Book 3, Chapter 3

"Lord o' mercy, but it shore sounded like you had a good time last night, children." Lucille chuckled as the trio came straggling into the kitchen, much later than normal. "Did you get your differences all worked out?"

Lucille just stood there, not really waiting for her rhetorical question to be answered. She knew the answer already. She'd given herself a double just listening to them. She could only imagine the feeling. She gazed longingly at David's middle. Jessica noticed the direction of her gaze and also saw Lucille lick her lips. She nudged David and he stepped forward, taking Lucille in his arms. He quickly planted his lips on hers. Moments later, his tongue slid into her waiting mouth. His hand took liberties with her left breast, paying special attention to the diamond point nipple that sprung to attention with his ministrations and she soon was shaking through a nice orgasm. He lowered her to her chair to recover.

The three lovebirds bantered back and forth between themselves and Lucille. Breakfast had been kept warm on the stove, and soon everyone was fed. Once they had eaten, the women helped Lucille, while David went to do the chores. He was working near the barn when a trio of scruffy looking cowpokes came riding up. Since David was working, he'd taken his gun belt off. However, unbeknownst to the riders, his shoulder holster was under his vest and ready for action if the situation became untenable.

"Howdy, gentlemen," he began, "what brings you out this way?"

"We're just looking for some work," the leader of the group said. "Do you have anything we could do? It's been a couple of days since we've had anything to eat, and we sure could use some food. We'd be happy to do just about anything."

"I'm just a visitor here, myself," David replied. "I can check with Mrs. McGillacuddy, though, to find out for you. I'm sure she'd be pleased to help you out. She really is a kind woman."

'Not too much older than you chaps, too. Might even be a little nookie in it for you if you play your cards right, ' he thought.

Just then Lucille, Jessica and Angela came out onto the porch, each one holding a Greener. They casually spread themselves out on the porch so they wouldn't cross line of sight with each other. "Well what have we here?" Lucille asked.

"These gentlemen are looking for a little work in exchange for food and shelter," David answered as he noted the armament.

"Yes ma'am, that's true. We lost our farm, and headed out here to make a new start, but we've had one pratfall after another. By the way," the spokesman said, "let me introduce myself and these other two. I'm called Moe, Moses Horowitz, ma'am, and this here is my brother Samuel. We call him 'Curly', 'cause he ain't got no hair." He indicated the man to his left, "This here is my cousin, Louis "Larry" Feinberg."

The other two men took off their hats in respect. They nodded to the women as they were introduced. The trio dismounted, hats in hand. They looked hopefully at Lucille. They noticed that she was a handsome woman. It seemed that Lucille took a fancy to the men. Her hands smoothed out the front of her dress and she stood a little straighter, pushing out her assets. A close look would show pinpoints protruding through the dress where her nipples were located. She invited them inside and sat them at the table. Then she noticed the unkempt state of the men.

"First off, you all go out to the water trough and clean up. Here's some soap and towels. David, you show them where to go, and what to do if they don't know. After they are cleaned up, then I'll feed them," she added, "I have plenty of work for you boys, if you are willing to work."

David and the men went out to the trough. David pumped water for them. They removed their hats and shirts and scrubbed away with the lye soap Lucille provided. They even washed their shirts and put them on the corral fence to dry as they worked on their bodies. They took off layers of grime and they even took turns washing each other's hair. It took about a half hour to get them all clean. The shirts were still slightly damp when they put them back on, although the hot sun had done most of the job of drying them. With their upper bodies, arms and faces clean and their hair slicked back (except for Samuel, of course), the three men looked presentable. David escorted them back to the kitchen.

Lucille, with Jessica and Angela's help, served the trio the food she had rustled up while they were getting clean. Lucille was openly flirting with Moe as she worked. He was flattered and he began to flirt back.

After they finished eating, she gave them a list of things to do. David was assigned as foreman, temporarily. Some of the fencing around the farmstead was first on the list. The men worked together without problem, except for one time. Moses picked up a new fence rail just as Louis called to him. Moses turned around to see what Louis wanted, and smacked Samuel in the head with the rail. Moses swiveled back around when that happened and hit Louis, too. Both men were knocked down and Moe yelled at them to quit being so lazy, and to get up and get back to work. Lucille and the girls were watching from the kitchen window. They all got stitches in their sides from laughing at the men. David had to go around the side of the barn where he broke down laughing, too.

