Dreams of the Golden Aspen Ranch

[Calico Mary]

What was taking the Doc and Danny so long? Didn't they realize how badly Cheyenne needed help? After a few minutes, he told me he wanted to sit up, so I looked over at Karl, who nodded. “Go ahead and let him, see if he can stay awake this time. Just keep your eyes out for any sign that he's trying to make a run for it again.” Ella, Jenny, Kate, and I helped Cheyenne to a sitting position, but I also told him to please sit still for a while, as I didn't know how badly he was hurt.

 

Next thing I knew he had grabbed Ella and was pulling her onto his lap. “I think I like you the best, would you like to go back to my village with me?” he asked her. She of course didn't understand what he was saying, and started struggling to get away from him. As much as it hurt me to do so, I quickly told her just to cooperate with him up to a point, at least if she was on his lap he couldn't go anywhere. Ella was none too thrilled with the idea, as Cheyenne's hands weren't behaving themselves very well. I put my hand on his shoulder, and got his attention. “She'll sit with you for a while, but she doesn't like being grabbed like that. Show her some respect.”

 

“To be one of my wives would bring her much respect! If you are my wife as you say you are, why do you not know this? Do you not respect that I am able to provide for more than just one wife? You will not be much use to me before long anyway,” he told me, staring pointedly at my stomach. Then he reached over and put one of his arms around Jenny and tried drawing her closer, his other arm still being around Ella. That was the last straw, I just couldn't take it anymore. I struggled to get to my feet, and Lizzy was nice enough to help me stand up. Then I walked to the end of the wagon and Karl helped me down. I walked over to Rascal, wrapped my arms around his neck, and buried my face in his mane, tears starting to flow down my cheeks.

 

Tommy came running over to me and gave me a big hug. “I'm sorry, mommy, it was our idea to get a stupid tree. I wish we'd never said anything about it! Is daddy going to be ok?” he asked. I hugged him back and told him that it wasn't his fault, the tree hitting Cheyenne had been an accident, and that I sure hoped he was going to be alright. I looked over at Rose, she was still standing by the snowman they had made but I saw tears on her cheeks as well. Grumpy was trying to comfort her, and it looked like he was trying to convince her to play with Buford. That made me even madder, it was bad enough the way Cheyenne was acting towards me and the other women, couldn't he see how upset he was making the children?

 

Just then I heard horses approaching, I looked over and saw that it was Danny, Eddie, and Ike, and they had brought with them Doc Eells, Running Bear, and Stands Alone. I went over to them as they reined their horses to a stop, and so did Karl and Grizz. The three of us hurried to tell Doc what all had happened since Danny had left. I also translated it for the two Cheyenne men. Stands Alone told me, “Let the two of us speak with him,” and they headed over towards the wagon. Doc had several more questions for us, and we tried to answer them as best we could while waiting for the two other men to talk to Cheyenne. “Sounds like a case of amnesia, I'm not sure what I can do for him, I'll have to examine him first,” Doc said.

 

“Amne-what?” I asked, I had no idea what that meant, so Doc tried to explain. He said that getting hit on the head caused Cheyenne to lose his memory, so he really didn't know who we all were, he didn't remember us. That made a little sense, but at the same time terrified me. What if he never did remember me again, what then? We had a baby on the way fer cryin' out loud! I would have thought he'd at least remember how that had happened...Doc had no answer to that one, but did tell me that it could just be temporary, maybe Cheyenne just needed a few days rest.

 

After a few minutes Running Bear came over to get Doc. “We have gotten him to agree to let the medicine man look at his injury. Be warned, he thinks he is fully one of his mother's people, and does not know that he is the son of Culpepper. Soars with Eagles knows who Grandfather and I are, but does not know the rest of you. Grandfather is trying to explain, but he still wishes to return to where he thinks his village is. He does not realize that there has been no village there for many, many moons.”

 

Doc accompanied Running Bear back over to the wagon to check on Cheyenne, but I stayed where I was. I needed to think about this for a while...what if Cheyenne didn't get his memory back? What was going to happen to us then? We couldn't very well give up the ranch to go searching for a Cheyenne village to live in. How was I going to explain to him about all of our children as well? That could come as more than a little bit of a shock to his system. I couldn't think of anything else to do besides start praying that Doc would come up with some sort of answer for how to fix this...and soon!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Dang it but my head hurt and I could hardly bear the confusion that was bouncing around in my head either! It was like there were two different people in my head fighting for control. One wanted to return to my village, the other wanted to find the Fair One and protect her. Problem was I couldn't remember much of either one. I was enjoying being surrounded by the pretty white women, I wanted to take each of them as a wife, although they weren't proving to be to receptive of the idea. Even the one young one that looked to be Cheyenne or Ute seemed to dislike the idea.

 

Running Bear didn't help much either, he was talking some nonsense about me being a rancher, a half white rancher at that! But then, I couldn't begin to figure out the Fair One idea either.

 

Every so often I could feel dizziness coming on and as it did I would be soaring as an eagle, that I understood. Each time I soared I could see further and further, after the talk with Running Bear I did see a ranch, at first I thought it was a town.

As I soared above it I swore that I could see my mother there among the people working on the ranch. Had she been taken captive there? It didn't appear as if she were a prisoner there though, matter of fact she almost looked as if she was running the place. I was more confused than ever. Why wasn't I seeing her in her village?

 

I thought it was raining with rain drops hitting me in the face as I awoke again. No, it wasn't raining, it was the tear drops of the Fair One as she held me tight to her chest. "Where have you been?" I asked her, "I was afraid you had been killed by those renegades?" "What was that?" I asked her as her belly moved like a cat trying to get out of a sack.

[Calico Mary]

Doc had a hard time examining Cheyenne, he didn't really seem to like the idea of anyone messing around with his wound. It took both Stands Alone and Running Bear to convince him to cooperate, and I think it was only out of respect for Stands Alone that he agreed to it at all. When Doc was finished, he came over to me and said, “Well, it's not as bad as it could have been, a few days rest and physically he should be just fine. But as to his memory, I'm afraid I can't make any promises. There's not much I can really do about that, it will either come back or it won't. Getting him home might help, if he sees familiar things he's more likely to remember them. Out here there's nothing besides you and the others to remind him of who he is. I know that has to hurt that it's not enough, but try not to hold it against him, he's not doing it on purpose.”

 

Oh, I knew that, but yes it still did hurt. After all we'd been through together, to have all that gone from his mind in an instant was devastating. I was also concerned that Cheyenne kept losing consciousness, but Doc explained that it wasn't unusual, and that as long as he was only out for a few minutes at a time, nothing to be real upset about. He told me that was likely to go away in a few hours, but the sooner we got Cheyenne home and into a bed the better. “And that means he needs to rest, got it?” Doc asked me. Well, under present circumstances, rest was the only thing Cheyenne was going to be getting any time soon!

 

While we were talking, Grizz and Grumpy Old Man wandered over to listen. When Doc had finished what he was saying, Grizz spoke up. “Well, ifn' getting' hit by that tree is whut made him fergit everything, how bout me and Grumpy hit him with a tree again, see if that gets his memory back?” Doc's jaw dropped, and I had the feeling mine was doing the same thing. Leave it to those two to come up with an idea like that! Finally Doc got over his shock and just shook his head, telling them that it probably wouldn't work, and would most likely have the opposite effect. The two men looked really disappointed, and walked off muttering about it being worth a try.

 

Before we could head back to the ranch, we needed to get the tree into one of the wagons, Cheyenne would ride in the other. It would be a tight fit to cram him, all the women, and the two kids into one wagon. Karl had driven one of the wagons out here, and Grumpy had driven the other, but Clara and Lizzy offered to drive them back, while letting Karl and Grumpy ride mine and Cheyenne's horses, that would save a little room. Danny also suggested having Tommy and Rose ride double with him and Ike, that would help too. I liked that idea, as both kids were upset enough, to have them ride along with Cheyenne in his present state would be even harder on them. Everyone else got busy trying to get the tree into the other wagon, and gathering up the few things we'd brought with us. I climbed back up next to Cheyenne, who was out cold again, and pulled him up into my arms.

 

As I sat there holding him, the tears started flowing again, I couldn't help myself. When a couple of drops fell on Cheyenne's face, that brought him around, though he still acted confused. "Where have you been?" he asked, then he said something about me being killed by renegades. Just then the baby started kicking, and I could tell he felt it. "What was that?" he said, so I told him, “It's just your son, letting you know he's concerned about you.” Cheyenne's eyes got really big, and he stared at my stomach. “Oh no, I did not have anything to do with THAT!” he exclaimed, then all of a sudden he pulled free of my arms and jumped out of the wagon, running for his horse. In a heartbeat he had leaped up onto the stallion and was taking off as fast as the horse could go.

 

Everyone else was still busy with the tree, so I shouted a warning as I scrambled out of the wagon and headed for my horse. Danny and Running Bear went running for their horses too, and I was just about to get on Rascal when Karl caught up to me and grabbed the reins away. “Not a chance, honey, you're in no shape to be chasing after him! I'll go, let the three of us handle it,” he told me, and didn't give me any chance to object. All I could do was hope that Rascal allowed Karl to ride him, and that the three of them would catch Cheyenne before he hurt himself again.

 

Maybe it was a good idea to let Karl go after all, considering Cheyenne had just denied having anything to do with my present condition. As mad as I was, if and when I caught up to him the head wound might end up being the least of his worries....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Just when I thought things were making sense, the Fair One tells me she is carrying my child, how could that be when we hadn't been together? With my head spinning I bolted, lept upon my horse and took off for,,,,well, I didn't know where, but I was going somewhere. I came to a knoll and stopped to look over my shoulder, my vision was blurry but off in the distance from which I had come I could see a group of riders coming in my direction, maybe.

 

I urged my horse on and soon came to a cabin with a few barns, a corral and a water hole out back behind it. Somehow it seemed familiar and for some reason I rode past the cabin to the water hole that was frozen over, but why was I epecting to see the Fair One there? She wasn't of course and seeing no one around I checked in the cabin for food of some kind. Nothing! I heard the riders that had been following me getting near, for some reason I didn't feel the need to ride off again and I went out on the porch and sat in one of the rockers and just waited.

 

The next thing I knew I was soaring again, a strange calmness came over me as I looked all around. Then my mother was flying beside me, "you need to rest" she told me, "things are not what your think they are, this cabin below was your grandfather's, not my father, but your father's father. And no he wasn't Cheyenne as we, but a white man. The ranch you saw me at before was ours, and since we have passed over it is now yours."

