Chapter 2: Traveling South

Earlier That Evening

Jacob Culverin came out of his house and walked out onto his porch. He stood at the rail and gazed out smiling at what he saw. The house wasn’t even a house any longer, but was more of an estate or manor, and certainly not the one-room cabin it had been when he first arrived twenty years before. He knew that the crazy preacher in Springwater thought Jacob had sold his soul to Satan. If he only knew the truth...

Summer 1794

When Jacob had arrived in Springwater, he had just turned fifteen. He and his family had been traveling for months, moving south from a small town west of Albany, New York. His father, Zachariah, had owned a small farm, but it had not been successful. The soil was too stony, the winters were too long, and the life was too hard. When Zachariah’s brother Ezekiel had invited them to move to his home near Springwater, it had come as a blessing. Ezekiel said that he owned a vast tract of land, fertile and much warmer than upstate New York, and that he was inviting all the members of their extended family to come and join him. Zachariah had sold his farm and loaded everything they owned into a buckboard wagon.

There were four of them when they left their home, Zachariah, Jacob’s mother Hannah, Jacob’s older sister Penelope, and Jacob himself. Penelope was only a year older than Jacob and had been betrothed to the son of a neighbor who farmed land near theirs, but he had died over the winter of lung fever. Jacob’s two younger brothers had died as well, and both Hannah and Penelope were glad to be quit of a home that had so many sad memories. It would take many months of traveling, but by late summer they would be at their new home.

Things didn’t work out as well as the family expected, however. Bad roads, bad weather, and bad luck dogged them the entire trip. They had barely crossed into New Jersey when Zachariah hurt himself repairing a broken spoke on one of the wagon’s wheels. The cut festered, and he died of blood fever a week later. They took him to the nearest town and buried him in a church cemetery. They continued, however, and Hannah told her son that he was now the man of the house, even if they didn’t have a house. A week later Hannah passed, coming down with a fever that had no cure. Jacob and Penelope loaded their mother into the wagon and continued to the next town and arranged for her burial.

It was then just the two of them, Jacob and his sister. They decided to continue moving south. New Jersey seemed very unlucky, and they had both seen the looks on the faces of some of the men in the small town where they had buried Hannah. Penelope was a beautiful young woman; though quite buxom she had a slim waist and hips, her hair was golden, her eyes were blue, and her face was round with an upturned nose and a misting of freckles. Even though Jacob was growing taller and stronger, some of the men in the town just saw a boy, and eyed Penelope hungrily.

Jacob’s fate found him just a few miles south of the town, and it came in the form of an old man travelling north. He was walking, leading his horse. Jacob and Penelope were moving south slowly, and he stopped and watched them. “Hello, young feller,” he said in greeting.

Both Jacob and Penelope returned the greeting, “Hello, sir.”

“Young man, any chance we can talk for a moment?”

Jacob looked at his sister, who shrugged silently, so Jacob stopped his team and climbed down off the wagon. He went over to the other man and asked, “Yes, sir, how can I help you?”

The old man looked over at Penelope for a second and then turned his attention back to Jacob. “You’re in a heap of trouble, young man, you and your sister.” His voice was pitched low, too low for Penelope to hear him, though it seemed quite loud and clear to Jacob.

“Sir?” Jacob gave the man a confused look.

“There’s men coming for you and your sister, coming from that town you just went through, only they’re not coming for you. They want her, and you know what I mean,” said the old man.

Jacob looked around wildly, and back along the road, but didn’t see anybody coming. He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could do so the old man continued. “You know it’s true, too, boy. You saw the faces on those men. There’s three of them coming. They’ll be catching up to you within the hour.”

“You came from south of us. How do you know about the town behind us?”

The old man ignored the question. “You know the three I’m talking about. You saw their faces. An hour from now you’ll be dead, and they’ll have your sister. That what you want, boy?”

Jacob knew the truth of the statement even as he struggled to make sense of it. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Curiosity, you could say. I am curious about what you will do. I can help you, for a small fee.”

That caused Jacob to snort out a laugh. “Mister, you made a bad bet, then. We ain’t got two pennies to rub together.”

“There’re other payments than money, young feller. You just say the word, and I’ll collect later.”

“Collect what?”

