Storiesonline.net ------- A Horny Cowpoke by aubie56 Copyright© 2008 by aubie56 ------- Description: So many people had asked me (or challenged me) to write a Western with sex, that I thought that I would give it a shot. Don't read this story if the thought of blatant sex in the West offends you. Also, remember that this is a piece of fiction! Join 16-year-old Andy "The Whopper" Hopper as he learns about sex while working on a cattle drive to Sedalia, MO, in 1867. Andy has more weapons than just his 6-gun. Ride with him as he over cums every obstacle. Codes: mf mF hist humor 1st teen cons violent het group interr BF WM WF OF oral size preg ------- ------- Author's note: So many people had asked me to write a Western with sex, that I thought that I would give it a shot. Don't read this story if the thought of blatant sex in the West offends you. Also, remember that this is a piece of fiction! ------- Chapter 1 Andy Hopper was 16 and riding with his first cattle drive north to Sedalia, Missouri. It was right after the war and there weren't many men available, so, young as he was, he had been pressed into service by his father to act as the scout for the drive. This was not as ridiculous as it may sound, since Andy had been active in fighting the Comanches while his brothers had been off fighting the damyankees. When his brothers came back from the war, they brought him two highly prized souvenirs: a Spencer rifle and a LeMat combination pistol and shotgun. He had become expert in the use of both and expected to get a lot of use from them on the drive. Andy was unusual in that he had already reached his full growth. He was 6 feet, 2 inches tall in his bare feet, weighed 185 pounds of bone and muscle, and was strikingly handsome with his black hair, square chin, and piercing hazel eyes. He had a further asset, namely, he had the "Hopper whopper" between his legs. Flaccid, his cock was still 8 inches long and nearly 2 inches in diameter; erect, it was 9 inches long and nearly 3 inches in diameter. Andy was still as virgin as a boy could be, so he had no idea what an effect his tool could have on women who saw it, much less, felt it. Oh, he did jack off 2 to 5 times a day, whenever he could get a break from his chores, so he knew the pleasures derived from ejaculation, just not how great it could be inside a woman. His father had promised to take him to his first whore house when the got to Sedalia, so he was looking forward to the end of the drive. They left the ranch early one morning, and Andy road out ahead to get a little experience at scouting for the herd, even though he knew the country like the back of his hand. He was about 5 miles ahead of the cattle herd and moseying along enjoying just being alive. Suddenly, he heard a woman scream and a man shout. Now, they were still on Hopper property, but the main road did run through here, so he was not surprised that strangers might be around, but the woman did sound like she needed help. He rushed to see if he could be of assistance and was startled by what he saw when he arrived on the scene. The woman was lying on her back in the bed of a buckboard, her legs were spread, and a man was kneeling between them. Her skirt was thrown up over her head, and Andy could see her bare crotch with its load of black hair. He could also see the man's pecker about to enter the struggling woman. Andy may not have any personal experience with this sort of activity, but his older brothers had told him about their various adventures with women (some of them true), so he knew what was about to happen. The woman was obviously objecting to the man's attentions, so Andy pulled his pistol and fired a shot into the air. He was still a good distance away from the couple, but the man jerked his head around and saw Andy barreling toward them. He jerked his pants up from around his knees and hurriedly climbed on his horse. He dashed away before Andy could get a good look at him, so he was an unknown quantity as far as Andy was concerned. The woman, on the other hand, was well known to Andy. She was a young widow who worked as a housekeeper at the next ranch over from the Hopper spread. She was a little dazed from the attacker's efforts, so she was slow to push her skirt back down where it belonged. As a result, Andy got a very good look at his first real woman's pussy in the flesh. Previously, all he had ever seen were some views on his brothers' French post cards. The woman finally came to herself and pushed her skirt down, cutting off Andy's view. By this time, his cock had gotten hard as a rock and was painfully trapped down his left pants leg. However, by the way it was straining to break through the cloth to freedom, there was no doubt to any onlooker that it was trying to rise to the occasion. The woman blushed, and so did Andy. Andy reacted first, "Are ya OK, Miz. Susan?" "Yes, I am, Andy. Thank you fer rescuing me. I'm much obliged." "Think nothin' of it, ma'am. What are ya doin' out here by yer lonesome?" "I was headed inta town fer some groceries, when that beast attacked me. But I'm safe, now, thanks ta ya. I guess I'd best be on my way, now that he has run off." "Yes, ma'am. But ya best git yerself a gun ifen ya're gonna wander around by yerself in these unsettled times. I'd best be off, too. Our cattle drive ta Sedalia started this mornin', an' I'm 'sposed ta be the scout. I guess I had better git ta it. Ya be careful, now. Goodbye, I'll see ya again this fall." Susan climbed into the driver's seat and drove away as Andy watched her go. His mind was still fixed on the sight of her bare pussy. He didn't know that a woman could have so much hair down there! In the pictures he had seen, the women had little or no pussy hair. Could they have shaved it off? Land a Goshen, what a thought! He sure would like to see one of 'em do that! Andy returned to his job of scouting, but he couldn't shake the sight of Susan's pussy from his mind. He was going to have to stop and jack off pretty damned soon, or his balls were gonna bust! He came to a large tree, so he dismounted and stood before it looking like he was taking a piss while he jacked off. It didn't take long, it never did, but it was something special with Susan's pussy to inspire him. That evening at supper, Andy told this father and his brothers about what he had seen that afternoon. They all laughed, but Andy looked hurt, so his father said, "Take it easy, son. We ain't laughin' at ya; we're laughin' at Susan an' her boyfriend Clem. That's a game they play most every day—her pretendin' to be raped. I 'spect that they'll keep that up 'til she gits in a family way, then they'll git married. Don't worry 'bout it. Folks play a lot of sex games, that way." "Shit! I had no idee. Ifen I'd a knowed, I'd a let 'em alone." They all laughed this time, and Andy felt better about the whole thing. But he never forgot the look of Susan's bare pussy! The next few days were pretty boring for Andy, since there was little need for scouting this close to their ranch. But he took his job seriously, as his father had known that he would. He ranged farther and farther away from the herd as he became more confident in his job. Sometimes, he was a much as 10 miles in front of the herd, more than they were likely to trek in a day. Andy's father was careful not to work the fat off the cattle and cause his profit to drop... One day, he topped a hill and saw smoke in the distance. Fire on the prairie was a serious business, and fire on a farm was just as bad. It made no difference which it was, Andy was duty bound to check it out. He put his horse into the fastest gallop he could safely maintain over unfamiliar ground as he raced toward the smoke. The fire was closer than he had realized and not as large, either. He arrived at the fire in about 10 minutes and saw a woman struggling to put it out by throwing buckets of water on it. The shed on fire was a half-shelter filled with hay bales. It was obvious that the woman was never going to put out the fire the way she was going about it. She could only carry half a bucket of water each time from the well which was 100 feet away from the fire. All she was accomplishing was making a lot of smoke and ruining a lot of good hay. Andy jumped off his horse and yelled at the woman to stop putting water on the fire. He ran up and started jerking bales of hay from the shed and pitching them around on the ground. Once he had gotten all of the bales of hay pulled out of the shed, he went around to each one to see which ones were still burning. He used his knife to cut the string holding those bales together and spread out the hay so that he could put it out by stomping on it. He also cut open the bales that the woman had gotten wet so that they could dry before spontaneous combustion could make them start burning again. Andy was hot and tired by the time he finished fighting the fire, so he sat on a still-wrapped bale and mopped the sweat from his brow. The woman was just standing there where Andy had first seen her; she was staring at him as if in disbelief. "Who are you, and how did you know what to do?" the woman finally asked. "I'm a cowpoke from south of here and I've seen a few hay fires. My pa taught me what ta do afore I were 8 years old. My name's Andy Hopper, ma'am. Ma'am, is there some place I kin wash off this sweat an' hay clippin's. It's gonna itch mighty fierce ifen I don't do sumpthin' 'bout it pretty soon." "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Amy Easton. Come inta the house an' I'll fix ya some warm water so ya kin wash off." "Thank ya, Miz. Easton. I'd be much obliged fer that." Andy followed the woman into the house and sat in her kitchen while she heated some water on her stove. He was already starting to writhe and wiggle for the itching caused by the hay clippings that had gotten down his shirt, and the woman stared at him intently. "Mr. Hopper, take off your shirt an' I will rinse it out fer ya. It kin dry while ya're washin'. Don't worry, I won't be embarrassed by your naked back." "Why, thank ya, Miz. Easton. That would feel a whole lot better." Andy took off his shirt and handed it to the woman. She stepped out the door and gave the shirt a vigorous shake. She came back in and put the shirt in the sink. "I'll just give yer shirt a quick wash, while I'm about it. By the way, call me Amy. Miz. Easton seems so formal from a man what's just saved my hay." She grinned at this last statement. Andy smiled at her and said, "Yes, Ma'am, Amy. I'm right pleased ta do that. Where do ya want me ta go ta wash?" "You kin bring that tub inta the bedroom an' take a full bath ifen ya want ta. There'll be enough hot water." "Thank ya, Amy. That'll feel right good. It's been over a week since I had a regular bath." "OK, ya brin' the tub this way. Jus' follow me." Amy led the way to her bedroom and pointed to where she wanted him to put the tub. She couldn't help staring at the muscles as they played over his chest and back as he carried the tub and put it on the floor. He was absolutely the most beautiful hunk of man that she had ever seen. She was practically panting as she stared at him as he carried the hot water in to dump into the tub. It took three trips to get enough warm water into the tub. She told him to wait while she got him some soap and a towel. Amy left to wash the shirt and Andy removed the rest of his clothes and put them on a convenient chair. The water was pretty hot, so he had to be careful stepping into it. He was too big to sit in the tub, so he had to struggle to wash his back while he was standing up. The third time he dropped the soap, he started to cuss. A moment later, there was a knock at the door. "What's wrong, Andy?" "I'm havin' some trouble gittin' my back washed." There were a few seconds of silence from the other side of the door, then Amy said, "I can fix that. Wrap the towel around yer waist an' I'll come in ta wash yer back fer ya. Don't worry, I've done it many times fer my husband, an' I won't see nothin' with the towel in place." Andy was pissed enough by this time that he didn't think the situation through, so he agreed. He wrapped the towel around his waist and told Amy to come ahead. She came in and walked behind him. Amy took a piece of cloth and wet it; she rubbed it on the soap and began to wash his back. The sensation of a woman washing his back was all Andy's libido needed to excite his cock. It began to grow, and there was nothing that he could do about it. In only seconds, it was a full erection, standing out at a 45 degree angle above the horizontal, 9 inches long and 3 inches in diameter. Andy was in agony, both from embarrassment and from sexual excitement. There was no way he could keep his cock covered under these circumstances, and Amy picked that moment to lean around in from of him. She could not miss seeing his cock in all its glory, and she nearly fainted from excitement. She stumbled forward a little bit and grabbed the first convenient thing she could to keep from falling. Naturally, it was Andy's cock that she grabbed. She held on for only a moment, but that was long enough. She immediately knew what she had grabbed and knew that she had to learn more about it. She drew back, releasing Andy's cock, but keeping hold of the towel. She pulled it off and was mesmerized by the sight of the largest cock that she had ever seen. Her husband was no piker, be he had nothing like this. She had to sample it! Without further thought, she pulled off her clothes before Andy could react with anything but embarrassment. His cock began to deflate a little, but returned to fill size when he saw her removing her own clothes. She had nothing on under her dress, as was common at the time during the summer, so it took her only a moment to be just as naked as Andy was. Amy couldn't wait, she dragged Andy by his most convenient handle over to her bed, which was only 4 feet away. Amy never turned loose of his cock as she fell on her back onto the bed. Of necessity, Andy followed Amy to the bed and on it between her legs. He knew only from hearsay what to do, but he was a resourceful lad and reacted properly to the situation. Amy guided his cock head to her vagina and spread her lips as she used his shaft to guide him in. Andy cooperated and pushed in when he felt that he was in the right place. He watched her face and could tell when he was properly aligned. Fortunately, Andy was somewhat detached from reality at this point, so he moved slowly, instead of following the normal teenager's instinct to jam his cock in as far as it would go before the pussy could run somewhere else. Amy said, "Oh, that's right. Go slow, so that I can expand ta take ya in. I'm plenty wet enough, so ya shouldn't have any trouble getting that monster inside me. Just push steady-like and we'll git it ta the right place." Andy must have hit her G-spot, because Amy screamed as if she were in mortal pain. Startled, Andy jumped back, but not far enough to come unplugged. Amy groaned in ecstasy and wrapped her legs around his hips so that there was no way that he could pull loose, short of getting violent. Amy pulled with her legs, and Andy's cock slid further into her tunnel. She began to pant and to buck against his cock, driving him farther and farther inside her cunt. He got in about 7 inches and hit a barrier. Amy screamed, "No farther! That's it! Ya done hit bottom! Now fuck me like I never been fucked afore." Andy moved back and forth, in and out, very slowly at first, but faster and faster as his mind learned what his body already knew. It was at about the 4th stroke that Amy began to come, and she kept right on coming, sometime high and sometimes low, but she had orgasm after orgasm, one piled on top of another until she thought that she would die, but they kept coming. It was amazing that Andy was able to last so long, considering that this was his very first fuck, but he finally could hold back no longer and sent out jet after jet of semen until some of it was forced past Amy's cervix, where it met an egg on its way down. Andy was to become a father, though he never knew of his first son. Andy now knew what all of the talk was about. All of his brothers and friends had maintained that a woman was nothing like your hand, but he could never grasp what they were talking about until now. He now knew that he would never be satisfied with his hand again, though it did beat not doing it at all. He collapsed on top of Amy, but she didn't care. Neither one of them was aware of anything for minutes, but the resiliency of youth brought Andy back to life. Andy crawled off the bed and struggled to get to his feet to dress. He knew that the had to leave before her husband got home, but he was having a hell of a time moving. He finally got dressed, all but his shirt and his hat. He stumbled out of the bedroom and to the kitchen where he found his shirt laid out to dry. It was dry enough to put on, so he donned his shirt and his hat and went out to his horse. He mounted and started riding back toward the herd. Now, that was the way to put out a fire! ------- Chapter 2 Andy didn't get back to camp until late. He had missed the regular supper, so he had to heat up some beans and biscuits on his own, at least the coffee was still warm. His father asked, "How come ya ta be so late gittin' in, son? We ain't gone far enough ta start runnin' inta trouble, yet." "It weren't no big deal, Pa. I came across a farm what had a fire started in their hay shed, an' I stopped ta he'p. Then the wife washed up my shirt fer me, soz the hay fines wouldn't itch so much. I washed off a bit, too, in the process." "Good fer ya, Andy. It always he'ps ta make friends with the people ya meet on the way." "Yep, we got right friendly by the time I left." The next few days were dull and uneventful, which gave Andy plenty of time to relive his adventure with Amy Easton. The only problem was that now his hand wasn't nearly as satisfying as it had been. Andy was actively looking for places where he could help other women in distress, just in case they might be as grateful and accommodating as Amy had been. He had come up to a road, and he spied in the distance a cloud of dust rapidly approaching him. Now, nobody runs his horse that fast in the hot weather unless it was an emergency, so Andy decided to wait beside the road to see what was causing all the excitement. When the dust cloud got a bit closer, Andy saw that it was caused by a buckboard being pulled by a single runaway horse. There was a woman in the driver's seat, and she was slumped over to the side as if she had fainted. Andy could see the reins flapping in the breeze as the horse ran toward him. It sure looked to Andy like the horse needed stopping, so he put his horse athwart the road and pretty well blocked it. No horse in his right mind is going to crash into a barrier as big as another horse, so it came to a sliding stop just short of Andy. The sudden stop caused the woman to roll out of her seat onto the floor of the buckboard. Andy rushed to help. She had a bleeding cut on the side of her head, but there was no room to work on it where the woman was lying. Andy picked up the woman and carried her to the back of the buckboard where he laid her out on the bed. Those wooden floorboards had to be damned uncomfortable, but they beat lying on the rocky ground. Andy took his bandanna and wet it from his canteen. This he used to gently clean up the blood around the cut and to mop her brow. After a few minutes, the woman regained consciousness, and Andy looked her square in the face for the first time. God, she was ugly! She looked to be 200 years old, if she was a day! Her mouth was a little bit open, and Andy could see that she had only one tooth. Her breath stank to high heaven. Man, he wanted to leave her, but she looked like she still needed help. "Oh, thank you, young man, fer saving me! A jack rabbit startled my hoss an' she ran away afore I could stop her. I think I must of fainted somewhere along the way." "Yes, Ma'am. And ya fell out of the driver's seat as I stopped yer hoss. Ya got a small cut on the side of yer head when ya fell. I think it's stopped bleedin', but ya'll pro'bly have a head ache fer a while. Where were ya headed?" "I was headed home from town." She looked around and said, "My house is only about a mile over thataway." She pointed off to the right. "Could I impose on ya ta he'p me git the rest of the way home?" "Shore thing, Ma'am. Oh, I'm Andy Hopper. Jus' call me Andy." "And my name is Miz. Smith. I'd like ta sit on the dirver's bench, but I don't think I could drive. Could ya tie yer hoss to the back of the buckboard an' drive us ta my ranch house?" "Yessum, Miz. Smith, I could do that. Here, let me carry ya back ta the seat." Andy picked up the old woman and placed her on the passenger's side of the bench seat. He tied his horse to the rear of the buckboard and gathered up the reins. He climbed aboard and drove them to Mrs. Smith's home. As they reached the veranda, a much younger woman came out the front door and asked, "Grandma, what happened, and who is this man?" "My goodness, Sarah, ifen ya'd give a body a minute ta cotch her breath, ya'd git a proper introduction. Andy Hopper, meet my granddaughter Sarah Hudson." Andy tipped his hat as graciously as he could and said, "Howdy, Miss Sarah. I'm right pleased ta meet ya." "Oh, isn't he the polite one! Grandma, ya found a keeper!" Sarah laughed as she helped her grandmother down from the buckboard. "Come into the house, Mr. Hopper, and have some coffee with me." Andy nodded his acceptance and, as they walked into the house, Mrs. Smith said, "Mr. Hopper saved my life, and I would like for you to thank him properly." Sarah's face beamed a great smile, and she looked Andy over more carefully. "Oh, I would LOVE ta thank Mr. Hopper properly. I'll git on it as soon as he has his coffee." Andy was ushered into the house and seated in the parlor. Sarah said, "Mr. Hopper, ya and Grandma sit down, an' I'll bring the coffee right in. I just made some, fresh." Andy was grateful for the offer of fresh coffee. Being outside so much, he rarely got a fresh cup of coffee, and he was looking forward to it. He took off his hat and gloves and sat rather gingerly on the edge of the sofa. He had just started a conversation with Mrs. Smith when Sarah returned with a serving tray with coffee and some cookies. Andy savored the excellent coffee and sampled the cookies. He remembered his mother's admonition not to eat too many cookies—eat just enough to be polite. He put down his empty coffee cup and Sarah bounced to her feet. She leaned over and took Andy's hand. "Come with me, Mr. Hopper. It's time for me to thank you properly." Andy had no idea what she was talking about, but he followed her down a hall to her bedroom. HER BEDROOM!?! They got inside the room, and Sarah closed the door. Andy was aghast! What would Mrs. Smith think of Andy being in her granddaughter's bedroom with the door closed? He was about to protest when Sarah embraced him and kissed him full on the mouth. This was the first time that Andy had ever been kissed like that! He was frozen to the spot. Sarah smiled and stepped back a couple of steps. She unfastened 3 buttons and shrugged her shoulders; her dress fell to the floor, and she was completely naked, except for her shoes, which she immediately kicked off. This was the first live naked woman that Andy had ever really looked at. Other than those French post cards, which, admittedly, he had memorized, he was not familiar with what a woman's body really looked like. Sure, he had seen Susan's bare pussy for a few seconds and he had been thinking about other things when he had seen Amy, so he was presented with a sight he wanted to study at leisure. However, Sarah had other ideas. She came back close to Andy and asked, "Don't ya like what ya see?" "I shore do, Miss Sarah. Ya're shore a fine sight ta see." "Then, why are ya still standing there with yer clothes on? Mose men would be naked by now." "Well, Miss Sarah, this here is kinda new ta me. I ain't shore what I'm 'sposed ta do." "Oh, I had no idea. A man as tall as ya, usually has plenty of experience. Jus' how old are ya?" "I'm 16, Ma'am. An' I don't have much experience with women." "Oh, wonderful, I'll get ta be yer teacher. All right, the first thing we need ta do is get rid of these clothes." With Sarah's help, Andy had shucked all of his clothes in record time, at least, it was a record for him. The last item of clothing Andy removed was his pants, and Sarah was stunned when she saw the size of Andy's cock. "Oh ... my ... God!" It was already fully erect when she pulled his pants down, so it popped up to its full 9 inches by 3 inches of glory. Sarah looked at it in awe for a few seconds and then grabbed it with both hands as if she feared that it would escape. Andy groaned, so Sarah said, "I want this to last a while, soz I better relieve some of the pressure." She pushed Andy down on the bed and centered him on it. She climbed over him and positioned herself between his legs. Andy had no idea what she had in mind when she bent over and placed her mouth around the end of his cock; he was afraid that she was going to bite him. However, he had no time to react adversely before she had started to lick the end of his cock and apply suction. He relaxed in bliss as he began to experience his first blow job. Andy was so big that Sarah could not get more than 3 inches of his length into her mouth at the maximum, but her ministrations with her mouth on as much as she could handle was enough to satisfy him. She also used both hands to jack him off, so he fired his first load fairly quickly. There was so much semen that Sarah had trouble swallowing it all, it came at her so fast. Nevertheless, she did not waste a drop, but managed to swallow it all. When she had drained him completely, she said, "That's some of the best spunk I ever tasted. Ya really are a prize catch!" Andy began to get limp, so Sarah stood up and said, "I'll be right back. Ya just relax an' we'll have that wonderful monster back in workin' order in no time." Sarah didn't bother to dress, but opened the door and went back down the hall toward the parlor. "Oh, Momma, I'm glad ya finally woke up. Y'all come with me; y'all have got ta see this! It's the biggest pecker I ever heard of on a man. Some hosses ain't this big!" She led her mother and grandmother to her bedroom and pointed to Andy lying on the bed. His cock was standing at a sort of half-mast, just needing a minimum of stimulation to come back to life. Sarah left them standing at the door while she climbed onto the bed with Andy and grasped his cock in both her hands. It immediately got the message and stood to attention. Two simultaneous gasps from the doorway were the first indications to Andy that his audience had grown. He would have jumped up and tried to put on his clothes, but Sarah had such a firm grip on his erect cock that he couldn't move. The elder Mrs. Hudson said, with considerable awe in her voice, "Relax, Mr. Hopper, we'll talk ta ya later." Both of those women left the room and closed the door, leaving Andy and Sarah to continue their explorations. Sarah asked, "Ya really don't know nothin' 'bout pleasin' a woman?" "I guess not. I ain't never had no chance ta practice, afore. Please, Ma'am, show me what ta do." "It'll be a pleasure for me, I assure ya. First of all, I need ta point out that most men think only of themselves when it comes ta sex. They don't give no thought ta their women. A woman kin git just as much pleasure from sex as a man, maybe more so, ifen her man will give her the chance. I'm gonna try ta teach ya how ta make a woman happy with sex, an' that ought ta pay off fer ya fer the rest of yer life. Ifen ya make yer woman happy, I guarantee that she will work herself to death ta make ya happy. So let's git started. I just took a bath a little while afore ya got here, soz ya don't have ta worry 'bout me smellin' or tastin' bad. "I know I need ta teach ya ta kiss. Oh, I know ya know how ta kiss, but do ya know how ta kiss a lover? I doubt it. Now, jus' follow my lead an' do what I do." She then gave Andy a thorough lesson in kissing, concentrating on proper use of the tongue. He was flabbergasted! Andy had no idea what the tongue could do to enhance a kiss. "OK, that's enough fer now. Let's move on afore we run out of time. "Now, I'm gonna teach ya how ta make love ta my tits an' nipples. A woman's nipples are yer gateway ta her pussy. Ifen ya treat a woman's tits an' nipples right, I guarantee ya're home free with her pussy. The main thing ta remember is that a woman's tits are tender and sensitive. Ya kin cause a lot of pain ifen ya're too rough, so be careful! The thing a woman likes is a gentle massage of her tits, not a grab and twist. Let me show you what ta do with tits, we'll git ta nipples in a minute. Now, put yer hand up ta my tit and start massaging it. No, you kin do a little harder than that. Do it like ya mean it. Yeah, that's right. Man, ya're a fast learner. That really feels good. "OK, now let's work on my nipple. Nipples are very easy ta hurt ifen ya're too rough. Some women like a little pain mixed in with their pleasure, but don't git carried away. Start off by kissing my nipples. Ya kin even rub them with yer tongue. That's right; ahhh, that feels good. Now suck like a baby would. Ouch, not that hard! That's better, keep it up. Ohhh, ahhh, that feels so good. You got it right! "Now, we'll move down to my pussy. You know that most women have hair down there and it'll hurt ifen ya pull it, so don't do that. Some women shave most or all of their pussy hair off. I tried that, and I liked it, but it got ta be a pain havin' ta shave so much. The stubble hurt when it rubbed against my skin, so I quit shavin'. My pussy hair is kinda thin anyhow, soz ya won't have any trouble seein' what I want ya ta see. "From yer point of view, the pussy has two parts. This here nubbin at the top of my slit is the clitoris, or clit fer short. Now, that's a key place fer a woman ta feel things during sex. Most women like ta have their clit touched or played with, but, fer some women, it's too sensitive, so don't touch it directly. "Normally, don't put your mouth on a whore's pussy—it just ain't safe. But I'm clean, soz ya're safe with me. Most women like ta have ya kiss their clit an' suck on it gently. It's more sensitive than a nipple, so be careful. Give it a try. Ohhh, that's good! OH ... OH ... OH ... I'M GONNA COME! ... OOOHHH! God damn, that was good! Let me rest a minute. "The other part of a pussy ya need ta know about is called the vagina or the cunt. That's where yer pecker goes when ya're finally ready ta fuck. But putting yer fingers in a cunt sure can make a woman feel good, too. The main thing ta remember about a cunt is that it has ta be wet or the woman is gonna feel terrible pain when ya put yer finger or yer pecker inside. All this other stuff we been doin' makes a woman's liquid flow inside her cunt. Never put anything inside a cunt when it's dry ifen ya ever want ta be invited back fer a second visit. "Gently put yer finger inside my cunt. Can ya feel how wet it is? I thought so. OK, we're now ready fer the main event, go ahead, slide yer pecker in, kinda slow. Ya're so big, that even the most experienced cunt will need time ta adjust ta yer size. Git on yer knees between my legs; I'll spread 'em soz ya kin reach the right place. "Put the head of yer pecker against my slit and move it up and down a bit ta git some liquid smeared on it. Once it's good and wet, put it at the opening of my cunt and push in just a little. Go slow, there ain't no need ta hurry. OK, when ya're lined up, push the head in a little ways, but not too fast. Remember that I need time ta adjust ta yer size. Ifen ya feel a dry spot, back off a little an' push in again. Keep doin' that 'til yer in all the way. "Ya're so long, ya'll prob'bly bottom out on the end of my cunt afore ya're all the way inside. Don't push any farther 'less the woman tells ya ta, cuz it'll hurt like hell if ya force yerself any deeper. In fact, it could hurt the both of ya. "OK, that's it. Ya're in all the way. Now, jus' pull out a ways, but not all the way, an' push back in. Keep that up 'til ya both come. OK, let's give it a try. Start pumping. Ya'll know when ta stop. ------- Chapter 3 Sarah moaned, "Oh, God, Andy, fuckin' ain't felt this good since I started in the business 15 years ago! Ya're pecker just hits all my good spots. Try movin' up just a bit ta put more pressure on my clit. OH ... OH ... OH ... I'M COMIN', I'M COMIN'! ... HERE I COME, AGAIN! ... SHIT! ... THIS AIN'T POSSIBLE! ... OH ... OH ... OH ... I'M COMIN', AGAIN! ... DAMMIT, ANDY, WHERE YA BEEN ALL MY LIFE?" This was when Andy finally exploded in the biggest come he ever had, even in his biggest jack off sessions. He shot stream after stream of semen into Sarah. Andy's cock was such a tight cork in her vagina that there was no escape to the outside world. For the first time in her life, Sarah had cum forced past her cervix; she felt like a balloon being inflated well beyond its capacity. Andy finally stopped shooting just as she was starting to hurt from the pressure. There was an egg in there which was about to give up the ghost when it was suddenly invigorated by contact with Andy's sperm. Andy would never know it, but he had just given Sarah a daughter to carry on the proud family business. Sarah begged Andy to pull out to relieve the pressure; she just couldn't take it any longer. Andy backed off, and the pressure was relieved on Sarah's womb as his semen slowly leaked out, not fast enough to disturb the egg which had recently implanted itself. Andy backed off and stood on the floor at the end of the bed. He looked toward the door when he heard a chuckle come from that direction. Sarah's mother was standing there, and she began to applaud. "That's the finest performance I ever seen! Do ya think that ya could get up fer another one?" "I don't know, Ma'am. I ain't never done this much, afore." "Well, let's see what we kin do ifen we encourages it." The woman at the door slipped off her dress and shoes and minced her way toward Andy. She came up to where he was standing and slid to the floor on her knees. She took his flaccid cock into her mouth and began to work on it only in the way a professional whore can with years of experience. She managed to get over 4 inches of limp cock into her mouth and throat before she was stopped by its sheer mass. Her practiced ministrations on it quickly got its attention, and it began to become more rigid and expand in diameter. When this happened, she was forced to back off a little, but she still had more in her mouth than Sarah had been able to manage. She worked on his pecker for only a minute or so before she eased off. "That seems ta be what I had in mind, but I don't want ta go too far. Now, let's try my specialty, I call it "cowgirl" style. "It looks like Sarah ain't gonna be able ta move fer a while, soz ya jus' lie down on that there throw rug. Put yer legs together an' let me straddle ya, like I wuz ridin' a hoss." She put a foot on the floor on either side of Andy's hips and lowered herself until she came into contact with his cock. "Now, this is sumpthin' special fer me, too, soz I'm gonna need yer he'p. I'll hold this position while ya rubs yer cock head against my slit 'til ya kin feel the liquid. When ya do, jus' push up a little into my cunt hole and hold there. I'll lower my self on yer pecker, an' ya ease yerself back down ta the floor. Then, ya jus' relax an' let me do the work." Andy did as he was bid, and she slid slowly down to engulf his cock within her pussy hole. The way she was squatting, she succeeded in pulling her vagina open a bit which made it easier for her to slide down. In fact, it was so easy that she almost forgot to stop when Andy's pecker started pushing against her cervix. However, she quickly caught herself when she felt a twinge of pain. Andy grunted, proving that he felt it, too. She started bouncing up and down on his monster pecker, and it didn't take long for her to achieve her purpose. She was doing this strictly for her own benefit, and she only cared about Andy to the point of keeping his interest and his cock up. She simply wanted to feel the sensations from such a monster prick, so she was moving at her own best speed in an effort to reach an orgasm. Then it came! She let out a scream that could have been heard in Mexico if anybody had been listening. And she continued to scream as she continued to come. Andy would have pulled out in horror, but he had no where to go, so he just rode it out. Finally, she completely lost control and settled down so far on Andy that their pubic bones struck each other. This forced his pecker nearly 2 inches past her cervix, and this really made her scream! In a completely involuntary reaction, she jerked to her feet before Andy had a chance to come. She then proceeded to collapse on the floor in a dead faint. Again, Andy heard applause from the direction of the door. Mrs. Smith was there and had a woebegone look on her face. "Oh, God, I wish I could feel that." She actually started to cry, breaking Andy's heart. "Mrs. Smith, please don't cry. What can I do fer ya?" "Ya kin fuck me, too!" Before he could say anything, she continued, "Ya won't have ta look at my face. I want it "doggy" style, so all ya'll see is my ass. Please say yes, ya dear man." Andy could see the anguish in her eyes, so he said, "OK, Ma'am. I'll do whatever ya want." Her face lit up, and she got rid of her dress so fast that it was almost magic. She dropped to the rug next to Andy and presented her butt to him from her hands and knees. "Jus' rub yer pecker head on my slit an' push it in." Andy cooperated and assumed the position. She pushed back as soon as she felt his cock against her pussy. Her vagina was plenty wet and her hole was fully stretched from years of experience, so he slipped into her with a minimum of effort. She was flexible and stretchy enough that he was able to push his full length into her cunt. She squealed in delight and started to bounce back and forth on his rod. "I ain't felt nothin' so good in over 30 years. I'm gonna come fer the first time in, must be, 15 years. OH! ... THAT'S SO GOOD! ... SO GOOD! ... OH, YA WONDERFUL BOY! ... THANK YA! ... THANK YA! ... THANK YA!..." Just as she started to collapse, Andy came again. Not as big a shot this time, but enough that Mrs. Smith felt it. She continued to scream her thanks for the wonderful fuck as she passed out from sheer ecstasy. Andy looked around the room at the three unconscious women and couldn't help smiling with pride. HE had outlasted three professional whores—how many men could say that! He didn't know what he was supposed to do next, but he glanced out the window and saw that it was getting late in the afternoon. Dammit, he was supposed to be working, scouting for the trail drive. He had better get his clothes on and get back to the herd. His father would give him a sound cussing if he was late again. Andy dressed as quickly as he could and rushed out to his horse. He mounted and set off at a brisk pace back toward the cattle. The cattle were still moving along, they had not settled down for the evening, so Andy's relatively late arrival was not noticed. However, at supper that night, one of his brothers did comment on how tired Andy looked and started teasing him about it. Andy got peeved and blasted back with an account of how he had spent his afternoon. His father and brothers stared at Andy in awe, and his father said, "I guess I don't need ta schedule that visit fer ya at the whore house in Sedalia, after all that." Andy grinned his widest grin and nodded his head in agreement. Andy was riding in his usual position well ahead of the herd one afternoon when he spotted a group of 11 men off to his left. They appeared to be riding directly toward the herd, and Andy was very suspicious of their motives. It was very odd to see that many men riding together, considering the scarcity of men in Texas since the war. That number just hadn't