Outside Austin - Epilogue

This Review concludes our Story "Outside Austin." 

Return for more stories !!

Our Story told to our kids sounded like a Fairy Tale

 

A few extra words about Outside Austin;

Rosin’s friends come to camp!

The men that came to camp to do some storytelling and drinking had a change come over them when they saw Blue Eyes. When they demanded Rosin turn her over to them, he refused knowing they would abuse her sexually and then kill her and dump her body in a ditch.

Neither he nor the young man was going to let that happen. When the men pushed the situation and wouldn’t take no for an answer their fate was sealed. Rison said afterward; “I didn’t like that bunch very much anyhow”.

No more baths with you young man!

Blue Eyes stopped bathing with the young man for a simple reason. It wasn’t because she necessarily wanted to, but she noticed a change in the way he was looking at her development. She could see that he was looking at her like a man does when he wants her and she wasn’t ready to accommodate him. She was afraid her rejection would split them up and her solution seemed best.

Just doing what came naturally!

With the absence of spiritual training the pair was left to do what seemed right at the moment. The lonely winter nights eventually led to the two of them becoming intimate and after a while she broke it off for fear of becoming a mother.

She knew how difficult the squaws had it and wasn’t ready for that. Of course the young man didn’t understand the why’s of the matter but went alone with her wishes.

Time to get out of Dodge!

Once they settled in town Selma found a new freedom and learn the ways of the white people. She was confused as to why so many men were attracted to her. In the camp where she was raised, a brave took his squaw after paying for her and that was the end of it.

Even with her freedom our young man never released her for he felt he had a vested interest. He had killed for her and would again if necessary.

Their escape from the jail at the fort was the final step that bonded them together. Their move to the west was brought on by necessity much like so many people today.

Home sweet home!

Running their ranch in California wasn’t easy but they had their family and were making it pay.

She said the smartest thing she ever did was to tag along with him when he escaped from the Indians.

He says the smartest thing he ever did was to bring her along with him when he left.

