Chapter 3

My hope of layin' low worked fer a while. We finally reached that part of Alabama that we had been headed fer. We found a place with a stream runnin' through a little meadow, an' that's where we decided ta settle. We had enough of the basics like flour an' salt so we had time ta build us a cabin. We all worked on it, so it went up pretty fast. I swung the ax ta chop down the trees an' Wildflower used the adze ta dress the logs. Elizabeth an' Mable dragged the tree trunks into position. Sarah looked out fer Danny an' made sure that we had plenty of food an' water.

We got us a right good sized cabin. It wuz a shade over 20 feet by 30 feet, an' plenty sturdy. We thought 'bout it fer a while an' decided on a sod roof. That wuz more work than a shingled roof, but it wuz fireproof, an' we figured with a war goin' on, that extra bit of safety wuz worth the added work. The problem with a sod roof in Alabama wuz that the rain could work its way through on occasion, but I patched the leaks as soon as they showed up, so we had a solid roof by the time winter came.

Of course, we didn't have no glass fer glazin' the windows, so we resorted ta usin' cured stomach linin' in its place. The flesh wuz scraped real thin, so it let light through, but you couldn't see through it like real glass. The windows had sturdy shutters on the inside of the windows, so we could close them fer protection. There wuz a small loophole cut in each shutter so that we could shoot a musket through it, if necessary. We got real ambitious an' put in six windows, one in each end an' two on each side fer light an' ventilation. That, with the "Dutch door" that also had a loophole in the top section, worked out real well.

We wuz in good shape an' had a right nice fort. The stream ran right close ta the house, so there wuzn't no trouble in carryin' in water. The stone hearth built into one end of the cabin wuz also our cookin' stove, an' Sarah, who did most of the cookin', really liked it. We had a privy off ta the side away from our drinkin' water, so we never had a taste problem with that.

Mable had her own leanto shed, an' she seemed happy with that. The dogs stayed with her at night, so I didn't worry 'bout animals botherin' Mable atall. I did all of the huntin', an' the woods wuz full of game, so I never came home empty handed. The huntin' wuz so good that we had ta put in a smokehouse right after the cabin an' shed were built. We were gittin' so much meat that we had ta smoke it or lose it.

Inside the cabin, we had a big bed, a table, an' five chairs. Danny had his own bed by now, since he objected ta all of the shakin' the big bed got when the adults wuz usin' it fer somethin' besides sleepin'. One end of the cabin wuz reserved fer storage while we lived at the other end. I shore wuz glad that we had built such a big house, because that gave us plenty more room than we'd had in Pa's cabin back in the low country of South Carolina.

Glory be! Elizabeth is knocked up! She ain't bulgin' in the belly yet, but she is already lordin' it over the other women. She ain't serious 'bout it, but there shore is a lot of teasin' what gets bantered 'bout. Sarah already has one of her own, but she is lookin' forward ta another one whenever it happens, an' Wildflower is also showin' some signs of jealousy. I keep tellin' them that there ain't much I can do 'bout it, but I do keep tryin'.

We wuz real lucky durin' the late summer an' fall with no signs of Injun trouble, but it hit us 'bout the time of the first winter rain. Sam an' I wuz out huntin', as usual, when he started growlin' sumpthin' fierce. That growl wuz his way of warnin' me of possible danger. That wuzn't the same kind of growl ta tell me of possible game, so I made shore that my tomahawk wuz easy ta git ta an' I had powder in my musket pan.

A minute or so later, a Muscogee man, woman, an' baby appeared among the trees. They didn't see me at first, since they wuz both lookin' ta their rear. The man carried a war club, but it wuz not painted red, so I relaxed a little bit. I said hello an' they both jumped, very surprised ta see me.

When I asked if they needed he'p, the man said that they were bein' chased by 'bout 20 Red Sticks, an' they shore did need he'p, but he wuzn't shore what I could do fer them, bein' just one man. I told them that I had a cabin 'bout a mile away, an' they were welcome ta stay with my family until the danger passed. They wuz both pleased at my offer, so I led them back ta the cabin.

The man, Sturdy Tree, wuz impressed by the cabin an' praised our work. When they got inside, the woman, Helen, wuz mobbed by my wives. They were all taken by the baby, a boy, an' just had ta ooh an' ahh all over it. Sturdy Tree couldn't he'p grinnin' in pride, so I knew that we would all be friends.

They were fed an' soon told us their story. They were both mixed blood Muscogees an' the gang behind them wanted ta kill them an' their son because of that. We wuz still talkin' when there wuz a lot of barkin' outside. I went ta the door ta see exactly what wuz goin' on while my wives took down the window covers an' closed the shutters. It got pretty dark with that, so they lit a couple of candles.

I saw a bunch of Injuns, so I called Sturdy Tree ta come look. He identified the Injuns as the ones what had been chasin' them, so I asked the women ta git the muskets ready fer a fight. I closed the bottom half of the Dutch door an' stood behind it with Sturdy Tree at my side.

One of the Injuns outside yelled at me ta send out the family an' they would leave us alone. Well, there wuzn't no way I wuz gonna do that, an' I told them so. I also told them ta leave because I did not want ta fight them. That brought an arrow back at me, an' I guessed that settled the discussion. There wuz nothin' fer it, but we had ta fight. I slammed the top half of the door an' barred it. That wuz just in time, too, because several arrows plowed into it.

I wuz right pissed off, so I took up a musket an' put a bullet into one of them damned Injuns. I don't know ifen I killed him right off, but he wuz shore ta die of gangrene, anyhow. I yelled at the dogs ta back off, because I wuz not yet ready ta play my trump card. The dogs quickly ran out of sight, an' the Injuns seemed ta forget 'bout them.

The wives insisted that Sturdy Tree an' I put on the armor, because they knew that we were gonna do most of the fightin'. Sturdy Tree wuz reluctant at first ta put on the strange clothes, but I dressed quickly an' ordered him ta hit me in the chest with his war club. He wuz absolutely flabbergasted when I only rocked back a little from the blow. That wuz all it took ta convince him ta wear the ridiculous lookin' clothes.

By this time, the women had all of the muskets loaded, so I started shootin' at the bunched Injuns. I hit a few, an' the others learned real fast. They scattered an' ran back out of range.

There wuzn't a whole lot the Injuns could do. They wuz not of a mind ta fight a siege, so their choices were ta try ta break in through the door or the windows, or ta try ta set fire ta the cabin. It had rained last night an' early this mornin', so the cabin wuz too wet ta burn. That left them with a direct attack on the cabin.

They rushed up ta the door an' windows an' started ta beat on them with their war clubs. It made a hell of a racket inside the cabin, an' the baby an' Danny started ta cry. Now that really pissed me off! I tried shootin' at the Injuns through the loopholes, but they had sense enough ta stay away from them, so I really didn't have much ta shoot at.