Chapter 42: We have an Egg!

Matilda served me Steak and an Egg for breakfast; not eggs, but a single egg. Who ever accused her of not having a sense of humor? It made me laugh and tasted good; laughter was something I really needed.

It turned out that two of our hens had gone broody but one was still laying. I decreed then and there that whomever was rehearsing at breakfast that morning got the egg or got to bequeath it on someone else. Silly family games of a sort.

We had two kids, three Mom’s and one Dad; it was a strange sort of family but as the days passed and spring came into bloom we drew closer together.

We decided on a calendar, even if we were wrong it gave us further sense of structure. So the day we woke up here became Monday, April 1^st, 1822; Happy Fools Day everybody.

Saturday’s were determined to be laundry and house cleaning days, it was also the day that I would start both the trucks and allow them to warm up. I’d even move them a little to prevent the tires from dry rotting, those tires were irreplaceable. I also disconnected the batteries in all the vehicles, batteries were going to be another priceless thing, proper storage and maintenance was a must.

Today was therefore Sunday and Sunday was a day of rest. After some badgering by Sonya we agreed to have a Bible Story reading each and every Sunday morning. We started with that right after breakfast, thankfully she chose a short children’s story to read and we were done with the religious lore in less than half an hour. If someone started preaching there would be trouble with me, I’m not much into humans trying to mold God into their desired deity to gain political influence.

Sunday however didn’t mean chores didn’t have to be done. Livestock had to be fed and the crops and garden checked for water. But there was some relaxation to be had; Michelle took Amos down to the stream to do some fishing, Sonya found something to read or watch on her tablet, and Matilda and I had some peace and quiet.

Not together, Matilda was fussing with Matilda stuff and I was starting go through my weapons stash. I simply started with the first box I found, it was like Christmas as a kid.

The first box I opened was a bust, it was simply a box full of cleaning supplies; patches, oils, etc.

The next box was fun, inside all of the packaging was a brace of Harper’s Ferry flintlock calvary pistols complete with pommel bags and holsters. Beautiful replicas of the highest quality. They came with a nicely bound hard cover history and lengthy instruction book. The wooden storage case was a thing of beauty as well. These weren’t the pirate pistols I thought I’d bought but I supposed I had made a better choice in the end. I broke the shipping box down and started a cardboard pile, I was sure Matilda would find a use for that.

On to box #3, it was a long box and I was pretty sure it was one of my muskets. It was, it turned out to be another sublime replica; a hand made replica edition of a Harper’s Ferry/Hall 1819 breach loading percussion rifle. It was another work of pure art and I could see why I bought it; it would look a hell of a lot better over my mantle than an AR-15.

In box #4 I guess I had started to delve into my Louis L ‘amour influenced youth, I unboxed a Sharps 50-90. It was long at almost 4 feet in length but not as heavy as I expected. This was a true buffalo gun and would bring down a bear or an elk at 500 yards with ease if you knew how to shoot straight.

Box #5 contained a replica Winchester 1873.45 rifle, the so called “Gun that won the West” and a Model 1866 “Yellow Boy” also in .45 caliber. These were the rifles we all saw on TV and in the movies, in actuality they were great utility rifles and as replica’s they fired the same cartridges as my M1911.

#6 - Pair of Colt Frontier replica .45 pistols. These were the famous “Spaghetti Western” pistols toted by everybody in a thousand TV shows and movies. I had a variety of holsters to go with them as well, all of them out of place in our new time and usually out of place anywhere but a movie set. There were a set of calvary holsters that held promise though. These holsters were almost as popular as pommel holsters in actual history and allowed you to carry your pistol horizontally across your waist giving you access while mounted as well as when unmounted.