IT DON’T MATTER Chapter 18 Kids Growing Up

Boy and His Dog
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With Jake’s wife joining him in the oil fields he wanted to leave all his dogs here except one pup and his bitch.  She had been with him for some time and he wanted to make sure she was well cared for.  

I had taken one of the litter, that had been out at Pa’s place part of the time when we were gone but I agreed to take another of the males and brought both of them to my place.

Mark was growing and was already six months old.  Bessie was four and Matt almost three.  Matt became the boss of both of the dogs and they put up with his shenanigans he played on them.

We made him stay in our big back yard where he would get covered with dirt while playing with the dogs.  He developed a strong friendship with them and they were very protective of him.  

One of the dogs was bitten by a rattle snake while protecting Matt from getting bit.  He killed the snake by shaking the life out of him.

He was a sick little puppy for a while but he eventually got well.  I was glad the dogs were with him and protected him from any perceived danger they concluded.

Our place was only forty acres just enough land for our horses to graze and run on.  Matt wasn’t supposed to do it but he would take the dogs out on the forty and say they were hunting for buffalo.  

Nan was scared he was gong to get injured or killed being out among the horses who were a bit skittish but they were friendly to Matt.  They would come up to him to be petted as they put their head down.

When the weather became inclement he would bring the dogs into the mud room out of the weather.  We couldn’t stop some of these bad habits of Matt and if we threw the dogs out he would go out in the rain with them.  Then he would crawl under the house where they were.

Both Nan and I were at a loss as to what to do with him.  I decided to ask Ma to come and stay with us and see if she could do anything with him.

Ma took him under her wing and wouldn’t let him get away with anything she told him not to do.  At first he would wail and cry for his momma but momma had enough of his disobedience and ignored his pleas.

After the first week he was obeying Ma and after the second week he obeyed both Nan and I.  Ma still let him play with the dogs for she said he needs them but there was no more going out on the back forty.

Ma said, “I have to get back to Pa for he is probably sick from eating his own cooking.”

Thing of it was she was missing him and wanted to get back to him for they were very close.

After Ma left, Matt wanted to be with me more than before.  We would sit in front of the fire place and I would tell him stories some true and some not.

We would bring the dogs in and they would sit near us and snore.  Matt thought it was funny but for me it was annoying.

Bessie was growing closer to her mom for they would make dresses for both of them and other girlie things.

Of course baby Mark was into his mom altogether for he was still nursing at least some of the time.  

Nan wanted to have a talk with me.  Anytime she made this approach I knew it was something she thought was serious.  A lot of the time it wasn’t that big of a deal to me but I would go along with her.  

She said, “I’m not ready to have another child right now.”

I said, “What are you suggesting we don’t have ... well you know what?”

She said, “No not that but I went to the doctor and he had several suggestions and I want you to go and see him and let him explain it to you.

I told her that was the last thing I wanted to do.

She said, “Well; let me tell you about one method that keeps you from getting pregnant and it is called abstinence.  This is something we can practice until you change your mind about going to the Doc.”  

She said, “I have been pregnant half of the time since I first got married and I want a break from that.”  

During the second week of abstinence I thought I should go see the Doctor just to see what he had to say.

When I got home I told Nan that she could decide what she wanted us to do.

She smiled, “I already have but I was just waiting for you to be serious about me for the present not having another child.  I am still trying to wean Mark and “Martha” will have to wait for a few years unless something unforeseen happens.”

When it came down to it I was just a bit embarrassed to talk to the Doc about something that private between a man and a woman and that was the reason for my hesitation.  I remember one thing the Doctor said and that there is more to life than just having kids and I agreed with that.

Everything is back to normal and Nan is more responsive than ever before.

I was buying more land from the railroad for I had sold a number of parcels already.  

There was a man who wanted to buy several of the smaller parcels at the end of Main Street.  When I asked him what his plans were for the lots, he wouldn’t tell me and said it wasn’t any of my business; so I refused to sell him the parcels.  

Angry Man
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He came back several times and each time he was getting madder that I wouldn’t sell them to him.  He sent an out of town man to try to buy them but I saw through that plan.

Finally he sent some toughs who threatened me with violence if I didn’t acquiesce to their demands.  I didn’t have Jake with me to back me up and I surely did miss him.

Due to their threats I sent Nan and the kids and the dogs to Ma’s place where they would be safe.  I asked Pa to arm all of the hands in case they got wind of what I had done.  It looked like there was going to be a showdown soon.

There was a large family, about twenty miles from town who were share croppers. They were seven boys and some girls.  Along with them being a large size people they were the meanest folks around.

They were so malicious that the sheriff wouldn’t go down to try to settle disputes concerning them.  I made a deal with them to come to town and be ready should I have any trouble.  I put them up in the feed store with their promise they wouldn’t steal us blind.  

I told them if they helped me out I would buy the farm they were working and give it to them so they would be owners instead of share croppers.  The man that owned the place wanted to sell it real cheap for he was scared of those folks and for good reason.

