Pioneer Village

He had only been working about 30 minutes when the Carters came into the building. Marty didn't see them enter and was somewhat surprised when Callie came up and asked if she could use the same table he was. Marty smiled and said, "Sure. I think it's a free country. At least I hope it is. Anyway, I don't need all this space for myself and its obvious, since there are two computers here, that the table was meant for more than one person to use." Timothy moved off to sit with some boys about his age. They did a lot of talking and laughing and very little research from what Marty could see.

On the other hand, Jim and Dottie settled in at a table next to Marty and Callie and immediately began working. Dottie operated the computer and she and Jim began making notes on a tablet as they worked and discussed things. Callie worked on a computer beside Marty and made a few notes too. Soon, she pushed her chair back and sat with her arms crossed beneath her breasts with a sour look on her face. She let out a large puff of air and glared at the computer.

Marty turned his head toward her and asked, "What's got you all huffy?"

"Can you believe these people? I can't find a darn thing I can do here unless I want to be a teacher or store clerk and there isn't much need for them. It's like they expect women to be housewives and nothing else. Oh, yeah, I can be a whore. It looks like more women work as whores than anything else."

"Well, I really hadn't looked at that or even thought about it but Jones did say this culture was reminiscent of the U.S. in the 1870's. That's what women did in those times. Maybe you're going about it in the wrong way. Instead of looking for a place to work, look for a niche you are educated to fill and fill it. Make your own job."

"I sort of thought about that but it's pretty clear that banks won't loan money to a woman here and few men will work for one. I have completed a little over two years of college so should be able to contribute a lot but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. This is almost totally a male dominated society."

Marty became worried by what he was hearing and asked, "Don't tell me you're one of those militant feminists?"

"No, I'm not. I just want what every woman wants. I want a man to love me and to work with. I want to be an equal partner with him and be able to contribute more than a pussy and strong back. I want to build a life for myself and him and raise a family but I have to support myself until I find him."

"Why? Aren't you here with your family? Why can't you help them with whatever they decide to do until you find a husband?"

"OH, YOU...". Callie took a deep breath and clenched her jaws. She started to get up and storm away. Marty reached out and grabbed her arm. She glared at him again and looked down at his hand holding her back.

Marty said, "Hey. I didn't mean to piss you off. I didn't mean that like it sounded either. I meant this is a labor-intensive time period. Admittedly it is better than it was years ago but not nearly as good as it was where we come from. Whatever your parents decide to do they will need help. I'm sure they can use the help you can provide them and they would be willing and appreciative to have you help them. Maybe you can find something to do that fits in with their plans. I didn't mean to imply you should just live off them."

About that time Jim Carter came over to the table and asked, "Hey, things are getting crowded in here. Would you mind if Dottie and I used the machines on the other side of the table so someone can use those we were tying up? That way maybe we can keep an eye on our little spitfire here."

"Sure, that's fine Jim, said Marty.

Jim turned toward Callie and said, "What put the burr under your saddle honey?"

"Marty and I were talking about the limited opportunities for a woman here and I thought he said I should forget about supporting myself and mooch off you and mom. I guess I took what he said wrong. You know I've been working ever since I was a sophomore in high school and as near full time since I graduated as college would allow. I guess I just felt like...Oh, I don't know. There's just nothing here I can do."

Jim said, "Well Honey, he does sort of have a point there. Anything we do here will take a lot more man or woman hours to accomplish. There are very few labor-saving devices here. I don't know what Tim is going to do but I was sort of hoping we could all settle together until things work out. I'm afraid with his attitude, unless it changes here, that he will be more trouble than he's worth." Jim laughed and continued, "At least we don't have to worry about him doing drugs here. I just hope he stays away from the alcohol.

"I know Daddy but I want to help earn us some money. I really want to earn my own money like I was doing back home."

"I'm sure you will but we could really use you if we farm again like I plan. That's all your momma and I know even if it is from, basically, the future. We're farmers and you're a farm girl. Didn't you tell me you wanted to live on a farm when you got married? Now let's get back to work. We're going to have to move away from the machines soon so someone else can use them. You know we're limited to either morning or afternoon unless there is an open machine out of our time period."

The four returned to their research and things got quiet again. Callie looked over at Marty's computer shortly after 10 AM and saw him using the "google earth" feature. She scooted closer to his chair and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I've about decided what I'm going to do here and now I'm looking for a place to do it. I would like to find a nice valley with a good-sized fast running stream or two through it somewhere fairly close to a town or what passes for a city here. I brought five registered cows and a bull and two nice riding horses as well as all the tools and metal I could stuff into my trailer. I'm going to build up my herd and until I do that, I want to be able to work as a carpenter or blacksmith. I need land for pasture, to cut hay and grow a large garden and some crops to feed the livestock with."

Jim heard Marty and Callie talking and said, "Sounds almost exactly like what Dottie and I want. Have you found anything yet?"

"Yeah, I think so. Now I have to see if it is claimed by anyone. The map says the valley is about three thousand acres from side to side and end to end. I want to cut out the prime section to homestead. The four of you could get the other 2400 acres and we would have the whole valley if it's available."