 

After telling me those things she dipped her outside wing and left me. What did all this mean? I was awakened by men calling out "Cheyenne, Cheyenne." Why were they calling out the name of my people? For some reason I felt no need to flee, but just sat there. Then it dawned on me, why did I understand the tongue of these white men?

 

The three men dismounted and started towards me, I drew my knife and threw it, sticking it in the dirt between the yellow haired man's feet. He just smiled at me then bent over and picked up the knife and did the same to me, sticking it right between my feet. I retrieved it and looked at the yellow hair his feet were closer together, I felt a smile and again threw the knife, putting hit between his feet again. Before he picked it up and motioned for me to move my feet closer together and as soon as I did he stuck the knife between my feet again. I eyed his feet, which were about a finger's length apart, pulled the knife, and in one motion stuck it in the dirt between his feet again. He smiled as he adjusted his feet, pulled the knife out of the dirt, and proceed to stick it in my FOOT! "HA, I won again"I hollered at him. Then I thought, WON? what did I just win? I pulled the knife out of my foot, wiped it off and put it back in it's sheath.

 

I sat back into the rocker and motioned for the yellow hair to sit beside me. "Tell me, just who are you, what did I win, where am I, and WHO am I?" I asked the yellow hair. He pulled a flask out of his coat, took a big swallow, poured some over my foot, and then offered it to me. He told one of the men to return to the wagons and tell them where we were, and asked Running Bear to start a fire to warm the cabin because this may take a while.

[Grizzly Dave]

I still think it would work Grizz said to Grumpy old man as they rode after the bunch that rode after Cheyenne.

 

Ayup Grumpy old Man said nodding in agreement.

 

As they neared the old cabin some of the riders were coming back, 'they're up there' is all the said as they rode past in a hurry.

 

Grizz reined up before the clearing and looked in, yup, Cheyenne was there talking to some feller, and it still didn't look like he knew who or where he was.

 

Hey Grumpy, I got me an idear... Grizz said in hushed tones, and then laid out the plan, they'd ride around the meadow under cover of the forest and sneak up behind Cheyenne and konk him on the head. The Christmas tree was too far away, so they just cut a good sized branch from a dead fall.

 

Cheyenne was off his game, for he didn't hear Grizz sneaking up on him at all, must still have bells ringing in his ears Grizz figured.

 

He was about there and started to raise the tree branch when...

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I was listening to the yellow hair, trying to make some sense of it when an eagle swooped down and grabbed a branch out of the yeti's hand, before the yellow hair could stop me I had my knife at the yeti's scalp. The yellow hair did manage to holler "STOP!"

[Grizzly Dave]

c'mon Cheyenne, I setting it up so Calico could shoot me, you know how much she enjoys that...

[Calico Mary]

Karl, Danny, and Running Bear had just taken off after Cheyenne when Eddie and Ike came running for their horses as well. Eddie was in his saddle first, and riding after the others when I managed to grab Ike's arm. “Let me go, you stay here and protect the ladies,” I told him. I'd already noticed Grizz and Grumpy taking off after everyone else too, though a bit slower than the others. Ike tried to object, reminding me of what Karl had said, but I put my foot down. “I won't ride hard, ain't no need to. It's not like they're all going to be hard to track, and if Cheyenne's going where I think he is I won't have to go that far.”

 

Actually, I wasn't at all positive that Cheyenne was going to the cabin, as I didn't know if he even remembered it was there, but he was headed in that direction. Ike's gelding wanted to run after the other horses, but I managed to keep him to a trot, I didn't need Doc yelling at me again. The horse wasn't all that comfortable to ride, maybe we'd have to look into getting Ike a new saddle as a Christmas bonus. It wasn't long before all the other riders were out of sight, but I knew that if I kept going I'd catch up to them eventually, their horses could only run for so long.

 

Sure enough, it wasn't long before I was getting close to the cabin, and the tracks were all still leading me straight there. Then I noticed two riders heading back my way, and it didn't take long to meet up with them. It was Danny and Eddie, they'd been sent back to let the rest of us know that Cheyenne was in fact at the old cabin, Karl and Running Bear were still with him. I had no idea where Grizz and Grumpy had ended up, as Danny and Eddie hadn't seen them. I told the two of them to keep going back to the wagons and let everyone else know what was going on, and that hopefully we'd rejoin the rest of the group soon. Eddie wanted me to go with them, but I felt I needed to be with Cheyenne, whether he had any idea who I was or not. He was still my husband, somehow I had to figure out a way to get through to him.

 

As I approached the cabin, I noticed Cheyenne and Karl sitting on the porch, and seemed to be talking. I also saw Grizz and Grumpy sneaking up behind Cheyenne, and Grizz had a tree branch in his hands, and looked to be about to hit Cheyenne with it. I started to grab Ike's rifle out of it's scabbard to fire off a warning shot, but before I could, an eagle came out of nowhere and ripped the branch out of Grizz's hands. I had never seen an eagle do anything like that before, but at least the creature had prevented Cheyenne from getting hit again. That sure got Cheyenne's attention fast, and before anyone knew what was going on, he had Grizz flat on his back, holding a knife to Grizz's scalp. I wasn't too sure why, it wasn't like there was any hair there, but at least Karl had sense enough to yell at Cheyenne to stop.

 

Cheyenne did seem to hesitate for just a second, and I wasn't at all sure he was going to listen to Karl, so I fired that warning shot in the air just in case. As shook up as I was, I wasn't even thinking when I called out in Arapaho, “Back off!” Cheyenne didn't look at all happy to see me riding up holding that rifle, but at least I think he may have understood me, as he did take a step back, though he did not let go of the knife. As I got to the porch, I put the rifle back in the scabbard, and Grumpy came over to help me down off the gelding. I walked up on the porch just as Grizz was scrambling to his feet, so I gave him a good solid kick in the rear, and yelled at him, “Just whut do ya think yer doing...didn't Doc tell ya that wasn't gonna work?”

 

Grizz and Grumpy just shrugged their shoulders, and Grizz muttered something about it being worth a try. Karl was having a hard time not laughing, but Cheyenne was just standing there holding on to that knife, looking at me with a confused expression on his face. Then Cheyenne asked me in Arapaho, “I am not sure, but shouldn't I be protecting you, instead of the other way around?” Hey, did that mean he was starting to remember who I was? Or was that just wishful thinking on my part...

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I had the yeti on it's back and was ready to lift it's scalp; though I wasn't sure why as it didn't have a lick of hair on it, when I heard the yellow hair holler STOP. Then I heard a rifle shot and a woman scream "Hold it!" in the Arapaho tongue. I slowly lifted my knife from the yeti, who smelled an awfully lot like an old grizzly bear.

 

I turned to see the Fair One holding the rifle pointed towards the sky, as she approached the cabin. Why was she protecting this raunchy smelling yeti?

Before I knew it I told the Fair One that I was supposed to be protecting her. Luckily for the yeti shed had protected the thin layer of skin on it's head.

 

I was still confused though. The yellow hair, Korupt Karl, he said his name was, had told me that I was married to the Fair One, we lived on a large ranch that I had inheritted from my parents, but I had no recollection of any of it, what so ever. The only thing I could remember was that I had fallen in love with the Fair One as I had watched her from afar. She looked so strange though with the child growin in her belly, I was just wishing that I could remember helping her make it!

 

I told her I remembered the name I had given her, The Fair One, which brought a inquesitive look to her face. "My name is Calico, and you usually just call me Cali, especially when we are in the water hole" she told me. With the mention of water hole a memory popped into my head, that of her standing in water bathing with her buckskins laying on the creek bank. I smiled as I saw that picture in my mind, but it quickly vanished as the woman with her leveled her rifle at me.

 

"Little cold for a water hole, isn't it?" I asked her as I rememberedthe frozen water hole behind the cabin. I saw tears forming in her eyes and then they were flowing down her cheeks as she rushed towards me. That caught me off guard and I took a step back, which brought her to an instant stop. Her smile went to a slight frown until I held up my arms to her, I still didn't remember much but her fragrance brought a smile to my face.

 

I nuzzled her neck as we hugged, I heard her purr as I did. If I had to learn her ways all over again I knew I was going to enjoy it.

[Calico Mary]

Cheyenne finally seemed to be remembering a few things, at least he recalled that he used to call me the Fair One. He hadn't called me that since we had come to live at his father's ranch though, and I could tell that the last couple of years were still a mystery to him. He did finally give me a hug, and it felt so good to have his arms around me. He wasn't hugging me that tightly though, so I could tell he was still a little hesitate about me.

 

We sat down, and I asked him if he could recall when we first met. He got a smile on his face, and started telling me about seeing me for the first time, naked and standing in a pool of water. Then the smile faded, replaced by a frown as he mentioned another woman pointing a rifle at him. “Yes, that was Gloria, but I did not let her shoot at you. Do you remember giving me the autumn pony after that?” I asked. Cheyenne concentrated on that for a while, then said, “Yes, I think so, I killed a Comanche and took the pony from him, then gave her to you. What ever happened to her?”

 

“She is back at the ranch, and is pregnant for the second time. Kinda like me,” I explained, and that brought another frown to his face. “I do not remember this happening, but I wish I did,” he told me. That had to mean he didn't remember the twins or any of our adopted children either. I could see off in the distance that the wagons were approaching, I better get the rest of the story out fast, before they all got here. I continued to bring up a few things from the cattle drive we had been on, to see how much he remembered. With my hints, he seemed to recall some of it, up until the point where he'd rescued me from the Kansa braves that had almost ended my life. That's when any and all memories of our lives together came to a stop, nothing that I brought up after we had stayed at Hosa's village while I recovered rang any bells with him.

 

I still tried to remind him of a few things, but he just got confused and both of us were getting frustrated. As the wagons got closer, we could see Tommy and Rose standing up in the back of one of them, holding on to the seat and waving. We heard them yelling, “Daddy, Daddy...are you ok now?” and I watched Cheyenne's face as he heard them. He turned to me, a scared look on his face, and asked, “Just how many children are you going to try and tell me we have together?”

 

“Oh, well, um....there's Little Flower, she's the young Ute lady, and then there's Eddie and Laura and that's Tommy and Rose there, we adopted them after their father died saving my life. The other young blond lady over there is Sally, we're still in the process of adopting her. And then of course there's the twins, Mathew and Sarah, I gave birth to them last spring....”

