Dreams of the Golden Aspen Ranch

[Calico Mary]

After Skipper and Schoolmarm were done cleaning up the baby, they let me nurse her then they took her downstairs so that I could rest. When the twins were born, it took pretty much the whole day, this time it was over in less than 45 minutes, but I was still exhausted. Man did that ever hurt....and yet Cheyenne was already talking about me doing it again? He deserved those bite marks, he oughta try giving birth some time and then see how anxious he was to repeat the experience.

 

As I was nursing her, I thought about how much different it had been this time. I wasn't expecting it to happen that fast, if I had known that might happen I would have told Doc to have someone else pick up his supplies, and I wouldn't have let him off the ranch. Of course, he couldn't have known he was going to get stuck in town, he'd only planned to be gone a few hours. I was sure glad Cheyenne was around though, I don't know what I'd have done had I been totally alone. I'd have to remember to thank Biblepuncher for getting Cheyenne so fast and the ladies as well, with his leg hurting that couldn't have been easy on him.

 

We had another daughter....I wasn't prepared for that. In my dreams Lives Again had told me the child would be a boy, and I hadn't thought for a second that she could have been wrong, I'd spent almost the entire pregnancy planning for another son. Oh well, Cheyenne didn't seem to be disappointed, and I was just thankful that the little girl in my arms appeared to be perfectly healthy, no sign that my early problems had affected her. While Mathew resembled me and Sarah looked like Cheyenne, this one was a combination of both of us. She had my fair skin and blue eyes, but a full head of thick black hair and her daddy's high cheekbones. She'd be a beauty when she got a bit older, Cheyenne would have his hands full with all the suitors both Sarah and this one would have down the road.

 

She needed a name, but I was too tired to even think about it. Since I had been sure the baby would be a boy, the only name I had thought about was Karl, but that would definitely not do for a girl. Remembering how I had named the twins, I decided I'd let Cheyenne have the honor this time. I'd talk to him about it in the morning, after I got some sleep. The morning...oh yeah, it was the twins' birthday, I'd have to ask if anyone had remembered to look at a clock to see if this one had been born before or after midnight, and would therefore have the same birthday as her siblings. I knew it was close, but I'd been too preoccupied with trying not to scream to think about that at the time. I hadn't heard a peep out of the twins, but if I had waken them up I probably wouldn't have heard it anyway. Hopefully one of the ladies would remember to check on them just in case.

 

It was still dark out but starting to get a little lighter when I felt a hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me awake. It was Cheyenne, holding our little bundle of joy in his arms, and he quietly told me, “She's hungry, I know you're probably still tired but there's not much I can do about this...” I smiled, and started rearranging the pillows so that I could sit up and feed her. “Have you been up all night with her?” I asked him, and he nodded. “We were just getting acquainted, and she's been an angel the whole time. I am about ready for a nap though.” I didn't blame him, and after he put her in my arms he stretched out next to me to watch. It wasn't long before his eyes started closing, and I wasn't surprised when he fell asleep. I didn't mind, he needed at least a little sleep before going to check on the horses, I could tell that it was still snowing so I doubted the others would be coming back any time soon. Prairie Dawg and Blackwater would need Cheyenne's help it came time to feed the stock, he could rest until then. For the meantime, I was perfectly happy to sit quietly with my daughter, and look forward to the twins' birthday celebration we had planned for that night.

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I slept like a log after giving the baby to Calico to nurse. I don't remember even rolling over before Calico gently brought me back from my sleep. i had to look around to even remember where i was, but as I saw Calico holding our little bundle all of the cobwebs were instantly cleared from my mind.

 

Calico looked down at me with those deep blue eyes and asked me what i wanted to name our new arrival. I had no clue! We had been so sure that a boy child was coming that i hadn't even considered any feminine names. I thought about Eve, but then this was the second female to grace our family, not the first. But Sarah now had a sister, Ruth! Yes, that was it. Ruth Calico Culpepper.

 

We talked for a little while about our growing family and about the bite marks on my arm, now a deep blue circle. I told Calico that I had just been kidding but I had to yank back my other arm to keep from having it match the first.

 

I opened the drapes and saw that the snow was falling as hard as it was the night before. No one would be returning from town today, if they had any sense, that is. I had done something that stupid before and was hoping that all those in town were at least as smart as I was now.

 

Skipper brought up lunch for Calico and seeing that I was awake offered to bring mine up to our room also. I wasn't in much of a mood to deal with the snow just yet and having lunch with Calico sounded like a right fine idea. As I was eating Biblepuncher, Blackwater and Prairie Dawg all came up to see the newest Culpepper. You wouldn't have expected that any one of these three could act so silly, much less all three of them at the same time. The funny faces and silly talk was cracking everyone up, except little Ruth. She of course had no clue about what was going on except where her next meal was coming from.

 

The three men had already fed the livestock so all of us just took up in our room and kept feeding the fireplace in it to keep comfortably warm. When Calico announced she was growing weary Skipper took Ruth and all us except Calico headed for the den. We stoked up the fireplace there and started toasting to Ruth Calico Culpepper, the newest of the Culpeppers. Skipper and Schoolmarm were to only two that could walk or talk straight before long. But how many times in your life do you get to toast the birth of your second born daughter? And, I must say we did it properly!

 

Before long Blackwater started singing song he had learned in New Orleans and waking sounds I never heard before and words that made no sense whatsoever.

[Calico Mary]

I was rather disappointed before lunch when we realized that even if the snow stopped immediately, the rest of the family probably would still be stuck in town a while. My Clydesdales had been used to pull all three wagons that they'd used, but depending on how deep the snow was even the huge draft horses might have a hard time getting through it, much less the wagons themselves. And no sense risking the riding horses either, spring storms hit really hard but generally once they were over it didn't take long for the sun to come out and start melting the snow. The twins' party would have to wait, since the older kids needed to be here for that, but then again Mathew and Sarah were too young to really understand what day it was anyway. Tommy and Rose did and were a little disappointed about having to postpone it too, but they did understand the need to wait for Eddie and the girls.

 

Tommy and Rose had come to my and Cheyenne's bedroom that morning while he was napping. I saw them poking their heads through the doorway, trying to get a look at the baby. After holding a finger to my lips to warn them to be quiet, I motioned to them to come on in, they wanted to meet their newest sister. By then the baby was asleep in my arms, so I told them they'd have to wait a little while before they could hold her, but that I'd make sure they got to at some point that day. Rose was fascinated with the baby, and could hardly keep from squealing about how cute she was. Tommy whispered in my ear, “It's gonna be a while before we can play with her, huh?” I nodded, and he said “Oh well, I guess she's still cute anyway....”, and I struggled not to laugh. Tommy was really good about playing with Rose and the twins, I couldn't blame him for not being too excited about a baby that couldn't do much yet.

 

After Cheyenne and I had eaten lunch, I nursed little Ruth again, that was a lovely name that Cheyenne had chosen. I was kind of embarrassed that he wanted to use Calico as her middle name, but he just laughed and told me I deserved it, after all I'd been through to bring her into our family. Then the men came to visit, it was funny to see how silly grown men could act, especially when I asked if they wanted to hold her. Blackwater and Prairie Dawg's eyes got all wide, and they looked terrified at the idea, but Biblepuncher was all for it. He seemed to know how to hold a baby, and gently took Ruth from my arms and had a huge grin on his face the entire time. “I have christened a couple of these, you know, had to learn how to pick em' up to do my job,” he told us, “I'm hoping it won't be too long before I get to hold one of my own, Cora already said she wants a family, so I better get some more practice in.”

 

After a while I could hardly keep my eyes open, so the others excused themselves to go downstairs so I could get a nap. I knew it would be a few months at least before I would be able to get a good night's sleep again, my rest would have to come in short naps when I could get them. Skipper was taking good care of Ruth, and Schoolmarm was watching the other four, so I did manage to get a few hours of rest which really helped. I was finally awakened by a very strange noise coming up from downstairs though, it sounded vaguely like Blackwater but usually he was a much better singer than that! I decided I had better see what was going on, so I threw on a dressing gown and went to investigate. Everyone was in the den, and as soon as I walked in I could tell that the men had been celebrating, either with the good whiskey or maybe that rum that Tyrel had brought. At least Skipper and Schoolmarm had better sense, when I came in Skipper gave the baby to me and said she'd go start some dinner for us all.

 

Little Ruth wanted her dinner too, so I got ready to start nursing her...I never realized those men could blush that much! Just how did they expect me to feed her? Cheyenne just sat there and laughed so hard I thought he was gonna fall off his chair, just how much had that man had to drink? If he woke up with a hangover the next day it was no one's fault but his own, but in a way I was a little jealous. Not enough to actually have any liquor myself, Doc had made sure I knew better than that, but a glass or two of wine sure sounded good. I was feeling better but I knew I still had to take it easy for a while, and behave myself. Cheyenne would have to behave himself too, and I made sure to remind him of that when I saw him staring at me with that all too familiar look in his eyes.

 

“Don't you worry none, Calico honey, Doc already threatened Cheyenne that he was gonna turn that indoor water hole into an herb garden,” Prairie Dawg informed me. Blackwater spoke up, “Yeah, and have ole Grizz put some more catfish into all the other ones as well!” Over the laughter coming from the other men I heard Cheyenne grumbling, “He dang well better not!” It was my turn to blush, but I was laughing as well, at least until I heard a voice pipe up from the other side of the room. “Why does Doc Eells hafta ruin all the water holes?” we all heard Rose ask, and Cheyenne's eyes just about popped out of his head. The men had forgotten that the other four children were sitting on the floor behind one of the couches, quietly playing. I hadn't realized they were there, I figured they were playing up in the nursery.

 

Oh, the look on Cheyenne's face when he heard Rose's question was priceless! I was having a hard time trying not to laugh so much, Ruth was still trying to nurse and didn't appreciate momma not holding still. “Well...uh....you see...um....well.....” Cheyenne had never been at a loss for words this badly in his life. I don't think he would have minded the question so much if Tommy had asked it, but since it was Rose, Cheyenne was really squirming. I finally had to come to his rescue, and simply told the girl that it was just a joke, that Doc wasn't going to do anything to the water holes. That satisfied the child's curiosity just fine, and she went back to playing with the twins.

 

Cheyenne quickly moved over next to me on the couch and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for coming to my rescue, I wouldn't have thought to tell her that,” he whispered. “Yer welcome,” I told him, “and I won't let Doc do anything to the water holes....but you still have to behave yourself for quite a while. I know you still wouldn't mind another son...but we're not even gonna think about trying for one anytime soon!” For a few seconds there I really did think Cheyenne was gonna cry....

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Doc! If he wasn't such a friend I would run his butt all the way to New York City if he did anything to our waterhole! How long had the kids been playing behind the couch? Dang it anyway!

 

Just before supper was served the sun shone through the windows and the warmth from the rays were a welcome feeling to all of us. Perhaps everyone that had gone to town for the dance would be able to return tomorrow. Doc? He was going to hear about taking off and that I had to deliver Ruth. I needed some kind of leverage to get him to back off over his complaints about us using the waterhole so often. Though, truth be told, I don't know if that would make a difference anyway!

 

After supper us men went out to check on the livestock, everything seemed fine until we spotted footprints in the snow leading into a barn. We all looked at each other and talked about it for a minute. We had all been in the house all day, and no one else was around, that we knew of anyway.