had time to catch up, yet, what with "Reconstruction" barely a dead issue. To be on the safe side, he decided to warn his father of the potential danger, so he rode as fast as he safely could back to the herd. His father, too, was concerned when he heard the news. He sent Andy to warn his brothers while his father tried to decide what to do. With only 3 men to work the cattle and Andy to scout, he did not have enough men for a pitched battle. His only choice appeared to be to set a trap for the rustlers. There was a sheltered valley a couple of miles ahead where the herd would be fairly safe without close supervision, so he ordered his sons to aim the cattle in that direction. They reached the valley and settled in before trouble showed up. Josh Hopper, Andy's father, had been a sergeant in the Mexican War, so he had a good idea of where to place his resources. "Andy, ya're the best shot with a rifle of any of us, soz I want ya hunkered down on that there hill ta give us cover. Will, ya and John should stay with me. We'll hit them rustlers on the flank where they ain't 'spectin' us. Git out yer spare .44 Dragoons an' load 'em up, all 6 chambers. Hang the pistols on yer saddle horn where ya kin git ta 'em easy-like. Don't be afeared ta shoot their hosses, 'specially iffen they're ridin' fast. That'll put 'em out of action, an' that's what we need most of all. Try not ta shoot the cattle, but a few dead cattle will be worth it ifen we kin knock off the rustlers. Both ya boys been in combat, soz ya know what ta do. I'm countin' on y'all ta come out of this alive an' kicking. OK, Andy, take off. We'll eat supper after this little dust up is over." Andy rode to the indicated hill and the 3 other men rode to a copse to hide from the rustlers. Josh expected the rustlers to show up pretty soon so that they could have as much night as possible to escape with the herd. Andy was proud that his father had never questioned his assessment of the group of men that he had seen; that proved how much confidence that Josh Hopper had in his son. The wait for Andy, alone on the hill, would have been ungodly boring, were it not for the fact that he was pumped to the limit with adrenaline. But even that was beginning to wear thin as he approached his third hour of waiting. There they were! Finally, the rustlers showed up right where Josh had said they would. Andy had never doubted it, but it was nice to see how well his father had predicted the actions of the rustlers. The rustlers rode in, shouting and shooting off their pistols, trying to make as much noise as possible. They hoped to spook the cattle into running, maybe even stampeding, and to frighten the guards on duty, watching the herd. They were not even close to the cattle when they started their attack, possibly they were new to the game. In any case, the tired cattle were still ignoring the rustlers when the Hoppers rode to the attack. Andy took this as a signal for him to contribute his efforts, too. Making very sure not to hit any of his people by accident, Andy began shooting at the rustlers. The range was a bit long, but Andy's Spencer was up to the challenge—his bullets were coming close even at 150 yards. Andy did manage to hit one of the rustlers and knock him off his horse, as well as down two of the horses ridden by other rustlers. Andy had now emptied his Spencer by the time his relatives got too close to the rustlers for him to take a chance on shooting. Andy reloaded his rifle of the 7 cartridges he had expended and settled back to await developments. Josh led his little troop full bore into the pack of rustlers, who were so intent on stealing the cattle that they had not even realized that three of their own were now out of the action. They were also caught unprepared by the attack on their flank, and they quickly broke into a confused mass of "every man for himself" shooters who didn't know quite where to shoot. Josh led his sons in a headlong charge which broke clear through the gang of rustlers. Their attack had been so devastating that 5 more of the rustlers were dead and 3 were wounded. That left only one man who had not been hit be any bullets, and he took advantage of that by streaking for the hills. Unfortunately for him, the hill he headed for was the one holding Andy. Andy let the rustler get close enough that he was sure that he could not miss before firing. The bullet caught the rustler in the breast bone and plowed on until it had passed through the man's heart. The rustler was thrown over the horse's rear by the impact of the bullet. He would have been killed by the fall, but that didn't happen because he was already dead from the effects of the bullet that had caused the fall, in the first place. The man's horse ran for a few more steps and then stopped, waiting to be told what to do next. The Hoppers were very lucky, because the cattle never did stampede. They did mill around a bit, but the herd leader had never reacted to the rustlers nor to the fight, so the rest of the herd just pretty much ignored the whole thing. If the herd leader had reacted by running, then the Hoppers could have had a stampede on their hands in short order, because the rest of the cattle would have follower her wherever she ran. Once the fighting was over, Josh called Andy in, and the 4 of them had supper. Some time was spent in discussing the fight, and Josh made a point of praising Andy for his part in it—the way he had followed orders and the quality of his shooting. Josh did point out that they had been very lucky; Andy's timely warning had saved them by giving them time to prepare for the attack. His brothers teased Andy about finally doing his job and not chasing pussy all over the county. Andy blushed and then laughed along with everybody else. They waited until the next morning before looking at the dead men. All of the wounded men had died during the night of neglect, a common thing for the time. The Hoppers stripped the rustlers of anything valuable, money, weapons, etc., and left the bodies where they had fallen. Scavengers would clean up the valley within a few days. They were about 3 hours late in leaving the valley and continuing their drive. They were happy to have survived their first encounter with rustlers, but knew that they could expect to meet more before the drive was over. Before he started out that morning to resume his scouting duties, Andy was told by his father, that, as far as he was concerned, he knew that Andy would do a good, conscientious job, so he didn't care if Andy was occasionally distracted by a little stray pussy. However, the one thing he would not stand still for was for Andy to force a woman. Rape simply would not be-+ tolerated! Andy assured his father that rape was the furtherest thing from his mind; all of his contacts so far had been consensual, and he never intended to engage in anything else. Josh clapped Andy on the shoulder and said that he expected that; the little talk was just a formality that he followed with all of his sons. Andy had ridden a few miles ahead of the herd without seeing any problems, so he was pretty relaxed as he came to a stream he had been looking for. This was a major watering stop for herds traveling to Sedalia, and it was good to see that they were the first ones there. Cattle always tear up the bank of any stream they cross, so a pristine bank was a sure sign that you were first in line. Andy stopped to let his horse drink and to refill his canteen when he heard a woman scream for help. Mindful of what he had interrupted with Susan and Clem, this time Andy did not go barging in to rescue a damsel who really didn't want to be rescued. He returned his filled canteen to its normal place on his horse, mounted, and started riding toward the location from whence the scream had come. He had hardly headed in that direction when he heard a second scream, this time from a different woman! That didn't seem to him to be the kind of thing that he should ignore, so he picked up speed to investigate. ------- Chapter 4 Andy had been only 40-50 yards from the source of the screams, so it only took him moments to arrive on the scene. Two naked women, who appeared to be 15-17 years old, were standing waist deep in a pool formed by the stream. They were facing a monster cougar that looked like it was about to leap at one of them. Without a thought for his own safety, Andy pulled his Spencer from it scabbard and lay down a rain of bullets on the fierce-looking animal. It was impossible to tell which bullet might have killed the beast, but it was dead by the time Andy had fired his 6th shot. The two women screamed, again, but this time in relief and delight as he laid the animal low. They had truly been frightened, since they were much too far away from their own guns to have saved themselves, and their pistols were only .31 caliber "pop-guns," so it is doubtful that they could have done more than annoy the animal. Mindful of the "tender sensibilities of the fairer sex," Andy rode over, lassoed the cougar, and dragged it behind some bushes. Still only concerned about their welfare, Andy rode back to the two women and dismounted. As soon as he dismounted, the two women climbed out of the pool and ran to him, completely forgetting that they were naked. They practically fought each other as they tried to hug him for saving them. He put his arms around them both, and that was when it dawned on Andy that both women were as naked as the day they were born. Now, his cock tried to rise to the occasion, but it was trapped within his pants, so all it could do was make a monster bulge under his left pants leg. The girl to his left felt it and started pressing her pussy against its rigidity. She spread her legs and started to rub him with her pussy, but she couldn't keep it up for long because the rough fabric of his pants was trying to take layers of skin off her pussy. The other woman looked down and gasped, first at what the first one was doing, and then at the size of the prick exposed by the wet fabric of Andy's pants. The second woman groaned, "I've got to see that!" and started to work on removing Andy's pants. The first woman realized the aim of the other and started to help. In short order, Andy's gunbelt was removed, and his pants were draped around his ankles. As soon as the binding restriction from his pants was removed, Andy's cock jumped to its normal position when erect, namely, at a 45 degree angle above the horizontal, 9 inches long, and 3 inches in diameter. The second woman said, "My hoss' prick ain't that big! I wonder ifen he knows how ta use it." The first woman said, "Shit, I shore hope so! I'm dyin' ta sample that!" The two women removed the rest of his clothes and pulled him to the ground on a carpet of soft grass lining the stream. You may ask how it was possible for two women to strip a man of Andy's size and strength so easily, and the answer is that he was cooperating as best he could; what 16-year-old male would not cooperate with what looked to be his own rape by two beautiful young women? They quickly had him stretched out on the ground on his back. The second woman, the older one, plopped herself down beside Andy's hips and proceeded to take his cock into her mouth as far as she could. This was nearly 5 inches, Andy could feel his cock head pushing down her throat. This throat obviously did not belong to a beginner at blow jobs. She pulled back off his cock and announced, "Pa ain't near this big. I don't know if I kin get him in all the way, but I shore as hell am gonna try!" Andy hoped that she would be successful as she drew him back into her mouth and throat. The woman stood up and bent over because there was no way she could reach all of him from her kneeling position. This put her neck in a position so that her throat was in better alignment with her mouth. This time, when she pushed down, Andy's rigid pecker slid down her throat and her lips banged against his pubic hair. This was more than he could stand, and Andy erupted like an artesian well, spewing semen down (or is it up) her throat and into her stomach. Of course, the woman couldn't breath with Andy's cock in her throat, so she finally had to pull off. Andy was still squirting when she did, and the younger woman jumped to take her place. She did not make any attempt at deep throat; she just wanted to taste his ejaculate. She pulled back and murmured, "That's the best tasting spunk I ever had! Where's this boy been hiding?" The older woman agreed and said, "He's a whole lot better tasting than any of the hands at the ranch. I swan that Pa don't even come close!" "Better not let Ma hear ya say that. Ya know how she don't want nobody talking Pa down. But, I'll bet she would have ta agree ifen she ever tasted this stuff an' didn't lie 'bout it." The older woman said, let's see ifen he kin fuck ta go with his taste. I'm older, soz I git first crack at him." The younger one pouted a bit, but didn't argue the subject. The older one mounted Andy's pecker cowgirl fashion and slid right down until he bottomed out on her cervix. He had about an inch more to go before their pubic bones touched, so the woman said, "Hey, cowboy, tickle my clit while I fuck ya. Ya're the first man I couldn't take all the way. Maybe we kin fix that, later." She started bouncing up and down on Andy's prick like she really knew what she wanted, so it wasn't long before she started to feel the effects. "Uh! ... Uh! ... Uh!..." she grunted as she started to experience her orgasm. "OH MY GOD! ... I'M COMIN'! ... Uh! ... Uh! ... I'M COMIN' AGAIN! ... Uh! ... Uh! ... HERE I COME, AGAIN! IT'S A MIRACLE! ... HALLELUIAH! ... DEAR JESUS, I'M COMIN' AGAIN! ... OHHhhhh..." With this last final groan of ecstasy, she fainted dead away. Andy caught her as she toppled over onto his chest, and he let her down easy. Her younger sister wasn't so easy on her, though. She rolled the woman off of Andy's chest and announced that it was her turn. She lay on her back and split her legs. "Here, Sport, climb in the saddle an' give me yer best ride." Andy mounted as ordered, after all, he was the one being raped! He found the proper place in her pussy with no problem, and she was gushing oil like nobody's business. He was still slick from his last fuck, so he had no problem sliding in all the way to the bottom of her cunt. He still had nearly 3 inches left on his rod when he hit her cervix, but he didn't try to go any farther; he remembered Sarah's warning about penetrating a woman's cervix without her specifically requesting that he do so. As soon as he bottomed out, Andy drew back and started to stroke as he had learned from Sarah. The woman began to finger her own clit, since Andy wasn't banging it because it was too far away; however, this didn't go on for long before she forgot all about doing that. "Ohhhh! ... Ohhhh! ... Ohhhh! ... That feels ... so good! ... So good! ... So good!..." Then she exploded in a scream that nearly deafened Andy as she came with a bang! He continued to pump as she contorted her face into what he would have thought to be a grimace of intense pain, if he didn't know better. She let a blast of air escape from her lungs, and she started over again. "Ohhhh! ... Ohhhh! ... Ohhhh! ... Ya are the ... best fucker ... I ever felt ... I don't care ... what Ma says, ... ya are a better ... fucker than Pa! She screamed again, just like she did before and screwed up her face into a ludicrous expression that would have made Andy laugh if he had not been so busy with his oncoming come. Andy had held back as long as he could, but he finally had to release the built up jism before his balls exploded. He shot one of his magnificent jets into her cunt with enough force to launch a ship. Through her own ecstasy, the woman felt the jet as it hit her cervix and blasted through. Andy was on some kind of statistical roll, his sperm met an egg and fertilized it on the spot. He had another son on the way! He never thought about it, though, as he settled down on the woman's belly and chest, and then rolled off to one side. All three of the people were exhausted! The lay where they were for over 30 minutes until the world again started to make sense. Andy got up and jumped in the swimming hole to rinse off the dregs of his experience. A minute or so later, both women followed him. The older one grabbed him and planted a kiss on his mouth that reminded him of the lessons from Sarah. She turned him loose as said, "I shore wish that we could keep ya, but Pa would find out that we preferred ya ta him, and he shore would be pissed off." Her sister agreed and commented, "I wonder ifen we kin git the hands ta help us train one of the stallions ta service us. After this here pecker, I don't see how a regular man kin satisfy me." There was some more conversation along this line, then Andy realized that he still was supposed to be working, so he excused himself and got dressed. It was time to head back to the herd and give his father and brothers the benefit of his experience this day. It wasn't until he was telling of the adventure that Andy realized that he had never learned the name of either woman he had so gloriously fucked! He was embarrassed, but the information generated a good laugh all around. Josh commented that he'd had some adventures where he would have been glad to remain anonymous. Crossing the Red River was an experience to be savored and an experience to be feared. There is no greater excitement than pushing a herd of cattle over a river too deep to walk on the bottom as you crossed. There is no greater fear than pushing a herd of cattle over a river too deep to walk on the bottom as you crossed. They were extremely lucky in that they lost no humans, lost no horses, and lost very few cattle. Josh knew the best place to cross for 100 miles in either direction, so they got across more easily than most trail herds. Thank God he was there, because none of the boys knew of this particular crossing, and neither did many others, even the locals. They rested two full days after their crossing, giving the cattle and themselves a chance to collect their breaths and their sense of balance. Once that was done, they set out through Oklahoma with one eye out for Indians and the other eye out for outlaws, with them both as one and the same at times. A particular aggravation was the two-bit hustlers who tried to collect "tolls" for crossing "their" land. Most of the land was owned by the tribal council of one Indian tribe or another, and they did not object to trail herds crossing as long as no damage was done in route. Unfortunately, gangs of men, sometimes Indian, sometimes White, and sometimes mixed would gather and block the path of a herd until a toll was paid, on the order of 1 or 2 cents per head. This doesn't sound like much, but it can add up very quickly for a herd of 300-400 head, if one should meet a number of the toll collectors. The best thing a trail boss could do was to refuse to pay anything and fight if necessary. One or two battles won would scare off any other toll collectors. Of course, there was the chance that you wouldn't win, but life was always a gamble west of the Mississippi. The first toll collectors they met were seen by Andy as he rode his scouting pattern. He recognized what the gang of 4 men was about as soon as he saw them from the description provided by his father. The first clue was that they were heavily armed and were somewhat ostentatious about it. They were all dressed in business suits and not the usual clothes worn by the working cowboy. They wanted to look "official," as if they really had some authority behind them. A few were actually bold enough to claim some relationship to the federal government as their authority for collecting the toll. The bluff rarely fooled anybody, but it was the excuse some men needed to give in without losing face. Andy turned around and raced back to tell his father what he had seen. They already had a plan worked out whereby Andy would stand off and provide cover with his rifle while the three others actually met the toll collectors. Josh said that he always hoped to settle the argument without gun fire, but he never really expected to. Everybody made sure that all of his weapons were loaded and ready when the thieves showed up. Andy was to be especially watchful and fire whenever he thought it was the right time; they were going to have to depend on his judgment. The main thing was that he was not to be timid; he should shoot at the slightest provocation. It was nearly an hour later that the toll collectors showed up. They came riding in to meet the herd as bold as brass, as if they had every right to do as they pleased. Andy had tried to be inconspicuous at the edge of the herd while his brothers rode at the right and left flank of the heard and their father brought up the rear. The men stopped to talk to Will for a minute, and he directed them to the rear of the herd. As soon as the delegation left to talk to their father, the two boys meandered up behind them, making as little noise as possible. They all knew where Andy was located, and they made sure to stay out of his line of fire. The delegation rode up to Josh and they talked for a few minutes about the weather and politics and what ever else they could think of to defuse the situation. Then they brought up the subject of the toll they wanted to collect. Their statement being that they wanted 3 cents per head because of the inflation caused by the recent financial panic. Josh flatly refused to pay anything, so one of the members of the delegation shifted his hand to be nearer the trigger of the sawed off shotgun he was carrying. This was the sign that Andy had been looking for. He put a bullet into the middle of the man's gut, practically drilling him a new belly button. At the sound of the gunshot, the rest of the delegation tried to bring their shotguns into play, but all three Hoppers had pulled their pistols by then, and each shot a delegation member. None of the 4 Hoppers had to fire more than one shot, the whole operation had gone so smoothly. Over all, the setup had been done so well that none of the cattle were spooked; they had continued to walk toward Sedalia while the humans had held their little party. Andy rode in, and the Hoppers cleaned up the area and removed all valuables from the 4 thieves. The horses were confiscated and the bodies were left where they fell for the scavengers to take care of. This stuff was dumped into the cart that they used for supplies, and the trail drive continued. This cart was pulled by a specially trained mule which did not need a driver. The mule would follow the herd wherever it went and pulled the light cart as it did so. This saved the Hoppers the cost of hiring a man to drive the cart. As soon as this event was finished, Andy rode out to look for more toll collectors. He didn't spot any more that day, but he never let his guard down. The toll collectors tended to drift toward the border between Texas and Oklahoma, since that was where the vast majority of trail herds came from. Andy did meet an Indian family traveling along the road in an open wagon; there was a husband and wife and three children. Andy stopped to be sociable and picked up some information about the local water holes where there was enough room for the cattle. He learned that they were, indeed, the first trail herd of the season and would not have any trouble finding adequate water and grass for at least 50 miles. This was good news and Josh would be greatly relieved to hear of it. ------- Chapter 5 They were deep into Choctaw territory and Andy was doing his usual job of scouting ahead of the herd. The country around here was pretty much open plains, except for lines of trees that ran along the banks of permanent streams. Andy saw such a line of trees and rode toward it to determine if it was a suitable place for the herd to spend the night. As he got close, he discovered that the trees grew in splotchy patches, that is, the trees were clumped close together in places and widely scattered in others. He didn't think that this would make any difference to the people or the cattle, so he rode toward one of the denser copses to see what he might find. This group of trees surrounded a pool within the stream, and, dammit, he was hot and tired, so he decided on the spur of the moment to strip off his clothes and enjoy a few minutes of splashing in the cool water. He dismounted and hobbled his horse so that it could crop some of the grass and get to the water for a drink whenever he wished. Andy was sitting on a handy fallen tree trunk and taking off his boots when he heard a woman's voice come from the trees, "Oh, kind sir, please help me, for I am in great distress!" The accent was strange, so Andy had to spend a moment deciphering the words and converting them into Texas dialect. At the first sound of the voice, Andy had plopped himself on the ground close to the fallen tree trunk and pulled his pistol, ready to defend himself at need. He didn't see anybody, friendly or hostile, so he said, "Show yerself, an' I'll do what I kin." The woman said, "Very well, but please do not shoot me." A moment later, an Indian woman in her late teens or early 20s stepped out from a dense stand of trees. She was beautiful, and she was naked! Now, this was a sight that Andy never tired of, and he made careful note of her attributes. Her face was that of a classic Indian beauty and her hair fell in a glistening black shower to her ass cheeks. She was neither fat nor skinny, but had that nearly perfect proportion of flesh to bone that all males can't resist. Her breasts stood high and proud on her chest and her nipples were erect and projecting about three-quarters of an inch from dark brown aureoles. Her belly was flat, and Andy could barely see the distinct muscle development of a body in supremely good physical condition. The woman's hips flared from her waist in enticing curves that framed a gloriously bare pussy. She had absolutely no pubic hair and Andy could see almost every detail of her perfect "camel toe" configuration. He stalled here for a more careful examination before progressing down her perfectly formed legs to her equally perfect feet. Andy's jaw dropped and might have made an audible thud if it had hit the ground! He had never seen such physical perfection! Totally of its own volition, his cock sprang to attention, and might have torn a gaping split in his pants if he had not been lying belly-down on the ground. As it was, the position was downright painful, so Andy shifted position to sitting as soon as possible. This took some of the strain off his crotch, but not nearly enough for complete comfort, but that might not have been possible, anyway, considering how hard he had become. Andy stuttered a bit as he tried to make his tongue and jaw form the necessary words, "M ... M ... Ma'am, why are ya naked? Where are yer people?" "I am nude because I was bathing just before you arrived, and I did not have time to don my clothes. When you approached more closely, I discerned that you were a man, so that I believed that I would be marginally safer if I were unclothed when you first saw me. Do you find me attractive?" "Yes, Ma'am, I shore do! I was gonna take a bath, myself." "Then, perhaps, we should bathe together. I believe that the colloquial expression is that 'you wash my back and I will wash yours.'" "Are ya serious, Ma'am?" "Yes, Sir, I am completely serious. I am in dire need of assistance, and I propose to exchange sexual favors for assistance and protection, if that is agreeable to you." "Yes, Ma'am. That is completely agreeable. Let's hit that there water, cuz I'm dirty and sweaty, an' I need ta wash it off afore I touch ya. Oh, my name is Andy Hopper. What's yers?" "My name is Elizabeth White Water. I am a Cherokee Christian and I am from the northeastern part of the Cherokee Nation. I was kidnapped over a week ago by some Choctaws and brought south to be sold as a sex-slave within the Choctaw Nation. I hope that I can convince you to assist me in returning to my home." "We wuz headed that way, anyhow, soz I don't see that returnin' ya home would be any kind of a problem. I'm sure that my Pa and brothers would go along with whatever I asked 'em ta do." "Oh, wonderful! Now, let us get that bath we both want." Elizabeth came closer to Andy to help him remove his clothes. When he had everything off but his pants, Elizabeth bent over to loosen his belt and the buttons of his fly. When he had stood up, his cock had been pulled back down, so it was under considerable stress when she finally pulled his pants down. She was bending over at just the right angle to be hit in the face by Andy's cock as it flew up to its normal erect position. The force was actually enough to knock her back, but she didn't fall. Elizabeth rubbed the portion of her face that had been struck as she gazed in awe at Andy's erect 9 inches by 3 inches. "Are ... Are you certain that you are human?" she stammered. "I had no idea that White men could have such large penises. I have never seen an Indian with such an appendage." Andy said, "I 'spect that most White men are like most Indians, but all of the men in my family are pretty much like me, though I am the biggest." "Well, I am still amazed!" said Elizabeth as she grabbed hold of Andy's pecker and led him to the water. By this time she was in a hurry to get him washed off, because she was anxious to "know" him better, in the biblical sense. Andy had a fragment of soap in his saddle bag, so that was what they used to wash each other. They found an interesting position in the water, which was waist deep on Andy: he stood behind Elizabeth while she straddled his cock. The pressure of her weight, since it was reduced by the buoyancy of the water, did not put painful pressure on his cock or her pussy, so they were both able to enjoy the time he spent washing her titties. It was not quite so easy to wash either her pussy or his cock, since they were constantly under water, but they managed by diligent rubbing to obviate the need for soap. They shook themselves vigorously when they got out of the water, so they were dry enough for other activities in short order. However, neither Elizabeth nor Andy felt that there was much need to be completely dry. Elizabeth lay down on the grass near the pool on her back and spread her legs. Andy didn't believe that she could be wet enough, yet, for fucking, besides, he wanted to try some of the things that Sarah had taught him. He did get between Elizabeth's legs, but made no effort to insert his cock into her cunt. Instead, he leaned over to kiss her. This caught Elizabeth completely by surprise. Of course, she had been kissed before, but never by a lover just before intercourse. She was used to the usual Indian practice of "slam, bam, thank you ma'am." She was a bit frightened when Andy stuck his tongue into her mouth and almost instinctively bit down on it; however, she caught herself in time. It only took a few seconds for her to realize what he was doing, and she joined in with enthusiasm. They kissed for a while, but Andy wanted to try other things, so he moved over to gently nibble on Elizabeth's ear lobes. Now, this was something that she had never felt before. She started to become aroused and wiggled and giggled under him. When he finally moved his attention to her tits, she really felt the pressure build. Andy propped on his elbows and gently squeezed both her tits at the same time. Elizabeth felt the strangest twinges and pressures build up in her body, sensations that she had never felt before. She loved the sensations, but was puzzled as to what they were. Andy backed off a little and reached his head down to kiss her nipple. In doing so, his stubble of a beard rubbed gently across her nipple. This stirred her even more, so that when his lips touched her sensitized nipple she exploded into the mind and body wracking pleasures of the largest orgasm that she had ever felt. She bounced off the ground in her twists and shudders of pleasure, while she screamed out her joy. Andy was not exactly expecting this strength of reaction, but he was not completely surprised because of his previous experience with those other women. He waited for Elizabeth to calm down before moving on to his next target, her pussy. He knew that Elizabeth had to be wet enough by now, but he wanted to play around a little more. Elizabeth was absolutely appalled when he first moved his mouth to her pussy; no Indian man would even consider doing that! But when Andy sucked her clit between his lips, she forgot everything else in her appreciation of his efforts. Andy sucked gently on her clit and moved his finger to her pussy slit. He continued to suck as he moved his finger up and down her slit, getting it well coated with her oil. When he was sure that he had enough oil spread over his finger, he slid it into her tunnel. This made Elizabeth build toward another orgasm and, when Andy chewed gently on her clit, she exploded into another orgasm which was, if anything, greater than the one she had just completed. Andy let her come down from that second explosion before going any farther. When he saw that she was fully conscious, he moved into position and pushed his pecker against her now slack pussy slit. He used his hand to guide his cock head up and down her slit until it was well coated with oil. Once he was sure that he had enough oil, he slowly pushed his cock into her cunt hole. Of course, she had never felt anything this large try to enter her, and she was a bit concerned, but he had done so well for her up to now, Elizabeth decided to trust Andy to know what he was doing. Elizabeth couldn't hold still as Andy worked his pecker into her very tight hole. He would push in some and then pull out a little bit to give her time to stretch to fit his enormous girth. It took three or four minutes to reach the limit of her depth. He felt his cock head bump against her cervix just as she grunted her mild pain. He still had over an inch to go before he was completely buried, but he remembered Sarah's caution about going too deep. By this time, Elizabeth was wondering what she had gotten herself into, or, rather, what had gotten into her. But all of that was forgotten when Andy began slowly to stroke out and in. After 2 or 3 full strokes, Elizabeth seemed to be able to take him without pain, so he began a more vigorous rhythm. This time, her orgasm built up more slowly than had the other two, so she was able to react to the preliminary sensations on a more orderly manner. The two began to grunt together, "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." until their breathing rhythms changed. The fourth full stroke at Andy's new, more vigorous pace was enough to push Elizabeth over the top. Her legs whipped around Andy's hips and she pulled as hard as she could to drive him as deep as he could go into her tunnel. His cock head brushed aside her cervix muscles, and he penetrated to his full depth, a good inch or more past her cervix. The sudden pain of his entry, combined with the sudden sensation of her clit banging against his pubic bone, were sufficient to send her over the crest to her greatest orgasm, yet. She screamed loud enough to wake the dead, and pulled even harder, trying to force Andy's prick even deeper, but he was at his limit. This was what it took to complete his rise to orgasm, and he began to squirt with all of the force at his disposal. Elizabeth had not realized it at the time, but she was about to become pregnant with twins! If she had known, she would have believed that it was an appropriate response to such a mind-blowing orgasm. Actually, though, she fainted! Andy collapsed with her and lay on her completely relaxed body for a minute or so until he could regain his breath. He rolled off her and sat up. Damn, three men were riding toward where he and Elizabeth were lying. Not knowing what to expect, he ran to the fallen trunk and drew his gun. He turned to look and saw that Elizabeth was still dead to the world, so he grabbed her leg and pulled her to his position behind the tree trunk. Under other circumstances, he might have thought it funny the way he must have looked, stark naked and brandishing a pistol; however, he was too concerned to laugh right now. A few minutes went by before the men, whom he could now see were Indians, got close enough to spot him behind the fallen tree. A moment later, one of them shouted and pointed at Elizabeth lying there beside him. Elizabeth chose this moment to come around, and she sat up with a big smile on her face. Then she looked around and saw the three Indians approaching. She screamed and said, "Oh, please, don't let them have me. Those are the Choctaws I escaped from this morning. I beg of you to shoot me before they can take me back." "Just relax, Elizabeth. They ain't taking nobody! I'll kill them ifen I have ta. STOP WHERE Y'ALL ARE! I'LL SHOOT IFEN Y'ALL DON'T STOP!" The men didn't even slow down as they came toward the two behind the fallen tree trunk. One shouted something in a language that Andy didn't understand. Elizabeth said, "He said that you would live if you gave me up without a fight, but you will die if you do not cooperate." "Ta hell with that!" Andy lined up his pistol and fired at the nearest Choctaw. As usual with Andy's luck the last few months, he scored a hit and put that man out of action. The Choctaw did not fall from his horse, but he slumped over in such a way that it was obvious that he had received a serious wound. The other two men split and rode toward Andy from slightly different directions. It appeared that they were going to try to ride him down. Since there were only two attackers, Andy was not too worried. Had there been more, he would have been worried, but he was sure that he could handle two men from behind his makeshift breastworks. Elizabeth was not so sanguine, but she was not crying or wailing, so she was no drain on Andy's nerve. Andy waited until the Choctaws got a little closer, then he shot at the nearer one. He missed the man, but hit the horse. The horse was moving fast, so it fell quickly and dumped the Indian over its head. The Indian landed hard when he fell and did not move, so Andy wrote him off as far as the near term of the battle was concerned. Andy's experience in fighting Comanches was certainly paying off. The last man was very close by now, so Andy was able to get a good shot at him. Dammit—missed! The man was so close by now that Andy thumbed his LeMat hammer to the shotgun position and fired when the horse was less than 15 feet away. Some of the slugs hit the horse and some hit the Choctaw; both went down right in front of Andy's fort. The horse was not yet dead, so Andy flipped the hammer back to the bullet position and shot the horse in the head to put it out of its misery. The Indians had been using Spencer rifles and not doing a good job of it. They made the mistake often made by Indians, namely, they tried to ride fast and shoot rifles at the same time. Only the greatest kind of luck will let you score many hits while doing that. Therefore, though a lot of bullets had been flying, none had come very close to either Elizabeth or Andy. Andy went out to look at the second Indian. He had, indeed, been killed by his fall. On the other hand, the first Indian that Andy had shot was not dead yet, though he would be very shortly. Andy took pity on him and shot the man in the head—a wound in the gut is not a pleasant way to die! Andy and Elizabeth got dressed; her clothes had been hidden in the bushes. She rode the Choctaw's horse, and they rode back to the cattle herd. Andy had quite a story to tell that night over supper. ------- Chapter 6 Josh, Will, and John were surprised when Andy and Elizabeth rode up. Andy quickly gave a short description of his adventure and why Elizabeth was with him. They headed the herd toward the pool where Andy had found Elizabeth, and Andy headed back to clean up the horse and human bodies before everybody else got there. His instructions were quite detailed on how to find the place, and Elizabeth could provide directions