The time came when the man and his toughs came down to force me to sell.

When they started in on me the whole Quirk family poured out of the feed store barn; the father, mother, and all the kids.  They beat those toughs and the “hope to be buyer” to a pulp.  

We put them a box car and I don’t know where they ended up.  The train was bound for Mexico.  

I signed the deed to the farm over to the Quirks and they were a little friendlier after that.  I almost never saw any of them after they took care of my business and they kept their stealing from me down to their minimum.

I retrieved my family and we went back to living normally again.  Nan asked why I didn’t just sell the property to the man for that was the reason I bought it in the first place.  I told her I found out what he had planned for those lots.

He was gong to put up a gambling house with a large saloon and a house full of women whores.  I just didn’t want that in our town and I especially didn’t want to be a party to it.

Perhaps some would say “It don’t matter” but it does, doesn’t it?

 

IT DON’T MATTER Chapter 17 Secrets From the Wife

Can You Keep a Secret?
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Sometimes you find your self in a desperate situation and need some help but who to trust.  In my recent stressful circumstance I didn’t have much time to think about who to trust.

First off I needed someone who could advise me as what to do.  Then I needed someone who had the power to carry out the solution.  I found both in Judge Larson and Jake.

Without their wise counsel I would have turned to a more violent solution which could have been disastrous for me and the family.  Turning to Jake was the right thing to do for he is and always has been my mainstay.  Time after time I have had to call on him and he always answers the call.

I have known Judge Larson since I was a small boy.  As a young boy, I was afraid of him for his austere presence sent chills down my back.

Pa and he grew up together and remain the best of friends today.  When they had time they would hunt and fish until their business dealings took away the fishing times and now they just wave and say howdy in passing.

I have gone to the Judge concerning small problems which he helped me with but this last issue was beyond me and he came to my rescue.  

As long as I could keep this whole affair a secret from Nan everything would be alright.

After a few days she was up and around doing all of her necessary chores.

I insisted that she keep the widow on to help her for our big house was more work than I wanted her to do.  Besides I would rather for her to have more time to spend with the children.  

Some three weeks later she came in and sat near me and while nursing Mark she said, “Is there something you need to tell me?”

I wondered to myself, “What on earth is she referring to?  I haven’t been doing anything I shouldn’t even though it has been some time since we have been together in an intimate way.”

There was only one thing that came to mind and I didn’t want to tell her about that. Maybe she is just fishing thinking my conscience would force me to admit some wrong doing.

I did my best to put on an innocent face and deny there was anything she needed to know.  It was her nature to want to know the full details about everything that I’m involved in.  

After denying (in every way I could think of) there was anything she should know everything was quiet.  Mark had gone to sleep and Nan put him in his crib.

Then it occurred maybe someone saw me talking to a woman who wanted to buy one of the parcels and misunderstood the whole situation.  I asked her if that was it and she said, “No just keep thinking.”

It had me beat.  I couldn’t think of anything except “that thing” and that wasn’t going to see the light of day.  

After another period of silence she said, “I know.”

“You know what?” I replied.

“I know so you might as well come out and tell me every detail leaving out nothing.”

I wasn’t going to respond to that for I didn’t know what she was referring to for sure.  

“I heard him whistling outside the house and I could recognize that sound anywhere.  I looked out and saw him walking away from the house.  Does that help your memory?”

I was stunned, “She knows something about what happened, and now she isn’t going to stop until I fill in all the blanks.  It will better to get it out in the open and I won’t have it on my mind the rest of our life together.”

I started at the time when I left the house till the train left the station leaving out nothing.  

She smiled and said, “You know I’m beginning to love Jake more all the time for I wish I had a brother like him when I was growing up. If I had one like him I wouldn’t have married when I did.

When I thought he was dead, I tried to paint a rosy picture of him but lately something about the story didn’t seem right about him getting killed.  All I ever heard was the letter I got and the railroad never contacted me about a funeral. 

Later when I contacted them they said he had worked for them but they had no record of his death or any funeral.  I was so caught up with taking care of the kids I let it slide.

When I heard that whistle of his it instantly gave it away.  I don’t worry about anything but him staying away from our babies and I trust you to take care of that.

So far you have stood up for me at every turn no matter how serious it might be.  I didn’t know how but I knew you would prevail in this matter.  With the dissolution paper executed by Judge Larson everything is a clean slate.

Bessie had come in without us seeing her and she asked, “Who were you talking about Daddy?”

Answering her, I said, “Just a man from the past and he is no more.”

I had a tombstone placed on the gravesite I purchased for Nan’s ex just to remind us that the past is just that, the past.

My land sales were doing good, and money was accumulating to the point where it was the time to invest in something new.

From what some of my business contacts were saying the oil business was the place to invest.  I called Jake and Clayton to my office and discussed the possibility going with some partners and start drilling for oil ourselves.  