For the first time, the old man gave a thin smile. “I collect souls.”

Jacob’s eyes widened at that statement, but for some reason he didn’t think the old man was lying. Looking back along the road they had travelled, he saw three men in the distance, rising over a small hill. He turned back and said, “Sure, old man, whatever you say.”

The old man smiled a second time and nodded. “I’ll see you again someday, young feller.” He pulled on his horse’s reins and continued leading him along the road.

Jacob didn’t understand what had happened, at least not right away, but he felt different, stronger, and sharper. He glanced back at the riders approaching and realized the old man had disappeared. That wasn’t important, though. What was important was that they would never be able to outride three men on horseback while riding a broken-down wagon. Instead, he climbed back to his seat and reached into the back. The Culverins didn’t have much in the way of weapons, just an old Brown Bess flintlock musket and a bayonet, but forewarned was forearmed. He checked the priming and load, fastened the bayonet, and then positioned the musket where he could grab it if necessary.

“Jacob, what is going on? Who was that fellow, and what did he say?”

“Never mind, Penelope. We’ve got trouble coming. When I tell you to, I want you to jump in the back and stay there.”

“Jacob?”

“Just do as I say, Penelope. You heard Momma say I was in charge. Just do what I say.”

Penelope felt something primal stir inside her at that. She nodded and said, “Yes, Jacob.” Then she looked back and saw the three riders coming closer. “Jacob?”

Jacob looked at them, and said, “Get in back now, Penelope, and get down low. I’ll handle this.”

Penelope was scared, but Jacob seemed so mature and sure of himself. She climbed into the back and huddled down on the bed of the wagon, surrounded by their meager belongings.

The three riders came up to the front of the wagon, two on the left side near where Jacob was sitting, and one on the right. It was the three faces he had seen in town, the three men the old man had somehow known about. Jacob never even had a chance to ask what they wanted. The leader, a rough looking man with a dirty beard, asked, “Where’s the girl? She in back?” He was holding a pistol in his hand, but it was simply down by his side.

The man sitting to his side laughed at that. “That where she sleeps, boy? That’ll be convenient!”

That was enough for Jacob to hear. There was no use saying anything. Jacob picked up the musket and pointed it, not at the first man, but at the one next to him. Bracing it against the seat, Jacob pulled the trigger. Even though he hadn’t been aiming it properly, Jacob managed to keep hold of it and control it. The musket ball knocked the man out of his saddle. The leader stared in surprise at this, turning to face his fallen friend, and then he turned back just in time to see Jacob standing and thrusting the musket at him. The bayonet entered the base of his throat and continued out the back. Jacob dropped the musket at that point, pulled his belt knife, and launched himself at the horseman on his right. The pair fell to the ground, stunning the third outlaw, and Jacob slashed his throat open. Blood sprayed out across him as the man died.

The young man climbed to his feet, stunned by the violence and the speed with which it happened. He ignored Penelope’s screams of terror and went to check on the first two men. The first man, the one he shot, was crying in agony and holding his blasted guts together with his hands. Jacob went over to the man he had bayoneted in the throat. He was stone cold dead. Jacob pulled the bayonet out of the man and used it on the man he shot, silencing him. Then he set the musket back on the wagon and told Penelope to stop screaming and come out of hiding.

“Oh, my God! Jacob, are you...”

“Ain’t my blood, Penelope. Now, give me a hand here. Get down here and collect up them horses,” he replied.

Penelope stared at her blood-soaked brother, but she climbed down from the wagon. He explained that they needed to get the bodies off the road and used a rope and one of the horses to drag the bodies into a ditch. He stripped off their weapons and any possessions, and then tossed their saddles and bags into the back of the buckboard. Finally, he went down to the stream the ditch drained into and stripped his clothing off. He tossed that away and washed the blood off.

Penelope stared at her brother as he returned from his bath. He was naked, and his manhood hung long and thick between his legs. She felt herself stirring and looked at him in a way she had never looked at her brother before. She had occasionally seen her father’s loins, as he and her mother had coupled when they thought the children were asleep. Jacob’s seemed much larger! She watched as he strode over to the wagon, to reach inside and find cleaner clothing to dress in. Swallowing nervously, she asked, “Jacob, what do we do now?”

