Gone to Kansas Ch. 02

This is the second part of Zeb's journey West, read CH. 01 first to have a better story experience. This part of the story does have sex in it, all people involved are 18 and older. All editing was done by me so don't expect perfection.

Previously in CH. 01

I rode into tie camp and greeted some of the boys and hitched Ed to a tree and went looking for William, our foreman. He and Frank had just come back with the draft horses from taking a load of ties down to the river. William saw me and waved, Frank just sorta stared at me and didn't bother with a greeting.

"William, Mr. Danny wants to know how the order is going and if you will complete it by the deadline?"

"We are a little ahead of schedule on the order and if the rain holds off, we'll have it finished up before we come home Saturday afternoon," replied William.

"That's good, I'll let Mr. Danny know, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it! I'm going to head out, I didn't have any messages for you."

"See ya later Zeb, good luck with your new horse," replied William.

I turned and waved, then headed back to where I had Ed hitched. I untied him and mounted, then rode on outa camp.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was about to ride right into a big ole mess!

*****

I decided to take the long way back home, instead of following the river, I headed South, climbed a ridge, then headed East, traveling along a wooded ridge.

This route would take me past an old couple's home in the hills. The old man was known for his shine, it was different than most people's shine. He made it from corn mash just like everyone else, but once he put it in the jar, he'd mix in some fermented fruit juice, and slices of fruit. He also put in some other things that he kept a secret, whatever it was gave it a unique flavor, it was some good stuff!

Since I was in the area, I figured I'd pick up a jar or two. The old couples name was Jaeger, Hans and Seglenda, they were an older German couple probably in their 60's that I don't believe ever had any kids.

It was rumored that the couple liked to go around naked around the house. From what I heard they weren't shy about it and wouldn't even bother covering up for company. They spoke broken English with a heavy German accent and were sometimes hard to understand. I was hoping they'd have their clothes on!

I was getting fairly close to the valley they lived in; I was still higher up and was looking down through the trees where I knew I would soon see their place. I thought I heard yelling and screaming but wasn't positive. As I got closer, I could definitely make out a woman yelling in a heavy German accent. It sounded like she was pleading with someone.

I jumped off Ed and tied him off to a branch, then grabbed my Spencer from the scabbard. I took off down the hill on foot, the yelling and screaming was getting louder. Once I got to the edge of the woods I could see the Jaeger's home below me in a clearing, Seglenda was down on her knees weeping and I could see a man kicking someone on the ground that looked dead or unconscious. The man on the ground appeared to be Hans, there were two more men still in their saddles watching the show.

I knew I couldn't take all three if I announced my presence, so I made up my mind I was going to shoot the dirty son of a bitch kicking the old man and then start clearing saddles without saying a word. I cocked the hammer on my spencer and tried to get a good steady aim, resting on a low hanging tree branch. I was about a hundred yards or so from the man standing and the others were about another ten yards from him.

I was breathing heavily and could feel my heart pounding in my chest, I was scared as I'd ever been! I'd never even pointed a gun at a man before today! I got sighted in on the man beating Hans, my sights were moving like crazy! I had to get control of myself, or I was going to screw this up and get all of us killed.

I began taking deep breaths, holding it for a bit then blowing out. I did this about five times then got back on my sights. It was better but not great, there was still a lot of movement from my nerves acting up.

I focused on my front sight and began to squeeze the trigger. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I could feel my gun kick and temporarily lost sight of the man I was shooting at. Through the smoke I could see him going down. I levered another round in the chamber and cocked the hammer for another shot at one of the horsemen. Both men had spurred their mounts and were hauling ass out of the area. I got off another two shots, without effect. I was damn lucky they chose to run and not charge at me.

As soon as the man went down and the other two took off Seglenda ran over to Hans!

"Seglenda, it's Zeb Schmidt, I'm coming in!" I yelled!

