The Guerilla Hunter

Howard raised up, crawled over Abigail's legs, and then knelt between them. She bent her legs at the knee, pulled them up, and then spread them wide. When Howard began probing for her entrance with his rigid manhood, Abigail reached between them and guided him to the right place. As he pushed in a little, Abigail lifted her hips and pushed up. Howard felt his manhood slide inside Abigail a little. She made a little mewing cry and eased back down as Howard pulled back. When he pushed in again, Abigail gasped, then held her breath and pushed up hard. Howard felt resistance and then the feeling of his manhood slipping inside Abigail's tight passage all the way.

After that, he couldn't stop himself from making four more quick strokes. He felt a tightening in his loins and then the blinding surge that raced up his shaft and inside Abigail. Three more times he stroked in and three more times he groaned as the tightening in his loins exploded inside Abigail. After the fourth, he sagged into his arms and withdrew. Abigail yelped a little when he pulled his manhood out of her, but she put her arms around his back and pulled him down on top of her. As she stroked his back, she whispered, "Mama didn't tell me it would feel good, but after the first little pain, it did."

The next morning, Isaac came in the house for breakfast, and he smiled knowingly.

"Howard, the way you look makes me think you like being married to Abigail. Maybe I oughta find me a wife too."

[]

On the second of April of 1866, Benjamin Phelps was forking some hay to the horses in the pen next to the barn when he heard the clop-clop of hooves on the dirt of his lane. He looked up to see a horse he recognized as Daley with two riders on his back. He put down the fork and walked over to the fence.

When Howard stopped at the fence, Benjamin nodded.

"Mornin' Howard. You get done what you needed to do?"

Howard nodded.

"Yes, I did."

Benjamin smiled.

"Looks like that ain't all you done. Who's this pretty little girl ridin' behind you?"

Howard grinned.

"Well, I sorta found me a wife too. This is Abigail, from Shelby, Texas."

Benjamin touched the brim of his fedora.

"Mornin' Ma'am. You rode all the way from Texas behind Howard? That's a fur piece to be sittin' on a bedroll the whole way."

Abigail smiled.

"It wasn't too bad. It only took us six days."

Benjamin smiled at Howard then.

"You back to stay, or are you goin' back to Texas?"

Howard smiled.

"Well, since Abigail's brother went and got himself married, there's not enough farm in Texas for two families. We decided to let him have the farm in Texas and we'd move back to Arkansas. It's a ways to go visit, but I hear there's gonna be a railroad one of these days that'll make it there in a day or so."

Benjamin took off his hat and scratched his head.

"I suppose you want to trade that ridin' horse and saddle for a pair of working horses and harness, don't you? Well, I can't do that."

Howard wrinkled up his brow.

"But you said --"

Benjamin smiled and held up his hand.

"Now don't go getting' all in an uproar. I got somethin' else to throw in. I went back to your pa's farm after you left 'cause you forgot the halters for them two horses. I found the halters and I found somethin' else. Them men left your pa's wagon and plow sittin' under the lean-to on the barn. I had one wagon already, but I figured it was better me using your pa's wagon than lettin' it sit there and rot, so I hitched her up an' brought her here. She's got a new coat of paint, and I'll throw her into the bargain too. Plow's still there by the barn. It's a little rusty, but it'll scour after the first couple furrows."

"Oh, you need to stop by Mason William's place too. The Morris's didn't have no kin that anybody knowed about, so the people of the church decided what was left of their belongins should go to the people of the church. Mason was helpin' round up the chickens when their milk cow come walking out of the woods lookin' for somethin' to eat. Had a month old heifer calf beside her. Ain't none of us needed another milk cow, but Mason took her home and got her bred again. He said if you come back, he thought you might need a milk cow. He's got a rooster and half a dozen hens he don't need too."

Howard said he didn't know what to say, and Benjamin just smiled.

"Well, son, we figured what you done, you done for us in Posey Hollow too. From what we hear, there ain't been no more guerillas around here since last fall so we figured you got 'em and we owed you something for that. It ain't much, but it'll get you started again. Your pa would have done the same for any of us what needed some help."