 

None of us was armed, we didn't think there would be a need to be. I slipped into the barn first and hadn't taken but a step or two when I felt something pierce my leg, I spun around to see a young man holding a pitchfork that was still sticking into my leg. Prairie Dawg was through the door in a flash and with one clean hit to the young mans jaw sent him flying head over heels. Biblepuncher and Blackwater followed Dawg into the barn and while Dawg pulled the pitchfork from my leg, Blackwater grabbed the youngun and Bilbepuncher searched the barn trying to find any accomplices. He found none, and with Praire Dawg helping me, all of us started back to the house, with Blackwater and Biblepuncher leading the young man .

 

We got into the house and I took a seat in the dining room, trying to keep the blood running down my leg from getting on any of the wool rugs we had. Blackwater pushed the young man down into a chair and told him if he was smart he wouldn't move, unless he wanted to bleed worse than what I was.

 

Fortunately Calico had gone back upstairs before we came back, she sure didn't need to see my blood now. I stood up and slipped off my buckskins so that Skipper could clean the wound and pack the two holes in my leg to try to stop the bleeding. Skipper was kneeling at my side when Calico decided to come downstairs again. "You sure couldn't wait very long could you?" Calico said laughing. I let out a deep sigh of relief, I was afraid she was going to jump to the wrong conclusion!

 

"What happened to you?" Calico asked as she reached the bottom stair. "Ask him" I told her and pointed at the young man sitting nervously in a chair. "Well?" Calico asked him, "just what in the world is going on here?"

[Calico Mary]

The men had gone out to check the horses, and us ladies had moved to the parlor for a while. At one point I had to go upstairs to get a clean diaper for Ruth, she needed changing. As I was coming out of the nursery to head back down, I heard the men come back in. I also heard what sounded like angry voices, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. As I came down the stairs I could see into the dining room, and saw Cheyenne standing there with his pants off, and Skipper kneeling down next to him, just what the heck was going on here?

 

Then I noticed the two puncture wounds in his leg, and the jar of salve in Skipper's hand, how in the world did he hurt himself this time? I asked him that as I reached the bottom of the stairs, and he just pointed further into the room, saying “Ask him.” I walked into the room and noticed a young man, a teenager really, sitting in a chair with Blackwater and Prairie Dawg standing over him. "Well? Just what in the world is going on here?" I asked, but the kid did not answer, Prairie Dawg had to tell me what happened. The teen's eyes were round as saucers, and he looked terrified. Blackwater gave the boy a bit of a smack on the back of his head, and growled, “Answer the lady, she asked you a question!” The boy ducked his head a little, looking even more scared, but then again Blackwater could be more than a little intimidating if you didn't know him. The boy turned back to me, and started babbling something, but all of us just looked at each other, we couldn't understand a word of it.

 

It wasn't English, and I knew it wasn't any of the Plains tribe languages either. He certainly didn't look indian anyway, he had sandy blond hair, sky blue eyes, and skin every bit as pale as mine. No, he was definitely white, no question about that. But what in the world was he saying? Biblepuncher limped over so he was standing right in front of the boy, and inquired, “Do you speak any English, son?” The boy didn't look any more comfortable facing the preacher, but didn't react, either he was a good actor or he really didn't speak the language. Oh great, we couldn't communicate with him? How were we going to find out what he was doing in our barn, and why he had stabbed Cheyenne? He couldn't have been more than 14 or 15, was he out here all alone? Where was his family, and what was he doing out in that blizzard? The mystery was driving me crazy, but with the obvious language barrier we'd have to wait until we could figure out a way past that before we got any explanation.

 

Skipper was finally finished treating Cheyenne's leg, and told him, “That should hold you until Doc gets back and can take a look, just make sure you put more salve on it later.” Then she offered to go change Ruth while Cheyenne put his pants back on. He was obviously still very mad, but I had the feeling that the boy had attacked him more out of fear than any desire to hurt him. Still, until we got this whole thing figured out he would need to be under constant guard, and the four men started planning a rotating schedule for just that. I volunteered to take a turn, but Cheyenne wouldn't hear of it, telling me I needed to concentrate on resting and taking care of Ruth.

 

Hopefully the others would be back from town soon, and Doc could take care of Cheyenne's leg. Then maybe someone could either take the boy to town to find someone to translate, or at least find someone who could come to the ranch to do just that. Until then, it looked like we had a guest for the time being, but I did insist that he be treated decently, and given a good meal and a place to sleep. Schoolmarm brought the boy a plate, and he didn't hesitate to devour every morsel. That convinced me that he most likely was out here all alone, but how and why?

 

As soon as Skipper was done with Ruth, Cheyenne insisted that I take the baby upstairs and get some sleep if I could. He promised that the teen would not come to any harm as long as he didn't do anything stupid, and I had to settle for that. I just hoped that we would be able to find someone able to talk with him, and find out just how in the world he'd ended up in our barn!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Calico took Ruth upstairs to nurse her and then put her down for a nap. Meanwhile the rest of us tried to figure out this boy sitting in front of us. Prairie Dawg and Schoolmarm started throwing ideas at each other, either agreeing with each other or not while trying to come up with a strategy to reach out to the boy.

 

I studied the boy as the others talked among themselves. First off, he was young, maybe fifteen at most, extremely fair with blue eyes and light sand colored hair. His hands were smooth, but after getting him to remove his coat, bruises were numerous on his person. His eyes were still filled with fear, even though we backed off and started to treat him for what he was, a scared boy, all alone, in an unfamiliar place. I guess I would have been scared too, especially in a room with someone that I had just stuck a pitchfork into.

 

We couldn't understand him, except for the fact that he ate like a bear in the river during a salmon run. While he was eating Prairie Dawg had gone to our school house and retrieve some of the books there, all on languages of Europe. We skipped over the Spanish book, it was obvious that wasn't his tongue. French? Parly vo francious? nope that wasn't it. Sprechin sie Deutsch? Ya voh . At last, we were getting somewhere, where we didn't know for sure, but it was a step.

 

We all sat around the table and first tried to think of where a German family lived in the area. There was a new blacksmith in town, name of Schmitt. Schoolmarm looked at the boy, who was know showing some interest in us, and asked him, "Schmitt?" He shook his head yes and then said, "Wilhilm" and pointed at himself, and then said again, "Willy".

 

Ok, so we were getting somewhere, our young lad was a German named Willy. I rolled my eyes as I thought, "Just what we need on the ranch, another teenage boy."

[Calico Mary]

The next morning I got up early with Ruth, then headed downstairs to see about starting breakfast. Just about the time I had some pancakes and eggs ready Biblepuncher came into the kitchen leading the teen that had been hiding in our barn. I set a big plate of food on the table and motioned the boy to start eating. I offered some to Biblepuncher, but he just looked away, and muttered something about not being hungry yet, and that he'd wait for Skipper. At least the boy didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with the food I'd prepared, he was chowing down like he hadn't eaten in weeks, even though we'd fed him the night before.

 

Biblepuncher found that rather strange, but if the boy was that hungry he was welcome to eat all he wanted. The preacher started telling me what little they'd managed to learn about him the previous evening, starting with the boy's name, Willy, and that the language he was speaking was German. I tried to think if anyone on the ranch spoke it, but I wasn't too sure, if anyone did I wasn't aware of it. Then Biblepuncher told me something that made my blood boil, that when the boy had first taken his coat off the night before, the sleeves on his shirt had been rolled up and his arms were covered in bruises. I doubted Willy had gotten them by hiding in our barn, most likely someone had caused them intentionally. Was that why he had taken refuge here? I was more determined than ever to get some answers somehow.

 

Everyone else started showing up for breakfast, but the only one interested in eating what I had cooked was Tommy. The rest all wanted Skipper to take over for me, but I felt a little better when I heard Tommy lean over and whisper to Cheyenne, “Momma's cooking IS getting better, it's not that bad anymore.” “Thank you Tommy,” I told him, “It's nice that someone is willing to give me a second chance!” The others just laughed, but Willy gestured towards the food, obviously asking for another helping, which I indicated he was welcome to have. “I'm going to go up and see if I can find some of Eddie's old clothes for Willy, what he has on doesn't seem to be in very good shape,” I told Cheyenne, and he nodded for me to go ahead.

 

The rest of the day Willy followed Cheyenne and the other men around like a little puppy. Although he couldn't understand what they were saying, when the men went around to all the barns to feed the horses, Willy watched what they were doing for a few minutes then pitched in to help. That was greatly appreciated, as both Cheyenne and Biblepuncher weren't walking all that well. Willy ate quite a bit at lunch too, then helped wash the dishes, and after that brought in enough firewood to restock all the fireplaces in the house. Then he made it clear that he wanted to know what he should do next, but we really didn't have any other chores for him at that point. We were in the den, and Willy kind of wandered around the room for a few minutes, looking at everything, then he noticed a pencil and some paper sitting on the desk. He made a few more gestures that indicated he wanted to use them, and Cheyenne gestured back to go ahead. Willy sat down and started sketching, and by the time dinner was ready he had two drawings done, one of Cheyenne standing next to his stallion, and one of me holding Ruth with the twins playing on the floor in front of me. He definitely had talent, the drawings were excellent. He handed them to us, and made it clear he wanted us to have them, and that brought a bit of a tear to my eye, that was really sweet of him.

 

When we were getting ready for bed that night, I mentioned to Cheyenne, “I wonder if he just needs a good home....” Cheyenne sighed, then shook his head. “Cali, you can't keep taking in every orphan or runaway that crosses our paths. I know your heart is in the right place, but things are already getting crowded around here as it is. And regardless of what Doc thinks, we're not done having more of our own just yet....”

 

“We're done having any more in the immediate future, so you just behave yourself for a while Mr. Culpepper! Besides, I didn't say it had to be with us, but if he was being abused we can't just send him back to be abused some more. That just wouldn't be right.” Cheyenne sighed again, then said, “I'm not going to argue with you about that, but we don't know for sure yet if that was indeed what was happening. Let's just wait and find out for sure what the real story is before we start making any plans of what to do about it.” Oh, he was probably right, I just felt so bad for Willy, but whatever he had been through couldn't have been pleasant if he had felt the need to flee during the middle of a blizzard.

 

I was up several times during the night with Ruth, so the next morning I slept later than usually. When I woke up, Cheyenne was already gone, but I was rather shocked to see Doc Eells sitting in a chair, waiting for me to wake up. “We all made it back this morning, imagine my surprise to find out what you've been up to while I was gone,” he told me, scowling a bit. “Everything turned out just fine, and it's not like I did that on purpose or anything,” was my response. “I'm fine, but if you don't mind I'd like for you to look Ruth over, and take a look at Cheyenne's leg too.”

 

“I'll be the judge of how you're doing, missy, and I already checked the baby, she is perfectly healthy. From what Schoolmarm told me, she was born just after midnight, next time can you please wait more than exactly one year before you try this again? Oh, and I already treated Cheyenne's leg as well, he's downstairs questioning that kid he found in the barn the other day. Turns out that teamster, what's his name, Tyrel?....he can speak a little German...”

[Tyrel Cody]

When the weather finally cleared up enough for travel the group decided to head back to the ranch and I decided I'd tag along. When we got there Cheyenne had a mighty sour look to him and he was trying to talk to a boy about the age of fifteen. They obviously could not communicate with each other and both looked relieved when I said, "Guten Morgen, haben Sie nicht Englisch sprechen?". The boy simply replied, "Hallo, mein Name ist Wilhelm und ich nur Deutsch zu sprechen." So with me as translator Cheyenne asked his questions. Willy as everyone had been calling him turned out to be the son of the new blacksmith in town. He told us that his father stayed drunk most of the time after his mother had died of Cholera a few years back. Willy had ran away because he was tired of his father drinking and beating on him; that there was never enough food because Mr. Schmidt spent all the money on booze. Willy also apologized for sticking Cheyenne with a pitchfork but he didn't know what else to do; he thought his father had managed to find him. Cheyenne told him that it was alright and he understood. He told Willy he could stay at the ranch for a while and that they'd all go have a talk with Mr. Schmidt.

