Chapter 45: New Routines

Over the months Tom learned to visit the House and the Senate. He attempted to meet every Congressman and Senator. He found that they had no reservations with meeting him and talking about just about anything, but he found it frustrating getting a straight answer out of any of them. They didn't seem to have any opinions of their own what weren't put there by others. He found that all of them had their hand out, and their word only lasted until the money ran out.

His frustration grew the more he learned about the system. He learned how things were supposed to work, but rarely did. When he asked the professors about it, they denied that the system was anything but the sterling examples that they taught. He realized that either they didn't know the truth, or refused to accept the truth. He suspected the latter.

He watched all new bills and laws closely and openly spoke against anything that would hurt the Cheyenne people. Even though he never referenced any Indian tribes he fought for all of them behind the scenes.

He had started the practice of eating lunch at a comfortable little restaurant about four blacks from the capitol building. It wasn't fancy, but had good food and the prices were reasonable.

Tom quickly noticed when the people quit coming to the restaurant. He hadn't noticed anything different with the food and wondered what was happening. The next day he got his answer. Waiting in front of the restaurant were three men. After the men spoke to people they moved on down the street to another restaurant.

When Tom's group arrived the men quickly stepped in front of them. "You don't want to be eating here. There is a better restaurant just down the street, why don't you gentlemen move along now."

Tom looked at the men for a moment before he shook his head, "No, I don't think so. I like the food here." Tom made to step around the man when he once again stepped in front of Tom. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear. I said move along, before something happens to you."

Tom smiled and stepped back, he noticed the man had his hand in his hip pocket. He suspected what he was holding. A small movement and John and Ben had their pistols drawn and in two of the men's faces. The one doing the talking was ignored as Tom was in front of him and they knew that he could handle himself. "Is something like this what you mean, when you say something could happen to us?"

The man growled, "Look sonny, you don't know who you are messing with. My boss ain't gonna like this." Tom grinned at the man, "I have a message for your boss."

The man sneered at Tom, "And just what message is that sonny?" Tom slipped his knife into his hand and flipped it around so the he was holding it by the blade. "Don't fuck with me." Tom swung the knife hard and it hit him just above his ear. He dropped like a rock. Tom turned to Luke, "Pull this piece of shit into the alley." Tom looked at the other two men. He spoke loud enough for all of them to hear him. "Take these other two into the alley and kill them quietly, but make it hurt."

Tom entered the restaurant and ordered his meal, and he ordered for the others as well. He knew that they would be hungry after their little exercise. Luke was the first one back, but he was quickly followed by John and Ben. John spoke quietly, "Looks like there might be a little trouble from this." Tom nodded his head and they waited for lunch.

After lunch Tom asked to speak to the owner, he knew it was a family business just like in Chinatown but these people were Italians. The boy nodded and cleared off the table before going to the kitchen. It wasn't more than a minute later when Tom got to meet poppa Tony. He introduced himself as Anthony Franchelli, but everybody called him poppa Tony. Tom introduced himself and his warrior friends. "You know that there were men outside telling people not to eat here, don't you?"

He watched poppa Tony's worried expression. "They are from Mister Carrone, he runs the rackets on this side of town. They are bad men. Mister Carrone wants to become my partner, but I told him no. Now he drives away my business. Soon I will have to close, or let him buy his way in. It is a bad business, my family has worked hard and now he comes to steal it."

Tom nodded his head. "Would you sell me part of your restaurant?" Poppa Tony exploded, "What? Now he has somebody else to act for him? I won't sell to gangsters." Tom thought about it for a minute, and also the fact that even after poppa Tony said that he wouldn't sell he didn't leave the table. Tom thought that poppa Tony was in worse shape than the pretended. "I don't work for anybody, but myself. I want to buy a part of the restaurant to stop them from getting their hands on it."

Poppa Tony looked stunned at the idea that anybody would want to cross Don Carrone. "Are you crazy? You want Mister Carrone to kill you? You do this and his men will come in the night and kill you in your beds."

Tom smiled at him, "Tell me, what would Mister Carrone do if I killed two of his men?" Poppa Tony stared as his eyes got bigger, "You no kill his men. If anybody finds out it was you, he will kill you."

Tom smiled, "Well I left one alive to take him a message, so I guess that he will try to kill me."

Poppa Tony staggered back a step before he sat on a chair. He put his head in his hands. "You are crazy. You kill Don Carrone's men and send one back alive to tell him. He gonna send all his men to kill you."

Poppa Tony stood up and wiped his face. "Okay, I make you partner. Five hundred dollars and you get half of the restaurant. Since you gonna die anyway, I take your money. I can hold out a little longer that way."

