Chapter 7

I'm a Father! I'M A FATHER! I wanted to shout it from the rooftops! Cindy finally had the baby; it took nearly 26 hours of labor to produce a baby boy. My God, did she look a mess when them women finally let me in ta see her! Ifen that little fart ever gives her a hard time, he'll be in a world of trouble.

The first thing' she said when I wuz let in the room was, "Have ya seen yer son, yet? Have ya seen Jeremiah, Jr?"

Jeremiah, Junior!?! My Lord, she gave him my name! Don't that beat all? "No, Honey, I ain't seen him yet. I wuz bustin' ta see ya as soon as the guardians would let me in."

On of the ladies stuck a baby in my face an' said, "Here he is, Mr. Quartermaine. This is yer new son."

Y'all know that sayin' that all babies look the same? Well, it don't mean nothin' when it come ta my son. That wuz the mostest handsomest baby boy what ever wuz born! The lady wuz holdin' him out, but I wuz afeared ta touch him cuz I didn't want ta break him. She must of known what I wuz thinkin' cuz she said, "It's OK, ya kin hold him, he won't break."

Cindy said, with a grin, "It's OK, Jeremiah. That's Mz. Hudson, the midwife. Ya kin believe what she tells ya."

I took my son in my arms with a nodded thank you to the midwife. I swan, I couldn't stop staring at his face. He looked like the spittin' image of Cindy. I wuz completely captured by the thought that this was MY SON. I held him fer about five minutes afore he started ta cry. I must of looked shocked an' pained, cuz Mz. Hudson said, "Don't worry, Mr. Quartermaine, ya didn't do nothin' wrong. Yer son is jus' like all men, he tells ya 'bout it when he's hungry."

The midwife took him from my arms an' laid him on Cindy's chest where he could reach a nipple. I swan, that kid started suckin' away like he had been doin' it all his life. The midwife said, "Now, Mr. Quartermaine, ya should leave so yer wife kin rest. She's done a heap of work in the past few hours, an' she needs ta sleep." I could see that, so I leaned down an' kissed Cindy's forehead afore I left the room.

Doggies, I wuz feelin' on top of the world, so I went ta the bar an' stood a beer fer every man what was in there. That near got me the reputation of bein' a big spender, since I must of blown a dollar on the deal. I don't know 'zactly, I jus' counted out bits of eight 'til the bartender said that I had put out enough silver. There was a lot of congratulations and slappin' me on the back, an' I had a grand time.

Along 'bout midnight, Ezra an' a couple of the other boys he'ped me home. I don't know how they got home, since they weren't in any better condition than I wuz, but we must of all lived through it. I fell on the bed, an' Ezra pulled my boot off. That's the last thin' I knew 'til I woke up the next mornin' with one hell of a headache. I ain't never had a hangover like that afore, an' I hope I never git another one like it. I drank some cold coffee what was left over from afore the Redsticks showed up, an' I want y'all ta know that shore snapped me awake. I ain't never tasted nothin' that bad, but I fergot my hangover!

I headed back to Cindy's room at the inn an' spent most of the next two days with her an' JJ, that's what we decided ta call our son. I want y'all ta know that I ain't never had no happier time than them two days! This wuz gittin' expensive, but I didn't care. I already owed a bar bill of I don't know how much, $1 fer the midwife, and 20 cents fer the room in the inn. Plus, I didn't know how much fer Cindy's food from the kitchen of the inn.

Cindy spent 2 more days in that room afore she came home, an' none of it cost us a thin'. The folks of the town took up a collection an' paid fer the whole birth affair ta pay me back fer doin' such a good job of defendin' the town. I thought that was right nice of 'em, an' I made a point of thankin' every one of 'em, individually, over the next few weeks as I could find 'em.

The ladies of the town brought food around fer the next couple of weeks, even though Cindy was back on her feet the day after she come home. She needed the he'p, cuz JJ wuz a handful. I tried ta he'p do what I could, but she chased me out ta the smithy, probably cuz I wuz more bother than I wuz worth.

Business at the smithy was right brisk, since, besides the usual work, a heap of men wanted armor, an' some wanted crossbows. I put 'em off on the armor 'til me an' Ezra could work out some protection fer the upper arm. We finally came up with a leather sleeve hangin' from the body armor. The sleeve hung below the elbow an' was sheathed with two pieces of thin plate steel. This wuz the best we could come up with which would give some protection an' still allow free arm movement. We figured a man might git a broken arm with this, but his arm pro'bly would not be shattered by a blow from a warclub an' need amputation. This raised the price of the armor by $1, cuz of the extra steel needed.

Me an' Ezra were busy fer over a month gittin' all of the orders out fer armor an' crossbows. Like I always say, nothin' helps sales like a good demonstration. Ezra said that he was interested in learnin' ta be a smith, so I began teachin' him. We didn't go inta one of them formal agreements 'bout a master an' apprentice; he jus' agreed ta work fer food an' shelter an' fer the learnin', an' we shook hands on the deal.

Other than routine stuff, I put him to makin' himself a short sword like mine. He had seen how much better a fightin' tool it was than his regular knife, so he wanted one. He used my sword fer a pattern, an' I think that he did a right respectable job.

One night, me an' Ezra was on patrol together, an' we stopped by the tavern ta make shore that everythin' was goin' OK. Asa Johnson had arranged fer a school teacher fer the town, an' the man was in the tavern when we walked in. Right off, he noticed our short swords an' asked where our shields were. We told him that we didn't know nothin' 'bout shields, so he sketched out fer us sumpthin' what he said the Roman legions had used with those swords. He explained how they had used the swords and shields, an me and Ezra was right taken with the idee.

The next day, I looked him up an' led him ta the smithy where he went inta more detail 'bout them shields. I roughed one outta sheet steel an' showed it ta him the next day. He said I had the right idee, but I should line the backside with wood ta he'p beef it up. Ezra was the one what was good with wood, so he did that job right smart-like. He added a bracket fer the arm an' a grip ta hold it, an' the shield was finished. Ezra banged on it with a steel bar while I held it, an' damned if it didn't do 'zactly what the school teacher claimed. Right off, we made one fer Ezra.

He made up a couple of wooden practice swords fer us ta use an' weighted 'em to be a mite heavier than our steel swords. We practiced with them swords an' shields fer a couple of hours everyday we had time, an' we got ta be pretty good with them thin's. We put on a demonstration in front of the tavern, an every man what had bought armor from us wanted a sword an' a shield. We sold 10 sets, an' I gave the school teacher $20 fer tellin' us 'bout them shields; he was right pleased ta git the money an' promised ta tell us of anythin' else he could think of.

I asked the other men with the swords an' shields ta practice with me an' Ezra whenever they could with the practice swords. We all got ta be fair hands with them swords, so I figured it was time ta organize a squad of honest-ta-God Henryville militia. We practiced on Sunday afternoons in front of the tavern an' soon attracted some new recruits. At $60 fer a full outfit, includin' sword, armor, and shield, most men couldn't pay fer it all at once, so I worked out a time-payment deal where they paid me $6 per month fer a full year, an' I let 'm have a full set as soon as me an' Ezra could get it made.