 

“We have eight children??” he screamed, jumping to his feet. “No, we couldn't...I mean, I'd remember something about that...wouldn't I?” Well, before I got to answer Tommy and Rose had rushed up to the porch and were hugging him, but I could tell he was a little uncomfortable about it. The older kids hung back, looking at me, and I sadly shook my head. Eddie came over to talk to me, and I told him that Cheyenne's memory was slowly coming back, but only to about two and a half years ago, nothing more recent. Eddie agreed to go tell his wife and two sisters, and I turned back to Cheyenne. He was trying to wiggle out of Tommy and Rose's grasp, but they had a good hold on him.

 

“OK, you two, that's enough,” I told them, and they finally backed off. I went up to Cheyenne, and telling him in his mother's language I suggested he let us take him back to the ranch. Maybe that would help him remember more, and even if it didn't, at least he could rest there while recovering from his head wound. He didn't seem to like the idea much, until Karl started laughing at him. “Do not tell me you are afraid, are you?” Karl asked him, and Cheyenne looked annoyed for a moment. He did agree to return to the house with us, but would it help? Maybe if he saw the twins, his own flesh and blood, it might trigger some recollection of our lives there together....

 

And if seeing the kids didn't work, maybe the water hole would!!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I was in wonderment as Karl, the yellow hair, and the Fair One, Calico tried to tell me of life that I had led. There was only about a year of so that I remembered. My youth was gone up until I saw the Fair One's parents murdered and their ranch burnt to the ground. The next year was clear, but that ended at Chief Hosa's village. The Fair One had nearly been killed by Kensa braves as she rode from the village and as I found her lying in the dirt after the attack I had thouht I had failed my oath to protect her. I remembered playing my flute outside of the teepee that she was laid in, not knowing if she would live or not.

 

The last thing I could remember was her opening her bright blue eyes and smiling at me; after that, it may as well have been yesterday. There were bits and pieces that were coming to me, playin chicken with Karl was one of those.

 

Eight kids? Even if six of those were adopted, what were we tryin to do, create our own village?

 

They wanted me to let them take me to the ranch, I wasn't quite so sure about that until Karl called me chicken. Chicken? Heck, I had already let him stick my knife into my foot playing chicken, when I knew all along it was going to end that way, as it always had before.

 

Every bump on the way to the ranch made my head hurt, but it wasn't long before I learned that if I feigned any dizzyness at all, the Fair One would pull me close to her almost burying my face in her bosom. Her fragrance was becoming all the more familiar the more time I spent in her arms.

 

As we neared the ranch I thought that we were nearing a town, I felt the apprehension growing as I asked the Fair One where we were. She told me we had arrived at the ranch, MY ranch. I tried to fathom what she was telling me, but I knew that it had to be some kind of cruel joke.

 

It was dusk as we entered the grounds of the ranch, my eyes were as big as saucers I'm sure. The Fair One pointed out different buildings to me and saved the last one to show me. A small cabin behind the house, a small porch and smoke pouring out of the chimney. She opened the door and ushered me into it's warm interior. I had never seen, at least that I could remember, a tub for washing inside a building before. She turned and felt if the water was warm and started to tell me to get out of my dirty clothes and that I needed to bathe to get the blood out of my hair, but before she finished saying it and before she could turn around I was already out of my buckskins and pulling her into the water with me.

 

I didn't need to remember anything from the past to figure out was this building was for!

[Calico Mary]

Cheyenne finally agreed to go back to the ranch, on the way there he kept his head buried in my chest. I wasn't sure if it was because he was still hurting, he was trying to remember me better, or if he just enjoyed it, but at least it was keeping him calm. I kept my arms around him, and as we pulled closer to the ranch compound, it seemed like he started shaking a little. It wasn't that cold, and we had blankets pulled around us, so I was a little concerned. None of the buildings seemed to spark any memories for him, though I showed him everything.

 

That was strange, not having him recall the place he had lived his whole life except for when he was chasing me through Colorado, Indian Territory, Texas, and then finally Kansas. At least he remembered that much, though I was hoping for more. I wasn't quite the same person that he had met on that cattle drive, and it was depressing to think that all those good times we had since then were now a mystery to him. There were two things I was saving for last, the indoor water hole and the twins. The water hole would be first, he needed to get cleaned up a bit before meeting his youngest children.

 

I took him inside, and found that Hop Sing had already filled the tub and lit the fireplace. That was a big help, and I told him to get his clothing off while I checked the water. Next thing I knew, we were both submerged in the tub, he didn't have a stitch on but I was still fully dressed. “What the heck do ya think yer doin'?!” I shouted at him in English, forgetting for a moment that he didn't seem to understand it anymore. Cheyenne shook his head, so I repeated it, but he was too busy trying to get my clothes off. A little late now, as everything I had on was soaked, and I knew the stuff would take forever to dry. He could get cleaned up and redressed, but how was I gonna get back to the big house, it was too cold to be walking around wet.

 

To his dismay, I finally managed to pull away from him and get out of the tub, dripping water everywhere. “It might be more fun if you get back in here with me,” he told me, giving me a big smile. For once, I really didn't know if I wanted to or not, the fact he remembered so little about me made me hesitate to share something so intimate just yet. I told him no, not now, just to get cleaned up a bit, as I had more to show him. For a second he frowned, then he got a big smile, I don't think he got my point. When he told me, “Fine, take your clothes off then, there's plenty of water for both of us.” Ok, he definitely didn't get my point, so I told him “Wash!” then went to the door, calling out to see if there was anyone in the kitchen who could bring me dry clothes. To my relief, Lu Sing was more than willing to run up and get me something dry to wear, and she brought me a warm dress to change into.

 

Cheyenne had gotten cleaned up a bit, but I had to insist that he get redressed. I was hoping that while he was doing so he'd be too busy to watch me change, but somehow he managed to get his buckskins back on while never taking his eyes off me as I peeled off my wet buckskins and replaced them with the dress. “Now what?” he asked me, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. “It's a surprise,” I told him, taking his hand and leading him back to the big house. He gazed around him in wonder the whole time we were walking through the house towards the stairs. “This is really all mine?” he asked, shaking his head, and I could tell he didn't believe me.

 

We headed upstairs, and he hesitated outside our bedroom door. I hadn't told him that was our room, so maybe he was starting to remember something about this place, but that hadn't been where I was taking him. I continued on down the hall to the nursery, and gently opened the door. Cora had just put the twins down, she had been filled in on what was happening by Karl. She left the lamp for us, but graciously excused herself to give us some privacy.

 

Cheyenne dropped my hand, then walked over to the cradles, and stared down at his babies as if seeing them for the first time. Then he looked at me with a confused look on his face, so I told him, “This is Mathew Franklin and Sarah Rachel, would you like to hold one of them?” He quickly shook his head and tried to back off a step, but just then Mathew, not yet asleep, reached his little arms up towards his father and said, “Da da!” Sarah had started calling me mama, but this was the first time Mathew had named either of us. Cheyenne went back over to Mathew's cradle, and after hesitating for a moment, reached down and picked up his son. He held the baby at arm's length for a moment, then brought him close and hugged him. “My son, my first born son...” I heard Cheyenne mutter....was this the sign I'd been waiting for?

 

Cheyenne sat down in the rocking chair, and held Mathew close. I didn't want to interfere, so I just told Cheyenne that I would wait for him down the hall in our room, pointing out it was the next door down back towards the stairs. “I know,” was all he said, then I quietly left the room. I didn't know if he would be joining me any time soon, but if spending time with Mathew and Sarah helped bring back his memory, then I could wait....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I looked down at the child in the cradle and wondered how I couldn't remember the two of them, I sure wished i could remember. The little boy reached up for me but I was at a loss of what to do. I didn't know how to hold a baby and the thought of holding him scared the daylights out of me. Then he said "Da da," and my heart melted. The fear within me disappeared, I picked him up out of the cradle but at first I wasn't sure how to hold him. His eyes grabbed my heartstrings and I brought him to my chest. As I sat in the rocker with him all of my senses were trying to wake the memories within me.

 

Calico excused herself and told me to take my time that she would be waiting for me in our room. I acknowledged her and continued to sit there holding my son. His smell and touch, I was starting to slightly remember. Sarah started to voice her disapproval of being left alone and I went to her cradle and picked her up in my other arm. I looked at the two of them and soon my vision was blurred by the tears running down my cheeks. I sat down in the rocker again and held the two of them until they went to sleep. I continued to look into their faces for hours and as I did memories of them crept back into my being.

 

I must have finally drifted off because I was soaring among the clouds again, but followed by several other eagles of all ages. Some were just able to fly and others were juveniles. Near to my side was my mate, and I thouht to myself, life is good.

 

I was slowly awakened by the feel of warm moist lips on my forehead and I opened my eyes to see Cali looking into my eyes. "How are you feeling?" came from those same lips. It confused me for a second and I asked her, "Cali, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine? I just wanted to hold my children for a while and think about Christmas coming up and what it must have been like to have had the Christ child born into my family."

 

The look on her face almost scared me, I didn't know what I had said to get such a reaction. I couldn't tell if she was mad at me for not coming to bed or if she was worried about me holding the children while I was sleeping. Anyway, I didn't get to say anything else for a while.

[Calico Mary]

I went back to our room and got changed for bed, then laid down. I didn't know when Cheyenne would be joining me if at all, and I was really tired, so I fell asleep rather fast. Then I was standing in front of a Christmas tree standing in a meadow, brightly decorated with candles and ornaments. I glanced to one side, and Lives Again was walking towards me. She stopped right next to me and stared at the tree for a minute. Then she spoke, “The love he has for you is still in his heart, do not fear that it is gone. It will come back to him, you just must have faith. At this time of year, faith is a good thing to have.” She faded away, then I heard the call of an eagle flying overhead. I looked up, and it seemed like the sky above me was filled with eagles of all sizes, and a gentle peace came over me.

 

When I woke in the morning, the baby was kicking up a storm, obviously someone thought it was time for me to get up. I reached over and found that the bed next to me was empty, and for a minute I was disappointed. Then I remembered “you must have faith”, and tried to live up to that advice. I walked down the hall and slowly opened the door to the nursery. I glanced inside, and saw that Cheyenne was still asleep in the rocker, both Mathew and Sarah still cuddled in his arms. I walked over and gently kissed Cheyenne's forehead, and his eyes opened. I asked him how he felt, and to my astonishment he knew exactly who I was!

 

I wasn't positive that he was perfectly fine, but this was a vast improvement over yesterday. The twins were starting to wake up, and I knew they would be hungry. I told him to stay put and I would go get Laura and Sally to take the babies down for breakfast. As I was returning to the nursery with them, Doc was just coming up the stairs. We all went in the nursery, and Cheyenne was glad to had the twins over to the two teens, as they were starting to get fussy. “Laura....and you are Sally,” Cheyenne said, pointing at each girl in turn. Both girls smiled to hear that, then took the twins down to get them fed. Doc insisted on checking Cheyenne's wound, then asked him a few questions, which Cheyenne got correct. “Well, it looks like you are recovering, just don't push it. You may not remember everything just yet, but it's obviously coming back to you. Just try to rest a bit for a few days, and you should be fine.”

