Chapter 13

“Who wants to go first?”

There were eight men lined up in front of us. Ten had surrendered but two died from their wounds during the night. They may have survived if we’d given them care, but we couldn’t see the point if we were just going to hang them in the morning.

The boys went to the barn and saddled enough horses for everyone and we led them to the top of a hill covered with big trees. There was a lot of crying and begging but we ignored it. The women’s council had decided that the ones who lost a husband or son would do the actual hanging, and it was a little unsettling to see how eager they were to get started.

We asked for their names. Three refused and we hung them first, the ladies following Mary-Beth’s lead and easing them off their horses slowly. The rest told us their names and a couple wanted to write letters, so we let them. The next man we hanged was John, seems this bunch had found him and he threw in with them, telling him who the most dangerous men were so they could kill them first. He’d also made them promise thet he could have Mary-Beth and I shuddered when I heard it, thinking about the hell she would have went through. Mary-Beth and Becky were both there despite their wounds, and they led the horse off together, grinning as he screamed and begged.

When a youngster said his name was Worley, I asked if he was one of the owners. He was crying and beggin’ right about then, blubbering about how he never went on the raids because they thought he was too young. He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen.

“Where’s your other brother?”

“He died in the house when the roof fell in on him. There at the end he shot himself rather than burn to death.”

“I’m gonna save you for last.”

He watched everyone else die until the trees hung full of rancid fruit. I was slipping the noose over his neck when Jed stopped me. “Where’s the loot from all those people you robbed? It has to be around here somewhere and I think a little restitution is in order, especially for the families who lost a loved one.”

He tried to bluff but I pricked him with a knife, asking him if he’d like to go into the afterlife without his balls. He told us and we grabbed his reins, making him show us. There was a huge barn about an hour north of the house, back in a draw. When we opened it we were shocked. Five Consestogas, and seven freight wagons, all still full. There were ten more Conestogas in sheds behind the barn, still holding the fomer owner’s contents. We found the harness and the horses were in a pasture beside the barn, so we hitched everything up.

“Is this everything?”

His head was bobbing. Jed just glared at him. “Where’s the money?”

He tried denying there was any and I looked at the rafters. “Sling a rope, boys. I bet if we pushed him off the hayloft hard enough and allow a few feet for fall, it’d snap his head clean off.”

The barn was built into the side of a hill and he led us to an empty stall. All the money and valuables were in a strongbox buried in the wall.

“This all of it?”

“N ... no. There was a safe in the office at the ranch. The gold will still be good but the paper money may be burnt.”

He cried all the way back to the ranch ruins. We found the safe and pulled it out of the ashes and the next day our blacksmith heated and hammered until he got it open. There was a lot of gold. A lot. There were also some bills and they were singed a little but still useable.

We hadn’t fed young Worley in a day and a half and the women took pity on him, frying him some eggs they found. They had the bigger kids chasing chickens all day, putting them into hastily constructed coops.

He thanked them for what was probably his last meal, and he must have pulled at their heartstrings because they came to us. “We want you to let the boy go. He says he never went on those raids and has never fired a weapon in anger. There’s been enough death and we’ve got the justice we were after. We don’t want to hear the cries of a child or the vision of him dangling interrrupting our sleep.”

It gritted my teeth but we did it, after we had him give us a bill of sale for the horses we took. Mostly it was the ones that had belonged to the wagons, but I got twelve more good looking mares and a fine looking young colt. I also got six Belgiums, a stallion, a gelding, and four mares. There was a small herd of Holsteins there, loot no doubt, and they were divided through the wagon train. Sometimes a good milk cow was worth her weight in gold. Most of the others got extra mounts as well. I picked up a fine looking pinto mare for Mary-Beth, and a dapple grey gelding for Becky. I also equipped them with the best of the saddles, the former owners not in need of them any longer.

I watched as the wagons disappeared over the ridge before tossing a sack down to Worley. “There’s enough food in there to make it back to a trading post or town and get supplies to make it through the winter. You need to wrangle up a couple of pack horses and take off. There’s also three hundred in cash. I figure I owe you that much for the livestock. You still got plenty of hosses and all your cows, so you’ll be all right. I doubt you’ll have time to rebuild the cabin, if I was you I’d partition off part of the small barn to make it through the winter and find a crew in the spring to help you rebuild. There’s also two pistols with holsters, a shotgun, and a Henry. They ain’t loaded but if you’re of a mind to, load them and we’ll settle up. No? All right then. Take a lesson from all of this, and if I ever see you again I’ll think you’re huntin’ me and kill you lickedty split. You hear me?”

