Chapter 4

A few hours later is when the trouble started, the Headmaster’s Assistant led me to the room for the boarding students, he introduced me and I noticed two of the students sizing me and my things up, they started sniggering to each other, and I knew it was just a matter of time before they caused some problems.

I may be young, but I had grown up working hard on our farm. I played, fought, wrestled, hunted and fished with the Osage. I learned most of the things that boys my age would, except for some of the skills that were “special” to their tribe.

After I was left to unpack my things it began, it started with some comments about my travel clothes, and then they started on the pack, after the fourth or fifth blatant insult, I turned around and gave them a feral smile and asked if their woodpile was close by and we could go talk about it there. The two boys grinned and led the way.

The fight lasted a little longer than anyone expected, two against one seem like great odds, unless they get in each other’s way, I took some hard hits, and gave a lot more, when the Headmaster charged in to break us up, one of the boys was bleeding from mouth and nose, the other was holding his ear and had a red gash on his left eye. My eyes were swollen, nose bleeding and my knuckles were cut. But I had made it clear I wouldn’t quit, I’d keep going till I couldn’t go any more, this was the lesson my father taught me for when I played with the Osage, and I was worn out to “just keep going.”

The teamster let me off about 20 miles from our farm, I knew the area and was comfortable walking the rest of the way. I was wearing my school clothes as I had outgrown all the clothes I had gone to school with, and I didn’t want to waste any of the $10 gold piece. I also had a few dollars of my own that I had earned doing odd jobs for people near the school.

I stepped onto the land of our farm the next day around noon, as I walked, I noticed that shadow was grazing in the field, which was odd at this time of year since we’re normally using up the last part of the previous year’s feed. As I got closer to the house, I expected to see Pa out and about doing his daily chores, but saw and heard nothing, as I started down the road towards the house, I saw it.

There was a Cholera cloth hanging from the porch, I started to run towards the house, and I yelled out for Ma and Pa. I heard nothing but the creaking of the windmill.

Just last year we had a Cholera outbreak in St. Louis that killed over 5,000 people. I helped a doctor that would come to the school occasionally, during the outbreak. I knew I had to keep myself clean, and since I only had one change of clothes, I stripped down to my long underwear, and slipped into the house. The smell was horrible, I rushed back outside and threw up. I was praying that they would be ok, but in my heart, I knew that smell, it was the smell of death.

I ran out to the barn and grabbed the horse lineament and a piece of burlap bag, I put some lineament on a handkerchief and tied it and the burlap over my mouth and nose. I then walked back to the house.

When I walked back to my parent’s room, I could tell that they had been dead for a time. I had been crying since I had thrown up and the tears just came harder. As I looked around the room, I noticed a note on the bureau, it had in my mother’s script, “To Our Son, Jack” on the outside.

I knew it wasn’t a safe place for me to be, I had to get out of the house as quickly as a possibly could. I also knew that I needed to get everything I could use or want out just as quickly. I grabbed both of my father’s guns, I didn’t touch the clothing or bedding. I went into my old room and took a few childhood keepsakes, I next went to the fireplace and worked out the stone that hid a compartment behind it. This is where Pa kept our family money. I took all of these things outside, I went back inside and grabbed all of Ma’s cooking pans and utensils. I then started a fire in the front yard, I took the big pot and went to the field, I saw where the horse had been drinking from the creek, I went upstream a way and filled up the pot.