Chapter 14

Finally, everyone seemed to come to a stopping point for the day. Sarah, the Colonel, and their hands headed back to his place and Maybel put on her first feed at the big house. I had everyone eat with us tonight, so we could get acquainted.

Frank brought his wife Cara, and Bob had fetched Roberta after lunch was done, so she was with us for supper too.

I'd hired the two men Frank found - Chad James, and Slick Williams - but they wouldn't be living at the ranch, so they weren't here for supper. I had a skeleton crew now and that was fine, since I didn't really have anything going on yet.

At least we had the living quarters settled for a while. Bob and Roberta were happy to move into the servant's quarters with Maybel, but I made sure the word servant didn't get out of my mouth. I'd never liked it anyway and that wasn't really the way I felt about any of them.

I hoped Bob and Roberta would feel comfortable there, at least until Frank's new house was finished. They could move into the smaller one after that. Bob Jakes was smarter than he let on, I could tell that, and I planned on him doing more than just cooking.

Time for worrying about that shit was over for today though. Maybel did a bang up job on supper, even coming up with some mashed potatoes and gravy, so I was stuffed and happy, and I was also ready for everyone else to decide it was bedtime. Finally they did.

I went to the master bedroom of course, then shook the dew off my lily in the bathroom and dispensed with my clothes, except for a pair of boxers. I lay down for about half an hour and then went to find my playmates.

I met Mary as she was slipping out of the guest room we'd put her in and she and I went to fetch Marjorie. We were back in my bedroom in minutes and I didn't waste time getting the two of them naked.

It was inspiring to see my bed so well stocked and I was between them quickly, licking, kissing, petting, and stroking anything I could reach. The two of them were a little shy at first, but I noticed when I concentrated on one it wound the other up all the tighter from watching. By the time I was hiding the weenie in Mary, Marjorie was helping me out by pinching her nipples and kissing her lips.

Of course this action had Mary worming and squirming and banging her hips up to me as I stroked. It set her off in no time too, but she revived quickly to get some of her own back when I pulled Marjorie up onto her hands and knees and did it to her dog style. She came so hard she nearly fainted and I know that the way Mary twisted her nipples had a lot to do with it.

Since I'd spewed a load into Marjorie I settled down between them for a little rest. Fifteen minutes later I was back to work, on Marjorie again. I gave her another good screwing but saved the load for Mary. Mary did the dog style duties this time and poor Marjorie was left out of the nipple twisting, because I was humped over Mary's back with a titty in each hand.

The girls took it easy on me for the rest of the night, and when the sunlight through the windows woke me the next morning they were both gone already. Oh well, you can't take time for an eye opener every morning.

Maybel did a hell of a job on breakfast too and she knew about all parts of making good coffee. Jimmy, Lilah, Lilly, and I were the only ones around for the first serving though. No doubt the ladies would be down sooner or later.

I kept my seat with my coffee but Jimmy and the twins were off for more exploring as soon as I let them leave the table. Before he left, Jimmy told me he loved having his room on the top floor, and taking a hint from him, Lilah and Lilly came over and each gave me a kiss on the cheek in appreciation of having their own rooms.

Bob and Roberta came out of their quarters then and Roberta started helping Maybel right away. I assumed that they'd had their breakfast on the small table in the quarters and were coming out to start their day now.

Bob asked if I could think of anything he needed to get while he was in town, since he was headed to Silas' store.

"No, but Mary has a list. Would you mind driving her into town in the carriage and using it to bring back what you need and what she has on the list?" I asked.

"No, I'd be glad to. I'll go hitch the team now," he said, and was off.

Mary, Carolyn, and Marjorie came to breakfast then and apparently Carolyn and Marjorie were going to town with Mary. I told them Bob was hitching the carriage for them, and Carolyn asked if he could just leave them in town and if I could send someone back for them late in the afternoon. I didn't know what they were up to but I didn't mind, so I said it would be fine.