Their kids always enjoy being told their story although it seems more like a fairy tale than real life.         

 ~~~ Finis ~~~

OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN - CHAPTER FIVE

Selma in Jail

 

It took me a week but I finally had everything in place.

I had gathered all of our gold coins and got Rison to take a wagon a day’s hard ride from the fort.

Sneaking up to the jail, I hit the guard who was guarding Selma and knocked him out.

We slipped out of the fort and were on our way. We rode the first of our two horses very hard and had a change of horses some three hours away. After we changed horses we made it to the wagon Rison had for us.

Once we took the wagon from Rison he drove a herd of buffalo over our tracks for miles.  Once the buffalo were started they would run for hours and it was going to be hard for the best of the scouts to track us.

Rison had loaded a lot of trading goods in the wagon and our old buckskins clothes so we were able to get through the Indian territories with little trouble.

Wagon Train Preacher
Married us

We crossed a couple of what was to become state lines and joined up with a wagon train.  They had a preacher on the train and I asked him to marry us.

I never asked Selma if she wanted me for I had enough of this foolishness. It was obvious we belonged together so I made it happen.

I sometimes wished Selma wasn’t so pretty for I had several fights because she was but I figured that was the price I had to pay.

We made it across the Sierras and bought a good size ranch with enough cattle for a start.  Due to the difficulties of traveling over the plains and mountains I never laid with Selma until we had our place in the west. Even then it was she that made the first move. She loves to snuggle with me to this day and it always leads to the same thing.

We never heard anything more about the event that occurred at the dance for we put that all behind us.

There was some Indian trouble that kept them busy for many weeks and by then they forgot about us.

After we settled in we stopped wearing our buckskins and became white folks again.

Selma was a slow breeder but after a few years she gave me a fine son and then a couple more shortly thereafter. Oh yes there were a couple of daughters in between also.

I think back to the time I took her with me from the Indian camp, and I’m sure glad I did for she is the best thing that ever happened to me. 

Epilogue to follow

OUTSIDE AUSTIN - CHAPTER 4

IT WAS GOING TO BE A LONG COLD WINTER !!

 

The evening of the day Rison left we needed a fire for more than cooking. There were a few trees near the cabin and I decided to cut a little more wood in case we had an unusually cold winter.

After a couple of months I was glad I did. There were some nights when Selma crawled in bed with me to help keep warm. The fire would die down before morning and the cabin would start to get cold.

In the morning she would stir the fire up and add some wood and come back to bed. She would be cold and want to snuggle up to me. I kinda enjoyed her doing that but that was as far as it went for a while.

As the weeks went on boredom began to set in and I would go out hunting to relieve the stress.

Then one day a young buffalo came by and I shot and killed him.

We had to work fast because of the cold weather. By the time we got him skinned and cut up he was beginning to freeze. It was good to have some fresh meat and it lasted for many days.

Since the creek was frozen over we had to warm some water and settle for sponge baths.

On one cold night we were snuggling and we went too far. This happened a few times until she was worried about something and cold or not she didn’t come to my bed again.

Just before Rison returned she seemed relieved. She would run me off for a while saying she needed some privacy. Shortly she would say I could come back in so I did.

Several things she did confused me but I remembered what Rison had said about it being some womanly stuff which I didn’t need to know about. Then it came to me, I remembered some things about when I was in Indian camp and things I saw the squaws do.

We were getting low on some things when Rison returned so we were glad to see him. He looked at Selma and then at me. Then he said, “You ain’t been up to no mischief have you?”

I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He turned and walked away while chuckling and I turned red as Selma was. He knew I was guilty of something but never said anything else about it which was a relief to me.

I was also glad to have our horses back. They were a little feisty at first but Selma got them settled down. She could ride almost anything including a young buffalo we roped. Then it was back to shooting and skinning.

All the spring and summer we had fresh meat though it seemed a shame to see all that meat we couldn’t eat go to waste. About mid-summer some Indians started following us around and were drying a lot of the buffalo meat after we skinned it out. It made us a bit nervous but they never bothered us.

Selma talked to some of the women but wouldn’t tell me what they were talking about until much later because part of it concerned me. By the time the snow began to fall I had enough of buffalo hunting.

It got to the place where you couldn’t get the smell off of you even with lye soap. We went into town and sold the last of our hides and divided up our money and after several baths and new clothes we were normal smelling again.