It was decided that Jake and Clayton would go to the oil country and buy some drilling rights along with the land.  Jake convinced the owners it was the right thing to do and besides there was some extra money in the deal.  

Some of the ranchers wanted to keep the land even though they sold the drilling rights but we wanted the land also.  

Clayton visited every oil field where they were making money.  By the time he completed his study he was well versed in what to look for in oil leases.

Jake had worked on a couple of rigs and had learned the mechanics of oil drilling. Jake had run the water well digging rig before but he wrote that drilling for oil was a lot more complicated.  

Clayton spent all our money on leases and land and now it was time to bring a couple of wildcatters who had all the equipment to drill with and as luck would have it they struck oil.  It wasn’t the best field but it was pumping out a lot of oil which translates into money.

With Clayton gone I hired a young man to help Ada run the feed store until Clayton wanted her to come to where the oil fields were and be with him.

Alice wanted to move to town so she and Sammie took over the feed store. Sammie wanted to expand it and put in an ice machine making plant.

We had the money so I sent Sammie to Chicago (of course Alice went with him leaving their kids with Ma) and he had the manufactures design the Plant for us. While Sammie was in Chicago he worked in a plant there learning how Ice was made.

We bought all the equipment and they sent an engineer to oversee the installation and stayed long enough to have it up and running.  It was a six months project but it immediately was paying off.  We were selling all the ice the plant could make.

Alice was happy to be off the farm and we put a share cropper on it in their place.  The same happened after it looked as if Jake was going to remain in the oil fields and his wife and their kids moved to be with him.

My pet project the Polled Herefords was doing good.  I didn’t want to sell any of them until the herd had built up into a larger number.  

Again I needed more pasture land and I tried to lease six hundred acres next to us but the owner didn’t want to lease but to sell it.  It took some haggling back and forth but we finally got him down to our price so we were set until the time came to start selling them off and then we could start recouping our investment.

The three cow hands who managed our herd were happy with their arrangement and wanted to stay on for this was the easiest job they ever had.

Our family never had any hard and fast rules about our money it was all ours.  When ever someone needed money for a project we, actually it was mostly me who would look deep into the possibilities for success and if it was feasible then they had their money.

The one thing we didn’t want to waste money on something foolish but sticking with what we knew, the oil business, and the ice plant being the exception.

Even that was fully researched before we took the plunge.  Maxi and Dr. Lester came to visit everyone and he was excited about a new car company named Ford.  

He wanted to give up teaching and start selling these cars.  He said he had enough money to get started but might need some eating money until things got rolling.  I didn’t like the idea for I was strictly a horse and buggy man but while I hated to admit it “The handwriting was on the wall.”

With the changes being made; with steam locomotion, with cities being lit up by electricity, automobiles as they were beginning to be called were inevitable.

The only question was how to be involved without going broke.

Dr. Lester was convinced that the low cost Ford would be a money maker.

I still wasn’t convinced but Maxi for all these years hasn’t asked for anything because they supported themselves.

I told them, “I would allow them fifteen thousand for backup money,” to which Lester said, “That is more than we will ever need.”

All I could say was, “We will see, whether they are a success or not.

“It doesn’t matter” or does it?

IT DON’T MATTER Chapter 16 Back From the Grave

New Baby Free clip art

New Baby Boy
 

We, that is Nan, and I are both only twenty she being about four months older than me. Soon we will be the parents of three children and who knows if there will be more.  

I am older than my years because of the fact I became the leader of our clan while still a youngster.  I just had a head for business and directed the family business and finances.

Nan aged quickly having two children and the loss of her husband shortly before Matt was born.  She was left with some money and had to fight off a myriad of trashy men who wanted to take advantage of her.

The thing is now that we have a good life ahead of us we need to not allow ourselves to become bored with our life and each other.  We must keep enough excitement in the marriage so it doesn’t grow dull.

The adoption papers came back and now it is official; I am the children’s father.  I don’t know how much this will mean to them now but sometime in the future it will be of great importance.

Ada, Clayton’s wife has been staying with us for the last couple of days expecting the birth of our third child.  Then in the middle of the night I was dispatched to get the doctor.  By the time we got back Ada said, “You have another…” she stopped in mid sentence and smiled, and said, “A boy.”

I couldn’t keep my feet still and had to knock a step or two at the news.  The doctor went in and checked Nan over.  When he was finished he said you are made for having children.  You will be up and around in no time meanwhile see if he is hungry and if he can figure out how to eat.

Nan sat up a bit and stuck the nipple in his mouth and he had his first meal. She said look at him go, he has his father’s appetite.

I had trouble getting Bessie to suckle but this guy knows what to do.  After Nan thought he had enough at this setting Ada took him and said, “Eating so fast he is sure to have some air so I will burp him.”

After a few pats on the back out came some swallowed air and some milk also.  After Ada was sure he was finished burping and spitting up she wrapped him in a blanket and gave him back to his mother.

The doctor said, “What is his name going to be?”  