Bob had just left with the women when three guys came riding up. I met them at the door, and when I found out it was Josh, Jacky, and Jake green, the carpenters, I invited them in for coffee. They declined and wanted to find out about the work I had for them.

"Well, I'm not going to make you drink any coffee if you don't want it, but I'm going to have another cup and I can tell you about the work at the table while I'm doing it, so come on in," I said, and led the way to the kitchen.

Once we were seated and Maybel came with the pot and cups, the Greens allowed that they might be able to handle a cup of coffee after all. When Maybel came back in a couple of minutes to show me she could make bear sign as good or better than the Colonel's cook, we were even able to force a few of them down the Greens too. Finally I got around to what I wanted.

"The first thing I need is a single story version of this house. Not as big or anything, just a three-bedroom house that resembles this one on the outside and inside. Do you know what I mean?" I asked.

"I think so. You want it to look like the same style without being exactly the same. Same type of trim, shingles, and such, and the same roof pitch. You want the houses to look like they were done to go together," he said.

"That's it exactly. Can you do it?" I asked.

"I'm sure I can, I did a lot of the work on this very house, so I should be able to remember how," he said.

"When can you start?" I asked.

"We'll need to go back and get our work wagon. It has most of our tools. Unless you've already got some materials coming, we'd better figure out an order pretty quick too. I know there is some lumber stored in the loft of the horse barn. It's mostly heavy stuff, so it will do for the floor joist and such. We'll be out of something to do after a week or week and a half though."

"I heard that the lumber for this place was hauled in," I said.

"Yep, it had to be, there aren't any sawmills around here to speak of. Oh, there's a small one about fifty miles east of Dallas, but it would have taken years for them to cut enough for this house. Most of what we used on the big house and the barns too was yellow pine. It came from over near Jefferson, but not quite that far away. Still it's nearly ninety miles from the mill to here," Josh said.

"Do you know how to get an order to them and see about getting it shipped?" I asked.

"Well, not exactly. I know that Mr Christopher sent a rider with a message to get the first loads coming, and after that we sent back orders with the drivers that were returning.

"It worked out fine after it got started, and they even have a shingle mill too. They cut the shingles for this place out of cypress and they're the best I've ever used," he said.

"I guess I'd better see about hiring someone to take the first order then. Can you make one up?" I asked.

"Yep, but I don't have any idea who you could get to take it."

"I don't either, but maybe Frank or Bob can come up with someone. You just be sure to order plenty. Since it takes so long to get things moving I want to get plenty of lumber here in case we need to build something else," I said, and he agreed to.

It didn't take long, once I was outside, to find Frank, but he didn't have any idea who we could hire for the trip. I decided to ride into town and ask around. I saddled Boots and headed that way, meeting Bob as he was coming back in the gate after taking the women to Silas' store.

"Bob, do you know anyone we can hire to take a message over to the sawmill near Jefferson? It needs to be someone pretty trustworthy because I want to send some gold with them to pay down. I'm sure the mill will get moving faster if they ain't worried about gettin' paid," I said.

"Cooter Smith will probably do it, in fact I'm sure he will. Since he broke his arm he ain't able to work cows very well anymore, and he needs to make a few bucks every now and then to keep body and soul together," Bob said.

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Not much to tell. He was a good hand and a hard worker until his arm didn't grow back together right. It works ok I guess, but he ain't able to do much a horseback now," Bob said.

"Do you think he can ride that far then?"

"Oh, he's ok for normal ridin' and all. It's his left arm that don't work exactly right now. He'll get in a mess if things start happening too quick 'round him. Say if he roped somethin' and it started cuttin' up, things like that. It's a chore for him to saddle and tend to his mount too, but he can get that done all right, just not in no rush," Bob said.

"Do you think he'd take a regular job, and do you think he'd be a good man around here?" I asked.

"Oh he's a good man for sure, but he has those limitations. I'm sure he'd love to have a regular job," Bob said.

"Does Frank know him?" I asked.