 

Doc left then, and I suggested that we follow his advice and go to our room so Cheyenne could rest. When we got there though, he had other ideas, and it was a while before either of us got any. Afterwards, we laid for quite a while in each others arms, and talked for a while. He not only knew who I was, but all the kids, and most of the ranch staff as well. He talked about some things he remembered, and asked a few questions about some incidents that were a little fuzzy to him, we actually had a really good time recalling some of our better times. I tried to avoid mentioning some of the bad things that had happened to us, though from a few things he said I knew that those memories were returning as well.

 

It was lunch time before we finally went downstairs, but I was really starting to get hungry. After we ate, the kids wanted to decorate the tree. Karl, Danny, and Ike had managed to get it in the house last night and set it up in the parlor, but the kids had taken a vote, no decorating it until Cheyenne felt up to taking part in the activity. All of them had made some ornaments to put on the tree, and we hung all of those first. Then we filled up any bare spots with more ornaments from a box that Hop Sing had brought down from the attic that had belonged to the Culpepper family for years. Once the rest of the tree was done, Cheyenne gently picked up an angel out of the box. “I made this when I wasn't much bigger than Rose, for the top of the tree. I was trying to make it look like my mother, I guess it really doesn't, but it's still precious to me,” he said as he lifted the angel up to the top of the tree and slipped it over the top.

 

Then he put his arms around me, and told me, “You're precious to me to, as are all our children. This is going to be a beautiful Christmas, now that we're all together as a family.” I had to agree, and I did have faith that my wonderful husband was back. Now, I just had to figure out a way to convince him to stay out of my hair and out of my sewing room long enough for me to finish his present in time for Christmas...with everything else that had happened I still hadn't had time to get it done!!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I put the angel on the tree, told my family how much I loved them and then gave Cali a long deep back rub. She purred like a kitten getting her stomach rubbed. Then I stopped for a minute and didn't say a word until she turned around to see why I had stopped. I gave her a blank look, and told her, "What am I doing here, where am I?" Before she could tear up completely I told her "got cha!"

 

 

OUCH, that one hurt!! my arm was sore for days!!!

[Calico Mary]

Preparations for Christmas were coming along nicely, and all the kids were starting to get excited. I had finished the moccasins and knife sheath that I was making for Cheyenne, and had them wrapped and hidden away. I'd also helped Clara, Lizzy, and Ella make presents for Grizz, Grumpy, and Danny, the ladies were really hoping their gifts would go over well. Jenny and Kate still hadn't decided on any one special man, but I knew both had gifts for the children, that was really sweet of both of them.

 

The kids were all on their best behavior, and they even had the puppies behaving as well. I kind of wished I could join the kids in playing with the dogs, as it looked like fun, but I didn't need to be getting sick again. I did spend some time cuddling Midnight, which kind of drove Cheyenne crazy, as I think he wanted me to be cuddling him instead. One afternoon I had gotten the twins down for a nap, the rest of the kids were occupied, so I suggested that maybe we could visit the indoor water hole for a while. The hot water might help my back, which had been bothering me a lot lately, and Cheyenne didn't hesitate before grabbing my hand and heading out the back door.

 

To our surprise and disappointment, when we opened the door to the little cabin we found that the water hole was already occupied! Padre was sitting in the tub, water and suds up to his chin, taking a bath. Cheyenne asked him “What do you think you're doing in here? This is kind of our private place...and Calico needs to soak her aching back.”

 

Padre just glanced up while using a long handled brush to scrub his back, saying, “Just tryin' ta take my yearly bath in time fer these there festivities ya'll got planned. Ifn' yer woman needs ta get clean too, she kin get on in...der's plenty o' room!”

 

Cheyenne declined that offer before I had a chance to say a word, then pulled me back out of the cabin and slammed the door. “Well, great, now what? Obviously we won't be using the tub any time soon, it's going to take a while for him to get clean. You wanna go back upstairs instead?” “Sure thing,” I told him, “but can I have another one of those back rubs when we get up there? Maybe as an early Christmas present?”

 

Well, I don't think that's what Cheyenne had in mind, but he was a good sport about it and I got my back rub. I wasn't sure why my back had been hurting so much, but it wouldn't surprise me any if the weather changed soon. Since we were all safe and warm, the idea of a little bit of a snow storm in time for a white Christmas didn't sound like a bad idea to me....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I had a surprise waiting in town so when Cali told me she needed to spend time in her sewing room I gave her a kiss and told her to go at it. Meanwhile, I found Karl, and Crossfire Brown and we hitched two of the clydesdales to the largest freight wagon we had and then the three of us headed for town.

 

The whole way there we sang Christmas carols, in three different keys, and had a ball laughing at ourselves. I think the people in town thought we were drunk because we were carrying on so. We pulled up to the livery and Jimmy the smith was waiting for us. There it was, a brand new 10 person sleigh. Red, with shiny silver runners, and large jingle bells on the front and back of it.

 

We backed up the wagon to the dock and the four of us somehow managed to slide the sleigh onto the wagon. We made a quick stop at the saloon and we were back to singing carols as we headed back to the ranch. The ride was much smoother with the sleigh in the back of the wagon, though the further we got from town the less we felt anyway. The reason we hadn't spent much time at the saloon was because we only had a drink apiece, but we got a bottle of Casey's good rum to go. I almost forgot, we also got a case of rum for Calico, it would help keep her warm on the sleigh rides I knew she would enjoy taking.

 

Anyway, as we were on the way back to the ranch we had somehow finished off the bottle from the saloon and still being a bit thirsty, and sober, we decided that Calico wouldn't miss a bottle from her case of rum. We had nearly finished that too, when we heard a commotion behind us. We nearly fell out of the wagon trying to turn to see what it was, I rubbed my eyes, I thought that I was having a relapse! It was a sleigh twice the size of the one in the back of the wagon, pulled by eight, no nine reindeer, and led by what at first I thought was the yeti I had nearly scalped. This one though was dressed in red, with a white beard and long white locks of hair flowing out from his stocking cap.

 

He came to a sliding stop next to the wagon and hollered, HO HO HO, nice little sled you got there, and I like those clydesdales there, but can they fly? "Fly?" I asked. "Horses can't fly!" And with that he said, "I've got places to go and things to deliver, HO HO HO Merry Christmas." and with that he told his team, "let's go Rudolf" and with that the reindeer lifted off the ground and pulling the sleigh behind them lit out for the heavens like and eagle soaring through the clouds.

 

The three of us looked at each other, shook our heads and finished that second bottle as fast as we could and maybe a few more too. When we got back to the ranch the three of us weren't quite sure what to say about our encounter. One thing, by then we could hardly walk straight, and second we didn't know what to say.

 

We took the sleigh to the barn and unloaded it, stabled the two clydesdales and then got two fresh ones and hitched them to the sleigh. The moon was just starting to rise as I pulled up to the house in the sleigh and hollered for Cali and the kids to come out to see their Christmas present. I knew I was going to have a tale to tell that night as soon as we got loaded up and went for a sleigh ride in a winter wonderland!

[Calico Mary]

Christmas Eve afternoon I was busy, so Cheyenne said he needed to run an errand in town. Sounded to me like he needed to get his Christmas shopping done, just like him to wait until the last minute. I had already gotten Rascal, so I wasn't expecting much else, but if he had things to pick up for the kids then he needed to get that done. It started snowing not long after he left, but lightly at first so I wasn't really worried about it. By dinner time, however, it was starting to come down pretty good, and we had several inches on the ground already.

 

He wasn't back for dinner, and I was starting to get a little worried. I knew he hadn't gone alone, so that was a good thing, but I kept my fingers crossed that nothing had gone wrong, and that he was just running a little late. Me and the kids went ahead and ate when the food was ready, I told Hop Sing to just save a plate for him. We were just finishing up when I heard Cheyenne call out, “Hey Cali! Bring the kids outside, I got something to show you all!”

 

Tommy and Rose didn't hesitate, they were running for the front door in a heartbeat. Sally and Laura were just taking the twins out of their highchairs, so the three of us followed the younger two out front. As I stepped out on the porch I noticed Eddie and Little Flower were coming out of their house as well. Cheyenne was standing next to a beautiful red sleigh, with bells on it and everything, big enough for the whole family to fit in. He already had two of my Clydesdales hitched to it, and was anxious to take us all for a ride. The moon was full that night, so we had plenty of light, and just the perfect amount of snow by that time.

 

I told him to hold on a minute or two, as the rest of us needed to get bundled up first. I don't think Tommy and Rose really cared, they just wanted to go for a ride, but I insisted on coats, gloves, and hats first. We also grabbed several quilts, I didn't want the twins getting cold. As we were getting ready, Karl came in and warned me, “You might want to keep a close eye on him, we...well...we were kinda doing a little drinkin' on the way home....” From the look in Karl's eyes and the smell of his breath, “a little drinkin'” was an understatement! I promised to make him behave, if necessary Eddie could always take over the driving.

 

As soon as we had all climbed in the sleigh and gotten seated, Cheyenne got the horses going and we were off to enjoy a beautiful winter evening. The snow had almost stopped falling, and seeing the moonlight glitter off all the snow made me think of thousands of tiny little candles flickering, it was lovely. Cheyenne drove a ways to the east, and pulled the sleigh to a halt on a little rise a ways from the ranch. From there we could see the lights in the houses in town, all the townsfolk were gathering with their families, for dinner or to start their celebrations. Behind us, the same thing was happening in the houses belonging to the ranch hands and their families, as well as in the bunkhouse. Beyond that, the mountains rose up glittering white in the moonlight, a gorgeous background indeed.

 

Tommy and Rose were starting to get a little fidgety, they wanted to keep going, being a little too young to appreciate the view as much as the rest of us. They started arguing, about what I wasn't even sure, but before long Cheyenne was turning around and telling them, “Ok you two, that's enough, I saw Santa earlier this evening and I can guarantee that he won't come back to the ranch tonight if you two don't behave.” That shut both of them up pretty darn quick, but not for long, then they were full of questions about daddy's supposed encounter with Santa Claus. the older kids didn't know what to think, I could tell that they thought he was just making up a story for their younger siblings, but he sounded so sincere that they were a little worried. I just looked at Cheyenne, searching for any sign that he was joking. But he was serious, insisting, “I did see Santa Claus earlier, on the way back from town. Honest!”