 

I could tell that Cheyenne was concerned about him, but there really wasn't room on the ranch for another and of course they had a newborn to look after. "You know Cheyenne" I said, "when I was that boys age I was shootin' Yankees at the battle of Hartsville back in Tennessee. He's most likely old enough to head out on his own. If'n it's alright with y'all and the boy wants to he can ride along with me to San Francisco. I'll see to it that he learns how to drive a team and when we get there I'll clear it with my boss and take 2 teams on my next, hopefully last, run. I was also going to ask if you be interested in buying some wild horses. After I finish my last run I was thinkin' I'd head back this way and round up a few head as I go. I grew up on a farm and know a bit about catchin' and breakin' horses." Cheyenne and Willy agreed that would be a good thing for all involved. I told him I had an extra rifle that I'd make sure the boy learn how to use. Cheyenne disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a Colt revolver to give the boy. Cheyenne also gathered up a couple changes of clothes that would fit Willy and had a pack of food fixed up that would last a few days.

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I was happy that we'd finally figured out Willy's past, although I was not sure what I was going to do about it. With Willy going with Tyrel I didn't have to decide quickly either.

 

One thing kept coming back to me, something from when I was very young. I had a playmate on the ranch that was almost always bruised. His father worked on the ranch for my father. I remembered that one day his mother and he left the ranch together in a carriage and never came back, and there was a new grave in the ranch's cemetery. I asked Karl about it as Tyrel and Willy rode off on the freight wagon. "That boy's father was a mean drunk and you father saw him beat the boy and his mother one night, the night before the boy and his mother left. your father beat him to death that night and swore to the men on the ranch that the same thing would happen to them if he saw any man treat their wife or children that way." Karl explained to me. "No man ever has since, although a couple quit quickly when they found out it wasn't a bluff."

 

I was glad to see Willy riding off safe, even if it did mean me getting stuck with a pitchfork.

 

I went back into the house and gave everyone of my kids a hug and told them how much I loved them. Calico was standing there with those puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip staring at me. I knew if I played stupid that I would regret it so I pulled her to me and while giving her a big hug I told her just how much she meant to me too.

 

That evening after dinner while we were still around the table I made the same pledge my father had about not accepting a man abusing his family on the ranch. The men there were a bit taken aback, they all agreed that they wouldn't have it any other way. I had a feeling that the blacksmith in town named Schmidt was be going to meet more than just a couple of the men from the ranch.

 

Talk then turned to spring and spring round up time on the ranch. This would be Eddie's first round up and he was wide eyed with anticipation even if it was still a couple of weeks away.

[Calico Mary]

I was thrilled when we found out that Tyrel could speak enough German to talk to Willy, that really helped in getting the answers we'd been wanting. I was even happier when Tyrel volunteered to take Willy with him, and teach him some useful skills while he was at it. Willy was a nice kid, didn't have to ask him twice to help with anything, had really good manners, plus a lot of artistic talent. All he needed was a little guidance from a caring adult or two, and he could really make something of himself. Even though he'd only been here a couple of days, I was going to miss him, but getting him off the ranch before his father came looking for him was probably the best idea we could have come up with. Tyrel promised to take good care of him, and said they'd head back this way as soon as they could.

 

Preparations were underway to get ready for spring, and the annual round up. Eddie was really looking forward to it, and so was I until Doc put his foot down and told me no way. “You're still not fully recovered yet, and that's way too much work for you. Let the men handle it, that's what they're getting paid for. Anyway, considering how many of your durn horses are pregnant, I'm probably going to need your help in the barn far more than Cheyenne will.” I had to admit he was right about that, we'd have quite a few foals this year, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that they'd all be healthy. None of the mares was quite ready to give birth just yet, but Midnight the cat was, and she ended up blessing us (or cursing us in Cheyenne's opinion) with a litter of six mewing little furballs.

The day after they left, I saw a rider coming from town, and at first I was afraid it was Schmidt the blacksmith, coming to look for Willy, and I quickly alerted Cheyenne. Fortunately, it was just a messenger from the telegraph office, and for once it wasn't bad news. It was from Clara, she and Grizz had found Finn, and they were on their way back. They'd had to hole up with a homesteader and his family for two days when the blizzard hit, but were on the road again and had made it as far as Fort Laramie. They intended to stay there a couple more days, letting their horses rest and waiting for more of the snow to melt, but should be home in about a week. I was looking forward to that, Junior wasn't getting any easier to live with. He'd proven very popular with the ladies at the dance, and I had a feeling I knew why. Some of them were still unhappy that Cheyenne was no longer available, and with Junior insisting on using the Culpepper name, deserved or not, word had to have traveled fast that they may still have a chance to marry into this family.

 

Speaking of marriage, Cora and Biblepuncher's nuptials were fast approaching, and we were all looking forward to the big celebration we had planned. Cora was also helping Ella with plans for her wedding, though that ceremony would take place down at the Golden Aspen later in the summer. Bets were being placed among the men as to who the next couple would be to tie the knot, with Grumpy and Lizzy being the heavy favorites. A few men had their money on Padre and Two Birds, but I was still thinking that was going to be a long shot. To our surprise though, one night after dinner Ike asked to speak to me and Cheyenne in private. He looked more than a little nervous, and had turned white as a sheet underneath his tan. I caught sight of Sally peeking around the doorway of the parlor as we walked towards the den, she looked as nervous as her beau did but with a bit more hopeful look in her eyes.

 

We had kind of figured that this was going to happen sooner or later, but we'd both been counting on later. Ike and Sally were still both pretty young, but then again they were a bit older than Eddie and Little Flower had been, and we'd given them our blessing. But was Cheyenne ready to walk another daughter down the aisle so soon? No wonder Ike looked like he was about to get sick!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I knew the look in Ike's eyes, and thinking back I was sure glad that all I had had to do was win over Calico's heart. Though I would have gladly traded having to ask, to have her parents alive. Any way, I almost laughed out loud at Ike, but then I had a role to play, and even though I wasn't really that much older than Eddie I was in the role of Sally's father and I was going to enjoy making him squirm a bit. I stepped back and pointed for Ike to go into the den in front of us, I had to make him go in front of Calico because he sure wanted to at least follow Calico in. After all, that was proper etiquette.

 

Ike was already pacing back and forth before Calico and I could be seated and once seated neither of us said a word, even though sure enough we knew what was coming.

 

Ike stammered a bit before he finally said, "Sally wants to get married, no I mean she wants to marry me, I mean, can I please marry Sally, please?" Calico and I looked at each other in silence and then whispered back and forth a few times. Poor Ike didn't know what to think. I finally asked him, "Just what are your intentions?" Ike's face went completely blank, especially when I asked him, "Well?"

 

"I want to marry her and provide for her and, and,..." Ike started saying before running out of steam. I started laughing along with Calico as poor Ike was starting to look sick.

 

"Sally" Calico called out, "Sally, come in here please." Sally opened the door slightly and peered in trying to see what was so funny, but all she saw was Ike standing there looking green in the gills. I asked her, "Are you sure this is what you want to marry?" Calico quit laughing and I should have leaned away, "Ouch!" I moaned.

 

"Sally, if you would like to ask you to marry him, Cheyenne gives his blessing, DON'T you Cheyenne?" "Of course I do" I said rubbing my arm, "I wouldn't have been teasing Ike if I wasn't going to give my blessing."

 

I stood as Sally ran over to me to give me a big hug along with a, "Thank you!" Ike finally made his way over to me and stuck out his hand as he said, "Thank you, sir". I brushed his hand aside and hugged him, telling him, "I knew it was only a matter of time, you two can marry just as soon as you build a place to stay here on the ranch."

 

You would have thought that I had just given them a thousand dollars by the looks of their faces, "We've already got a spot picked out papa, when can we start?" Sally squealed.

 

"Whenever he has time, whenever he has time" I told her without fear of another punch from Calico. I looked over at Calico and was surprised to see tears in her eyes. She reached out for Sally and was whispering something I couldn't hear as the two hugged.

[Calico Mary]

I was happy for Sally now that Ike had gotten up the courage to ask for her hand. After all she had been through, she deserved to be happy, settled down with a good man. And Ike was definitely that, totally loyal to our family and one of our hardest workers. He had started in the lowest job possible, and had done so well he was now in charge of all the wranglers. He also had learned to do most of the other jobs as well, and could fill in wherever and whenever needed. Even though all our hands would be really busy for the near future, I promised Sally that I would do everything I could to make sure that Ike had at least a little time to get started on their new house, and I'd get him some help with it as well.

 

I wished something of Ike's personality would rub off on Junior, but he was still not showing any signs of getting used to hard work. Oh, we knew he had never had to do any physical labor before, but if he wanted to stay here, he would have to accept the idea. Even Tommy had chores to do, and Rose was starting to learn how to do some easy tasks to help me out. Junior was starting to get the idea he couldn't slack off, but he didn't like it much. If there was one good thing about the situation, it was that by the end of every day he was generally too tired to be too much of a pain in the rear.

 

A few days after the dance, I was in the parlor with Ruth and the twins when I heard a buggy approaching. Hop Sing went out to the porch to see who it was, and a few minutes later he came in and announced, “Miss Jackson and Miss Young to see you.” Edith Jackson and Harriet Young were here to see me? I had no idea why, I knew who they were but we weren't exactly friends. Edith's father owned the bank, and Harriet's father had just opened the new hotel in town. I didn't think I had a whole lot in common with either one, and I wasn't expecting company. Still, I told him to go ahead and show the ladies in.

 

Edith and Harriet exchanged pleasantries with me, and of course had to ooh and aah over the baby, and remark on how big the twins were getting. They were both being polite, but I had the feeling they weren't really here to call on me. My suspicions were confirmed when Edith steered the conversation towards the subject of Junior. So that was it, I thought, it wouldn't be proper for them to come to see him, so they used the excuse of wanting to see Ruth as an acceptable reason to visit. Well, if they wanted to see him, that could be arranged.

 

“Neither of you has been out here before, why don't I show you some more of the ranch,” I offered. Harriet whispered something to Edith, and although I didn't hear her I was sure she was pointing out that they might catch sight of Junior if they did. I called for Sally to watch the twins, then escorted my guests outside. As we walked along, I pointed out what all the different buildings were, then asked if they would like to see my Clydesdales. I don't think either of them was the least bit interested, but had to agree to be polite.

 

Ike was just coming out of the Clydesdales' barn, and like a gentleman held the door open for us. He had a bit of a twinkle in his eye, and I had to struggle not to laugh as I winked at him. Well, Edith and Harriet had wanted to see Junior, and see him they did, he was busy shoveling out the stalls when we walked in. The look on those two ladies faces was priceless when they noticed him, covered in muck and not smelling too good. Junior wasn't real happy about getting caught like that either, but I thought it was hilarious. I knew he was likely to be in there, that's why I had suggested us women going in there. It wasn't long after that when the two ladies decided that they had best head back to town. Karl came out to help them into their buggy, and he and I waved as the buggy left.

