Chapter 22

Maybe my using the first cams as earrings hadn't helped a thing and maybe it had. Anyway, I knew I couldn't skate taking a fully assembled bow through the portal and I didn't even try it. I took off to San Antone, got my ears pierced again, and went back to the woman who'd made my last clothes.

She looked at me really funny when I wanted her to make me a sort of windbreaker/raincoat/rainsuit and use the kevlar bowstrings for drawstrings around the head and waist. Especially when I told her she couldn't cut the strings at all in any shape or fashion. She didn't even ask about using the two limbs each as stiffeners in the pants legs of the rest of the rain suit.

I couldn't think of a damned thing for hiding the handle part until I thought about how Bill had loved the pencils. I decided to go and buy him a drawing board with a T-square, a bunch of triangles, rulers, compasses, and a couple of mechanical pencils. I nearly wore the Internet out looking for all that shit made of plastic instead of metal.

I finally had to order the mechanical pencils and replace the springs inside them with some plastic shit I rigged up. I figured it wouldn't work when I got there, but I also figured I could get George to make some of the little chicken shit springs I was having to leave behind. I know I was just using the shit for camouflage for the handle, but I wanted it to work for Bill when I got there with it.

When I finally had everything set to go I grabbed up my packages and hit the portal. You should have seen Kathy Caretaker's face when I arrived with two cams hanging off each ear. She just laughed in my face and pointed at me. It was embarrassing, but at least she didn't say anything about it.

Even without mentioning it we had a good time warming up to each other again. Hell, half the time when we were relaxing in post-coital bliss she'd look over at me and burst out laughing again, as if I still had the earrings on. Still, she took the mission selection seriously and she didn't even bitch when I took the one she thought was most dangerous again.

Hell, it was the only one that would let me start out by the ranch and by now she realized it was a big advantage to have good horses available. When I dropped into the vault I arrived with all my equipment and I made a place right away for most of it to stay in one of my boxes. I wanted more of the bows here than just two and I wasn't taking any chances on them being short-circuited at the portal next time.

So what if I had two good bows available to me here now. The one I had suited me well enough and I was building up my stock for later times of need. I already knew the plastic-fantastic bows I had were even stronger than the one I'd cobbled up to start with.

I walked out of the vault horseless for a change, but it was an easy run out to the ranch and Ben hitched a new buggy and drove me right back into town. He was wanting to show off the buggy to me anyway because George had just built it and it had a really nice set of slim wheels on it.

I went into the bank and carried my saddle and Bill's drawing board and things right back out. We even made a round through town in the buggy and Ben was proud to show me the town had two streets now. Jackville, the name they'd hung on the poor town, was coming up in the world.

There were a few changes out at the ranch when I got there, but none were earth shattering. Bill's eating had finally caught up with him and Kala had him on a diet of sorts. He'd collected a little potbelly and she was keeping an eye on how much he was taking in now a days.

She wasn't by her lonesome on the job either, since his three wives were more interested in what he was cramming down his pie hole now. I hated myself for doing it, but I mentioned exercise to them during my first meal back.

Of course it was a completely new concept on Chaos. Imagine, doing work to keep your weight down. I had my own reasons for wanting Bill to stay healthy though. He was doing a bang up job running the ranch and by now he was mayor of the new town of Jackville too. I had a vested interest in keeping him healthy, and I was oh so happy to explain pushups, chinups, situps, and the advantages of jogging to Bill's wives.

I was glad to see the oldest boy was taking on a little responsibility of his own now. He was watching over the place we'd acquired after ridding the town of Blanksdale. I was happy to hear he was doing a good job.

They had also shifted to a minor concentration in raising horses. Ben told me they kept all the best horses, but they were selling quite a few now too, and they were getting a good price for them. He had even specialized in two different lines, using Blacky, Blacky's get, and Joe Bob's get for one line and the big horse I'd come by the first time and his get for the other line.

The Chaos bred horses tended to be around a hand taller and the Quarterhorse crosses were stockier and a good bit more nimble. Ben was even protecting our interest by castrating all the males he sold.

Bill was thrilled with the drawing board, T-square, and tools. He could barely keep from getting started fooling with them right away. I gave him a little instruction for using the T-square with triangles for drawing horizontal and vertical lines. He was fascinated with the compasses too. I'm sure it was the first time in his life he'd ever seen a circle drawn so perfectly.

I got to bed late that night, but I was up with the sunrise anyway. One thing I didn't want to be was late for one of Kala's breakfast. In fact it looked like it did her heart good too. She seemed happy to have someone she could stuff full again.

Time was wasting though and I had the Damsel Chatla to worry about. She was supposed to be in the hands of some jackass about a hundred miles off to the south. She had fallen into indentured servitude shortly after she hit Chaos, but this Krowgaut who had her had shifted it to real slavery and he was abusing her by now.

I took a few days to practice roping and teach it too. I had gone to a lot of trouble to get decent ropes on Chaos and by God somebody was going to use them. I was a little surprised at how well some of the men could rope after giving them a try out. Turned out they needed training for their horses more than training for themselves. What the hell, Blacky needed a little training too, so I used the two days I'd set aside for showing him how to act after I had a loop on something.

It was a productive two days working with the cowhands. I was able to teach them how to handle a calf or cow after they had a rope on them, but more importantly, I was able to show them how to go about training the horses what to do with the animal they had roped.

The next day I headed out for the small town where the Damsel Chatla was being held. It was a hard three-day ride on Blacky and Joe Jim, one of Joe Bob's first colts. I also had one of the bigger horse's get for a packhorse. When I made it to town the first place I headed was the livery stable.

I should have realized showing up with three horses of such obvious quality would draw attention, and I'd barely finished making a deal with the hostler for stalls when two men came up to give the new arrival in town a little shit over the matter.

"You shore got some nice horses Mister. I think I'd like to trade you out of one of them," one of two men who approached me said.

"Thanks, but I have a use for all of them," I said, trying to dismiss him.

"Well I've got a use for 'em myself," he said.