I rented a room out behind the livery stable for me and Selma until I went to work for the stable owner then it was free and free board for our horses.

Selma went to work at the general store doing menial tasks until the owner’s wife taught her how to sell and charge people for the goods. She had never handled real money so it took a while to understand how it worked.

We hid our gold coins under the floor of our room and just lived on the money we earned. Eating at the restaurant was a new experience for Selma. She had never had some of the different food they served but adjusted to it.

We usually cooked our breakfast instead of eating at the restaurant for it was cheaper but it was mostly oatmeal and side meat.

I now always carried my six gun with me along with my skinning knife. I had become a good shot at close range. I was used to dropping a buffalo at up to two hundred yards so a hundred or so feet was close range to me.

Once in a while some of the men would get too friendly with Selma but the wife of the owner of the store would soon straighten them out. I had some trouble with a few of them since Selma was pretty enough to attract men’s attention.

Usually cracking them over the head with my gun settled the issue although it went further a couple of times.

She couldn’t understand why all the fuss was about being pretty. In camp where she was raised the thing that was important about a squaw was if she could properly dry meat for jerky and turn skins into soft buckskin and keep a buck happy in his tent. Looks had very little to do with it.

There were more than one who wanted to marry her and didn’t mind being called “Squaw man” but she wasn’t interested in them.

The owner’s wife said Selma should have her own room since we weren’t married, in fact she insisted on it. She and her husband lived upstairs over the store and had an extra room so it was decided she would move up there with them.

After that I didn’t see as much of Selma as before. She was adapting to the city ways and wasn’t the Indian girl that ran away with me anymore. After breaking several horses for the army they hired me on as a scout.

I stayed at the fort most of the time unless the regular scouts weren’t available for some reason and they needed me to scout for them. It was a short distance from the fort to the town so there were a lot of the soldiers in town when they had leave.

Selma (Blue Eyes) did not look Indian

The owner’s wife took the braids from Selma’s hair and fixed it like the white women wore theirs.

With her blue eyes and hair fixed she didn’t look like an Indian any more. She went to the dances that were held once or twice a month and became very popular.

I would show up but seldom got to dance with her which was a bit disturbing to me.

One night two of the soldiers tried to take advantage of her and she stabbed them to get them off of her.

The fort commander had her arrested and was going to put her in a federal prison.

All of her pleas of self-defense were ignored and I decided that prison just wasn’t going to happen.

To be Continued

OUTSIDE AUSTIN - CHAPTER 3

 

 

Early the next morning we walked to the hunting grounds and off in the distance there was a herd of buffalo.

Rosin said we will only take one horse to carry our ammo and guns and a little jerky and water. When we reached about 200 yards from the herd he stopped and unloaded the ammo and the Sharps.

He said to look down the sights and see if you can sight the buffalo alright.

I said, “I can see them clearly in my sights but can’t hold the gun still for it is very heavy.”

He went over and cut a small sapling with a fork in it and said lay the gun in the fork to stabilize it.  Then he gave me some shells and said, “These are expensive to make so I expect a buffalo for each shell used so don’t miss.”

Rosin asked Blue Eyes if she had sharpened her knife like he said and she answered, “Yes it is very sharp.”

He said, “That’s good for in an hour you will be using it.”

Before the morning kill he told me we needed to fire together and kill as many as we could before they scattered and ran off. We dropped thirty head and then it was over.

In a matter of minutes Rosin had skinned the first buff and showed us how it was done.  By dark we were finished and had our hides ready to dry in the hot sun.

Blue Eyes had taken some large chunks of meat and it was cooked by the time we got to camp.

The old hunter said we did good just like seasoned hunters.  He said we could sell the hides we got today for over a hundred dollars. I thought we were going to be rich at this rate.

It went like this for a month when the old man said we were going to town and sell our goods for the wagon was as full as it could be. He went into town alone and the next day he returned.

He had bought us some town clothes so we would blend in some better. He said anyone in buckskins would draw attention to them-selves and would become targets for any scoundrels.

He gave us half of the money in gold and suggested we keep a 20 dollar gold piece and find a place to bury the rest like he did. We took his advice and buried our stash in a place that would be easy to remember.

Later that night some friends of the old man came and they were drinking and telling stories.

They noticed Blue Eyes and told the old man they wanted her either to take her with them or just for the night.

