Storiesonline.net ------- Next by cmsix Copyright© 2010 by cmsix ------- Description: Well, you go to sleep in 2010 North Eaxt Texas and wake up in the piney woods, who knows where or when. What would you do next? Codes: MF Mf cons het TimeTr violent ------- ------- Chapter 1 Well, what came next? Where, as they often ask, do I go from here? Hell, I could go anywhere I wanted to, couldn't I. That was the rub though. I had it to do. It wasn't as if I could hop in a car and go somewhere though. There were no cars here, or at least I hadn't seen one yet. It didn't matter so much though because there were no roads here either. Another big mystery was where was I starting from? I didn't have the first fucking clue there either. The last place I remember being was near my hometown, in Texas. In North East Texas as a matter of fact, and it was possible I was still there, or somewhere close. When was I here though? I know, I remember, Stephen Hawking said time travel was possible, but not in the rearward direction. Say what? You can't go back in time because of the possibility of causing a paradox? What I want to know is where are the time cops located? Who checks on things like that to keep it from happening? I can tell you who. No one. There is no great cosmic intelligence directing things. We are just where we are unless we get moved somewhere else and the universe has to deal with us on an as is basis, with individual trials. We are where we are and it is when we are. If we get moved somewhere else we are just somewhere else and if we get moved some when else we are just some when else. The only thing, which really matters, is now. What is happening now and what will we do next. Time keeps moving on, unless something abnormal happens. It's like position. Your position in space stays the same unless something happens to move you. So why should travel in time be limited to only one direction? Everyone can travel in time and we do so from the start, but are we really traveling in time or are we just letting it go by? Damned if I know is what I can tell you, but if we travel in time who is to say we can only travel in the direction we are already going? Stephen Hawking is saying it, but so what? In my mind he isn't talking about traveling in time at all, he is only talking about accelerating the passage of time. Hell, we do that every night when we sleep. And after all that discussion where am I left. I'm left right where I was, but I don't know where it is and really, I don't know when it is. I know I'm in a pine forest. "Why," you might ask, "do you think you have traveled in time?" Because of the fucking trees, that's why. "Well what about the trees? There are trees everywhere and every when by the way." Maybe, but not like these. "What's so special about your particular trees?" I'll tell you. They are giants. Giant yellow pines. Three and more feet in diameter. "So what?" So, they would have been cut by 2010. Oh, maybe a few made it past 2010, but not this many. Damned nearly all the trees I can see are these old giants. Yellow pines only grow, mostly, in one particular area on earth. It's a large area, as in, the southeast United States, but by 2010 it was heavily populated. And there was no area left where trees this size could have hidden from the maw of the timber and paper industries. At least there wasn't a place they could hide in 2010. But I was here now. I was some time or some place I couldn't know about. How did I get here? Somehow I was removed from where I was and deposited here. It was the only thing, which made sense. The last thing I remember was being in my home, asleep. Something took hold of me and moved me. Whether it moved me in space or time I didn't know for sure, but I was removed from where I was and moved. To get so far from where I had been something unusual had to have happened. I could easily imagine a scenario where people could have entered my house, used gas or drugs to render me even more unconscious than I was already, kept me unconscious, and physically moved me. What I couldn't imagine was how they found this place with these giant trees. I also couldn't imagine why any group of people would go to so much trouble to move me. I was nobody to anybody but myself. I wasn't a mover and shaker among the elite. I was a poor boy from North East Texas. Hell, I was a redneck, for God's sake. The only thing that really made any sense was that something accidental moved me. Something that occurred naturally had happened to happen right where I was and sent me here. What could have happened? Lightning. It must have been lightning. Lightning was the most powerful natural event happening the night I last remember. Thunder was rumbling in the distance when I went to sleep. The weather channel had told me, and others no doubt; a storm was coming our way. It was one of the reasons I went to bed early. I was anticipating a power outage from a close by lightning strike to one of the power lines. "Aw hell, you say, lightning strikes all the time and doesn't send people