Hardscrabble Pt. 01

"You saying you shot these three gunhands, boy?" a skinny man wearing two guns challenged. "Must have been in the back, from ambush!"

Silas bowed up, but Gwen interjected, "Silas gave them more of a chance than they gave my husband! Robert walked out to greet them last night and the three of them gunned him down on our porch without saying a word!

This morning, the one you call Hays had drawn his pistol and shot at me, an unarmed woman! When he saw me dodging and running in the brush and Hays aiming again, Silas shot him in the chest. The other two started shooting at Silas, and he shot both of them! If you look, the bullet holes are in the front, not back!

You weren't there -- I was! The chance he gave them was better than the chance they gave my husband, or me, so don't try to insinuate otherwise!"

"What she mean by in-sin-u-ate?" a bald man with a big beard asked.

"She mean the boy shot them fair and square!" another replied.

The gunslinger with crossed pistols spoke up again. "I don't believe it! Hays, Knowles, and Anderson were too good with a gun! And, they were friends of mine! You such a gunman, you step out from behind the women and face me!"

Silas had been trained with a gun since he was a child and had shown a talent from day one. He was carrying a Colt Peacemaker with a 4.5-inch barrel in a holster made for a quick draw. He was good and he knew it; he wasn't afraid!

Gwen and Lilly tried to stop him, but he shook free and stepped to the side. "You calling me a back shooter? If you are, draw those pistols and die!" The storekeeper grabbed Lilly and Gwen and pulled them aside. The crowd moved quickly away, leaving the two alone, facing each other.

The gunman was surprised by the boy's response, and he was between a rock and a hard place! He had called the boy out; now he had to try, or be humiliated. His hands dropped for his guns... and before he wrapped his fingers around them, he was looking down the barrel of a drawn pistol from ten feet. He let go of the handles and spread his hands wide in a sign of surrender.

"Shuck both those pistol belts and let them fall. You called me out and went for your guns. I have every right to shoot you, so don't make me think you're going to use one of them!"

"Damn! Did you see that? He had his pistol in ol' Clyde's face afore Clyde got his hand on his gun!"

"Now, you hand those belts up here, holding them by the buckle. I'll leave them with the sheriff after I talk to him, but if I were you I'd give up carrying guns -- you've got a big mouth, and you're too damn slow!"

***

The sheriff wasn't happy to see the three dead bodies, or to find out Josiah Hays was one of them. Neither was he happy to learn about the killing of Robert Thomson, standing on the porch of his home, or the kidnapping of his wife. All of those things meant more work and more trouble for him, and he sure as hell didn't want more of either!

He was scared of Elijah Hays anyhow, and considered arresting the boy just to cover his ass. The problem was, the woman had told the story to practically everyone in town, and the boy said his dad was a deputized Texas Ranger, so he really couldn't arrest him without bringing the town down on himself. And those damn Rangers would have his hide!

All three gave him their written statements, and he let them go after promising to conduct an investigation. He warned that he would come get them if he found out they broke any laws!

The woman's face hardened, and the boy's eyes turned to blue ice. "You have our statements; you won't find evidence we lied, but we expect to see you at the Thomson ranch early tomorrow to look into the murder of my husband!" Gwen told him coolly. He muttered that he already had obligations for the next few days, but he'd be out later on.

"Sure you will," Silas said sarcastically. "Probably bring Elijah Hays along too, won't you?" They turned their backs on him and mounted the wagon.

He watched them disappear into the brush after they crossed the bridge, and then went back to his office to read their statements. He was at least literate, which many if not most folks around weren't, and he could cipher a bit, but all three statements were written in flowing longhand, with capitalization, punctuation, paragraphs, and all that stuff!

He knew they were likely people to be reckoned with, but he figured One-armed Elijah wouldn't care about that anyway, so he stuffed the papers in a drawer and went to get an early start on his daily drinking. He had a bad feeling about this.

***

Silas drove the heavily laden wagon back to the Thomson's house. Lilly wanted to stay, but Gwen cautioned her that the rest of the Hays Gang could show up at any moment, so they needed to go with Silas. She sent Lilly to gather the clothes she would need, and she did the same. Silas put the wagon in the barn to keep the goods safe and out of the weather.