I loaded my Sharps and said, “It ain’t going to happen. If they wanted a woman then go to town where there were plenty of them.”

They got mad and started after Blue Eyes.

She had her skinning knife and threatened them with it.

The old man tried to stop them but they pushed him aside.

I cracked the first one over the head with the barrel of the Sharps and he never moved with a split skull. The old man pulled his pistol and shot two of them and I shot the other one with my Sharps.

A moment later it was still. As still as it could be except for the fire making a crackling sound as it burned.

I was breathing hard and Blue Eyes was just staring at the dead men.

The old man was calm and looked as if what happened never happened at all.

He said, “I seen a deep ditch near here. We’ll throw them in there and cover them over with some dirt and stones, but first let’s go through their pockets and see if they have anything worth keeping.”

They must have just sold their hides for they had plenty of money. The old man said we might as well take it for they wouldn’t be able to spend it where they were going.

He told us to go back to the hunting grounds and wait at a cabin we had seen nearby. He said he would get our supplies and meet us in three days. He also told us to turn the dead men’s horses loose when we reached the hunting grounds. Just keep the saddles and bridles.

We did as he said but I wished I had the chance to spend some of my 20 dollar gold piece.  When Rosin, returned he had a wagon load of goods.

He also bought me a pistol and holster and said I probably would need it if Selma stayed with me. (He started calling Blue Eyes Selma for her name Blue Eyes drew too much attention to her).

There was a small creek near the cabin and Selma (Blue Eyes) and I went down and took a bath each day.  Rosin said he never bathe for he felt it was unhealthy.

While we were cavorting in the water I couldn’t help but noticed she was changing almost before my eyes. Then one day she stopped taking a bath with me and said she would bathe alone from now on.

I never thought much about it at the time, but I thought she might be mad about something.

Rosin said it was probably her womanly thing for she was about the right age. After he told me that I was as confused as ever.

A few months passed and Rosin said the weather is fast changing so we needed to lay in enough wood for the winter.  

The cabin needed some repairs to get us through the cold months.  We had a lot of skins to sell so while he went to town we prepared for the cold winter.

 

 

 

He came back a week later with a wagon load of supplies.  He told us to keep our saddles and gear for he was going to board the horses in town at the livery barn. He gave us our share of the hunt and said hide it away until you decide what you want to do with it.

He said was going to stay in town but he would see us in after the spring thaw started and bring more supplies.

Rosin said the next year would be the last year for sure cause the buffalo was getting too thin. He said he saw them when there were millions of them but no more. He said that when we first met but I guess it was hard to give up that way of life and we had no place to go.

He left the next morning as the snow began to fall.

To be Continued

 

 

 

OUTSIDE AUSTIN - CHAPTER TWO



Too Young to Marry

There were some things going on that complicated my escape. One of the young girls had been pledged in marriage to a Chief’s son of another tribe.

The Chief’s son was impatient and didn’t want to wait until the girl reached marriageable age. He wanted her now. We had bathed together and I knew she wasn’t full grown yet.  She needed another three years at least.

She had been watching my preparations and said she knew what I was planning. She said she was going along with me for she wasn’t going to be taken by the Chief’s son for she wasn’t ready.

I was caught in a bind. If I left her she would tell on me and if I took her we would have to outsmart some fine trackers and that wouldn’t be easy to do.

I finally gave in and told her if we were caught they would do some bad things to both of us. Neither of us would be fit for marriage after they got through with us.

She said she knew what they would do but wanted to go with me anyway.

The tribe was in the middle of the next move and so I didn’t have time to argue.

I had staked out two of the best ponies and was ready to leave as soon as the moon was half dark. Still with just a half moon there was enough light to see our way.

We gathered what we could carry and led our ponies downstream for a long distance till we came to a place where the buffaloes crossed the river. There was a small herd in the process of crossing over and after watering our horses we mixed in with the herd. The tracks of the buffaloes covered our tracks and it would be hard for anyone looking for us to find us.

We stayed with the herd for two days and then l felt it would be safe to leave them.

At the next stream we headed downstream again. After a half day I said we need to eat for we only had some jerky with us. We were upwind from where someone was cooking and as we got closer to where the cooking was going on I told the girl who was with me, to wait and I would see what was going on up ahead. I made my way down to the camp and saw a buffalo hunter busy cooking his supper. As I neared his camp he said come on in but first get the Indian girl and bring her in also. 

