Chapter 17

Jake and Sue woke together, still in a heap in the pile of bedding although Sue had slipped down to one side overnight. Seeing her rouse, Jake kissed her on the forehead and then, when she looked up, on the lips.

Once they were up and dressed, Sue went out to check on her snares. Jake got the fire going - a few embers were still alight from the previous evening. Sue was soon back, although she stayed outside to skin and clean the two small animals that she had caught.

The rest of the day was spent in making more preparations for the arrival of the Monroe brothers. The rough new track was smoothed by hitching a horse to a log and dragging it over the route a few times. It wasn't perfect but it was a definite improvement.

The horses in the makeshift corral seemed to be fine, though they were running out of natural grass in there. With winter coming, there would not be a lot of natural hay to harvest, so it would be a question of letting them graze where they could and supplementing that with feed brought in from Johnson City.

Late in the afternoon, a wagon came along the trail. Jake went out to meet it, taking care to conceal himself in case it wasn't who he expected. However, it was indeed Jed and Fred Monroe, sitting beside each other at the front of a two-horse wagon. Jake stepped out onto the trail and showed them where the entrance was, telling then to take care as it was still soft ground.

The wagon turned off onto the new access and followed it round to the cabin. It swayed a bit on the soft and uneven ground, but made it safely. A few more passes like that would soon flatten the path out anyway.

The wagon pulled up outside the cabin in the area that Jake and Sue had cleared so laboriously the day before. A tarpaulin covered its load, but it seemed to be quite heavily laden. Jake went up to talk with the Monroes as Sue came out of the cabin to welcome them. They greeted her politely and Jake invited them inside.

Sue had coffee ready, and they had brought extra cups back from town, so they could all sit down in an area she had set out with blankets to soften the floor. Jake explained the significance of all the stones laid out around the cabin - each one directly under a leak in the roof. He explained about the soft areas of floor too, and the home-made hide hinges on the door and the rear shutters, and the complete lack of shutters at the front.

When they had relaxed for a moment after their journey, he took the Monroes outside and showed them the leaning animal shelter. Once they had taken everything in, they didn't seem too worried about the magnitude of their task. They suggested that while Fred made a start on the shelter, to prevent it falling down and give them somewhere that they could keep the horses out of the winter weather, Jed would look at the roof of the cabin first.

With that agreed, they turned to the wagon and got the tarpaulin off the load. There was lumber - boards and planks and square-cut timbers. They had brought a selection, not knowing what would be needed. The two saddles were there which Jake had asked them to bring back from Johnson City with them, and there were the bulkier items which Jake and Sue had purchased at the store.

The four of them carried everything inside. The timber was stacked against one wall. Jake's new larger tools were separated from the tools which the brothers had brought with them. A few large cooking pots followed, which Sue got them to place near the fire. There was a larger coffee pot, and bags of beans, and coffee beans and a grinder, salt, and various other items.

Sue was puzzled by a large, strangely shaped pot that Jake and Fred carried in - Jake with a funny look on his face. There was no way that it would fit in their fireplace, and what would they cook in such enormous quantities? She was sure that it was a mistake, she had never seen it in the pile of good s they had purchased at the store.

As they set it down, Jake saw her looking at it in bewilderment. He went up to her, his grin, if anything, even wider. She spoke to him in her language, which he was slowly starting to understand. "What" was in there, as was "fire" and "cook", and he could see her puzzlement. She waved at the fireplace while she spoke, indicating its size and the size of the pot.

Jake had to laugh. "It's not a pot," he said - pointing at the fire and then shaking his arm in a 'no' gesture. "It's for you," and he pointed at Sue, and at the 'pot' and made washing gestures, bending down to show where a water level could be. "It's a bath!" he pointed outside, gave an exaggerated shiver, and then indicated the area around the fire and made his washing gestures again.

She looked at him blankly for a moment, repeating his gestures to herself in a small way. Then she realised what he was saying and her face lit up. With a squeal, she jumped at him and he had to catch her to prevent her from knocking them both over. The brothers smiled at her as she hugged Jake tightly. They hadn't seen anyone as excited about a bath before.

Giving Jake a kiss, Sue wriggled free and dragged her new 'pot' over to a corner of the cabin, smiling broadly.

After that it was down to work. The brothers went off to the 'stable' and judged that it would take both of them to get it at least safe. They would do that first, in case a wind got up and carried it away, and then Jed would leave Fred to it while he worked on the roof.