Nan said, “I want to call him Mark.  My two sons will be Matt and Mark.”

Ada said, “Is that alright with you papa?”

He said, ‘Yes we discussed it before hand.  If it had been a girl she would have been named Martha.  It looks like Martha will have to wait a while to claim her name.”

Nan said, “Right now I feel like it will be a long while.”  

Ada said. “That is pretty normal after having just suffered ‘Them birth pangs,’ but you will get over that sooner than you think.  It’s something you forget as time goes by.”

Matt and Bessie were asleep in their beds and missed the arrival of their new brother but would soon get acquainted.

The doctor said everything is under control so I’m going home and get me some sleep. I have three more women expecting to birth right away so I had better get me some rest.  Some of these women go two or three days before finally having the child.

Ada fixed breakfast for the children, me, and Clayton my brother.  Nan said she wanted to wait for a while before eating.  Mark woke up and was ready for another meal and he was hungry as a little guy could be.

Bessie wanted to see little brother right off.  She ran and hugged Nan and said, “Where’s he at?”  

Nan uncovered him and Bessie said, “He is so red and so little will he ever grow to be big like me?”  Nan assured Bessie that he would grow into a big boy.  

Since the railroad was finished and had a lot of surplus land for sale I bought up as much as I could afford.  I divided it up and bought a well digging machine and dug a well and put up a windmill on each parcel.  I opened an office next to the general store and was in the land business.

Ada needed to get back to her duties so I had a widow woman come and help Nan with the kids and the baby.  With everything under control I went down to my office where I handled all of the family business as well as the land sales.

Back from the Grave

A man who didn’t look too prosperous came in.  He was tall and was nice looking under the long hair and beard.  He looked around and said, “Looks like you are making a lot of money here in this area.”

His tone and actions were condescending.  He said, “I went by your new house and it must be worth quite a bit of money.  I hear you just had a new kid didn’t you?”

I just said, ‘Yes that’s true but what’s that to you?”

He said, “It’s everything to me for you are living with my wife and kids.”

I swallowed hard at what he said. I was confused and just stared at the man.

From the way Nan described him he did look like the man Nan was married to but he was dead and buried.  She had a written notice to that effect.

He went on and said, “I’m here to claim my wife and have you put in jail for marrying an already married woman.”

He pulled out a marriage certificate with his and Nan’s name on it.

He said, “I want you out of my house now and I need some money, a lot of it.  I figure you should have fifty thousand dollars you could part with instead of going to jail for bigamy.  Give me the money and I will leave and keep quiet about all of this.”

I said, “You are supposed to be dead and here you are alive and well?”

He said, “Yep, I wanted out of being married and to go to California.  A girl who worked in one of the railroad offices got me some stationary.  She typed up what amounted to a death certificate and sent it to Nan in a company envelope.  

She and I have been on the road ever since then but now that is over and I’m ready to settle down.  I don’t know what happened to that girl I was with and furthermore I don’t care.

I excused my self for a moment and went to the feed store.  I knew Jake was down there.  I explained to him what was going on and what the man was threatening to do.  

This could be a big embarrassment for the whole family if this got out.  

Jake said, “I never had to deal with something like this, but I will step into the office and entertain this man while you go to Judge Larson and find out what you can do about this.”

I said, ‘Okay because I’m not sure how to handle this.”

I saw the judge and explained the whole thing to him.  He said, “I never had a case exactly like this but close enough to know how to handle the legal end.  It will be up to you how you handle him.”

After five minutes the Judge handed me a paper and said, “This should take care of the whole thing.”

I looked askance for I was confused.  I said, “What is this?”

He said, “A dissolution of the first marriage based upon abandonment.  He abandoned her and the children and I have made it effective back before you married Nan.”

I have to ask Judge Larson, “Is this legal?”

He said, “It is if I say it is and I say it is for I have the final say around here.”

He said, “Now go and deal with that no good skunk severely enough to make him wish he had never came back here.”

I thanked the Judge and returned to the office where Jake had the man sweating and wanting out of the office.

I showed he man the dissolution of the marriage and the effective date.

Then I said to Jake, “Here is a hundred dollars.  Go down and buy a burial plot for this man and a ticket out on the train that leaves in an hour.  He is going to use one or the other. 

Grave site
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If he decides to leave we will be anxiously waiting here for your return, because if Nan ever finds out he is still alive we will need the burial plot.”

A half hour later Jake returned with the receipt for the burial site and the railroad ticket.  He grabbed the man by the throat choking the air out of him and shaking at the same time.

Then as he let the man breathe again he said, “What’s it to be the choice is yours; the ticket or the ground?  Jake went on and said, “It will be the ground if you ever utter this story to a living soul.”

The scoundrel said, “The ticket please.”

Jake slapped him and said, “Louder.”

He yelled, “The ticket please.”

“And you will never come back, right?” Jake added.

He yelled, “Right,” and grabbed the ticket and ran for the train that was just leaving.