 

That kind of scared me more than I wanted to let on in front of the kids. Had he really drank that much, or was this another complication from his head wound? Doc had thought Cheyenne was doing better, but was he wrong? Grown men didn't usually go around claiming they saw Santa on Christmas Eve, did they? I quietly suggested that maybe on the way back he could let Eddie drive for a while, so that we could have a chance to cuddle up in the back. I was trying to not let on how concerned I was, but I don't think I fooled him for a minute. Eddie was anxious to get his turn at the reins though, so Cheyenne finally agreed.

 

We rode for a while longer, then headed for home, as the twins were getting sleepy. As Eddie and Cheyenne took the sleigh to get the horses unhitched, the older girls and I got the younger children in bed. We'd made sure all the stockings were hung up earlier, Hop and Lu Sing had promised to fill them after they were positive the children were all asleep. Cheyenne came in as Little Flower was leaving to go back to her house, with a promise that she and Eddie would be over first thing in the morning.

 

I asked Cheyenne if he wanted me to go see if Doc was still up, but he just grabbed my hand and told me no, he didn't need to see Doc that night. I wasn't so sure, but then he led me towards the back of the house and out the back door. I could see a lamp lit in the little cabin, obviously he wanted to have a bit of a private celebration ourselves before heading upstairs. As we went in, I noticed the tub was already filled, and there was a bottle of really good rum sitting there with two glasses, waiting for us. “Merry Christmas!” he told me, then I forgot all about Santa for the rest of the evening...

[Calico Mary]

It was after midnight before we finally were done in the little cabin, that hot bathwater sure felt good, and the rum didn't hurt either. We got dressed, made sure the fire was going out in the fireplace, grabbed the rum bottle and headed out to go back to the house and up to our room. As we stepped outside, I glanced over and saw a huge sleigh parked by the house, and a large man dressed in red was just about to get in it. My jaw dropped, and I came to a halt. Cheyenne noticed pretty quickly, then turned his head to see what I was staring at. “Hey Santa, glad you found your way back here, our kids will certainly appreciate it in the morning” he softly called out to the stranger. The stranger turned around at the sound of Cheyenne's voice, and I saw that Cheyenne hadn't been putting us on early, it WAS Santa!

 

I couldn't believe my eyes, this was something I hadn't ever expected to see. Santa came over to us, saying, “I thought everyone here was asleep already, don't you know those young'uns will have you up at the crack of dawn, if not before? Oh well, a Merry Christmas to you both anyway, you can catch up on your sleep tomorrow night I guess. Oh, and there's a little gift for you both in amongst the ones for the children...” And with that he raced back to his sleigh and in a heartbeat was gone. So those reindeer really could fly!

 

Santa was right, it was barely getting light outside when we were awakened by the sound of Tommy and Rose knocking on Laura and Sally's door, asking their sisters if it was time to get up yet. “Tell em' no!” Cheyenne called out, pulling his pillow over his face, I think he may have had a hangover. I just laughed, and grabbed for my robe, I knew there was no going back to sleep now. I went to tell the kids they could go ahead and go downstairs, but no opening presents yet, not til after breakfast. They could check their stockings now, but that was it. Tommy and Rose raced for the stairs, followed pretty quickly by Laura and Sally. I'd have to get the twins up and dressed myself, but that was alright, I didn't mind. By the time I was done, Cheyenne had finally managed to drag himself out of bed and he helped me carry them downstairs.

 

Eddie and Little Flower showed up a little while later, and the family sat down for breakfast. It was a delicious meal, the other ladies had come over early to cook for us and give the Sings a break. After we had eaten, we all headed for the parlor to open our gifts. Karl, Danny, Grizz, Grumpy, and Padre had all joined us as well, it was a little crowded in there. The kids were all having a great time unwrapping all their presents, the younger ones had some toys, all of them had gotten new clothes and books. Sally was thrilled with her gift from Cora and Biblepuncher, they had given her her own Bible. She had been spending a lot of time with Biblepuncher, and he had even indicated that she was showing an interest in being baptized at some point soon. Jenny promised to help Sally read it if she needed it, though with Jenny's help Sally's reading had improved quite a bit.

 

Clara gave Grizz the present she had made for him, it was a nice flannel nightshirt and matching hat. We all got a good laugh out of the fact that Grizz turned bright red when he opened the gift. He held it up by the shoulders, and let the sleeves hang down. That was too much for Rose's puppy, Scamp, to resist, and the puppy came over to play tug-of-war with one of the sleeves. As soon as Grizz noticed, he leaned over and growled at poor little Scamp, scaring the poor little thing into running off and driving Rose to tears. To make up for it, Grizz gave Rose the gift he'd brought for her, a little cradle for her favorite doll that he'd made to look just like the ones the twins had. As soon as she saw that, she forgave him for scaring Scamp, and gave Grizz a big hug. Clara also gave Rose some tiny sheets, blankets, and a pillow to go with the doll cradle, obviously they had planned that together.

 

Every one was having a good time getting and giving their gifts. I finally was able to give Cheyenne the moccasins I'd made, the kiss he gave me was more than worth all the time I'd spent beading them. Then we noticed a gift still under the tree that was marked, “For Calico and Cheyenne, from Santa”. Cheyenne picked it up and brought it over to where I was sitting, and the two of us unwrapped it together. It was a painting of all eight of our children, with the foothills beyond the cabin as the background. It was a gorgeous picture, and I had tears in my eyes just looking at it. How Santa knew to bring us something so wonderful was beyond me, I was still amazed that he thought we had behaved ourselves well enough over the last year to deserve such a thing!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I was glad that we had seen Santa together that evening or else they would have thought my behavior from the tree hitting my on the head was permanant. As he took off into the sky I noticed an extra bright star. It warmed my heart as I thought of the Maji searching for the One who it was written would be the King of king and Lord of lords.

 

The next day as we opened presents I was thoroughly enjoying handing out the present to the kids. Getting to see deep into their eyes as they opened them was priceless. The mocasins that Calico had made for me rivaled any that I had ever seen. Then the painting of the children and the mountains brought tears to our eyes.

 

 

to be continued

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

We found a spot on the wall in the den for the painting, in between ones of my mother and father. After I had hung it we sat and admired the painting, and those of my parents. I was brought the verge of tears again as I thought about my parents and how thankful I was to them. Here I sat in a beautiful home, the owner of a successful ranch, surrounded by family and faithful friends, and the knowledge that I had done nothing more to deserve it than to have been born into my parents family. Christmas, God sent his Son as a gift to the world, and I didn't deserve that gift either, except that I was part of God's family because I had asked to be part of it.

 

Calico and I excused ourselves and went out on the porch and looked into the the vastness of the stars, the wonder of it all, here we were so small, so far away, and yet the God that created it all, loved us so much that He sent his only begotten Son to make a way for us. We stood there speechless until we couldn't stand the cold any longer and after looking into each others eyes we exchanged a kiss and went back inside the join our family and friends.

 

We went into our office first and got the envelopes that contained the bonuses for the men. We handed them out to the men in the den with us as I told each one how much they meant to us and wished them all the best in the coming new year.

[Calico Mary]

Christmas had been a wonderful day, full of family and friends and reminders of how blessed we really were. The next day though we had to put the celebrating behind us, there was work to be done. First of all we had to get the house cleaned up, there was still wrapping paper that needed picked up, and new toys and books strewn all over the place that needed tidying, and of course no one had wanted to do all those dishes the night before, some of them had gotten cleaned but not all of them. I had the kids take their new belongings to their rooms, then had the older girls start on the dishes while I supervised Tommy and Rose in picking up all the wrapping paper, it was easier for them to get the stuff off the floor than it would have been for me.

 

My belly was starting to get big enough to get in the way, and as far as I was concerned spring couldn't get here fast enough. Doc had estimated that this baby would be born sometime around the end of April, a little over a year after the twins. I still had a lot of sewing I wanted to accomplish before then, I was very thankful for the blessing of lots of help with the kids and the house. Cheyenne needed to get back to supervising the work on the ranch as well. Even though a large portion of the herd had been sold in the fall, we still had plenty of cows left, and were looking forward to having a lot of new calves in the spring as well. There was also plenty of repair work needing done on all the buildings, and quite a few other projects that needed doing.

 

There was also the matter of who was behind the attacks that had happened a few weeks before. Prairie Dawg and the others had made it back to the ranch in time to spend Christmas with their families (and get their bonuses), but unfortunately hadn't been able to tell us much. They had tracked the crooked Marshall all the way to Denver, but had lost the trail in the big city, and hadn't been able to find the man again. They had checked in with the US Marshall's office in Denver, only to find out that the man they were hunting had dropped off a resignation letter, and no one there had any idea where he went. The head of the office had already learned of what was happening from the judge and Winchester, but unless someone could locate the former Marshall there wasn't much he could do.

 

Crossfire Brown had heard a rumor in one of the saloons down there that the Marshall, whose name was Phillips, had headed south, but it was only a rumor and our men knew there was no use going on any wild goose chase at this time of year. Prairie Dawg had shown the good sense to telegraph Buick and the Gibson brothers, telling them to keep an eye out for the man and asking them to let us know if they heard anything about Phillips. We still needed to find out who was behind it all, Phillips just couldn't be the ringleader, but who was? And did they have any more attacks planned, either on Baylor's men or any other fort? We just had to find out, before anyone else got hurt....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

The next several weeks were pretty brutal as far as the weather went, we used a lot of wood keeping our houses warm and food cooked. We had ventured towards the mountains a few times for fresh game but only short sorees. Running Bears camp was hit harder than the ranch, but we helped out with wood.

 

We hadn't had any more trouble with the likes of Phillips and his group, but then anyone unfamiliar with the area would have frozen to death tromping around in the deep snow and cold if they were't real sure of where they were going.

 

I enjoyed the time I got to spend with the family, the twins were walking and forming sentences, it was a wonderment to see their advancements. You could even see them comparing their skin every once in a while. The rest of the kids did their best around the ranch weather helping carry wood, or helping school marm teach the younger ones. Sally was advancing quickly in her learning as she had a real desire to learn.

 

Cali's belly was growing by the day, although not nearly as big it had with the twins, our visits to the water hole had chaned a bit and we had to put a lock on it to keep Padre and Grizz out of it. I wouldn't have minded so much if it wasn't for the fact that they always left it a mess and with a greasy ring around the tub. Grizz's constant crude remarks didn't help either, I was thinking that it was high time for Grizz to head back to his liar in the mountains, but he was so taken with Clara that wasn't about to happen. Padre was a good sort for the most part and he spent a lot of time with Stands Alone. I actually enjoyed sitting with the two of them on occasion, their wealth of knowledge and experiences were priceless.

