Chapter 8

Frank wasn't the only person eager to reproduce the items Will and Carrie had brought with them. The source of the newest revelation surprised Will, but not as much as what they had done. Three women had taken it upon themselves to solve one of the problems Will had been most eager to tackle.

With the help of Frank and Jesse, the women had designed and built a functional alcohol powered engine! Will had known it was possible. Hell, the first automobiles produced burned the stuff. That is, until the petroleum industry ramped up. He wondered if that might be prevented this time. No one had mentioned anything about the Middle East of this time, but if that little problem could be avoided now, it would be nice.

It would be a huge task to do what was needed, though. It would require a new industry to support it. Methanol would only be cost efficient if this was done. On a small scale, the still the ladies constructed would serve their needs for now.

A tractor had been constructed as the first experiment. Will's small garden tractor had been used as the model, and a much larger version built. What surprised Will the most, was what James had done. Somehow, he had created the spark plugs for the engine. In Will's mind, this eclipsed even the fact that the inventors had come up with a crank-start system using no more than an old book they found in the barn. That book had been the catalyst for the whole project. In it were the complete plans for the original Model A Ford.

There wouldn't be many duplicates of those running around, however. All the wheels were made out of steel. Attachments were still in production, using pictures from books as a model. Alice, Daphne, and Carol performed what amounted to a miracle, as far as Will was concerned. With no formal training, they had adapted designs from his time to be compatible with the technology available now.

Will resolved to find out if there was such a thing as patents in this place. If they could manage to mass-produce their tractors, the women would soon be very wealthy. Rubber would have to be investigated, as well. If tires could be found, or produced, automobiles would be an achievable goal for them.

The tractor alone, would revolutionize farming. It would also go a long way in reducing the need for slavery. As in Will's remembered history, many of the slaves owned in this time worked the fields.

Will was broken from his reverie by one of the scouts sliding his mount to a halt in front of him. He couldn't understand a word of it, until Moonie saw his dilemma and rushed over to see what the excitement was all about.

"He says that many men are coming. The people in the town will be here before the strangers. There were too many soldiers for defense the town to be possible, so they are coming here. It looks like they intend to attack us."

With plenty of warning, everyone was in place when the trouble showed up. Will was at the first line of defense, waiting for them. Much of their preparations were not evident, but enough of it was. The fortified positions gave the attackers enough pause to reign in their mounts short of the line.

A pompous sounding windbag wearing what appeared to be an officer's uniform closed the distance to a point halfway between the forces, accompanied by two other similarly attired peons.

"Who is in charge of this rabble! I demand to speak to them this instant!" he bellowed.

Will met him with Carrie and Hank.

"I suppose that would be me", Will drawled. "What can we do for you?"

He seemed taken aback, but spluttered "You can tell all your criminals to lay down their weapons and surrender, for starters! We have reports that you are harboring escaped slaves in this place. I am also arresting you for the theft of property, and the murder of Zed Gantry!"

Will just laughed at him, which caused an interesting shade of purple to spread across the idiots face. It got darker when Will replied

"I don't know who you think you are, but we don't take kindly to folks talkin' down to us. Slavery is against the law, here. That bein' the case, there couldn't possibly be anything but free people in this settlement. All we're gonna give you is some good advice. If'n y'all want to walk away from this, start now. Things could get a mite unfriendly if'n you don't."

The man practically went into apoplexy over that one.

"You have no idea who you're threatening! I am Colonel Jeffrey Anderson of the United States of Vespucci! We will wipe your rabble off the face of this earth! The survivors, if any remain, will be sold to the highest bidder!"

The reply didn't make the colonel any happier. "That's mighty interestin'", drawled Hank, "I don't recall us joinin' yer country. This here is an independent territory. I do believe that makes you a trespasser."

"We were asked to come here in order to enforce the law, since the local authorities seem unwilling to do so!" the man spluttered.

Will smiled as he said "Whatever floats your boat. Just so you know, my first shot will be for you. You may leave now. I don't trust your honor enough to turn my back on you."

They waited until the three peacocks were a good distance away, before trotting back to the line.

Will picked up a scoped 1903 Springfield, before saying "On my shot, begin plan A."

None of them believed in chance. The attackers had no idea they were already in a minefield. If they had seen the Gatling guns on their flanks, chances are they wouldn't know what they were. They were about to find out.

When the fearless leader raised his sword over his head and yelled "Charge!", it was the last thing he ever said. Will's shot hit him in the chest, and he fell off of his horse. If the wound didn't kill him, the horses that ran over him probably did.

Ammo wasn't wasted. The homemade Claymores did most of the work. By the time the Gatling positions finished, there weren't many invaders left. Custer had more of a chance than this group. Only a few managed to run away. They wouldn't make it far. The escape routes were covered by the scouts, and from the occasional single shots heard, none would escape. It seemed bloodthirsty, but it was necessary. If anyone reported a cavalry command being wiped out, they'd have a whole army to deal with. They didn't have the capability to do that... yet.