He nodded and thanked me for sparing his life. I turned and trotted off, looking back as I hit the ridge. He had the sack open and was strapping the pistols on.

Jed noticed how quiet I was over the next few days and came up on me as I was watching from a ridge.

“You all right?”

“I killed them, Jed. The people with us. It was my actions that got them killed.”

He saw the tears in my eyes and looked away, letting me gather myself up. After a few minutes he spoke. “Listen to me, Josh. You didn’t get our friends killed. All of us were for hanging Worley. Even if we hadn’t, we had him backed into a corner and he would have had to come after us just to save face. There are evil people in this world Josh, you shouldn’t need to be reminded of that. We just have to deal with them as we find them. If it hadn’t been the Worley’s, it would have been someone else. Nobody blames you for anything.”

He rode off and left me in peace while I thought about that. He must have said something to the train because over the next few days I got a lot of hugs and pats on the back. It made me feel a little better but sometimes late at night I remember our friends, the laughter of little Jacob, Becky’s husband’s slow smile, Bob’s smirk when he thinks he’s getting a joke on you, and the regrets come back.

It was harder to get the train moving now because of all the extra wagons. The freight wagons were full of trade goods and young Worley said that those wagons were all that were left. There was no paperwork, no owners to contact, so I ended up buying them from the train, as well as ten of the Conestogas. We gave five to couples who had married or were going to marry, to help start their lives. We found papers in two of them identifying who they belonged to and I wrote a letter to relatives and posted it at the next town, explaining how I came to have the wagons, sending back their personal effects, those that were still there, and a bank draft for the value of the wagons plus a little extra. I hoped it was enough.

I also wrote a letter to John’s parents, telling them he had died in a clash with outlaws. I just didn’t tell them he was one of them. Feeling a bit of pity, I sent back almost two months worth of wages, saying he hadn’t been anywhere to spend it and he would have wanted them to have it. It was my hope if he knew about it that it pissed him off. He had nothing good to say about his folks and I had a feeling they were more than a little relieved to be shut of him.

I gave one of the wagons to Mary-Beth. Becky had hers, and I thought it might give her a chance at a better life. When I told her she stood there quivering for a minute before launching herself in my arms, bawling like a baby. Becky let her cuddle for a minute, then eased her off so she could give me her own hug.

We divided the money we found equally, giving double shares to anyone who had lost someone. I bought the wagons from the group with part of the money, the rest came from Viktor. When we got back he had passed and left me a letter.

“Joshua,

It appears that I have come to the end of my journey. I want you to know these were the best days of my life, the company both understanding and steadfast. Who would have thought a group of Negroes, Finns, Germans, and a boy from Georgia would have become family to an old Jew?

I’m leaving you my worldly goods, all of it except the remembrances I have listed. They’re all good people and I’d like to think they’ll have kind thoughts of me every time they look at them.

Have a good life, be the strong and caring man you’re becoming, and if you ever have a son, Viktor is a good name. Goodbye my son, it was a pleasure knowing you.”

The tears came. I had read the letter with Becky and M-B as companions, and they surrounded me with loving arms as the grief came out. I found his grave and dragged a large rock over, carving the star of David into it. I hope he could see it.

We settled back into our routine, except now besides Bart and I there were three extra scouts out. There would be no more surprises on this journey if we could help it.

We were almost to our destination, Jed said a week to ten days. That was good because it was gettin’ on towards fall and we needed to get houses up to be ready for winter. I’d heard enough about Colorado winters to be a little worried.

I sat on Luc and watched the train spill into the valley that was to be our new home. We were as far South as we could get and still be in Colorado, in a place of low rolling hills and lush meadows. We were on the south side of a series of hills that would blunt most of the cold winter winds, making it easier on livestock as well as humans. A small river ran right through the middle, fed by several good streams.

I though about Viktor, Jacob, the friends we had lost to the Worleys, the young Finn who had gotten himself killed in a nameless town over a two bit poker game, and the little seven year old girl who wandered up on a rattlesnake and not understanding the danger got too close.

Jed and his people settled around me, surrounding me on three sides. Close enough to ride by and snag a meal from Cindy from time to time, but not close enough to crowd. Months of living side by side had us all craving a little privacy.

I found a bench in the hills perfect for a homesite, one that gave a panoramic view of most of the valley. I rode for a few days putting out markers, staking my claim.