 

“Something tells me you don't have to worry about those two showing up here again,” Karl told me, laughing like crazy. “Once those two spread the word, I don't think I'll have to worry about any of the single women in town coming around anymore!” I told him.

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Calico told me about the ladies, more like girls I'd say, came to see Jr. on the pretense of seeing our new baby and I cringed at the memories of mine when I was younger. That was one of the reasons that I had gone on my quest. Yes, I wanted to find myself but it was also to get away from the girls in town that wanted the Culpepper name and the wealth that would go with it. It would serve those golddiggers right if we set them up with Jr. and they ended up with him and his empty pockets!

 

I had more important things to deal with than Jr. and the girls from town. We were almost ready for round up and even though I feared it, Jr. would be going with us. Maybe we could make a good hand out of him, if he didn't get in the way first.

 

There were twenty five of us that would be part of the round up, leaving five hands at the ranch. Ike was excited, but to tell the truth I wasn't sure if it was excitement about his first round up or the thought of marrying Sally. Jr. on the other hand looked scared to death when we explained to him the things we had to do during the round up. I re-assured him that he would be with Karl, Ike, Eddie and myself, though when I thought about Karl and I bringing three tenderfeet in our group was daunting to say the least. Eddie and Ike were hard workers and smart, but this was still their first round up, and Jr.; well, this would make or break him.

 

I found myself finding excuses to head to the house early every day and it was harder and harder to leave my family every morning too. But as the morning of round up came upon us there was no putting it off. We would head out together but soon split off into five groups of five and each team with a wagon with supplies. We would stay seperated for four days as we searched for and then rounded up any roaming cattle we could find. On the fourth day we would meet and then brand calves and seperate any cattle with brands other than the Culpepper CR brand.

 

Each team was also equiped with a long range shooter for wolves or perhaps a deer or elk that hadn't made their way up towards the mountains yet. After all, deer or elk would provide meat that we wouldn't need to butcher a steer for instead. I had my Sharps with me, but in our group Ike was our rifleman. That way I would be able to train Eddie and hopefully Jr. as well.

 

My group split off and headed due north as the other groups went in their prescribed directions. We started seeing cattle not long after and started a small herd. I was dismayed though because of the number of carcases we were coming across. That last storm had taken it's toll on a herd already weakened by winter. Late in the afternoon I sent Ike off to look for meat and to shoot any wolves he might see.

 

Just before dark we set up camp, throwing up a rope coral for the cattle and then building a fire. Ike returned with a small doe which made for some good eating that night. I had brought my flute and Karl his guitar and the five of us sang old song until the moon was high. I looked up at the clear sky filled with countless stars and was amazed at how much I missed Calico and my family. Life is good I thought as I laid my head down on my saddle, yes, life is good.

[Grizzly Dave]

The storm has been just too bad to press on thru, out of the three of them Clara had fared the best, Finn was just not cut out to sit a horse, much less life on the trail, and Grizz had some old wounds that caused him pain. The homesteaders had been very gracious to let them stay those two days, and Grizz made sure they were paid well, and also made sure Finn returned everything he'd helped himself to.

 

The plan was to stay 2 days at Ft Laramie while the crews cleared the rails back down to Colorado, but it was clear that Finn was getting restless, and none too happy to be at the Fort, Grizz figured it reminded him of a prison he'd been in at one time or another.

 

Very early on the first morning after they got there, Finn slipped out of the room and smooth talked his way past the stable hands, even got them to saddle his horse for him and open the gates, and off he rode to the Southeast towards Kansas.

 

Grizz had expected this and the stable hands reported to him immediately and had his and Clara's horses ready directly and they set off after him. Finn only had a half hour head start on them, but also did not have any real clue where he was going, other than away.

 

Grizz and Clara soon found him, his horse wallowing in a snow bank and Finn doing likewise. They freed his horse and Finn started to head off again, but Grizz had other ideas...

 

'Finn, you lite out on yer own and you'l be dead by sunup tomorrow'

 

Maybe so, Finn sighed, but I'll die a free man.

 

Clara laughed at that.

 

We ain't takin' ya back fer prison nor hangin Finn, just to talk a spell, then yer free to go.

 

Finn snarled, That's what ya keep shovelin but I ain't buying it, and he kicked his horse and turned his head to see see where his was going just in time to see the tree branch before it hit him square in the forehead.

 

Clara was taken a back a bit, but ol' Grizz was laughing so hard he fell off his horse, and before long she was laughing right along with him as the tended to a nasty gash on Finn's head. He was out cold which made the stitching easier, and Clara did a right fine job on it while Grizz made a travois with pine bough skids to slide over the snow to haul him on. By rights he should not have been moved, but out in the middle of nowhere was no place to tend to a wounded man.

 

Without Finn's constant belly aching, well, at least until he woke up tied into the travois, they made good time to the train yard. Passenger trains wouldn't run until they next day, but there is a freight with a plow that was leaving in half an hour to clear the tracks for the next days trains.

 

Grizz pinned the old Marshals badge to his vest and had a talk with the crew. Several men from the crew hadn't shown up, and they were happy to have Grizz along to help out, and even had room for the horses in a box car.

 

Grizz wrote out a quick wire and had a boy at the station take it to be sent, giving the boy ample money to pay for the wire and get some lunch, which by the looks of him he really needed. The wire read - Culpepper - leaving on plow train, arrive tomorrow morning if all goes well, expect to see you then, and he signed it Marshal Grizz.

 

Grizz chuckled to himself, that should get them going and wondering what in the heck is going on.

 

Finn was loaded aboard and Clara got back with a big basket of food right as they train was about to leave. It would sure be good to get back to Colorado.

[Grizzly Dave]

As the train built steam and pulled away from the station Grizz could see riders coming in hard from a ways away.

 

Given the amount of snow on the ground and ice or mud underneath it, they weren't coming all that fast, but they were coming as fast as the could.

 

Grizz pulled out a glass from his saddle bag to take a better look. The one in the lead was Molly, and close in tow were two mean looking men, could have been cowhands, could have been gunhands, hard to tell at that distance. He put the glass away and shook his head, that was one hard headed woman.

 

The snow was slowing the riders down, but dang it, that plow pushing snow off the tracks was too, this could get interesting.

 

CRACK! They heard the report of a rifle shot followed by it's impact in the wood of the box car not far from where Grizz stood.

 

He shook his head again, that's how ya want it now is it? So be it. He retreived his sharps from the scabbard on his saddle, wiped it down and loaded it, fiddled with the sight a bit, steadied himself on the side of the boxcar door, took a deep breath, let half of it out and then held it until the rocking of the box car matched what he wanted in the sights. BOOM! The report in the boxcar was nearly deafening and the horses started stomping and rearing.

 

Clara did her best to calm the horse and Grizz reloaded and watched his shot take the rider holding the rifle clean out of his saddle over the back end of the horse. The other riders, as well as an empty horse continued to advance. The other man pulled a rifle and started shooting wildly, not hitting anything anywhere near the box car. But as they got closer, so did the shots.

 

Grizz timed another shot and let it go. This one didn't hit the man as square as the first, but it did spin him out of the saddle, his boot caught in the stirrup and the horse was dragging him. Hell of a way to die Grizz muttered. With that Molly slowed to try to help her cohort. With any luck that would be the last they'd see of her today, but Grizz didn't have high hopes that she'd give up, no, seeing him again had awoke a powerful hate in her, and she wasn't the type to let things go.

 

Clara peeked around the edge of the door to see the slowing riders. 'She won't give up ya know'

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

The next day everything was going along just fine when i noticed a buggy coming our way and throwing up a cloud of dust. We all just stopped and stared at the buggy trying to figure out just who would be driving a buggy that hard out here on the range. Dang it all if it wasn't Calico! She slid the buggy to a stop in front of us and jumped out and then just stood there staring at us. Finally she hollered at us for being late for breakfast and then just kept hollering at us for all sorts of things. Finally I had had enough and swung down off of my horse and grabbed up Calico, put her across my lap and gave her a good spanking. The men were all laughing so hard they fell off there horses but still continued to laugh as there lay there sprawled out on the ground. I finally got tired and let Calico up, she looked me in the eye and told me to do it again because it felt so good. Then she started kissing my face over and over again. She couldn't kiss me fast enough. I just closed me eyes because I could hardly stand it.

 

I finally opened my eyes, "Buford!! Where did you come from boy?" I shouted at Grumpy's dog. I don't know how long that critter had been licking my face.

 

Oh, Karl and the others had a good laugh when I told them of my dream. Everyone of them told me that they'd like to see me try that for real!

[Calico Mary]

Things got really quiet after most of the men left to go round up the herds. A skeleton crew was left behind to take care of the rest of the horses and do the other chores, but I was still lonely without Cheyenne. At least it gave me a chance to get caught up a little on my sewing, I'd been neglecting that task far too long. The way the twins were growing, it was hard keeping them in clothes, they barely got any use out of the things I made before I had to make bigger ones. At least all of Sarah's clothes could be put away for Ruth to use when she got bigger.

 

I wanted to pay Two Birds a visit, and see how the family was doing, but I just didn't have time. I had a few supplies that I thought might come in handy for her, and to my surprise Sally volunteered to take the stuff over there. When I asked her about it, Sally told me, “You were right all along, Two Birds is really nice, and I like playing with her kids. Plus, Padre told me Two Birds likes having me visit, she gets lonely for other women to talk to. I can't say I blame her.” That made sense, and I asked Sally to let her know that I'd be over to visit as soon as I got a chance.

 

Speaking of visitors, I had two of my own that day, first was a messenger from the telegram office, I sure got a laugh out of the message that was signed 'Marshal Grizz'. He may have fooled Finn Culpepper but he wasn't fooling me, though it was still funny. I was glad that put me in a good mood, because the second visitor wasn't so pleasant. A big, burly fellow with a really strong accent and smelling of stale beer showed up at the door, it took a while to figure out what he was saying but I finally got the point that he was looking for his runaway son. I truthfully told the man that there were no runaways on our ranch that we knew about, he didn't like hearing that but he did leave without causing any trouble. It wasn't hard to figure out that man must have been Mr. Schmidt, and I wasn't about to tell him that his son had been here but had left. I said a silent prayer after shutting the front door that this bully wouldn't be able to find Willy and Tyrel.

 

Well, Grizz and Clara would be back soon with Finn, I supposed the nice thing to do would be to get a guest room ready in the big house, but I didn't really want him staying with us considering all I'd heard about Cheyenne's uncle. I mentioned that to Biblepuncher and Cora, and asked their advice. The preacher thought about it for a few minutes, then asked, “You only have the one spare room left now, right?” When I nodded, he made a suggestion, “Well, how about Cora and I go get all of Ike's things and move them into that room, since he's going to be part of the family now no one will think twice about that. I'll have Grumpy go see if he can find Cheyenne's group and let Ike and the others know, then you can honestly say that there's no room for Finn to stay with the rest of the family. Then I'll offer to let him stay with me in my cabin behind the church, I don't really have much of anything that would be worth his while to try and steal.”

 

If Biblepuncher was willing, I had no objection to that idea, and I doubted that Ike or Sally would either. At least we wouldn't have to worry about those two not behaving themselves, Sally was still sharing a room with Laura and since Laura was a light sleeper it would be next to impossible for Sally to sneak out at night without Laura knowing. And if Finn didn't agree to staying with Biblepuncher then he could take Ike's spot in the bunkhouse. It wasn't like we were trying to develop a relationship with the man, we just needed to find out if he was really Junior's father and not Frank Senior...