I went back for Ed, untied him and rode him into the yard, jumped down and rushed up to check the guy I'd shot. He hadn't moved and once I got close, I could see why. That.56 Spencer round had punched right through one of his eyeballs turning his head into an unrecognizable mess. I would have considered it a good shot had I been aiming there, I'd actually been aiming for the upper chest area, oh well, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good! Truth be told I was damn lucky I hit him at all with the nerves I had going! I was still pretty worked up and jittery.

I didn't recognize the man as someone from our part of the country. I guessed him to be a damned bushwhacker out terrorizing. It wasn't that long after the civil war and there was a lot of lawlessness in Missouri at the time.

I walked up to Hans, not sure if he was alive or dead, upon checking him out he began to moan and move a bit. Seglenda and I were able to get him up to the house and sit him in a chair.

Seglenda looked Han's over, then she told me what happened before I rode up.

She said the men rode up to the house asking to water their horses, Hans walked over to them to welcome them and the man I'd shot, had gotten down off his horse and started to ask Hans questions about where the rest of the family was. Once the man learned the old couple lived alone, he threatened Hans, said he needed to give them money. Hans told the men they didn't have any money and that it was time for them to go, that's when the man began beating Hans.

I walked back out to see if there was anything of value on the man I'd shot. I put his stuff in a pile next to him. There was an old Remington.44 percussion revolver, along with $2 and a wore out knife. It appeared outlawin hadn't really paid off for this here feller! Unfortunately, his damn horse took off as soon as the shootin started.

I got a rope from my saddle bag and tied one end off to the dead man's feet. I walked Ed over to the dead man, he wanted to shy away at first but after I talked to him calmly for a bit and led him away, then brought him back on the upwind side he was fine.

I made a few loops around my saddle horn with the other end of the rope, then saddled up, dragging the man from the yard. I saw a pile of old dry cut brush a couple hundred yards away and drug the man to it, undid the rope and stacked the dry brush over him into a pretty good size pile, then lit it up. I didn't feel the need to bury this piece of shit.

The nearest law to us was several days away and I wasn't going to go through the trouble to notify them. I felt I was justified in the shooting, so I wasn't too worried about it. As far as I was concerned it was like shooting a rabid animal, I was still pretty nerved up and a bit shaky, but the fact that I'd just killed a man didn't really bother me under the circumstances.

I rode back to the yard and hopped off Ed, grabbed up the man's belongings and took them in to Seglenda. There was a good chance Hans was going to need to see a doctor, so I told her the belongings were hers to help pay off the doc if she called on him.

I asked Seglenda if she wanted me to go call on the doc, she said she'd take care of Hans since it didn't appear he had anything broken but maybe a few ribs. Seglenda thanked me in her broken English, telling me to call on them anytime if I ever needed anything. She also gave me two jars of Hans's special moonshine. As I thanked her, she reached up and gave me a big hug, gripping me tightly telling me to stop in whenever I wanted, promising me a home cooked meal the next time I came out!

I rode back to Cooper's Hill and went straight to the store to look for Mr. Danny. I found him in the back of the store, he and Momma were re organizing some of the dry goods. I walked up to Mr. Danny, he took one look at me and asked if I was, ok? Momma ran up beside me and asked what I'd gotten myself into? I guess I looked as shook up as I felt! I told them what happened out at the Jaeger's place. Mr. Danny asked if I was ok, and had I been hurt?

I told him I wasn't hurt but mighty shook up over the whole thing. He said that was to be expected considering what happened! Momma, after hearing my story latched onto me with a bear hug and was weeping. I reassured her I was ok and not hurt at all, she didn't let go of me for what seemed like minutes!

While Momma was still hanging onto me for dear life Mr. Danny told me I should send a letter to the sheriff and let him know what happened and give a good description of the two that got away along with what they were riding. I told him I would and try and get it in the mail tomorrow.

Momma finally released me and was still sobbing, saying she couldn't believe this happened to me and how thankful she was that I wasn't hurt. I reached out to her and placed my hands on her shoulders and pulled her in for another hug, telling her I was ok.

While I was still holding on to Momma, I told Mr. Danny that the ties would be finished by quittin time on Saturday, and that Seglenda gave me two jars of shine for him.