back in time." I say, how do you know? How do you know people aren't sent back in time occasionally? People are struck and killed by lightning. How do you know their essence isn't moved back in time leaving their current body dead? Face it. You don't know. Lightning is the most powerful unintentional release of energy on earth. It is the most powerful natural release of energy. Who is to say what it can do or what it does. So there you have it. I was struck by lightning and put back in time. Simple when you get down to it. It would explain my current situation perfectly. It covered all the facts I had available anyway. It also left me in one hell of a mess. I was in a piney woods. Place unknown, time unknown, and naked. This was down to the basics. The first thing I needed was a weapon. I looked on the ground around me and found a nice baseball sized rock. It would do for now. Next thing I needed was some clothes and no matter how hard I looked I didn't see any jeans lying around. Oh well, maybe I could do better after the sun came up. When the sun did rise I started looking around me more carefully. I found a wagon trace, though it was barely used, and started walking down it. From the sun's position I thought I was moving west, but I wasn't moving very fast. I was keeping my eyes open though and shortly I noticed a man sitting on a horse standing beside the road. He was back in the woods a little from the road and he seemed to be watching it. I kept trees and brush between us and moved closer to examine him. He was dressed and he was riding a saddled horse. He also had firearms on his person. He had some sort of revolver in a holster at his right hip and there was a saddle scabbard on the left side of his horse with a rifle in it. I couldn't see what type of rifle it was from my vantage, but I could tell it was a lever action. Wait. He moved and is looking down the trace. It was as if he'd heard something and was peering down the road to see what it was. Then I heard it too. It sounded like some sort of harness rattling. I turned to look also and I saw a wagon topping a gentle rise about half a mile away. There were mules pulling it. A team of eight mules and the noise had come from their harness as they moved. The waiter was now focused on the coming wagon and he pulled his revolver. To me it seemed obvious. He had somehow known the wagon was coming and was waiting to stop it or rob it. I used the fact his attention was on the wagon to slip up closer to him. I could see him getting more tense as he waited and I could tell he intended to spur his horse into the road when they came close enough. I moved too and put myself into a good rock throwing range from where I expected him to go. It seemed to take hours but finally the moment was on us. He spurred his horse into the road and stopped exactly where I'd expected him to. The wagon stopped also and then the rider turned toward it and fired one shot. I fired my shot then, or at least I reared back and threw the rock. My move wasn't unprecedented. In my previous life, the only way I could think of my past now, I had been a baseball pitcher. I'd been a wonder in little league, earned a college scholarship, and even gone on to pitch in the minors. I didn't have a good curve ball or even much of a changeup, but I'd always had a powerful fastball. I guess now it was a fast rock. It hit him just behind the ear and he fell as if he'd been pole axed. Naked or not I rushed to him and grabbed up his revolver. All I could hear now was a woman screaming "Papa, Papa", from the wagon. I took the time to remove the attackers pants and put them on myself before rushing to the wagon to see if I could help. I couldn't and in fact no one could. I shuddered thinking of the shape I'd be in now if the rider had seen me first. He'd drilled the wagon's driver right in the heart and the man was dead already. It took me half an hour to settle Amy down. Amy was the woman's name, or the girl's. I'd have to see later which she considered herself. After a lot of explaining I told her my take on things and it was more information than she'd had even though she'd been present for most of it. After she was somewhat coherent and with me again I got back down out of the wagon and examined the attacker again. He was still out, but he was still breathing. I didn't want him to come back to himself so I looked around and spotted a large sheath knife in its sheath on his belt. I didn't even know the proper way to cut a man's throat, but I took his knife and gave it my best shot. I could tell when I'd opened both his carotid arteries and after I had I considered myself done. I removed his shirt first of course since I didn't want blood all over it. In fact I removed everything from him, took his ankle, and dragged him off into the woods. When I had him out of sight I even cut off his dick and ball sack. It was death by bleeding after all and more openings in his vascular system would mean a faster death. I caught up his horse and tied it to the back of the wagon and