Back inside, he was again drawn to the library of books -- more than he had ever seen. Gwen reentered the room while he was examining one. "I can tell you're well educated by your manner of speaking and your excellent writing skills, Silas. My husband was a professor at the state university of Kentucky, before the war. He chose not to enlist for either side when the war started, but was conscripted by the union after the Conscription Act passed in '63.

Fortunately, he was assigned to the forces on the western frontier where he saw little action, beyond chasing outlaws, deserters, and renegade Indians. When he returned to Kentucky and learned of the plight of his cousins in Georgia and South Carolina, he was deeply disturbed. Their crops and homes had been burned, their livestock slaughtered, and two of his female cousins had been raped by Sherman's troops.

His cousins came through Kentucky on their way to Texas and stayed with us for a week, and that's when Robert decided we needed a fresh start... in Texas, away from all the turmoil, the hatred, and Yankee carpetbaggers. We bought land, built a nice home and barn, raised crops and livestock, and our neighbors were all salt of the earth people, if poorly educated. We were happy, and thought we had made the right decision.

Now, he's dead, and his widow and daughter are without protection from the gang of ruffians whose members killed him! It's just not fair!"

Gwen sobbed, bringing Lilly hurrying into the room; she hugged her mother and they sobbed together until Lilly held out her arm for Silas to join them. He was devastated by Gwen's words, but holding the woman and girl almost overwhelmed his senses. He had a mother and sisters he hugged often, but it did not affect him like this!

When the crying diminished, Silas offered, "Losing your husband, Gwen, and your father, Lilly, that has to be very difficult, and my heart feels your suffering. But please don't think you are alone or without protection; if you will come with me, you will become one of us, and you will be safe and loved.

Our settlement consists of four families plus my uncle Lorenzo, who left the Seventh Cavalry after the Black Hills Expedition. He added a room to our barn and sleeps there, but he's bought some nearby land and we will all help him build a house and barn when he's ready to live on his land.

There are five men, four women, seven boys, and eight girls. We've all been trained to contribute to our common protection. Even the kids between five and ten know how to reload or carry ammunition. You can share one of our rooms and my youngest sisters can share another until we get things worked out.

I'm asking you to come with me and I hope you agree, but I'm not sure I can allow you to stay here, knowing the danger you would be in."

Gwen smiled, but Lilly frowned at his last statement. "What do you think you're going to do? Pick us up like flour sacks and carry us with you? If we decide not to go, we won't go!"

"If I have to, I will! Remember -- you don't weigh as much as a sack of flour!"

Lilly's dander was up, but Gwen intervened. "It won't come to that, Silas; we accept your kind offer, but we will want to come back here after the danger is past. Everything inside we brought from Kentucky in wagons, and we're not going to abandon it.

We should spend the night here and get on the trail early tomorrow. This is safer and more comfortable than sleeping in the open tonight."

She put her hand on his shoulder, gave him a teasing smile, and said, "Silas, I've seen you eyeing our books more than once; would you like to bring some along to read?" He eagerly picked ten and put them in a sack in his wagon. He kept a small one to read tonight.

Gwen look through and sorted clothing, and then prepared a meal. Lilly called up the two mules and three horses. She put them in a corral and fed them, then went into the barn to organize the harness, reins, and saddles for tomorrow. These were things her father taught her, and she was quite proficient.

Silas rode his horse back to his camp, where he retrieved the few things he had hidden in the brush. He returned, unhitched the mules, unsaddled the horse, rubbed all three down, and put his horse and mules in a separate corral. Lilly tossed them some hay from the barn, and he brought them grain from the sack in the wagon.

The two corrals shared a water trough that was kept filled by something Silas had never seen before: a windmill with a rock cistern set four feet above the ground. He spent the better part of an hour examining the well and water storage, with the idea of building one at Carr Settlement if the water table was shallow enough, as it was here.

He thought he could convince his family, because he knew his father would like having ready water for the livestock and garden, but his mother and sisters would love having indoor water for cooking and an indoor bathroom. He had seen indoor bath facilities at the nicest hotels and homes in San Antonio, but the Thomson's was the only one he had seen on the frontier!