A week later things were looking better. The lean-to no longer leaned, and was larger than it looked. The brothers had a plan to extend it later, and also to enlarge the internal loft so that more hay could be stored there. It was more like a barn now, although there were still no doors on it.

Jed had done sterling work on the cabin roof. He had gone up there armed with boards and shingles. He had explained to Sue that she should stand by each stone on the floor with a long pole, and tap upwards at the roof directly over it. After he showed her once she soon got the idea. Then Jed could work out where each leak roughly was, listening for her taps or, in a few cases, actually seeing her pole sticking up through a hole in the roof. Fortunately, while he was doing this the weather stayed dry - making it a good job that Jake had marked out the leaks with those stones.

Jake did some simple jobs as well. He replaced his skin hinges with the iron ones that Curt Gundersson had made and he searched out the soft areas of flooring, cutting the boards back until he got to good wood.

Using a couple of trestles which they had brought with them, the brothers made up new shutters for the front windows and, with Jake's help, had them fitted.

As well as helping with the roof, Sue kept them all fed. As it was getting cooler, Jed and Fred slept in the cabin, at the other end from Jake and Sue. Sue didn't seem to mind, and was quite prepared to be affectionate, but Jake felt a bit inhibited by the men's presence so he kept their night-time activities to some cuddling and quiet groping.

One afternoon, completely unannounced, Dove appeared. She was riding a pony and leading a second, laden with the clothing which Jake had ordered. She had said she'd bring them, and she had.

Sue was obviously very pleased to see Dove, and they were soon chatting away in a hybrid language that they both seemed to understand. Sue showed her around the property, and the work that was going on. The clothing was brought in and Dove's ponies tethered at the rail outside which Jake had strengthened.

Looking after horses had developed into something that took up quite a lot of Sue's time. They had four horses and two ponies, and then there were the two horses the Monroes had brought with them. The corral in the bushes down by the stream, although big enough to hold them all easily, was now completely out of natural grass so each day Sue put bridles on them and led them out, crossing the stream a little further up, and over onto the grass on the rest of their property. There, she let them graze while she watched over them. A few hours later she would bring them back, brush them down and return them to the paddock.

Over the next few days, Dove helped her with this routine chore but it was taking a lot of time. Things would be better when they could get some hay and oats from town.

The clothing was excellent. Sue had to try on all of hers, something she did in the corner of the cabin. She wasn't bashful, and Jed Monroe had a good view of her as he inadvertently walked in while she was changing. He tried to do the polite thing and look away, not before he appreciated her slim beauty, but Sue wasn't concerned at all as nudity was much more natural to her.

Several days after Dove's arrival, it was obvious that another storm was on its way. The women brought the horses in from the corral and got them tied up in the doorless barn - at least they would have shelter from the worst of it. It got dark early and the five of them gathered around the fire in the cabin, eating a thick stew which Sue and Dove had made from some trapped animals and roots and vegetables gathered locally. Jake was impressed how many edible plants the girls had found.

Suddenly the heavens opened and the rain poured down. It was as though a waterfall had appeared over their heads. The noise on the roof was deafening.

"At least we can find any leaks we missed," joked Jed. There were a few, it hadn't rained at all since they arrived so it wasn't surprising. The stones came out again, but a lot less were needed this time. Jed stood by each one, peering upwards and trying to see where the leak was actually entering the cabin rather than where the water was dripping. He moved a couple of stones, one by as much as four feet, as he noticed water running along a beam before it fell to the floor.

Some of the stored goods and tools were moved as well, away from the puddles, and then there was nothing more to be done than for the five of them to settle down for the night. The Monroes retired to their corner. Sue and Dove set out their blankets near the fire, Sue and Jake's pile to one side and Dove's to the other. Jake sat down and Sue cuddled up next to him. Dove sat a couple of feet away on his other side and they talked softly to each other. This was something Jake and Sue had started some time ago, they each spoke in their own language while the other was comforted by the words and slowly got to understand more. Since Dove's arrival things had gone quicker and Sue and Jake were getting better at communicating. The three of them now spoke a strange mixture of English, Comanche and Shoshone. They had even introduced some words in Ute, Dove's natural language. They still spoke at length in their own languages, which is how Sue and Jake had heard the Ute, but they could now at least comprehend more and also speak to each other more easily.