[Grizzly Dave]

The train made good progress and was having no problem pushing thru the drifts.

 

There didn't seem to be anyone following, so Clara kept watch and Grizz took a nap. Finn was in and out of sleep, between the gash on his head, a concussion and his age Clara was starting to worry that he might not make it.

 

Grizz was worrying thru different details out loud as he drifted off to sleep. 'Yeah, they likely won't follow the train, they know where it's going, they'll take an easier route......

 

Grizz woke to the train slowing to a stop, he checked out the back, grabbed his rifle and went forward. Up ahead the heavy snow had topple a large tree on to the tracks, the plow could clear the snow just fine, but not the tree. In talking with the train hands, the normal process would be to cut the tree on each side of the track and push what was left out of the way.

 

Grizz scrached his whiskers and though on it a spell. The base of the tree and much of the length was on the right side of the tracks with a bit of a hill coming back towards the train.

 

'you got a chain?' Grizz asked.

 

Yes, and ropes came the answer. But what good...

 

Grizz held up a hand to interupt. We get out the horses and hook them to the base of that tree and pull back towards up, and out a bit' grizz said gesturing with his hands

 

But' three hoses can't move that big tree....

 

Grizz shook his head yes, 'they can enough if'n yer pushing it with the plow at the same time, it'll pinwheel right around'

 

The men looked again, shrugged and decided it was better than cutting, so they set to work.

 

Sure enough, in fifteen minutes, the horses were hitched to the tree, and when grizz gave the signal the train pushed forward and the horses pulled back, and the tree just pinsheeled off the tracks just as Grizz had planned.

 

As grizz loaded the horses back up the brakeman slapped him on the shoulder, you just saved us three hours and a whole lot of work!

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

After I had washed my face and told the others of my dream, I finally noticed Grumpy had joined our group. He as still laughing so hard I thought he was going to get sick. I was eventually able to ask him what he was doing out here with us and he told me of Grizz's news of bringing Finn back to the ranch. He also told me that Calico was more than a little worried about having him arrive without my being there.

 

I told Grumpy to stay with the group in my place and got ready to head back to the ranch. Grumpy was pretty concerned because he wasn't sure that he had enough whiskey to last the three more days he would be out there. I sort of smirked and pointed over at Karl, who got the hint and showed Grumpy the stash of whiskey that he had brought with him.

Grumpy shrugged his shoulders because he knew he was out of excuses, he started to bring up that Buford didn't have food but then he realized that Buford had found the deer carcase from the night before.

 

After I was sure that I had answered all of Grumpy's concerns I saddled my white stallion and headed for the ranch. Truth be told, I wasn't sorry to be heading back to the ranch at all, because I was missing Calico and the kids pretty badly. As I rode I tried to come up with ideas to deal with Finn but it was all a blank. Pretty soon I was day dreaming of soaring with the eagles. I could only imagine the sights that eagles must see from their flights among the clouds.

 

It wasn't long before the ranch was in sight and I gave the stallion a slight kick and gave him free rein as we covered the last few hundred yards at full gallop. It was going to be good to see my family.

[Calico Mary]

Biblepuncher and Cora had gotten all of Ike's things moved to the house, and of course Sally was thrilled. I spent some time after lunch talking to Sally, explaining why I was having Ike move in and letting her know what I expected out of them in terms of their behavior until the wedding. Sally assured me that she was trying to put her past behind her, and wanted nothing more than to have Ike respect her, and in her mind that meant waiting until after the wedding. I was proud of her, but decided to have Cheyenne talk to Ike as well, just to make our feelings on the matter perfectly clear.

 

As we were finishing our talk, I heard horses approaching, both from the front and the back of the house. I knew whoever was approaching the back of the house was most likely someone from the ranch, so I decided to see who was out front first. I peeked out the window, and saw it was Grizz, Clara, and another man that just had to be Finneous Culpepper. He was staring at the house and the other buildings with a look of sheer disbelief. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't anything like the reality of the Culpepper ranch. I went out on the porch, and waited for the trio to dismount. Before Grizz could properly introduce me to the man, we heard a loud voice scream “Julius! Oh, Julius!!” Grizz turned ghost white the second he heard that voice, and looked like he was about to pass out. “Whut's she doin' here?” he tried to ask me, but he had hardly finished speaking when Boo Boo came running up and threw herself at him, giving him a huge hug and refusing to let go.

 

Clara wasn't looking too happy, so I quickly went over to her and explained, “Clara, did Grizz ever tell you he has a sister?” Clara shook her head, then started giggling as she watched Grizz try to wiggle out of his sister's grip. “Nope,” Clara replied, “but I think her and I might get along just fine. In the meantime, Finn, this is Calico Culpepper, your nephew's wife. Calico, this is Mr. Finneous Culpepper.” Finn looked me up and down, and had a bit of a sneer on his face. “So, yer my nephew's wife, well, where the heck is my nephew? Thought I wuz bein' brought here ta talk ta him...” Finn started.

 

Just at that moment, the front door opened and Cheyenne walked out, it must have been his horse I heard approaching the rear of the house. “I'm right here, Uncle, welcome to our home,” Cheyenne said, trying to be as polite as he could. Finn didn't take the hint though, as soon as he saw Cheyenne he blurted out, “Yer my nephew? Yer a dang half-breed!! Don't tell me, my dear ole sanctimonious brother Frank had an injun whore fer a wife...” Finn didn't have a chance to say anything after that, as Cheyenne's fist met his face and then Finn's face met the ground, hard. “I didn't have Grizz and Clara bring you here so I could listen to you insult my mother, and it better not happen again, next time I might actually be offended. In fact, the only reason I'm not using you for target practice....yet....is I need to know if you remember a whore. Her name was Martha, and she lived in Independence about 20-25 years ago. Sound familiar?”

 

“Heck if I remember....that wuz a long time ago,” Finn snarled, shaking the cobwebs from his head and feeling his jaw tenderly. “I knew a lot of women in a lot of different places, don't mean I remember all of their names, much less anything else bout em'. Whut difference does it make to you?” I could tell Cheyenne wanted nothing more than to beat the tar out of his uncle, and throw him off the ranch immediately. Doing that would not get us any answers about Junior, so I stepped up next to Cheyenne and put my hand on his arm, silently warning him to try and keep his temper. “We have someone here on the ranch that may be your offspring, Uncle Finneous, all we know for sure is that this person's mother is a woman named Martha from Independence, and that she may have been acquainted with you at some point. Our preacher has offered to let you stay in his home for a few days, maybe with a little bit of time to think about it you may remember something that may help us get to the bottom of the mystery.”

 

Biblepuncher had followed Cheyenne out onto the porch, and at that point he stepped forward and offered to show Finn where he could wash up, and get a snack to hold him over until dinner. I was rather disgusted to see that Finn immediately walked off with Biblepuncher without giving any thought to his horse, but Tommy had seen the whole thing and offered to take all three horses to the corral and feed and water them. Clara told Tommy that she'd give him a hand, and as they walked off Grizz finally managed to detach himself from Boo Boo's arms long enough to tell us, “There may be more trouble than just Finn on the way. I think we were followed, by how many folks I'm still not sure....”

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

I almost dropped Finn with my 44s when he called my mother a whore! But, it sure felt good to drive my fist into his face and then watch him sprawl on the ground. It was good that Calico was beside me because I sure was hot! Maybe it would have been better not to have had him brought here at all, I could sure put up with Jr. better than I could with this fool even if he was blood.

 

I was thankful that Biblepuncher stepped up and took Finneous to get cleaned up and to show his to his quarters. I had an uneasy feeling that we may be seeing more of Finneous than any of us wanted.

 

Boo Boo took my mind off of Finneous as she hugged and kissed Julius, I mean Ol Grizz. Grizz could tell that I was about to burst out laughing and gave me the evil eye as a warning not to laugh. But, I couldn't help myself and Calico and I both started laughing at the same time and it got so bad that we had to hold on to each other to keep from falling down onto the ground. We laughed for a while and then remembered that we hadn't seen each other for a couple days and started kissing. Pretty soon we started hearing catcalls to "get a room" and with Calico turning as red as I am naturally stopped kissing. She did make me promise to give her a back rub later, and then emphasized, JUST A BACKRUB, NOTHING ELSE!

 

Hop Sing interrupted it all by calling for us to come to lunch, which I was really glad of since I hadn't had breakfast. As Calico and I walked arm in arm to the house she asked me, "What did you put on your face? you smell like a puppy's breath." Over lunch I shared my dream about Calico coming out to where we were camped and that I had spanked her until she said how much she liked it and then started kissing my all over my face, only to be awakened by Buford licking me. Ol Grizz was rolling on the floor and when he caught his breath he asked real seriously if Buford was ok or if he had gotten sick. Which of course brought another round of laughter.

 

Finneous just sat there staring at all of us like we were nuts. Then asked where the whiskey was. I almost told him that we didn't serve whiskey until we were done working for the day, but then I thought, "If his tongue gets loosened maybe we'll find out something sooner rather than later."

 

"Hello the house!" Who was that yelling? Sounded like a mountain cat screaming at the house. I stepped out onto the front porch to see a woman and two men sitting on horses about fifty yards out. "We're looking for that heart breaking, lying, no good for nothing Julius! You might know him as Grizz. Send him out and we won't do you harm!" the woman screamed at me.

 

"Really?" I asked, "You won't do us harm if we don't send him out? HA!" I answered her. "You might need this" Calico whispered in my ear as she handed me my Winchester. I had forgotten I had left my gunbelt in the house and the feel of the Winchester in my hands sure felt good.

[Grizzly Dave]

Before anyone could do anything one of the men spoke up, 'Send out Culpepper too, we got unfinished business.'

 

Grizz saw the fire in Cheyennes eyes and in Clara's as well. Finn just slinked back into the kitchen staying low. Cheyenne motioned for one of the hands to keep an eye on him.

 

Cheyenne was mad, but he was laughing at the same time, 'what's this all about Julius?' he asked Grizz with a grin on his face.

 

Grizz rolled his eyes and had to chuckle as well, the cat was out of the bag and there t'weren't no way to put it back in. 'Long story that don't need telling now, but what say we get Biblepuncher to go parlay with those'uns while we talk with Finn, maybe the thought of getting turned over will jog his memory a bit'

 

About that time Clara grabbed the rifle from Cheyenne's hand and started towards the front of the house, 'I should have killed her last time...'

 

Biblepuncher stepped in her way and took the rifle, 'it may come to that, but not as of yet. Calico, take this rifle and cover me, will you?'

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Calico and I went into the kitchen to find Finneous and try to get something worthwhile out of him. "You've got friends out front that want to visit with you uncle, should we send you out to them, or would you rather stay in here and try to shock your memory a bit?" I asked Finneous.

 

"You wouldn't do that to blood, would you?" Finneous replied. My answer was short and terse, "You've insulted me and more importantly my mother, you're lucky to be alive, you going to talk to us or visit with your friends out there.?"

 

"I ain't the only one ther're after, what about Grizz there, that Clara done went and shot Molly out there, what are you going to do about that?" Finneous almost whined.

 

"Grizz is almost family, you, not so much, now talk to walk!" was Calico's response to Finneous's whining. "Now, do you remember Martha or not?!"

 

"Well, sort off, but was a long time ago, with lots of towns, whiskey and women. But I seem to remember one that wanted me to marry her, said she was with child and that was enough to scare me into another territory. Heck, I don't know, there were a couple of those along the way. Where is this boy you say is mine? What's he look like anyway?" Finneous replied as he finally started to open up.