I thanked Jake for his help for without him I would have been in trouble.

Thankfully the man never came back to use his grave but I heard he had an accident which ended his life.

After an interesting morning I decided to check on Mark and his momma.

Bessie met me and said, “He is too little.”

Matt was pulling at my leg wanting to be picked up.  I lifted the two of them up and we went in to see the newest member of the family.

Nan said, “What you have been doing this morning?”  

I said, “Nothing important; you know stuff that - - -

‘It don’t matter’  does it matter?  All that type of stuff.”

IT DON’T MATTER Chapter 15 Ten More Acres

Ten More Acres
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Pa usually goes to bed with the chickens but this night he wanted to talk about ten acres next to the home place that the owner wants to sell.

It is good bottom land and we could use the extra feed we could raise on it.

I ask him why he had not already bought it.  He said, “You know things were uncertain for a few days and I was waiting until things were straightened out in my head.”

He asked, “How much do you reckon this place is worth?”

“Oh, maybe a hundred thousand,” I told him.

He said, “If a man could buy it for a thousand dollars he would have a real good bargain wouldn’t he?”

“Yep, that would be a pretty good deal, why do you ask?” I said

Pa said, “I don’t know, I was just asking for some reason.”

Then I realized that the recent shock of what happened recently had caused both of them to lose most memories about what took place.  Nothing was to be gained by going through and explaining the last few weeks to them.  

I had seen men who had been kicked by a mule lose their memory for a while and some who had got in a fight and were beaten severely be in the similar condition.

I never saw a shock cause this kind of memory loss before.  The situation wasn’t going to change so the less said the better.  The next day I went over to see about the ten acres with Pa and had to agree it was a good parcel.

We bought it for a good price; almost too good after thinking about it.

As we left the property we faced two men one of which was the spokesman.

The other one was the one you would have to watch if trouble started for he was big and mean looking.

The man said, “You just bought my property and I want it.”

I told him if he really wanted it we would sell it to him for three times what we paid for it.

He replied, “I am going to pay you half what you paid for it for that is what I offered him.”

I said, “Pa you walk over the hill and ask Jake if we paid too much for our new property.”

As Pa left the big man was counting out the money he was offering us and wanted the deed to be turned over for our sale hadn’t been recorded as of yet.  He wanted to scratch off Pa’s name and put his on the deed.

Jake and a couple of his hands were on their way down the hill as I kept telling the two men that we were not going to sell for we needed this acreage.

As Jake arrived the big man stepped forward taking up a fighting stance. Jake was carrying a rough walking stick.

As the big man started to attack Jake he was struck hard in the throat with the stick. He went down on his knees and was trying to inhale enough air to survive.

We could see that all the fight was gone out of him so we helped the other man get his wounded buddy in the buggy and we haven’t seen or heard from them again.

Jake was always a good man to have around if trouble started.  He wasn’t afraid of anybody and I depended on him in a tight situation.  

After three days and two fights later I decided to head home for a man could get hurt around here.

Ma didn’t want to let Bessie go home with us for she was fast becoming her favorite grandchild.  We promised to come back as soon as we could but being busy it might be a while.  

I told Nan that if we didn’t get a new buggy soon we might end up walking and leading the horse.  She said, “We should go ahead and order one with softer seats and one with lights on it so we didn’t have to hang a lantern on the shaves.”

I told her I had been waiting to see if one of those horseless buggies were going to catch on or just fade away.  I wasn’t planning on buying one of those contraptions but just wanted to see what her reaction would be.

She said I think a horse would be more reliable for you for could always just ride the horse if the buggy broke down.  All four of us could ride on ole Ransom here for he is big and strong and could carry us without and trouble.

I decided that we weren’t quite ready to step up into the new generation machines so a new buggy it is.  I waited a few days before going to the buggy dealer.

He didn’t have many buggies in stock and none that I wanted.  But he had a lot of photos and drawings of them. He said he would have to order it from L. S. Gladding and would take three months to get it.

I asked why so long and he said Gladding not only make buggies but they also make parts for the horseless carriages.

There was one with two seats a wrap around top for the back passengers and just a top for the front riders. He stressed the new lights and either a two or just one horse model. He said, “One horse could pull the buggy easily but the two horses made the driver look more affluent.”

He said, “If the horseless carriage keeps catching on it will be hard to get a new buggy.”

I placed my order and I wondered what was this world coming to?  With all these new machines soon there would be no more need for field hands.

I wanted to get some polled Hereford cattle for our ranch and see how they would do. I thought they were way over priced but went ahead and bought thirty cows and one bull.  I figured if it didn’t work out we would eat them.

As large as out family has grown we could go through them pretty quick.

I try to read and keep up with what is going on in the world but as soon as I sit Bessie is right there ready to crawl up into my lap.  It makes it difficult to read and hold her while she keeps moving around.  Her sharp knees can cause a lot of pain when they dig in to your bodily parts.