if that were not enough. They arrived at the pool about an hour before dark, so they had plenty of time to set up. Elizabeth had talked to Josh while they were driving the cattle, so he was agreeable to having her join them long enough for her to return home. Elizabeth said that she would do her part by becoming the cook for this part of the drive; they were all glad to make that deal, because they were all tired of the cooking efforts of the men. That evening after she had cleaned up following supper, Elizabeth reiterated her offer of sexual favors in exchange for protection, but this time, the offer was made to the entire group of 4 men. She offered to sleep with each man on consecutive nights until she left them for her home. She did want to start with Andy, since he had been the one to find her, but she would then take Josh, Will, and John, since that was the order of age. Once she was finished with John, she would return to Andy and continue the cycle as long as she was with them. All of the men jumped at the offer, once they found that Andy was agreeable, since they did not want to "steal his woman." Andy assured them that he was agreeable, since the family had always shared everything since their mother had died 7 years earlier. Andy gave the men a detailed description of his love making with Elizabeth and explained how inexperienced she was with foreplay, so they might have to explain some of it to her as they went along. All of the men were sure that they could handle that chore, so a final agreement was reached to share Elizabeth among them as long as she was agreeable. There was no way to achieve privacy in the camp, so Andy and Elizabeth simply removed their clothes and lay down together on his bedroll. The other men sat a few feet away and offered comments to each other as they watched the two young people go at it. The consensus was that Sarah had been a good teacher, and the spectators picked up a few pointers as they watched. Andy started off with deep kisses for Elizabeth with lots of tongue. They had plenty of time for this as there was no real need to hurry. In fact, the kissing lasted so long that the men looking on were in danger of getting bored. They would have gotten bored if it were not for the stunning beauty of Elizabeth. However, Andy did move on to nibbling on Elizabeth's earlobes, something none of the other men had ever heard of. However, Elizabeth's reaction was enough to convince them that they should take up the practice. She was obviously becoming aroused from this, so she was more than ready when Andy moved his attention to her breasts. He had already began to massage her breasts while he was still nibbling on her ears, so she was anxiously awaiting the movement of his lips to her nipples. The contact of his stubbly beard with her nipples set off her first small orgasm, but this caught the attention of the spectators immediately. They all knew what was happening, but none of them had ever seen it happen so soon in lovemaking. They all wondered if Andy had a magical touch, or could they all accomplish the same feat? An air of competition immediately arose, along with the last of the cocks. Andy sucked and gently bit Elizabeth's nipples as she ran through her first minor orgasm. He eased off a bit to let her come down from her sexual high before going much farther. When she had recovered enough to appreciate what he was doing, Andy resumed sucking, licking, and gently chewing her nipples until she began to rise to a new high. Now that he had her attention, again, he moved down her belly with a trail of kisses, dwelling for a moment at her belly button to explore it with his tongue. He backed off as soon as he realized that Elizabeth was ticklish there, as he did not want to spoil the mood. He resumed his trail of kisses down her belly until he came to her pubic mound. Since she had plucked out all of her hair in that region long ago, Andy had smooth sailing over the top of her mound and onto her clit. Elizabeth gasped when he took her clit between his lips, and so did the men gazing on them intently. None of the men who were looking on had ever realized how sensitive or how important the clit was to a woman's fulfillment. Elizabeth began to grunt with every breath, "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." as Andy continued to pay homage to her nubbin. Soon, oil was visibly leaking from her pussy slit as she writhed and wiggled with Andy's ever motion. He moved the two middle fingers of his right hand to her pussy slit and coated his fingers with her oil. Once he had a good application all over his fingers, he slipped them into her cunt hole. Without knowing it, Andy was lined up exactly right with Elizabeth's G-spot so that he touched it with his finger tips and he moved them a bit deeper inside her. This contact was enough to set off her second orgasm in the last few minutes, and this one was much bigger. She exploded into a scream that the men feared would startle the cattle into a stampede, but the herd leader never moved, other than to raise her head (could this have been because she, too, was female?). Andy caught on real quick to what had happened, though he had no idea of the anatomical details. He gently chewed and sucked on her clit while he massaged Elizabeth's G-spot with his finger tips. This pushed Elizabeth higher and higher into her orgasm, but Andy backed off a little before she truly peaked because he didn't want her to faint. He was selfish enough not to want to wait her out until she returned to consciousness. He did hold her at this lower level of orgasm for 2 or 3 minutes before he let her return to Earth. He moved his face off her pussy and moved between her legs. Elizabeth obediently opened herself to him as he got into position to mount her. She spread her legs as far as she could and helped to guide his cock head to her cunt opening. She did the delicious chore of rubbing him against her slit to get the oil adequately distributed before he tried to penetrate her depths. It wasn't possible to tell if she thought that he was adequately coated or if she just ran out of patience, but whatever the reason, she pulled his pecker into line with her cunt and raised herself to effect initial penetration. Andy felt his cock head slide into position in the entrance to her tunnel, so he began to press forward. Once she was sure that he was lined up properly, Elizabeth wrapped her legs around Andy's hips and started pulling, as if she couldn't wait to feel him plummet into her depths. There were no dry spots and Andy slid inside her cunt as smoothly as one could possibly hope for. She pulled him up to the doorway of her cervix, but stopped pulling at that point. She said, "Darling Andy, I know you went through my gateway this afternoon, but something tells me that I do not want that to happen again soon, so please stop before you go that far." Andy promised to honor her request, and he started to pump. She was so thoroughly primed that Elizabeth began to react with Andy's first stroke. She grunted in time with his strokes, "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." until she exploded with another scream, and the herd leader raised her head again and seemed to smile. The spectators became somewhat concerned when Elizabeth continued to scream for a dozen more strokes, at which point, Andy exploded with a scream of his own. He squirted in so much jism that he might have pushed her cervix open from the brute hydraulic pressure if he had not backed out an inch or so to allow room for it to accumulate ahead of his cock. Elizabeth did faint this time, but Andy was not quite so pressed, so he pulled out and rolled over on his back before he went directly to sleep. The other three men simply looked at each other and marveled, wondering if they could match Andy's performance when their turns came. This performance seemed to have taken hours, but it actually lasted only slightly more than 30 minutes. The spectators shook themselves out of their trance and resumed the business of running a trail herd. John took the first shift of night watch and the other two went to sleep to very pleasant erotic dreams, until Will was awakened for his turn at guard duty. The next 3 days were spent in a pleasant routine of working during the day and fucking at night. Each of the men was able to make Elizabeth faint at the end of his session, but Elizabeth confided privately to Andy that she still preferred his style and technique. The other men were very good, but he was the best! A week later, Andy was riding through some pretty rough country overgrown with thick brush and scrubby trees. He was trying to find a way through for the herd since no cattleman wanted to contend with driving a herd through this kind of brush. No matter how hard he tried, a trail boss was bound to lose too many animals breaking through this mess. He finally came to a river valley which ran in the right direction and was clear enough to allow the herd through without too much loss. The valley was not perfect since it tended to run to the northwest instead of the northeast, but anything that would get them through this rough country was a welcome sight. He could see from his current location that the roughest part of the brush and trees ended soon enough to the north, but he needed to find a way to get the herd into this valley before they hit the brush in the first place. With that in mind, Andy cut southeast, following the valley. He rode as fast as he could safely do so, since he needed to find a good access point for the herd before they lost themselves in this labyrinth of brush and trees. He always had a good notion of his location, and it was coming in handy on this phase of the drive. He knew that he was getting close to where the herd had to be, but he was still not able to find a way through the brush. Ah, there it was! Andy had come to a branch in the valley that cut to the west and was reasonably clear of the bushes and trees that were such a problem all through here. He continued west until he had nearly reached the herd. He was about to leave the valley for the plain where the herd was when he saw a shack off to his left. There was a white sheet flapping over the door as if it were calling for help; Andy had to investigate, his curiosity, if nothing else, would not let him pass by without taking a quick look. He rode up to the door and shouted, "HELLO, THE HOUSE! DO Y'ALL NEED HE'P?" He heard a weak voice from inside, but he couldn't make out the words. He dismounted and went to the door and knocked. This time he could hear a voice from inside asking for help. Andy was reluctant to barge in without knowing what was on the other side of the door, so he pushed the door open without entering. A powerful stench boiled out of the door and caused him to cough and gag. The smell was a mixture of piss, shit, and decaying bodies. He looked in and saw two dead and decaying Indians, one male and one female, lying on beds on the other side of the room. Nearer, but still out of reach, was a Negro woman who was chained by her left wrist to a staple in the wall. "Please," she begged, "please give me a drink of water! I have had none fer 3 days. All I have had ta drink was my own piss." "Shore, just a minute. Let me git my canteen." Andy went to his horse and returned with one of his canteens. He handed it to the woman with the admonition to take small sips, or she would probably vomit up what water she drank. She followed his instructions, sitting down on a crude bunk while she did it. Andy asked what was going on, and the woman told a miserable story. "I'm a slave of the massa and miss'ess in those two bunks. Three weeks ago, the miss'ess got sick with the measles, she caught 'em from me, I think. They had just bought me the week afore that, an' I had caught sumpthin', I didn't know what. Anyway, the massa an' I doctored her fer a few days when he came down with the same thing. He put up that sheet out front ta warn people away from the sickness. He had me take over the doctorin' an' he lay down on the other bed. Fer the first few days, he chained me up while he slept at night an' turned me loose in the mornin' ta do the cookin'. "Anyway, the miss'ess died about 10 days ago in her sleep, an' the massa weren't able to git up ta unlock this here chain. He died 2 days later, an' I been chained up ta this here staple ever since. I could reach some of the food an' water, but I couldn't reach the key hangin' on the wall over there. Kin ya git it an' turn me loose?" Andy did as she asked. She said, "I know I stink; I ain't had a bath in nearly a month, soz I know ya don't wanna git too close ta me fer very long. Do ya have any food? I'm starvin'" "Just a minute, I've got some hard tack and cheese in my saddle bag. I'll git it fer ya." While she ate, Andy asked, "Kin ya take care of yerself fer a couple of hours? I got sumpthin' I gots ta do real quick like, but I promise ta come back as soon as I kin. I'm with a cattle drive, an' I gots ta keep 'em from getting' mixed up with that brush out there. I'll direct 'em ta come by here, soz I kin look in on ya right after I do that. Is that OK?" "Yessir, ya do whatever ya needs ta do. I'll wait here fer ya to come back. Jus' hurry, please." Andy hurried to the herd and told Josh what he had found, both of the valley and of the Negro woman. Josh sent Andy back to help the woman and said that they would meet them at the cabin when the herd got that far. He sent Andy off with a joke about him finding another pussy in distress. Andy got back as soon as he could, but the woman was not in the cabin. He looked around and found her out back immersed in a monster washtub. She said that she just couldn't stand it any longer and had to take a bath. This was the bathtub the two Indians had used, but they wouldn't let her near it; they said that it was too good for a slave. Andy said that he would wait for her out front until she finished her bath, but she said that he could stay and watch if he wanted to. She was used to other people seeing her naked, and it didn't bother her at all. Andy said that if she felt that way, he would be delighted to stay and watch her finish her bath. Then Andy said, "By the way, my name is Andy Hopper. What's yer name?" "Oh, Massa, please forgive me. I'm called Jasmine. Do ya want ta fuck me now or later?" "HUH? What do ya mean, do I want to fuck ya now or later?" "My new massas always fuck me, first thing. I jus' figured that ya would do the same." "But I ain't ya master. What gives ya that idee?" "Ya saved me, so ya own me. Simple as that. That's what always happens ta slaves." "Slavery don't exist anymore. That's what the war was all about. Ya're free, ya can't be a slave, nowadays." "But I don't know nothin' 'bout how ta be free. I's always been a slave, an' mostly I likes it. Except in cases like this one, I always got all the food an' all the fuckin' I wanted by bein' a slave. Why can't I be a slave ifen I wants ta be one?" "Well, Jasmine, ya shore done a good job of confusin' me. We'll have ta talk ta my pa 'bout it. In the meantime, we could fuck now ifen ya really wants ta." ------- Chapter 7 Author's note: So many people had asked me to write a Western with sex, that I thought that I would give it a shot. Don't read this story if the thought of blatant sex in the West offends you. Also, remember that this is a piece of fiction! Jasmine said that she was ready, so Andy quickly shucked his clothes and jumped into the tub with her. "OK, Jasmine, I need ta wash off. Kin ya he'p me?" Jasmine grinned and began washing the biggest cock that she had ever seen. "Dear Jesus, Massa, ya have sho' got the biggest pecker I ever did see. There wuz some big 'uns at the 'breeding farm, ' but none of the studs had anythin' like ya gots." "Ya gotta stop callin' me 'massa, ' or I'll git in trouble with the law. Jus' call me 'Andy, ' an' we'll git along fine. Now, what do ya mean 'bout a 'breedin' farm'?" "Come on, Massa, ... er ... Andy. Where does ya thing that us niggers come from? I was born an' raised on a breedin' farm fer nigger slaves over in Mississippi 'long 'bout '49 or '50, I disremember when, 'zacally. The massa liked my looks an' took me fer his bed warmer 'til I reached breedin' age. Then he sent me ta the overseer what fucked me some and sent me around ta the nigger studs ta service. I got in a family way 3 times, but I miscarried all three times, so the massa sold me, cuz I couldn't make no live babies. That was 2 years ago, an' I been passed from owner ta owner 'til I wound up with them Choctaws a month or so ago." "Shit, an' ya liked that life?" "Shore. I mostly got plenty of food ta eat and all the fuckin' I wanted. I was eager ta fuck, so I never got whipped, though I did git spanked in fun sometimes. Now, come on, Andy, let's finish this washin' stuff and git ta fuckin'. I needs it bad, it's been a long time fer me." It smelled so bad inside the house that Andy got a blanket from his horse and laid it on some grass. "There's yer bed, Jasmine. I hope that it's good enough fer now." "It shore is! I could fuck lyin' on rocks, I need it so bad! Please don't keep me waitin' no longer." Jasmine was obviously not interested in foreplay, so Andy got between her spread legs and lined himself up. She grasped his cock and moved it up and down her slit a few times to get her oil coated on the head properly. Once she was satisfied, she lined him up with her cunt hole and raised her hips to guide him in. Andy eased in and had no problem sliding all the way to her cervix. She was stretched more than any other woman he had encountered. He guessed it was because of the three babies she had miscarried; but, even though she was stretched, Jasmine was plenty tight enough to feel good. Meanwhile, Jasmine said, "Oh, Andy, this here is the first time I've felt full in I don't remember when. That is so good! Don't stop now, even ifen the Rapture should start! The Lord will just have to wait his turn!" Andy pumped in and out without getting much from Jasmine, except sighs of pleasure. On the other hand, he was feeling very good and starting to be pushed to finish. He was just about to tell Jasmine this when she suddenly screamed. This almost literally scared the shit out of Andy, since he was not expecting it. Then she screamed again, and then a third time. The first thing she said after her third scream was, "Dear Jesus, I never knew that fuckin' could feel so good! Ya're stuck with me, now. I ain't never gonna leave a pecker like yers!" Jasmine's screams had put Andy a little off his stride, so he had to pump some more before he hit his peak, but when he did, it was well worth the effort. He squirted and squirted and squirted. Some was pushed past her cervix and found an egg. This was going to be Jasmine's first child, a girl, and she would be ecstatic to have it. They rested a while and talked before they got dressed to wait for the trail herd to get to the cabin. Andy explained how his father and brothers were about as big as him, and he wanted her to put out for them, too. Jasmine was happy to hear this; even though she was not used to fucking every night since she had left the breeding farm, so she was in "hog heaven." They didn't have much longer to wait for the herd to arrive. Josh and the boys were pleased with Jasmine's appearance and glad to have her join the drive when they heard what she liked to do. Elizabeth suddenly found herself having twinges of jealousy, though she decided that it wasn't logical for her to feel that way. She certainly wouldn't be deprived of male companionship just because Jasmine was doing the same thing that she was. Oh, well, what has logic got to do with anything when emotions and especially sex are involved? Josh looked the cabin over and decided that the best thing that they could do would be to burn it down. He was afraid of the sickness spreading to more Indians, and warned Elizabeth to keep her distance. There was no wind, so it should be safe enough to burn the place; they weren't likely to have trouble with the fire spreading too far with four men there to keep an eye on the place while it burned. The cabin was burned to the ground, and the ashes were stirred to make sure that there were no embers left to cause a problem after they left. That night, Elizabeth slept with John, and Jasmine slept with Josh. Both women were quite happy with their situation when they woke up the next morning. Jasmine helped Elizabeth with fixing breakfast while the men got the cattle ready to move out. This looked like it was going to be a very comfortable and convenient arrangement for all concerned. Andy left on his scouting trip as he usually did, and Jasmine rode with Elizabeth in the cart pulled by the mule. Elizabeth and Jasmine had plenty of time to talk that day and were able to work out their differences equitably before they stopped for the evening. That night, Jasmine slept with Will, and Elizabeth slept with Andy. The next day, the herd was back on the open plain, and Andy was ranging far ahead. The two women were somewhat frightened when they encountered a troop of cavalry. The Lieutenant in charge talked to Josh for a while, but left when Josh was able to convince him that the women were there of their own free will and were domestic employees because of the scarcity of men in Texas at the time. Since neither of the women were White, the Lieutenant did not have the least interest in the sexual activities of the women; non-White women were not worth worrying about in his opinion as long as federal law was not being violated. That night, Andy spent the night alone, and he found that he really didn't like it. He was getting used to sleeping with a woman, and he felt lonely when he was in bed by himself. He decided that he needed to be on the lookout for two more women to fill the void. Three days later, he came across a woman who was walking alone across the plain. She was near her limits of strength and stamina. She had started to stagger and was surely about to fall down when Andy saw her. He immediately galloped to her side and dismounted; it was then that he saw that she was Chinese. He had her sit down while he gave her some water and watched to insure that she did not make herself even more sick by not drinking it slowly. When he was satisfied that she had enough water, he gave her some of his cheese that he kept for emergency rations. Once her condition was stabilized, he asked what she was doing out here by herself. She said that she was walking to San Francisco where she hoped to catch a boat back to China. She had been sent to the USA as a contract bride, but when she arrived, the man she was to marry refused to take her. Instead, he sold her to a brothel manager who wanted to add her to his stable of women who worked the railroad construction camps. She had been forced to work as a prostitute for about 3 weeks, but 2 nights before, the guards had been careless and she had escaped. She had been walking west ever since; she had no food and her only water had been from a stream that she had found that morning. Andy explained that she had no chance of walking to San Francisco—it was simply too far away beyond country impossible for a woman to travel over alone and on foot. He offered her the opportunity to return with him to the trail drive and talk to his father about alternative things for her to do. Li Sun protested that she had no money, so there was no way that she could pay his father for taking her in; however, she did say that she was willing to pay with sexual favors. She had not objected to being a prostitute, she had objected to the rough treatment she had received from the men. This was just what Andy wanted to hear! Andy told her that there were already two women with the drive who were working under those conditions, and he was certain that his father would take her in under the same conditions. She was overjoyed and readily agreed to ride with Andy back to the herd. He did ask to see her naked right then so that he would know what he was taking back to his family. Li Sun agreed that that was a reasonable request so she removed her clothes on the spot. She was no beauty, but she was pleasant to look at. Her breasts were smaller than those of Elizabeth or Jasmine, but they were large enough to prove that she was female, even if you didn't see her pussy. Speaking of that, her pussy was bare of hair. Andy asked about that and was told that it had been pulled out by the roots when the brothel manager had first taken possession of her. He wanted to cut down on the chance of her getting crabs and possibly being put out of action for a few days. Andy commented that he really preferred a bare pussy, so he was glad to see her that way. Li Sun said that since she was already naked, he might as well sample all she had to offer and lay down on the grass on her back. Andy had most of his clothes off by the time she had spread her legs. His pants were the last to go, and Li Sun screamed when she saw the size of his cock. She was afraid that it was much too big to fit inside her, but Andy assured her that none of the other women he had fucked had been harmed by his size; in fact, they had all been thrilled by the feeling of fullness that they had. Li Sun was dubious, but was willing to try when he promised to go slow and give her time to adjust to him. She didn't want to kiss, but reacted positively when he massaged her breasts while he nibbled on her earlobes. He did this for a few minutes and could feel her relax some, so he moved his mouth to her nipples. As soon as he started sucking on her nipples, she tried to push him away, saying that only babies were supposed to do that. Andy convinced her that it was OK to do that in America and returned to one of his favorite activities. Li Sun began to become more aroused under Andy's ministrations, and began to writhe and bounce her hips. It was obvious that she was not used to this kind of attention, and she began to grunt with every breath, "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." Soon she started to moan and groan and really bounce around. Andy was expecting it, so he was not surprised when she emitted a loud moan and seemed to collapse in on herself. Andy let her rest a couple of minutes, then ran a line of kisses down her belly to her belly button. He could get no farther—Li Sun grabbed him in a remarkably strong grip and pulled him between her legs by holding on to his erect cock. She refused to release him as she guided him to her cunt. Andy was not one to resist the inevitable, so he readily moved into place and let her guide him into her channel. She was wetter with her oil than he expected, and there was plenty to lubricate the head of his cock. He was already started in when he realized that she had not rubbed his cock head in her slit, probably because she was relatively inexperienced. It didn't matter this time, but Andy planned to recommend more lube in the future. He slipped his cock into her channel, and it was really tight as he slid in about an inch. She grimaced, so he knew that she was already having trouble with his size. Andy backed out a little and pressed in a little farther than before. It took 12 strokes before Andy was far enough inside to have a consistent effect, rubbing on her G-spot. Once this was achieved, Li Sun took a more active part in trying to get Andy as deep inside her as was possible. It took another 18 strokes to bottom out against her cervix; he was still over 2 inches shy of total penetration, but this was all they were going to get. Now they were ready for the serious stuff! Andy began to piston in and out with 5-6-inch strokes. Li Sun's face lit up like the proverbial fireworks explosion. This was something she had never experienced before, and she was sure that she could never get enough of it. It felt like she was being penetrated with a soft-covered tree limb! No cock had felt like this, before! This was the best feeling she had ever experienced and never wanted it to stop. She wrapped her legs around Andy's hips and held him as if she expected him to run away at any moment. She had to loosen her hold a bit for him to keep stroking her the way she wanted. Li Sun soon began to cum. Her orgasm started as a low feeling of great happiness, but it rapidly built up into a monumental peak of indescribable joy. The rubbing and little jolts of stimulation were wonderful, but the overall feeling of happiness and well being were what she really loved. She knew it right away: this was a man who could provide what she had needed all her life, and she had no intention of letting him escape. She would do anything she had to do to keep him with her! She began to milk him with her cunt muscles as she internally exploded with the passion of her orgasm. She was not noisy, but it was clear to any observer what was going on inside her, and Andy was certainly not disinterested. He was enjoying these feelings so much that he almost hated to cum, himself, but that feeling couldn't last. Andy exploded with his usual jets of jism with the force needed to drive some of it past her cervix and find an egg at the right stage to be fertilized. This would be Li Sun's first child, but not her last daughter. Andy had scored, again! This was not as noisy as most of Andy's conquests, but the result was the same. They were both exhausted, so they cuddled for nearly an hour before they got dressed and slowly rode Andy's horse back to the herd. The other Hopper men grinned, for they knew what to expect from Andy's latest find, and the two women both frowned in a momentary fit of jealousy. Andy was oblivious to it all as he rode up in all of his teen aged innocence. He was actually surprised when his father was so easily convinced to let Li Sun travel with them. They were all properly sympathetic when Li Sun told her story of how she happened to be where Andy had found her. Li Sun had been filled in by Andy on what service she was to provide the men of the Hopper family, and she was quite agreeable when she learned that the other three men had cocks nearly as big as Andy's. It seemed to her that the gods must be laughing at their joke on her, making her think that she surely was cursed when they were really leading her to a heaven on Earth. She would have to come up with a suitable sacrifice, but that could wait until later; right now, she was too busy enjoying her good fortune. Li Sun was told that, tonight, she would sleep with Will, since Josh and John were already provided for and Andy had been satisfied earlier in the day. Now they only needed one more woman to complete the circle. ------- Chapter 8 Author's note: So many people had asked me to write a Western with sex, that I thought that I would give it a shot. Don't read this story if the thought of blatant sex in the West offends you. Also, remember that this is a piece of fiction! Three days later, they were close to a small town, so Josh sent Andy in to pick up some supplies. All of the women wanted to go, too, since they all needed new clothes, and they were sure that the general store in town would have something that they would want. Andy was agreeable, so they all left early that morning with Andy on his horse and the three women in the mule-drawn wagon; Jasmine was driving, since she had learned how at the breeding farm. They arrived in the town in mid-morning and tied up in the shade in front of the general store. The three women went in while Andy was still fussing with loosening the cinch on his horse. It was a hot day, and Andy wanted his horse to have a chance to cool down in reasonable comfort. He was just about to step up on the sidewalk when he was met by the three women being thrown out of the store! He heard the tail end of a shout from inside, " ... AND STAY OUT! WE DON'T LIKE NIGGERS AN' INJUNS' AN' CHINKS IN THIS TOWN!" Andy caught the 3 women in his arms as they all tumbled to the sidewalk. "What the hell is goin' on?" Andy asked as he helped the women to their feet. Elizabeth said, "A couple of White galoots practically attacked us as we went into the store." "What did the store owner say?" "He didn't say nothin'. He looked as surprised as we were." "I better look in on this, an', afore y'all say it, I'll be careful." Andy went into the general store and saw two rough looking cowboy-types leaning against the counter talking to the clerk, who was probably also the owner. "Ya better listen ta what we're saying. We belong ta a gang what's tryin' ta clean up this here town, an' that means no more niggers or chinks or injuns inside the city limits." "B ... B ... But y'all can't treat my customers that way. I needs ta sell my stuff ta anybody what kin pay fer it, or I'll starve. I can't feed my family on jus' what the White folks kin buy." "That don't make no never mind! Ifen ya don't do what we say, ya may not have a store very long!" Andy had heard enough. He stuck his gun in the kidney of the tough who was doing all the talking and said, "Put up yer hands, or I'll scatter yer guts all over this poor man's store. An' yer friend better do the same, cuz I do gots an itchy trigger finger." The loud mouth said, "Gus, do what he said. Ifen he pulls that trigger, I'm a dead man." Both men raised their hands, and Andy relieved them of their guns and knives. He laid the hardware on the counter and ordered the men to tell him what was going on. The loudmouth said, "A bunch of us over at the Long Horn saloon have decided that this here town would be better off ifen there weren't nobody here but us White folks. We're gonna drive everybody else out." "But y'all can't do that. This here is Choctaw territory, an' they'er Injuns. What'er ya gonna do when they decide ta toss y'all out?" "They can't do that ta us White folks! We'll fight 'em!" "What y'all got, 10 or 12 fools against a couple thousand Choctaws. An' I 'spect that the Army won't take kindly ta yer stupidity, either. Now, git out of here afore I gits really mad 'bout the way y'all treated my friends." "What, ya're another nigger-lover? We'll git ya fer this." "Tain't likely! Now, git yer asses out of here afore I fergits and pulls this here trigger." They started to reach for their guns and knives on the counter, but Andy said, "I'll deliver those ta y'all later on, right now, y'all jus' git outta my sight!" The toughs left and the clerk said, "Thanks, Mister. I'm much obliged. Call yer lady friends back in an' I'll try ta accommodate 'em. Andy stuck his head out the door and called the women back inside. They all looked at him like a conquering hero; they had heard the conversation inside the store. Andy ordered the food and other supplies he wanted while the women looked over the few ready-made dresses there and the fabric on display. They did find some things they wanted and added them to the stack of stuff that Andy paid for. Once the items were loaded into the wagon and the women sent on their way back to the herd, Andy picked up the guns and knives and put them into a sack provided by the store clerk. He took the sack and walked toward the Long Horn saloon, carrying the sack in his left hand in case he needed to have his gun hand free of encumbrances. Just to be on the safe side, Andy drew his LeMat and reset the hammer to the shotgun position before returning it to it's holster, still set on half-cock. He stepped into the saloon and walked up to the bar. He dumped the guns from the sack onto the bar and announced, "I'm returnin' some guns and knives I picked up a little while ago. Ifen anybody is stupid enough to mess with me, I must warn 'im that my pistol is a LeMat, an' it's set fer the shotgun. So think 'bout it fer a minute afore ya're tempted ta draw. Shore, 10 or 12 of y'all is a passel ta fight, but my shotgun will make a real mess of several of y'all afore y'all kin put me down fer good. Jus' think 'bout it as I walk outta this here saloon." Nobody made a move for his gun as Andy walked back out the door and across the street, though he did hear a lot of acrimonious shouting after he left the saloon. Once back outside, he switched back to bullets and reholstered his pistol. Andy thought about the situation for a moment and diverted his path to the gunsmith down the street. Andy's visit to the gunsmith was more fruitful than he had expected. It took every bit of the cash he had, but he bought 4 used Navy Colt revolvers with holsters, a bullet mold, and 4 powder flasks. The women should have some means of protecting themselves, and he figured that the Navy Colt was adequate for the job. Sure, the .36 caliber bullets wouldn't stop a charging horse, but they sure would slow a man down! He hurried to catch up to the women and rode the rest of the way with them to he herd. He talked to Josh for a few minutes, before riding off to tend to his scouting chores. That evening, Andy passed out the pistols and holsters and started training the women on gun safety and the proper use of the pistol. The first thing he did was get them fitted with the gun belts so that they could carry their guns comfortably. Once that was done, he made sure that they understood the difference between half-cock and full-cock. He had them do some dry-firing just so they could get used to the feel of the gun, but he didn't want to push them too hard, since none of the women were really sure that they wanted to mess with guns. He overcame that argument with the simple question: what would they do if a friend's life was in danger, and the danger could only be overcome with a gun? This was Andy's night with Jasmine, so they disrobed and lay down on their blankets. Andy asked, "Do you really like yer pussy hair? Ya know Elizabeth and Sun have gotten rid of their's? "Yes, I know. We talked about it, but I didn't see any reason to crop mine. Would ya like fer me ta git rid of it. I would ifen ya want me ta." "Yeah, I would like fer ya ta lose it. I feel like it gits in the way, sometimes. An' I shore don't like it in my mouth. I'd spend a whole lot more time chewin' on yer clit ifen ya got rid of the hair." "Shit, I didn't know that! I'll git rid of it, tomorrow, cuz I shore do like fer ya ta chew on my clit and tongue my pussy. Now, let's git down ta business; I likes everythin' ya does ta me!" Jasmine had been learning to give blow jobs; that sort of wastage had been discouraged at the breeding farm, so she had been learning on the job as she serviced the Hoppers. She had a very large mouth, so she did not have as much trouble as the other women with getting those monster pricks past her teeth. However, she was having as much trouble overcoming the gag reflex as were the others. Jasmine practiced diligently every night; she had promised herself that one day she would successfully swallow Andy's cock, and she was determined to fulfill her vow. As it was, she could manage about 4 inches in her mouth while she jacked vigorously on the external portion of his shaft. Meanwhile, she sucked and massaged the part of his cock that she could reach with her tongue. She kept it up until Andy warned her that he was about to shoot; she backed up a little on his cock to give herself some operating room and was ready when he began to shoot. Andy dumped a copious quantity of semen into her mouth, and she had to work fast to get it all swallowed. Jasmine took it upon herself as a matter of pride to get it all down her throat and not spill a drop. Usually, she was successful, but sometimes she failed to get it all, but it was not for lack of trying. They relaxed back on the blankets while Andy recovered, and Jasmine asked, "Would ya like ta be the one ta pull it out?" Andy was still not functioning on all cylinders, so he was puzzled and asked, "Pull out what?" "My pussy hair, silly. Would ya like ta be the one ta pull out my pussy hair?" "I don't know. Won't it hurt?" "Shore, it'll hurt. But not as much ifen ya do it. I got so much pussy hair that we pro'bly can't do it all at one time, but we kin start tonight ifen ya want to." "Shore, OK, I'll do it. What do we need ta do?" "I'll git the tweezers an' ya kin start, now. Don't go away. I'll be right back." Jasmine hopped up and went to her pack of