Chapter 12

May 13, 1848

We spent most of the day with the wagons in town, buying what we were going to need, and getting it stored in the proper wagons. We bought two tarpaulins to cover the two farm wagons. We also bought three tents for the boys to sleep in.

By the end of the day, we figured we were ready to take off.

May 14, 1848

I was surprised at how quickly we got everything ready to go the next morning. Matthew, Mark and Phillip got the wagons hitched, while the women were fixing breakfast. As soon as we'd eaten and packed the cooking stuff away, they moved the wagons out.

The rest of us formed up around the cattle and horses, and got them moving as well. After a few days, we found we only needed four to six people with the herd at any one time. We'd have one or two people riding at the point. One or two bringing up the rear and keeping the stragglers moving. We'd also have one person on each side of the herd making sure nothing strayed off to the sides.

The three or four of the cattle that were natural leaders would work their way to the front every day. The rest just seemed to follow them. In stormy weather, we always had every available person stationed around the herd.

At night, we always had one or two people on watch, riding around the herd and keeping them relatively close together. We all took turns and worked it in two hour shifts. That way, it wasn't too hard on any one person.

We were going to be taking about the same route we'd taken with the wagon train. We started up the east side of the Missouri River. We made twenty-five miles that day, and found a nice spot to camp for the night.

It wasn't until the women were getting things out of the covered wagon to fix dinner, that they found Joe.

Pris escorted Joe over to where Ab, John, and I were sitting.

"It looks like we have a stowaway with us," Pris said. "I found him hiding in the chuck wagon."

"Howdy, Joe," I said. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I had to get away from pap, Jase. He damn near beat me to death a couple of nights ago. I was hoping I could go to Oregon with you guys."

"You're a little young to be taking off on your own, aren't you?" I asked.

"I'm fifteen. I'm old enough."

"You sure don't look fifteen. Of course, with all the dirt on you, it'd be hard for anyone to tell what you even look like."

"I'm sorry about the dirt. Pap had me mucking out the hog pens, before I ran away. I've been living in the woods since then and I was afraid to take a bath and wash my clothes."

"Well, talk to George. I'm sure that one of the boys will stand guard for you while you take a bath. We'll find something for you to put on while your clothes dry."

"Uh... Well... Uh... Jase... I'm... I'm... a girl."

I'll swear to God, you could have knocked me over with a feather. "But... 'Joe'?" I asked.

Joe giggled and said, "It's Joella, but I like Jo better."

Now Lettie, Wanda, Pris and Tess were giggling too.

"So, now I guess you want to stand guard while she takes a bath, Jase?" Tess asked.

Pris and Lettie cracked up at that and I know I had to have blushed as red as the stripes on a flag.

When the girls had quit laughing, they decided that Jo could wait until after supper for her bath, and that they'd all four, stand guard for her. They even came up with a set of buckskins she could wear.

After Lettie, Wanda and I had crawled into our tent, Lettie whispered, "You should have gone with us, Jase. Five naked women taking a bath must have been a sight to see."

"Lettie, my love," I said. "You're getting to be as bad as Millie."

I gave her a hug and a big kiss.

"Jo is as cute as hell," she said with a giggle. "Her breasts are small, about like an orange cut in half, but she's got these really big nipples and she's got a very nice butt. She just has a little patch of pubic hair and it's almost straight. I'll bet it's as soft as silk."

"Yeah, she makes me feel like I've got big boobs, but she is cute," Wanda said.

Wanda had developed well over the last couple of years. When we started building our temporary house that first winter, her breasts weren't much bigger than a walnut. Now they were the size of a large apple.

"Why are you telling me this, Lettie?"

"Because I want to get you hard. I have plans for you before we go to sleep."

"Did seeing the latest member of our group in the nude get my little wife all hot and bothered?"

"Damned straight. It would have you, too, Jase."

I think we damned near set the mattress on fire.

May 15, 1848

After the women had finished making breakfast, Jo brought her plate over and sat by Lettie, Wanda and me. I looked her up and down as she walked across in her buckskins.

"You sure do clean up nice," I said as she sat down.

"Thank you, Jase. I always hated being dirty, but ever since mam died, pap has made me do the nastiest jobs he could find for me to do. I couldn't take a bath in the tub; because he'd always come in and stand there, and look at me. If I tried to sneak off and take a bath in the creek, he'd follow me. I was really kind of scared of him."

Lettie giggled then said, "If you took a bath where Jase could see you, I'll bet he'd be looking, too."

Jo grinned and said, "I don't think I'd worry if Jase or John, or even Ab saw me taking a bath. I'd worry about them Simmons boys though. It's not that they're bad boys, or anything... I just don't think they're mature enough to leave a woman alone if they saw her naked."

"Jase is the same age as George and Phillip," Lettie said.

"Really? I'd have thought you were older, Jase. Maybe it's because you have a wife."