I was amazed for I thought I had been so careful not to give away our movements.

The man said my name is Nathaniel but everyone calls me Graz. I asked him how he spotted us and he said saw us two days ago.

Once again he said, “Go get the Indian lass and you can eat before we bed down.”  I didn’t know what else to say so I said okay and went and got her.  Blue eyes came when I called her and the hunter said, “Help yourself to the vittles.” 

He continued, “I fixed more than I wanted in fact I knew you were close by so I fixed extra. I knew the smell would bring you out of your hiding place.”

We thanked the man as I divided the food between us. After we ate he asked me where we were going and I hesitated at first but then I told him the whole story about my capture and how we escaped.

I explained that Blue Eyes wasn’t ready for a man and that was the reason she was with me.

He said, “Is that the real reason she is with you or do you want her?”

I just replied; “I told you how it was.”

He said, “Okay that is the end of it.” He said he was on his last hunt for the buffalo was playing out and he wouldn’t be making another hunt. He said we could hook up with him if we wanted but would have to pull our own weight for he didn’t need two more mouths to feed.

I looked at Blue Eyes and she nodded yes for she understood what he was saying.

I said we would stay with him for a while but I wouldn’t allow anyone to touch her.

He said, “Fine with him and that would be the case.”

I asked him if he had another name because Graz sounded harsh.

He said we could call him Rosin that would do.  He pointed to the wagon and said we could sleep under it and he would bunk inside of it. I hobbled our horses so they could graze during the night and crawled under the wagon next to Blue Eyes.

As I was dozing off I was thinking she is closer to me than I liked her to be… The next morning I woke and went to relieve myself then I realized she was behind me doing likewise which was something we had done before but for some reason this time it embarrassed me.

Shortly Rosin climbed down from the wagon and put some water and coffee in the pot and put it on the fire I had made.  He told me to cut some side meat and we would have it for breakfast.

He said we would only have it once in a while for he only had enough for him until we got back to town. He threw a skinning knife in the ground next to Blue Eyes’ foot and said pick it up for you are going to learn how to skin a buffalo the right way.

He sharpened his skinning knife on a stone and showed us the right way to put an edge on our knives that would last for a day’s skinning. He then turned to me and asked if I knew how to shoot.

I started to say yes but instead just said when I was younger I hunted a lot but that was four years ago.

He took a long Sharps rifle and took it apart and made me clean it and put it back together again. He asked me if I was strong enough to shoot this Sharps 50/90 and I had to admit I don’t know.

He said we’ll find out tomorrow.

To be Continued

OUTSIDE AUSTIN - CHAPTER 1

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Two Indians were stalking me !

 

OUTSIDE AUSTIN - CHAPTER 1

Much of Texas’s history revolves around the city of Austin. There have been many books written about how the name came about, and the man from whom the name was taken.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the act that solidified the claims the U.S.A. had on the lands belonging to Mexico and the ratification of the act for the most part settled where the border between the countries would be.

The payment of something less than 20 million dollars secured all the land above the Rio Grande including California for the United States.

While all of this stuff was taking place, we that is my family was living on a ranch raising a few cattle and farming. It was a live and let live proposition. I seldom saw anyone other than my mother and father and an occasional trader who came by selling his wares and gave us all the news.

We lived on hope; hope that the weather would be favorable and the Indians wouldn’t go on the warpath and kill us. The Coushatta’s were the ones nearest to us and for the most part, friendly but you never knew when a raiding party from some other tribe might come by and reap havoc on us.

I did most of the hunting for our family and could hit anything I could see clearly.

While away from the ranch one day (farther than I usually went) I shot a deer and it was still tracking so I lit out after it.

Because I was focused on the deer I didn’t see the two Indians stalking me.

They heard my shot and came to investigate and saw what was going on. They grabbed me and tied me to a young sapling. My deer had fallen a short distance away and one of them retrieved it for themselves while the other stood guard over me.

I could understand enough of their language to know they were arguing about whether to kill me or not. Finally they agreed to take me to their camp a half a day away and let the Chief decide. I didn’t like either of the options they put forth, one to kill me and the other to make me a slave.

They took my gun and put me on the back of a pony one of them was riding while the other took the deer with him. I could hardly stay on the horse for my hands were tied behind me.

A half day later we arrived at the Indian’s camp and my knees were so sore from trying to grip the horse’s sides I could hardly walk. As we rode into the camp all the people gathered around and looked at the deer and then at me.