Matt is two and walking and kind of talking.  Up until recently he was all mama’s boy but now with some help he started saying Da da.  He tries to climb up into my lap but can’t make it by himself me and whines for some help from me.  So here I sit with both kids on my lap.

At least it gives Nan a little time for herself.  

I went by the church and told the pastor that I was going to get a new buggy and if there was anyone who wanted my old one I would give it to them.  Of course it needs some repair but I would have it brought back into good shape first.

He said it would be handy for making his calls on the members for it just had one seat. He said his was a large two seater and made it hard to get back into some of the farms he visited.

I said it was his as soon as I got my new one.

He said, “You know the Bristol’s have a new one coming in a week or so don’t you?”

I said, “No I didn’t know that.”

He said, “You know how jealous they are.  I’m afraid they might think you are copying them and bought one because they did.  Well I guess you can’t help what people think.”  

“Just one seat was getting too crowded for us.  With Bessie in the middle and Nan having to hold Matt in her disappearing lap it was too much to handle.  We will have another little one by the time the buggy gets here and sure will need it.”

Being near to one another has now been reduced to a little hugging and the occasional kiss.  I was looking forward to the birth of whoever it is going to be.  

Bessie noticed that Nan was getting bigger and told her she was eating too much.  She decided it was time to tell her about the new baby.  When she finally understood Bessie said, “We don’t need another baby so send it back when it gets here.”

Nan said, “I can’t do that for it will be a sweet little girl like you or a tough little man like Matt.”

Bessie said, “Mama it would be better if it was a girl like me.”

I had heard her say, a tough little man like Matt.  She had said Matt’s father was a tough but very gentle man.  He had scared off most of would be suitors.  As I thought about that I felt it would have been difficult to scare me off once I was into her for a wife.  

Then again I concluded we probably have the same taste in a woman.  Lucky him he met her first but she is mine now and will always be.

His life wasn’t easy and he was doing the best he could for his little family.

I wish there was some way I could tell him how much I love all three of them and would see that they never had need of anything.  

I was a little jealous of him and at the same time sorry for his early demise. And again I was glad that he wasn’t around anymore for that was the only way for me to be in the position I am in today.

At this time, however the situation came about “It don’t matter”… or does it.

IT DON’T MATTER Chapter 14 Women are Smarter

Busy in the Kitchen
courtesy photobucke.com

 

Perhaps it was a bit strange the way the day started.  In reality it should have been just like every other day but this morning began with me still in bed but awake.  

I could hear Nan stirring around in the kitchen and both babies demanding attention.  I was laying in the bed still but in my mind’s eye I could vision what was going on.  The mush was cooking on the stove for Matt and eggs, a biscuit and jam for Bessie.  

Nan would be wearing the night gown she wore to bed and thy frying pan was about finished with its task.  The smell of the ham was lifting me up out of the bed almost as if it had a power of its own.  

While sitting on the edge of the bed I thought six months ago I was a single man with women desiring me for a number of reasons the least of which was love.  It was as Pa used to say “The smell of money is the driving force in this world.”

The fact the family and I were well off attracted many from all walks of life.

Today, this day I have a wife and two children with another on the way.  The beautiful woman I married is getting bigger around the waist and I can feel a new life within her.  Soon her more than adequate breasts will poor forth sustenance for the new born.

What a pleasant picture was formed in my mind as I sat there.  

 

While the wedding vows are a bit vague, I remember some of the words the preacher said; “Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the LORD can give an understanding wife,” and the man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD.

I found those sayings in the bible shortly after the wedding and read them often to remind myself how blessed I am.

It has only been six months but I’m almost ready to agree with Elle and Ma “Women are smarter than men” for Nan is a woman of wisdom.  I surly stuck in my thumb and brought out a plum from the pudding of life.

In the mist of my musing a voice spoke to me; “Come my handsome man and feast upon thy bounty.” 

“You are the only bounty I want to feast upon my wife.”  I felt I had to say something to her adulation.

As I scarfed up the breakfast she had prepared for me I was amazed that she being young as she was could already cook as well as Ma.

Bessie was able to carry on a conversation now and she had heard Nan call me different things.  She now began calling me “My handsome man.”

Since hearing Bessie call me that, the men I have to do with call me “My handsome man” behind my back.

I suppose there is no harm done as long as it is in the spirit of fun.  Almost anything can be turned into something derogatory by people of a base nature.  

I needed to go downtown so I decided to take Bessie with me.  She was confident that she could walk all the way there and back.  As we passed the general store she said, “Can we go in there?”

I said, “Why, do they have something we need?”

She said, “Most assuredly.”  I have no idea where she picked up that expression unless it was from her mother for she uses phrases like that sometime.

After hearing that I said, “Yes we most assuredly need to go in there.”

The main grocery man named Sam said, ‘Who do we have here?”

I said, ‘This is… this is my daughter Bessie.”  I just realized this was the first time I called her my daughter out in public. 

He said, ‘Well Bessie I’m glad to meet any daughter of your Papa.”