[Calico Mary]

Things were going fine until one morning when it seemed like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. The twins were both fussy, Tommy and Rose had colds, and Laura and Sally were back to arguing again. About what this time I had no idea, some days those girls got along fine, other days I wanted to send them both to opposite ends of the ranch with orders to stay there. Little Flower came over in tears, her and Eddie had had their first argument, and she was very upset. I tried to talk to her, but then Laura and Sally tried drawing her into their quarrel, which didn't help at all, so finally I sent Little Flower to talk to Cora, and banished the other two girls, one to the library and one to the parlor until they were ready to get along. To top everything else off, it was snowing again!

 

Considering the bad weather we had been having, I was more than a little concerned about our Cheyenne and Ute friends. I had tried to convince them all to come stay in one of the houses until the weather improved, or at the very least Two Birds and her children, but they declined the offer. With the new storm hitting, I was about to ask Cheyenne to send Karl over to check on them, when Padre and Stands Alone showed up at the back door, looking for Cheyenne. He wasn't in a good mood either, the kids were driving him nuts too and then there was the slight little problem of us having determined that Midnight the cat was expecting kittens. Cheyenne had never wanted one cat to begin with, and now there was no telling how many we were going to end up with...he was not happy about it! Add to that the fact we hadn't been spending much time in the indoor water hole...well, hopefully having someone else to talk to for a while might get his mind off of that!

 

So when the two older men showed up, Cheyenne was more than willing to invite them into the den to sit and talk for a while. I was busy trying to deal with all the younger children by myself, all the other women were busy, but I did stop them long enough to express my concern about the youngest members of Stands Alone's family. Padre stopped me though, telling me “I'z makin' sure Two Birds and her younguns are fine, don't you fret bout them. I got it covered.” That kind of made me wonder a little, Two Birds was a very attractive woman, but all the same Padre was old enough to be her father. Well, it was really none of my business, as long as the kids were fine I couldn't really say much.

 

The men had been in there for a while when I happened to be coming downstairs and heard a knock at the front door. Hop Sing was busy in the kitchen so I decided to answer the door, and as I headed that way I heard Stands Alone speaking as I walked by the den. “We must go south, they will need our help,” he said, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I opened the door to find a messenger from the telegraph office in town, he had a telegram that he said was for Cheyenne. After giving the boy a tip, I took the slip of paper in to Cheyenne. He read the message, then looked Stands Alone straight in the eyes and asked him, “Just how in the world do you do that?” Stands Alone wasn't sure what Cheyenne was talking about, and neither did I until Cheyenne handed me the telegram.

 

“Man calling himself Phillips seen in saloon. 6 attacks last 2 weeks. 2 on Golden Aspen. Morning Star says white men pretending to be Arapaho. Townsfolk and ranchers upset. Need assistance,” and it was signed Sheriff Gibson. So that was what Stands Alone was talking about, though I kind of agreed with Cheyenne, how did he always seem to know things he couldn't possibly know? Oh well, I guess it didn't really matter that much, what did matter was that our friends needed our help, and fast.

 

“I have been wanting to visit the Golden Aspen again,” I said, “and I can have the kids all packed and ready to go first thing in the morning.” Cheyenne turned and looked at me, telling me, “Oh no...you are in no condition to be getting involved in this, and I don't think the kids need to go either. Especially in this weather!” Oh...we'd just see about that!!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

We were needed at the Golden Aspen ranch, but Lord help us, in this weather? To make matters worse, Calico was way to close to delivering our next child for her to even begin considering going along. I knew her heart was in the right spot, but Colorado in the winter time was no place for a woman so far along "expecting" for her to consider starting out on such a trek, and with small children no less. And that was not even considering the danger factor from the gunfights that I knew would ensue.

 

I did need her permission for one thing though, the use of her prized Clydesdale horses for the trip. It was a hard three day trip in good weather, but this was winter with snow already on the ground. If the snows got too deep we would need her horses to break through the snow. They would also be pulling wagons with supplies for the trip. Stands Alone and Padre both agreed with me that we couldn't even begin to consider the trip without them.

 

I could see the wheels turning in Calico's head, she was up to something. I just knew that it was going to be a struggle to keep her from going with us.

 

I tried to make a list of the men that would be suited for the trip and the skills that each one would fill. Danny of course would want to go, after all he was still employed there, Biblepuncher for his gun skills and level headedness. Karl of course, he'd be worse than Calico in saying he couldn't go. Prairie Dawg and Crossfire Brown because they already had a lot vested in finding Phillilps. Blackwater because he could fix anything with the wagons and our guns. Of course Stands Alone and Padre, but Eddie wouldn't be going either. There was no way he was leaving the ranch if he and Little Flower were still arguing. I knew knew that Captain Baylor would want in on it too, and I could count on him bringing Smith and Jones with their Sharps as well.

 

I sent Eddie to get word to Captain Baylor of our plans to give him time to ready if indeed he planned to go along. He was also to send a telegram to Denver asking for me to be giving a marshal's credentials. That would sure make our work a lot easier, and keep us out of legal trouble.

 

Things were lining up pretty well, but I knew Calico well enough to know she wasn't done yet.

[Calico Mary]

Oh, the nerve of that man! First telling me I can't go, then asking me if he can take my horses? The baby wasn't due until spring, and although I had to admit the twins were early, Doc said that was because twins usually were. Because of my earlier problems there was a chance I could go into labor early again, but there was just as good of a chance that I would go the full nine months. And then Cheyenne decided it would be a good idea for Doc Eells to go to, they may need a sawbones and the army doctor would need to stay at the fort. He told me that if I or anyone else on the ranch needed medical assistance we could send to town for Doc Adams or Doc Baker.

 

I agreed to let the men take the Clydesdales, as long as they didn't take the pregnant mares, but only because I had to pretend I was going along with the whole thing. I helped Cheyenne get his stuff together, and sent some of the other ladies to help the rest of the men do the same. Captain Baylor didn't waste any time, he sent Eddie back with a message that he and a few of his men would met Cheyenne and the others at the ranch gate at daybreak. Later that afternoon he sent another messenger with a telegram from Denver, a marshal's badge would be waiting for Cheyenne at the sheriff's office in Hugo Springs. All the preparations were coming together, but I was still mad, and Cheyenne knew it. He tried to be extra sweet to me that evening, but I wasn't buying it. I needed him to keep on thinking I was mad about being left behind, so that he wouldn't have a chance to guess that there was no way I was going to let that happen.

 

Cora, Clara, and Ella were in on my plan, and while I kept Cheyenne occupied they got busy with OUR plans. Trunks were packed for us ladies and all the kids, and they also gathered up several warm quilts to take as well. I left my guns where they were for now, we'd have to wait until the last second to grab those so Cheyenne wouldn't notice. The next morning we were up early, to make sure the men that were leaving had a nice hot breakfast before they left. Cheyenne gave all the kids hugs, then came over to kiss me goodbye. I still pretended to be mad, and there was a hurt look in his eyes as he climbed on his stallion to lead the wagons south.

 

As soon as they were out of sight, us ladies sprang into action. Laura went to fetch Eddie, while I sent Sally to get Ike. When the two of them arrived, I told Ike to go hitch up a wagon, he needed to take some of us to town. Ike had a real suspicious look on his face but did as he was told. Then I turned to Eddie, “Ok, son, while we're gone you are in charge. I know you know everything that needs doing around here, and I've sent word to Grumpy that he's to back you up if any of the men want to give you a hard time. In case of an emergency, send a telegram to the Golden Aspen, but I'm sure you'll be just fine.” For a second I thought Eddie was going to argue with me, but then he clamped his mouth shut and just nodded. At least Eddie didn't think I was totally helpless...that was better than nothing, I just wished Cheyenne felt the same.

 

When Ike came back with the wagons, he just about exploded when we insisted that he help get the trunks in the wagon. “I'm not taking you to try and catch up with Cheyenne, he'll skin me alive,” Ike complained, but I just told him to hush. “We're not trying to catch up with the others, silly, like I told you I need you to take us to town. Now quit arguing with me, and help with those trunks.” Ike finally did as he was asked, helping Eddie get the trunks in the wagon. The kids piled in, and I handed the twins to Laura and Sally. Then Cora and I went back inside really quick while the others were bundling the quilts around them, we had to grab our pistols and rifles. I grabbed an extra set of pistols for Clara as well, she had assured me that she knew how to use them if necessary.

 

It didn't take long before we reached town, the Clydesdales had done a good job of making a trail to the gate, and the road to town wasn't in bad shape to begin with. We made the train station in plenty of time, though Ike was still scared that Cheyenne was going to be upset when he found out that Ike had helped us. I told him that I was taking full responsibility, and to not worry about it. After Sally gave him a goodbye kiss I don't think he had anything else on his mind after that, in fact I just hoped he managed to get the wagon back to the ranch in one piece.

 

I didn't like the idea of having to ride the train again, but it was obviously the only way we were going to get to Hugo Springs and from there to the Golden Aspen. The train would take us as far as the town, and then I was positive we could either find someone to give us a ride the rest of the way, or if not we could always send one of the Gibson brothers to the ranch to have Buick send a wagon for us. I knew they'd be more than willing to help, especially if we let them know Cheyenne, Baylor, and the others were on the way. We'd also be there long before Cheyenne and the others, there was no way even my draft horses could make it that distance through the snow as fast as the train would. Now my only concern was how mad Cheyenne would be when he got there....well, and Doc too.....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

We hadn't gone far from the ranch when Karl looked at me and asked, "Are you sure Calico's not hiding in one of the wagons? She sure didn't put up much of a fight to come along with us." I had him an Prairie Dawg take a quick look and neither found a sign of her. I put it out of my mind after that, even Calico wasn't loco enough to try to follow us through this weather.

 

We met Captain Baylor and his men at the gate but he had slightly different plans. He had set it up with the railroad company for the train to stop south of town where we would board it. They would have the extra freight cars for the horses and wagons. He hadn't wanted to board in town in case someone from Philips' gang saw us. This way we could still surprise Philips and anyone riding with him.

 

Gatlin Gunner's eyes got real big when he saw the gatlin gun that Captain Baylor had brought along with him. Before we started out again he had dismounted and examined nearly every inch of the golden beast. He was even going so far as to give us all a lesson on the fire breathing monster. Most of us were yawning before he had finished, most of us were well versed in the ways of the beast, and while we sure liked having one along, we sure weren't drooling over it.