Later in the afternoon, it was decided that the barn needed a new coat of whitewash. Larry was on the ladder painting the high portion while Moe and Curly were working on the ground. Curly was on the right side of the ladder while Moe painted the left side. Curly wasn't watching where he was working, and in his enthusiasm to get the barn painted, he bumped into the ladder. Larry was reaching out to the left of the ladder, instead of moving the ladder. The bump started the ladder tipping. In order to keep from falling, Larry grabbed both sides of the ladder, letting go of the bucket of whitewash.

Yep, you guessed it, the bucket landed on Moe's head, covering his head and body with whitewash. The bale (or bucket handle) slipped under his chin and caught when he tried to remove the bucket. This started the laughing all around, all over again. Brother and cousin tried unsuccessfully to remove the bucket. David was forced to remove it. He sent Moe back to the trough to clean up. Lucille sent out the soap and another towel after David took the bucket off of poor Moe. David could tell there would never be a dull moment as long as the three men were there.

Jessica and Angela had cleaned out the bunkhouse while the men were working. It had stood empty for most of the time since old Mr. McGillacuddy (Lucille's husband) had died. They got all the dirt swept out. The old mattresses had been taken outside and beaten to remove the dust, as had the rag rug. They cleaned the windows, and opened them to air out the long vacant rooms. It wasn't long work, nor was it difficult. They felt pride in their work. They discovered that Jessica could work with very little discomfort. The women decided it was time to head out. Now all they needed to do was tell David and Lucille.

Lucille outdid herself cooking dinner that night. The stew and cornbread was outstanding and all the men asked for seconds. Lucille knew men and had used her largest pot to make the stew. It had fresh meat (cow meat) and plenty of vegetables. There was corn, peas, green beans, carrots, celery and onion along with the meat. She used a "secret" combination of spices. Everyone complemented her on the recipe. They just finished supper when Angela broke the news about moving on.

Since she hadn't had a chance to talk to David prior to the announcement, his surprise was evident by the expression on his face. Lucille was sorry they had to leave, but that was offset by the willingness for Moe and his relatives to stay on and help with the farm. Early the next morning, true to her word, Angela had David hitch up the wagon. Once everything was loaded on, including a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables and eggs, Jessica directed David to the storage barn to pick up her things.

During the time she had been there, she had picked up some furniture. Her pride and joy was the bed she'd won in the church raffle, two weeks ago. She also had a table and set of chairs that would come in handy. Lucille had given her a bunch of women's dresses and other clothes. These were packed into the dresser that Lucille had also given her, which David struggled to get loaded in the wagon. He finally had to break down and ask Larry and Curly to help. They managed to muscle the dresser into the wagon. Not long after, everything else was loaded, too. Then they secured it all in the wagon. They took one last look around and headed out. David helped Angela first and then helped Jessica up before taking his seat on the Conestoga wagon's high seat. The wagon had been a wedding gift from the banker. He pointed the team East again and they were off before nine that morning.

David took up the reins on the wagon after checking his stringer line of horses tied to the rear of the big Conestoga. They now had a fine string of seven horses, having sold the worthless ones. Angela had her arm around Jessica and she had her arms around both of them. The wagon was of a new design and actually had a good set of springs, which gave a much smoother ride. The doubletree was being used with six big mules. It truly was a fine gift that the banker had given them.

They traveled for three days with no problems. The elevation was tolerable and the mules did okay, as the wagon was not overloaded with stuff. About four in the afternoon of their fourth day out they were following the trail across a flat, mesa type plain. As they approached the eastern woods, a tree fell across the road. David thought this strange, and insisted the women get into the wagon and get out the two Greeners. He also had Jessica hand him the 45/120 Sharps. He had noticed the scope, earlier, and took this opportunity to look through it at the location where the tree fell. He spotted several fellas arguing together near where the tree fell.

'What an inept bunch of ne'er-do-wells," he thought to himself. 'They don't seem to be able to get it right. They lost the element of surprise by dropping that tree early. And then they waited to long, before coming after us. Well, I know what to do here.'

David told the women what he'd seen and told them to stay ready. The men must have finished their confab, because the group burst forth from the woods, headed towards the wagon with their six guns blazing.

David squeezed off his first shot from the big rifle. The explosion was deafening. He had estimated the distance at eight hundred yards and had the scope set at seven-fifty. A moment after the shot two of the riders flew off the backs of their horses as the hefty lead bullet slammed into the first man's chest center right and passed through. It had enough momentum to then enter the second man, smashing through his sternum and exploding the man's heart. The bullet did not exit the second man though, as its momentum was spent.