He looked around and smiled, for the first time since the old man had stopped them. “Well, I say we go south. We take these fellows back north, the odds are their friends and neighbors might not take too kindly to my perforating them, hmmm?”

Penelope gasped and shook her head. “No!”

“So, we take the horses and stuff south with us, sell it or trade it, and keep going. We’ll get to Springwater yet, you just watch!”

“Yes, Jacob, we’ll go south,” she agreed.

Jacob tied the horses to the back of the wagon and the two siblings climbed back aboard the wagon. They continued several more miles down the road, skirting the next town they came to, lest somebody in the town might recognize the horses or saddles they had acquired. They set up camp late and ate a cold supper without a fire. Then Penelope set their blankets under the wagon as she always did, while Jacob took one last look around the campsite and checked on the horses.

Jacob found their blankets side-by-side, as opposed to being at opposite ends of the wagon. He looked at his sister, who had stripped down to a simple shift. “Jacob, hold me tonight. Today ... today scared me. Just hold me,” she asked.

Jacob nodded mutely, struck by the beauty of his older sister in her thin shift. He had seen her like that before, but somehow things seemed different. Her breasts seemed to be pressing against the thin cotton fabric with little points underneath, and she trembled as he crawled under the wagon next to her. Rather than change into a night shirt of his own, he stripped off his shirt and lay down still wearing his breeches. Nervously he allowed Penelope to cuddle against him.

“Hold me, Jacob, hold me,” she whispered.

Jacob complied by wrapping her arms around her, and Penelope molded herself against his body. One of her legs swung over his, and he groaned silently as she pressed against his manhood. His shaft was now fully enraged and threatened to tear out of his breeches. The points of Penelope’s bosoms were pushing into his chest.

“Oh, Jacob...” Penelope began moving against him, and began to kiss his neck and chest.

“Penelope...” was all he could say. Part of him wanted to tell her to stop, that their behavior was wrong, but a greater part wanted to continue. That was when his sister began to undo his breeches. Jacob let out an animal growl and tore them open, ripping a button as he did so, and then he had her on her back and Penelope was spreading her legs. He broached her in an instant and began thrusting madly into her. Penelope wrapped her arms and legs around her brother, holding him against her, as she cried out in pleasure. Time and again she thought about the times she had heard their parents pleasuring each other in the late night, and it had never sounded as passionate or as pleasurable as this was.

Jacob and Penelope coupled for hours, barely resting before beginning again. By the time the sun rose, they had both lost what little clothing they had, and were lying naked in each other’s arms. Neither could explain what had come over them, but neither planned to apologize, either. They cleaned up, ate a cold breakfast, and broke camp.

Things began to improve for the young Culverins from that point onward. Jacob managed to sell the saddles and horses for enough money to allow them to buy a newer and better wagon as well as some supplies. Then they continued travelling. That evening, when it was time to retire, there was little pretense. When Jacob returned to the wagon after checking the horses and camp, he found Penelope waiting naked in their blankets. He stripped his clothing off and joined her. Together they learned how to please each other.

They continued travelling in this fashion, and conditions continued to improve. Jacob proved adept at trading, occasionally buying items in one town, and then selling them at a profit in the next. The weather improved, as did the roads. They traded their old nags for younger and fresher horses and traded their buckboard up from a two-horse wagon to a four-horse model. They also bought additional goods which would be useful for setting up their household in Springwater.

Jacob continued growing. He no longer looked like a skinny boy barely in his teens but was instead a tall and well-muscled young man. Few men looked at him as somebody to trifle with. Women noticed him, however, and smiled at him invitingly. Jacob declined those unspoken offers, however, being perfectly content to fornicate with his sister.

Penelope changed, too. Like any girl growing up on a farm, she knew about animal breeding. She also knew what her parents were up to late at night when they thought their children were asleep. Still, nothing had prepared her for the pleasures of the flesh to be found with Jacob! Even though she was using his body every night multiple times, it still didn’t seem enough for the nubile young woman. Whenever they stopped along the roadside, if there was sufficient privacy, she would tell her brother that she had an itch that needed scratching, and then bend over and pull her dress up. Jacob frequently would laugh, but he always undid his breeches and entered her from behind, furiously rogering her and taking his pleasure as she took pleasure herself.