"Well, we might just need to crack into one of them jars of shine tonight just to calm everybody down a might from all of this excitement," Exclaimed Mr. Danny! I told him that sounded like a good idea and that Momma might need more than any of us!

I peeled Momma off me, then told them I needed to put up my horse, then I'd be back in for supper. That night when I came in for supper my sisters each ran up to me and hugged me almost as hard as Momma had. They both began asking questions at the same time and I couldn't even begin to answer one before another was asked! I told them I'd tell them all about it when we sat down to eat.

When we got seated at the table, both of my sisters were staring at me wide eyed and asking me what had happened. So, I told them all about the day's events, making supper take twice as long as it normally would have. I also gave them a good description of the two guys that got away and what color their horses were so they would be able to recognize them if they showed back up for some reason.

After the girls cleared the table Mr. Danny got out that jar of shine and poured us all about three fingers worth into a glass. Momma voiced her disapproval to Mr. Danny about giving some to the girls since they were young. Mr. Danny just replied that it was better for them to have their first shot of shine while they were safe with family than somewhere else! Momma just gave him and exasperated look, and shook her head, but didn't say more about it.

That Jaeger shine was different than most, it had a sweetness to it and had slices of peaches floating in the jar. Any other shine I'd ever had was so harsh it was all you could do to get it down. Mr. Danny said it was more like a brandy. I poured myself a second glass and Momma said to the girls that all they were getting was the one glass, but Momma helped herself to another. Mr. Danny just looked at her with a smile on his face and patted her on the rear as she stood to fill her glass.

Heidi and Ellie just rolled their eyes at them, showing mock disgust at what they deemed to be inappropriate behavior.

The girls were giggling to themselves quite a bit and acting a bit off, I figured the shine probably hit them a little harder than everyone else. We all ended up going to bed later than usual that night having talked the night away.

I crawled into my bed that night feeling a bit lightheaded and dizzy, sleep didn't come quickly that night with all the stress of the day and being involved in my first shooting! My nerves kept me awake most of the night.

*********

Before I knew it, the time was near to be headed back to tie camp, the thought of it almost made me sick. The day before, Mr. Danny told me that he was going to make me the foreman of the tie crew just so I could get a little experience before going out to Aunt Helen's ranch. I was dreading telling William that he wasn't foreman anymore, and I knew it wasn't going to sit well with Frank. The only good thing about it was a pay increase to a dollar a day!

I saddled up Ed and got all my gear together for the week, said my goodbye's and rode off. On the ride back I thought about what I'd say to the guys about being the new foreman. I also thought about heading to Kansas. I was eager to get started on my journey, I was glad I had an end in sight from tie cutting! I'd decided not to long after starting this job, that working on a tie hacking crew wasn't what I wanted to do with my life!

Once I got back, I got settled in for the night and waited for the rest of the crew to show up. When all the guys got back to camp, I let them know that Mr. Danny had put me in charge, he'd also given the order in writing to prove to anyone who doubted my words, but I didn't end up needing it. Frank wasn't overly happy to hear of this change since we weren't on the best of terms, not to mention him bein older and not wanting to take orders from someone, he considered to be a kid!

William, our foreman had no problem with me taking over, he was a pretty easy-going guy and whatever Mr. Danny said, he would do without complaint. I told him about me leaving towards the end of summer to help out Aunt Helen and assured him he'd be foreman again.

Work went as well as could be expected that first week with me in charge. There wasn't a noticeable change in anyone's behavior except Frank, he was bitching a lot more than usual, but he was still getting his work done. I didn't say anything to him about the bitching even though I could tell it was getting on everyone's nerves.

On the third week things went tits up! We were finishing up another order of ties and it had been raining a lot that week making things extra muddy and making a hard job a lot harder. Everyone's tempers were up and on Friday afternoon things between me and Frank came to a head.

We had a load of ties that were ready to be taken down to the river, it was the last of the ties we needed for the order. William was the one that normally took the team to the river. Since we were basically done, I asked Frank to join William and I down at the river, so we could get finished quicker and head home for the weekend sooner.

