10 Pound Bag Ch. 200-204

As soon as dinner was finished and the last story told, the kids were packed off to bed accompanied by the seemingly perennial party pooper currently known as Mrs. Browne. The bourbon came out which was enough to send Amos packing as well. It was just us three old fellas now; well us and a bottle. We didn't hit it hard but we talked and told stories. I felt bad because I couldn't tell them the real truth but I did tell them that I occasionally had visions in my dreams that repeated themselves. I blamed a vision and told them that vision showed me where coal was located near our new town.

That was the only bit I shared with them but it was enough to get Sven excited, if we had our own coal our profits would soar. He excitedly dug into his travel bag and pulled out a section of the Baton Rouge Gazette, he pointed out an ad offering steam engines to fit any need, it included a contact name and address. Well now, that offered up a plethora of opportunity for us and just that information itself deserved another pour for each of us and a hearty good night.

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Morning came gently even to us three drinkers. The relatively heavy meal combined with gentle consumption of inebriants left our bladders as the morning's only reminder of the liquid indulgence of the night before. This was to be our last full day travelling, we could probably make it before dark if we pushed it and the weather cooperated but that was no way to arrive home. It was definitely not the way to introduce people to their new home either.

So we actually stopped early for the day, leaving about two hours worth of travel for the next day. Clothes were washed and baths in a cold stream were taken. The Brownes camped with me again and the afternoon and evening were quiet, I'm not sure about anyone else but I slept well that night.

Extra time was taken that morning to insure everyone was rested and were well prepared to meet their new life. Amos and I had been fielding questions about Rulo the entire trip, eventually the answers simply became "you'll see". Mrs. Browne was allowed back on the steamboat that morning, my cruelty did not subscribe to that level of public humiliation. The story would get around regardless, small towns hold no secrets.

We docked at the pier just around noon and were greeted by the harbor crew who tied the boats up and stared at the paddlewheel. Brin on the other hand didn't even wait for the gangplank, he was into the water and up the road before most of us registered the splash. That meant the greeting committee would be here soon, so I hurried everyone off of the boat. We had about five minutes to get our bearings before the crowd showed up.

Those five minutes were a life saver because the crowd that showed up was even more impressive than I had imagined it would be. But then again it was a break from the daily work even if only for a little while and who doesn't enjoy that?

Barking dogs, yelling children and Capt. Timmons and the rest of his group literally drooling over every detail of the steamboat tied up at the pier. Very much the grand entrance.

Amos was basically melding with his young bride, so much so that I half expected to witness a fusion event that would twitch all of us away to an even stranger time line. Hey -- stranger things had happened in my own recent history.

The strangest thing was the lack of personal attention for me. I shook the hands and said the proper words to all of my friends and acquaintances but saw nothing of Mouse, Michelle, Matilda or Sonya; damn saying it that way makes it sound like I had a harem. I really wanted to see Mouse and really would like to see my friends also.

Eventually Holder showed up and handed me Lunch's reigns, so up into the saddle I went and off to find my wife and fellow travelers.

Chapter 204 -- The Little Raid on the Prairie

By: Emmeran, 6 May 2022

Editor: Nnpdad 11 May 2022

Holder was following me back up to town; he didn't say a word but Holder didn't talk much anyway. He had started out with us being a quiet one and as he settled in, he seemed to get a little more sparing with his words every day. Meaning in truth that he was fine company to keep. As we topped the bluff on the road into to town he pushed his horse to a canter and took the lead, I followed along while marveling at the progress that had been made in my absence.

We now had three large lodge houses with the skeleton of a fourth in progress. The first lodge house was at the top of the bluff and was obviously for the boat crews. The other two and a half were just past the downtown area in what was surveyed to be our town square/park. They were set back about thirty-five yards off of the road and at each end of the square they created there was a decent sized brick building. I was shocked that we actually had brick buildings already, everybody had been busy.

Holder slowed down and started explaining things, "This first building here is the town hall, that's where we're going.

"That building down yonder is the Sheriff's office and Militia headquarters." He drawled out in his still thick mountain accent. "We've even got a little jail cell in there to throw the drunks in at night." He seemed quite proud of all that had been accomplished. The was even a raised dais in front of the town hall large enough to hold the council table or even a performing music group. My little refugee camp was starting to look like a town.

I reined in Lunch and looked around at all of the progress and just shook my head in amazement, "Damn Holder, y'all did a really good job here." He looked to almost have blushed under that tan of his and simply turned his horse and dismounted in front of the Town Hall, "They're all in here, you got here right after we got the news."

I tied Lunch to the hitching rail, grabbed my bag and followed him inside. Grand it wasn't, but a solid building it definitely was; utilitarian was the proper descriptor. The back wall had shelves filled with square wicker baskets and all containing papers of various importance, who needs filing cabinets when the idle portion of your populace could weave baskets (even square ones) for you. I saw Mary's hand in all of this.

The town council and the leadership team were all sitting at our large table, my chair had even been relocated here and stood empty at the head of the table. A mixture of chairs, stools and benches served the rest of the table and there was a wood stove with a pot of coffee or tea steaming away on top of it. Windows provided daylight to assist the lamps on the table and sconces on the wall, the windows didn't have glass but they had shutters both inside and out.

Sonya sat at the foot of the table and with the setup she had there I assumed this was where she normally worked, it seemed an effective use of space to me. The room went quiet when Holder and I entered, only to erupt in commotion as soon as Mouse saw me. She leapt from her seat and practically into my arms. Once captured by her everyone else fell upon me like a wolfpack on wounded prey; I was holding Mouse close with one arm and giving half hugs and handshakes with the other.

Once the storm had started to die off I saw one last figure stand up with a little bit of difficulty. It was Matilda and that previously lithe and able woman waddled over to me obviously in some discomfort, she stared at me for a moment then slapped my face -- hard. She then gave me a hug and waddled over to the back door which I later found led to the outhouses. Ahh the joys of pregnancy, well that's what she gets for sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night. My face stung for a good ten minutes after that slap, Matilda doesn't do anything halfway.

Mouse towed me over to my seat and Michelle plunked a cup of coffee and a bottle down in front of me, something told me I wasn't going to like this meeting and I was really glad we had stopped last night and came into town fresh. I sat down and poured a dollop into my coffee cup and then sent the bottle on its first round, I lit a cigarette then sat back and said, "Let's hear it."

Sheriff took the lead and simply rumbled, "The Kansa are coming."

He motioned towards Pete who took over from there, "Kansa had a bad hunt this year, too many of their warriors were injured or killed by us in that great battle. Now they will starve in the winter and worry that we will strike them in the spring."

Well that was ominous.

Pete continued, "Kansa warriors are better now and have raised a raiding party with help of other small bands. They talk too much and brag that they are coming for our herds and our women. Kansa scouts will cross Nemaha river tonight, raiding party the next night to attack in early morning."

He waited a moment and added, "Kansa warriors talk too much, ears are everywhere."

The table got noisy for a moment and I sat and thought while the discussion went on. There were several steps that needed to be taken and foremost among them was to get fresher intel and get our boats to safety.

I sat forward and slapped the table bringing the conversation to a halt.

"Holder, please fetch Timmons and Amos immediately!"

He rose from his chair to leave but I stopped him mid-stride, "You might need to take a crowbar with you to separate young Amos from his attentive young wife!"

That brought a smiles and titters from the members, breaking the tension somewhat. We had huge advantages in the coming battle but first we needed to get our people and our boats to safety.

But first we needed Amos because we needed eyes in the sky.