The five remaining riders didn't see the event or didn't care. They kept riding. David moved the scope sighting distance back down to three hundred yards. All the while, the men were firing their revolvers. Their bullets weren't carrying well, and of course everyone knows you really can't hit anything shooting from a galloping horse, at least not on purpose. The riders had spread out, so David knew he'd only have a chance for one of them. He decided on dead center. Without rushing, he took a deep breath, let it out slowly and squeezed the trigger. Thunder sounded again as the big gun exploded. Again, shortly after the man in the center slipped down the side of his horse. Feeling the weight shift off him, the horse slowed to a stop and started to graze.

As David watched, two more shots rang out above him. He turned to look, and saw both women armed with the Winchesters. They levered new rounds into the receivers and stood there as the last two riders started to slow. The odds had changed against them. They were starting to turn their horses when two more shot rang out and both fell from their horses.

David suggested Jessica drive the wagon while Angela stood guard. He would walk over to check on the bandits. When they got to the closer of the two, David discovered he was dead. The next man was mortally wounded, but he was able to talk. He asked for water and David got him some.

"Why?" David asked.

"Didn't have nothing better to do. Easy money," he replied

"But it got you killed. You just don't know it yet."

"Oh, I know. I do got a tip if you'll help me along. The pain is terrible hurting."

"All right, tell me what you have and I'll do it," David promised.

"If the rest are dead, you will want to keep heading down this here trail 'till you come to a lone Sycamore tree. If you turn off the trail to the south, you'll come to a clearing. There's a couple of wagons there and you might want to rescue the hostages we had tied up there," the man confessed as he coughed up blood.

"Now do as you promised."

David obliged the man with his Bowie knife. He told Angela to turn her head, and when she did he gave the man his killing stroke. He closed the man's eyes and wiped his knife on the man's shirt. They continued on to check the rest of the downed men. Jessica had retrieved a bucket of oats and the loose horses had meandered up to the wagon for a treat. David slowly took hold of the reins on each and attached the horses to a new line tied to the wagon. When they had examined the last man, David saddled Midnight and told the women to stay and strip any loot from the bodies. He then turned his horse and rode like the wind looking for that Sycamore tree.

He rode about two miles before spotting the landmark described by the dying man. He slowed his horse cautiously as he veered toward the scraggy and gnarled tree. He pulled up about two hundred yards from it and dismounted from Midnight. He ground tied the horse and pulled his Winchester from the scabbard. He slid into the cover of the woods and headed forward.

David had learned stalking when he was young, out of necessity, to provide food for the table. Those skills came to the fore as he made his way into the woods. It wasn't long before he chanced upon the glen. He held back to observe. That was a smart move. He saw two wagons, prairie schooners by the look and size, parked one ahead of the other. There was a fire ring with a low fire burning in it. There was a man sitting on a cut log drinking what David thought was coffee. It appeared a normal scene to him, but he waited, anyway.

It didn't take long for him to be rewarded. A short time later, another man appeared. He was holding a long gun or shotgun, David wasn't sure. Three women accompanied him. Their dresses were torn and one was topless. They were obviously in distress. He could hear the men laughing as the one prodded the women with the muzzle of the gun. David's blood began to boil. As he looked, he realized one of the women was older than the other two, but was still fairly pretty. At least, from what he could see from his position, and that he was about to change.

David silently moved closer, by circling around the edge of the woods. He moved counterclockwise to gain a better position. When he finally settled he found the perfect location. The women had been pushed to the ground, and they were situated on the opposite side of the fire from the two men. The one had leaned the long gun against the wagon and it was at least ten feet from his reach. The two men were nearly side by side which would make things easier. David checked his Winchester. He was ready. He used the tree he was hiding behind to steady the rifle.

He didn't know the abilities of the men as far as weapons went so he wasn't sure which one to shoot first. His decision was made for him when the original man seated by the fire stood and went over to the women, pulled the hair of the older one and slapped her hard. He was returning to his seat but never made it. David caught him as he was turning. The man's head virtually exploded when the projectile from the Winchester caught him in the right eye socket. The other man was in the process of drawing his gun when the second .44 slug hit him in the right upper chest and spun the man around. He fell over the fire and began screaming. He rolled out of the fire but soon stopped.

David was running towards the center of the action, his gun drawn. He'd dropped the Winchester to have his hands free. As he approached, he found he didn't need his weapons. The older woman had taken a knife off the body of the first man shot, and was jabbing it into the torso of the second with both hands. Up and down, over and over the knife plunged into the now dead man. She was like one possessed.