Frank just looked at me, and said no, that it wasn't his job to do! I explained to him that if we all helped it would get us home quicker.

"I ain't going down to the river to unload ties, boy!" Frank replied.

"Frank, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you, get down to the river and help!"

"Boy, I'm not about to take any more orders from you, you can just go and fuck yourself!"

"Frank, if'n you don't do what I say then you can go ahead and leave now! If you can't follow orders, you don't have a job! Now get on down there and help unload them ties and stop being so bull headed!"

Frank put down his broadax and started walking towards me with pure hate in his eyes. I knew we were going to have us another go at each other.

When Frank got close, he didn't say anything he just swung a hook right at my head. I ducked it, took a step to the side and hit Frank with a jab to the face and followed it up with a cross that missed him. We started to circle each other, and the punches were flying!

About a minute into the fight Frank was obviously getting winded. I got several hooks to his ribs and another jab and a cross to his face. This sent him into a rage, and he came running in to tackle me. I was able to sidestep him and when he came in again, I unloaded on him. After an uppercut followed by a hook to the head Frank was stunned a bit. I grabbed him by the head and brought his face to my knee, turning his nose to mush, and spraying blood. I turned him loose and gave him another hook, catching him on the chin and he went down into the mud.

Frank just lay there; nose bleeding and his left eye was almost swelled shut. Once I caught my breath, I told Frank to pack his shit and leave, that he could draw his last pay from Mr. Danny, but he wasn't to come back to tie camp.

William and I took the ties down and unloaded them, by the time we got back Frank had left. I was relieved to see him gone, to say the least!

That night when I got back home, Ellie was the first person I ran into. She stared at me a bit then said, "let me take one guess, Frank?"

"Yeah, we had another go of it, it went worse for him than it did for me though!"

Ellie just shook her head and said, "you better clean up before going inside, Momma will have your hide if you track in all that mud and blood into the house!"

I just nodded and went to put up Ed and clean up some before going in. Once I got everything put away, I went in, and everyone was already sitting down at the table for supper. Momma just kinda stared at me and shook her head in exasperation.

I explained to Mr. Danny what happened with Frank and that I told him he no longer had a job. Mr. Danny just nodded his head and said, "well I guess I'll need to be findin someone to take his place. You did the right thing Zeb; we don't need a man that can't follow orders!"

That next week Mr. Danny ended up hiring a father and son to replace Frank. The boy was just 15 but large for his age. Mr. Danny explained he wanted to get two men up and running before I headed out to Aunt Helen's.

Two more months went by, and it was the end of June, the father and son ended up working out and they were pulling their weight by this time. It was about time for me to start my journey to Kansas.

It was the beginning of July, the week before I was to leave for Aunt Helen's, the time was near for me to go! I took the week off from tie camp to get things together for my trip and to spend a little time with my family before I headed off to Kansas, I was also helping out at the store. It was Tuesday and I was the only one at the store.

Mrs. Busher came in to look at our new sewing machines, she was the widow of our previous minister. Mrs. Busher was probably around 50 years of age and was still well put together for an older lady. She had never had any children and she was fairly thin with large breasts; her hair was completely gray, but she wore it long instead of being cut short like most widows I knew.

She was wearing a modest dress and had her hair in a ponytail. Which I thought was odd since most women her age wore their hair pinned up, usually it was the younger women or girls that wore their hair down in any manner!

"Zeb, how much would it cost me to have you deliver and assemble one of these sewing contraptions to my house," Mrs. Busher asked?

"Well, if you buy it, we will deliver and assemble it for you," I replied.

"You got yourself a deal!" She replied. "When can you bring it over and set it up?" She asked.

"I can bring it by later today when Momma gets back to run the store." I replied.

"Sounds good, I'll be eagerly awaiting your arrival, just knock when you get to the house, and I'll let you in. Oh, and tell your Momma not to fix supper for you, I plan on feeding you as part of your payment for doing this for me," she said with a wink and smile!