 

Well, now we had a problem out front that needed dealt with pronto. I had no clue how to deal with Molly, she was Grizz's problem, Finneous's "friends" though were another manner. "Are they law?" I asked my uncle. Because if they're law I can't stop them, however if they're not, I'll see what we can do. Why do they want you anyway?"

 

I reached for my gunbelt and pistols and reached a rifle to Calico, Finneous wanted a gun too, but I told him we had it under control, he could try to talk his way out of whatever trouble he was in with these men.

[Calico Mary]

Grizz wanted Biblepuncher to go out and talk to our “visitors”, and the preacher asked me to cover him, but I asked him to wait a few minutes. We went into the kitchen to see what we could get out of Finn, which ended up not being much. One thing that was interesting though, I had only referred to Junior as a possible “offspring” of Finn's, but for some reason Finn asked what his “boy” looked like. How did he know we were talking about a male...unless he knew more than he was letting on?

 

Finn did refuse to tell us what those men wanted with him, other that to say they weren't the law. Then he clammed up and wouldn't say another word. We made him go back to the front of the house with us, but decided against making him go outside just yet. Those men just might decide to kill him in cold blood, and we weren't done with him. I asked Clara to watch Finn, and slipped her one of my pistols, but made her promise not to use it on Mollie unless Cheyenne and Grizz both said it was ok.

 

Biblepuncher, Cheyenne, and I went outside, and made sure the men and Mollie all saw that we were even more heavily armed than they were. Grizz and Hop Sing also had grabbed rifles, and were pointing them out the windows, so we had them outnumbered too. That kind of made the men back off just a bit, though one of them was still yelling about wanting Finn. “Not until you tell us what you want with him,” Biblepuncher called out, “Whatever it is, there has to be a way for this to end peacefully.”

 

I could tell both men had finally noticed Biblepuncher's collar, and they exchanged confused looks, could they really draw on a man of God? Mollie, however, didn't seem to see it or didn't really care. “Julius, I know yer in there, come out and face me like the man you wanna think you are!” she screamed. Before any of us had the chance to say anything, the door banged open and I was almost brushed aside by a tornado that burst from the house.

 

“How dare you talk to my big brother like that!! How bout you git down off that horse, without those guns, and come face me like the woman you wanna think you are!” Four men's jaws hit the ground, Mollie turned bright red and I could have sworn steam was coming out of her ears, but I just laughed. The tornado's name was BooBoo, and we had all been so concerned about Clara that we'd forgotten Grizz's sister. Would Mollie have the nerve to accept the challenge?

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Molly sat there steaming for a minute then snorted, "You're on Missy, they got us out gunned anyway, so I might as well get some pleasure out of this if Grizz taint brave enough to face me!" and with that said, Molly slid off of her saddle and lighted on the ground taking her gun belt off as she did. Boo Boo was practically bouncing waiting for Molly to disarm.

 

Grizz couldn't take it any more and bust through the door shouting for Boo Boo to stand aside. Boo Boo however was having nothing of that and told Grizz in no uncertain terms to just shut up and have a seat to watch. Well Molly saw an opening as Boo had turned to address Grizz and made a move for Boo. Boo must have heard the footsteps coming at her and as she swung back around to face Molly she swung her arm up as she did and caught Molly right in the temple with a closed back hand that sent Molly sprawling into the mud.

 

Boo was on Molly before Molly could begin to get to her feet, there were fists flying, mud splattering, curses being screamed, hair being pulled, clothes being torn and shredded, all in all a really good cat fight. The few men that were still on the ranch gathered around and started making bets with the men who had come with Molly.

 

Before long Boo and Molly separated, each of them sitting at the edge of the mud puddle staring at each other. I was thinking that each had met their match, and the both of them knew it too. The two of them starting laughing at the other and in unison they said, "What are we fighting about?" Grizz must have thought it was safe and strutted over to the mud puddle like a peacock in mating season and reached a hand out to each of them to help them up. I squinted my eyes in pain as I just knew what was coming next, both of them took his hand graciously, and then yanked him down into the mud with them. They jumped on his back as he lay face down in the mud, Molly had his head and Boo had his feet and both of them was pulling upward for all their worth.

 

Now the men were betting on either Grizz or the women to win. Finneous couldn't stand it any more and burst out of the house to try to get in on the action. One of the men that had come with Molly finally caught on that Finn was standing next to him and before you could wink, he and Finn were both in the mud too. We all had to step back then because of all the mud being flung around. It was getting hard to know just who was winning, they were all mud covered and more than once the wrong person got knocked back down into the mud by the wrong person.

 

Calico nudged me in the side and whispered, "we gotta try that sometime." I admitted that it did look like fun.

 

Just as they were all about played out, one of the other men that had come with Molly decided he wanted to have a go at poor worn out Finn. Well, he was blood, so I whistled at the man to stop, dropped my gun belt and then walked into the mud and motioned for the man to step right up. He started to have second thoughts about taking me on instead of Finn and tried to step back away from the mud. My men and even the man's friends would have none of it and they all shoved the man towards me and into the mud. I laid an uppercut on him that lifted him back out of the mud on his butt.

 

This time the men from the ranch pushed the other man into the mud towards me. He was better prepared and launched a big round house that I ducked under and then took his legs out from under him. He started to get up but as he did I just pushed his head back and he fell back into the muck.

 

I looked over at the last man that had come with Molly who just threw up his hands and shouted, NO THANKS.

 

Hop Sing was thinking ahead and came out of the house with a bottle of whiskey in each hand and handed them to me, I gave one to Molly and then we all sat around in the mud laughing and drinking. Calico plopped down beside me and was just getting ready to down a big swig when Doc grabbed the bottle out of her hands. Before he took a long gulp said "None of this for you, you're nursing!" She was not happy at all! I took the bottle from Doc after he had his turn and filled my mouth with the rye whiskey, and without Doc looking gave Calico a big kiss, and a mouthful of whiskey. Once she caught her breath, she winked at me and coyly said, "If it were time yet we'd get washed up in the water hole!"

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

We were all pretty well no longer feeling any pains from the fight when a freight wagon arrived from town. The driver called out for me as he pulled up to our group that was still sitting around the mud puddle and covered in mud.

 

"I've got that those packages that you ordered Mr. Culpepper, where do you want them?" I motione for him to back up to the front porch and after I managed to stand, I pulled Calico up too.

 

"What did you buy now?" Calico asked me before she saw the names on the boxes. Singer and Co. was written across both of the crates and as Calico read them her eyes got real big. We pulled a treadle sewing machine out of the first crate and Calico was nearly jumping up to the porch roof as she caressed the machine. She hadn't even noticed that we had open the other crate to expose an automatic crocheting machine.

 

Her eyes finally caught sight of the other machine and she nearly fainted. "I know I forgot your birthday, so hopefully this will make up for it" I told her as lovingly as I could muster. All the while hoping this might hasten a trip out back to our favorite place.

[Grizzly Dave]

Clara had been on her way over to help Grizz when the wagon arrived, but as soon as she saw the crates, she headed for the porch.

 

In a way Grizz was happy she'd headed away, it was bad enough to be stuck in between Boo and Mollie, and adding Clara to the mix, especially since she'd shot Mollie only a week before, it could have gotten ugly again.

 

While every one was watching the crates be unloaded, he managed to get up out of the puddle without falling down, well, without falling back down more than a time or two. He made is way over to the trough by the barn and dipped out a bucket of water, closed his eyes up tight, and dumped the water over his head. He was tempted to just climb in the trough, but last time Culpepper saw him do that he'd gotten mad, something about horses deserved better than bath water, and Grizz had to admit he was right about that, and Grizz had wound up emptying the trough and pumping it full again.

 

The first bucket loosened the worst of the mud, but he was still a mess. A few more bucket fulls and a bit of scrubbing with a wet rag and he felt half human again, and at least he didn't look like he'd been wallowing with the pigs any longer.

 

Boo and Mollie were coming down from the laugh they'd had, but had drank enough they were still trading barbs back and forth, and starting to tell stories, stories about Grizz, and Clara had perked up an ear and while she pretending not to be paying attention, Grizz figured she was.

 

Grizz dipped out a full bucket of water and walked back towards the puddle. It must have been the squishing of his boots, or the slap of wet fabric as he walked, but both women turned back and saw him just as he hurled the bucket load of water in their direction.

 

The fire in their eyes had Grizz tempted to run, but once they each caught sight of the other, they bust out laughing again.

[Calico Mary]

Those new machines were sure sweet, and I'd been wanting a sewing machine ever since Clara had got one. I couldn't help but wonder though if Cheyenne had bought them for me to be nice or because he was getting desperate for a trip to the water hole. I hoped it was the first reason, as he didn't stand any chance of the second one any time soon. When Cheyenne had been away rounding up cattle, Doc and I had sat down and had a nice long talk, and for once Doc wasn't yelling at me. He calmly explained to me the dangers of having too many babies too close together, and told me that if I wanted to stick around to raise the three I already had then I really ought to wait at least a year before even thinking about trying for number four. That was fine with me, I'd spent most of the last two years pregnant and I didn't object to the idea of waiting awhile before doing it again. But I had the feeling Cheyenne wasn't going to like that!

 

Regardless of the reason, the machines were there, and I couldn't wait to get started, but they'd have to be moved into the sewing room first. That brought up the slight problem of my sewing room being a huge mess, and it would need cleaned up and rearranged to make room for my new toys. Clara offered to help with the room, but she pointed out that I had probably better get myself cleaned up first, unless I wanted mud all over everything in the sewing room. I was a mess, but thought I'd be nice and offer to let Boo Boo and Mollie use the indoor tubs first, until I realized that Grizz was taking care of that problem quite efficiently already. I knew Grizz's sister had clean, dry clothes she could change into, Mollie I wasn't so sure about, but there had to be something around here she could borrow if needed until her outfit was washed and dried. I knew better than to ask Clara to loan Mollie something, I still wasn't entirely convinced that Clara wasn't waiting for another opportunity to finish what she had started on the road out of Deadwood.

 

I was just heading for the tub when Sally came looking for me. “Mother, Ruth just woke up and she sounds like she's hungry, and she woke the twins up too. I'm trying to keep an eye on Tommy and Rose, and Little Bear came down to play with them as well, I'm having a hard time keeping them out of that mud puddle you were all in. I could use some help....” she told me. I asked her where Laura was, and she said, “Oh, she's with Lone Wolf as usual. He brought Little Bear over, then told her that Padre had talked Running Bear into building something...I think he called it a sweat lodge or something like that...and asked Laura if she wanted to go see it.”

 

I couldn't very well nurse Ruth until after I had cleaned up, so I replied, “I'm surprised they haven't built a sweat lodge before this, but I can't blame Laura for being curious. The babies can cry for a few minutes, it's not going to hurt them. I'll bathe as fast as I can and then tend to Ruth. Please see if you can go find either Kate or Jenny to help with you with the twins. As for the other three, I don't think a little mud will hurt them. I'll have Cheyenne keep an eye on them.”

 

I called out to Cheyenne to watch the three youngsters, as he was still outside with Finn and all the other men. “Ok, but I hope you don't mind that they're getting dirty, they already found the mud!” was his answer. As soon as Sally was out of sight, the temptation had proven too much for all three children, and it sounded like they were having a ball. I didn't think that Two Birds would object, and we'd clean Little Bear up as best we could before sending him home.