Tom grinned and motioned to John and Ben. They each took five gold squares and placed them on the table. Tom motioned to poppa Tony, "There is five hundred dollars. You won't mind if I try not to die will you?" Poppa Tony smiled, "I won't mind, but Mister Carrone, he will mind very much." The two men shook hands and poppa Tony headed to the kitchen. Tom noticed a woman waiting in the door of the kitchen with an apron covering her full middle-aged figure. Tom supposed that Mrs. Tony was about to find out that she had a new partner.

When they left the restaurant Tom decided to go home, he had things to plan for. He realized that he suddenly felt more alive than he had in months. He was whistling as they rode in the carriage. John and Ben could feel the same excitement. Luke understood their feelings, but realized that he had become too civilized with his exposure to the white man. He knew that he would have to talk to Tom about his feelings.

That afternoon Tom called Peter and Robert to the drawing room. He explained the situation and what he wanted them to do. They grinned at him as he told them his plan. They were still grinning when they left for the stables.

After they had gone he called everyone in the house into the drawing room. He explained the situation and made sure that they all understood that they had to keep a watch for trouble. "I don't want anybody to get hurt. Have somebody with you all of the time and don't leave the property without John, or Ben going with you. This man will not hesitate to hurt or kill any of you. If you have a weapon keep it on you at all times."

After all of the people went back to their own things Tom sent all of the men to their beds, he expected a long night. Mei and Su woke him gently at sunset. Tom kissed each and went to find the others. They met in the dining room and Wei served them a good meal. Frieda was nervous and jumpy. Tom whispered and Wei smiled before she grabbed Frieda's hand and pulled her out of the room. John smiled because he knew what Tom had told her to do. He was amazed at all of the times he had seen things like that and he never knew what was going on, now he could see so many things that he had never seen before. He looked at the other warriors and knew that they were still in the dark.

Once they had eaten they each slipped from the house and watched one of the sides. Tom took the front so that he could watch the road. Luke took the back and the stables, and John and Ben each took a side. They disappeared into the trees and settled in to wait.

When they had first arrived each of them had made a bow and arrows. It was as natural as breathing, and now Tom felt comfortable with his bow in his hands. It didn't mean that he didn't have his Colt Patterson at his hip, but the bow was a silent weapon.

It was a long wait. It was still a couple of hours before dawn when he heard horses riding hard. He waited and watched as they stopped on road. They didn't enter the long carriage path leading to the house. "Fighting Hawk, it's Night Owl." There was no mistaking the Cheyenne language, or who spoke it.

Tom answered immediately, "Get over here." He stood up and showed himself. The two warriors quickly rode over to Tom. "We have about a half hour before they get here." Tom nodded and grunted, "What are you doing here? I sent you into town to get information on Mister Carrone. Not ride out here and almost get yourself killed."

Robert answered, "We weren't really in any danger from you. We knew that you wouldn't attack until you were sure that we were part of Carrone's men. Besides it was so easy to get information that we already have what you wanted to know." Tom grunted again and shook his head. "Okay, let's get everybody together and see what you got."

Tom sent Robert to collect the other warriors as they moved to the front of the house. When the others showed up Robert started his report, "It was easy to get information. He is a very well known man, and he survives by fear and intimidation. We didn't have to ask any questions really. All we had to do was listen to everybody complain about him. When they got quiet, we found out who his men were. We followed them around and saw just about everything that he had them doing. We watched as he collected men for the attack. When they started getting ready to leave we followed them, until we were sure that they were on their way here. We got ahead of them and rode hard. As slow as they are going, we probably still have twenty minutes. There are two carriages, one driver and six men in each. There are also six riders on horseback. There were two in front and four in the rear. They are mostly armed with clubs and knives."

Tom thought for a minute. "Okay, here is what we are going to do. Luke, you will stay at the front door and kill anybody that tries to get in. John and Ben will go back to the woods where they were. Peter will be with me, and Robert will be down the road."

Tom looked around to make sure that everybody understood. "Robert, once they pass you will use your bow and kill the riders in the rear quietly. Anybody coming back looking for them are yours." Tom watched as Robert nodded that he understood.

"Peter and I will hide in the grass on each side of the carriage path. After all of the men have cleared their horses we will use our bows on anybody still left at the carriages. Once that is done, we will use our pistols and start shooting. That should drive them to the woods on each side, for cover. John and Ben will be waiting for them. Anybody that runs for the house will be left for Luke." Tom looked around and saw each head nod and motioned for them to get going.