Will was glad to see that there was little celebration over the slaughter. What little there was, was quickly ended. Those that thought it was a good time quickly lost that thought when they were delegated to the cleanup party.

Will didn't leave himself out of the detail, either. He broke out his new alcohol tractor to drag horse carcasses to the gully in which they had decided to bury the evidence. The tractor's first job was a grim one. Within two days, all evidence of the battle had been removed.

The victory had been expected, but the fact that not one person on their side had been injured was a surprise. None of the attackers had gotten close enough for an accurate shot. The fact that the shots attempted had been mostly from horseback had made it almost impossible to hit anything, anyway.

Sooner or later, whoever had sent this bunch would figure out they weren't coming back. Then things would get even more interesting. Tactics would have a large effect on future encounters, Will knew. This battle had been straight out of the history books. Guerilla warfare was seemed to be an unknown quantity in this place. With their numbers, it would be the only way to win. Even then, the numbers were their enemy.

The attackers had simply used a standard cavalry charge, this time. This had seemed suicidal to Will, even if they had been equally armed. This was one of the reasons none of the attackers had been allowed to escape. Will intended to allow any enemy as little time to adapt as possible.

The force at their disposal presently numbered two hundred and twenty-seven. Of those, one hundred and fifty-three were women. More than twenty others were men younger than seventeen. More trickled in every day, but they needed many more. Surprise, and the remoteness of the area, would have to work in their favor for a while longer.

Recruitment came up, as well. Quite a few people were sure that if word was spread in the areas they came from, a lot of people would head their way. It would leave them even more short-handed for a while, but the majority thought it was a good plan.

Because of the society they had to deal with, men would have to go. If women were sent, chances are they wouldn't stay free for long.

Subterfuge was one suggestion that was a big hit. If people came snooping around, it wouldn't be too difficult to make them believe things were no different here than in other towns, as long as they didn't stay for an extended time. The fly in the ointment was also their greatest asset. There was no way to explain the weapons, much less why women were allowed to wear them.

Once again, Frank came to the rescue. "Heck", he explained, "I kin make a rifle what looks like a muzzle loader, but ain't. Tube fed, I figger. I been itchin' to make somethin' new anyhow!"

"What about pistols?" asked Becky, "Rifles is fine, but I've kinda got used to carryin' a short gun."

"Easy enough," replied Frank "I done been snoopin' in Will's collection, an' think I got answer ta that. I been a'playin' 'round with some already!, wait here whilst I git somethin'"

He quickly returned with some items that increased their already high opinion of his ability. There were samples of .32, and .38 snub nose revolvers, as well as what appeared to be a re-creation of a Kimber Ultra Carry. In another box, were more surprises.

"I was a' snoopin' in his holsters, too!", he explained. I had George make these up fer me. They's what ye call 'inside the waistband' holsters. Women what wear pants kin tuck 'em inside, and then they's only got to hide the grip!"

Becky fell in love with the Kimber immediately, and asked if she could try it out. Carrie, Liz, and several other women were just as anxious. Will was curious, himself!

That poor pistol got a real workout! Between all of them, they must have run a thousand rounds through it. It held up well, and was as accurate as the original. The 'snubbies' were pretty good, too. At least at close range, anyway. Will claimed one for a back-up gun. The women would soon be even better armed, albeit stealthily. The Kimber held eight rounds of .45 acp, counting the chambered round.

After thanking Frank profusely, Will found out something new about his brides. Guns made them horny! Before he knew what hit him, he was dragged into the house, and molested repeatedly. Becky was getting a little large, and Carrie was close behind. That didn't slow them down, as far as Will could tell, other than wanting to be on top!

Gia made him work, though. She wasn't showing much, yet. The others threw in enough variety that Will couldn't think of a position they had missed. To top it off, just after he had finished pounding the daylights out of Dominga from behind, she had an announcement.

"I am pregnant!", she proclaimed.

After the excitement died down, she explained "I wanted one more of those before I told you. I knew you would treat me like some delicate creature afterward."

Of course, that made Kate and Moonie jealous, and Will was required to 'try harder this time!' He did his best, but was afraid he was about as low on ammo, as he was on energy!

He expected Vicky to get into the act as well, but she had a surprise of her own.

"I was sick as a dog this morning", she admitted. "I think I might be adding another Robinson about the same time Dominga does."

Will had to beg for mercy, before Kate and Moonie would let him rest!

Vicky had another surprise, in the form of a question. "Will, with us being so outnumbered, don't you think we should come up with some better weapons? It wouldn't be much of a stretch to make a bazooka or some kind of rocket propelled grenade. We could sure even the odds, some."

After explaining what Vicky was talking about, and waiting for the excitement to die down some, Carrie got them going again.

"What about tanks?", she asked. "If them three can make a tractor, we damned sure can make a tank! Imagine what a 75mm shell could do, much less a fifty caliber machine gun on wheels!"

When order was restored again, Will promised to dig through his library for any books that would help them. "Bein' a history teacher, I've also got a bunch of books on military strategy and battles," he added. "History is so full of war, that it should add up to quite a few."