The Run.

:rofl:

:sunny: :hurray:

 

Thanks Scratcho.

 

Thanks bro!

 

Cont.


" Get the rest of the men. The youngins' is home." Mr Hays said to one of his hands, the young one that mostly helped Mrs Hays in the large garden and rode fence repair now and again. Becky and Josh had ridden up slowly, looking and feeling worse than before they started. They knew they had to put off the additional sleep that they would inevitably need, for the sake of reuniting with family and friends. As the farm hands came into the yard one by one as they heard that Becky and Josh had finally returned, the talk was of the usual uncomplicated type for which cowboys were known. "Glad to see you two." Tip of the hat. "How was your trip?" Touch of the hat brim. " Have any trouble with them Kansas fellers?" " Let's git us a barbecue goin." The two were mostly overwhelmed by the hugs and warmth with which they were greeted. It had been a fair piece of time that that much warmth had been proffered, since most all the greetings they had gotten lately had been ones that had been the type of which had held serious portents of danger.


" Should we tell 'em now, pa,?"Mrs Hays asked her husband. " No. These youngin's obviously need some rest, so lets' plan a get together tomorrow. We can lay it out then. Besides , I want to hear what's happened with the folks up north them Kansas fellers was after. We can hear it all tomorrow." " Oh, by the way--we's married," Josh said to no one in particular. "Got hitched up in Sonora. In between other --uh--situations." " That of course, set off a round of hugs and back slapping all around. Josh said to his folks, " I feel like a slug that someone done poured some salt on. I'm goin' ta' bed. See y'all later."

Becky felt the same and soon started toward the Pearson place, but definitely not at the pace she usually travelled.

" Man, them kids look pretty rough today," one of the hands said." " Lookin' like we'll be hearing that famous sayin' soon---I'ma gonna' quit that poison." Everyone nodded and went to their own thoughts as to how pretty much everybody had been through that.

"I'm afraid to tell Becky about the situation in town. Y'all know how she is. She'd jump on her horse and git' right on in there to take 'em head-on. Good way ta' get herself killed, I say." "Yeah. There's a plan afoot and the meeting over it is tomorrow night over ta' the Hangtown grange. Let's hope them god-damn outlaws don't get wind of it. There must be thirty of 'em" " I heard tell they killed Tom when he tried ta' stop 'em," said one man. "Yup. That's what I heard too." " N' they beat some a' the whores pretty bad is what I heard. Sorry m'am," by way of apology to Mrs Hays. "They plum took over is what I heard," another chipped in. I ain't been in town an' I ain't gonna' until we get us a plan."


Josh came back on the porch and said, " I forgot. Did Lonnie and the other two ever git here?" " No. We ain't seen em. What other two?" " The two we been ridin' with. An old man, who happens to be related ta' Calamity Jane and a woman Lonnie's sweet on. We might not a' made without it some a' their help. OH, n' some horses we got up in Jackson. Damn. They shoulda' been here by now."

Alright. I'ma gonna' sleep. See y'all later.


" I'm glad Becky's back. Wait 'till she hears about this here shit a'goin on. We just have ta' keep her from takin' em' on alone. But ifn' I know Becky, that'll be a hell of a chore."

" Alright boys, les' git back ta' work. We still got ta' bring the crops in."

 

Thanks Scratcho. Can't wait to hear what comes next.

 

Oh My Lord!!!

:sunny: :hurray:

 

:2thumbsup: Scratcho, please don't leave us hangin' on this here cliff Bro!

 

Yeah, c'mon, PUHLEEZ Joel!

I'm sooo ready for my Becky, Josh & crew fix.

 

False alarm. I come rushing in here and there is no new installment. :bigcry:

 

My comp QUIT!! Couple of days before my birthday, May 3rd!! Took it to a guy that tried a fix--no go. An Apple guy came and spent 4 hours (day before yesterday) trying to fix it and failed. Came back the next day--more hours and NO fix. He came today and brought me a Mac Mini, took my G5 away and that's what I'm on now, temporarily. Didn't realize how much I missed coming in here. (Ahhhhhh--no life!) Anyway---there's some bad shit coming down soon. And a trip to Arizona----later. Tombstone, to be sort of --exact. Thanks for the continuing interest in our bad-ass gal. --------Joel.

 

A similar greeting that was given to them at the Hays place, was repeated at the Pearson ranch upon Beckys arrival. She took the greetings in stride, but was worried more about Lonnie, Karla and the old man than catching anyone up to speed on their recent adventures up north. Becky was too tired to try and figure out where her missing compatriots happened to be, until she got some well earned rest. They had to traverse some serious obstacles in the mountains to get back to the valley without drawing attention to themselves. Therefore it would naturally take more time to get to either the Hays or the Pearson places, particularly when trying to bring the horses they had taken through the rough back country of the Sierra Nevada range. The greetings done, Becky begged off any further conversation and proceeded to her childhood bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She promptly fell asleep.

It was late afternoon when Becky finally arose from her childhood bed, feeling at least half way refreshed. As she sat on the front porch drinking some decent coffee her ma had made for her and smoking a roll-up, she told her version of some of the events of the past month.

Well anyway, she told the version she reckoned her ma would be most comfortable with. That is, leaving out most of the killing that she knew had been necessary under the circumstances at the time. No sense stirring her people up needlessly over that which had already taken place. She wished Josh would come riding up. She missed him already.