Lettie giggled again and asked, "Should I tell her, Jase?"

"It don't matter to me, Lettie. I'm not ashamed of it."

"Actually, Jo, Jase has four wives," Lettie said. I could see the gleam of a laugh in her eyes as she said it.

Jo looked like someone had hit her with a hammer. "Four wives? Are you all Mormons?"

"Nope, just five people who are in love with each other," Lettie said.

"Well, I'll be..."

"Does that bother you, Jo?" I asked.

"No. It surprises me some though. Where are your other wives?"

"Wanda is my wife, too," I said, giving my newest wife a hug. "Millie has a baby she had to tend, to and Emma is pregnant," I said. "We had to leave them in Oregon on our ranch."

"We miss them something fierce," Lettie said.

Jo proved to be as good at working the cattle as any of the boys were. Better probably. She tired out two horses during the day. We made good time again and actually reached the Missouri River crossing before we camped for the night.

Jo came over to sit with the three married couples when we were eating supper. "If we keep making good time like this, we'll camp on the Big Nemaha River tomorrow night," Ab said.

"That's where we met our first Indians when we were on the wagon train," I said. "Do we need to do any scouting this trip?"

"I don't think so," Ab said. "At least not right now. Most of the Indians we'll meet are worried that the whites are going to settle in their territory. Since we're driving a bunch of cattle, they're going to know we're just passing through."

"Do you think they might try to run off our cattle?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Ab said. "The Indians are used to deer and elk and antelope and buffalo as their main food animals. If you offered an Indian a choice between a tough, chewy venison steak and the finest beef steak there ever was, he'd take the venison."

"Did all of you go out on the same wagon train?" Jo asked.

"Yep, we went out three years ago," Pris said. "Ab was the Wagon Master and Jase was the scout."

Jo looked at me and asked, "You were the scout when you were only sixteen?"

"Yeah. I knew sign language so I could talk to the Indians we met."

"Jase is half Indian," Lettie added.

Jo's mouth was hanging open when she said, "I've never met an Indian before."

"My mother is a Cherokee," I said. "Pap is a white man. Does it bother you that I'm half Indian?"

"No, it doesn't bother me. It's just that I've heard tales all of my life about how cruel and bloodthirsty Indians are. You don't seem like that at all."

"He's not," Lettie said. "Jase is one of the kindest most honorable men I've ever met."

"Does this Big Nemaha River have any good places for taking a bath?" Jo asked Ab, changing the subject.

"It should have, this time of year," Ab said.

"I take it you enjoyed your bath last night," Pris said.

"I sure did. I feel cleaner than I've felt in years. I'd take a bath every day if I could."

"Lettie, Wanda and I are pretty much the same way," Tess said. "We like to feel clean."

We talked on for a while, then everyone but me got ready for bed. I had the first watch tonight, so I just drank another cup of coffee and saddled up one of the new horses for the night watch.

I guess I had been riding for about an hour. It was as dark as the inside of a coal sack at midnight. My eyes had become so accustomed to it, that I could actually make out shapes by starlight. Movement was even easier to detect.

Most of the cattle had bedded down for the night, so I was a little surprised when I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. I pulled my revolver out of its holster, and turned slowly in that direction.

"Okay, come on out," I said. "I have a revolver pointed at you and by the time I empty it, I'm sure I'll hit you at least a few times."

"Don't shoot, Jase," I heard Jo say as she walked out into the open.

"What are you doing out here, girl?" I asked.

"I just wanted to talk with you for a few minutes, Jase. I went over to your tent and Lettie said you were riding night watch. She said she didn't think you'd mind talking to me."

"Sure. I need to keep riding, though. Climb up behind me, and you can keep me company for a while."

Jo climbed up behind me and put her hands on my hips. "So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Well, I know the other two guys are older than you, but it seems like you're in charge. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you letting me stay on with you. I was in a bad situation and it was getting worse all of the time."

"I don't know about me being in charge. You don't have to thank us for letting you go with us. I didn't like your pa from the first minute I met him. I liked you even when I thought you were a boy."

Jo giggled, then said, "I know I looked pretty scruffy, but I wasn't pretending to be a boy. I didn't know you all thought I was one."

"Well, you've got to admit, you introduced yourself as Joe. When you add to that the boys clothes and the dirt on your face and hands, it was just natural for us to assume you were a boy."

"Well, I'll admit I've got a body like a boy. When we were taking a bath last night I was embarrassed. Lettie, Wanda and Tess have such beautiful bodies I was ashamed of mine."

"Yes, Lettie, Wanda and Tess all have beautiful bodies, but you've got nothing to be ashamed of."

"You can say that now, but you haven't seen me naked yet."

"I might not have seen you, but I got a very good description of what you look like from Lettie. She says you're beautiful."

"She... She described my body to you?"