He looked at Bessie and said, “What can I help you with?”

She said, ‘Two of the stick candy please and put it on account.”

I had to laugh at that and said, ‘Do as the young lady says.”

We went on and took care of my business and headed home.  When we were about half way there Bessie said, “You can carry me now.”

“You said you could walk all the way there and back.”

She said, “Things change sometime don’t they?”

I said, “Yes but…”

She said, “Bend over and pick me up, my arms are getting tired from reaching up to you.”

 
I picked her and told her that she and the candy were too heavy for me to carry.  

She said, “I will hurry and eat them then I won’t have them any longer and then you can carry me.”

I could see right now she will rule the roost as far as I’m concerned for she is a woman (Or will be) and women are smarter than men.

Later that day I had to go out to see Pa and Ma who always insisted that I don’t come unless I bring Nan and the kids.

On the way there we met two men riding horses and after we passed them they turned and started to follow us.  After a bit it began to unnerve me. They came along side of us and told me to stop.  They got off their horses and one took hold of the team.

The other one spoke to Nan and said,  “You better get down missy, and let me take a look at you.”

At that remark, I looked directly at the man who spoke and said, “You must be new

around here or you wouldn’t be so foolish to endanger your lives this way.”

I told Nan to cover Matt up and hold your hands over Bessie’s ears for when I shoot these fools there will be a lot of noise.

The one who was holding the horses said, “We didn’t mean any harm mister and released the horse’s bridles.  As they both prepared to get on their horses and I said, “My folks will soon be after you and you will pay a high price for your unwise act.”

They mounted and were gone at a fast gallop.  

I thought to myself, “Jake’s place is just a short distance from here and I will let him handle it.”

When we stopped at Jake’s I quickly explained to him what we experienced.  

Jake and his men took after the Bad Men
courtesy photobucket.com

He called a couple of his hands and said, ‘We will try to catch them.”

I said, “It won’t be much trouble for at the rate they were riding those horses will be worn out.  Their horses were way too fat and they haven’t been ridden much lately, so they will tire quickly.  

I’ll see you later and you can tell me what happened.  We will spend the night at Ma’s so come by if you have time.”

Bessie said, ‘You can uncover my ears now Mom for the bad men are gone.”

Nan had been quiet all this time and when she spoke she said, “I was scared back there weren’t you?”

“The truth is I was a nervous for you because I didn’t want you and the kids see me kill those men.  They didn’t know how close they came to dying.”

She said, “Do you have a gun on you?”

“Always,” I answered, “When I’m out with you.”

She said, “I didn’t know you had one, where do you keep it?”

I slipped it out of my coat and showed it to her.  I had my hand on it all the time for a man has to protect his family.  She was quiet for some time and then just said, “Goodness.”

Pa heard us coming and told one of the young boys to unhitch the team, rub them down and water and feed them.  One thing Pa taught us was to always take care of your stock.

A few hours later Jake came by and said, “The matter has been taken care of.”  He said, “It is good you told me for they were up to no good and looking for some one to take advantage of.  We caught them out at Miner’s place doing some things they shouldn’t have been doing.  It’s a shame when women aren’t safe at home or on the road.”

I had to ask, ‘Will they bother any else?”

He said, “Absolutely not, never again.”

Ma said I wish I knew what you boys are jabbering about maybe Nan can tell me.

I whispered to Nan and said “It don’t matter” if you tell her, does it?

IT DON’T MATTER Chapter 13 Getting Even

All the Wives were in Competition to be as Sexy as - -
courtesy photobucket.com

 

I couldn’t believe it here it was a month later and I was still brooding about the Chivaree.

I had to pay them back for pulling that on us.  I was in a highly excited state and their having fun at my expense almost made me sick.  Nan wasn’t bothered near as much as me in fact she just laughed it off.

The only way for me to get over that event was to figure out how to get a measure of revenge.  In the past I had heard my brothers and their friends complain about their wives being too busy and unresponsive to their advances.  It was a bone of contention with some of them.

Thinking about this ongoing lament I waited until we were all together and one of the bunch came out with a refrain I was hearing again and again, “Well how’s married Life,” and that was always followed by laughter.

I was ready for that this time and I said; “I am worn out.  This woman I married won’t leave me alone.  She’s after me in the morning.  

 

Sometimes twice at night and I don’t dare to go home for lunch because she won’t let me leave.  What can I do?  Five or six times a day, I don’t get any sleep and it is killing me.  You fellows must have had the similar problem, how did you get it under control?”

There was absolute silence.  They were looking at each other in unbelief.

I broke the hypnotic state they were in by saying, “I hate to do it but she is waiting for me and I promised I would come right home.  You know boys, too much of a good thing… I better hurry for she is gonna get mad at me.”

I was out of their eyesight but still in earshot when one expressed unbelief at what he just heard but said he suspected it was true for she was a looker.

One said “I wish she was my wife, I would never leave the house and I don’t know what the matter with mine is.”

