Chapter 27

Cassie wanted to take a walk later that afternoon, but Sam and Delia said they wanted to help Maddy with supper. We started walking toward the corral and Cassie put her arm around me as we walked. I returned the favor and gave her a little squeeze. "Did the excitement earlier get you all fired up?" I asked her.

"Yep. Why does something like that get my juices flowing? Am I some kind of pervert or something?"

I had to laugh. "No, sweet love, I think what it is, is that our bodies realize we have been in a life threatening situation. They react the way they do because the urge to reproduce comes to the forefront. Your body is saying, 'I didn't die. I should reproduce now so that my line will be carried on.' It's natural and it happens to almost everyone. With you, it's just a little stronger than it is with others."

"Oh. It's strong alright. I'd like to throw you on the ground and rape you right here in the middle of the yard.

"I'm afraid something like that would shock all of the people here and probably scare the animals," I laughed.

We hadn't heard Kate coming up behind us, but now she asked, "Something like what?"

I was so tongue tied I couldn't even answer her, but Cassie said, "If I'd throw him down and rape him here in the yard."

Kate giggled and said, "Oh. I don't know. Some of us might even enjoy the show."

"Sam enjoys being watched. I'm sure she'd be happy to put on a show for you sometime," Cassie said.

"Sam might, but I wouldn't," I said.

"Now wait just a minute," Kate said with a smile. "You got to stare at me while I was naked. It'd only be fair if I got to stare at you."

Cassie giggled and said, "Ed is Mr. Modest at times. The first time Sam mounted him while I was awake, I thought he was going to die of embarrassment."

Both women got a laugh out of that at my expense. We walked on for a ways and I asked, "So, what do you think of our strange group, Kate?"

"It's really a great group of people, Ed. I just love your wives, and Andy and his wives are great. Mina is a wonderful woman and Jud seems okay. Rawhide is a treasure and Stu is a nice guy. I thought for a while I might get really close to Stu, but we found out after talking for a few days that we just don't have much that interests both of us and that there isn't really any attraction there. All of the kids are great."

"I had noticed you talking a lot with Stu. He's a nice looking guy. It's a shame you don't share a lot of interests."

"Yeah, he is cute, but all he really knows anything about is cattle. When I would try to talk with him about other things, it just seemed like his mind went to sleep. He'd be sitting there, looking at me, but I could tell he wasn't interested in what I was saying."

"I know what you mean. That's the way Cassie is with me," I teased. "Sometimes I wonder if there's anything inside her head at all."

Cassie hit me, then got a big grin when I hugged her and kissed her. "Actually, Kate, Cassie is far smarter than I am. So is Sam for that matter. Delia is as sharp as a tack. Sometimes I wonder why they married me."

Kate laughed and we walked on in silence for a while. Cassie and I had our arms around each other. Finally, Kate said, "You guys seem to have a good marriage. Ma and pa were like you guys. They teased each other and talked about everything under the sun. They were just farmers, but they knew what was going on in the world and were interested in it. That's what I want, if I ever decide to get married."

"All four of us have our own personalities, Kate. We're all different, but we all love each other. All of us have our own interests, but we all care enough about each other that we're all interested in what the others are interested in, just because they are."

"Well, that's what I want in life, but I'm in no hurry. I'm nineteen years old, but even though that's considered an old maid where I come from, I figure I'm not going to rush into anything just because I'm getting older."

"Kate, nineteen might seem like it's getting old to you, but I'm twenty-five and I feel like my life is just getting started."

"Awh, you're both old farts," Cassie said with a giggle.

How old are you, Cassie? I'd have figured you were about my age," Kate asked.

"I'm fifteen. I don't have any excuses for falling in love with this old coot at such a young age."

Kate laughed. "Oh, I think I can understand why you did," she said.

It was after supper when Rawhide, Andy, and Stu got back from town. I could tell immediately it hadn't gone the way they had hoped it would. After they were eating I asked how it had gone.

"That damned sheriff is totally worthless," Rawhide said. "We told him what had happened and he just said it would be our word against Clifton's. I told him to come out and take a look at our calves wearing the Rocking K brand and he said that didn't prove anything. He said we could have branded them with the Rocking K ourselves."

"He's right, Ed," Andy said. "The sheriff wouldn't listen to a thing we said. He said he'd known the Cliftons for years and that they were fine people."

"Well," I said. "I guess we'll just have to take care of the problem ourselves. How many people are there in this Clifton clan, Maddy?"

"There's a lot of them. They have four ranches and they have big families. I'd say that with men, women and children there are thirty or forty of them. There's probably that many more hired hands."