The men who captured me told a couple of the women to take the deer and skin it and cut it up for the tribes evening meal. I was both hungry and thirsty but kept my mouth closed for I didn’t want to do anything that would draw any more attention to myself.

The women stripped off my clothes and kept poking at the parts of me that was not tanned and I feared for my manhood.

Since I was only ten years old I wasn’t completely developed as of yet and the women made fun of me. I guess they didn’t take age into consideration when examining me.

Without going into all the details let me say I was treated badly and humiliated while the women enjoyed themselves. The Chief came out some time later and stopped the women from whipping me and he had decided the camp needed the equivalent of a dog for the camp.

For the next four years I was considered to be the camps dog.  During the four years I learned much about Indians: How they thought and reasoned things out, how to hunt their style, and another thing, how to wrestle.

Soon I was ignored much like the dogs in camp were and was expected to be treated like the dogs. In spite of that after the first year they allowed me to mingle with kids my age and pretty much do what they did.  I learned to use their weapons and went hunting with the braves when they went.

Every so often the camp would move further up river for the game would play out and also for sanitation reasons. 

I learned much about the women anatomy for I went swimming and bathing with them all without clothes on. Since it was such a normal thing no one thought about it except I had been raised where modesty was a way of life and I on occasion found myself staring at the young ladies.

Once in a while I would see them looking at me for I was white where my loin cloth covered me. I suppose I looked strange being two colored.

They let it be known that I wasn’t to have anything with the young girls. A violation of that law would result in losing some of my vital parts. As we grew up together some of the girls my age were friendly with me and it made me uncomfortable for the Indians could misunderstand things on occasion.

As time went by I could do many things better than my captors such as hunting, wrestling fishing. I found it was very important not to best them in any way.

Oft times I would shoot a deer and would tell one of them it was their arrow that killed the animal. And when it came to wrestling I could whip almost everybody in camp but always managed to lose the match for if they lost face to the camp dog it could have resulted in my demise.

They knew I was doing those things but as long as they saved face they didn’t care. This went on for four years and I had planned to escape the next time they planned to move.

They would be so busy they wouldn’t have time to chase after me.  The time came and was a week away, I was ready.

To be continued

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Oh NO - Another Salesman calling

WRONG NUMBER

 

Ring, ring, ring, ring, “Honey get that phone before it drives me nuts.”

“If it bothers you so much why don’t you get it?”

“Because my dear hubby, you’re closer and it is probably for you, I never get a call.”

“Yeah, hello,”

“Good afternoon Mr. Martin, how are you today?”

“Why would you ask?”

“Err, Mr. Martin I represent…”

“I don’t care who you represent.  What is this; if a man answers pretend to be a salesman? Who are you? Give me your address and phone number. I think you have some explaining to do.”

“Mr. Martin I don’t think you understand.”

“I understand alright you are the guy who has been seeing my wife and I want you bad.”

“No, no, Mr. Martin I don’t even know your wife I represent the Home and Business renovation company.”

“No don’t try to pull that stuff on me I wasn’t born yesterday. Yeah you know her alright, well enough to get her pregnant and you can have her, and I’ll throw in the kids also. I can’t stand the rotten little brats. I don’t even know if their mine maybe they are yours.”

“Please Mr. Martin you don’t understand.”

“I understand this, I have your phone number, and I’ll find out where you live. Listen you little rat you come and get your family.  I’ll have them all packed and ready for you. If you don’t show up within the hour I’m coming after you with my shotgun. I’ll teach you not to fool around with my wife behind my back.”

“Mr. Martin let me assure I haven’t been with your wife for I’m a happily married man.”

“So one woman isn’t enough for you, you have to play around with mine. What is the name of the company you work for? I’ll be there in the morning and take care of you… why did you pick my wife if I may ask?”

“Sir I didn’t and don’t want anything to do with your nice wife.”

“So, she isn’t good enough for you, is that what you’re saying?”

“No I’m not saying that I’m sure she would be fine for me but…”

“Don’t but me you cad.  Playing around with my wife because she IS good enough for you.

“Now I didn’t say that…”

“Then she isn’t good enough! She has been good enough for me all these years but she isn’t good enough for you. You can’t talk about my wife like that I am coming to get you right now…” Click.

“Who was on the phone honey?”

“It was just some salesman.”

“What did he want? I’m not sure, he hung up.”

“Well if he calls back let me talk to him.”

“For some reason I don’t think he’ll call again. It’s time to put our babies to bed I think I’ll join you tonight and read them their story.”