It was fifteen minutes later when the two carriages arrived. Tom noticed that there weren't any riders on horseback. He smiled at that and hoped that Robert managed to get the horses off the road before they came back to investigate. He watched as they turned in the carriage path and stopped a good distance from the house. He had suspected that they wouldn't want to give any warning to the house.

It seemed to take a long time before they slowly moved toward the house. Tom and Peter quickly put an arrow through the carriage drivers. They were the only ones that stayed with the carriages. Tom met Peter on the carriage path. They took careful aim and fired together. Tom didn't know how many of the twelve that they would get before they broke, but he hoped that they could get them all. The men broke quickly.

Tom called out, "Three to the right." He heard Peter call out, "Four to the left." Tom looked and called out, "Two to the house." They stood and waited. The shooting started quickly followed by Ben's voice, "Three dead on the right." John answered, "Four dead on the left." Luke called last, "Two dead at the house."

Tom smiled and said, "Seems like we got them all. Peter, go and help Robert get the others back here." Peter nodded and took off to get his horse. Tom sighed, "Well, now we have to do the hard part. Why don't we just move the carriages around and pitch them in, then we don't have to drag their asses all over the place." It got a firm vote and they headed to the carriages.

After the carriages were loaded they saw Robert and Peter leading the loaded horses. When they got back Tom pulled out the arrows. He didn't want to leave any clues on how these men died. If they thought it was all gun shots, then so much the better. They dumped the last six bodies into the carriages. They were piled pretty high, but Tom wasn't worried about any of them falling out.

Tom looked at Peter, "Where does Mister Carrone live?" Peter grinned and said, "Not that far from here. He is a lot closer to town, but he still lives on this road. Tom frowned, "That's not good enough for this. Does he have a business in town?"

Peter thought for a second, "Yes, he has several, or at least it appears that he owns them. The big one is a warehouse over on the east end of town, toward the docks." Tom grinned, "Okay, we will deliver his garbage there. I want you to ride horses and lead the carriages. When you get there, leave them right out in front. And just to get some attention I want you to throw a lit lantern through one of the windows of the warehouse. That should bring enough people to spread the word."

When Tom noticed the confused looks he explained, "If enough people see the bodies' word will spread. He rules by fear. If people think that his men are so easy to kill they will turn on him. The more people there are trying to kill him, the better it is for us. Plus he will have to use more men keeping everybody else under control. That means they aren't coming after us."

There were smiling faces all around. Peter and Robert mounted two of the captured horses. They planned on abandoning them later. "You two need to get back here and get some rest before you collect any more information." Robert shook his head. "Most of what is going to happen will be quick. We will take turns getting some sleep and watch what goes on. If something important happens we will get word to you. Don't worry about us." Tom frowned, but nodded his head.

John spoke, "Well he has made his move for tonight. Let's get some rest and see what happens today." Tom agreed but still reminded them, "We still have to go into town today. Even though we won this fight if it looks like we are afraid of him, he can turn it against us." John grunted at the idea, but had to agree with him.

Tom had found out quickly that political education wouldn't happen at the college. The medical knowledge was almost as bad. He quickly found out that the only interesting things that he learned were related to pharmacology. The relationship to drugs and how they worked fascinated him. The rest was rather boring, since once you opened a person and removed a bullet, and then sewed them back up and they lived, they pretty much called you a doctor. He had been doing that for a couple of years.

Some things were educational. He learned how to sew up intestines, and even a gut-shot man had a chance to live; a small chance, but some chance. He also found that treating female stress was considered a normal procedure. He was amazed that doctors took more virginities than husbands. The laughter that ensued after the class on treating female stress left him disgusted. He found it hard to believe that people would respect a doctor so much, and they could be so vile.

It was this simple attitude that had Tom attending classes infrequently, if at all. Only some major item on the class board would pull him in to hear the lecture. Most of the time he could be found sitting at the back table of the restaurant. He had finally found his true calling.

Luke was happy attending the college. Once he no longer had to attend the classes that Tom attended, but was free to pick the subjects that appealed to him, he found he had a thirst for knowledge. He had to admit that Geology and mineralogy were about the only subjects that he liked. He was determined that he would learn everything that they could teach him on those subjects.

It was late the next morning that Luke headed for the college. Classed rarely started before Nine in the morning. Tom also headed into town to start his day of business.

As Tom settled into his chair he found that a couple of the ladies were waiting for him at the back door of the restaurant. He smiled and nodded to them, as he put his ledger on the table and patiently listened. He wrote what he thought was important, and disregarded the rest. When they were finished he gave each young lady a few silver coins and sent them on their way. Some information was worth more and some less, but Tom was quickly realizing that some information was garbage, and some was gold. His clients had quickly found out that providing proof along with the information was how you earned top dollar.