things that she had bought at the general store and came back a moment later brandishing some tweezers, which she handed to Andy. She lay down on her back and spread her legs. "OK, go ahead and start pulling. Just pull one at a time soz it don't hurt too much." Andy looked closely at what he had to work with and decided to start near her clit. He gathered his courage and grasped a single hair in the tweezers' grip and pulled slowly. Jasmine groaned and said, "Pull it quick-like. It'll hurt less." Andy worked diligently for nearly half an hour and got a respectable area cleared around Jasmine's clit, but he could see that it was going to take a while to uncover her whole pussy. Jasmine said, "I think that's about all I kin take right now; we'll have ta let the rest go fer a while. Let's go back ta fuckin'." Andy had to admit that he was tired of squinting in the half-light of the campfire, and he, too, was ready to resume fucking, which they did. Jasmine confessed to herself that she did not enjoy the fucking as much that night because of the residual pain from having her hair pulled out, but she was resolute: if that's what Andy wanted, then she would lose the hair! But she would have to find a better time for him to do the job. The next morning, as Andy was leaving camp to start his scouting swing, he heard a gunshot and a bullet whizzed past his head. He looked around quickly and spotted a wisp of powder smoke drifting away from some trees off to his right. Without giving the matter any real thought, he turned his horse in that direction and raced toward where he had seen the smoke. When he got a little closer, he began to swerve back and forth to throw off the aim of the shooter. He must have been successful, because the next bullet from the same area was not even close. Andy kept up this swinging back and forth until he got pretty close to the shooter, who had fired off two more shots without scoring a hit on anything but Andy's disposition. He was plenty mad when he got to the clump of trees, so he was ready to chew logs and spit toothpicks. He dismounted in what was almost a flying leap and ran among the trees. Andy caught a glimpse of the man doing the shooting as he ducked away from Andy. The fool was still trying to use his Henry rifle among the trees, instead of switching to his pistol, so Andy was not in as much danger as he might have been. The long barrel of the rifle just could not be maneuvered in among the trees as could a pistol, so Andy had a distinct advantage when he drew his LeMat and tried to get a clear shot at his attacker. The man tried several times to swing the Henry to bear on Andy, but kept banging it against tree trunks and limbs. Finally, he got smart and dropped the rifle in order to draw his pistol. Andy snapped off a shot at him, but did not hit the man. The man fired back, and Andy realized that he had another advantage: the other man had only 5 shots in his pistol, while Andy had 9, if he counted the shotgun. Andy decided that his best strategy was to try to get the man to exchange shots with him, either to make the man run out of bullets in his own gun, or to make him think that Andy was out when he had fired his fifth shot. Either way, Andy stood a good chance of getting a free shot or two at his attacker. Andy still needed to be careful, so he tried to keep a tree trunk between himself and the other man. Of course, the other man had the same idea, so it was something of a cat-and-mouse game, but the question was: who was the cat? Andy tried to draw a shot by showing a bit too much of his hat, but the other guy was too smart to fall for that, so Andy had to try something else. He decided to try wasting shots in hopes that the other man would do something stupid. Andy squatted down and fired two shots at the tree where the man was hiding. Somewhat to Andy's surprise, three shots came flying back at him. If Andy had counted correctly the other guy should be down to only one bullet. Oh, shit, the other guy might also have a second gun! Andy had not considered that in his original plan, so now there was a lot more uncertainty in the equation. Andy had decided to try sneaking around his tree and flanking his attacker when he heard another gun fire from a little deeper among the trees. There was a scream of pain from the attacker, followed by silence. Andy heard Josh's voice, "Andy, ... Son, are ya OK?" "Yeah, Pa, I'm fine. Thanks fer the he'p. This here bastard was givin' me a might of trouble. Let's see who he is." The two men met at the fallen body of the man who had taken the original shot at Andy, and Andy took a good look at his face. "Shit, Pa, that's the galoot what was givin' our women a hard time, yesterday." "Well, Son, it looks like he set out ta git even with ya fer embarrassin' him in front of his friends. At least, we don't have ta worry 'bout that there bastard any more. "By the way, ya really ought ta wait fer he'p afore ya go traipsin' off hell fer leather like ya did. I seen the whole thin', an' I was on my way ta he'p as soon as I could git around all them damned beeves." "Yeah, Pa, I know ya're right, but I seen his powder smoke an' was afeared of losin' 'im ifen I didn't go after 'im right away. I figured that I could sashay around enough that he couldn't hit me, since he didn't with that first shot. Hell, I was a sittin' duck an' he blew it. He should of been ashamed of himself over missin' me with that lousy first shot! But I am glad he did miss!" Josh said, "Well, we got some good out of his stupidity—a Henry rifle and some other valuables. Also, let's see ifen we kin find his hoss. All that should pay fer our powder an' shot." ------- Chapter 9 As usual, Andy spent most of the day on his scouting assignment before returning to the herd. He was met by Jasmine, holding the tweezers and wearing nothing below her waist. "Andy, I needs ya ta do yer hair pullin' now, cuz last night the pain put me a bit off my feed. I want ya ta pull now soz I kin rest afore my fuck session with yer pa." "I'm agreeable, but I'll need ta talk ta Pa fer a few minutes 'bout my scouting, afore I does anythin' else. Ya climb inta the wagon, an' I'll be with ya in a minute." Jasmine nodded, and Andy went to talk to Josh about what he had found on his scouting trip. There was nothing remarkable, so Andy finished quickly and joined Jasmine in the wagon. Jasmine was lying on her back on a blanket with her legs spread. Andy climbed between her legs and prepared to pull out her pussy hair, one strand at a time. The hair was curly and a bit matted, so he had to look closely at what he was doing. Actually, working in the afternoon with the daylight to see by, he was able to work faster than he had the night before. He had worked well down her left pussy lip and was nearing the bottom, when Jasmine spoke up. "Andy, I needs ya ta give it a rest fer a few minutes. It's startin' ta hurt right smart, soz I got an idee what we kin do while it eases off. Ya come up here an' let me practice sucking on yer pecker fer a while." Andy was feeling the pressure of being that close to Jasmine's pussy, so he was glad for the relief she offered. Jasmine started to suck on Andy's cock and try to get it as far down her throat as she could manage. She did, by diligent effort, manage to get the head into her throat before the gag reflex took over. She had to back off, then, but she had managed to accommodate more of his cock than ever before, so she felt like she was making progress. Meanwhile, because of space limitations in the wagon, Andy had switched around so that his head was near Jasmine's pussy. He couldn't resist, so he began licking the area that he had just plucked. This area, of course, was very sensitive, so his tongue was having a momentous effect on Jasmine. She was rising to orgasm as Andy licked, so she began to bounce around a little at both her ends. Every time her ass came off the wagon bed, so did her head. In effect, Andy was fucking Jasmine's mouth as she moved up and down on his prick. This was pushing him toward a climax, too. When Andy switched from licking Jasmine's pussy lips to sucking and nibbling on her clit, she reached her peak and started a heavy orgasm. This caused her to buck her hips and her head, so much so that she jammed almost the full length of Andy's pecker down her throat. Her reaction was to start to gag in earnest, and the motions of her throat muscles on Andy's cock were a feeling like he had never experienced before! This brought him, too, over the top, and Andy's squirted his usual copious quantity of semen down Jasmine's throat. By some miracle, through the gag spasms, she felt this flow of semen and was excited even further. She reveled in what she had accomplished, and this was enough to conquer the gaging. She actually had a few moments to enjoy her triumph before she had to push Andy off of her so that she could breathe. Jasmine's throat was holding around Andy's prick so tight that it was hard for him to pull out without hurting her. Fortunately, he had immediately started to go limp and shrink as much as he ever did, so he was able to withdraw without causing any injury to Jasmine's throat. Jasmine gasped and carried on as she tried to draw in enough breath. Andy had turned around and, as soon as she had recovered her breath, he placed a soul-searing kiss on her mouth in thanks for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. A man's first deep throat experience is something to cherish! They both were exhausted after that oral sex experience, so that was the end of the hair extraction business for that day. Andy managed to get his clothes readjusted without any bother, but Jasmine was besieged by the other women before she could recover enough to put on her clothes. They had watched the whole exhibition with rapt attention and peppered Jasmine for pointers on how they could accomplish the same feat. Publicly, Jasmine was appropriately humble about her accomplishment, but, privately, she was very pleased with herself! That evening, Andy was still sated with the spectacular blow job, so he didn't mind spending the night alone, but he hoped to end that deprivation in the very near future. The next day, Andy was out scouting, as usual. It was about mid-morning and he was looking for a place to take a short break. He saw a grove of trees off in the distance that looked like the perfect place for a short rest, so he headed in that direction at a comfortable lope. As he got closer, he saw that there was a cabin nestled among the trees. Andy was one of those people who never met a stranger, so he thought to stop in for a few minutes of conversation. Besides, he might learn something useful for the trail drive. As he rode up to the front door, Andy heard a woman's voice yell out in pain, and this was followed only a moment later by the sound of cloth tearing. He didn't know what to make of these sounds, so he walked around the house to investigate. He walked around the house to the back yard and saw something which caused him to stop short. A naked White woman was tied, standing between two trees. Her arms and legs were stretched out so that her arms and legs were pulled tight between the two trees, and the yell of pain must have been when one of the ropes was pulled tight. Her dress was lying on the ground beside her; she was completely helpless and exposed, both front and back, as she stood there. Her face was quite pleasant, though she was no raving beauty, but her body was one that any woman would have loved to have. He breasts were the size of half-grapefruits and stood out proudly from her chest; her nipples and areolas were enough to grab any man's interest, both for size and color. Her waist was trim, with no excess fat, but she was by no means skinny. Her pubic bush was only slightly darker than her blond hair, and barely covered her pussy. Her legs seemed to go on forever, finally ending in dainty feet. All of her was in perfect proportion for her 5 feet, 4 inches of height. Standing near her was an older man, possibly 45-years-old, who looked as crude and mean as any alligator to be seen in the Gulf Coast swamps. He was a giant, covered all over with black, unruly hair, and Andy could smell him, even though he was nearly 20 feet away. The man's back was to Andy, so he had not seen him approach. The man said, "I'll teach ya not to deny me anything, ya stupid bitch. By the time I'm through with ya, ya'll be begging me ta fuck yer ass, an' ya'll want ta clean me off with yer tongue." He was brandishing a very cruel looking whip. By this time, the woman was crying, but not saying anything. The man raised the whip for his first strike when Andy yelled, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, MISTER! YA SWING THAT THERE WHIP AN' I'LL BLOW YER FUCKING HEAD OFF! NOW, WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN' ON?" "SHUT YER TRAP AN' GIT OUT OF HERE WHILE I DISCIPLINE MY WIFE! IT AIN'T NONE OF YER FUCKIN' BUSINESS WHAT I'M DOIN'." More calmly, now that Andy had caused the man to lower the whip, he said, "I'm makin' it my business. Even ifen she is yer wife, ya got no right ta stripe her with that there whip." The woman cried, "MISTER, HE AIN'T REALLY MY HUSBAND! HE STOLE ME FROM A FARM 'BOUT 25 MILES FROM HERE. HE WANTS TA FUCK ME AN' I REFUSED! PLEASE HE'P ME!" Andy said, "OK, Mister, what's yer side of the story? The woman don't seem ta want nothin' ta do with ya." "Shit! She's just a woman. She ain't got no say-so. I got her an' I want her. That's enough." "No way, Mister. Not in my book. Ifen ya ain't legally married, then ya ain't got no hold over her. It's yer word against hers, an' I'm more likely ta believe her. I'm gonna cut her loose, an' ya best not try ta interfere." Andy walked toward the woman and took out his bowie knife. He had cut the rope holding her right hand and was reaching to cut the one holding her left hand when the man charged him as if to strike him with the whip. Without hesitation, Andy stepped in close to the man under the swing of the whip and stabbed him in the gut. Andy felt the knife go in about 6 inches before he jerked up on the knife, cutting a major slit in the man's belly. The man grabbed at them as his guts began to spill out of his body, but Andy never paused in his defense. Andy whipped the knife out of the man's gut and slashed it across his neck, neatly slicing his throat and cutting both arteries and veins. Blood gushed everywhere, coating both Andy and the woman quite thoroughly. Andy stepped back, and the erstwhile husband fell at the woman's feet. She leaned over as best she could and spit in his face. Andy finished cutting her loose from the trees and helped her to walk back into the house. When they got inside, the woman began to laugh hysterically. Andy didn't know what to do, so he left her alone. Finally, she calmed down and said, "Thank you, Sir, for saving me. I think that the monster would have killed me, cuz I was never gonna do what he wanted from me. He wanted a sex slave, an' I wuz not gonna give in ta him. I'm Sue Ann Jones, an' the bastard killed my whole family when they tried ta stop him from takin' me. He got what he deserved, an' I'm glad that I could see it happen!" "Howdy, Miss Jones. I'm Andy Hopper from Texas. I'm a scout fer my family's trail herd what's a few miles from here. I'm pleased that I could he'p ya, but ya need some clothes, an' I'd like ta git this blood cleaned off. Do ya got some place where I kin wash up?" "Oh, yes, Mr. Hopper. There's a wash tub what's big enough. Ya take off them clothes, an' I'll wash 'em up fer ya while ya're bathing." "I couldn't do that, Miss Jones. I'd be naked in front of ya, an' I don't want ta embarrass ya." "Come, now, Mr. Hopper. Ya're seeing me naked right now, so it seems only fair that I see ya the same way." Sue Ann Jones said this with a grin. "Ya git the water an' I'll heat it fer ya. The stove is still plenty hot from breakfast." Andy brought several buckets of water from the well for Sue Ann to heat, and she insisted that he put the tub in the middle of the room while he bathed. This was a monster tub, so it needed a lot of water to fill it to an appropriate level. Once Andy had removed his clothes, which he did while facing away from Sue Ann, he stepped into the tub. Amazingly enough, in all of the excitement of the confrontation and fight that morning, Andy had never gotten an erection, so he was hanging limp when he got into the tub. Without thinking about it, Andy turned to face Sue Ann and she gasped and nearly fainted when she saw his cock. Without thinking of what she was doing, she reached out and grabbed hold of his cock in both of her hands. She stepped closer to examine this miracle of nature and bent over to see it more easily. This attention was all Andy's cock needed to become rigid and to try to assume its normal position while erect. It was jerked out of Sue Ann's hands; she simply was not strong enough to hang on when it was ready to salute her. Sue Ann mumbled to herself, "Oh ... my ... God! Would ya look at the size of that thing. I ain't never seen anythin' like it, afore." As if mesmerized, she stepped closer, which meant that she joined Andy in the tub and pressed her pussy and belly up against his cock. She embraced him and said, "I'm a virgin, but I gots ta feel that thing inside me!" Andy said, "Ma'am, are ya shore. Ya can't go back ta bein' a virgin later on, ifen ya changes yer mind." "Oh, yes, I'm shore. None of my brothers or my pa was that big. I seen my pa hump ma, soz I know how ta do it, an' I'm ready right now. Let's git this blood washed off, soz ya kin show me what it feels like." They quickly washed each other and dried off as best they could, before adjourning to the bed. Sue Ann lay down on her back and spread her legs. She said, "I ain't never done this afore, soz ya'll have ta go slow 'til I git the hang of it." "Don't ya worry, I been taught by an expert, soz I should be able to make ya like it, even ifen it is yer first time. The main thing ta know and remember is not ta be in too much of a hurry. Let's start out with kissin'. Ya know how ta do that, I s'pose." "Yes, I did that with my family, soz I ought ta know how." "That ain't the kind of kissin' I had in mind. Here, let me show ya." It took a minute or two for Sue Ann to get the idea of using her tongue, but she was a tiger with it when she understood the pleasures associated with vigorous tongue work while kissing. They kissed for another 10 minutes, and Sue Ann didn't want to quit when Andy broke away. She complained, but he said, "I got some other things ta show ya, so let's give 'em a try." Andy nibbled on Sue Ann's ear lobes, and that nearly jerked her off the bed. What is it about women's ear lobes? Whatever it was, Andy liked the result. After spending a few minutes on her ear lobes, he began kissing down her shoulders to her chest. He had started massaging her breasts when he first began kissing his way down the front, and he continued to play with one breast while he kissed the other breast. He had thoroughly covered both breasts with kisses, except that he had avoided her nipples; Sue Ann was getting awfully twitchy by then, so his first touch of a nipple with his lips was almost enough to cause her to explode. Andy kissed and sucked and gently chewed on both nipples as Sue Ann began to puff and blow. He was putting a powerful suction on one nipple when he started rolling the other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She really reacted to that, so, when he pinched her nipple a bit, she burst into her first full orgasm not caused by herself. At this point, Sue Ann bounced around enough that she nearly threw Andy off the bed. He let her come down from that high and then started to kiss down her abdomen toward her pussy. Her growth of pubic hair was so sparse that he hardly noticed it as he kissed farther down toward her pussy slit. He was surprised when he got there to find that she did not have any hair on her pussy lips. This was a pleasant surprise and he dug in her slit with his tongue, looking for her clit. There it was, poking out of its hood like a tiny cock. He grasped it with his lips and began to beat it with his tongue. Meanwhile, he rubbed his fingers up and down in her pussy slit to gather as much oil as he could manage. She didn't have very much, and Andy wondered if she would be able to generate enough to handle his tremendous girth. He was not worried about her being able to stretch enough, as long as he was patient, but he was afraid of hitting a dry spot. Andy got enough liquid on his fingers that he worked them into her tight hole. He may have been overly cautious, since Sue Ann was his first virgin, but Sarah had given him the confidence to press on. He worked his fingers back and forth at the entrance to her cunt hole, trying to loosen it up and get Sue Ann to relax her tight muscles. Andy's rubbing at her entrance and his treatment of her clit soon had her approaching another orgasm. He worked her up to the peak and then led her over. This time, Sue Ann let out a monster sigh, but she never screamed or gave any other outward sign of what had happened. This orgasm caused her pussy muscles to relax and a lot more liquid poured out of her cunt. Andy thought that this was finally the time to try to penetrate her while she was still somewhat relaxed. He got into position and rubbed his cock head in her slit to get some oil on it. This activity aroused Sue Ann enough that she began to take an interest in what he was doing. She raised her legs and rested her heels on Andy's hips as he found her hole and slowly worked his way through the outer muscles. They were still fully relaxed, so this part was easy. However, he soon found her cherry, and that was a different story. Every time Andy put any pressure on it, Sue Ann grimaced in pain. Andy wondered what he was going to do to break through it without causing Sue Ann undue pain. Before he could work out a solution, Sue Ann lost patience. She used her feet on his hips for leverage and jerked herself up onto his prick. This time he broke through, but Sue Ann screamed in pain. Andy froze and so did she. They held their positions for two full minutes, until Sue Ann again lost patience and pulled herself up around Andy's pecker. Suddenly, they hit a dry spot. Andy had her relax back onto the bed while he worked his way up and down until there was enough oil spread where they needed it. This was the last holdup; Andy was able to work his cock down into Sue Ann's cunt until he met her cervix. She was startled, since she had no real idea of her internal construction. All she knew was that it hurt for Andy to bang against that barrier a hell of a lot more than it had hurt to broach her cherry, so she was glad when he backed off slightly. Andy began to stroke about 5-6 inches at a time, and Sue Ann was pulled to the biggest orgasm so far. This was enough to trigger Andy, and his spurts pushed her even higher until she fainted. It felt so good to him that he collapsed on top of her, and they both lay there nearly half an hour until they both regained consciousness. ------- Chapter 10 The couple on the bed finally recovered, so Sue Ann fulfilled her promise to wash the blood from Andy's clothes. They talked as she washed. "I don't know what I'm gonna do. My folks is all dead, and I can't stay on the farm by myself. Ifen I tried, some other bastard would try to take me afore I could git turned around. Ain't there sumpthin' ya kin do fer me?" "Well, ya could join the drive ifen my pa agrees. We got 3 women with us already, soz ya would have company. The one thing ya gotta know is that we fuck the women every night, an ya would have ta join in. Are ya interested in that?" "Well, I ain't shore. How many of y'all would I have ta fuck? I ain't shore I want ta be passed around from man ta man that way." "There's four of us men, my pa an' two brothers besides me. I gots ta warn ya that we all have big peckers. I'm the biggest of the bunch, but the others are near as big." "My God! Ya mean there's 4 cocks in this world that big? Shit, in that case I'd be a fool ta turn down yer offer. Count me in." "OK, that's mighty fine. Oh, I almost fergot, the other women are one nigger, one Injun, and one chink. That ain't gonna bother ya, is it?" "No, I ain't in no position ta do much complainin'. I kin git along fine with anybody, soz I don't expect no trouble. Shit, I can't get over the idee of 4 cocks that big! I can't hardly wait ta try all of y'all out." Sue Ann's dress was a total loss, so they dug through the clothes they found in the cabin and came up with some pants and a shirt that she could wear. The clothes didn't fit worth a damn, but they did cover her enough to get by. She climbed on the horse behind Andy, and they rode to the trail herd. The men were glad to see Sue Ann, since this now gave them all a woman every night. Andy explained what had happened, talked a few minutes about Sue Ann, and rode back out to finish his scouting chores. Sue Ann joined the other women in the wagon, and they explained their operating rules for her. She was interested in their talk about the men preferring bare pussies, and listened to what all the women had to say about having their hair pulled out by the roots. She decided she was willing to go along with what the men wanted, but she wasn't looking forward to the experience. All of the women admitted the process was painful, but worth it if it helped them to stay with the men. All of the men were reputed to be great fuckers, so anything that helped the women stay was worth doing. Andy ran late getting back to the herd that evening, so John volunteered to help out Jasmine with her pussy hair removal that day. He got about as much hair pulled out as Andy had, but Jasmine didn't suck his cock because he was due to service Sue Ann that night, and he didn't want to do anything that would reduce his ability to fill her. Sue Ann watched closely as John worked, and took some mental notes on just how and who she wanted working on her. She was grateful that she didn't have as much hair to remove as Jasmine, so she wouldn't have to put up with the pain as long as Jasmine did. Before her tryst that night, Sue Ann received some pointers on cock sucking from Jasmine, who was now acknowledged as being the resident expert on the subject. Actually, Jasmine didn't know a whole lot more than the other women about blow jobs, but she was the only one who had succeeded in having a deep throat experience. John was particularly attracted to oral sex, and the women did their best to accommodate him, so Sue Ann paid close attention to what Jasmine could tell her. Mostly, the rules to live by, or was that "suck by," were to be careful with the teeth, to use the tongue as much as possible, and to swallow all that he shot. Sue Ann hoped that she could remember all that in the excitement of the act, but she was going to try. Josh had promised to get Sue Ann some new clothes at the next town they came to, but she would just have to put up with what she had or go naked. She did decide to remain clothed, but playfully toyed with the idea of choosing the alternative, just to see what the effect would be on the men. The other women each had a dress which was worn at supper, with, of course, nothing on under it. By changing from their shirt and trousers attire to the dress before supper, they were ready for whatever attentions the men wanted to give at supper and afterward. Each woman ate supper beside her partner for the night, and he usually spent at least some of the time with his hand under her skirt and playing with her pussy. This normally involved massaging her clit while jacking a finger back and forth in her vagina, in fact, there was an informal contest among the men to see who could make his partner come first before the end of supper. This did wonders to improve the taste of the usual supper of beef, biscuits, and beans. And now, there would be no problem with only three women for the four men. A woman would squat instead of actually sitting in anticipation of allowing her man a better access to her cunt. She would start out with her knees spread and her skirt pulled down over them, but it would not be long before the skirt was pushed up to her waist to allow full access to her pussy and its attractions. Occasionally, an orgasm achieved at this time would be enough to have the woman simply fall over onto her back with her legs in the air. The first time this happened to Jasmine, she insisted on being fucked right then, she would tolerate no delay! Sue Ann didn't have a dress for the occasion, so she solved the problem by showing up for supper wearing only her shirt; everybody was impressed with her enthusiasm for the game. Sue Ann had never come from somebody else manipulating her sex organs, and the novelty had her winning the quick come prize for the night. She collapsed on her back and spilled her beans all over her lap as she tumbled back. Everybody laughed, but John put the crowning touch on the evening by eating the spilled beans off her pussy. What really got everybody steamed up was the fact that Sue Ann came again before John finished licking the sauce from her pussy slit. Sue Ann returned the favor later that evening by spending nearly her whole waking time with John licking and sucking his cock. Though he had several years of sexual experience, this was the first time John had a woman who was willing and eager to suck him to more than one ejaculation in the same session. They did have one quick fuck before they quit, but Sue Ann was still a bit sore from her deflowering by Andy that morning. Both she and John were completely satisfied by the experience, and Sue Ann was now sure that she had made the right choice when she joined the Hopper clan. It wasn't until 2 days later that there was a town within easy reach, and that was when Andy took the women in to get Sue Ann some new clothes. They had just reached the center of town when they heard a voice call out, "Sue Ann Jones, does yer pa know that ya're runnin' around dressed like that. Why, that's disgraceful, ya're consortin' with a nigger." The person talking so loud was a White woman who looked to be about 35-40 years old. Sue Ann answered, "My whole family was murdered, and these fine folks, including this nigger took me in when I didn't have no place else ta go. Miz. Simmons, I'll thank ya ta keep a civil tongue when they kin hear ya." "Sue Ann Jones, ya can't talk ta me like that. Humph! Wait 'til I tell this ta my Josiah." "Humph, yerself! Mind yer own business, ya old biddy!" Andy asked, "Sue Ann, who the hell was that?" "Oh, she's just an old troublemaker what has always been a trial ta me. I don't know why she don't like me, but we never got along. Josiah is her husband, and he's just as bad." By then, they had reached the general store, and they all went inside. The selection of clothing for women was very limited, but they did find the necessary minimum to outfit Sue Ann while she was on the drive. They hurried to get back to the herd so that Andy could do his scouting before it got too late. That evening, as they were just about to settle down to supper, and all of the women were wearing their dresses, a bunch of men rode up to the camp and demanded to see the trail boss. There were 13 men in the gang, and they were led by a man who was obviously swollen up with his own importance. Will quietly told the women to go get their guns, but not to make a big deal out of it; they should keep their guns concealed unless trouble started. The self important leader announced, "I am the Reverend Josiah Simmons, an' I am here to rescue Sue Ann Jones from you heathens. These men are of like mind an' will enforce my demands." Josh said, "Sue Ann, do ya want ta go with these men? Ya don't have ta ifen ya don't want ta." "No, Sir, Josh! I don't want nothin' ta do with these people. Simmons is the self-appointed parson of a holy-roller church a few miles from where I used ta live, an' he has always accused me an' my family of not being Christian enough fer him. Please protect me from him an' his people." Josh said, "OK, Simmons, ya heard the lady. Now, git yerself an' yer gang out of my camp afore I lose my temper!" "YA CAN'T TALK TA ME LIKE THAT! I AM A PREACHER OF GOD'S WORD, AND WHAT I SAY CARRIES HIS AUTHORITY! Brother Samuel, cut me a switch so that I may teach this girl how to respect her betters." A man started to dismount, and this was enough to push Josh too far. He drew his pistol so fast, he looked like a professional gunslinger. "Ya git off that there hoss, an' I'll blow ya ta hell!" The man sheepishly settled back into his saddle. The entire Hopper clan, male and female, now had their pistols out and pointed at the gang on horseback. Josh asked Sue Ann, "What should we do with this bunch? I'll leave it up ta ya ta decide." Sue Ann frowned and said, "This here gang once rode up to our farm an' horsewhipped my pa nearly ta death fer sumpthin'; I disremember what it was, but I do remember that it was sumpthin' trivial. I'd like ta shoot all of 'em, but I guess we better not." Will said, "I know what ta do. I seen it done durin' the war once by Col. Mosby when I wuz in Virginia. Let's do this..." Every one in the Hopper clan laughed when he described what he wanted to do, and Sue Ann was particularly in favor of it. The 4 male Hoppers kept their guns trained on the men on horseback, while the women did the detail work. Each man, starting with Rev. Simmons, was forced to dismount and drop his gun. The women then tied the man's hands behind his back, after which they pulled off his pants and underwear if he had any. They also removed his boots and socks, so that he was naked from the waist, down. The man was forced to remount and his feet were tied with a rope running under the horses belly so that he couldn't put his feet in the stirrups. Several of the men cried out in pain as they pinched their balls when they no longer had the stirrups to support them off the saddle and help them keep their balance. The women particularly enjoyed the embarrassment of the men when they were seen without their pants. The men's pants were cut into strips and used for blindfolds for the men. Each horse and rider was led out of camp and sent off in a random direction; it was assumed that the horses would eventually get hungry and head home, but there was no way for the riders to direct them. A very rough ride could be expected for all, and every man would suffer a very bad case of pinched balls! Actually, it would be hard to say which the men would hate the most, the pain from the pinched balls or the pain of embarrassment when the word got around the town of what had happened to them that night. It took well over 2 hours to do all this, but nobody minded having his supper run late. The sex play during and after supper was especially enjoyable for all that night. Things were more or less back to normal the next morning, and Andy rode out to continue scouting. They were approaching the nebulous border between the Choctaw and Cherokee territories, but soon they would definitely be in the Cherokee Nation. This was when Elizabeth would have to make her decision of how to live the rest of her life. She had to decide whether or not to return to her parents' home and resume the life of a normal Cherokee woman. Her alternative choice was to remain with the Hoppers. If she resumed her life as a Cherokee, she would soon marry and settle down to a mundane existence as a run-of-the-mill housewife with a very ordinary husband. On the other hand, if she stayed with the Hoppers, she would probably never marry, but she would have 4 husbands who would fuck her very often, if not every night, with the most impressive cocks west of the Mississippi River. If she had children by the Hoppers (she did not yet know that she was pregnant), they would be illegitimate, but that counted for little in the male-starved land of Texas at that time. Elizabeth had to decide soon, but she didn't have to decide on this day. Andy rode northeast, heading in the general direction of Sedalia, MO, but he was mainly looking for areas of good grass and plenty of water. The trail was not yet well established, so he didn't have a marked route to follow. There were few people settled in this area, so he was free to range pretty much as he pleased. They were the first herd of the season, so there was usually plenty of fine grass for the cattle to graze on as they trekked north to the railhead. This made Andy's job a lot easier, a fact for which he was thankful. The area through which they were traveling at the moment was generally flat and featureless, except for a few rolling hills and clumps of trees along waterways. In fact, these clumps of trees were usually what Andy looked for as he scouted for the water needed by the cattle. The cattle needed water as much as they did grass, so it was very important that Andy find the best sources. Usually, he found plenty of water, but the plain was fairly dry along here, so he was having trouble finding enough water. He had seen a promising line of trees in the distance, so he headed in that direction, almost certain that he would find the water he was searching for. Yes, there was water, and there was plenty of it. He had found just what he needed, so he rode in that direction with confidence. It was not until he got close to the water and the trees that he spotted trouble. He saw 6 horses hobbled near the water, and there were two men carrying rifles walking back and forth as if they were guarding something. Andy hoped for the best, but expected the worst as he rode toward the two men. When he got close, one of the guards whistled, and 4 more men stood up from where they had been lying in the shade under the trees. One of the men walked toward Andy and held up his hand for Andy to halt. Andy stopped and the man walked up to about 10 feet in front of Andy's horse. Ever polite, Andy nodded his head and said "Howdy, is there some sort of problem?" The man answered, "No, there ain't no problem as long as ya pay the price we charge fer our water." "What do ya mean, 'Yer water?'" "We've staked our claim ta this water, an' we charges 25 cents fer every man or beast what drinks from it." "That's highway robbery! Can't no trail herd pay that kind of money fer waterin' the beeves. I'll jus' have ta find another place." "Good luck with that. There ain't no other place ta water a herd fer 10 miles in any direction. Ya got no choice, ya pays our price or yer herd gits no water." "I'll have ta tell the trail boss 'bout this. It ain't sumpthin' that I kin decide. I'm leavin' now ta give him the word." ------- Chapter 11 "Shit, where do those bastards get off thinking that they kin charge fer water that way?" Josh looked over the number of cattle he had and said, "Fer one thing, I ain't got enough cash ta pay that much, even ifen I wanted ta. Ten miles is too far ta push the cattle this late in the day. Tell the women ta git their guns ready, cuz we may need their he'p when the time comes ta reason with those galoots." They continued to push the cattle toward the water and soon saw it in the distance. The cattle detected the smell of water in the air and picked up their pace. They were tired from the long walk that day, but were aroused a bit by the prospect of water. Josh had already explained his plan of action if the men tried to keep the cattle away from the water, so everybody was ready. The women were all mounted on spare horses and wearing their trousers and pistols. They were spaced out along the rear of the herd which was spread out on a broad front. This gave almost every animal a clear line to the water. When they got close enough, two men rode out from the trees and brandished their rifles. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! WE WANT OUR MONEY AFORE YER CATTLE KIN DRINK!" "GIT THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY! WE'RE COMIN' THROUGH!" yelled Josh. One of the men started to point his rifle at Josh, but, before he could take aim, Josh yelled, "PUSH THE CATTLE THROUGH! DO IT NOW!" With that signal, all of the Hopper clan began to shout and fire their pistols in the air. The startled cattle, including the herd leader, jumped at the sudden noise and took off at a dead run for the water. They ran right over the two men who had so rashly stopped in front of the herd; the men and their horses were pounded into mush in a few seconds as the cattle thundered by. This never developed into a full scale stampede, since the cattle were tired and the water was so close. The cattle stopped running when they got to the water; the water was shallow and covered a goodly sized area, so every steer got its own little spot of water free of pushing and shoving and shit. The cattle knew when they were well off and settled down immediately. It was somewhat difficult to tell what had happened to the rest of the gang. One of the men was seen riding off as fast as his horse could carry him, but the other three were never spotted. They may have been crushed by the cattle or they may have run off, but the Hoppers never bothered themselves about those petty details—it was enough that the cattle had reached the water without significant loss. They butchered a couple that had died in the run for the water and had monster steaks for supper that night. The women were especially happy with the day's events, since they now felt that they were an essential part of the Hopper clan, and not just a bunch of fuck toys. All of the men made a point of telling the women how important their participation in the adventure had been and how much their efforts were appreciated. This little escapade was the final straw that made Elizabeth's mind up for her—she intended to stay with the Hopper men if they would have her. The sex was particularly spirited that night and all 8 participants went to sleep fully satisfied. The next morning started off pretty much as a routine day, but the women announced that they wanted to ride horses and help manage the herd. Josh pointed out that this was not expected duty for them, but they would be welcome if they really wanted to join in the work. The women decided that each would like to join her partner for the upcoming evening and ride with him as he worked the drive. This raised a little problem about what Andy was to do, but he readily agreed to allow Li Sun to ride with him as he scouted. He was not expecting any danger in this segment of the trail, so her company would be more than welcome. Andy and Li Sun rode out right after breakfast; the other women said that they would cover for her with the after-breakfast chores. Li Sun was not all that used to riding a horse, but she was determined to learn what she needed to know to be a partner and not a burden. She was proudly dressed in her shirt and trousers and wearing her pistol, so she certainly looked the part of a seasoned cowgirl. As they rode out, Andy looked at Li Sun and winked. She blushed when he said that she looked so good that he expected to stay hard the whole day. This light and charming atmosphere was broken when they came to a patch of very rough ground, with bushes and concealed gullies. This looked like a wet area during the rainy season, so they were lucky to come through when it was relatively dry. They turned toward the east in hope of finding an easy way around the problem without going too far out of their way. They had ridden about a mile when they heard shots being fired. They sounded like a small caliber pistol and were being fired in groups of three. CRACK ... CRACK ... CRACK ... This was followed by a lengthy pause, and then another set of CRACK ... CRACK ... CRACK ... This was the sort of noise one should make if he was trying to attract attention and asking for help. The noise suggested that a woman was doing the shooting, since the noise was the kind of sound made by a very small caliber gun, such as a .22 caliber cartridge. They rode toward the noise and found a woman lying on the ground near a seemingly healthy horse. "Howdy, Ma'am. What seems ta be yer problem? Yer hoss shore looks OK." "Oh, thank the Lord that I was finally heard. I've been lying her fer nearly 2 hours. My horse shied at a snake and threw me. I think my leg is broken. Please he'p me ta git home soz a doctor kin look at it." "Shore, Ma'am, we kin do that. But I know sumpthin' 'bout settin' broken bones. Ya want me ta take a look at it?" "I'd be too embarrassed for that! The break is way up above my knee, an' my pants leg won't slip up that high. This is the only pair of trousers I have, soz I don't want ya ta slit the leg." "Ma'am, the only way ta git ya home is on yer hoss, an' I don't see how ya could possibly ride afore the break is set. I'll turn my back, and my partner, here, could he'p ya git yer pants off. She's a woman, soz ya shouldn't be embarrassed ifen she does it. She kin he'p ya work out sumpthin' ta cover ya while I work." "That sounds good. How kin I ever thank ya fer bein' so patient. By the way, my name is Mary Butler." "Howdy, Miz. Butler. I'm Andy Hopper, an' this here is Li Sun. Y'all git ta work on gittin' yer pants off and I'll wander over there while ya do it. Call me when ya're ready fer my doctorin'." Andy walked away and contemplated nature while he cut a couple of stout sticks to act as splints. Suddenly, there was an anguished cry of pain. LiSun said, "Andy, I need yer he'p. I am not strong enough to get this silly woman's pants off, and she has fainted from the pain. She is completely unconscious now, so she won't know that you have seen her foolish cunt." Andy went to help and they managed to get Mary's pants off. The problem had been that her thigh had begun to swell and had filled her pants leg until it was so tight that it was almost impossible to get it off he leg. As was common for the time, Mary was not wearing underwear, so Andy got a good look of Mary's lavish growth of pussy hair. It was "black as the ace of spades" and grew so thick that Andy would have had to use a comb to be able to see past it. As any man would do, he glanced at her crotch, but he was turned off by so much hair. He didn't even start to get hard. His only comment was, "How the hell do ya 'spose she kin piss through that much hair?" He examined the break and found it to be a simple fracture which he could easily set with the help of Li Sun. Li Sun looked through Mary's saddle bags and found some cloth that Andy could use to bind the splints, once he had the leg set, so they got ready to work. Andy was relieved that Mary was still unconscious, since this would be a painful experience for her if she was awake. Andy took off his boot so that he would not hurt Mary any more than he had to, and sat down beside her foot with his legs stretched out toward her waist. He gently lifted her broken leg just enough to slip his own leg past her and set his foot into her crotch against her pussy. He told Li Sun what to do and then pulled hard on Mary's leg to bring the two ends of the bone back into alignment. It took a lot of pulling and some twisting to get the leg set. Andy held it in place while Li Sun tied the splints on; he had to pull so hard that Mary was going to have a very sore and discolored pussy from all the pushing that Andy had to do to hold her in place. On the other hand, Mary might never notice the discoloration through all that pussy hair, but she would surely notice the pain of her compressed pussy. Li Sun found another piece of cloth and rigged a kind of diaper for Mary before she came to, and they slipped her boots back on so that she could use the stirrups as she rode home. When all of this was done, they sat around waiting for Mary to regain consciousness. Finally, she did. The first thing she did was register the pain in her thigh and the second thing she did was register the pain in her pussy. "WHAT DID YA DO TA ME, DOWN THERE?" Mary screamed. Before Andy could answer, Li Sun said, "He set your broken leg, that's all, ya silly woman. He had ta brace his foot against yer pussy ta keep ya from sliding around while he wuz workin'. Ifen he'd done anythin' else, ya wouldn't be hurtin', ya'd be singin' his praises! I know, cuz I wuz here the whole time." Before the conversation could go any further, Andy said, "We needs ta git ya on yer hoss and back home as soon as we kin, Mary. Where is yer house?" "Oh, I'm sorry! I spoke without thinkin'. Please forgive me. It's jus' that I ain't never hurt like this afore. In either place. I live 'bout 3 miles east of here. I'm ready, ifen ya want ta try puttin' me on my hoss." With Andy lifting and Li Sun guiding, they managed to get Mary on her horse without too much additional pain. They adjusted her stirrups to fit her new riding stance and led her horse while she held on to the saddle horn with both hands. They moved so slowly that it took nearly 2 hours to get Mary home, but they were all relieved when they finally arrived. At the house, Mary's father called some ranch hands to improvise a stretcher and they carried Mary into the house to her bedroom. Her mother immediately chased them out of the room as she fussed over Mary. In the parlor, Andy and Li Sun were served coffee and asked many questions about how the accident had happened, how they came to find Mary, and what was done to set her broken leg. The sequence of events was realigned to get the diaper onto Mary before Andy started work, but the story was straight forward other than that. Andy took the opportunity to ask about a way around the brush and gullies, and received detailed information from a grateful father. They were invited to stay for lunch, but Andy begged off, since he had to get back to the herd with the details of the new route. They left before noon at a fast lope and chewed on jerky as they rode back to the herd. At the herd, Andy explained the new route to Josh while Li Sun regaled the other women with her adventure that morning. This story raised the envy of all of the other women, and they could hardly wait for their turn to travel with Andy. Andy and Li Sun rode back out to make a personal inspection of the new route and were gone most of the afternoon. However, nothing exciting happened on this excursion and they easily returned in time for Li Sun to change clothes for supper. Meanwhile, Jasmine was partnered with John again, so he was the one enlisted to pull out her pussy hair that afternoon. This time, as partial payment for his added labor, Jasmine gave him a blow job, but did not try to duplicate her deep throat experience she'd had with Andy; she was saving those for Andy, exclusively, for now. The next morning, it was Elizabeth's turn to ride with Andy, so she took the opportunity to tell him of her desire to remain with the Hopper clan and not go back to her family on a permanent basis. They discussed it, and Andy said that he was in favor of having Elizabeth stay with them, but his father and brothers would also have to agree. He suggested that she bring up the subject at supper that night so that everybody could have time to think about it before they locked into a decision. Elizabeth thought that was a good idea, so they left it at that. Nothing much happened on this outing, so Elizabeth was disappointed that she did not have an adventure to relate to the other "girls" when she got back to camp. Nevertheless, she did have a conversation-stopper when she dropped her bombshell at supper that night about staying permanently with the Hoppers. Nobody was immediately adverse to the idea, but Andy did notice the other three women got intent looks on their faces when Elizabeth sprang her little surprise. Josh suggested that they put off a decision for now, since they did have a few days to think about it before they had to make a final decision. He did say that he liked the idea, but Elizabeth should take the time to be sure of her desires before she irrevocably committed, since this would be pretty much the same as a marriage, but she would have no legal protection. Sue Ann commented that women had no legal protection, anyway, so she couldn't see that making any difference. The conversation ended at that point, and everybody's interest turned to sex. The next morning, it was Jasmine's turn to ride with Andy. The cattle were in need of more water than they had been able to find in the last day or so, so Andy was concentrating on that subject as he scouted on this day. One thing they were all concerned about was the chance of meeting more water pirates who were trying to charge for the use of a public water supply. As water got more scarce, they were more likely to run into such situations, so Andy was especially on the lookout for that sort of thing. Unfortunately, even from high ground, such as it was, they could not find any likely places for water. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could find somebody to ask. Andy didn't want to go any further west than he had to, since that was basically the wrong direction, but they did need to find water. Therefore, they started riding west of north to put some distance between themselves and the herd before turning east. They started to ride in a big arc toward the east, once they had gotten far enough out from the herd. They were in a great expanse of bare ground, no trees were to be seen anywhere. They just didn't have any clue about where to look for water. They rode for a while longer and saw a lone rider across the plain; it was difficult to tell how far away he was, but he was the first person that they had seen, so they turned toward him in hope of getting some good news. They picked up the pace and came up to him relatively soon. Andy and Jasmine were completely surprised when they saw that the cowboy, at least that's what he seemed to be, had a black skin color. Jasmine spoke first, "What are ya doin' here? I ain't never seen a nigger cowboy afore this." He laughed and said, "And I ain't never seen a nigger cowgirl." Andy said, "Hey, take it easy, y'all. I'm the one in the minority, here. Howdy, I'm Andy Hopper and this here is Jasmine. We're scouting fer a trail drive, an' we're trying ta find water. Do ya know of anythin' around here that could he'p us out?" "I'm Cicero. Yeah, I know of some water, but it ain't nothing ta brag about." "That ain't important, long as it's wet and there's enough of it. Where is it?" "It's about 2 miles east of here. Come on an' I'll show y'all." ------- Chapter 12 Cicero led Andy and Jasmine toward the possible water supply for the herd, and they talked as they rode. Andy asked how Cicero happened to be riding alone like he was, and Cicero explained, "I was born a slave of the Cherokees, but I managed ta escape ta Kansas jus' afore the war started. I stayed there 'til the end of the war. I'm on my way back, now, ta find my old massa an blow his fuckin' head off fer the way he treated me an' my momma. Yeah, in case ya're wonderin', my momma said I was half Cherokee an' my pa was that bastard what was my massa. She knew it, an' he knew it, but he still treated me like dirt! Anyway, I run off when my momma died—from his mistreatment, I think. Now that the guv'ment says that I'm a free man, I'm gonna kill that bastard." Andy said, "Well, I kin shore see yer point, but ain't ya afeared of being hung fer murder?" "Oh, I ain't gonna murder him. I plan ta call him out an' kill him in a fair duel. Ain't nobody gonna hang me fer that." "Good luck, then, but I still think ya should be a mite careful." They rode on for a while, talking about this and that, and Jasmine told Cicero about how she wound up riding with Andy. Cicero was appalled when he heard about the breeding farm, but thought about it for a moment and decided that he was not surprised. They continued to ride a little south of east until they could see a line of trees in the distance. "That's the water," Cicero said as he pointed at the trees, "but, like I said, it ain't much ta brag about. Now, I'll be leavin' y'all, cuz I wanna find an' kill that bastard Cherokee today ifen I kin." Andy and Jasmine wished him luck, and Cicero rode away. They continued toward the water and eventually reached it. Andy got off his horse and bent down to taste the water. "God! That water tastes filthy! But, I 'spect that the cattle kin put up with it, since it's shore better than no water. I know that I'll be livin' out of my canteen fer tonight, though." Andy climbed back on his horse, and they quickly rode back to the cattle herd to tell Josh the good news and the bad news about the water. They found the herd where Andy expected them to be and told Josh about the barely usable water. He agreed that barely usable water was better than no water, so he had the herd turned to head toward it. There was not much point in doing any more scouting that day, so Andy and Jasmine retired to the wagon to work on Jasmine's pussy hair problem. She sucked while he pulled, and they both spent an interesting afternoon. By spending a little extra time on the job, Andy was able to remove the last of Jasmine's pussy hair, so he sucked and chewed on her clit to make up for the extra pain she'd had to put up with. The combined oral work caused them both to come, so the effort was worth while all around. It sure was nice to have a mule to pull the wagon that didn't have to be driven! They finished up a few minutes before they had to help set up camp, and the women had to change clothes before fixing supper, so everything worked out very conveniently. That evening, Sue Ann asked Andy if he would start work on pulling out her pussy hair on the day it was her turn to ride with him. Andy said that he would be happy to accommodate her. Jasmine told the story that evening about the meeting with Cicero; she said that she thought that he was a handsome man, even if he was part Cherokee. She winked at Elizabeth, who was starting to get a little huffy, and they both laughed. A few days later at supper, Elizabeth announced, "Tomorrow is my day of decision. Tomorrow is when we will be as close as the trail herd will come to the home of my parents. If I am to leave you, then would be the best time. Here is what I would like to do: I need your decision tonight, and I will travel to their home tomorrow to tell them the result of it. I still want to stay with you, but I will understand if you decide to cast me out. Whatever happens, I want to tell my parents so that they won't worry about me. Furthermore, I would like for Andy to go with me, whether or not I return to the Hopper clan." This produced a clamorous vote for Elizabeth to stay with them and become a permanent member of the clan. This outbreak of spontaneous love caused Elizabeth to break down in happy tears. When she recovered herself, she told them that Andy's services as a scout could be dispensed with tomorrow because the country was open around here and there was plenty of water. Josh acquiesced, so that was the plan for the next day. Elizabeth and Andy left camp at his usual time for the scouting trips, so there was little break in the routine, except for a minor realignment of who rode with Sue Ann, since it was her normal turn to go with Andy. Sue Ann joined Josh and Elizabeth led Andy toward the east to find her former home. They rode for about two hours until they came upon a moderate sized home that looked completely normal to Andy. The Cherokees had adopted virtually all of the exterior appearances of the White man, figuring that they should look like the winner so that they could be winners, too. They tied their horses to the hitching post in front and went to the front door. Elizabeth opened the door, but they waited on the veranda while Elizabeth called out, "MA! PA! IT'S ELIZABETH! WHERE ARE YOU?" Most of the Cherokees had adopted English by then, so Andy had no trouble understanding her. There was a clatter of furniture from the back of the house, probably the kitchen, and the sound of running feet and cries of joy. A man, a woman, and three siblings descended upon Elizabeth with hugs and kisses of greeting and great joy. It was at least 10 minutes before they even noticed Andy standing to one side, wearing a big grin. Elizabeth introduced Andy and explained that he was her escort for the day. They adjourned to the kitchen where the two were served coffee while the rest of the family finished their breakfast. While they were sitting there, Elizabeth related her adventures: the kidnapping by the Choctaws, her rescue by Andy, and her time with the trail drive, except she did leave out the part about the sex. Her family was shocked when she got to the part about leaving them to return to the Hoppers, but they calmed down when she reached over and took Andy's hand and kissed it. His blush convinced them that she would be in good hands. He told about being headed to Sedalia with the cattle to sell them at the railhead. The family relaxed when Elizabeth promised to stop by to visit for a few days on their return to Texas. Andy pointed out that they would probably make the same drive next year, and they could also see Elizabeth then, but, of course, he couldn't promise anything. Elizabeth shocked them all by saying, "After all, I could be in a family way by then!" The family spent several hours together, work was forgotten for the day, and Elizabeth and Andy stayed as late in the afternoon as they safely could and still get back to camp before dark. Elizabeth was glad that she'd had this opportunity to see her parents and siblings, but felt as if she was returning to her true family when they got back to camp. Elizabeth went back to sleep with Josh and Sue Ann returned to Andy for that night. This was a momentous night, though none of the participants were aware of anything unusual. But tonight was the first night that Sue Ann's fertility had returned after the shock of her capture and ill treatment just before Andy rescued her. So, after the usual preliminaries, Andy was buried deep within Sue Ann when he began to shoot. As usual, he squirted with some force past her cervix and, this time, caught an egg at its most fertile time. The coupling was fully consummated, and Andy had another son on the way. By the time they returned to Texas, all four of the bellies would be swelling with Andy's offspring. Sue Ann went riding with Andy the next day to get the cycle back in order; Elizabeth would spend the night with him. They rode out, heading more or less north east. Josh wanted to get into Missouri as quickly as he could, since he wanted to avoid all contact with the Kansas Jayhawkers. The Jayhawkers had been Union "guerrillas" during the war, so were not closely watched by the Army. As a result, many of the Jayhawkers had turned to banditry, rather than return to making an honest living. If you were from Texas and encountered a band of them, the best you could hope for was to pay a toll for your cattle, and the worst would be for them to kill you and rustle your cattle. All-in-all, it was best to avoid Kansas. You could still run into Bushwackers, the Missouri Confederate "guerrillas," but the Army was not so blind to them, and they were not as much of a problem. Nevertheless, it was well to avoid them, too, if you could. There was no sign of any sort marking the border between Missouri and Oklahoma, so Andy had to ask somebody if they were in Missouri yet. The easiest way to do that was to ride into some town and ask at a saloon, so that's what they did. Neither one gave the matter any thought, they just wanted information, so they hitched their horses in front of the first saloon they came to, and both went into the saloon. Now, Andy would not have attracted any attention, but Sue Ann sure as hell did! No women who were not prostitutes would normally ever enter a saloon, so, since Sue Ann was so obviously a woman, several men walked over to make overtures to her as soon as she walked in the door ahead of Andy. The first man to reach her said, "Howdy, Honey. Ya look like a nice piece of cunt. Are ya available to ride my pole? I'll pay ya $2 ifen ya'll suck me, too." Andy was right behind Sue Ann and took exception to the language. "Back off, Mister. The lady is with me, an' she ain't no whore, soz ya better leave her alone." "Sonny, ya can't talk ta me like that! I'm a better man than ya'll ever be, soz ya better back off yerself. I don't want ta hurt ya." As he said this, he grinned and looked around the saloon as if he expected the other patrons to agree with him. Andy didn't hesitate; he drew his gun and stuck it in the belly of the other man. "I'm askin' ya nicely, this last time, ta back off, cuz ifen ya don't, I'm gonna put a hole through yer belly big enough ta drive a team of mules through." The other man turned pale and said, "OK, OK, I wuz jus' funnin'. Don't git excited; I'm backin' off." He held his hands away from his body as he backed away from Andy. Andy holstered his pistol and turned to the bartender. "Hey, Mister Bartender. I'm with a trail herd headed fer Sedalia, an' I need ta know ifen I'm in Missouri, yet." "Ya shore are. Ya better git yer woman outta here ifen ya don't want trouble. That galoot ya made ta back down is a real mean bastard an' could back-shoot ya any time." "Thanks fer both pieces of information. We're leavin' right now. Come on, Sue Ann." They went out the door and climbed on their horses. Just as they were pulling away from the hitching rail, they heard a voice shout at them. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YA DAMNED GALOOT! I AIN'T THROUGH WITH YA, YET!" It was the bully from the saloon. His eyes were on Andy, so he didn't see Sue Ann draw her gun. When Andy turned to face him, the bully reached for his gun and received a bullet in his chest for his trouble. Sue Ann fired without hesitation and put a bullet from her Colt Navy right through the bully's breast bone. He flopped down on his back and didn't move any farther. Andy called out, "SOMEBODY, PLEASE FETCH THE MARSHAL!" A bystander replied, "This town don't have no marshal, Mister. But I'd leave town ifen I wuz you, cuz John, here, has 3 real mean brothers who ain't gonna take kindly ta yer woman puttin' a fresh hole in John's chest." "Thanks, Mister. We'll take yer advice." Andy and Elizabeth immediately left the town, and, once they were clear, Andy thanked Sue Ann for her help. "Don't mention it, Andy. It don't come close ta payin' ya back fer the things ya've done fer me. I was glad ta do it, an' I'll do it again the next chance I git." Andy blew a kiss at her, and that was all the thanks she really needed. They rode a little farther east and found a water supply. That was all Andy needed to do, so they turned back toward the herd. They had gone a mile or so toward the herd when three men appeared over a low hill to the north. The were about 150-200 yards away, so they stopped at the crest of the hill, and one man looked at the two people through binoculars. Suddenly, the man with the binoculars yelled something, and the three men started galloping toward Andy and Sue Ann, pulling out their rifles as they rode. Andy had been watching them, and yelled at Sue Ann to follow him as he galloped away from the men, heading west toward the herd. They could see the dust cloud of the herd in the distance, and Andy was pretty sure that they could get to it before the men caught them. They raced toward the dust cloud for about a mile, then one of the men stopped and raised his rifle. Andy thought it was a pretty stupid maneuver, since the man was over a hundred yards away, but the man aimed the gun and fired. A few seconds later, Sue Ann's horse stumbled a bit and slowed to a halt. There was a big splotch of blood on his side and he was having trouble breathing. Andy had to assume that the horse had been shot in the lungs and did not have much longer to live. Fortunately, they were near a grove of trees, so Andy swung around and rode back toward Sue Ann. "Grab yer rifle and climb up behind me. We'll head fer them trees." When Sue Ann was in place, they rode for the trees and jumped among them for shelter. Just as Andy dismounted, a bullet ricocheted off his saddle and lodged itself in a tree trunk. Andy pulled his Henry, his canteen, and his saddle bag from the horse and slapped it on the hip to make it run toward the dust cloud, which had grown significantly in the last few minutes. The horse took off, leaving them effectively stranded until help arrived. One of those bastards was a damned good shot, so Andy was in no hurry to start a firefight. The three men stopped about 50 yards away and one of them yelled, "WE'RE GONNA HOLD A NECKTIE PARTY, AND Y'ALL ARE GONNA BE THE GUESTS OF HONOR. OF COURSE, WE'RE GONNA FUCK THE WOMAN AFORE WE HANG HER. Y'ALL KNOW THE SAYIN': WASTE NOT, WANT NOT!" All three of the men laughed hard at that joke. Andy replied, "WHY Y'ALL BOTHERIN' US? WE AIN'T DONE NOTHIN' TA Y'ALL!" "Y'ALL MURDERED OUR BROTHER! WE'RE GONNA HANG Y'ALL FER IT!" "WE AIN'T NEVER MURDERED NOBODY! WE WUZ DEFENDIN' OURSELVES!" "Y'ALL KILLED OUR BROTHER! THAT'S WHAT COUNTS! WE'RE GONNA GIT Y'ALL FER IT!" With that statement, the 3 men started shooting into the trees. It was obvious that they did not know exactly where the two were hiding and hoped that by shooting enough lead that way, they would hit somebody. Andy told Sue Ann to stay where she was while he moved to one side to try to get a clean shot at one of the men who were still sitting on their horses out in the open. Andy propped his rifle barrel against a tree to steady it and took careful aim at the man he thought had been doing the shooting. He took a deep breath and let out half of it before squeezing on the trigger of his Henry. Those open iron sights were not the best thing in the world for taking good aim, but it was all he had. His bullet traveled toward its target much more accurately than Andy had any right to expect, but he still missed the man he was aiming at. However, he did hit the horse! The horse collapsed immediately, catching the rider completely by surprise. The man dropped his rifle and tried to grab the saddle horn to keep from falling under the horse as it went down. He was successful, but his rifle hit the ground muzzle first so hard that it stood upright from the way the barrel had been buried in the ground. The man might have survived, but his rifle was out of service for the duration. There was no way it could be used again before it was thoroughly cleaned. ------- Chapter 13 That shot was enough to give Andy's position away, and he started drawing fire from all three men. It seems that the man who had lost his horse had a conventional Spencer saddle carbine as well as his long rifle, and he had pulled that from his dead horse. Andy kept his head down and waited until the three fools had run out of ammunition in their rifle magazines. While they were reloading, Andy moved back to Sue Ann and warned her to keep her head down while all the lead was flying. They both had Henrys and were ready to fight when the situation called for it, but, right now, the only ones profiting from all the shooting were the ammunition manufacturers. The three fools eventually calmed down and realized that they were not accomplishing anything, so they moved in a bit closer. This was what Andy and Sue Ann had been waiting for. When the men closed to within 40 yards, they opened fire. Sue Ann had practiced before, her father had thought that everyone needed to be familiar with a rifle, so he had taught her to use his Henry. The fire aimed at the three men was effective enough to kill the other two horses and wound one of the men. By now, the smoke had built up enough that Andy thought that they should move, so they crawled about 20 feet to their left. There they found a pair of trees which would give them good shelter from the men who were shooting at them. Andy suggested to Sue Ann that they moderate their rate of fire and shoot only when they thought they had a good clean shot. She agreed, and their rate of fire dropped off markedly. The three fools were still trying to use their rifles as power saws and cut down all of the trees in the grove by sheer weight of lead fired in their direction. Andy wondered what the fools thought they were accomplishing, but he really didn't care since he had not paid for their ammunition, and their fire was so inaccurate that he and Sue Ann were in no immediate danger. The fools continued to shoot for a few more minutes, but finally realized that they were not accomplishing anything and stopped shooting. There was a delay of a few minutes, as if the three men were discussing their options. It appeared that a decision had been reached, because two of the men began to move, one to the right and one to the left. The third man who had not moved resumed shooting, but at a more measured pace. Andy said, "It looks ta me like they're gonna try ta flank us. I think we better counter that by movin', ourselves. Let's move to our right an' try ta ambush that galoot afore he gits us. I'll bet they're too stupid ta realize that we have moved 'til we start shootin' from someplace else, so the first one, at least, should be easy ta git." They crawled off to their right while the man in their front kept shooting at the place where they had been. They had moved about 75 feet when Andy halted them at a shallow ditch running at right angle to their line of travel and making the perfect site for an ambush. Andy said, "Ya keep an eye on our backside, cuz I'd feel awful stupid ifen that other galoot sneaked up and killed me when I wasn't lookin'. Meanwhile, I'll keep lookin' thisaway. He ought to show up pretty soon." Actually, it wasn't pretty soon. Andy wondered if the idiot had stopped off for coffee and a cigar before continuing on his mission. Finally, the man showed up, and was doing a lousy job of sneaking. In fact, he was doing so poorly that Andy holstered his gun and took out his bowie knife. He didn't want to shoot if it wasn't necessary, since that would give their position away. Andy signaled to Sue Ann what he had in mind and slipped out of the ditch toward the enemy. Andy's Indian fighting experience was invaluable in this situation because he had learned from experts how to crawl, nay, slither, silently through a field of broken twigs without making a single sound. Compared to Andy, the other man was a noisy as a stampede. Andy was able to come up behind the man and cut his throat: his wind pipe, his carotid arteries, his juggler veins. This is not easy to do, but an expert can manage it quite readily, and Andy was an expert. The result is that the person dies quickly and soundlessly, with no opportunity to warn his companions. Thus, they had eliminated one of their enemies, and the other 2 were none the wiser. Andy cleaned his knife and sheathed it before returning to Sue Ann. She had seen the whole thing and was absolutely amazed at Andy's skill; she had been somewhat concerned for Andy's continued good health when he had left her, but she resolved not to worry for him in the future. He was obviously a dangerous man to cross—she had now seen him kill twice with his knife with complete ease. They headed back toward their original position to look for the other man who hoped to flank them. It had been too awkward to take their rifles with them as they had originally crawled away, so they had left their rifles lying in their hiding places while they were gone. When they got back, they found a man pawing through their belongings; they had no idea why. Sue Ann was the first to see the man, since she was in the lead. She signaled for Andy to hold in place while she calmly drew her pistol and fired one shot. She had not been seen by the interloper, so she had plenty of time to line up her shot. Sue Ann held her gun in both hands as she assumed a sitting position and propped her arms on her knees. She carefully lined up her shot and squeezed the trigger; the bullet entered the man's side and passed through his lung and heart into the other lung, tumbling most of the way (she had used a conical bullet instead of a ball). Very pleased with herself, she turned and grinned at Andy, who smiled back. Now, there was only one enemy they had to dispose of, but he was too far away to reach over the open plain. He was the one who had been wounded in an earlier exchange of shots, so they were not worried about him escaping without a horse, but they did have the problem of how to reach him with some likelihood of not being shot themselves. Sue Ann agreed to keep his attention by shooting at him while Andy tried to sneak around behind him, essentially the reversal of the plan they had used earlier, but with a hoped for better result. Sue Ann began to put out a steady, but slow, stream of fire at the last of the three brothers while Andy scurried off to his left to begin his flanking maneuver. He went far enough to be completely out of sight of their antagonist before leaving the clump of trees. He had found a slight depression in the ground which turned into a shallow ditch running in the desired direction, so he used that for concealment as he worked his way out toward the enemy. Sue Ann's shooting was doing a good job of making the man keep his head down, so he had no chance of seeing Andy sneak toward him at the different angle. The man was lying with his head turned the other way, so Andy was effectively slipping up behind the fool. He was a fool because he never looked around, possibly he was an arrogant fool! Whatever the reason, Andy was able to get close enough to use his pistol—he had left his rifle with Sue Ann. Andy had considered using his knife, but decided that would just be too flamboyant, so, when he was close enough, he put a bullet into the galoot's head and ended the matter. Andy shouted to Sue Ann to hold her fire, the last man was accounted for. He stood up and waved her out of the woods to join him at the body of their last enemy. She arrived and they investigated the situation. Out of curiosity, they counted the empty shell casings lying about and came up with 89! That meant that the three men had probably fired over 100 rounds at Andy and Sue Ann, considering the fact that there must be empties that they just hadn't seen in their casual search. Much more interesting was the fact that this man had been wounded in the leg. The leg was in such a mess that they were sure that it would have been amputated if the man had ever reached a doctor. But, he must have been one tough Son of a Bitch to be able to keep fighting with such a wound. Andy examined the rifle that originally had been used to shoot at them. It was a .50-70 caliber Sharps sniper rifle, and the type was renowned for its accuracy. Andy decided that he had to have that rifle, though he had no immediate idea of how he would ever use it. Investigation of the saddle bags produced 23 cartridges, so Andy was anxious to clean up the rifle and try it out. By this time, they could see a small dust cloud had separated from the major cloud produced by the herd and was heading in their general direction. These must be their "rescuers;" Andy's horse must have finally reached the herd. It had probably stopped more than once along the way to munch a snack of grass since it no longer had a rider to keep it moving. When the riders got a bit closer, Andy waved a confiscated saddle blanket to attract attention, and they were soon joined by Will and John. Will said, "Damn, I see y'all been at yer fun and games, again. How many were there?" Sue Ann answered, "There wuz 3 of the bastards. Y'all should of seen the way Andy took care of one of them. He cut the galoot's throat slick as a whistle. The poor bastard never had a chance, but he shore deserved what happened ta him. I tell y'all, I'd hate ta have Andy mad at me!" John agreed, "Yeah, Andy's a mean bastard when he wants ta be. He spent the war years killin' Comanches, an' he got real good at it. Pa says that he rather have Andy on his side than 4 other men!" Andy blushed and said, "Come on, boys, y'all are gonna scare Sue Ann away from me. I ain't all that bad." Sue Ann said, "Don't ya worry, Andy. I ain't never gonna let ya get away from me. Ya're too good at lookin' out fer my hide. Sides, I love ya an' ... Oops! Now I've done it! Shit, me an' my big mouth!" "Ah, Sue Ann, I love ya, too. Just as much as I do the other women." Sue