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

It could very well be true !!

 

 

 

Dirty Bird Postscript

Happily Ever After

And so ends for now the story of “Dirty Bird”. Within the bowels for the story is the story told by Jesus of Nazareth. The wise man (Robert) and the foolish man (Justine), or some similarities to prodigal son.

In both cases it was a waste of the father’s goods that brought ruin to the perpetrator.

By persevering Robert made the most of his opportunities.  He chose a new friend who was profitable for him and behind the scenes there was a young woman who had designs on him.

While things don’t always work out the way desired, we need to stay on top of our game for the best possible result.

It is a take what you can get and make the most of it world.

Justin failed to do that and had to bounce off the bottom.

Was there no redemption for him? Yes, thankfully there was. Like the prodigal he returned to his father’s house with his wife and offspring and found solace there.

As for Robert he is living happily so far and expects it to be a happily ever after existence.

Dirty Bird Chapter Seven

This is the final chapter of this story, but a new story begins soon, so hurry back !

Will You Marry Me?

Whether I get the job or not I was having one of the best times of my life and Samson’s two daughters made it all the more fun.

I thought their names were plain for girls who were in the upper society, Gracie the younger by a year and Penny the older.  I never thought that there was anyone named Penelope.  Penelope Ann Samson shone in all her glory, so much so, that I found myself completely taken in by her.

Toward the end of the evening I said I would like to make an announcement. “Miss Samson has completely won my heart and I intend to woo her with the intent of matrimony. 

Since this is an evening of surprises she should be in tune with such a proposal.  I figure that in six weeks we should be man and wife.”

Mrs. Samson spoke up and said, “Which Samson girl are you talking about?”

 I realized I hadn’t specified which one I was going to pursue so I said, “It is customary for the eldest to be the first to be wed and I intend to follow that custom. This then is my first proposal; Miss Penelope will you marry me.”

Now it was time for the whole dinner party to be taken aback!

When Penny stood and said, ‘Yes, I will marry you in six weeks.”

Then it was my turn to sit down and wonder what I had done.

There wasn’t a sound in the room except someone took a sip of water.

After what seemed like a long time Mrs. Samson spoke and said, “Congratulations to the both of you, we have a lot of planning to do if we are going to get this done in six weeks.”

As I sat there I wondered if this was a fairy tale or a nightmare. I went over and took Penny’s hand and gave her our first kiss. For some time we had an eye lock looking directly into each other’s eyes.

The waiters came in and cleared the tables and everyone pushed their chairs back in a circle.

While Penny and I sat together holding hands she said, “There is something you all need to know and that is while we weren’t formally introduced I have known Robert for two years.

I first saw him during the debates he and Jim did. He wouldn’t recognize me from then, because I wore my hair in braids pulled up on my head with my horn rimmed glasses and a sweater or blouse and pants.

I followed his progress those two years and was quite impressed with the way he conducted himself.

 

I even danced with him a couple times afterwards he just said ‘thank you, it was a pleasure,’ and walked away.”

“I knew it,” Robert said, “I knew there was something about you that was familiar about you. We danced more than a couple of times; it was many times.  

I was so caught up with everything that was going on I didn’t try to date you.

I still remember slow dancing with you and how it felt being that close to you.”

Mrs. Samson spoke up and said, “Let’s leave something for our imagination shall we?”

Mr. Samson said to Penny, “Now I understand why you were pushing this young man forward as a candidate for the position we are considering him for.”

He went on and said, “Come Monday we will have your office ready for you, you have the job.”

I said thank you to all of the board members and Samson said, “Don’t get too carried away for I would rather work with you than to have to support you.”

The orchestra was playing and Penny and I danced until they hung it up for the night.

I told her I couldn’t believe everything that happened the past few days.

She said, “I know, and the one thing I knew for certain that I was going to be Mrs. Bird for I had it all planned out.”

I thought back to the only Mrs. Bird I ever knew was my birth mother who broke under the strain of her husband leaving her and ended up in a county facility.

The next day I called Jim and told him what happened and he said he was very happy for me.

He said he knew who Penny was and that he had several conversations with her about.

He said, “I figured she would get you for she was on your trail.”

I asked him why he didn’t tell me about her and he said, “I wanted to see how it would all play out without me being involved.”

He said he would be glad to be my best man and we made our plans for his part in our wedding.

