Chapter 51: Lazy Day, Sunday Afternoon

Afternoon naps on a warm spring day are the best. It was warm enough that April day that we had all the tent flaps open and the fresh spring air was envigorating. I thought I had smelled fresh air before, this was on an entirely new level, the air was so clear and clean that you could smell when dinner was cooking from a quarter of a mile away.

I decided we should probably sort out Holder’s and his buddies belongings with the rest of the day. It wasn’t real work and it needed to get done. We had stored it all in the small horse trailer but I had plans on turning that into my new chicken coop; I needed to get those birds out of the rig as soon as the eggs hatched.

Everyone pitched in, even Sonya; Matilda had to physically drag her along but she was there and helping. We unloaded all the gear and laid it out for inspection, it was a sorry lot for the most part but I was sure we’d find some treasures in there.

I let Holder separate his gear first, all he really had was a canvas shoulder bag, his knife, a well worn hatchet and what looked to be a Kentucky Long Rifle. In his bag he had some hard tack, wooden eating utensils, a pair of worn socks, and a spare shirt; he also had everything he needed for his rifle and a whetting stone for his axe. Various treasures were kept in his little pouch: a couple of copper coins, flint and steel, some leather cords, a bit of tinder, a chunk of soap and what looked like a makeshift tooth brush. He also had a water skin and a thread-bare blanket. His one treasure in the entire mess was an old copper compass.

I had him separate it all out into piles by function allowing him to keep his pouch and compass. He kept eye-balling that rifle but I just ignored him, I intended to give it back to him but that would come later. I had Esther grab him a new tooth brush from storage, he looked that thing over for quite a while; I had plenty of spare tooth brushes, I always seem to forget them when I went out camping just like everyone else I know.

We then went through the other packs, getting pretty much the same results. As far as weapons went it was a pitiful haul consisting of a musket and a musket pistol which had both seen much better days; there were three long knives and another hatchet. I could see why they recruited Holder, they needed a rifleman and he had the tools for the job.

The rest of the personal loot of any value consisted of a small pile of coins, a pair of cracked spectacles, a leather skin with a rough map drawn on it in charcoal and a pocket watch of dubious value. These guys weren’t rolling in wealth by any measure.

The supply packs yielded better results, whoever had outfitted had done them pretty well. There was plenty of dry food, a cast iron pan, plenty of rope, and tack for the livestock. The food consisted of mostly dried goods such as beans, rice, and corn; there was a bag of coffee, a small bag of salt, some flour, cheese and some dried meats.

The true value in the entire haul was the horse tack. Four decent saddles with bridles and pommel bags, the pack saddles and most importantly there was draft tack for the mules. Michelle recognized it for what it was and between her and Holder they managed to sort out exactly what it was. It wasn’t heavy duty stuff, we’d not be plowing with it but it would do for a lot of light work when the time came, hopefully it would hold up pulling logs out if we were careful.

In the end we had enough saddles for every horse in our herd. Michelle took that moment to point out that Lunch had been busy and our herd might be growing soon, I just shook my head.