Most of the Finns were going a little farther West into the next big valley, but still close enough we could call on them. This was still the frontier. A few stayed, and the Mennonite man who had married the woman from Mack’s group settled near us, figuring life would be easier with people they were comfortable with.

The rest of the Mennonites had about two hundred more miles to go and it was most likely we’d never see them again. They were heading for a settlement of their people that was already established. It was a tearful event the last night we were together, with lots of hugs and kisses and promises of letters when they finally settled. We all turned out to watch them go, no one leaving until the last wagon disappeared over the hill.

The first order of business was getting houses up. I had no experience as a carpenter so the group asked me to be in charge of the firewood brigade. Anyone over 12 that wasn’t actively building houses helped gather and cut deadfalls for the coming winter. We chose the dead ones because we didn’t have time for any green wood to cure and there was plenty lying around. We used the oxen and mules from the train, mostly mine, to drag things to a central spot that soon rang with the sounds of axes and crosscut saws. As soon as we had a wagon load ready Mary-Beth would drive it to a homestead. The girl was turning into a hell of a muleskinner. Mostly she just talked sweet to them and they’d strain their guts out for her. “Come on Jenny, Jasper, pull! You can do it, my darlings.”

I came in about once a week to wash clothes and catch up. My house was shaping up nicely. Well, it was kinda my house. When I asked Becky what she and Mary-Beth were going to do when we got to the valley, she laughed.

“We’re going to stay with you, my son. You told me once I was like another mother to you and Mary-Beth like a little sister, and you don’t break up family.”

I had to walk off for a bit to think about that, then grinned and came back. “ You two are in charge of the house. Have it built any way you want to make it a loving home.”

The house turned out to be two story with a wing. The wing was mine while the two upstairs bedrooms belonged to Becky and Mary-Beth. The bottom floor was one huge room with fireplaces on each end. There was also a fireplace in my room and both upstairs bedrooms. Good thing we were cutting a lot of firewood.

Where was the kitchen? It was a separate building. Too many women had died cooking over open fires and burning their houses down in this day and age for me to be comfortable with open flame. I found a couple heading back East, unable to withstand the rigors of frontier life, that had a cookstove. They were a rarity out here, costing too much to transport because of their extreme weight. I got it for three pounds of salt, a pound of pepper, an old Henry, ten dollars cash, and the deer I’d just shot.

Becky was over the moon when I unloaded it, with help from four friends. She flitted around the kitchen while we set it up and when we were done she rubbed her hand over it lovingly.

“Why did you do this?”

I shrugged. “You always do your best for your family, especially your mother.”

That got a me a huge hug and a ton of kisses. I finally got her to let me go and grinned. “Well now, if you really want to show me how grateful you are, I wouldn’t mind a cake.”

It was the first thing she made.

After the cabins were up we started on the barns. I took a page from the Worleys and found a hill perfect to build a barn into. When we were done you could put hay in the loft from the backside without strain. Mine was a little bigger than the rest and wasn’t nearly enough to shelter my herd. I built a few open face pole barns in sheltered draws, stuffing the lofts with as much hay as I could get cut. It would be nowhere near enough to last a winter, but we could toss it out when things were really bad.

We took a day or two here and there to hunt and Jed and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get a deer or elk. We knew as time went by that they would become more wary and we deliberately hunted a few days away from the valley to keep the local herds intact. Once we came up on a little group of wild pigs. The adults couldn’t weigh more than forty pounds but we managed to get four, then trailed them and got three more, field dressing them for the trip home.

Cindy took one look and started butchering, with the help of the other women who had settled locally. She ‘cured’ the hams with salt, pepper, and a little brown sugar, as well as the belly meat. When it was cured it was very tasty bacon. When I ate it the first time I determined that I was going to find some domestic swine and bring them home, to have a steady supply.

On side effect we hadn’t considered was it cut substantially into our salt reserves. We hadn’t found the time to look for local salt licks, so a few of us were designated to travel to the nearest town, Stillwater, and get a few barrels, along with other odds and ends that weren’t in the wagons. We took a freight wagon that was loaded to the gills hoping to do some trading, and two Conestogas. Becky and Mary-Beth were in one, and the other was driven by Anna and her husband Raould. Bart, Finn, and Jed came along as well.

It took ten days to get there and the weather got progressively colder as we traveled. It was mid-October by then and the snows couldn’t be far away. It reminded us that we didn’t miss trail life all that much.