They had to start figuring out some of the details of the lives they intended to live together and she was excited, in her way. Which,since she was not much of a demonstrative person unless agitated, her excitement was not outwardly apparent. Where to build, what land to have as their own, how much stock to run and would the stock be horses, as the business her pa was in or would it be cattle? She mentioned to her ma and pa that a barn needed to be built for one of the Missourians up north and that the family had barely escaped from being burnt at the stake by some of the damned Kansas ruffians. They agreed to go soon, but finally had to tell Becky that another, more serious situation had arisen. No specifics, but that there was a meeting of a group of local folks, friends all, that would be concerning themselves with a plan of action. "Look. If'n I need to know what y'all' are referring to, all I have to do is ask some of the hands." "No. That's not true. It'll be time to tell ya' when the meeting' happens tomorrow night. They be about fifty of us and we're ALL gonna' take care of it by consensus." "Con--what,? What in hell's that there word mean?" It means we're a'gonna figure out a decent plan and carry ér on out accordin' to what the majority figures what'll take care of--uh--the situation at hand.

Becky then heard a horse fast approaching the yard and sure enough, a spotted horse with Karla aboard came charging up to the house. She looked frightened and tired and slipped off her mount and rapidly approached the two sitting on the porch. When she gained a measure of composure, she spoke to Becky. "Öh, Becky. They got Lonnie and the old man. I outran ém. And lucky I did. We got ta' figure something' out. They got the money, the yeller and --and there musta' been thirty of em."

Mr Pearson heard what was said by Karla out front on the porch while he was inside the house tending to some ranch paperwork. "Oh hell,"he said and proceeded to exit his small office and emerged to try and forestall his daughter from doing exactly what he would expect his daughter to do when action was necessary.

She was already standing up and asking Karla what the hell she was talking about. Karla recapped her journey through the mountains with Lonnie and Mr Canary in a shortened version so she could describe to her rapt audience just what had happened as she, Lonnie and Mr Canary came near town. Evidently, some force had taken over the town and were raising all kinds of hell there, she said. Mr Pearson knew he had some fast explaining to do regarding the retaking of the town and why they needed a meeting to get as many willing participants as possible before a move was made. This would not--could not be handled by a few folks alone. "Is that right,"Becky said. You say there's thirty or more of ém?" "That's what I saw,"Karla said. "Which means there's probably more then,"Becky said. "I wouldn't doubt it,"Karla resounded. "Alright. But that meeting' should be sooner. Like NOW,"Becky said, raising her voice to make a point. Mr Pearson thought about her exclamation a bit. He finally decided to send his men to rouse the locals he knew were in on taking back their town. "What the hell," he thought. "If'n I can hold Becky up 'till we get some reinforcements and a plan---let's do it."

 

I don't think Becky will take too kindly to waitin'!

 

Sorry about your computer problems Scratcho. Thanks for the new installment. I was going through withdrawal.

 

:hurray: :sunny:

 

"...way to go scratcho, I've not read it myself of course, but the view count never lies..." nods Jats in encouragement

 

Recent events have caused Becky and the others to hold up a bit. They will, I'm sure---return to action. And when they do-------------------------------

 

Patiently waiting.

 

Well, back from Cali--for--ni--a and going to check in and see what's happening with Becky and the rest. Something BIG is coming, I think.

 

"Let's mosey over to the barn," Becky said quietly to Karla. They crossed the short distance from the front porch without speaking and entered the barn. Karla began to recount the experience that befell her and her friends as they were approaching town from the northeast. She had hidden in a grove of cottonwoods to relieve herself when thirty or more men rode out to meet her exposed friends and the horses they trailed. She now figured that her friends must have thought that the contingent was some kind of a welcoming party from town. They surrounded her unsuspecting friends and it soon became obvious that it was too late for them to attempt to flee or to protect themselves from a belligerant mob. Something was very wrong. Her friends were knocked off their horses to the ground and tied by the ankles to the pommels of the nearest riders. Thusly tied, they began to be dragged towards town roughly, to the sounds of hollering and general merriment at the captives expence. Fortunately, it was not a great distance to town, for being dragged in this manner for any great distance was a good way to die. If there was a good way.

As her tale unfolded, Karla began to cry softly. Becky placed her hand on the shoulder of her friend and gently urged her to continue. "I love that man, Becky. He loves me too, even with what I been a'doin," referring to Lonnie. Oh god, I hope he ain't been kilt. And the old man--somethin' like being treated rough like that mightá kilt him purty easy." Karla explained how three of them had seen her as she tried to ride away and came right after her. "They was catchin' me too, but one of ém musta' stepped in a dog hole, çuz his horse went down hard and the other two stopped to help him. So I made it here, Becky. Now what can we do,"she pleaded as her crying stopped. Becky thought about this new situation for awhile and finally replied. " There's a meetin' soon and I aim to sit in on it and see just what our people is 'gonna do about this. I got me an idea and it ain't chargin' in town and having a gunfight with a buncha outlaws. Some á our folks is gonna'get kilt thata'way. Go on in the house now and git somethin'ta' eat and rest up. I got sometin'I want ya' 'ta' do. But later.

After the proper introductions, Karla settled herself at the big table in the kitchen as Mrs Pearson began to prepare a meal for her. The cooking of bacon, eggs and potatoes soon filled the room with a most pleasant, familiar smell. Hadn't been easy eating the wild plants and such in the mountains that the old man had learned to gather and prepare during his years of seclusion. They probably would have had to kill one of the horses without his knowledge of what to eat and how to fix it.

Becky saddled one of the fastest horses on the spread, added a large saddlebag and told her pa that she had some riding to do. She said that she would return in time to be present at the meeting, when she was told the gathering would be after dark at the Grange Hall in Stringtown. "Where you goin now, Rebecca Pearson," her ma asked imperiously. "Ain't you been gone long enough?" Becky did not answer, but mounted up quickly and headed east.

 

Waiting breathlessly on the edge of my saddle!