 

I got cleaned up myself as fast as I could, I would have preferred to wait for a nice full tub of very warm water, but I couldn't bear to listen to my littlest girl crying for me to feed her. I took her into the parlor to nurse her, and as I sat there I could hear bits and pieces of the conversation taking place on the front porch. From what I could tell, the men that had followed Finn all the way here had done so because he had cheated them out of some money in a poker game, which Finn was trying to deny. I didn't really hear all of it, but it had something to do with there not being five Kings in a deck of cards, but beyond that I really didn't understand much. I had learned a thing or two about both faro and blackjack from Buick, but he'd never been much of a poker player and so the gambling lessons he'd given me back in Kansas hadn't included that game. I'd have to let Cheyenne and Biblepuncher handle the negotiations on this one, hopefully one of them knew something about poker.

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Calico was more than exited about her two new machines that I had ordered months ago. The sewing machine was the latest out, but the crocheting machine was the first of it's kind and the first one to make it west of the Mississippi. I had also ordered several bolts of material for her and several boxes of thread. I looked up and out towards the mud puddle and knew by the looks on the men's faces who had come with Molly that I needed to get over there in a hurry.

 

After some reasoning with them I found out what was going on. Finn was being accused of sleeving cards during a game of poker in which the men had lost several hundred dollars, a large enough sum to put a man in an early grave for sure. I thought about the matter for a bit, and even with knowing that I would regret it I offered to pay Finn's debt, IF he would work it off on the ranch. He hesitated until I told the men that I wouldn't hold him from them after Jr. got back from the round up. He wasn't too happy about working as a ranch hand, but it beat being gutted like a pig and left for the buzzards.

 

One of the men with Molly called over to her, "Hey Ma, we've got our money that Finn owned us, you done with Grizz yet?" Ma? I thought to myself, naw, it couldn't be. "I've go to settle some things with your fat....I mean Grizz first" she told him trying to hide what had slipped.

 

I looked over at Grizz and he was white as a ghost! His jaw was dropping so low that you could actually see his mouth through his beard. Clara was still on the porch and had heard every word and she bounded over those few steps to Grizz quicker than he was ready for and in a split second Grizz found himself in the mud puddle surrounded by the kids. The kids thought it was great sport and were covering Grizz with mud again.

 

I knew that it was much safer to be somewhere else or at least several yards away and found Doc sitting on the porch enjoying some of the lemonade the we had gotten from that snake oil salesman Copperhaid Joe. Doc told me about the conversation that he had had with Calico earlier. I felt like someone had pulled the life right out of my soul when he told me that. He let me sulk and suffer for a bit before he said, "But, I've heard of some new products that we can get from Denver that should let you two "practice" without her getting that "way" until you, I mean Calico wants to have another baby. "

 

"Denver?" I shouted, "we'll leave in the morning" I told Doc. I called to Calico, "Darling, we're going to Denver in the morning, you deserve a special time away." "We'll take Ruth with us and whoever else we need to make sure you have a good time while we're there, even Doc is going with us just to be safe!" I was almost giving myself away as I told her of my new desire to visit Denver. I felt like I was a little boy at Christmas opening his first rifle.

 

She asked about Finn and Jr. and what we were going to do about them, but I told her that Finn owed me at least six months of work and the two of them could work it out themselves whether we were here or not.

[Grizzly Dave]

Playin in the mud with the kids was fun, way more fun that what Grizz knew he had to do, but he figured he'd best get on with it. He crawled out of the mud and walked over to Mollie...

 

Keeping his voice low, he asked 'what in the heck is this all about anyway?'

 

'Young Jake over there is yorn' is all Mollie said.

 

Grizz sized up the lad, he was about the right age for when they'd been together, and there was a resemblance, but...

 

'Why tell me now? Why didn't you tell me back when it happened?'

 

Well Mollie explained, I told you I was pregnant to try to get you to marry me, but you caught me in that lie and left, well, turns out I wasn't lying.

 

But you admitted you were lying Grizz pleaded, I thought I was lying she admitted, but turns out I weren't.

 

Grizz scratched at his beard, trying to get the mud out of it, and looked at Mollie, then Jake, and then to the other man that rode with them. 'Now you can't tell me he's mine too, he's way to young to be my seed.

 

Mollie laughed, No, he's not yorn, he came from a teamster by the name of Tyrel something or another. He wasn't even in town long enough to say howdy, but he was there long enough to plant his seed in me.

 

That made him chuckle, Tyrel huh, ain't but one feller, and a teamster at that, that he'd ever known to have that name.

 

He continued to try to get the mud from his hair and beard, and skim the worst off his clothes with his hand.

 

So why was ya trying to stop us leaving deadwood? Grizz asked.

 

Well, I tried to talk to you in Deadwood to tell you about Jake, figured a boy should at least meet his papa once, then ol' Finn over there cheated them at cards and they was set to kill ol' Finn but I hoped that you could talk some sense into him without any killing.

 

Clara was within earshot and couldn't hold her peice any more, 'and I suppose you weren't wanting to kill Grizz and me neither were ya??' she said with more than just a little fire in her voice and hands on her hips.

 

Mollie looked Clara up and down, and the fact that she had a colt under her apron wasn't lost on her neither. She then looked at Grizz and then back to Clara and said 'Missy, you got yerself a good man here, I hope yer woman enough to hold him, I never was' and then she turned to Grizz 'she's a keeper. Treat her right or I might just come back and kill ya if she don't'

[Calico Mary]

Denver? Why did we need to go to Denver again? Just what did that man want to go to Denver for this time? It figured, he had just bought me two new toys to play with and now he wanted to drag me away from the ranch before I had time to use them. Both machines were still sitting on the porch, I needed to go help Clara finish straightening up the sewing room so they could be moved inside, but Cheyenne was bugging me about packing for the trip. Thankfully Boo Boo volunteered to help Clara, I think they wanted to get better acquainted, and Kate offered to take Ruth when I was done feeding her. By that time Cheyenne had gotten Hop Sing to bring a couple of trunks up to our room, so I headed upstairs to start packing.

 

“Just how long do you intend for us to be gone this time?” I asked him. Cheyenne was practically dancing around the room, trying to be helpful but mostly just getting in the way. “Don't know, a few days at least, however long you want,” he replied, but I wasn't too sure I wanted to go at all. I had things to do here, and hated riding that dang train. “That's not much of an answer, and it doesn't help me to know how much I gotta pack,” I told him, starting to get a little annoyed. He was still practically bouncing off the walls, and said, “Oh, just take whatever you feel like, if we end up needing anything else while we're there we'll just go shopping.”

 

I was getting more than a little suspicious, I just couldn't figure out what he was so excited about over a trip to Denver. I needed to get some things packed for Ruth, the other kids could stay on the ranch but I couldn't very well leave her behind, no one else could feed her. Well, in an emergency Two Birds could have, as she was still nursing her youngest child, but I certainly couldn't expect her to take care of her own daughter and mine for several days just so I could go on this trip. I finally asked Cheyenne to go ask Kate if she'd be willing to go with us as nanny, and to talk to Jenny about helping Laura and Sally with the other kids. That was more to get him out of my hair than anything, I was already positive both ladies would agree to the plan.

 

If Finn was going to be staying here I wanted Biblepuncher and Cora both keeping an eye on him, at least until Karl and the other men got back. Biblepuncher had already told Finn he was still welcome to stay at his place until after the roundup, then Finn would have to move into the bunkhouse with the other hands. I didn't trust Finn, even though he should be grateful to Cheyenne for saving his rear from those men he had cheated I wasn't at all convinced that he was. I was positive that this one was going to be trouble, but then again he was family, I was more sure of that than Junior's still unproven claim. Finn had been able to name all of his siblings, from paperwork that Frank had left behind we knew that Finn had gotten them all right, plus he knew a few other things about the Culpepper family history that he wouldn't have likely known if he hadn't truly been related. Yes, this man was Frank's brother, but was Junior really his son?

 

Despite Cheyenne's “help” I finally managed to get the trunks packed, and went looking for Cheyenne and Finn to carry them downstairs. They had gotten my sewing and crochet machines moved inside, I hoped that maybe I'd get a few minutes to start getting the machines set up after we ate. As we were sitting down to dinner though, we heard a horse galloping up, and as it got close to the house we heard Ike shouting, “Doc! Hey Doc, I need ya!” Doc quickly jumped up and headed outside, followed closely by me and Cheyenne, and more slowly by Finn. Eddie had brought his horse to a stop right by the back porch, and as he caught his breath he started explaining.

 

“We need yer help Doc, Karl and the others are coming behind me, but Karl sent me ahead ta warn ya. They're bringing Junior in, he's hurt real bad. He got run over by a cow,” Ike told us. Finn started giggling a little, and I although I admitted that being run over by a cow might sound funny to someone who didn't know better, it was no laughing matter. A full grown cow weighed enough to cause serious damage if you weren't careful, and this wouldn't be the first time Doc would be treating someone who had been injured by one.

 

Cheyenne didn't think much of Finn's laughing though, and made that perfectly clear. “I don't know what you think is so funny, Uncle, but I've got news for you. The man who is hurt is the one we think might be your son....is this going to be so amusing to you if he really is?” Then Cheyenne stomped off after Doc to go help the others bring Junior in. I could tell Cheyenne was also mad because he had been planning on Doc going with us to Denver, but if Junior was hurt bad enough Doc would have to stay here. Did that mean the trip would be canceled, or would Cheyenne just have us go with Kate and leave Doc behind? I didn't know, and at that point I didn't care yet, I was more concerned about Doc's request to me that I head for his place and start getting his instruments and some bandages and water ready. As I left the porch, I saw that all the blood had drained from Finn's face, did he really know more about Junior than he was letting on, and did he really care?

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

Doc and met Karl driving the wagon with Jr in the back with Eddie by his side about a mile out from the house. Doc looked Jr. over quick like and without any major cuts or serious bleeding, to Karl to start again and head for his cabin at the ranch. Doc swung up onto his mount and told me that Jr. most likely had a broken arm and possibly a leg, and lots of bruises.

 

Karl shouted over to me that Grumpy and his dog Buford were driving the forty head that they had found towards the ranch because it was closer than the cabin where the usual branding was done. We followed Karl and the wagon to the ranch and helped get Jr. into Doc's place. Eddie was pretty shook up, as was Ike, neither one had even seen a man trampled before and I knew that I couldn't send either young man back out just yet.

 

Mollie's son, David offered to go with Karl saying that he had some experience with cattle and that he wanted to stick around a little longer anyway to get to know his father. Karl, by then had a horse saddled and he and David road off to meet up with Grumpy and Buford.

 

I caught an eye of the trunks that Calico had already had put on the porch in expectation of our trip to Denver, my heart sank! There was no way that we could leave the ranch now!

 

I found her in the sewing room and told her we would have to put the trip off for a little while or until things settled down some. She tried to act like she was disappointed, but I could see the excitement in her eyes as her fingers were caressing the new machines.

 

I left her to her machines and went out to find Mollie and the two other men that had come with her getting ready to leave, "If David gives you any grief, you send him packing you hear" she told me as she swung her horse to the northeast. "Grizz, you remember what I told you and Clara, I meant every word!" she shouted as she prodded her mount to leave.

 

Finn was still sitting on the porch and without much more color in his face than earlier. "You best go check up on your son" I told him, "Come on, you can go with me."

