Chapter 4

Five days later we had a terse wire. Arrived safely. Have new rifle. Shoots good at 500, still good at 700. Possible at 1000. Working on 1200. Busy, Sams'n.

Felicity cried when there was no message for her. She whined to Mary Eustis and got back little sympathy. "He loves you child. Be satisfied. He said he would come back to you and he will. For now though, he is a warrior and must learn to fight if he is to survive."

This made Felicity cry all the more. She came to me as I was settled on the couch. She actually crawled onto my lap. "Daddy, what am I going to do? I love Samson so much. It is like I don't even exist."

"You do exist and I'm sure he knows it. From what we read in the paper, Roosevelt is trying to get his troops in shape and ready for battle. I suspect Samson is doing more than his share or Roosevelt wouldn't have asked for him to join. Some day he will be home and will tell us everything. Be assured he thinks of you the last thing before he closes his eyes at night.

"That is the way I felt about your mother when I was up in prison and doing more than my share of splitting rocks. Think how I felt when she said she was getting married to your natural father. I felt all hope was lost, but I went on and the Lord smiled on me. The Lord will smile on you too if you will just have faith."

"But it is all I can think about. Samson being gone and maybe never coming home to me."

"Mary Eustis said he was coming home. If you can't have faith in the Lord, you certainly can have faith in her. I've always found it so and I have known her for years. You know, maybe you should find something else to do with your life while Samson is away. A different interest. You help us all around the ranch, but maybe you should get away from us a little bit."

"What could I do and where? I want to be here when Samson comes home."

"How about going to school and learning to be a teacher? Kenny taught you much and I know you are smart enough. You just have had no formal schooling or training. Why don't we talk to Grampa John and Aunt Sylvia. All you need is a certificate and he knows everyone. After all he was Lt. Governor."

Felicity's eyes lit up with excitement. "I'd be living away from the ranch for a little while wouldn't I? I never have gone anywhere. I listen to Cindy sometimes when she tells about when she went east and met new people. I think I'll ride into town right now and see Aunt Sylvia. I might not even have to talk to Grampa John. She knows more than he ever did." I thought she did too--we all did, but it wasn't discussed.

Jessie and I talked about this during the evening and night. "Another one of ours will be leaving the nest. I wondered for awhile if she was just going to be Samson's wife. I think if she becomes a teacher, Samson will love her much more and have more respect for her. She just won't be a rancher's wife like I am."

"Jessie, don't sell yourself short. This whole ranch revolves around you, especially now that Mary Eustis isn't here. I come home from town or from somewhere chasing down an outlaw and you are here. Maybe I don't tell you I love you enough. You have been the light that shines in my heart for twenty years. I would be nothing without you."

"I love to hear you tell me you love me. What about Mary Eustis? She was before me."

"Yes she was. Remember though, there was a purpose behind what we did and you benefited. I'll admit having a child by her was a surprise to both of us, but then that was fine as well. I couldn't sort the results out at the time Samson came, but maybe he was put on earth just for Felicity."

"Do you think so?"

"Who knows."

"Sam, what about you and Cynthia?"

"What about us? What do you mean?"

"I'm not blind, Sam. I know she loves you and the reason she hasn't married is because of you. You know it too."

I got up and lit the lamp. I returned to our warm bed and rolled over so we could face and see each other. "Jessie, I have loved you all of these years. My love hasn't changed since I first saw you. Cindy, yes I do know how she feels about me. And yes there is some attraction we have for each other. You know what I feel mostly?"

"No, Sam, what?"

"I feel sad. Sad that she is caught up in this situation and it will never be able to change."

"Then you should feel sad for yourself as well. It is your problem and I've known all along that I'll have your love as long as we are alive. I do worry about you being a sheriff, although I never say anything. Being sheriff is what you do and you are good at it. What would I do if anything ever happened to you? I shudder at the thought. Dear, would you turn out the light so I can hold you? I guess I'm jumpy tonight, talking about Felicity and all."

I knew it was the talk about Cindy that was making my wife uneasy. She had no cause, for Jessie was first in my heart.

Felicity was mounted and rode beside me to town in the morning to talk to Miss Sylvia about becoming a teacher. She came in the door to the sheriff's office before the noon meal. "Dad, Aunt Sylvia says there is a new class for teachers starting in the state capital the first of June. It is at the girls' seminary. I will have three weeks to get ready for it. Oh, I'm going to miss you and Mom so much. Everyone else too. I do have to do something or I will go crazy from missing Samson. Will you and Mom go with me to get me settled?"

"Of course. How long is the class for?"

"Three months if I teach the beginners. Aunt Sylvia knows I can pass the test for that already. If I can, I can learn to teach some of the older students in only three months as well. That's what I'm going to try and do."

"Okay Sweetheart. Hey, I'm proud of you. Samson will be too when he comes home from the war." Poor choice of words, for Felicity broke up sobbing and I had to hold her until she calmed down. Not of my blood, she was still my little girl. I took her to lunch where she could tell her grandmother, Sarah, at the Seldon House.

I sat in my chair in the office thinking that afternoon. It seems as though I was losing all those around me I loved. That was life I guess. Me? My home life had ended the year I was eight when I lost my mother and sister. My father certainly hadn't provided a home. Any home we had was mostly because of my efforts. He was still in my memory and I guessed if he was still alive, I would still love him. He wasn't, he took the easy way out. Would I do the same if I lost Jessie? Probably not. Killing yourself got you out of your pain, but it certainly made it harder on those who had loved you. Dark thoughts for a May day!