For the next hour they rehashed what I said and some things they thought was implied.

When I got home I knew I should tell Nan what happened but as I got closer to the house it was getting harder to figure out what to say.  For sure those men were going to rag on their wives and tell them they should be more like Nan, and be more responsive to their needs.

The more I thought about it Nan was going to have to explain what I did and why but this wasn’t going away for a long time.  From this day forward the men of our town are going to be looking at Nan differently and I realized I had made a big mistake.

As the weeks went by the women of our circle wouldn’t hardly speak to Nan and behind her back there was a lot of hussy talk about her.

After three months things returned to a more livable state and the men seemed to be happier and none were complaining about their waves not  being responsive anymore.

The wives were a lot happier also if I’m any judge.  Through out the community it seems there was an underlying competition to match the image I created that day of my wild woman.

It took a while but Nan began to talk to me again and she would laugh at some of the things that happened as a result of what I had said.  As things settled down Nan decided to tell me we were going to have a child.

It occurred to me that I already two children and this made three.

She said me being pregnant should quiet the talk about me being a woman of passion.

There was another event that was lost for the moment but had come to the forefront as all the talk about Nan settled down.  There was a new bank in town and it was taking over the town’s business.  

What I’m about to tell from now on is based on rumor; stories people were telling and have no evidence of being true.  Let me say that there is too much falseness’ involved to consider that the reports have even a measure of truth in them.

As you read on just remember that there is more fiction than fact to what you read.  

As the story goes the new banker first took over most of the banking business and began buying up properties people swore they would never sell.  Over the next two years the buying of properties continued.

Huge Man
courtesy photobucket.com

Backing up a bit, two months after the banker opened his office there was a man who appeared on the scene and he was an associate of the banker.  He was a huge man about sixty year old and looked as if he were made of stone.

When he strolled down the walkway men and women would get off the walk into the street to let him by.  He was always accompanied by three men who were fearsome looking.  

This huge man was the negotiator and he would buy the properties for almost nothing. No one would come out and say why they almost gave their property away.  

There was some confusion about the buyers being government men and were going to take their property for nothing so they sold for what they could get.

There was one man who when his sons found out their father had sold the home place they were upset.  

 

The three sons of the farmer heard their folks were to be thrown off their place this day so they showed up in time to see the huge man drag the father and mother out of their home and the three sidekicks going in the house and removing the goods therein.

The eldest of the three sons had his hunting rifle slung over his shoulder and a colt forty five in his hand.  He faced the huge man and said his father had changed his mind.  

The sidekicks aligned themselves behind the huge man spaced ten feet apart forming a wall of protection.  

Meanwhile the two other sons had slipped a dozen yards behind all of them.  One son had a double barrel shotgun and a six shooter the other had two six shooters.  

The oldest son said, “Here’s your thousand dollars back less nine hundred for rent of the place since the deed was signed.  He put the nine hundred in his pocket and threw the one hundred on the ground, and said, “I will take the deed now.”

The big man sneered and cursed the oldest son who then nodded to the son who had the shotgun.  He fired both barrels, one shot between each of the three men as the shotgun’s pellets kicked up a lot of gravel on the three men.

Almost at the same time the oldest son shot the huge man in the ankle.  He only grimaced but didn’t bat an eye.  The oldest son said to the three men not to move or they would be filled with forty five bullets.

He went on saying the other sons had eighteen bullets and were willing to use everyone if they moved.

It seems they believed him so they scarcely breathed.

The eldest son then said, “Hand over the deed or I will have to waste another bullet on you.”

The huge man only cursed at the son who then shot him in the knee. The big man still stood though blood was running down the leg.  

Without speaking again the son shot the man twice in the other ankle and the other knee.  This time the man fell while still cursing.

The oldest son told the men who sided the huge man to come one at a time and take three hundred dollars each he had in his hand and to catch the next train that would be leaving in two and a half hours and don’t ever come back or they will be shot on sight.

The eldest son said, “Hand over the deed or I will waste another bullet on you.”  The man still wouldn’t concede and he received another shot.

The huge man said, “I ain’t giving you nothing and you ain’t got the nerve to take it from me.”

Before he got all of the last word out another shot rang out which was the final one.  It is said the huge man is buried somewhere on the land he died on but remember this is just a story.

The oldest son went to the register’s office and said the deed to his father’s property got torn in half and they needed a new one, which the register provided.

The farmer's three sons visited the banker and he signed over all the property he had taken from the people and restored it to them.

They concluded that the banker owed rent on all the properties and when he left town all he took was a few clothes and the banks money went to the people he robbed.

Well I told you this was a tale based in rumor and there are no facts to validate it but there was a banker who came to town.  Yes, the Banker had an associate that was a huge man with three large sidekicks that went around buying up property that was returned to the people and the huge man disappeared and the banker and the side-kicks suddenly left town.

This story probably isn’t true.  In any case “It don’t matter” or do it?