Ann grabbed Andy around the neck and pulled him down for a soul stirring kiss. Then she started to cry. The three men suddenly felt completely helpless, just as all men do when a woman starts to cry, and they have no idea why she's doing it. Sue Ann looked around at the bewildered looks on the faces of the three men and shifted from crying to laughing. "Y'all boys stop worryin'. I wuz cryin' cuz I wuz so happy! Women do that sort of thin', an' y'all men jus' have ta git used to it." Will and John had brought extra horses, just in case, so they stripped all of the valuables from the 3 corpses and rode back to the herd. Josh and the women greeted Andy and Sue Ann with considerable relief. During supper, Andy and Sue Ann answered the myriad questions about what had happened and brought everybody up to date. The sex between Andy and Sue Ann that night was especially heated, and they were both exhausted by the time they went to sleep. Now that they were in Missouri, Andy had to be a bit more careful which watering spots he picked out for the herd. He had to be careful that the herd did not trample any crops or cause any damage to the small farms they were to encounter. He also had to keep an eye out for sign of Bushwacker gangs, since they were a known problem near the border with other states and territories. They had been in Missouri less than 48 hours when they were approached by the first toll takers. As it happened, Andy was approaching the herd with word of Bushwackers in the neighborhood when he saw a gang of 6 men ride toward Josh in his position at the back of the herd. He was obviously the oldest male in the group, so they figured that he was in charge. Five men hung back a little and one man rode up to Josh and started to bluster. "See here, my good man. Y'all have crossed inta our territory, an' we expects y'all ta pay fer the privilege of usin' our facilities. We demand a toll of 15 cents per animal an' human what crosses the border." Josh looked the man square in the eye and intoned with the voice of God, "Go fuck yerselves!" The man never expected this kind of reply, so was somewhat taken aback. He sputtered a bit, then said, "Ya can't talk ta me like that! Ifen ya don't pay up, we'll confiscate all of yer cattle." "Just where do ya think ya'll find the army ya need ta do that?" inquired Josh in a very even tone of voice. "We don't need an army!" said the man as he started to draw his gun. Andy had seen this confrontation, but he was too far away to hear what was said. However, he recognized that these men must be Bushwackers, so he had pulled out his newly acquired Sharps .50-70 and readied it to fire. When the man reached for his pistol, Andy fired the Sharps. He had aimed for the man's back between his shoulder blades, and the bullet hit the man's spine only about half an inch below where Andy had aimed. The heavy bullet went through the man's back and into his heart, breaking through his breast bone before all of its energy was dissipated. Andy had taken this into consideration and made sure that Josh was out of the line of fire. The man had not fallen all the way to the ground before the 6 nearby members of the Hopper clan had started pouring bullets into the rest of the Bushwackers. Most of the Bushwackers had no time to draw their own weapons before they were cut down by the murderous fire. Andy even had time to put another bullet into one of the thugs before the carnage was over. These Bushwackers may have been professional criminals, but they were no match for the Hoppers! Valuables were gathered and the cattle were driven over the bodies to save the trouble of having to bury them. Just to be sure that all trace of the galoots was removed, the herd was driven back over them a second time. Josh and the rest just didn't want to be bothered by somebody coming around later and inquiring into the fate of these men; it was better if they just disappeared without a trace. The next watering place was a few miles farther on, and nearly all thought of these Bushwackers was gone by the time they stopped for the night. The only mention made of the incident that evening at supper was a comment by Elizabeth, who had been riding with Andy, of how impressed she was at the shot from the Sharps which had been 180 yards, at least. ------- Chapter 14 The closer they got to Sedalia, the more "civilized" the country seemed to be. It got more and more difficult to pick their way through and around the many small farms they encountered. Most of the locals were easy to get along with, but a few responded best to a forceful argument. Andy had to draw twice on disagreeable farmers who wanted to make unreasonable demands, such as charging for watering the cattle at a local river. Andy finished his scouting for the day and was headed back toward the herd when he happened to pass close to a large farm house. He figured that this was a good opportunity to have a chat with the residents and find out if there was some special local information he needed to hear. As he rode toward the house, he noticed that three horses were tied to the hitching post near the front door. He pulled into the yard and was about to dismount when he heard a woman scream; the cry seemed to come from an open upstairs window. This cry had the sound of pure terror, so Andy jumped from his horse and ran to the front door. Li Sun, who was accompanying him that day, jumped down and followed close behind. When he got close, he saw that the door had been smashed open and the latch shattered. He ran into a hall and saw a set of stairs leading from the hall to the upstairs rooms. Trying not to make a lot of noise, he hurried up the stairs and to a bedroom with an open door. Through the door, he heard the sound of men laughing and a woman crying. Andy drew his pistol as he rushed to the door. A woman was lying on the bed with her skirt flipped up to cover her face. A man was kneeling between her legs with his pants down and his cock inserted in her pussy. He was busy pumping back and forth as two other men held the woman's arms above her head. The woman was kicking and twisting as she tried to escape her rapist, but to no avail; the man was simply too big for her, even if the other two men had not been holding her arms. She was crying as the two men holding her were laughing and encouraging the rapist to hurry so that they could have their turn. Andy was always somewhat impetuous when he saw someone in trouble, so he didn't hesitate to shoot the three men who were standing around the bed. When the men fell, Li Sun ran to the woman to try to comfort her. The woman had fainted at the sound of the gunshots, so Li Sun pulled the woman's dress back so that it covered her after Andy dragged the rapist out of the way. There was a pitcher of water on the side table, so Li Sun wet a cloth and wiped the woman's face. This caused the woman to regain consciousness. She groaned and said, "Oh my God! They will kill us all, now!" She lapsed into a fit of weeping, and Li Sun tried to calm her down. Andy asked, "Who is going to kill who?" "The Glover gang! Those three men were part of the gang. The rest will be along in a few minutes. Please help us. My sister is tied up in the next bedroom. They were going to rape her when they got tired of me." "Stay here, Li Sun! I'll check on the other woman." Andy ran into the next room where he heard a woman crying hysterically and found a naked young woman tied, spread eagle, to the bed posts. He could tell that he could not get through to her, so he ran back to send Li Sun to talk to the woman and cut her loose. Li Sun rushed in to talk to the second woman while Andy tried to get some answers from the first woman. He said, "Please, Ma'am. I need ta hear some details. What happened here?" "Them three men kilt my pa an' 3 brothers where they wuz workin' in the barn. They came in the house an' kilt ma in the kitchen. Me an' my sister wuz upstairs doin' some cleanin' when all this happened. They ran up the stairs an' grabbed my sister. I wuz tryin' ta hide in the closet 'til they left. I heard 'em tear off my sister's clothes an' tie her to the bed. I was tremblin' so much that I knocked sumpthin' off the shelf an' they heard me. I wuz caught an' they wuz jus' started on me when y'all came in." "What wuz that 'bout the 'Glover gang?'" "Them three men said that they wuz part of the Glover gang, an' the rest of the gang would be along directly. One said that there wuz 11 more in the gang, an' they wuz all gonna fuck the both of us. He said that they wuz gonna fuck us ta death!" Andy had never heard of the Glover gang, but 11 men were too many to fight with only Li Sun, who was inexperienced, and 2 women who were too frightened to do much of anything as his only help. The best solution for all of them was to get back to the trail herd where they would have some more help, and they needed to do that as soon as possible. Li Sun came in and told Andy that the other woman was too petrified to move; she didn't know what to do. Andy replied that Li Sun should help this woman put on some trousers so that she could ride one of the outlaw's horses. He would see what he could do with the other woman. He went into the other bedroom, and the woman was still lying on the bed, stretched out, even though she was no longer tied. She began to scream as soon as she saw Andy, but she never moved beyond that. Andy ignored her as best he could as he looked through her clothes to try to find something for her to wear while sitting astride a horse. He couldn't find a damned thing suitable, but Li Sun ran in with some trousers she had taken from one of the men's bedrooms. The two wrestled with the hysterical woman and got her more or less dressed. Andy couldn't get her to stand up, so he picked her up and threw her across his shoulder. He carried her downstairs to the horses where the other woman was waiting. The hysterical woman kept fighting and trying to dismount, so, in desperation, Andy tied her feet together with a rope running under the horse's belly. He left it loose enough for her to use the stirrups, but there was no way she could get off the horse without help. Finally, they were ready to leave. The older of the two women took the reins of her sister's horse and the two followed Li Sun as they raced toward the herd. Andy took up the rear to defend against attacks from that direction. They had hardly left the house when the rest of the Glover gang rode up. The gang was surprised to see only one horse belonging to a gang member in front of the house. They looked around and saw that the front door had been broken open, so they trooped into the house to investigate. They found the dead woman in the kitchen just as they heard a shout from upstairs. Three of the gang members had gone up the stairs to check out the bedrooms, and one of them had found the three dead men. Glover, himself, ran upstairs and looked over the situation. He had some idea of what had happened from what he saw and what he knew of the three dead men. He ordered his men to remount; they needed to find whoever had done this. Much of the success of the Glover gang was due to the intimidation factor over their victims. They could not afford to let word of this debacle get out or they would start meeting opposition instead of cowering when they showed their faces. They had to find and kill the people who had successfully opposed them before the word could get out. It was easy to find the trail of the fleeing riders: running horses leave strong and distinctive trails. They started out after Andy and the three women as fast as their horses could carry them. Fortunately for Andy's group, the gangs' horses had been ridden hard all day and were not as fresh as they needed to be for a vigorous chase. On the other hand, the horses of Andy's group had a short rest back at the house, so were able to keep to a running pace with greater ease. Therefore, they were able to stay ahead of the gang, and actually gain some more separation from them, for the first mile or so. The woman leading her sister's horse was having trouble staying mounted with one hand on her reins and holding the reins of her sister's horse with the other. This combination was slowing them down, so Andy shouted to Li Sun to ride as fast as she could to the herd and tell Josh what was going on. Meanwhile, he took the reins from the first woman and gave them to her sister. The woman's hysteria appeared to be gone by now, so it looked like a safe thing to do. Li Sun was already out of sight, since she was very light in weight and her horse was an unusually fast runner, Andy was confident that she would reach the herd in time to give them adequate warning. Andy urged the two women to speed up, as he occasionally could catch glimpses of their pursuers through the trees. They had ridden about a quarter mile when the younger woman exclaimed, "MY PA WILL PROTECT ME!" and wheeled her horse around. She dashed back toward her house before either Andy or her sister could react. Of course, she ran square into the pursuing gang members. This caused some confusion until Glover shouted, "JUST KILL HER! WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO FOOL AROUND! THE OTHERS ARE GITTIN' AWAY!" There was a flurry of gunshots, and the pursuit resumed. Andy took advantage of the confusion among the gang members to resume their flight. The woman was very upset, but Andy didn't let her do anything but ride with him as fast as she could go. Soon, they would get close to the probable location of the herd; Andy hoped that Li Sun had done a good job of warning Josh and the others. They broke through a line of brush and trees and saw the herd in the near distance, about a quarter-mile away. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw his brother John. At that moment, a voice shouted "FIRE!" and there was a crash of rifle shots aimed to his rear. Andy shouted to the woman to dismount and take cover; meanwhile, he pulled out his Henry and ran to where he had seen John. "What's goin' on?" he asked his brother in a breathless query. "Will set up this here ambush. Now, start earnin' yer coffee!" With that, John turned back to shooting at the confused and disorganized outlaws, and Andy joined in. The outlaws returned the fire from their pistols; it wasn't very effective, but a lot of bullets were flying around. Suddenly, there was a scream from the open ground behind Andy, and he turned to look. The woman he and Li Sun had tried so hard to rescue was lying on the ground with her chest pouring blood. Andy turned toward her, but John grabbed him before Andy could take a step in her direction. "Let her be! We need ya here, an' there ain't nothin' ya kin do fer her, now!" Andy had to concede the truth in that, so he returned to the fight. The outlaws had never dismounted, though a few had been forced to the ground when their horses were shot. The two outlaws who were still mounted turned their horses away from the ambush and rode as fast as they could go away from the fight. By now, the outlaws still fighting were on their second or third pistol, since they had no time to reload. All of the ambushers were safely ensconced behind trees, so they were unlikely to be hit. The outlaws were lying on the ground behind the horses' bodies, so they were difficult to hit. There were 4 left, so the fight was continuing apace. The frantic shooting on both sides had dropped off to occasional pot shots with nothing decisive happening. Both sides took advantage of the lull to reload. The Hoppers had no intention of leaving these murderous thieves to escape, now that they were trapped, and the outlaws knew that they had nothing to look forward to but a rope if they surrendered, so the conflict had settled into a desperate standoff. After about 20 minutes of fruitless shooting, Andy said to John, "I jus' had an idee on how ta end this mess. He'p me ta shinny up this tree, an' maybe I kin git a shot down at them galoots ifen I kin climb high enough." It was something of a struggle, but Andy managed to climb the tree with John's help. He had his Henry with him, and that added considerably to the difficulty of the climb. Andy climbed as high as he safely could and found that he had a clear shot at all 4 of the remaining outlaws. Andy found a place to brace himself and his rifle—he sure as hell didn't want to fall out of the tree nor to drop his rifle, so he took his own sweet time getting ready. The outlaws had not seen him climb up the tree, so they had no idea what was about to come their way. Andy decided to take out the easy shots first, so that he could be sure of making the trip worthwhile in case something went wrong. Three of the outlaws were fully exposed from Andy's angle, so they would be his first targets; the fourth outlaw would have to wait for his fate. Andy lined up his shot on the middle of the back of the outlaw on the extreme left, took a full breath, let out half of it, and gently squeezed the trigger. Bullseye! His bullet caught the outlaw between the shoulder blades and killed him immediately. The outlaws had no idea where the shot had come from; they never took a look up into the trees. In desperation, they began firing at random into the trees about waist high, hoping to hit something useful. All that shooting did some good for them, since it did make it harder to see them through the smoke. However, Andy was high enough that the smoke was not between him and the shooters, so he was able to line up his shot at the man on the extreme right. Andy followed the same procedure that he had used against the first outlaw. Bullseye! He did it again! Now, there were only two bad guys left, and Andy proceeded to remove the other easy target from the fight. That left only the one outlaw, and he was partially obscured by a tree limb. Andy started shifting around to get a clear shot at him when the man's nerve broke. He must have known that he had no chance, so he jumped up and tried to run away. This act was all the ambushers needed to get a clear shot at the man. Eight guns went off, including Andy's, and the man was blown apart! He was hit in the torso by 6 of the 8 shots that were fired, and the other two caught him, one in the arm and one in the hip. That was the end of that! For practical purposes, the Glover gang had been wiped out. All in a day's work! Just to be on the safe side, everybody reloaded. Seven people went out to look over the result of the carnage while Andy carefully climbed down from the tree. Once he reached the ground, the men all congratulated him on his strategy, and the women mobbed him with hugs and kisses. He had to admit that he really didn't know which was better—the congratulations or the kisses. Examination of the dead outlaws didn't produce much, but it looked like Glover was not among the dead from what little they could find. Andy was a bit concerned that he would have to grow eyes in the back of his head until Glover was eliminated. He was sure that it would not be difficult for Glover to discover that the Hoppers had been the ones to bring about the downfall of his gang. Sadly, they all walked to where the body of the woman was lying; they never did learn her name. Sue Ann reported that the woman had simply stood totally unprotected while the bullets flew and was unlucky enough to be in the wrong place when a bullet came her way. It was almost as if she invited the bullet, since she was now alone in the world and had no one to take care of her. Certainly, the Hoppers would have cared for her, at least for a while, but she had no way of knowing that at the time. Andy was sad at her death, but he did not worry about it too much. The Hoppers had done everything they could for the woman, she had to take responsibility for acting foolishly. ------- Chapter 15 As Andy and Sue Ann left that morning on their scouting duties, Andy warned her to be especially alert because of the danger from Glover. Andy was certain that he would try for revenge on Andy for the debacle the day before which resulted in the annihilation of his gang. Nevertheless, they had a job to do, so they left on schedule. The first part of the morning was uneventful, but they were riding through some woods when a shot rang out and Andy's hat went flying. It made no difference whether or not this was Glover, the assassin had to be found and eliminated! They had a good indication of the assassin's location based on the direction the hat had taken. He had to be among the trees to their right, so they moved from tree to tree in that direction on foot, since they had dismounted at the time of the shot. They had drawn their pistols; rifles were not very useful in a fight at close quarters, which this was likely to be. Sue Ann had been with Andy in a similar situation, so she had complete confidence in him and waited for his direction before she acted. They had seen the powder smoke, so they knew which tree the shot had come from, but Andy was certain that the assassin would have moved by now—Andy surely would have. They found that they had pinpointed the right tree as evidenced by a spent Spencer rifle shell at the base of the tree. Just as Andy bent over to pick up the empty shell, there was another gunshot and he felt a scorching pain slice along his back over his shoulder blades. Sue Ann acted on her own this time and snapped off a shot at the powder smoke. This produced a scream of pain and a clatter as something heavy fell to the ground. They both moved toward the sound as quickly as prudence would allow, and saw a man lying on the ground, quite dead. Sue Ann's bullet had drilled him through the windpipe and backbone; she could not have asked for a more effective shot. Andy nodded his appreciation for her shooting and looked around for signs. The first thing he noticed was that the man had used an Enfield rifled musket of the type issued to Confederate forces during the war. This was an excellent weapon for its time, but no repeater. They heard a horse run off to the north, so they were not worried about the original shooter at this time. Sue Ann had Andy remove his shirt so that she could treat his wound. Fortunately, it was hardly more than a scratch. She cleaned the wound with a clean cloth and water from a canteen; neither one thought that it needed more treatment than that, but there was a long tear in Andy's shirt which pissed him off a bit. They stripped the dead man of valuables, but could not find any identification, so they collected their horses and went looking for the trail of the man who had hastily ridden away. They had no trouble finding the trail and following it, something easy to do when a horse is running. They hurried after the man they assumed to be Glover, but they were also careful to watch for sign of a potential ambush—one time a day is often enough! The trail led into an area of rugged hills and old-growth forest with no signs of human habitation. At one point, they lost the trail and had to spend some time hunting for it. Glover had slowed down and swerved to one side, so they almost lost him, but Andy was a superlative tracker, so he was able to pick up the horse's trail by swinging in an arc from one side of the trail to the other. The track led off into a small valley toward a range of taller than average hills that were covered by trees. At one point, the tracks disappeared into a stream, so, on a hunch, Andy turned upstream. Sure enough, after about 100 yards of travel in the stream, the tracks reappeared and let off to the east. They followed the tracks for another mile until they came to a cave mouth. The cave mouth was quite large, easily big enough for several riders to enter, side-by-side. Andy and Sue Ann were not so foolish as to ride blindly into the cave, so they hitched their horses to a convenient tree and cautiously approached the cave entrance. Andy signaled Sue Ann to take the right side and he took the left. They could hear voices coming from inside the cave, all but one pitched in the range of a woman's voice. The man's voice barked an order, and this was followed by the crack of a whip. A woman screamed in pain and several other voices shouted curses and complaints. This was followed by several more whip cracks and screams from other women, and then there was silence. Suddenly, pistol shots rang out and more screams for mercy followed. This was too much for Andy, he could hardly contain himself at the sound of the whip. He rushed into the cave with his pistol drawn. Four naked women were lying on the floor, fatally shot, 3 in the head and one in the chest. A man was just drawing a second pistol, presumably to shoot the 2 remaining women, when Andy couldn't hold off any longer and shot the man with his pistol. The bullet hit the man in the gut and knocked him down, but didn't kill him, though the wound would eventually be fatal. His gun went flying and Andy ran to the downed man and pulled away from his body the other three guns he had stuffed in his belt. The one he'd been holding had gone flying when he was shot, so he was disarmed, except for two bowie knives he also carried. Andy removed those and searched the man for more weapons before he turned his attention to the two naked woman who were being comforted by Sue Ann. The man was so severely wounded that he was no further threat. The two women wore a chain from a collar to a staple fastened to the wall. The women looked to be about 18-20 years old, and they had once been beautiful. However, they were now so scarred by whip marks that their beauty was lost under their marking. Both women were crying hysterically and embracing Sue Ann as if she was a savior from heaven. When Andy walked up close enough to allow them to reach him despite the chains, he was lavished with the same attention. Sue Ann finally got the women to calm down enough to answer some questions. Yes, the wounded man was John Glover, the leader of the outlaw gang. The six women had been sex slaves of the gang and had been raped every night. The whip scars were the remnant of punishment for not doing the things the members of the gang wanted them to do. At one time, there had been one sex slave for each gang member, but so many had been whipped to death in the past 2 months, that these women were the only ones left. The gang had been out the day before on a search for women to replenish the sex slave stable. They didn't know why Glover had decided to kill the remaining 6 women. He had come storming into the cave in a towering rage. The first thing he had done was drink half a bottle of whiskey, practically as fast as he could swallow it. Suddenly, he had jumped up and flailed about with the whip, then, he had drawn a gun and started shooting the women. Andy guessed that Glover had gone crazy over the loss of his gang, but who could know the real reason? There was a key ring hanging on the wall, and the keys fit the locks on the collars worn by the women. Andy released the women and they ran over to where Glover was lying. They grabbed the two bowie knives and started cutting chunks of flesh from Glover's body. Andy thought that he was probably in so much pain from the gut shot that he probably couldn't feel the women cutting on him, but Andy felt that the women needed the release of the revenge they were taking, so he left them alone. Glover lasted for nearly 45 minutes under the attentions of the women, and Andy was surprised that he had lasted that long. The man must have been as tough as old leather, but finally he died. The women continued to cut for a few more minutes before they quit. They then cried again, but not hysterically, this time. Andy started looking around the cave to see if he could find anything worth taking. Meanwhile, Sue Ann talked earnestly with the women; interestingly, neither of the women was in a hurry to put on clothes. They talked for a long time, but Sue Ann left them to talk to Andy. She pulled him aside and said, "Andy, ya have got ta fuck those women before we can leave. Both of them are sure that no man will ever look at them again without throwing up because of all of their scars. Please prove ta them that they are still desirable. That's why neither one has put on any clothes, they are hoping that ya will be attracted ta them." "Shit, Sue Ann. I've been fightin' not ta git hard. I wouldn't want ta impose on them, cuz of all they've been through." "Ya wouldn't be imposin'. They need ta git some confidence back. Go ahead an' make 'em feel like real women, again." Andy went over to the two women and said, "Ladies, I don't know how ta say this, but seein' ya without no clothes on has really been tough fer me. I'm so hard that I hurt after seein' ya naked. Would ya be so kind as ta relieve my pressure?" One of the women said, "I'm Jane. I don't know fer sure 'bout Ann, but I'd be delighted ta he'p ya out. We kin use that there bed over there." They walked to the bed, and Andy shucked his clothes very quickly. His cock sprang to full staff as soon as he dropped his pants, and Jane gasped as she saw the size of it. "Oh, dear Lord, will that thing fit inside me without splittin' me open?" "I ain't had no complaints, yet, Ma'am. Give me a chance to work on ya fer a little while, an' I'm shore that we kin git it ta fit." "Oh, yes, I can't hardly wait!" They lay down on the bed, which was probably stolen from some farmer. It was a regular bed and quite large. Andy started off by kissing Jane very gently on the mouth while he rubbed his hand on her back. She acted as if she didn't know how to kiss, her captors had probably not been interested in that use of her mouth. Andy slowly worked his tongue past her lips, not forcing her, but by constantly teasing her lips. Pretty soon, Jane got the idea and started some tongue work of her own. It didn't take her long to become an enthusiastic partner to the game and she began to tongue wrestle with considerable energy. This kissing went on for a few minutes, then Andy began to nip her earlobes with his teeth, not enough to hurt, but hard enough to be felt. Jane began to squirm and writhe under his attentions, and he moved down to her tits. Andy massaged her tits but avoided her nipples until she began to act exasperated. He then kissed and sucked her nipples and whipped them with his tongue. She began to pant and was obviously approaching a climax. "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." she panted until she suddenly jerked her whole body rigid as she had a small orgasm, the first she'd ever had brought on by a man. Jane quickly recovered and begged, "Please take me, please, please. I have never felt something so good, I want it all. Please take me, now." Andy rubbed his hand over her pussy and felt the oil there, so he was sure that she was well lubricated. He slid around and over her between her legs. She raised her legs and wrapped them around his waist. This boosted her cunt hole to just the right place for his prick to stab it dead center. Andy moved into contact with her pussy and slid his cock head up and down in her slit to lube it enough to keep from hurting either one of them. He pushed just inside her cunt hole and waited for her to get used to him; he knew that she had never had a cock as large as his jammed into her, and he believed that she needed for him to be gentle to provide contrast to her previous treatment. But Jane was having nothing to do with "gentle." As soon as he stopped just inside her hole, she used her legs around his waist to pull her vagina around his cock as far as she could go in one thrust. He had not bottomed out, but he was very deep. She relaxed for a moment, and Andy backed out a little. He drove back in with his considerable strength and managed to reach her cervix with this thrust. Jane began to whimper and Andy stopped, thinking that he was hurting her. She reacted by pulling on him with her legs and demanding, "Ya wonderful man, don't ya dare disappoint me by stopping. I've never felt anythin' like this an' I want ta come!" Andy was ready to oblige, so he began to stroke, slowly at first, but faster and faster. By his third stroke, Jane was panting again, "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." This went on for 10 or 12 strokes, but no longer. Jane exploded with a mighty orgasm and scream, so loud that she startled the other two women who were watching with rapt fascination. She also clamped down on Andy's cock, and he squirted! Man, did he squirt, as only a teen aged boy can. This was enough to drive Jane to even greater heights of ecstasy, and she fainted. The only reason that she didn't get pregnant was this was the wrong time of the month, because Andy squirted what seemed like quarts of jism into her womb. She was going to be dribbling semen for hours! Jane was out cold, but Andy needed only minutes to recover, again, only as a teen aged boy can do. Sue Ann pushed Ann toward the bed and she moved in that direction. Slowly at first, but she was nearly running by the time she reached the bed. The bed was big enough that Andy was able to move Jane to one side and have room to lie down beside Ann. Ann said, "I don't need any primin', I'm so wet I'm ready ta fuck right now." Andy replied, "That may be so, but I need ta git worked up again, soz I'd like ta prime me a little bit." Ann giggled, something she had not done in over 2 years, and said, "I guess I kin put it off fer a few minutes." Andy took Ann through pretty much the same routine that he had used for Jane, so that both of them were ready in short order. Andy lined himself up and entered Ann slowly, as he had done with Jane. Ann took a hint from watching Jane and wrapped her legs around Andy's waist. She, too, used her legs to pull him inside her, but she did not give up as soon as Jane had. When they stalled the first time at about half way penetration, Ann relaxed enough for Andy to back out a little, but before Andy had a chance to reverse direction, Ann jammed him into her cunt as hard and as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she didn't take into account the possibility that she might not have as long a vagina as Jane, so Andy's prick was driven about an inch into Ann's womb. Ann let out a scream of pain and dropped back, pulling Andy's prick back where it belonged. Andy was startled and exclaimed, "WHAT HAPPENED?" Ann answered, "I ain't exactly shore, but I think that ya're jus' a bit too long fer me ta take ya all the way in like Jane did. Let me rest a minute, an' I'll let ya handle it from now on." Ann rested a minute and then called for Andy to resume stroking. He did and Ann started to moan in pure ecstasy. She, too, had never felt so good when fucking. The nightly rapes had never done anything for her to make her feel like this. If any of the stupid outlaws had ever taken her feelings into consideration, she would have become an enthusiastic participant. As it was, Ann continued to moan, and her moans got louder and louder, until she climaxed and let out a sigh of contentment that was recognized for what it was by all who heard. Ann did not faint, but she settled back into a dreamy state of euphoria that lasted for 30 minutes. Andy rested too, for the 30 minutes, before getting dressed. During this time, Sue Ann had found some clothes among the men's things for the two naked women to wear while riding a horse. The women got dressed and they left the cave. Jane rode double with Sue Ann, Ann rode Glover's horse, and Andy rode his horse back to the woods where they recovered the horse belonging to the outlaw who had been killed there. Jane mounted that horse, and they rode back to the herd. Sue Ann explained to Josh and the others what had happened, and Andy resumed his scouting duties for the rest of the day. ------- Chapter 16 By the time supper came around that evening, Ann and Jane had received a full explanation of the way life ran in the Hopper clan. The problem was how to integrate two additional women into the fucking rotation. All 6 women were young and quite willing, nay, eager, to fuck every night when their periods did not interfere. Of course, now that the original 4 were pregnant, that would not be a problem for a while. Three of the four men were able to go at least once every night, but Josh was old enough to need to take a break on occasion—unfortunately, those occasions were showing up more often. The two new women were worried, since their previous experience with sex had often been painful. Their experience that day with Andy had been the first time that either one had actually enjoyed sexual activity with a man. Their only pleasant sex prior to that had been an occasional lesbian encounter as they tried to console each other after an especially brutal session the night before. The original four had painted such an enjoyable picture of sex among loved ones that they were anxious to experience it for themselves, but they were still worried. After all, would these men accept them after they had been forced to endure sex from so many other men; they couldn't help feeling like damaged goods that no man could possibly want, even after their loving experience with Andy that afternoon. Elizabeth suggested that the two new women simply observe the activities that night to see what sex life with the Hoppers would be like. If they didn't want to participate, that was OK, but an arrangement would be made if they wanted to join in on the fun. Ann and Jane agreed, so that was the way they left the matter. It was Saturday, so everyone, including Jane and Ann, took part in the community bathing that night after supper. What made it so much fun was that the men washed the women, paying special attention to their most interesting parts, and the women did the same for the men. Andy washed the two new women, since they were still a little skittish around the other men. Ann and Jane were relieved when the men made no comments about their scars beyond the original inquiry as to their origin, and ignored the marks for the rest of the evening. That night, Ann and Jane were truly impressed at how much the other women enjoyed the sexual attentions of the men; they had never seen anything like this in their captivity. There, the women were forced to do everything against their will, but, here, the women were willing and enthusiastic partners. Ann and Jane were especially intrigued by the groans, moans, and squeals of pleasure coming from the women. They were used to the grunts from the men, so they paid no attention to that! What they didn't know was that the original women had conspired to put on a show for the new women to make them more interested in participating, and they certainly succeeded! The next morning, all of the women went into the nearest town to try to find suitable clothes for Ann and Jane. Andy escorted them as a matter of courtesy, though the original 4 women had been through enough by now that they could easily take care of themselves. They all had pistols and rifles and knew how to use them, so no bandit was going to have an easy time intimidating them—he was more likely to have a new hole in his chest or head if he got too obnoxious. In fact, one of the shopping chores was to find pistols and rifles for the new women. Six women as a group in a small general store was enough to overwhelm any man, and the clerk was no exception. The women went through every item of appropriate clothing that he had on display or in storage, including boots. They spent 4 hours making selections, and still felt that they had been rushed. While the women were making their selections, Andy bought the pistols, rifles, and holsters that the women needed. Finally, all of the purchases were made and the women were ready to return to the herd. As they were riding out of town, a man ran toward them, shouting, "ANN, STOP! STOP!" Ann looked at him and broke into tears. This was her older brother that she thought she would never see again. "Abraham, what are you doing here?" she asked. She was so affected by the sight of him that she couldn't move. He reached out to embrace Ann, but she pulled back. "Ann, I'm so glad ta see ya. Where have ya been?" Without thinking the matter through, she told him the truth, "I was a sex slave ta the Glover gang fer the last 2 years. These people rescued me." Her brother jumped back as if she might contaminate him. "Oh, Ann, how could ya let yerself live like that? Ya should have kilt yerself!" He turned, and, with slumping shoulders, walked away from her, never looking back. Ann broke down into hysterical tears and Andy said, "I'm gonna kill that bastard!" Ann grabbed his sleeve and held on tight, "NO! No, he can't he'p actin' like that. My pa is a preacher, an' he's always talkin' 'bout female sanctity an' purity. The whole family is like Abraham; I couldn't go back ta them—that's why I want to stay with y'all. Y'all don't judge me that way." Jane said, "My family's pretty much the same way. That's why I want ta stay, too." Andy burst out, "Of course y'all kin stay with us as long as ya want! We ain't no hypocrites!" Still stewing in indignation, Andy led them back to the herd. When they got back to the herd, Andy reported to Josh about what happened in town, and Josh agreed that Ann and Jane could stay with them as long as they wanted to. Josh put Sue Ann to teaching Ann and Jane how to use their new guns, and Andy rode with Elizabeth out on his scouting run. They munched on sandwiches and drank cold coffee as they rode. They had finished eating, and Andy was drinking a last swallow of coffee, when Elizabeth said, "Andy, I just found out that I'm in a family way, an' I'm pretty shore that ya're the papa." Andy exploded with coughing as the coffee suddenly decided to go down the wrong way. He was so overcome with coughing that he dropped his canteen and nearly fell out of the saddle. Elizabeth rushed to him and pounded him on the back until he could breathe again. "DAMMIT, ELIZABETH! Ifen ya plan ta kill me, use a bullet next time! That's a hell of a thing ta spring on a man when he's drinkin' his coffee. Ya could of kilt me! Now, give me the whole story." Elizabeth managed to look contrite and pleased with herself at the same time as she told Andy what she knew. "I missed my time of the month again this past week, soz I'm shore that I must be with child. I've always been as regular with my bleedin' as I could hope, soz a baby is the only thing that this could be. I'm pretty shore that ya're the papa, cuz the timing would be right fer that first day, an' I shore want it ta be yers. I love all of y'all Hoppers, but I love ya the most by a long shot, soz I want my first baby ta come from ya. I hope ya ain't mad at me?" This last sentence came out in a kind of plaintive wail, as if she feared the worst. "Of course I ain't mad at ya, Elizabeth! I'm all choked up over it. I'd love ta be the papa of yer baby. Are ya shore that it's safe fer ya ta be riding around on a horse like this, if ya're carryin' a baby?" "Certainly, silly. I ain't gonna do nothin' ta endanger my baby. Wait 'til I start ta show afore ya start worryin' 'bout that kind of thin'" "But ... Don't we need ta git married or sumpthin'? "Oh, I'll marry ya ifen ya want me ta, but it ain't necessary. We're already married in my heart, an' that's enough fer me. 