North of Austin Chapter 14

Pa Didn't Take to Anyone Messing With His Dog

 

Chapter fourteen

Once again things returned to normal and we got on with living.

I thought back over the years and wondered why there was so much violence in this part of the country. You would think that because this area had been settled for many years there wouldn’t be as much bloodshed, but that wasn’t the way it was.

It was up to the land owners to defend themselves and once stirred up they don’t stop until issues are completely settled.  While disputes among the land owners were few there were other things that caused unrest.  One thing is the owner’s children.  As the kids grow up there was the pressure to assert themselves. Much of the time it was an argument over one of the girls in the area or one of the “for rent” gals in town.

Then there are the problems that originate from outsiders coming in and causing problems like rustling stock or taking advantage of the hands when they imbibe too much on a Saturday night.  But as I say, things are pretty much back to normal for now.

The next big event in my life was the birth of our second child.  To Abby’s disappointment it was another boy.  She told me since it was a boy I would have to name him.  I felt that put me in a hard place for if she didn’t like the name then I would be the culprit for doing so.  I decided his name would be Samuel.  So we now had two prophets in our family or at least two namesakes.

Right off we could see Sammie had many qualities of his mother. Daniel was going to be like his grandpa, handsome with a slightly rugged look, but Sammie was going to be more genteel appearing.  I told Daniel he was going to have to look out for his brother and not let boys rough him up too much.

Abby was the prettiest woman in the whole of our county not that looks mattered to me.  It was who she was inside that mostly pleased me.  One of my favorite things is watching first Daniel and now Sammie nurse.  If I’m not mistaken I see the first signs of her breasts losing a little of their perkiness. I suppose this is just normal for it’s what child bearing does to a woman.

Some of the women I know with several kids have sagged almost to their waist. I hope Abby never sags like that, naw she never will.

Abby’s father finally gave in and accepted a judgeship. The legal community had been after him for quite a while because most of the judges from back east were either drunks or dishonest.  I told him it would be politics for him next to which he smiled and said “Maybe so.”

He turned the law office over to me which required me to find some more help. Franklin my youngest brother had come to me and said he didn’t think he was going to make it as a farmer.  He wondered if I would take him on as a clerk or something.  June his wife wasn’t happy living out in the sticks and she figured that she would be getting pregnant any day now and wanted to be in town when the baby was born.

Pa had given him a good farm and I told him he better go tell Pa his decision to return the farm to him so he could get someone to work it. He did as I told him and came to work for me. I could see right away Franklin was better suited for the city life than in the country.

Pa came into town for some supplies and his old dog came with him as usual. Although the dog was having trouble keeping up due to his age; Pa hated to make him stay at home so he went everywhere with Pa.

While Pa was in the store some ruffian hauled off and kicked Pa’s dog and broke some of his ribs.  Pa heard the dog yelping and came out to see his dog in pain.  He picked the dog up and took him to a doctor that worked on people as well as animals. The doc wrapped the dog’s chest and told Pa to keep him quiet. Pa said the dog stayed either under the house or by the fireplace so he would be alright.

Pa asked the people who saw what happened and they told him the man went out of his way to kick the dog and then rode out of town at a gallop.

Pa told the hands with him to take the goods to the home place, care for the dog and he would be back in a few days. After getting some food he lit out in the direction taken by the man.

I asked Pa if he wanted me to go with him and he said no he would take care of it.

It was about seven days before Pa got back home and everyone was relieved to see him.  Some had wanted to try to go find him but Ma said absolutely not for Pa would be very angry if they thought he wasn’t able to tend to business.

The dog was still sore but got up and went over to Pa and welcomed him home. Abner came over from where he lived with Jeanie Ann and asked if everything was taken care of and Pa said, "Yes it got done."

By that we all knew the man had met a bitter end.

TO BE CONTINUED