Callie spoke up, saying, "No we can't. I did look up the Homestead laws after I found out how limited opportunities were for women. You have to be 21 or head of a household to file so Tim isn't eligible. There was a note on the disk though that the laws here differ from those in our past. In our time stream you had to live on the land for five years and work it before you could get final ownership. You also could only file on 160 acres initially, then it was raised to 320 acres before finally, in the early 1900's becoming a full section (640 Acres). Here we can file on a full section if we meet all the age, building and work requirements."

Jim sort of slumped when he heard that then asked, "Where is this valley?"

Marty said, "Why don't you and Dottie come over here and look it over on my machine since I already have it pulled up?"

Dottie and Jim came over and Marty scooted his chair back. He zoomed out and showed them the large view then slowly zoomed in to show them the valley in its entirety. It was slightly less than 100 miles from their current location and was only about 40 miles from what passed for a large city here. Jim looked at Dottie and said, "Wow. That's just about perfect. Do we need to look any farther honey? Look, we could file and build our house here and...". He turned to Marty and said, "I guess I should wait a minute here. You found this little slice of heaven. You should get first choice of the land."

Marty grinned and said, "That's fine. I was thinking I wanted to build here on this high ground where this smaller stream joins the larger one. I wanted the flat bottom land for crops and some hillside for pasture. That stream looks like it could turn a waterwheel so I can have electricity and I can build below that bluff with the waterfall. I brought several generators and a lot of electrical equipment. Unless our employers have thrown it away or converted it to things similar from this time stream, I should be able to do that. You and yours can file on the rest of the better areas and we'll have the valley mostly sewed up. There will be room for three or four more families. Maybe we can find some compatible families to file on the other tracts."

"Great, let's see if we can get it done."

Callie said, "Daddy! What if I don't want to file on that land? What if I want something else?"

Jim looked shocked for a moment then said, "That's fine honey. I'm not saying you have to do it but it would help us all out. Look here, you could file for this piece between Marty and us. Then after you prove up on it if you want to move on or marry someone with land you can either sell it to one of us or someone else if your husband doesn't want it."

"What about Tim? I'm not sure he wants to farm. I know he wasn't too interested back home and it will be harder work here."

"I don't know honey. I was counting on him filing but I guess that's out. I suppose he'll have to work with us for now and then, if he still doesn't like it here, he can go back home at the end of the first two years."

Marty looked at the family and said, "Are we agreed then? I'll leave it to you to get Tim on board. I've marked this land as tentatively taken on the computers. Now we need to get to the land office and file legal like before someone jumps in ahead of us. I don't know most of the people with us. I would like to think they won't jump in ahead of us but I would rather be safe than sorry. It's almost lunch time. Let's find Jones and see where and how we file then eat. I need to check on my animals too, then I have to see how many draft animals I'm supposed to get, decide what I want and pick them out also."

"Sounds good. Mind if we tag along? We need to get our draft animals as well."

"No, that's fine. Besides we're going to be neighbors and we're all going the same place so it makes sense to stick together from here on out if that suits you all."

"You're thinking just like I am. Shake." The two men shook hands and they headed off to do their tasks.

Callie smiled and when they left, she walked beside Marty. Their first stop was Jones' office while Jim and Dottie went to talk to Tim. Jones informed the two that he had nothing to do with filing for land. They had to go to the land office with authority over the area in which they wished to settle. Marty showed him the valley they were interested in and got the location of the land office. It was in the large city nearest their valley.

After verifying the information Marty asked, "If we leave now to look over the valley and file, if it is what we want, will our belongings be safe here or will we need to take them with us? We can make much better time if we don't have to take everything when we go."

"Your belongings will be safe here with us for the whole two weeks. After that we are leaving and I can't guarantee anything. I would bet someone will take them within hours of us departing if you are not here to safeguard them at that time."

"Damn. Do you have the information here about selecting our draft animals? We need to decide what to use and get them selected too. Then we need to decide whether to go slower and take everything or make a quick trip and hope we return before you leave."

"Yes, I have the allocations. Of course, the final number of animals you receive depends on the type you choose as some of them can pull more weight than other breeds. Do you know what you want now?"

"No, we'll decide today. Can we mix the selection? Get some of each variety if we want?"

"Yes, that's permissible."

As they were leaving the office three arrogant young men pushed between Marty and Callie heading for the door. Marty said, "Hey, watch where you're going. You don't have to be so rude. You almost knocked Callie down."

"Oh, fuck off asshole. Keep the hell outta our way and you won't get pushed around. Now you want to make something out of it?" Marty shook his head no to raucous laughter from the three. The one who spoke before said, "Yeah, I didn't think so."

Marty and Callie turned away and headed for lunch while the three stomped into the office laughing and making rude comments.

Marty, Callie, and her family had just sat down to eat when the three young men they had encountered earlier came into the mess tent. When they saw Marty, they walked up to the table and said, "Hey asshole. We hear you're trying to horn in on our valley. You need to find somewhere else to squat. That there valley's been in our family now for years back home and we intend to make it ours here also. If you know what's good for you, you'll find someplace else to park your ass."