'Sides, what're ya gonna do when yer other wives git with babies?" "Shit! I ain't even thought of that. What kin I do?" "Just keep lovin' 'em the way ya do now, an' everythin'll come out all right. Trust me! I know them other women. They feel the same way I do." "I shore hope ya're right. I don't want no hard feelin's." That night at supper, Elizabeth had Andy announce the upcoming event. The other women swamped her in congratulations, saying that they also hoped to attain that status very soon. At first, Jane and Ann were stunned by this outpouring of emotion, but soon joined in on the shared joy. Meanwhile, the men shook Andy's hand and patted him on the back; this made Andy swell with pride. That night, Elizabeth had to take the lead in nearly every phase of their lovemaking; Andy was afraid of hurting the baby. It took a little while, but he finally relaxed and did his part the way Elizabeth wanted. The next day, Jasmine rode with Andy, but she did not have any surprises for him. Andy was grateful, but wondered how much longer he was going to get by. The day was passing in a very pleasant manner until they came to a farmhouse where Andy wanted to stop to ask for some local information. They rode up to the front door, and Andy dismounted to knock on the door. A ragged old man came to the door and was about to speak to Andy when he caught sight of Jasmine sitting on her horse. The man jumped back inside and reappeared holding a shotgun. "Ya git that damned nigger ofen my prop'ty. I can't abide the sight of 'em. They're the cause of all my troubles. Now, git, or I'll shoot." Despite the fact that the man was being totally unreasonable, Andy gave in and rode away with Jasmine. They heard the door slam before they had left the front yard. He turned to Jasmine and said, "I shore am sorry that ya had ta hear that foolishness. I don't understand folks what act like that." "Don't worry about it, it don't bother me. Fact is, I feel sorry fer folks what hates like that. They must have a sorry life." "Ya're prob'ly right. Well, let's go find somebody else I kin talk ta. I'm worried 'bout that there river an' ifen it has any quicksand patches." They rode for a short while along the river bank until they came to a young boy who was fishing. "Howdy, kin I ask ya some questions 'bout this here river?" "Shore, Mister, go ahead." Andy wasn't much older than the boy, but his experiences had given him the demeanor of an adult, and people usually assumed that he was such. "I'm scouting fer a trail herd from Texas headed toward Sedalia. We need ta cross this here river an' I was wonderin' ifen there was quicksand or anythin' else I should be on the lookout fer. Do ya know of anythin' I should watch out fer?" "No, Sir. There ain't no quicksand I know of fer miles either up or down the river. There's a good ford 'bout 2 miles down river from here. I'd check it out ifen I wuz ya." "Much obliged, friend. I do appreciate the he'p. Good luck with yer fishin'" "Say, Mister. Ifen I wuz ya, I stay away from old man Henski. His house is 'bout 4 miles thataway. He plumb hates niggers, an' yer friend is shore ta set him off." "Thanks fer the advice, but we already ran inta him. What's his problem, anyways?" "He used ta be a slave dealer and runaway hunter. Losin' the war ruined his business, soz he's real bitter. Ya're lucky he didn't take a shot at y'all." "He almost did, but we left afore he had a good chance at it. So long. We gotta go." They rode downriver for a couple of miles and found the ford the boy had mentioned. Andy rode out into the river along the ford and found that the boy had given him some good advice. The ford was wide and shallow, so the cattle should be able to cross without difficulty. There was plenty of grass in a meadow on the far side of the river, so that would be a good place to spend the night. He and Jasmine rode around a bit to be sure that they would not be intruding if they stopped there. It looked clear for at least a mile around the ford, so they rode back to the herd with the good news. They were just getting ready to eat supper when 8 men rode up. The men were all carrying shotguns and wearing masks, so it was obvious that trouble was afoot. One of the men asked, "Who's the trail boss?" Josh stood up and said, "I'm the trail boss, who're y'all." "Don't give me no lip! We're here ta make sure that ya ain't consorting with no niggers. We don't allow that in this county." "I don't know that I like yer attitude. What's it ta ya what we do with niggers? We're jus' passin' through." "That don't make no nevermind! We don't want no uppity niggers around here. They ain't nothin' but trouble. I see ya got a nigger woman with ya. What does she do?" "She's our cook. Jasmine's been with us since Texas. Y'all leave her alone! She ain't done y'all no harm." "She don't look like no cook ta me. She's pretty enough ta be a regular whore. I think we'll take her with us." The men started to bring their shotguns around, and that was all it took for Will to shout, "SHOOT 'EM!" The 4 Hopper men were wearing their pistols, since no self respecting Texan went anywhere without his gun in that day and time. They all drew and fired. The men with the shotguns were not expecting resistance since they outnumbered the men they were trying to intimidate, and they were sure that their shotguns would scare their opponents. Between fighting Yankees and fighting Comanches, nothing could intimidate a Hopper, so they never hesitated before beginning to shoot. The 8 men with the shotguns never had a chance! Once the Hoppers started shooting, the battle was practically over. The men were riddled with bullets; each man was hit at least twice by heavy .44 caliber bullets, not balls, so the bullets tumbled when they entered flesh and really chewed up the body when they impacted at close range. Most of the men never got a chance to cock their shotguns, and those that did never got a shot off. Josh said, "There's no time fer fun an' games, tonight. Somebody's bound ta know these men came our way lookin' fer trouble. When they don't return home, people will connect them with us, so we better git ready fer a fight. Everybody eat supper an' then we'll take care of these galoots. We'll drive the cattle back and forth over their bodies, an' we'll hide their hosses with our remuda. I know it'll be hard on the cattle, but we need ta move on. This place is too open ta defend in a fight, soz we need ta find a better place to bed down fer the night. Andy, soon's ya finish eating, ya an' Jasmine scout out a good place fer us to hole up fer the night. I hope ya kin find a good place close by, but do the best ya kin." They ate supper as quickly as they could and the women changed from their dresses back into their working clothes and made ready to move. Meanwhile, Andy and Jasmine left to scout while the rest of the men stripped the corpses and salvaged what was worth taking, including 8 shotguns. Once that was done, the bodies were laid out in a relatively marshy area and the cattle were driven back and forth over them until there was no trace of the bodies left to be seen. The burial ground just looked like a lot of cattle had been walking around on it; the area would not be examined too closely, because the cattle had dropped a lot of shit as they walked back and forth. Andy and Jasmine were back within an hour with the report of a place they could stop for the night. It was a little valley with only one easily defended entrance. There were water and grass, though not enough for a long stay, and plenty of rocks to hide behind in case of a fight. Fortunately, there was a bright moon, so they were able to make the 3-hour drive with little difficulty. When they arrived, they set up a rotating guard and everybody else went to sleep. This was Andy's first day without sex since the women started showing up, and he found that he missed the exercise. ------- Chapter 17 Nothing happened that night to disturb their sleep, so they were up and ready to leave pretty close to their regular schedule. It was Li Sun's turn to ride with Andy, but she was feeling a little under the weather; a couple of the women looked at each other and nodded their heads as if to say, "Aha! Morning sickness!" Since Li Sun couldn't make it, Ann asked if she could come along. She had been held captive so long that she wanted the opportunity to roam around a little bit. Andy told her to come on, but she might wind up with a sore ass from sitting in the saddle so long at one time. Ann promised to tough it out, so she strapped on her pistol and climbed into the saddle. Andy kept them to a slow pace for the first hour, only moving a little faster than the cattle herd would. Ann started to act a little skittish during the second hour of their ride and Andy finally had to ask her what was the trouble. "We're gittin' close ta where my family lives. I didn't think about it when I asked ta ride with ya, but I'm scared of meeting my pa or one of my brothers. They could git mean ifen Abraham told 'em 'bout meetin' me in town." "Don't ya worry yerself 'bout that, Ann. Ya're a Hopper, now, an' we look out after our own. Ifen trouble starts, ya jus' let me handle it. I don't 'spect it to git that far, but ya be ready ta ride back ta the herd fer he'p ifen I need it." "Thank ya, Andy, I hoped that ya would say sumpthin' like that. Y'all are awful sweet ta me." "Now, ya jus' relax and enjoy the ride ... Oops, here's sumpthin' we need ta check inta." They had come to a pole blocking the road. Two mounted men were standing by at either end of the pole and they had their hands on their guns. "Hold it right there. This here's a toll road. We charge 15 cents fer every steer and every nigger what uses it, an' ya look like ya're ridin' fer a cattle drive. So git ready ta pay up." "What gives y'all the right ta block a public road an' demand money fer its use," Andy asked in a quiet, but menacing, tone of voice. "We kin do it cuz we got here first. We got a permit from the county ta charge the toll. It's ta pay fer repairin' the damage yer cattle cause." "I suggest that y'all back off and let us through without no trouble. Ifen our cattle cause more than fair wear an' tear on yer road, we'll pay fer fixin' it, but I 'spect that my pa ain't gonna wanna pay no toll. 'Sides, we ain't gonna use the road, we're jus' gonna cross it." "That don't make no nevermind. Jus' settin' foot on the road is enough fer us ta collect the toll." "Ann, ya better ride back ta the herd an' tell Pa what we run inta. He'll need ta know soz he kin get the toll ready." Andy knew that Josh would never pay the toll, especially one so exhorbatant. But he also knew that Josh would need to have time to prepare for whatever he decided to do. Most likely, he would just drive the herd over this toll station and to hell with anybody who got in the way. As Ann turned to leave, one of the men yelled out, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, MISSEY! YA AIN'T GONNA WARN NOBODY 'BOUT NOTHIN'!" He started to draw his gun as he said this. The man probably figured that his commanding voice and threat would be enough to stop a mere woman, because he was not very forceful as he drew. On the other hand, Andy was just the opposite as he shouted, "GIT, ANN!" and pulled his own pistol. He shot the man who was slowly drawing and then the other one as he tried to draw. Andy didn't wait to see if the men were even wounded, much less dead, he just made every effort to get Ann safely away from a potential firefight. She reacted well and rode away as fast as her horse could carry her, and Andy was right behind. They road about 100 yards and stopped when they saw that they were not being followed. Ann asked, "Do ya 'spose that them were the only ones at the toll place? I don't see nobody followin' us." "I don't know and I need ta check. Ya stay here while I go see what I kin find." "I wanna go with ya. Don't make me stay behind." "I don't know ... Kin ya shoot a man ifen ya need ta?" "I think so. NO! I know I kin, ifen it's important ta ya. I know I kin back ya up ifen ya need me. Please let me he'p." "OK, we'll both go soon's I reload. I want ta be sure I've got every shot I kin git in a situation like this." Andy reloaded the cylinders that he had used and was ready. They rode slowly toward the toll station and nobody could be seen around it. There were two bodies on the ground, and two horses were casually grazing nearby. Andy leaned over and pulled the crossbar down and out of the road. Andy had Ann ride about 10 feet behind him so that he would have a clear field of fire in any direction. They rode about a mile along the road and didn't see anybody else. They turned around and rode back the way they had come. Andy said, "Ya know? I'll bet those two set up this scam on their own. That wuz a pretty crude roadblock, they could have set it up just this mornin'. Ya keep watch while I check 'em out." Andy dismounted and thoroughly checked both bodies for any identification they might have. He found nothing, so he dragged both bodies away from the road after relieving them of their weapons and valuables that they would no longer need. He collected the two horses, and they returned to the herd. They dropped off the loot, reported on the incident, and returned to scouting. Later that day, Ann said, "Ya see that there house surrounded by them trees? That's where I lived. I'm shore tempted ta see ifen I kin talk ta my ma fer a few minutes. Will ya go with me?" "Shore I will! Ya kin even stay ifen ya change yer mind 'bout it. We jus' want what's best fer yer happiness." This was enough to start Ann to crying gently, but she rode toward the house with Andy trailing behind, trying not to upset her even more. They rode up to the kitchen door, and Ann dismounted to knock on the door. She hoped that her mother would come to the door and not alert anyone else who might be in the house. An elderly woman came to the door and saw that it was Ann standing there. The woman nearly fainted and had to grab hold of the door jamb to keep from falling. She got control of herself and rushed to embrace Ann, almost smothering her with teary kisses. Ann reacted the same way, and neither one said anything for over 5 minutes. Finally, Ann broke away enough to ask, "Did Abraham tell ya 'bout seein' me in town?" At a confirming nod, Ann continued, "This here is Andy Hopper, the man what rescued me from Glover an' his bastards. Andy is the sweetest man ya could ever hope ta meet, but he is deadly in a fight. Ya can't imagine how much I love him, an' how grateful I am ta be rescued." "Oh, Dear, yer arms are covered with scars. Where did they come from?" "The scars are all over my body. We wuz sex slaves an' them bastards use to whip us ta force us ta do disgustin' and sickenin' things ta an' fer them. I wuz kept in chains the whole time they wuzn't torturin' me, soz I couldn't escape. I wuz a sex toy an' a torture victim right up 'til Andy rescued me." "Well, ya can't stay here. Ya know what yer pa is like. He's a real fanatic 'bout women an' how they should be pure an' cling only to their husbands. He won't allow ya back in the house, no matter what I want, an' yer brothers are 'bout as bad. Is there someplace ya kin go?" "She kin stay with us, Ma'am. We love her and she's jus' like a part of our family." "OK, I guess that would be best. Her only other choice would be whorin' in some saloon. I hate this, but I don't know what else ta do. Ya better go now, Darlin'. Yer pa will be comin' back any time, now, an' ya don't want him ta see ya. It'll jus' set him off into one of his fits, an' I don't know how many more of 'em either one of us kin take. It's a wonder he ain't died of apoplexy by now!" With a sigh of resignation, Ann hugged her mother one last time, and she and Andy rode away from the house. He led her to a secluded stand of trees, and the two dismounted. Andy held Ann as she cried her disappointment and loss. Finally, Ann seemed to be over her disappointment, so they remounted and continued to scout. Ann knew of a suitable place for them to spend the night, so they rode directly to it. Andy looked it over and pronounced it completely acceptable. They returned to the herd in plenty of time to lead it to the stopping place. The women had worked out a schedule that would let them all have access to the men and would make sure that every man had a partner for the night. The men were somewhat baffled by the schedule, but the women seemed happy with it, so there was no reason for the men to object to it. Ann did ask for a special temporary dispensation so that she could spend that night with Andy. Jane had started her monthly bleeding and Li Sun was still feeling droopy, so everything worked out well on their first night with the new schedule. All of the women wore their dresses with nothing on under them for supper, but the two women with problems simply sat to one side, but not far enough away to be left out of the general banter that ran around the campfire, interspersed with moans of pleasure coming from the women actively associated with the men. In fact, most of the banter was somehow related to these moans, usually their frequency or their volume. After supper, Ann was stripped and waiting for Andy before anybody else had moved. This brought on a round of teasing and laughter, but none of it hurtful. Most of it was aimed at Andy and the idea that he had better get his ass in gear or Ann would be finished without him. This comment was offered by Josh, and Andy took it seriously enough that he had shucked his clothes and was in the blankets with Ann before any of the other men were ready. They started off with the usual round of kissing, but that didn't last long as Andy moved to Ann's nipples. He sucked and nibbled a bit, but Ann was really aroused by his tongue vigorously flogging her nipples. First one, and then the other, until she had a minor orgasm. Andy held her in his arms until she had come down from that high. When Ann had reconnected all of her senses, Andy began to rub his hand up and down over her pussy, gently massaging her without applying a lot of pressure. This gentle teasing was only good for just so much; Ann finally put her hand over his and applied more pressure. Andy grinned to himself and did apply more pressure of his own. He also slid his finger between her pussy lips and searched for the opening to her ultimate pleasure on each pass along her lips. While he was doing this, he worked his thumb around her clit, never applying much direct pressure, but letting the adjacent flesh carry the message to her sensitive nerve endings. When she was in a state of near absolute frustration, he slipped two fingers into her tunnel and massaged her G-spot while he worked on her clit with his thumb. By this time, Ann was bouncing up and down with her hips actually leaving the bed as she tried to get more contact. Andy took pity on her at this point and crawled between her legs which she opened for him as wide as she could get them. He replaced his two fingers with the tip of his cock and gently rubbed it around until he had a good coating of lubricating oil smeared on it. He positioned himself at her opening and pushed in just an inch or so. This was all of the stalling Ann could take. She whipped her feet and legs around Andy's waist and pulled him to her. She had enough fluid that he slipped in all the way to her cervix where the encounter caused her to stop pulling. Andy teased her further by not moving, so she banged him on the shoulder with her fist and demanded that he do his part! He acquiesced by pulling out almost all of the way, pausing, then pushing in as far as he could without hurting her. He paused again for a moment and repeated his stroke. Andy continued to do this while Ann began to pant and moan. The sound would have been amusing to hear if anybody had been listening; it was a continuous "Mmmmmm" interspersed with regular grunts of "Uh" every time Andy hit bottom. He sped up as he continued to stroke until she ceased to moan and uttered nothing but "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." until she let out a scream that was almost deafening in its intensity. Andy had been reveling in the feelings of his cock sliding in and out of her cunt; it had been sending shivers of pleasure throughout his entire nervous system, and he was in no hurry for the sensations to stop. But when Ann hit her peak, she clamped down on his cock for the full length of her vaginal tunnel, and this made it impossible for Andy to move. The clamping completely cut off all flow of blood or any other fluid for a few seconds, and Andy had never felt anything quite like this. It was almost, but not quite painful, for the short time she had him in a full length tourniquet, but he exploded when she finally was able to release the clamping effect. The sensations associated with this orgasm were nothing like he had ever felt, before. He jerked to rigidity and froze there for a few moments as his nervous system absorbed the shock of pure pleasure bursting through his system. This sort of feeling rarely comes to a man, but when it does, he never forgets it. Andy shot jet after jet of sperm-stocked semen into Ann. He had her tunnel completely sealed by the monster diameter of his cock, so the pressure forced gobs of semen into her womb. By chance, there were two active eggs there and his sperm caught on with them both. Fraternal twins, this time, a boy and a girl, were started on their life's journey. When Andy shrank enough to come unplugged, the pressure inside Ann was enough to cause a spurt of semen to come flying out of her in a jet almost as hard as the ones Andy had experienced putting it inside of her. She didn't even notice, and neither did he; they both were exhausted by their recent activity and collapsed into deep sleep almost immediately. The next morning, Andy's blankets were an unholy mess with all of the bodily fluids released by the two lovers. They both had to peel the blankets away from themselves before they could break loose from the hold that the blankets had on them. Andy and Ann were so caked with white crust that they felt like frosted cakes ready for the banquet. They made their way to the frigid water of the stream and washed away the evidence of their night of mutual pleasure. They left their blankets where they were until after breakfast; Ann washed them in the stream and laid them out on the bed of the wagon to dry while they were moving that day. This experience was an epiphany for Ann: it was the first time she had ever had such pleasure from sex. She had not realized just how wonderful the experience could be. Previously, she had been forced into sexual activity, raped, in essence, and had not known how she could feel so attached to someone from what she had always thought of as a purely physical act. Now she could understand how the other women could look forward to sex every night, instead of fear it. She was already looking forward to her next adventure; she had forgotten the schedule, so she had no idea who her partner would be, but she didn't care, because she knew that she was going to enjoy it! ------- Chapter 18 Andy rode out the next day with Jane for his partner. He no longer had any idea of the schedule that the women worked up, but he didn't really care. He would gladly take any of the women who wanted to ride with him. Jane had assured him that she could handle a gun and knew how to use it, so he was willing to take her word for it. Andy did ask Jane if she wanted to go by her family's home, but she declined. After Jane had heard what had happened to Ann, she was not interested in a repeat performance with her family. They were coming into a section of Missouri that was covered with low, but steep hills, and covered with trees. Andy and Jane were charged with the responsibility of finding a route which would bypass as much of that rough country as they could, even if it meant circling well off the straight-line path. Jane had some feel for the topography, so she was able to save them some time and trouble in their search. But Jane didn't really know the ins and outs of a trail drive, so Andy still needed to see the actual route to be sure that it was truly passable for the herd. Jane directed them to a long, but narrow, valley which led a little to the east of a direct route to Sedalia, but the detour was hardly noticeable. There was a small river that meandered its way down the valley. The river was neither deep nor swift, so it was not going to be a problem. In fact, it was helpful, since it provided plenty of water for the cattle. The valley was narrow enough that the cattle would be strung out for a long distance, so the women working as drovers were going to be a big help. It would have been a serious problem for 3 men, but they now had 8 people driving the cattle, and that was plenty for the job. Andy and Jane rode through the valley to the end where it divided into three possible paths. Jane didn't know enough about these three valleys they faced to have an opinion on which would be the best to take. Andy said, "Well, since ya don't know which of these here valleys we should take, I guess we'll just have ta check them all out. We'll start with the one on the left an' go from there." They started down the selected valley and got maybe a quarter of a mile when they ran into a stand of trees completely blocking the route. "This shore as hell won't do! Let's go back an' check out the middle valley. If that don't work, we kin try the last one." Fortunately, they didn't have far to go to start over in the new valley. They rode just over two miles through the valley and broke out into a broad meadow which seemed to run ahead of them as far as the eye could see. They rode across the meadow land for miles, well beyond what they could possibly travel with the cattle that day. The problem with this meadow was that it looked like they would have a dry camp that night. Andy and Jane pushed on, hoping to find some useful water. They were getting to the point when they would have to turn around and head back to the herd. Andy hated to do that before he found some water. One night without water was acceptable, but two dry nights would be an entirely different story. They had to find water, and they had to find it pretty soon. Thank God! There was the glint of water up ahead. They rode toward the water, but were abruptly stopped by a wooden fence. "Who the hell had fenced off the only water for miles?" wondered Andy. Jane answered, "There's been a lot of feudin' goin' on around these parts, an' this fence is pro'bly part of that. We kin pro'bly git through ifen we talk ta the man what owns this property. All we gots ta do is find him." "That sounds good ta me. Let's see what we kin find by goin' east." They set off at a fast lope, looking for a farm house. Three miles farther along, they saw a house set among some trees. The found a gate and went through the fence. A short ride took them to the house and Andy went to the front door. He knocked on the door several times, but nobody ever came to see who was there. This was very puzzling, so Andy went around the house, looking for another door. He found a door at the rear of the house, so he tried knocking on that door. Still no answer! "What the hell is goin' on?" Andy tried opening the door. The door opened a couple of inches and then stopped moving. Andy was pissed by now, so he pushed as hard as he could to try to open the door. It moved very reluctantly, as if there was an obstacle holding it closed. He got the door pushed open far enough to stick his head in. He looked around the kitchen and was horrified at what he saw. The dead body of a woman was blocking the opening of the door, and there was a dead child sprawled across the kitchen table. He pushed the door open enough for him to wedge himself through. Jane followed him into the kitchen and gasped when she saw the bodies. They looked at each other in horror, and Andy drew his pistol; this prompted Jane to do the same. Andy held his finger to his lips to signal for Jane to be as quiet as she could. They carefully searched the house and found a naked, teen aged girl sprawled on the bed. Her throat was cut, and she had obviously been raped. A little bit farther down the hall in a small office, there was a man sitting in a swivel chair at a desk. He had a bullet hole in his head on the side near the door and no head at all on the opposite side; that's what a large-caliber bullet could do to a man when it was fired at close range. Andy led them back to the horses and said, "There's nothing we kin do fer any of these here people, an' we have a responsibility ta the trail drive. We gotta git back ta the herd an' give 'em the route. We'll worry 'bout the dead folks when we git back here." They rode back to the herd as fast as they could and reported the situation to Josh. Josh agreed that they had done the right thing, since the herd would have been in serious trouble without the information from Andy. The next day, Andy and Elizabeth rode out to check out the third valley, just in case it was a better choice than the middle one. About 3 miles into the valley, they came to a forest that effectively blocked the path the cattle would have to take, so they gave up and accepted the fact that they would have to use the middle valley. They returned to the middle valley and searched for a source of water they could use that night. No luck. They rode back and forth without finding any sign of a source of water for the cattle. Maybe Josh would pause the cattle for a while in the middle of the day and let the cattle stock up on water from the stream in the first valley before pushing on before stopping for the night. Andy didn't know what Josh would do, but he would pay attention to whatever it was to file the information for future reference when he had his own cattle to drive. They returned to the herd with the information that they had. Josh agreed that they should stock up on water where they found it and push on to camp later on. The next day would find them at the known water source; they would see what happened when they got there. The drive the next day went as expected, and Andy stayed with the herd, since he had already scouted the route for the following day. Instead, Andy helped with driving the cattle that day, and had a lazy time of it. When they finally made camp, Andy was sure that he got a dirty look from the herd leader when she saw that there would be no water at this camp. Oh, well, you can't win them all! The next day, Andy and Sue Ann rode ahead to see what they could do at the house. There was not much that they could do. They dragged the bodies out to the barn, there was no point in having the house loaded with the smell of decaying bodies, since they did not have the time or the tools to dig graves for 4 bodies. They cleaned up the spilled blood as best they could before closing up the house and heading out toward the water. They did not see anybody on their way nor when they got to the water, so they removed some of the fence to make it easy for the cattle to reach the water. When this was done, Andy and Sue Ann rode north to be sure that the way was open for the next day's travel. The way was completely clear for miles, so they returned to the water just as the herd was approaching. "WHAT THE HELL!" Andy exclaimed as they got close to the water. Somebody had restored the fence and had blocked the way for the cattle. Andy'd had a tiring day and his mood was not of the most genial, so he rode up to the repaired fence and looped his rope around one of the vertical supports. He paid out a little rope and looped the free end around his saddle horn. Once that was secure, he turned away from the fence and urged his horse forward. He ripped out a section of the fence by the roots and went back for a second piece. He had just finished making an opening wide enough for the convenient entrance of the cattle when he heard a gunshot to his rear. He turned and saw 6 riders approaching at a fast clip, and they were all brandishing pistols. Andy ordered Sue Ann, "Ride as fast as ya kin to Pa an' tell him what's happened. I'll stay here ta stall 'em 'til Pa kin git here." She rode off at a dead run toward the herd while Andy prepared to face the riders who had almost reached him. When they got close, and older man shouted, "WHO THE HELL ARE YA, AN' WHAT DO YA THINK YA'RE DOIN' TA MY FENCE?" Andy answered in an even tone of voice, "I'm lettin' my pa's cattle in fer water. I'm Andy Hopper an' I'm the scout fer that there herd. We're up from Texas an' headed fer Sedalia. We know that Missouri law says ya can't fence off water needed by passing folks an' animals." Andy knew no such thing; there was probably no such law, but it was a good stalling point; especially if the other man didn't know that. The other man apparently didn't know anything about such a law. He sputtered a bit and said, "Y'all can't tear down my fence. Who's gonna pay fer the repairs?" "I don't know 'bout that. Ya'll have ta talk ta my pa 'bout that sort of thing, but y'all better back off a mite, since them cattle are mighty thirsty an' ya're between them an' the water. They just might decide ta stampede right over y'all an' there wouldn't be no way fer us ta stop 'em." The other man's eyes got big at this announcement and he hurriedly shooed his men from between the cattle and the water. Andy backed off a bit, too, since he didn't want the men too close to him in case shooting started. It was well that they moved out of the way, because the cattle started to run toward the water. It was not a stampede, but it would have been very difficult to keep the cattle away from the water once they smelled it. The cattle made for the water, and the drovers let them run. Had the fence still been there, it would have been demolished by the cattle in their rush to the water. Once the cattle had settled down, the whole Hopper clan rode toward the men who had been harassing Andy. They were a very intimidating bunch; they looked like 9 hardcases who were not about to put up with any nonsense. Both the men and the women were filthy from the dust kicked up by the cattle, and the sweat had cut channels through it as it had run down their faces. They were all armed to the teeth with pistols and knives, even the women, and everyone had a Winchester in a saddle scabbard. Josh rode up and asked, "Now, what the hell is the problem? We're hot and tired an' don't want any trouble, but we're from Texas, so we ain't about ta back down from trouble ifen it comes our way!" The man who had been talking to Andy said, "This man tore down our fence an' we think that y'all ought ta pay fer havin' it fixed." "That may be, but it ain't yer fence. The owner lives over thataway 'bout 3 miles, an' I don't see him out here complainin'" One of the men in the gang laughed and said, "He can't, cuz he's been dead fer 3 days." "SHUT UP, YA GOD DAMMED FOOL!" shouted the gang leader. Josh squinted at the fool and asked, "An' I 'spose that ya're the one who killed him an' his family an' raped his daughter?" The fool shouted, "I'LL KILL YA FER THAT!" and reached for his gun. All of the Hopper men and 2 of the Hopper women beat him to the draw and cut him to pieces with 6 bullets to various places on his torso. The remaining men very foolishly tried to draw their guns; foolish because they were already facing 6 drawn and cocked guns and 4 more that were being drawn. Additional shots were fired and the Texans were the only ones left in their saddles. Josh looked around and said, "I guess that settles who gets ta use the water tonight. Drag these fools off somewheres an' git their weapons an' valuables. I don't know 'bout y'all, but I'm hongry." There wasn't all that much merriment at supper that night, but the sex flowed freely after supper. Josh begged off, saying that he was just beat, so the three younger men tried to satisfy 2 women, each, that night. It was hard work, but they managed. The next morning, the trail herd moved out as usual, with no time to spare for either dead family. Andy and Li Sun rode out this day, and their main chore was to find water, since the route was plain enough. Will remarked that all the humans had to do was keep the cattle moving, since they could see the way to go. Andy and Li Sun had been riding for about half the morning when they saw a monster rain cloud in the distance. Li Sun asked if that rain cloud was a dangerous as it looked, and Andy swore and agreed that it probably was. They had to be on the lookout for a cyclone, though he didn't know what they could do about it if they did see one. Li Sun knew about typhoons, but she had never heard of an American "cyclone." Andy explained what it was and how dangerous it was. He explained that, if one came up, they had to find a low place to hide and to lie as flat as they could. There was no way to outrun a cyclone, no matter how fast your horse was, so there was no point in trying. They kept a nervous watch on the cloud but did not see a cyclone forming, so they relaxed a