I told Ma about my wedding and invited her and Pa to come but she declined saying they weren’t up to it but was happy I found a nice girl.  They would welcome a visit to meet Penny and some grandchildren as soon as they came on the scene.

While perusing this whole event I felt a little strange when thinking that Penny had been planning our future long before I really knew her.

I guess it takes a pretty smart woman to pull something like that off, but I must say I’m glad she did.

Finis

Dirty Bird - Chapter Six

It took all the nerve I had but I finally went over to the two women and introduced myself to them and asked if they would come up to my room and I had a proposition for one of them.

They looked at each other and broke out laughing.

This really unnerved me.

They whispered to one another and that made it worse. I said, "Let’s just forget it. It is all a mistake."

I was wishing a thousand times over I had kept my mouth closed when one of them said, “As long as it isn’t for sex, okay.”

I assured them it wasn’t that, while at the same time wonder why if it was their business they would say such a thing.

It didn’t make any difference they were coming up to my room and now it was up to me to convince one of them to pretend to be my “soon to be wife.”

They were giggling all the way to the room and it was making me uncomfortable.

I thought to myself, “What if they were pretending and both of them … wanted a threesome. What have I got myself into and how much money were they going to expect. I sure wasn’t going to put it on my hotel bill.”

They came in and sat down after looking out the window. One of them spoke up and said okay let’s hear your pitch. I didn’t know whether it was best to concoct some story or just tell them the truth.  The main thing was I only needed one of them.  

It seemed best to tell them the truth for they were obviously very sophisticated and would spot a liar right off.

After I finished with the details they started with that insufferable giggling again.

Then one of them said okay, “I’ll do it but my friend will have to go along for we don’t know you.”

At this point I said that will be alright but she will have to stay in the background. I told them I would pay whatever their fee was and get them air tickets and rooms for them. They said they would take care of it themselves so not to bother.

When I got to the airport they were already checking in and I followed them into the first class section and was seated. The stewardesses seem to know them and that embarrassed me.

I guessed they must fly this route often to be known by the plane’s crew. I speculated, in their business they probably travel a lot being on call.

One of the girls sat next to me and said; “Robert you are going to be gentle and nice with me aren’t you?”

I said, “None of that; just get that stuff out of your mind right now.”

There was that stupid giggling again and all the way to Vegas I had to be teased and giggled at.  I was ever glad the flight was over.

When I asked where they were staying, they said we have a suite at the most expensive hotel in Vegas.  As it turned out it was the same place where I was booked into.

We checked in and they said, “We will see you at dinner.”

I tried to tell them I was having dinner with my future employers but they just talked over me and said, “See you soon.”

The next couple of hours I sat and stewed for I knew they were going to foul everything up. If my future employers find out I hired a couple of hookers on their tab I was finished.  My only hope was they wouldn’t show up.

Well I had to face my perspective employers so I went down stairs and the Maitre D' led me to the private party room and behold there were the two girls and they were talking up a storm.

Those two women had crashed the dinner party and were being very entertaining.  I tried to ignore looking at the two party crashers but I couldn’t. Their off the shoulder gowns must have cost someone a wad of cash.

Mr. Samson the director of the company said, “Well Robert it is time we met.”

He then went around the table and introduced me to the board members and their wives. I had a hard time putting all the names into my memory banks for those two women were staring me down.

Then he came to the party crashers and he asked, “Have you met these lovely ladies?”

My first instinct was to try to lie and say I have never seen them before but I said, “Yes, I think we may have met before.”

Then one of the girls spoke and said c’mon daddy let’s not tease him any longer.

I thought, “Daddy, sugar daddy was more like it, and who is the other girl here to service?”

My mind was out of control and I couldn’t chance speaking for I might say the wrong thing.

I excused myself and quickly went to the men’s restroom with that infuriating giggling trailing off behind me.

Taking some deep breaths, I settled down and thought things through for a couple of minutes.  Then I began to wonder if she called him daddy could it be he was her father?  It was just the way the whole scenario came about that was puzzling to me.

When I got back Mr. Samson said, “I thought you might have skipped out on us. My girls have explained what happened and how they had been having fun at your expense.”

I had to laugh at myself for it was the craziest thing I had ever attempted.

After everyone had enjoyed the moment I said, “I thought they were the most beautiful hookers I had ever seen and the way they were dressed convinced me they were very successful at their trade.”

To be Continued