then went back to check on Amy. She asked if I could bury her father and when I agreed she showed me where to find the shovel. Let me tell you, it is hell digging a grave with a round point shovel while barefoot. I did it though, and then I pulled the wagon off the road and into the woods beside the grave I'd just finished. With Amy's help I took her father out of the wagon and lowered him into the grave. She said a few words over him and then a prayer and then she turned away and I took my cue to cover him up. After the job was done she prayed over him again and then turned to me. I told her my story then, or an abbreviated version of it. I think I left her thinking I'd been waylaid and left naked in the woods by person or persons unknown. Thankfully she asked if I was hungry and I admitted I'd at least gone without breakfast this morning. She asked me to build a fire and after I had she started cooking a meal, or part of one anyway. As we were talking it came up that I didn't know where the attacking rider had come from and Amy asked if I didn't want to look around to see if he had camped nearby. It made sense to me and I started off walking until she asked me why I didn't use my horse. After a little confusion she pointed out that his former horse was mine now since he wouldn't need it any longer. I took it on faith and extrapolated it to taking his boots too. They were approximately the correct size and they went on fairly easily after Amy provided a pair of her father's socks. It was a smart move for her to suggest since when I mounted and heeled the horse without giving it much direction it walked about two hundred yards farther into the woods and came upon a camp. There were two wagons there and one mule hobbled and grazing. After looking through the wagons I could see they had been ransacked. Looking more closely I found a stash up near the front of the best looking wagon and it was a stash of valuables. Apparently the robber I'd rocked to death had been using this as his outpost. He had made a good haul or hauls. I found nearly three hundred dollars worth of coined money in gold. Four revolvers in various states of condition. Two Henry rifles, one Sharps rifle in 50-90 and three more Army Colt conversions fixed to fire the .44 rim fire cartridges used also by the Henrys. This looking around reminded me I hadn't checked the attacker's pockets and I reminded myself to do it soon. I went back to Amy's wagon and told her of my find. She wanted to know if we could drive her wagon back there and I thought we could. Then I remembered to check the attacker's body again for more booty. He had thirty-seven gold double eagles in his pockets, An Ingersol watch, and a large pocketknife. I discarded his tobacco but kept his matches, and everything else. I went back to Amy then and showed her the way to the other two wagons. When she stopped she went into the one I'd looked through and found a cache inside it, which held a smoked ham and several pounds of bacon. She had me move it to her wagon. In the other wagon she found another cache of meat with even more bacon, some ground sausage, and another smoked ham. She also discovered the two wooden barrels were one of flour, and one of cornmeal. It was hell getting these two transferred but I finally managed. She also found a hidden compartment under where the barrels had been sitting. Inside it was a cache of gold double eagles, three hundred of them. There were also two ten gauge Greeners and around a hundred shells for same in 00 buckshot. "I wonder where the mules are that were pulling these wagons?" Amy asked, as she was cooking us up a little something for lunch after we'd taken everything we wanted from the other wagons. "Maybe he took them somewhere and sold them," I said, just guessing. "Maybe, but I think you should ride around and look a little to make sure he doesn't have them hobbled somewhere nearby." she said, and I agreed to. We weren't worried about any partners in crime showing up since Amy had examined his camp closely when she got there and she said his was the only sign near it which had been made within the last week or so. Of course I didn't know where to go looking for loose mules when I mounted up and struck out and either there were no mules around or I didn't find where he had them hidden because I didn't find any mules. Amy said it would have been nice if I had since one of the wagons we'd found was nearly as good as hers and we could have sold it somewhere, but we decided to move on and come back for it if things turned out that way or just leave it if nothing turned up. After the noon meal, with nothing else holding us out here in the middle of nowhere, we made our way back onto the wagon trace and headed west again. Amy drove the wagon and I busied myself looking over the recently acquired firearms. She suggested I test them and so I tried with the Greeners first. Man, by the time I'd fired a load of the 00 buckshot out of each barrel I was ready to call a halt to the gun testing. Those cocksuckers kicked. She