bit. But then the rain started falling. The got out their rain slickers, but it was really doubtful that they did much of any good. They sweated inside the slickers and probably got as wet as they would have if they had just let the rain fall on them. This was a real gully-washer of a rain storm. There was a strong likelihood of a flash flood in the drainage channels; nevertheless, the greatest danger was from lightning A person on horseback on an open plain like this might as well have a lightning rod over his head. He was the highest point for miles and a living lightning rod. They had to find shelter, and they had to find it soon. Finally, Andy spotted a gully. It was dangerous to seek shelter from the lightning in a gully because of the chance of a flash flood, but it was even more dangerous to be out in the open acting like a human lightning rod! Andy chose the flood danger as being the lesser of two evils and they led their horses down into the gully. ------- Chapter 19 They kept their heads down and suffered through the rain. There were 2 lightning strikes in their vicinity, which scared the hell out of Li Sun and didn't do much for Andy, either. The rain finally blew over and they got out of the gully as soon as it looked safe to do so. They had been out of the gully for a few minutes when the first of the flowing water appeared. Fortunately, the water was not deep enough to be dangerous, but it would have been miserable to have been caught in it. They rode on for a couple of hours and found a large stream, too small to be called a river, but plenty of water for the cattle. It would not be as long a run as usual for one day, but Andy didn't know how much trouble the trail drive had with the rain storm, so he decided that this would be the place for them to stop for the night. There were some trees and enough downed wood to serve for the cooking fires, so they would settle for this place for camp. They were just about to head back to the herd when they saw a rider approaching from the other side of the stream. They waited until the rider got close, whereupon, they saw that the rider was a woman. "Please, kin y'all he'p me? The storm scared my pa's horse an' it threw him. I'm afeared that he broke his back." "Yes, Ma'am, we'll shore try ta he'p. Lead the way. We'll folllow." All three of them rode back the way the woman had come, and it was not long before they saw a man lying on the wet ground. He must be just where he had fallen, since he was not in what Andy would consider a comfortable position. He was still wearing his rain slicker, so he was not getting a chill from the wet ground. They quickly dismounted and hurried to the downed man. His face was blue and he did not appear to be breathing, so Andy was sure that the man was dead. Yes, there was no question of it when Andy bent over the man; he must have died in just the last few minutes. The woman burst into tears and Li Sun tried to comfort her, but had little success. Andy's further examination of the man showed that he had a broken neck and probably would have died very soon, no matter what kind of current medical care he might have received. At that time, there was just no treatment for a broken neck; you just waited for the paralyzed victim to die and hoped that it wouldn't take long! Andy said, "Ma'am, where would ya like fer us ta take yer pa? Do ya live around here?" "No, we don't live around here. Me an' my pa wuz headed fer California. He wuz a Union sympathizer durin' the war, an' our neighbors took revenge on us fer the loss an' burned us out. We're from northern Arkansas, so we don't know any folks from around here. What am I gonna do?" "I guess ya could stay with us fer a while. We're runnin' a trail herd up from Texas ta the railroad at Sedalia. I'll have ta ask my pa, though. They'll be along in a few hours. Do ya want ta bury yer pa here, or what?" "I guess I kin bury 'im here. It seems like as likely a place as any. There's a short handled spade on my pack mule, ifen we kin find 'im." "Ya kin stay here with Li Sun, an' I'll find yer mule. Just rest easy 'til I git back. Which way do ya think he ran?" Ethel pointed northeast, so Andy rode in that direction. He went less than a half-mile before he found a horse and a pack mule grazing quietly, as if waiting for someone to find them. He gathered them up and returned to the two women. Andy found the spade in the pack and dug a shallow grave. They buried Amos Jefferson with a minimum of ceremony but a maximum of reverence, in consideration for Ethel. They rode back to the herd, and Andy told Josh what had happened. Josh welcomed Ethel to their group and said that she could stay as long as she wished. Ethel and Li Sun moved off together, and Andy took up a position as outrider just in case they ran into trouble. That night, after they got the cattle bedded down and supper was under way, Li Sun called Andy to one side and said, "Ethel wants ta join our family. She has no where else ta go and we girls are a sign of safety ta her. I told her 'bout our sex practices, an' she claims ta be eager ta join in, but I'm not so sure. Ethel says that she's a virgin, so I don't know how much she knows about what she's getting inta. I discussed it with the other girls, an' we'd like fer ya ta be the one what breaks her in. Jus' go slow an' don't press her too hard. Jus' be yer regular sweet self. Will ya do that fer her?" "I shore will. Jus' make shore y'all women don't neglect the other boys, and we'll be fine." Li Sun smiled and ran back to talk to the other women. There was a spirited conference that lasted a few minutes, then they went of, in shifts, to change into dresses. By the time supper was ready, all of the women were wearing dresses and smiling like successful members of a conspiracy. Li Sun sidled up to Andy and whispered, "Ethel grabbed a bath, why don't ya git one, too?" That was all the hint that Andy needed—he grabbed some soap and ran for the stream. He must have taken the quickest bath in history, because he was back from the stream before everyone had started eating. Andy sat down with his dinner plate of steak and beans and dug in. Ethel, as instructed by the women, came over to him and squatted down with her knees well separated. She gave Andy a sly wink and waited for him to make the next move. Andy was not slow to pick up on the invitation. He put a big chunk of steak in his mouth and started chewing. He put his fork down on his plate and slipped his hand under Ethel's skirt. He dragged his finger nails gently along her lower leg up to her knee, meanwhile watching her face for a reaction. He got a reaction, all right! Ethel began to tremble as he continued to make progress along her leg, this time down her inner thigh, still gently dragging his fingernails over her skin. He stopped when he got to her crotch and looked her in the face. She looked pleadingly into his eyes, so he began to drag his nails over her pussy. She jerked rigid at his touch, let out a shriek, and fainted! Andy looked shocked and helpless, but the women just laughed. Elizabeth said, "Don't worry 'bout it, Andy, ya're jus' the first man ta touch her pussy, an' she fainted from the thrill. She'll come around in a minute an' want a whole lot more!" Andy returned to eating while he waited for Ethel to recover. He had nearly finished his steak and beans when she finally regained consciousness and turned beet-red. Andy said, "Relax, Honey, I won't hurt ya; I jus' want ta make ya feel good." "That ain't no problem, Andy. I ain't never felt so good as when ya touched me. Please do it again." Andy smiled and slid his hand back under her dress to her pussy. He moved his fingers up and down her pussy slit, feeling the oil start to leak out. He rubbed his middle finger in her slit to get it thoroughly coated, then began working it into her cunt. He didn't go far before he felt her cherry, so he felt around carefully until he found the small hole in it. It was a close fit, but he was able to slide his finger in until his palm butted against the surface of her pussy. Ethel's eyes got bigger than anyone would have thought possible as she felt his finger move around inside her. She had never felt anything pushed into her cunt so deep, so she couldn't help squeezing down on it. Andy was careful not to cut her soft inner tissues with his fingernail as he carefully sawed it back and forth. He started to tickle her G-spot, and that was all it took to make her faint again. But this time, when she collapsed onto her back, she jerked his finger from her cunt. This was enough to tear her cherry to shreds. The shock immediately woke her up, and she shrieked, more from surprise than from pain, but it was enough to cause Andy some concern. Andy embraced Ethel and kissed her forehead. He said, "I am so sorry that I hurt ya. I shore didn't mean ta." She said, "Don't worry, Andy. I was more surprised than hurt. It doesn't hurt at all, right now." With that statement, she grasped his hand and began to suck on the finger that had just come out of her cunt. "What an odd taste! I had no idea that I would taste like that." She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the lips. Andy responded to the kiss by gently forcing his tongue between her lips. Ethel was startled, but game. She responded with her tongue and very quickly learned how to duel, mouth to mouth. Without breaking the kiss, Andy picked her up and carried her to his bed. He stood her on her feet and slipped the dress off over her head, breaking the kiss just long enough to accomplish that. Ethel quickly stripped Andy, or as quickly as one could when cowboy boots had to come off and one did not want to stop kissing. The night was warm enough that they did not need a blanket over them, so they just lay down on the spread of blankets and wrapped themselves in each other's arms, continuing the momentarily interrupted kiss. They continued to kiss for a while, and then Andy moved to Ethel's earlobes, which he kissed and nibbled on until she began to squirm. Toward the end of this activity, Andy had started to massage Ethel's full breasts and to tweak her upstanding nipples. The diameter of her nipples was not large, but they were relatively quite long, so when he got that far, he had no trouble grasping them between his lips and whipping them with his tongue. This really turned Ethel on and she began to pant very loudly, "Uh ... Uh ... Uh..." until she shrieked again and fainted. Andy didn't know if this was from an orgasm or simply sensory overload, but he didn't panic; he just waited out the episode. Ethel recovered fairly quickly, so Andy continued his effort at educating Ethel in the joys of sex. He sucked on her nipples and chewed on them gently for a few more minutes, then he began kissing down to her bellybutton. This he reamed with his tongue, but she proved to be too ticklish to take much of this. Andy was progressing toward her pussy with his kisses, but she could wait no longer. Ethel almost shouted, "Stop torturin' me, please. Just let me feel ya inside me." This was enough encouragement for Andy, and he rolled over between her legs. She was practically flooding her pussy with oil, so Andy had no trouble getting his cock head completely coated. He figured that she was pouring out enough lubricant that he would not need to pay any special attention to his shaft. He wanted to take it slow and easy, because she had never had something as massive as his 3-inch diameter, 10-inch long cock inside her. He had her line him up with her hole while she spread her lips. He pushed into contact and a little bit inside; the entry caused Ethel to grunt from the stretching. He eased down slowly, and there was enough oil that he was able to slide in for nearly 3 inches before he stopped. She was obvious in distress from the extreme stretching of her vagina, so Andy waited for her to expand and relax a little bit. He then eased in a couple of more inches and waited for her to adjust. Two more times were enough for him to feel her cervix, so he quit trying to penetrate any farther. He gave Ethel a little longer to adjust to his monster size, and then he began to stroke in and out, slowly enough so as not to hurt her. She began a musical moan after Andy's third stroke and was panting again after his 5th stroke. It sounded like, "Mmmm ... Uh ... Mmmm ... Uh..." repeated in time with Andy's strokes. When Andy hit his 15th stroke, she exploded in a shriek that outdid all of her previous ones, combined. It was so loud and piercing that the others stopped their activities long enough to chuckle. Andy hoped that it was not enough to cause the cattle to stampede! The shriek triggered Andy's orgasm and he squirted in his usual copious amount of jism, but it was the wrong time of the month for an egg to be handy, so Ethel did not become pregnant on this night. Andy was a bit tired, but not too much, so he lay down beside Ethel and waited for her to recover. That took about 15 minutes, and then she was ready to go again. Andy had to explain that, in most cases, a man could not recover that fast, and he was going to need at least another 15 minutes to be ready to go again. They lay in each other's arms for the time it took Andy to recover, then they went through most of the previous routine again just to make sure that Ethel had it mastered. This time, they both collapsed, not to regain full consciousness until the camp started stirring the next morning. Andy's cock was a little bit sore from the tight quarters it had experienced, but Ethel simply could not move, she was so sore. Andy had to pick her up and carry her away from the camp far enough for her to piss. She held her lips open while she pissed, since she had forgotten to bring anything to wipe with. Andy was amazed, since he had never seen a woman do that before, but he was impressed by her dexterity through her pain. Without saying anything to Ethel, when they finished pissing, he picked her up and walked into the stream where he deposited her. She screamed at the cold water on her pussy, but he said that it would be good for the soreness. They both washed off, and Andy carried Ethel back to get dressed. The other women teased Ethel a bit, but they did bring her some breakfast and help her to don a dress so that her pussy, etc. would not be irritated by clothing during the day. She was advised to spend the day riding in the wagon to give her pussy time to recover before a repeat performance that night! She almost fainted again at that thought. Andy was not so sore that he couldn't scout that day, and it was Elizabeth's turn to ride with him. Andy still hadn't figured out the women's schedule, but they were happy with it, so he wasn't about to get mixed up in it. They rode out, headed north by east in the general direction of Sedalia. It was well into the morning and they had not seen anything to delay the herd, so they were riding along on what amounted to a pleasant outing. Andy spotted in the distance some men riding in a circle shooting at a stopped wagon. This was not something that he could ignore, so he and Elizabeth rode as fast as they could toward the trouble. When they got close enough, they saw 6 presumably White men riding around the wagon as they fired pistols into it. At least, the attackers were dressed like White men and had pale skin; that was enough identification for Andy. When they got closer, one of the attackers saw them and shouted a warning to his companions. They turned to face the two intruders and charged, shooting all the time. As soon as one pistol was empty, they would switch to another one. One of the men appeared to have as many as a dozen pistols stashed about his body. The 6 men were charging hard and shooting, so Andy didn't fool around. He ordered Elizabeth to shoot at the horses, and he did the same. They managed to down three of the men before the other three broke off the fight and rode away. Neither Andy or Elizabeth stopped to check on the downed men, but they rode to the wagon to investigate. The wagon was obviously that of a family moving from one point to another; these people must have been heading to join a wagon train. Inside, they found a dead man and woman, and two dead children. They were about to turn away when they heard a baby cry. Damn, this was something that required immediate attention! ------- Chapter 20 They searched through the wagon after finding the baby to be sure that she was the only one left alive in there. Elizabeth picked up the baby and grinned at Andy. "Well, it looks like you'll have to wait a bit before you can fuck this girl. She's way too small for you right now." "Elizabeth, that's not funny! I would never force myself on a female, no matter what her age. Please don't say things like that, even in fun." Andy was so obviously hurt by her little joke, that Elizabeth was instantly contrite. "I'm sorry, Dear. I was only joking. Please forgive me." "OK, but I'd hate ta think that anybody'd believe that 'bout me." "Nobody does! Now, please forget my stupid effort at being funny, and let's see what we can do here." They went through everything that they could find on the wagon, but nothing told them the names nor where the family had come from. They did find a family Bible, but it had several bullet holes through it, making the family tree recorded in it totally unreadable. It was as if the Bible had been selected as a particular target for the shooting, once the family was dead. They had found a spade in the wagon, so Andy dug a common grave for the 4 bodies, and they were buried with a minimum of ceremony. Fortunately, the mules were not injured, so Andy led the wagon back to the herd while Elizabeth took care of the baby. Andy reported to Josh, and two of the women took over the baby and the wagon while Andy and Elizabeth returned to their scouting duties. The rest of the day was uneventful, and they returned to the trail herd as soon as they had found a good place to spend the night. By supper time that night, the women had already worked out a new schedule for their activities. They had decided that 4 of them would service the men each night while the rest spent their time taking care of the baby, whom they had decided to name Mary. The women had completely taken over the feminine duties of that era, and no man was stupid enough to argue with them! The next morning, things had returned to more or less normal. None of them would ever admit it, but the men were relieved that they would only have one partner at a time at night. Two women at a time could be fun on occasion, but it turned into work when it had to be done every night! For the next few days, the routine worked itself out, and there was nothing out of the ordinary to come up during the scouting trips. Everybody was getting to be damned sick of the cows, and the feeling was probably reciprocated, though the cattle didn't talk about it much. It was a good thing that they were only a few days from Sedalia. Fortunately, they had plenty of drovers on hand, so Josh was able to ride ahead to Sedalia to arrange the sale of the cattle. Andy went with him, since they were now in well-traveled country and there was no need for a scout. Andy was to provide the security of a second pair of eyes and a gun, since it was not safe for a person to travel alone, no matter how tough he might look. Andy would also have an opportunity to see the workings of a cattle sale, so that he would know what to do when it became his turn to run a trail herd. They arrived in Sedalia fairly late in the day, so the first thing they did was take a room at the Drover's Hotel near the stock pens and the railroad. Actually, the whole town was near the stock pens and the railroad and smelled like it! However, any man who had driven cattle all the way from Texas was so used to the smell that he probably wouldn't notice it unless it was brought to his attention. Josh was delighted to find that they were the first ones to arrive with a herd this season, and they should get top dollar for their beef. After they checked in, they went to the barbershop for a bath, a shave, and a haircut. Man! Prices had really gone up: 35 cents for the full treatment! Oh, well, it only happened once a year, so it was a treat. Just to be on the safe side, Andy stood guard while Josh bathed, and vice versa. By the time they were through at the barbershop, it was time for supper, so they went to a restaurant for supper: steak and beans, with many cups of coffee. This was a high class place, so they had clean napkins, but they paid for the added service: 50 cents for the meal and 5 cents extra for the coffee. Andy wasn't sure he wanted to get used to this level of high living, since it would disappear until they got home, again. Josh took time for a cigar, and they talked for a while before visiting the saloon where the stock brokers congregated. There was no point in getting there before 8:00 PM, none of the brokers would show up until after then. At last, it was time to visit the saloon and start talking business, so Andy made sure that his LeMat was fully charged and free in its holster. The two men ordered a beer, and Josh asked about the cattle brokers. The bartender pointed out three men, none of them known to Josh. Josh and Andy walked to the table, and Josh said, "Good evein', gentlemen. I'm Josh Hopper from Texas an' this here is my son, Andy. I hear that y'all might be interested in buyin' some cattle my outfit has a few miles out of town." All three men rose to greet the two Texans, and they engaged in small talk for a few minutes, before getting down to business. Josh told them how many cattle he had and their general condition. He asked if any one man wanted the whole lot, or did they want to share the burden. The herd was larger than any one man wanted to commit for, so all three formed a simple buying cartel to take all that Josh had to offer. They dickered for a while before coming to a tentative price, based on the condition of the cattle when they were actually delivered. Since these were all longhorns, they did not fetch the best possible price, but Josh was happy, and Andy was flabbergasted at the amount of money involved. They were going home with over $3,000 for their cattle; no wonder there was so much interest in driving cattle to Sedalia to sell. Of course, this was the premium they got for being the first herd to arrive. A preliminary contract was drawn up and signed before the night was over. Josh stood for another round of beers, and he and Andy left for their hotel room. They wanted to be up early to return to the herd with the glorious news. Everybody was stunned at the amount of money offered for their cattle. No wonder there were so many rustlers around. In fact, that night, the women who weren't fucking were standing extra cautious guard duty, and the men made sure that their guns were as close to hand as were their women. There were no problems that night, but nobody begrudged the extra wariness. They pressed the cattle a little bit and pulled into Sedalia that afternoon. The cattle were theirs for one more day, since they would not be driven into the pens until the next morning. No sleep and no sex that night! Everybody was afraid that something would go wrong, so they all stayed remarkably alert, though there was a lot of coffee consumed before the sun finally rose. They actually had more cattle than they realized when they got the final count. It took almost all day to get the cattle driven into the pens and counted; there had been no break for lunch, so everybody was hungry, tired, hungry, dirty, and hungry. Amazingly, the women wanted to bathe before they ate! The men were dumbfounded by that, but went along with it for fear of causing a lot of unnecessary trouble. The Hoppers took over the barbershop while the women bathed. Will and John bathed before the women, then got their shaves and haircuts while the women bathed. The barber got a show at one point when the dividing door came open, but John only suffered having a gouge cut out of his hair; luckily, no one was being shaved at that time. Once everybody was cleaned up and dressed, they went to supper. Afterwards, the women went to the hotel while the men went to the saloon to collect their money. They returned to the hotel with $3,424, more money than any of them had ever seen before, and all of it in gold coins, except for 4 silver dollars. This was 171 double-eagles. Each man put 41 double-eagles in his money belt, each person was given $20 for mad-money to be spent in the two days before they left Sedalia, and Josh pocketed the rest to pay for incidentals. John was a very good bargainer, so he was put in charge of selling the surplus items they had accumulated on their trip up from Texas. They kept 2 wagons and 3 mules, since they now had 5 pregnant women and one baby to be concerned about. The women would start to bulge before they got back to Texas, so Josh decreed that they would ride in the wagon, just to be on the safe side. Yes, all of the women wanted to stay with the Hopper clan and return to Texas with them. In public, they would be servants, pampered servants, but still servants, but in private, they would all be wives and all of the men would be husbands. At least, that's how it would start out, the situation might change later on, but they would worry about it then if it did. Josh was a little concerned about the notoriety they had attracted by being the first trail herd to reach Sedalia that season. There was no way they could keep every bandit and road agent between Sedalia and home from knowing about them, so they had to be watchful; otherwise, they would all be murdered and their money stolen within days of leaving Sedalia. Unfortunately, the danger was not just near Sedalia, but would last until they reached home. It was amazing how fast the news of money could travel. They partied the first day and shopped the second day, but were more than ready to head for Texas when the time came. They planned to travel south on pretty much the same route that they had followed north, but they would stick to the roads, this time. This would make the travel easier for the women in the wagons, though it might make the journey a few days longer than if they just cut cross country. Josh thought the extra few days would be worth it, and nobody felt strongly enough the other way to argue. Their first night back on the road was one of no sex and very little sleep. Mary appeared to be the only one not bothered by the possibility of bandits. With 7 mothers who doted on her, how could she feel any other way? Josh was practicing to be a grandfather, so he was no better than the women. He was relishing the prospect of spoiling the grandchild with no responsibility to pick up the pieces; that was the mothers' problem! It was their second night away from Sedalia that they ran into their first bandits. The fools didn't check out what they had to face, so they did not know that two of the women were in the wagon looking after Mary, who was suffering from a touch of colic. To them, it looked like 4 men, 4 wives, and a servant (Jasmine happened to be refilling her dinner plate when they rode up). The women in the wagon had their pistols out and ready before the bandits had fully stopped their horses. The bandits reached for their guns after they came to a stop, and this was when the women in the wagon began to shoot. The aim was only so-so, but the psychological effect was enormous! For the seconds it took for the bandits to register that they were already under attack were all the Hopper men needed to draw their own guns and start shooting. Will was the first to react and downed one of the bandits with his first shot. The rest of the men commenced to shoot so soon after Will, that it would have taken a keen listener to detect who fired just when. In less than one minute, there were 5 dead bandits cluttering the camp, and 5 extra horses to add to the Hopper remuda. Andy was delegated to make sure that the bandits were dead (they all were) and to remove the horses from the camp. Everybody else holstered their guns and joined in dragging the corpses away from camp. They'd wait until tomorrow to strip them of valuables. They still had not finished eating or playing, and one might say that the bandits were a dead issue. This was when Elizabeth mentioned that they needed one or more dogs, the bigger the better. Indians had used dogs as an early warning device for centuries, and they needed something similar. Elizabeth said that she and Andy could ride back to Sedalia and purchase one or more dogs. When Josh started to object, she insisted that she was still in condition to ride a horse very well, thank you. They were camped in a very pleasant location, so they decided to remain there while Elizabeth and Andy went for dogs. The two left the next morning and were back in Sedalia by mid-afternoon. They asked at a couple of livery stables before they found what they were looking for. The owner of the stable had some half grown dogs that were already bigger than any that Elizabeth had ever seen, and their parents were as big as small donkeys. The owner had no idea what breed they were or if they were mixed, to him they were just dogs. He maintained that they were highly protective, and Andy and Elizabeth already knew how the dogs would bark at strangers from their own experience when they approached the stable. Strangely enough, the dogs were also very friendly, once they got to know a person, so they seemed to fit into the mold Elizabeth was looking for. They bought two dogs from the man, and said that they would pick them up in the morning. The next day, they picked up their new dogs, a male named Butch, and a female named Holly. They fashioned long lead ropes for the dogs and rode away with the dogs in tow. It took a little while for the dogs to get the idea that they were no longer living at the stable, but, after a couple of hours, they followed the horses with a minimum of urging. It was nearly dark when they got back to the camp; they made it just in time for supper. The dogs were introduced around and welcomed to the clan. A couple of times during the night, the dogs got excited and barked vigorously, but that was the limit of their activity that night. The dogs were fastened by their lead ropes to the rear of one of the wagons the next day and the journey to Texas was resumed. The humans did not realize that the dogs would get tired if they had to walk continually, so they were surprised when the dogs jumped into the wagon. From then on, the dogs spent about half the time riding and half the time walking. It took only one more day for the dogs to accept that they were expected to stay in or near the wagon. From then on, the lead ropes were not necessary, and the dogs seemed to be content with their new family. When the adults knew that the dogs were safe, they were introduced to Mary. There was an immediate attachment, and there was always at least one dog at Mary's side for the rest of the trip. She loved the dogs and let them lick her face at any time. When that would happen, Mary would laugh as if that was one of life's greatest treats. Milk for the baby was becoming a serious problem. On the way to Sedalia, they had been able to find enough milk from the herd, but, now, the situation was different. None of the women were lactating, so they had to depend on cow's milk. They had hoped to buy milk on their way, but the baby needed more than the usual small town had to spare. Finally, they bit the bullet and bought a milk cow to take with them. Josh joked that something was out of balance when they had 11 drovers for a herd consisting of one cow! The women did not think that this was funny. ------- Chapter 21 Now that they had a cow, things got complicated for a different reason. The women had hoped to spend the nights on the return trip in hotel rooms, instead of camped along the trail. But what were they going to do with their cow at night if they stayed in a hotel? Most livery stables did not want to mess with the mess that cow manure caused, so they were at a loss as to where they could keep their cow at night. The women finally conceded that they were stuck, so they spent the nights camping out instead of in hotels. Oh, well, a mother had to make some compromises. Josh's fears about carrying all that money seemed to be based on fact. Almost every day, they encountered somebody who thought that they should share the wealth. As a result, the dogs proved their worth on many occasions. It was impossible to sneak up on the camp without the dogs giving warning. Typically, four or five men would try to sneak in after dark to murder them in their sleep, but the dogs always detected the trespassers in plenty of time for the humans to be ready for them. In one instance, a single man tried to sneak in during the pre-sleep sexcapades. The dogs caught him and finished him off before the humans even knew that he was around. It appeared that the dogs thought that the humans were having too much fun to be bothered by something that they could easily handle on their own. Possibly even more useful was the way the dogs could detect an ambush. Four times, the dogs detected bandits before they could spring elaborate traps, so that the bandits were easily killed or driven off before they could realize their intentions. The farther south they got, the more likely it was that Comanches would attack. The Indian wars were petering out, but there were random attacks by bored young braves who were out to prove their mettle. One of these attacks came while they were fording a large stream, the classic Texas "mile wide and inch deep" affair. The band of Comanches was unusually large, so Josh immediately realized that his people would have to fort-up in a stand of trees along the stream. The trees were growing too close together to get the wagons fully pulled into them, but the wagons did help to cut off the most convenient paths for the Comanches to use to charge the Hoppers. The Comanches were surprised to find themselves warded off by 11 guns, instead of the 4 that they expected. By this time, the women had sufficient practice to be quite respectable shots, either with the rifle or the pistol, and the Comanches were limited to lances and bows as their weapons. To their surprise, the 23 Comanches were suddenly at a disadvantage, both for range and accuracy. What the hell!?! This wasn't supposed to happen. All of the old tales of attacks on Whites had them running in confusion, only to be easily ridden down by the braves on their horses. Instead, this was going to be a siege, which was no fun for anybody and offered very little chance for counting coup. Oh, well, maybe there would still be some chance to show off individual bravery. The Indians began the battle by sending in a volley of arrows. None of them struck either human nor animal, and it did cut into the total load of ammunition the Comanches had with them. Each man usually carried no more than 6-8 arrows, expecting to do most of his fighting with his lance, and now they had shot off about 15% of their ammunition in a fit of pique. The war chief didn't have much to brag about with this exhibition of leadership, so he was looking desperately for a way to recover some face. There was no way the Comanche was going to fight dismounted unless his horse was incapacitated, so they had no choice but to charge the defenders. Here was where the war chief showed some good sense. He had 12 of his men shoot arrows at the defenders in an effort to make them keep their heads down, while the rest of his men charged with their lances. Surely, this would be enough to win the battle, and they could recover their arrows and return to more traditional fighting methods. This sort of attack would have worked against inexperienced defenders, but all of the defending men had experience in war of one kind or another, and the women were willing to listen to good advice. Therefore, the defenders hid under the wagons where the arcing arrows could not get to them, except by the rarest sort of accident. This also served to concentrate their fire, which would be deadly to the charging horsemen. Josh told them to ignore the archers and shoot only at the charging Indians—they were by far the more dangerous of the enemy at this stage of the battle. He also told them not to be afraid to shoot the horses, since that would be just as effective in disabling a warrior. As soon as the charge started, Butch and Holly were sent out to intercept the oncoming Indians. This was something the Comanches had never before encountered, and they had no good defense against the dogs. This broke the charge before it really got started, so the force of a mounted charge was dissipated before it ever had a chance to appear. The people under the wagons were careful to shoot high so that they would not hit a dog accidentally, so the men on horseback were helped a little by the dogs, but no where near enough to counteract the effect the dogs were having. The dogs jumped at the riders and usually grabbed them by an ankle, dragging them from the back of the horse. This usually resulted in a fatal fall, though, if not that, certainly a disabling fall due to broken bones, etc. The horses were certainly frightened by this new form of menace, so they tended to shy away from the dogs, which further affected the rider's ability to stay aboard. The upshot of all this defensive effort was that none of the charging riders was still on his horse by the time they got close enough for the lances to do any good. These Comanches were all either dead or wounded and irrevocably out of the fight, so Josh ordered that the shooting now be redirected toward the former archers; "former" because, by then, they had expended all of their arrows. He also called the dogs back in, since they were in more danger at that increased range. The archers were pelted with bullets, and men and horses started to fall. The war chief finally gave his most intelligent order of the day, and the attackers rode away, never to return. Josh ordered his people to remain under cover for a while longer to make sure that the retreat was no trick, but let his people out when it became obvious that the Comanches had given up their attack. Elizabeth, as senior wife, stayed with Mary while the rest went out to survey the situation. Several of the Indians and horses were still alive, though severely wounded; their throats were mercifully cut and the bodies were left for scavengers. There was not much of value to collect, but they did cut off the fingers of the men so that they could not use weapons in the after life. This did nothing for Josh's people, but it did send a message to the Comanches. This was the last big battle before they arrived home, and everybody was happy for the peace offered by the Lazy H ranch. They settled into the house with no complaints. There were 6 bedrooms, exactly the right number for the current population. Each man had his own bedroom, which he shared with a different wife each night. There was a room to be used for a nursery, presently occupied only by Mary and the mother staying with her for the night. The last room was used by the two women who were not otherwise occupied that night. The women continued to set the schedule for the nightly visits to the 4 men, and the men were quite happy to leave it at that. A few months later, babies started popping out at a fairly steady pace until all of the women had at least one of her own, though there were some twins. None of the men were aware of the arrangement, but the women had set up the nightly visit schedule so that only Andy was the father of any of this round of children. This was their tribute to him for rescuing them, and they kept the secret throughout their lives. They decided that 11 children were enough, and managed to stick to that by judicious scheduling. None of the men ever knew, or would have minded if they had ever known—such was the strength of the Hopper family. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2008-03-20 Last Modified: 2008-04-29 / 10:44:48 am ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------