"Well, we're certainly not going to go after them. We'll let them come to us. Does anyone have any thoughts as to how we can protect Rawhide's herd?"

Everyone sat quietly for a few minutes, then Stu said, "The only thing I can think of is to ride patrols to the areas where Rawhide's cattle are gathered."

"That makes sense," Andy said. "We should vary the times when we ride out as well."

"I agree with that. If they know when we're coming, they can be sure to be hidden when we come through."

We talked for a while about how we would do the patrols and how many people should go at once. We decided to always have two people together and that we'd start first thing in the morning.

Day 124 - Wednesday, September 1, 1847

Rawhide had insisted that he was going to be the first to ride out to check the herd, so he and Maddie were gone when the rest of us got up. Mina proved that she was an even better cook in a kitchen than she was on the trail.

We were all in good spirits this morning. Andy and Sarah Beth had a new wife and both of them seemed to be enjoying the situation as much as Sam and I had when Cassie joined us. Of course, Dalia was over the moon. Jud and Mina seemed pleased their daughters were so happy.

Sam, Cassie, Delia and I had grown in our relationship until we were completely comfortable individually and as a group. Delia was even starting to join in a little on Sam and Cassie's sex play. I don't know how four people could get any closer than we were.

M & M were both happy and Mindy seemed to have backed off a little in her feelings for Tommy. Both girls liked their room and both were proud to have a room of their own.

It seemed like Tommy almost worshiped Andy. The boy needed someone to look up to, and I couldn't think of anyone better than Andy to fill that need.

That just left our two odd balls, Stu and Kate. Stu seemed contented this morning. He talked with everyone and smiled a lot. Kate seemed to be really coming into her own. This morning, she was in a teasing mood. She started out teasing Andy and his two wives. She had all three of them blushing without saying anything that was inappropriate in front of the kids.

Kate had a way of arching her eyebrow that let you know what she was thinking without her having to say it. She also had a crooked smile that she used frequently. I had to admit to myself that if I hadn't already had three wonderful wives, I'd have been head over heels for her already. I've always been a sucker for a crooked smile.

"So, what's gotten into you this morning, Kate?" I asked.

"Oh, and let's just say I've made a decision about something. Now, I just have to figure out how to make it happen."

"What did you decide?" Cassie asked.

"Sure and it's not the time for me to be telling that."

"Okay," I said. "If it's going to put you in this good of a mood to have made a decision, maybe you should make one every day."

"I don't think any decision I ever make will be as important as this one."

Rawhide and Maddie came riding in right after we had gotten up from eating. We asked them if anything was going on and they said there hadn't been anything happening. They told us that the bulk of the cattle were in three different areas and described to us where they were.

Sam and I went out next. Our trip didn't take as long as Rawhide's had, because we already knew where the majority of the cattle were. We talked as we went along and made plans for the coming spring.

We decided I'd take off right after the baby was born for Boston. Sam insisted I take Cassie along with me. I wasn't about to argue about that. We also talked about me taking one other person with me, but we didn't decide who it would be at that time. Sam said she didn't care who it was, just as long as it was someone who could shoot as well as Cassie can. We figured that I would take off for Boston, and after I had been gone about a month, the rest of the group would take off for Lafayette, Indiana. Whoever got there first would wait for the others.

It wasn't the greatest solution in the world, but it was the best we could come up with. We figured we'd get a well sprung buckboard for Sam and the baby to ride in. We'd gather all of Rawhide's herd together and they'd drive them to Lafayette as well. We'd also try to find as many wagons as we thought we'd need this winter and we'd see about hiring drivers and drovers.

When we got back to the house, Andy and Cassie took off. Sarah Beth had been practicing with a revolver and a rifle and she was actually getting to be a pretty good shot, but Andy still didn't feel like she had the killer instinct she'd need for a job like this.

The next couple to go out would be Jud and Mina. I had no doubts that they would handle any situation that came up. The last team to go out for the day would be Stu and Kate. I asked Kate if she was okay working with Stu and she assured me she was.

Rawhide and Maddie and Sam and I made one more round before we called it a night. No one saw anything during the day that wasn't the way it should be.

Day 125 - Thursday, September 2, 1847

Andy and Cassie would be the first ones on patrol this morning, so we had to roust ourselves out early. Then Cassie decided she wanted to attack me before she left. I kissed her and rubbed her pretty butt, then made her get up and get something to eat before she left on patrol.

The day went pretty much like yesterday, except that when Stu and Kate came back in, they had a very pissed off young woman with them. They practically had to drag her into the house. She was cursing and fighting every step of the way.