talked me into trying out each firearm at least once though and the others weren't nearly as painful as the Greeners. In my previous life I would have called us loaded for bear. We had several excellent rifles and two devastating shotguns, along with several revolvers. I reloaded the Greeners and two of the Henrys along with two Colt Army conversions and put them all easy to hand from where I was sitting. Amy had two Navy ( .36 caliber) revolvers loaded and ready too. It was just as well we were prepared since out of nowhere a tree by the side of the road fell into the trace, blocking our forward motion. "It's a trick to get us stopped so they can rob us," Amy shouted, when the tree came down. I grabbed the closest Greener just as two men came riding out of the woods waving pistols our way. Hell, I fired the Greener, both barrels, but not generally their way. I fired it directly at them and even though the range was a little long for a certain kill, it was within fifty feet and they were both hit, early and often. My aim had been a little high, but it was fortunate since I didn't hit either horse and it made a mess of the men. One of them had both eyes shot out and the other lost one eye. Both lost most of their faces and they were both bleeding profusely from the neck. They went off their horses right away, dropping their revolvers on the way down. I just sat right where I was with a Henry in hand now and sure enough another one rode out from behind where they'd been and he also had a revolver in hand. I shot him in the right shoulder right away and he dropped the revolver as his arm became useless to him. He also fell off his horse and I jumped down from the wagon and went to take a look. The first two were dead even before I cut their throats, but the last one was only wounded with a useless right arm. He was reaching for another gun in his belt with his left hand so I shot him again in the other shoulder and stopped all that crap. He was a rather young fellow and between sobs he asked why I'd shot them since they were only funnin'. "Hell, I was funnin' too. Just like I think it will be fun to cut your throat now that you're down," I said, pulling the knife I'd taken earlier from the sheath on my belt. "Don't mister, please don't kill me. Ok, I'll admit it, we were going to rob you, but don't kill Me." he said, and it was in the nature of begging now. "Sorry son, but if you've done started robbing and killing folks this young there just ain't no chance you'll ever be worth a shit. I'll tell you what I will do for you though. I'll kick dirt onto the stream your blood makes after I cut your throat and at least it won't run far from your body," I said. "Why, that won't help me out none," he said. "I'll bet it was more than you did for any others you and you're friends killed," I said, and I could tell from the look on his face it was the truth so I cut his throat, but I'd lied to him about kicking dirt into the stream of blood which ran off. I just let it go, searched all their pockets and gathered all the horses. They must have been doing better on others they robbed. The first two had over three hundred in gold each on them in their pockets and even the youngest I'd slit the throat of had nearly two hundred. There was a brand new Henry on each of their horses in saddle scabbards and they all had nearly new saddles. Oh well, I guess they at least realized they needed good equipment to work with. Except for their revolvers. They all carried Navy Pattersons in 36 caliber, which was a little light weight but they were in good shape and they each had a powder flask and a bag of about five pounds of black powder in their saddlebags. They also had some ham and biscuits wrapped up in waxed paper in their saddlebags as if they were going to work all day and eat lunch in the saddle. Amy and I ate their lunches for them so they wouldn't go to waste after I tied their horses onto the back of the wagon, put their clothes, tack, rifles, and revolvers into the back of the wagon too. We ate their lunches and washed them down with water from our own canteens. We kept their canteens but decided not to drink from them until they'd been washed good with soap unless we came up short of water. We moved on out and within an hour came to a river. There was a ferry to the other side and into Jefferson Texas. We made a little scene with all the extra horses tied behind us and a marshal's deputy wanted to have a word with us. I explained to him about every encounter we'd had and he seemed amazed, but in the end he thanked me for the help. "You're the first wagon that's come this way from that direction in weeks. We knew there must be some robbers working the road, but it seems you've cleared them out for us," he said. "Well, I won't try to tell you I was doing it as a public service, but I'm glad I could help out where I could." I said. "Where are the bodies?" he asked. "I stripped them off naked and pulled them out into the woods for the animals to eat." I said. "You didn't even give them a decent