The newspapers were selling papers, even having to make more than one run. We here in the western states were as interested in the progress toward war as those in the east. Why wouldn't we be? Our boys were the ones who were going to be facing the enemy. The papers were keeping us informed through their daily reports. They even had photos of our men training on the fields in San Antonio. And there were the cartoons drawn by artists in the newspapers' employ.

It was an exciting day when Samson, Buddy, and Son of Grey Goose were pictured in the paper as a sharp-shooting team. At present this team was teaching others how to fire on and kill the damned Spanish, those monsters they would soon face. For once I had different thoughts and I wasn't so thrilled about the rhetoric we were reading in the newspapers.

My god, the whole country was caught up in this war and I suspect that there was a lot of fear mongering going on. It was the same as when the dark clouds gathered before the war between the states. Someone was going to be making a lot of money for himself and someone was going to be out there just to be making a name for himself as well. There were going to be a whole lot of innocent people on both sides going into their graves and it was so unnecessary somehow, and should be avoided.

My son was only a few months over eighteen years of age. I didn't want it to be him who was going to pay the price for someone's fame or fortune. I would look closely from now on at those leaders who were in charge. I feared that Theodore Roosevelt was one of them and damn it, I personally liked the man. We would see.

One thing that eased my mind, Leonard Wood was proposed and made colonel of the new volunteer regiment, with Lt. Colonel Roosevelt as his second in command. I knew of Wood's exploits here in the territories against some of the worst of the Indian tribes and he was ultimately successful. Wood certainly had the knowledge, and I suspected Roosevelt had all of the bravery that was needed to get the job done.

I realized that this was going to be played out and my second thoughts on the war were going to mean diddley squat. I did have confidence in my son and his capabilities. Roosevelt must have had them as well or he wouldn't have made the effort to contact him. I also had confidence in the two men with him.

Buddy Kershaw was ten years older and he had been up and over the mountain a few times. Judith and her love had tamed him somewhat, but he hadn't been married long. Buddy was handsome and flashy but he was used to the wild ways of the wilderness, wild horse trapper that he was and it would stand him in good stead. Son of Grey Goose was as native as they come and I would pit the two of them against any situation they might run into, be it war or peace.

I couldn't give all of my attention to where and what Samson was doing. I was still sheriff and there seemed to be a rash of crimes in the area. One of the general stores in Ryeback was robbed, the thieves making off with cash in the till, the store's strongbox, three pistols, two rifles and one kiss.

No shots were fired, but the preacher's wife got kissed by one of the bearded robbers when she said she wouldn't stand for any such goings on while she was shopping. I was out of town when this happened and when I returned Mildred stormed into my office demanding I do something about these criminals who went around subjecting innocent women of the town to being violated.

I knew some things about Mildred that the rest of the town didn't. Her demands got louder and louder and she started berating me because I didn't jump on my horse and take after them. Finally I had enough from her. "Mildred, what you are screaming at me is all for show. I'm going to investigate this as soon as I get something to eat. Now I know you are angry, but I suspect you drew attention to yourself somehow and the thief took action."

She interrupted me. "Sheriff Jones, you must do something and immediately! I demand it!"

"Mildred, don't worry, we'll probably catch these men. As far as you getting kissed, did you enjoy it as much as you do when you are kissing Jake Turner?"

A look of shock crossed her face. "Sheriff Jones, I..."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell the preacher on you. I don't think though, that you have the right to come in here demanding anything. Furthermore, I think you should be a little more discreet about who you go to visit when the preacher is out of town. Maybe you've forgotten that your husband is a reformed gunfighter and only recently got religion. He might forget that he is a preacher if he caught you with Jake. I like Jake and I'd hate to see him killed over some woman who had too much time on her hands.

"Now if I catch those men, I want you to bake a pie and bring it over here to the jail so I can give it to the man who kissed you. He'll be in prison for five years, most likely, and he'll have time to think about that kiss. I've been in prison and a man has to have something to think about. In return, I won't look to catch you coming out of Jake's back door come midnight some evening."

Mildred looked at me at first with fear while she thought about this. Then she smiled. "I can do that Sheriff. To tell the truth, Jake ain't any better a lover than the preacher, but I got to ask you this, what's all this to you? You got me over the barrel by knowing something about me I thought no one else knew. Don't answer, you get the pie for the crook if you catch him. Now I'm going out the door enraged at you the same as I came in. I can't change too much can I?" Boy, I was thankful I wasn't married to Mildred.

I did catch the thieves. They had headed onto the Indian reservation to hole up. They thought I didn't have jurisdiction, not aware I was a Federal Marshal. This was a game to the Indians. They helped me and I wasn't as harsh when they were in trouble. I knew immediately where the crooks were located when I rode onto the Indian grounds. I hadn't figured out how the Indians seemed to always know who was traveling in their territory, but they did.

On the morning of the third day, the robbers woke up with me and my two deputies sitting there waiting around their cold campfire. We had their guns and the money they stole. It was a pretty meek bunch when I herded them into their cells. Their court date was to be in two weeks.

One afternoon Mildred came in with the pie. "Sit right there, Mildred. I'm going to ask the prisoner if he is ready to apologize for being so disrespectful to you." I went down to the end cell and talked to the prisoner and then came back and got Mildred. "He's got fifteen minutes to apologize." I let Mildred into his cell and went and got the pie.

I walked across to the two cells on the other side of the jail. "Hey you two, one of the town women felt sorry for you and baked a pie. I have to have a taste of it and you can have the rest." I sat in a chair and we ate the pie. Fifteen minutes later I returned for Mildred. She was demurely sitting on the edge of the bunk.

The robber stood back as I opened the cell door. Mildred scurried down to my office. "Thanks Sheriff for giving me a chance to apologize to the lady. I don't know what kind of town you are running here, but I like it. I might just come back and settle when I get out of prison."