[Calico Mary]

I was glad to hear that Junior wasn't hurt as badly as he could have been, but his injuries would still be painful enough. He'd be laid up for at least a month, possibly longer, and the next few days probably wouldn't be the best he'd ever had. How long he'd need Doc's attention was anyone's guess, but our trip would at least need to be postponed. Cheyenne was more than a little unhappy about it, but I really didn't mind in the least. I still couldn't figure out why he felt the need to drag me and Ruth all the way to Denver, not to mention Doc and Kate, sometimes there was just no understanding that man.

 

I had gone back to the sewing room for a while, but then I heard Cheyenne tell Finn to come with him over to Doc's. As much as I'd like to stay in the house, I figured I better go with them. I headed out the front, and called out to the two men to wait up for me, I wasn't really feeling up to running after them. For some reason I was getting tired a lot lately, I wasn't sure if it was because I was still recovering after having Ruth, or just from taking care of all the kids and the pets and my horses and all my other chores, or a combination of both. It didn't help that at night Cheyenne kept wanting to cuddle for half the night when all I wanted to do was sleep, at least as long as Ruth would let me which wasn't long at all just yet.

 

Cheyenne and Finn did wait for me, then the three of us headed for Doc's office. Finn didn't seem like he wanted to talk, so we just let him keep his thoughts to himself, it was enough that he was going over there willingly. He still looked really shaken up, and I couldn't understand his reaction. If he hadn't cared enough earlier in Junior's life to be a part of it, why get so upset now? We stopped at Doc's front door, and Finn pulled a flask out of his coat. “Gimme a minute,” he muttered, and Cheyenne nodded...we would wait. Finn took a pretty good gulp, then offered it to me. “No thanks, I better not go in there with whiskey on my breath, Doc will have a fit,” I explained, but Cheyenne didn't hesitate to take a good swig before handing the flask back to Finn. The older man took a deep breath, then told us, “Ok, let's get this over with.”

 

Cheyenne opened the door and we went inside, Doc was just finishing splinting Junior's leg, his arm was already done. Junior was still out cold, but that was probably for the best. Doc motioned for us to come over, but we hung back and let Finn approach the bed Junior was in by himself. Finn sat gingerly in the chair next to the bed, staring at Junior for a while without speaking. Finally he looked up at us, and for a second I thought I saw a tear in his eye.

 

“Well, he shor do look like me when I wuz younger...cept he's got his momma's smile. That wuz tha purtiest thing about ole' Martha....not that gud-lookin' but had a smile that would make a man go outta his mind in a heartbeat! Guess he must be mine...not that I've even been any kind of a pa to him. Martha tried tellin' me bout him o' course, but I wasn't gonna be tied down. Went back a couple of times ta check up on him, ceptin' I didn't never let Martha know I wuz around. Haven't seen him since he wuz knee high to a grasshopper, he musta been bout 6-7 when I showed up one time and found out that Martha had moved on, to where no one seemed to know. Don't know how I'm ever gonna make it up to him....”

 

None of the rest of us had any idea what to say to that, but just then Junior started coming around. While Doc bent over to check on him, Cheyenne went over to Finn, and I could hear him whisper, “You can start by introducing yourself as soon as he's fully awake, and let him know just who you are.” Then Cheyenne came over and took my hand, telling me, “Let's go home, these two need a chance to talk in private.”

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

We left Finn with Jr. at Doc's place and started for the house. It was a relief to see Jr. finally coming around, I was glad that I didn't have to worry about that any longer. What would happen between Jr. and Finn? Only time would answer that.

 

I figured that I would tell Calico some of the information that Doc had given me about preventing another baby too soon. I saw that familiar glisten in her eyes, but something was missing. I let it go figuring that with all that was going on she wasn't that thrilled, I was hoping that after she thought about it a while she might take to the news a little, no, a whole lot better.

 

We were about to the house when we heard gunshots off in the distance. We both stopped in our tracks, trying to discern the direction the sounds were coming from. it only took a moment before we realized that the shots had to be close to where Karl and Grumpy should have been by now drivivng the cattle they had rounded up.

 

I ran for the house, grabbed my gun belt and my Winchester and leaped onto my horse from the porch. I could tell that Calico was wanting to go with me but I told her have anyone she could find follow me. I swung around the corner of the house and saw the wagon still hitched to the horses from earlier and thought, no she wouldn't, would she? I urged the white stallion on and leaned low onto his neck asking for all that he had. I quickly saw the cattle stampeding towards the ranch, I had to make a decision quickly, try to turn the small herd to protect the ranch, or to go to the aid of my men. I knew that I would only have one chance at turning the herd, I swung the stallion wide from the point of the herd and then as they were almost abreast i turned the stallion toward the front of the herd, still riding low on the stallion's neck.

 

As I closed on the herd I sat tall in the saddle and drew one of my Colts and as I met the herd from the side I fired several shots until the herd started to turn away. That would have to be good enough and as the herd turned I slowed the stallion and once the last of the herd had passed in front of me i turned the stallion back towards the gunfire.

 

I came upon Grumpy first, his horse was down and he lay close to it's belly and Buford was licking his face, I started to dismount but as I did Grumpy opened his eyes and waved me on telling me that Karl needed me more. It was if the stallion understood Grumpy and we were in full stride again.

 

I knew that I only had one or two more shots left in one pistol, I tried to make a mental note not to draw that pistol until the other guns I had were empty. I soon could see three riderless horses and three men kneeling behind large rocks firing towards a large boulder. Watching that boulder I caught a glimpse of yellow, Karl's yellow shirt. Nearing the three men from the rear I pulled the fully loaded Colt, I wasn't ten yards from the men when one of them heard me approaching, stood and started to fire in my direction. My Colt barked and the man doubled over, I fired at one of the other men as I continued on towards the boulder. I circled around it to find Karl hunched down reloading his Winchester, but his shirt was now more red than yellow.

 

I urged the stallion out from behind the boulder and felt the heat of a bullet sear my leg. I pushed the stallion on until we were about a hundred yards out and then turned him for the two men that were left. As I did, one of the men stood with his rifle to fire at me again, but as he did Karl rolled him over. I glanced back over towards Karl to see him fall to his knees. The last man stood and was taking a bead on Karl as I yanked on the stallion to stop, while grabbing for my Winchester. I slid of off the stallion, rifle in hand. I found the man in my sights like I was a machine and began firing. I had the man's attention now as he returned fire at me. I could see my bullets tearing at his body but he refused to fall. Feeling the pain of another bullet rip through my leg I drew a fine bead on the man's head and squeezed the trigger. This time the man went down.

 

I knew we didn't have much time left and pulled my Colt to fire the three shots that would send Doc from the ranch. One shot, wait, two shots, wait, ok, and now the third shot, dang, wrong gun. I dropped that one and drew the other and fired the third shot. Then I grabbed some leather strapps from my scabbard and tied them around my leg, swung up on the stallion and got to Karl as quickly as I could. He had a shoulder wound and one in the leg as well. i grabbed what I could to try to stop his bleeding. Seeing his Winchester, i grabbed it and did the three shot call for help again, waited a moment and then repeated.

 

Then I knelt beside Karl cradling him as I waited.....

[Calico Mary]

It figured that this trip to Denver had something to do with....well.....couldn't that man wait? Ruth was only a few weeks old for crying out loud! Cheyenne definitely needed a new hobby....

 

We were almost home when we heard the gunshots, and I hoped he could get his mind off of Denver long enough to deal with whatever was going on. Cheyenne grabbed his guns and ran for his stallion, calling out to me to send whoever I could find to help. He didn't bother adding that it better not be me, but the look he gave me was enough. Think....think....who was still here? Most of the men were off on the range, and the few left here were the younger, greener hands, wasn't too sure they'd be the best choice. Biblepuncher? His leg was still healing, but from horseback he was still one of our best shots. I headed in the direction of the church, just as Eddie and Ike came running. "Are your horses still saddled?" I shouted, and when they both nodded I yelled for them to mount up and go find Running Bear and Black Horse, then head with them towards the gunfire. They both ran to the corral as I continued on to get the preacher.

 

He was just coming out of the church when I arrived, he had already heard the shots. "Cheyenne's gonna need help, get your guns and load heavy, I'll saddle Rascal for you," I told him, and his only response was to head for his cabin to retrieve his pistols and rifle. I raced for the big barn to get Rascal, remembering at the last second to grab Biblepuncher's saddle instead of mine, the stirrups on mine were too short for the preacher's long legs and I didn't want him to take time to adjust them. Biblepuncher had just about reached the corral when I led my stallion out, Rascal hadn't been ridden in a while and was being very frisky, but I knew once my friend was in the saddle he'd be able to handle the animal.

 

Doc had come running as well, carrying his bag and still trying to shove his arms in his coat. I went to give him a hand as Biblepuncher swung up on Rascal, and he called over to Doc, "Bring the wagon, we might need it. See if you can find one of the boys to ride shotgun for ya!" With that the preacher took off, and Doc asked me, "Well, who do we have left that I can depend on?"

"That you can depend on? Only one, get the wagon ready and I'll be right back," I said, and ran for the house before he could ask any more questions. As I opened the door, I heard the signal, three shots....Cheyenne needed Doc's help and fast. My rifle was upstairs, and I didn't want to take the time to fetch it, but I got my gunbelt on as fast as I could and then reached for my shotgun. As I exited the house, Doc was already on the wagon seat, and when he realized I intended to go with him he started to argue with me. Just then we heard the signal again, twice, and I told him straight out, "We don't have time for this, you can yell at me for it later!" That shut him up, and he took the shotgun from me long enough for me to climb up, then took off as fast as he dared drive the horses.

 

As we headed in the direction that the shots had come from, I held on as best I could while making sure my pistols and the shotgun were loaded and I had spare shells handy for the shotgun. I almost wished Doc could go faster, I was worried sick, but it was already starting to get dark and the last thing we needed was to wreck or cause one of the horses to break a leg. As we were getting close, I could see Eddie and Ike kneeling by Grumpy's horse, and I assumed Grumpy must be there as well. Biblepuncher and the two braves were further on behind a boulder, waving to get Doc's attention, and Eddie shouted to us, "Grumpy says he can wait, Cheyenne and Karl need Doc worse!"

 

That scared the heck outta me, they must be badly wounded or Eddie would have let Doc stop and check Grumpy himself. We headed straight for the boulder, and for a second I didn't think Doc was going to be able to get the wagon stopped. We only overshot the boulder by a few feet, and as soon as he could Doc jumped out and headed straight for Karl. I was about to jump down myself and see to Cheyenne, when movement over behind some rocks caught my eye. Something was moving over there, and I knew it wasn't one of our men. I climbed from the wagon directly onto Rascal, and still clutching the shotgun went to have a look.

 

Sure enough, a man I didn't recognize was crawling towards a rifle that was laying a few feet from him. I was coming around from his backside, and I don't think he noticed me. As soon as he could he reached out for the rifle, then tried to aim it in the direction of Cheyenne, Karl, and the others. I wasn't about to let him get a shot off, I quickly brought Rascal to a halt and swinging the shotgun around, let go with both barrels. It had been a long time since I had fired a shotgun and I wasn't fully prepared for the recoil, almost falling off the other side of the horse. It didn't help that my feet didn't reach the stirrups, since this was Biblepuncher's saddle. I managed to keep my seat, barely, but then I saw one more man was still moving, though clearly injured, a third one was obviously already dead. The one still alive was bringing his pistol up to aim at me, and now the shotgun was empty. All I could do was drop it and grab for my pistols, and hope that I could clear leather before my opponent quit shaking long enough to take aim....