When Howard drove the wagon up the lane to the farm, he didn't look any different on the outside. He put Matilda and her calf in the pen by the barn, then unhitched Mike and Joe and turned them out into the pasture. Then, he and Abigail walked to the house. Howard apologized before he opened the door.

"The last time I was here, things were in pretty bad shape, but I'll get some lumber and build us a bed and a table and chairs."

Abigail squeezed his hand.

"I've lived with less and I can do it again."

When Howard opened the door, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Everything in the house was clean and everything wasn't broken like before. He was still staring when Abigail walked over to the table and picked up a piece of paper. She read what was written there and then came back to Howard.

"Howard, it's a letter from somebody named Amos Crowder. It says the church got all the furniture and kitchen things from a family named McCain and another family named Ruby, and they thought if you came back, you could use it. Do you know any of those people?"

Howard couldn't answer for a while because of the lump in his throat. He just held Abigail until the tears stopped running down his cheeks. After wiping his eyes, he explained.

"The McCain family and the Ruby family were four of the people Red Williams killed. Amos owns the sawmill in Posey Hollow. The people of Posey Hollow are thanking me again. I don't deserve it, but that's what they're doing."

Abigail stroked his arm.

"If they think that much of you, you must deserve it. A good man would deserve everything the people have given you, and they must think you're a good man. I think you deserve even more, but for another reason. You let my brother come back to me when you could have taken him to prison. You deserve more for that, but I couldn't give you anything except me."

Howard put his arms around Abigail.

"Abigail, what you gave me is worth more than all the rest."

Abigail stroked his cheek.

"Howard, you gave me something else too, something I always wanted. I didn't tell you before we started for here because you'd have worried about me the whole way, but I'm going to have a baby in the fall, probably the last part of October."

Howard kissed her and then smiled.

"I guess I'll have to build us a baby bed then, won't I?"

[]

Howard didn't get the baby bed built until the last part of September. He was too busy plowing and planting, and working with the other men of Posey Hollow to build a new church. The first Sunday after they built the wood pews, the people of Posey Hollow filed in through the church door and took their seats. They sang, "Shall We Gather At the River" and then listened to the sermon given by James Anderson.

The topic of the sermon was "Turning the other cheek", and when James had finished, he closed his worn Bible and looked out at the people sitting there.

"Let us pray."

The prayer was short and mostly about the people who had died and how the people of Posey Hollow should not be angry or sad but should be thankful those people had gone to their reward with clean souls. When James finished, he said "Amen", and the small congregation followed with a quiet "Amen". Then they began filing out of the church.

Outside, there was a little talk among the men about how their crops were doing and if the weather was going to hold long enough to get the harvest in before winter set in. The women all gathered around Abigail. After a while, one by one, the families got into their wagons and drove home.

As Mike and Joe pulled the wagon at a walk, Abigail turned to Horace.

"What he said about turning the other cheek...that's what you did with Isaac, isn't it?"

Howard shrugged.

"I guess so, but that wasn't what I was thinking at the time. I was thinking about how much I'd hurt you if I took him away. I decided it wasn't worth that just to put a boy in prison. Turned out I was right. Isaac made a mistake but he learned from it and he's a better man today.

"I made a mistake too. The Bible says you shouldn't judge anybody because then you'll be judged. I was judging Isaac by what I thought he'd done, and I shouldn't have done that. I almost caused myself to lose you."

Abigail put her arm around Howard's waist.

"I'm glad you didn't. I don't know what I've have done if I'd lost you. Oh, Mason's wife told me when it's my time, you should ride over and get her. When you do, she'll send Mason to get Mrs. Crowder. They'll help me have the baby. She said the men had already done all they could to pay you back for keeping the guerillas away and now it was time for the women to do the same thing when your wife had a baby."

Howard smiled.

"Well, that's good. I've helped a cow have a calf, but I'm not sure it's the same with women and babies."

Abigail hugged Howard's waist.

"Mama told me it would hurt a lot, but I'd forget that as soon as the baby is born. Everything's been all right since you came to my farm in Shelby. Having a baby will be all right too, you'll see."