 

We made it to the meeting place long before the train and took the time to unhitch the wagons and get everything ready to board the train. We could see the smoke from the engine coming towards us a while before it got there and were sure happy as the black monster slowed to a stop as it got to our group of fur covered riders.

 

The loading went pretty well as the railroad had sent ramps and anything else we might need to load the wagons and horses. The railroad had also sent a separate passenger car for us and the nearly red hot potbelly stove in it was a welcome sight. We were getting comfortable in that car when Karl told us that he had a funny feeling and was going to check out the other cars before he settled in with us.

 

It wasn't long at all before Karl stepped back into our car and whistled for me to join him. "You ain't going to believe this" was all he said as he pushed me toward the next car. I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to see, but for the life of me ........

[Calico Mary]

By the time we got to the station, we had enough time to buy tickets but not enough to arrange for the private car that we'd used the last time. We would have to ride in one of the regular passenger cars, but the trip would only take the better part of the day, it wasn't like we'd have to sleep on the train. We'd be in Hugo Springs by early evening, and from there it wasn't far to the Golden Aspen. Tommy was so excited he even forgot about having a cold, though I could tell that Rose would probably need a nap at some point. Oh well, as we boarded I saw that there wasn't that many other passengers in that car, there would be room for her to lay down on one of the seats if she got sleepy.

 

The train had only gone a few miles out of town when it started slowing down. Remembering what had happened to us before, Cora and I reached for our pistols, but the conductor quickly came over to tell us not to worry, that a special stop had been arranged for someone in advance, and that we'd be on our way within minutes. That was good to hear, as I sure didn't want any trouble on this trip, I was going to be in enough of it when Cheyenne got to the Golden Aspen. I knew he was going to be furious, but the Golden Aspen had belonged to me, and as far as I was concerned Buick and Morning Star were family, I had as much right to go there and try to help as anyone.

 

As promised, it wasn't long before the train started moving again, and as it did Rose asked me if she could lay down. Ella was nice enough to volunteer to move to the empty seat behind me and Cora and have Rose lay down with her head on Ella's lap, that way she could hold on to Rose if necessary as she slept. As Ella was sitting down behind me, I heard the door at the rear of the car open, but I paid no attention as I thought it was the conductor making his rounds. Then Ella gasped, and she whispered softly, “Calico, don't turn around!” I froze, not knowing what was wrong, and tried to resist the urge to look back. Then the door closed, and Ella blurted out, “We're in trouble now, that was Karl!” I turned around at that point and asked what the heck was she talking about, Karl had gone with Cheyenne....

 

“That was Karl, I saw him, I swear....” Ella started to say as the rear door opened again, and all of a sudden I was looking straight into the eyes of my husband...my very mad husband. Doc was following Cheyenne into the car, and he didn't look at all happy either. “I told you we should have let Tom keep her locked up until after the baby arrives, you should have listened to me,” Doc told Cheyenne, and I could tell that for once Cheyenne looked as if he agreed with the physician.

 

Cheyenne stalked over to where I was sitting, and stared down at me, declaring “Just where do you think you're going? And the kids too? I know I have no right to tell Cora, Clara, and Ella what they can or can't do, but you and the children are getting off this train in Denver and going right back home, and that's all there is to it! Are you crazy, trying to pull a stunt like this?”

 

He wasn't supposed to have found out about this until we were already at the Golden Aspen, when it would be too late for him to send us back home. Although I may have been crazy, I also wasn't stupid, and I knew just what was important to him. So I scooted over on the seat, pulled him down next to me, and whispered in his ear, “Morning Star told me in her last letter that she got Buick to follow our lead and put in an indoor water hole behind their house too. Now are you sure you don't want me to go with you?” I followed that up with several kisses, and it wasn't long before I saw in his eyes that he was about to change his mind about sending us back home...

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I was soooo right, except I hadn't expected to see the children with Calico. The other ladies? Well, they were big girls and I sure wasn't about to wade into that at all. I knew Calico well enough that I knew she wasn't going to go back to the ranch, and if I insisted on it then I would pay dearly for it. But, I didn't have to let her know that, yet!

 

I looked into her eyes, I would have sworn I was looking into the eyes of a puppy who had been caught doing something wrong. It was all that I could do to keep from laughing out loud as I tried to look mad as I peered into those pitiful eyes. I held on for as long as I could, and the longer I did the more promises Calico was making. I finally "reluctantly" agreed not to send her back to the ranch, though the children would have to stay in Denver with the Winchesters. I would not have been able to live with myself if they would have been hurt going on with us.

 

It felt like years before when Calico and I had ridden with the cattle drive, a new adventure almost every day. I sat with her for a short time before I told her and the other ladies, and children to join us in the car with the rest of the men. The women got plenty of attention as they entered the car, although the attention Cora got from Biblepuncher wasn't any warmer than the one I had given Calico. For once, I was the one that acted as the one with reason and managed to calm him down before he said anything he would have paid for later.

 

We got to Denver a short time later and Cora took the children to her parent's home and returned just in time to reboard the train. None of the rest of us left the train except Danny, and we kept the shades on the windows drawn as well. We weren't far from our destination and the element of surprise was still important to maintain. Danny had taken a quick trip to the saloon to see if he could garner any news of the attacks. There was talk of the attacks, but just that talk, no bragging or even anyone acting like they knew anything.

 

Once we started pulling out of Denver Captain Baylor went to the freight cars to make sure the men in them were ready in case of an attack on the train, which included positioning the gatlin gun in the doorway of the freight car it was in. I took men forward and positioned them among passengers. We did get some strange looks, but we explained that we had heard of the attacks south of Denver and this was just a precaution.

 

After everything was taken care of I went back to sit next to Calico again, I was pretty sure she was still wanting to make sure I knew how much she appreciated not making her stay behind, and I was most willing to let her.

[Calico Mary]

I sure dodged a bullet on that one, good thing I knew how to get Cheyenne to cooperate with me. I wasn't happy about him insisting that the children stay in Denver, but I knew that I needed to compromise unless I wanted all of us to be sent home. I did tell Cora to let Jim and Bea know that if we solved the “problem” of the attacks soon enough that I would want them to send the kids down afterward. Laura and Sally were old enough to get the younger ones to Hugo Springs, if the Winchesters put them on the train. I wanted the kids to see the ranch where I grew up, though Cheyenne did have a point in wanting to wait until we were sure it was safe.

 

We reached Hugo Springs in the late afternoon, and Deputy Gibson was waiting for us at the station thanks to Captain Baylor having sent a telegram from the train station in Denver. He had brought a buggy for us ladies, Cheyenne and the men had the horses and wagons they'd left the ranch with, and our luggage was quickly loaded into one of the wagons as well. Thankfully the snow down here wasn't as bad as it was up north, and it didn't take too long to reach the Golden Aspen. It was still pretty chilly though, and even with the quilts I was starting to get cold by the time we got there. Thankfully there was a nice fire going in the main room of the ranch house, which had been expanded and improved since we had been there before. They now had 4 bedrooms as well as the loft upstairs, a larger main room, and a separate dining room off the kitchen. Cheyenne and I would use one bedroom, Clara and Cora would share a room, and Ella volunteered to sleep in Libby's room with the toddler. All the men would stay in the loft, except Danny who wanted to stay in the bunkhouse with the other hands.

 

Morning Star was even further along in her pregnancy than I was, so Cora, Clara, and Ella offered to do the cooking while we were there to spare her the extra work. We were kind of surprised to find out we were not their only guests, Chief Hosa had arrived as well earlier that same day. I was a little worried about that until Deputy Gibson explained that his brother had sent a telegram to the indian agent in charge of the reservation down in Indian Territory, asking that Hosa be allowed to come visit his daughter, and possibly help figure out who was behind the attacks. After hearing all the details that the Sheriff had provided, Hosa agreed with his daughter, it was not the work of real Arapaho braves. We knew then that it had to be Phillips, but what was he up to now? There weren't any army posts near here, unless he was trying to draw the troops away from any of the forts farther away....

 

Buick graciously offered to fill their new “indoor water hole” with nice hot water for me, so that I could warm up. The trip down here on the train was harder on me than I was willing to admit, I didn't want to give Cheyenne a chance to say 'I told you so' but I was looking forward to soaking my aching back. Cheyenne of course had to come along, which was fine with me, but Buick just grinned and told us not to be late for dinner. He seemed really happy to see us, and so did Morning Star. After dinner the four of us sat in the main room talking about old times pretty much the whole evening. The other ladies sat with us, occasionally shaking their heads for some strange reason. The other men all sat in the dining room, going over what had been happening in the area and making tentative plans for getting the bottom of the attacks. It turned out that Hosa and Stands Alone knew each other, though they hadn't seen each other in years. Padre acted as interpreter between them and the white men, allowing Cheyenne to spend the evening with me and our friends, Baylor would fill him in later.

 

It finally got late enough to where we were all yawning our heads off, the day had started pretty early. We all went to our rooms, and Cheyenne and I started getting ready for bed. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. Then he leaned close and whispered, “I am kind of glad you're with me, I have to admit this is nicer than getting stuck up in the loft with the other men....” I was just about to let him know how much I appreciated him not sending me home, when we heard the sound of gunfire erupting a little ways away from beyond the bunkhouse.....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Somebody was going to get scalped tonight! Dang it anyway! Calico nearly drew blood as she jerked from the sound of the gunfire, I was upset but she had fire in her eyes!

 

We grabbed what buckskins we needed and our guns and then nearly got trampled by the men jumping down from the loft. We quickly doused the lights before going outside and waited until our eyes got accustomed to the dark. We didn't draw any fire as we exited the house but we could see flashes from the gunfire that was hitting the bunkhouse. We split up into three groups, two would circle in opposite directions and my group went straight at the flashes. i tried to get Calico to stay behind but i really knew better than to even try, but she did promise to stay close behind me.

 

We made to to the barn without drawing fire and then we waited for the other two groups to open fire. As we waited I felt Calico's warm breath on my neck as she whispered how glad she was that I hadn't sent her home. She said she was having almost as much fun as when we were on the cattle drive.

 

Just as she was starting to get friendly again the other two groups opened up on the men responsible for the gunfire directed towards the buckhouse. Then the men in the bunkhouse came boiling out of door like a bunch of hornets looking for someone to attack. The men opened up in the direction of the fire that had been directed at them but almost immediately those flashes quit and the sound of horses running was heard. We converged on the spot that the attack had come from and found three dead white men who had tried to pass as Navaho braves.