***

Silas was the first one to awaken; he checked his pocket watch and saw it was 4:30. He dressed, lit a lantern, slipped out the back, took a look around, and peed in the brush. He had slept well enough, knowing his mules would sound the alarm with their peculiar whinny-bray if someone approached during the night, and he was anxious to get going. They longer they were here, the more time Elijah Hays had to find them!

He fed the horses and mules in each corral, and then slipped back inside. Gwen was cooking biscuits and bacon for breakfast; she greeted Silas and told him to take a seat. Coffee was on the stove, so he poured a cup, added sugar, and sat down. He couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful woman, who looked regal even when wearing a denim shirt and pants. The pants were loose fitting, as was the shirt, but her curvy figure was obvious.

She was attractive, gracious, and personable; her daughter was plain looking, skinny, bossy, and had an attitude problem! Oh, you could tell that someday she might look more like her mother, but right now there was little resemblance.

Gwen questioned him about the distance they would travel today, where he thought they would spend the night, and the general direction they would be traveling. He replied that he believe they could make it to the settlement if they got started by six, and they were traveling north by northwest.

Lilly appeared just as he finished his answer; she glanced at him and murmured good morning, and then initiated a conversation with her mother. He ate the delicious breakfast in silence while Lilly prattled on. Getting up, he took his dishes to the sink and thanked Gwen profusely.

She put her hand on his sleeve and told him it was her pleasure. She then suggested that if Lilly drove their wagon and she drove the Carr's, he would be free to keep an eye on the road ahead and behind, and give them fair warning if someone approached.

Silas was planning to drive his wagon and let Lilly scout, but he saw the advantages of Gwen's plan. He nodded and agreed that was the better plan. Lilly looked disappointed, but didn't say anything.

Everything they were taking was ready, so Lilly hitched the mules to their wagon and brought it around to the front porch. After moving the wagon, she saddled their three horses, put lead halters on them, and tied them to the wagon.

Silas carried out the suitcases and boxes of clothing and other items Lilly and Gwen had settled on and loaded them in the wagon. They were off at first light, and Silas was optimistic they would be at the settlement by dark. These last twenty miles would test the draft mules, loaded as the wagons were, but the land was mostly flat and the wagon trail hard. They would water and rest every second hour, and still be there for supper.

Early on Silas ranged far and wide to keep an eye on their trail and on any direction from which they might come. That meant riding up hills the wagons were skirting and using his spyglass to look for dust or movement that would signify someone or a group following them. After they had covered about ten miles, however, he relaxed and rode alongside the wagon Gwen was driving and talked.

After a wide-ranging conversation that lasted hours, he decided that her beauty, as exquisite as it was, was inferior to her intellect. He was smitten with the older woman in a way he didn't understand.

Lilly, on the other hand, he did understand! She was as temperamental and spiteful as his sisters could be, and she bedeviled him with belittling comments at every opportunity -- even when, at her mother's behest, he rode back to ask if he could be of assistance.

"No, I don't need anything from you! Just return and bother my mother the rest of the trip!" Angry at her cutting words and difficult attitude, he rode off to scout the trail behind and ahead.

The wagons broke out of the brush in into the open fields of home an hour earlier than he originally expected. He had been making one last circle around the wagons to ensure no one was following closely, so he raced past the wagons and rode ahead to assure his family that things were okay. Only his mother was on the porch, but he saw gun barrels in the shooting slots: safety first, as his dad preached.

Once he had been seen, he returned to escort the wagons to the house. Carr Settlement wasn't much to see; four houses set about 100 yards apart in a rectangle, with barns and sheds set away from the houses. The quadrangle in the middle included a road that went from house to house, with a large vegetable garden that took up about 2 acres situated on the southwest corner. There was a flagpole flying the Lone Star Flag of Texas just past the road in front of the Carr home.

Once Silas had appeared, signaled to his mother, and returned to the wagons, families appeared on the porch of each home to greet them. Silas stopped just past his home, allowing Gwen and Lilly to park the wagons in front of the house. He jumped off his horse, waved for everyone to come join them, and then helped Gwen and Lilly down from the wagons.

