tears in her eyes.