 

We found where their horses had been tied and found the tracks in the snow of four horses that had left. We split up into two groups then, one to stay behind at the ranch and one to go after those who had gotten away. This time Calico did have to stay behind, she couldn't ride hard enough to keep up and a buggy or wagon was out of the question.

 

Captain Baylor and half of his men would go with me and the men from the ranch to try to catch up to the men who had gotten away. I leaned down to kiss Calico and she nearly pulled me off of the stallion. The men got a good laugh from that and after they quit laughing we took off. Tracking was easy with snow on the ground, and with Chief Hosa and Stands Alone leading the way it didn't take long before we could see four riders up ahead in the moonlight. We pushed on at a full run and as we got closer to the four riders ahead of us we spread out in one wide line of riders hell bent on running those in front of us down. We really wanted to take them all alive and held our fire hoping to come up along side the fleeing men and try to knock them from their mounts if we could. Those in front of us didn't break apart as we hoped but stayed tightly together and as we neared they turned in their saddles and fired on us. I heard the whistling of bullets and then we opened up on them. Within seconds the four were spread out on the ground staining the snow with their blood.

 

We dismounted and quickly checked them over,hoping to find one still alive and to see if Phillips was among them. He wasn't but one of the men was still alive with a wound in his shoulder. We packed the man's wound to stop the bleeding, tied the other three on their horses and turned to return to the Golden Aspen.

[Calico Mary]

I wasn't surprised to find out that our attackers were white men, just really disappointed. I wasn't disappointed that we'd gotten three of them, but I wasn't happy that Cheyenne insisted I stay behind while he and Baylor led a posse to chase down the rest. Oh, he was right, but I still didn't like the idea of having to go back to the house. At least Buick insisted that not everyone go with the posse, he felt that the attack might not be completely over, and didn't want to leave the women and Libby unprotected. That made me feel a little better, at least I wouldn't be the only one not going along.

 

Cheyenne, Baylor, half the soldiers, and the rest of the men from the Culpepper ranch saddled up quickly and got ready to go. Danny and one of the Golden Aspen hands, Red, would go with them as well since they knew the area better than any of the others. I gave Cheyenne a big kiss before he left, I had to do something to make up for the fact we'd gotten interrupted. Buick and I started back to the house along with the rest of the soldiers, the other hands went back to the bunkhouse to start boarding up the windows that had been broken out. As we were got close to the house Sadie came out on the porch and hollered at Buick to hurry.

 

He took off running towards the house, and I followed as fast as I could. As I got inside Cora told me that as soon as the shooting had stopped, she'd had to run and get Sadie, Morning Star was going into labor. Not great timing on her part, but I supposed she couldn't help it. I asked if there was anything I could do to help, but Sadie just shook her head and told me not just yet, maybe later. The soldiers were heading back up to the loft to get out of everyone's way when we heard the sound of gunfire again, but this time it must have been directed at the house, as one of the front windows shattered. Oh great, there were more of those idiots out there, and now was not a good time for this!

 

Buick and Morning Star's bedroom was at the front of the house, obviously not a good place for her right now, so Sadie and Buick quickly helped her move to the guest room at the back of the house that me and Cheyenne had been in. There was no way she could make it up to the loft in her condition, we just had to make sure that none of the attackers got around to the back of the house. Having the bluff back there sure help for that, and several of the soldiers positioned themselves at side windows to make sure no one could get around there. The remaining soldier joined me, Buick, Cora, and Blackjack in the front room, and we returned the gunfire as quickly as we could.

 

The hands in the bunkhouse were stuck in there, it would be too dangerous for them to try and get to the house. We heard cussing as well as gunfire from that direction, they'd had to shoot out more of their own windows to take part in the battle. Obviously they weren't happy about having more of them to fix, but if they didn't it would get awfully cold in there. None of us were sure if we were hitting anything, it was still really dark out and even though we aimed at the flashes we saw, we knew that the attackers were hiding behind the barn and several wagons and buggies parked over there. At one point Blackjack asked if we thought that Cheyenne and the others might hear the noise and come back to help, but none of us really had an answer for that.

 

We were beginning to think we wouldn't have much luck until daybreak, when Sadie called out to Buick, “Get in here...now!” Clara quickly came out to take his place, Morning Star needed him more than we did right now, but although I had made sure she knew how to handle a pistol she admitted she'd never been in a battle before. “If I don't make it through this, can you make sure to tell Grizz that I really do care about him?” she asked me, pale as a ghost and shaking a little. I just smiled and told her not to worry too much, we'd make sure she'd get the chance to tell him that herself....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

It was close to morning as we neared the ranch and as we got closer we heard gunfire. I quickly asked Chief Hosa and Stands Alone to attend to our prisoner with hopes that the two of them would be able to get something out of him.

 

Captain Baylor and his men would circle around and come in from the north and when in position would sound charge. Our thinking was that whoever it was that was attacking the ranch would retreat in our direction. It wasn't long after that that we heard the bugle call for charge and this time we figured it right. The gunfire subsided at the ranch and immediately we saw riders coming towards us at a dead run. We waited until we could see the whites of their eyes before we opened up on them. We all had our Winchesters along with a few shotguns and not one of the so called renegades made it past us. We did manage to capture one more of them that had been thrown from his horse, the man was almost pitiful in his fear. I was confident we would be able to learn something from him.

 

We rode into the ranch and had a wagon sent to pick up the dead renegades, and as we neared the house we heard the cries of a newborn child resonating from the house. Calico was already out the door and headed for me and Clara was close behind her. I had to give Clara the news that Grizz had been shot, twice. Once in the buttocks and one had grazed his belly. Clara turned pale with the news but then she saw Grizz come limping out of the barn, one hand holding his rearend and the other holding his ample belly.

 

Doc was already setting up to work on Grizz as Clara grabbed him and laid a kiss on him that would have rivaled one of Calico's for me. Doc hollered for Grizz to get to the bunkhouse so that he could work on him and Clara never left his side as the two of them disappeared into the doorway. We did hear Grizz grunt and let out some horrific screams but they didn't last long.

[Calico Mary]

Just as we heard the sound of a baby crying, we also heard a bugle and more gunfire coming from the north. It was only seconds before no more bullets were hitting the house, our attackers were obviously running from Baylor and his men. Before long we heard more gunfire and screams, someone had been injured. I quickly relieved Clara of her pistols, poor woman was really shaken, but other than that she had come through just fine. I remembered the first time I had to help my father defend the Golden Aspen, and how upsetting it was, so I gave her a big hug and then asked Cora to start a pot of tea, that might help Clara calm down.

 

Before we had a chance to drink any of it, the men returned, and I ran out to make sure Cheyenne was ok. Clara was right behind me at first, but she quickly passed me by when Cheyenne called out that Grizz had been injured. She helped Doc get him into the bunkhouse to be treated. Cheyenne didn't think Grizz's wounds were too bad, but there was a bullet in his backside that would have to be removed. I thought about volunteering to help Doc, but Clara wouldn't hear of it, she insisted that she was fine now and could handle it, so instead I went to tell Chief Hosa that he was a grandfather again.

 

"Boy or girl?" he asked, but I had to admit that I didn't know yet. Just then Buick came out on the porch carrying a blanket wrapped bundle, and called out to Hosa, "Come meet your grandson!" Hosa smiled wider than I had ever seen him do before, I could tell he was thrilled. He hurried to the house, motioning to Buick to take the baby back inside as he went. They disappeared into the house as Baylor came over to talk to me and Cheyenne.

 

"Do you think he'll be in there long? I was hoping to let him and Stands Alone help with the interrogation of the prisoners, that could make it more interesting as well as informative...." Baylor asked. I shook my head, telling the captain, "I don't know, but let the man enjoy this, he wasn't able to be here when Libby was born. Padre could probably give Stands Alone a hand, I know I sure wouldn't want Padre mad at me! But are you sure it's legal for you to let them have free reign to torture the prisoners if they won't talk?"

 

"Do I really care? As long as it works...." was the captain's reply, and he winked at us as he walked towards Padre to request his help. Cheyenne headed to the barn where the prisoners had been taken, I went back to the house to wait. As I went I noticed that Ella was talking to Danny over in by the bunkhouse, and I hoped no one had the nerve to interrupt the two of them, it looked like a very private conversation, but both of them were smiling. A good sign, I sure hoped that it meant the two of them were getting together, they made a nice couple and Danny deserved to be happy.

 

Buick had let me hold the baby, and he told Cora and I that the baby would be named David Paul MacKane Jr, which was a bit of a shock to me as I had never known that was Buick's real name. After a while Clara came back to the house as well, telling us that Grizz was going to be just fine. Doc had gotten the bullet out, it hadn't been very deep, and although Grizz would be sitting gingerly for a while it should eventually heal just fine. The other bullet had just grazed his belly, didn't even need stitches, just a good cleaning, which was why we had heard him screaming. I guess whiskey really stings!

 

It was over an hour before Cheyenne came back to the house, the prisoners had done a better job of resisting the interrogation than anyone would have thought they would. But eventually they gave in, and offered up the fact that Phillips and the rest of his men were hiding in a cave in the foothills west of Colorado City, just north of Pikes Peak. That was quite a ways from here, but someone would have to go try to find the monsters, this wasn't over just yet. Baylor and his men certainly would go, but they would need more help. I kept my mouth shut during that discussion. I knew there was no way I could go, but I didn't really want Cheyenne going and leaving me alone here either. Still, it was his choice, I'd just have to accept his decision, whatever it turned out to be....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Go after Phillips and his crew up in the mountains in the winter with Captain Baylor and the army, or go back home to the ranch with Calico? Hmmm, the only thing that made me even question going home with Calico was the fact that Phillips was trying to place blame on the tribes in the area for his attacks.

 

I suggested to Captain Baylor to enlist Chief Hosa and his tribe to help go after Phillips, I had more important responsibilities at the moment. A wife that should be in the safe confines of her own home. I knew that I took almost everyone by surprise when I announced that, but that was what my heart was telling me to do, and Calico nibbling at my ear didn't hurt in my decision making.

 

Captain Baylor was disappointed by my announcement but he insured me that he understood completely and if he had it to do over he may have done a few things differently. I offered the two freight wagons to him and what supplies we hadn't already used and Buick offered to give him a deal on horses that he may need to continue.

 

We did offer to transport the prisoners back to Denver at the fort there to be held until their trials. While Chief Hosa and Padre were going to continue on with Captain Baylor, I was looking forward to the chance to interrogate the prisoners along with help from Stands Alone and Karl. It just might get pretty cold for them walking back to Hugo Springs without coats or boots. Who knew, they might even think of something they hadn't told us yet.