The net result wasn’t a surprise to either sibling. Well before they reached Springwater, Penelope had missed her courses, and by the time they arrived, Penelope was clearly showing that she was with child and Jacob had taken to calling her his wife, and not his sister. They received directions in Springwater to the place called Culverin Hill, but they also received disturbing news. There had been several recent deaths in the family, and the long-anticipated family reunion might be sparsely attended.

A few hours later the horses pulled their wagon up the very rough road leading to the top of the hill, where they found a small and decrepit log cabin in the center of a small clearing. A young woman came out of the cabin to see who the visitors were; she was followed by a pair of girls. Jacob looked around before climbing down from the wagon. Culverin Manor didn’t seem to be in much better shape than their old home in Montgomery County!

The woman approached the wagon, leaving the girls in the doorway. “Hello. Welcome to Culverin Hill. I’m Abigail Culverin. How can we help you?” she asked.

Jacob smiled at her, and the woman felt a flutter inside. “Hello. If this is Culverin Hill, then this is the place we were coming to. We’re also Culverins, Jacob and Penelope.”

Abigail raised an eyebrow at that. Ezekiel had told her that his brother Zachariah had children named Jacob and Penelope, and that Zachariah was bringing his family to Springwater. Penelope, however, was pregnant, and she didn’t look at Jacob the way a sister looks at a brother. Still, it wouldn’t do to make a fuss about it, not when the farm needed so much work. “Welcome. Are you Zachariah’s children? Where are Zachariah and Hannah and the others?”

Both Jacob and Penelope shook their heads sadly. “They passed on the trip down. I’m afraid we are all that’s left of the northern Culverins.”

“I am very sorry to hear that. While I didn’t know Zachariah well, Hannah and I were close when we were young. We once visited together. She was like an older sister to me.” She held out her hand to Jacob. “I’m your Aunt Abigail, but you can just call me Abigail. I was younger than Hannah and I don’t see a need to stand on formality.” She looked up at Penelope, still seated in the wagon, and said, “Well, come on down from there and make yourself at home.”

Abigail turned towards the cabin and waved the two girls forward. To Jacob and Penelope, she quietly said, “I am afraid that Ezekiel’s plan to bring the families together has come to naught. There has been much sickness in the last year, and we five are the last of the Culverins. Ezekiel died of a fever shortly after sending out the letters of invitation last year. This is our daughter Martha - she’s twelve - and our niece Elizabeth.”

“Call me Lizzie!” interjected the girl.

Abigail smiled. “Lizzie is eleven. She’s the daughter of Zachariah’s sister, Mary Smith. They died shortly after getting here in the spring. Cholera.”

Both Jacob and Penelope smiled and hugged the two girls. Both were young beauties, with blonde hair, brown eyes, and intelligent expressions. Abigail, on the other hand, also looked intelligent, but she had hair and coloring more like Jacob, dark haired and dark complexion.

Provisions in the cabin were meager, and Jacob and Penelope supplied food for the evening meal from their stores. Over dinner, Abigail told how the property had been declining since the spring, with no men around to work the farm and not enough money to purchase supplies. For their part, Jacob and Penelope described their long trip south. Abigail continued to pretend that the siblings were man and wife and let them place their blankets on a straw tick in the corner. Lizzie and Martha fell asleep on their own tick quickly, but Abigail stayed awake in her bed listening to Jacob and Penelope pleasuring each other into the wee hours. Listening to them excited her immensely, and she used her own fingers on herself multiple times, something she hadn’t done in years. She and Ezekiel had enjoyed their marriage greatly, but Jacob seemed to pleasure Penelope more than any man she had ever imagined.

The next morning, after a small breakfast of porridge, the girls were sent off to their chores and Jacob unloaded the wagon. Abigail and Penelope took time to talk about Penelope’s condition, and the events leading up to it. Abigail decided not to be judgmental about what must have happened between brother and sister. It must have been a very long and difficult trip, and judgment was best left up to God. Besides, watching Jacob moving around the cabin in nothing more than his breeches and boots affected her as well. He was a most handsome man, and she felt a stirring inside her she hadn’t felt since Ezekiel was young.