Dottie looked at Marty and asked, "What did he mean by that? I thought you said no one owned that valley Marty?"

"I did. According to Jones latest information on this reality, no one has filed on the valley. It's open and available for homesteading. According to the gentleman that just left he said they 'planned' to make it their home because their family owned it in our prior reality. As far as I'm concerned if we beat them to the land office it's ours."

Jim looked worried and said, "Well, I don't know. I sure don't want any trouble. Maybe we should just find somewhere else. We saw a lot of places that would work for us."

Callie said, "Daddy! How can you say that? That isn't those assholes valley. They're just trying to bully us and take it. If they beat us there fair and square, fine but (she looked at Marty and continued) I think we need to keep on with our plans. I'll do whatever the rest of you decide though."

Marty sighed and said, "Well, I don't want any trouble either but I'm not going to let them push me around. From what I understand about our past and I assume it's the same here, if we let someone push us around and don't stand up for ourselves life will quickly become miserable. Every bully in the country will try his luck. I intend to continue with my plans. I hope you all come, too, but if you choose not to, I'm still going to try to file on that piece of ground if I like it after I see it.

"This has helped me make up my mind about one thing though. I'm going to take a chance and leave my things here. My cargo container and the carriage they replaced my truck with lock so I feel fairly confident most of my possessions will still be here if I don't make it back before the end of the two weeks. I'll select my animals this afternoon and maybe even leave today. For sure I'll head for the city tomorrow to file. The valley is almost on the way so I'll detour through it for a quick look see on the way to the city. If you want to go too, I suggest you do the same thing since everyone who files on ground has to do so in person."

Jim sighed and said, "You're right and I would've stood up to them back home. I'll stand my ground here if I'm in the right or to protect what's mine. I'm just a little scared because people settle disagreements here with guns. I don't like to think about one of us getting shot."

The friends quickly finished their lunch and started out of the tent. As they walked past the mouthy young man he yelled, "Hey pilgrim, remember what I said. That place is ours."

The friends picked their animals and quickly packed the items they wanted to take with them on the journey. Just before they finished packing Marty said, "I hate to think about it but I think we all need to wear our pistols and take a rifle or shotgun also. If this is analogous to the 1870's on our time line, we'll need them to hunt and possibly for protection. You all need to be ready to shoot someone if the need arises. Do you think you can do that?"

All four of the Carters looked shocked and slightly sick at the thought. Slowly, one by one, each either said yes or nodded their heads yes. Dottie added, "I don't know, do you really think it'll be necessary? I suppose I could if I had to in order to protect one of you."

"Well, you need to decide right now that you can and will do it. You won't have time to dither if the need ever comes up. I'm sure there are men around that will rob us, rape you ladies and kill us for what they want, assuming this is like the 1870's we've heard about."

Again, everyone looked surprised and slightly sick at the thought. A very somber group mounted their horses for the ride ahead of them. They were riding out of camp just before 3 PM headed for the valley. Marty said, "From what I remember about riding horses we can make about 20-40 miles a day depending on roads and terrain. That could get us to the town in five days even with a quick look at the valley. Figure one or two days for filing and anything that comes up and we will still have at least five days for the return trip. Since it's a direct return trip we should be back well before we have to worry about our belongings being left unguarded."

They pushed on until almost full dark. Marty estimated they made between ten and fifteen miles the first day on the rough dirt road. They made a quick camp and an even quicker supper then fell into their sleeping rolls not even thinking about a guard.

The next morning after a quick breakfast they mounted up and rode out again. As they were riding Jim said, "You know, I just thought about something. In most of the westerns I've seen or the books I've read you needed a guard and should be extra careful in the wilderness. Jones alluded to the danger of traveling and of the people here but I don't think it really sank in for most of us. Of course, you need to be careful in towns and, for those whose mouth runs away with them, they need to watch what they say. We've just been gallivanting around as if we were as safe as if we were in our own back yard where we came from. We need to be more careful as we ride and think about a guard at night, don't we?"

Marty thought for a moment and said, "You may be right. I don't know how dangerous it really is here. Certainly, a guard won't hurt at night. Let's all keep a careful lookout as we ride too just to be safe."

Mid-morning on the second full day of travel the group entered the valley they were interested in. Callie stopped her horse between her father's and Marty's on the crest of a small hill. They all sat there and looked over the little valley for a moment then Callie said, "It's beautiful. It's just perfect and it doesn't look as if anyone else is here. Come on, let's go see." She started riding down the gentle slope and the rest of them followed.

When they were near where Marty thought he wanted to build his home he said, "I suggest we spend an hour or two checking out the area and locating the ground we want then we meet back here for lunch and to decide for sure this is what we want. If so, we need to move on to file. If we don't like the area we need to move on to find somewhere else."

Jim said, "That's a good idea. We'll be here about noon. Come on honey. You kids keep up too."

Callie lingered as her parents and Tim rode out heading for the locations her father wanted to see. Marty looked at her and asked, "Aren't you going to find a place or go with your parent's?"

"Yes, but I wanted to ride with you for a while to see what you had in mind. I was hoping you might go with me to pick a location for my little shack I have to build so I can prove up on my place."