"I'd like to introduce you to my new friends, Lilly Thomson and her mother, Gwen Thomson. Miss and Mrs. Thomson and I encountered some problems that we will disclose later, and I invited them to join us here.

The supplies you ordered are in the first wagon; their personal items are in the second. If you would, please put the common supplies in storage and take your own to your homes. Mother, with your permission they will be staying with us until things get settled at their ranch. Billy, Tommy, please help them put their belongings wherever Mother says.

I'm going to ride back to Spyglass Hill and check our back trail. The problems that bedevil us may come to visit, so I suggest we implement our defense plan.

It appears that Papa and the other men aren't here; are they in the fields or pastures?"

Samuel had been listening; he left when Silas said trouble might be following, disappearing into his family's barn and quickly returning mounted on his saddled horse. He sat astride the horse, listening.

"No, Son, they were deputized by Ranger Wallace and are with him hunting three escaped rapists and murderers. We don't know when they will return, so we will use the defense plan that doesn't include help from the men." She looked around at the neighbor women, who nodded in agreement.

Turning to Gwen and Lilly, she smiled, "Ladies, my name is Madelyn Carr; welcome to Carr Settlement, and to our home. Please come inside and let me show you to your room. Kathleen, please move your things in with your sister and she can help you change the sheets for our guests.

Boys, help put our supplies in storage, and then bring everything from the Thomson's wagon inside. I'll show you where to put it."

Samuel rode beside Silas as they galloped back up the road. "I just got back from checking the cattle, saw you coming, and came around to hear what you had to say. I had a bad feeling when I saw two wagons and the womenfolk, so I figured I'd need the horse soon enough. I'll ride out with you, and I'll take first watch."

They made it to Evan's Hill, aka Spyglass Hill, in fifteen minutes; they saw no dust or other sign of anyone approaching, so they rode to an outcropping of rocks and checked for snakes. "Samuel, you need to eat and your horse needs to be fed, but I need to go talk to Mother. I'll go back now, and send Abe out to watch. He's old enough to help, and there is no sign of pursuit right now.

I'll take the second shift, from ten until dawn, and you can take over after you've had breakfast.

Let's spruce up the signal fire so we can see it easily enough tonight if need be. I'll cut some green mesquite and bring it when I come back, so you will have it stacked beside the fire when you get here."

Silas put his hand on his friends arm to get his full attention. "Samuel, I'm not gonna lie: the men after us are well known gang, and I expect them sometime tomorrow. The leader is One-Arm Hays, and you know his reputation. So when you take over tomorrow, as soon as you see first sign of someone coming, light the fire and get it burning hot, then add four pieces of green wood. As soon as the smoke billows, get on your horse and skedaddle back. We need you at your post for the defense plan to work!"

The younger boys had already fed, watered, and rubbed the mules down. Silas took his horse into the barn, unsaddled and brushed him while he drank water, and then fed him hay and grain. After hanging his saddle and tack, he walked to the house and entered from the back door.

The Carr household was buzzing with all the womenfolk of the settlement, and everyone else not on sentry duty. Silas hung his hat and walked down the hall toward the living room.

He could hear the women in the kitchen talking to Gwen, and the youngsters on the front porch listening to Lilly. He heard Gwen say his name, and stopped to listen.

"Oh, yes, it is an amazing story! After he found Lilly and buried my husband, he found the outlaw gang that kidnapped me. We all know what they had planned, and would have done that night, except horsemen kept riding down the road close to where we were camped. Every time it got quiet, they would tell me what they were going to do to me, but then another horseman, or several, would come by, and they would spread out again. I was bound and gagged so I couldn't escape, but I kept praying someone would come save me!

By mid-morning Hays decided he would have me or kill me. I fought him, clawed his face across his eye, and ran into the brush. He fired at me, and then Silas and Lilly both shot him with their rifles. The other two men started shooting at them, and Silas shot both of them. He was just so heroic! Madelyn, you must be so proud of him!"

"Oh, I'm very proud, but he only did what his father and I taught him to do. I'd be ashamed if he hadn't."