Chapter 9

April 2, 1845

It took us some time to cross the Grand River the next morning. There weren't any real problems, but we did have to drag the hogs across. We had one hog drown, so we butchered him. It took us so long we only made thirteen miles for the day.

After supper, we went to bed early. I was so tired I almost drifted off as soon as I laid down, but Millie and Tess wanted to talk. I was lying there, on my back, with an arm around each of them. I think I was really drifting in and out of sleep. Then, I was wide awake quickly.

"Millie, your husband is rubbing my butt," Tess said.

I jerked my hand away like I had just picked up a hot skillet. I didn't even know I was doing it. Millie started to giggle.

"I'm sorry, girls. I was half asleep and I didn't realize I was doing that," I said.

Jase, it's okay. I knew it was an unconscious thing and I was just teasing you."

"I'm not worried about it either. We see each other naked and we sleep cuddled up at night. Jase touching you or you touching Jase is going to happen," Millie said.

"Ladies," I said. "I think we need to talk about this. I'm confused. It isn't right for a man to see his sister naked. It isn't right for a man to touch his sister on the butt or on the breast. I've done all of these things and neither my sister nor my wife seem to think there's anything wrong with it."

"Jase, are you comfortable seeing your sister naked?" Millie asked.

I had to think for a minute. "Well, I reckon I'm pretty comfortable with that. It's still not right though."

"Was it right for you to see each other naked when you were three or four years old?"

"Yes."

"How about when you were eight or nine?"

"I guess."

"When did it stop being okay? Was it when she grew tits, or was it when your cock started getting hard when you thought about her being naked?"

"I don't know, Millie," I said.

"Our bodies change, Jase, but we're still the same person inside. You react to me when you see me naked because you think I'm a pretty woman. You react to Tess when you see her naked because you think she's a pretty woman. What's the difference?"

"I don't know. For one thing, we're married. I shouldn't have thoughts about any other woman."

"We all have thoughts. No one can help that. Just because Tess is your sister doesn't mean she's not a desirable woman. As far as anything else goes, the bible is full of stories about kings and such that had hundreds of wives. Why should it be different now?"

"Are you saying Tess should be my wife too?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I hope Tess can find someone for herself. Someone she can love as much as I love you. If that doesn't happen, then who knows what will happen in the years to come. Whatever it is, we'll all learn to live with it, because we love each other."

I was confused, but I could see the sense in what Millie was saying. I didn't know what to say, so I just kept quiet.

April 3, 1845

I awoke with my arms still around Millie and Tess. I just laid there for several minutes, thinking about all that was said the night before. If I was just being selfish about it, I'd certainly want Tess for a wife too. She's beautiful and I love her for who she is.

I watched her for a while as she slept. Tess is a good woman. There isn't a mean bone in her body. She's also smart and is a good cook and housekeeper. I know she loves me too.

I looked over at Millie and I saw her eyes were open. She smiled at me and then we kissed. "Tess is a pretty woman, isn't she?" she said.

"Yes, she's pretty. That isn't the problem at all. The problem is, she's my sister and I'm married to you."

"Oh, so now being married to me is a problem?"

"No, my love. You know what I mean."

"Look, Jase, if my living with you guys is a problem, maybe I should go back and live with mom and pap," Tess said.

"Your living with us is not a problem, Tess. "Maybe the problem is all in my head."

"You've always had a problem with your head, big brother."

Millie giggled and said we'd better get up and get breakfast going.

It seemed like we were moving slower since we left Huntsville. I had no idea why that was so I asked Ab about it.

"Ab," I said after I had ridden up to where he was riding ahead of the wagon train, "Why do we seem to be moving slower since we left Huntsville?"

"I've got about three families that are driving me nuts. The people in the third wagon back are the Stuarts. They're nice people, but they are trying to pull their wagon with four mules. They should have at least six. They're slowing everyone down. Then there is Abe Wilkes. He's not slowing us down, but he keeps coming to me with tales about everyone being out to get him."

I had to laugh about Wilkes. "I haven't talked to him since Millie and I got married. At least he shouldn't be telling any tales about me."

"Oh, but he is," Ab laughed. "He says there are weird things going on in your wagon at night. He says he's heard strange noises coming out of there. He thinks you're performing satanic rites."

Ok, so that cracked me up. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him you were just married and that was probably the reason for the noises. He said he'd been married for four years and his wife had never made any sounds like that. I told him he must be doing something wrong then."

I was laughing until I had tears running out of my eyes. Finally I got myself to the point I could talk again so I said, "I don't know if I should tell Millie about that. She might get all embarrassed and cut me off."

Now it was Ab's turn to break up laughing. I waited until he had calmed down, then I said, "You said there were three families."

"Oh, yeah. Toward the back of the train there is a family named Calvin. I have no idea why they ever decided to go to Oregon. They must be pretty wealthy. They have two big wagons, about thirty head of beef cattle, a couple of milk cows, maybe twenty hogs, and more chickens than you could shake a stick at. They have three hired hands. Two of them drive the wagons and the other one is supposed to be herding all of the animals."

"Ab, I've got a great horse. He does most of the work of herding. I still wouldn't want to try to drive that many animals by myself."

"That's one of the problems. The hired hand is having a hard time keeping them all moving in the right direction. Mr. Calvin doesn't do anything to help. He rides along on his big black horse and yells at the hired hand."

"You're right, Ab. There's gonna be problems there. If Calvin yells at the hired man too much, he's just gonna quit and then there will be some real problems."

"Don't I know it. If I'd have known Calvin wasn't gonna do anything, I probably wouldn't have allowed them to join us."

"I might be able to help you with the Stuart's problem, Ab. We've got eight mules that aren't doing a thing. I'll have to talk to pap and to Caleb, but I don't see why we couldn't loan them a couple."

"That would be a big help. I don't think we're gonna move any faster because of it, but I would feel better about the Stuarts. They're good people. Have you been keeping an eye on John Ware?"

"Yes. Caleb and pap have too. We haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it's just a problem of Tess being too sensitive."

"Well, I hope so. Maybe you should have a talk with him some time. It'd clear the air if we knew why he told us different stories."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that."

Even though the weather was great, we only made fifteen miles today. I talked with pap and Caleb about loaning the Stuarts a couple of mules and they agreed. Pap said he'd go and talk to them about it after supper.

I told Millie and Tess about the Stuarts and the Calvins while we were eating supper. "Did Ab say what Mrs. Calvin is like?" Tess asked.

"No, Hon, he didn't say. I'm afraid they're gonna cause him problems though. I guess Abe Wilkes is driving him crazy too. Wilkes keeps telling Ab about all of these people who are out to get him."

After we had gone into our wagon for the night I told Millie and Tess what else Wilkes had been saying about us.

"Satanic Rites!" Millie almost screamed. "I'll satanic rites him."

Tess was laughing and so was I. "We should really put on a show for him if we ever know he's listening," Tess said.

"No, we shouldn't," I said, trying to be reasonable. "The more we do, the more he'll run his mouth. We should just try to ignore him."

I finally got the girls calmed down. It was a cold night and it felt good to snuggle between them. I think Tess was deliberately rubbing her breasts against my side.

April 4, 1845

I thought it was cold when we went to bed last night, but this morning it was freezing. I pulled the covers up over my head and I would have been content to lay there between the girls' warm bodies until July.

Millie stirred beside me, so I pulled the cover up over her head and kissed her. I gently squeezed her breast and rolled her nipple between my fingers as we kissed. Millie gasped and then moaned.

I felt Tess moving, so I turned my head toward her and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning, Jase. Good morning, Millie."

"Damn, it's cold this morning," Millie said.

"Yeah, but my boobies are nice and warm, snuggled up against your husband, Millie."

"Tess, you are a strumpet and a jade. You can't be messing around like this in the morning. We have to get up and get breakfast."

Tess groaned. "Doesn't it say in the bible that a woman doesn't have to get up and fix breakfast when it's cold?"

"No, it doesn't say that at all," Millie said. "It says that the sister has to get up and fix breakfast while the wife snuggles with her husband in the nice warm bed."

"I think I did read that, but what it says is that the wife must get up while the sister takes comfort from her brother."

Well, I could see this might go on for hours, so I stood up and took the covers with me. Both girls shrieked and jumped up. They made a mad scramble for their clothes, as I did. I think we were all dressed in record time.

Millie stuck her tongue out at me as she put on her coat and climbed out of the wagon. Tess put her arms around me and kissed me. "I love you, Jase," she said. "Even if you are mean and evil."

We had been on the trail for a couple of hours when Millie, Tess, and I decided to go up and talk with Ab for a while. As we were passing the third wagon back, someone yelled, "Hey!"

We looked over and saw a man who appeared to be in his early thirties. We reined in to the pace of his wagon and he asked, "You're Jase Tackett aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm Jase."

"I'm Sam Stuart. I just wanted to thank you for setting things up so I could borrow a couple of mules."

"That's okay, Sam. I'm glad we could help. This is my wife, Millie, and my sister, Tess."

"I'm pleased to meet you two ladies," Sam said. "I'd introduce you to my wife and younguns, but they're lying down in the wagon. They're all feeling kind of poorly."

"That's okay, Sam. Maybe we'll get to meet them another time. Right now, we need to talk to Ab about something."

We said our goodbyes and rode on forward. Ab was his usual friendly self. After we had said our hellos and he had complimented the ladies, I said, "We got to meet Sam Stuart a while ago. He thanked us for the loan of the mules."