burial?" he asked. "Shit no I didn't. Do you think they'd have buried me if they'd killed me? If I'd had a good sharp axe and more time I'd have cut them up in pieces and thrown their bloody parts out of the wagon as we went along." I said, and it made him shudder. "You're a hard man mister," he said. "Not until I'm fucked with, I ain't," I said, and left it at that. Amy and I found a livery stable and my guess was it was the place where the missing mules wound up, because he had twelve for sale. He put our stock in a pen and fed them for a dollar each and he let us leave our wagon by the side of his shop and claimed he would keep a watch on it. We walked across the street to a cafe and took a table by the big front window and ordered a meal of a steak, beans, and a bowl of stew. We talked while it was coming and I watched our wagon through the window. Just as the meal came I saw a young kid sneak up into our wagon and I was up and across the street in seconds. I was waiting when the little bastard came out of the wagon and I knocked fire from his ass with my revolver's butt then I jerked him up by the collar and led him around to the front of the livery. The kid made my day when we got there. "He caught me pa," he said, to the livery stable owner. I let him have it in the head again with my Colt's barrel this time and then I shared some of the same with the livery owner. I'll admit I shared more that one lick with him. I'd have probably beaten him to death if a town deputy marshal hadn't come up and asked what I was up to. I explained the whole tale to him, especially about the stable owner saying he'd watch my wagon while we were away and I also told him what the boy said when I caught him and brought him around to the stable owner. The deputy turned to the still recumbent stable owner and kicked him solidly in the ribs. "We've warned you about this shit, Jasper, and you're ass is going to jail for it this time. Get up and give this man the money back for taking care of his stock. I'll turn the stable over to Clem and maybe we can get some decent folks to take it over. You ain't gonna need it in prison," the deputy said. "You can't take my stable, I've got a deed to it," the owner said. "That deed can be burned in less than a second and you might as well turn over and kiss your stable dust goodbye. You ain't gonna see it again for twenty years. It's a shame for your wife, but she's got a good job cleaning up at the hotel and the judge will probably give her some of the money your stable brings when the county auctions if off. It won't matter to you by then though. You'll already be in prison with the bigger prisoners fucking you up the ass every night. Send us a letter and let us know how you like it. "Now, get your ass us and come on over to the jail with me and your boy. I'm gonna take it easy on him and put him close to the front in a cell of his own. You I'm going to put in the back in the cell with, Bubba, that big nigger we caught corn holing the Carlson boy. I'll make sure it's nice and dark back there where you and Bubba can get acquainted," the deputy said. I had to wait around for Clem to give me my refund and then also while the deputy gave him his marching orders. He warned Clem he'd be right over in the jail house spelling the owner from the attentions of Bubba if my stock wasn't in top notch shape when I came for it and he told me not to bother catching the next one who slipped into my wagon looking for something to steal. "Just go ahead and shoot their thieving asses, and come around here and shoot Clem too if you catch one at it." Needless to say our wagon went undisturbed while I went over and finished my meal. I could also see our stock being led into the stable, having their feet cleaned and being brushed down too. Hell, they were put in stalls for the night, even the mules. ------- Chapter 2 After we finished eating the sun was setting and Amy and I went back to our wagon for the night. She fussed about the way the kid had made a mess of things, but she put it all back together in no time and then she started taking off her clothes, which shocked me. Amy wasn't a flaming red head with tight curly hair. Her hair was a dark auburn and fell to her shoulders in big waves, and her eyes were sparkling green. I soon saw she had big plump titties that jiggled wildly when she turned them loose, and her bright pink nipples stood up to attention as she watched me watching her undress. By the time she pushed her dress all the way off and then started slipping her bloomers down to show her crinkly bush matched her hair perfectly my dick was hard and throbbing in my pants. When she was completely naked she put a hand on her hip and just looked at me. "Well, come on, you've had your show and now its time to give me mine," she said, and being no fool I got started. When I got out of my jeans her eyes went wide open since my dick was making a tent in my drawers, and she sucked in her breath and gasped when I shoved the drawers down and let my hardon have its head to spring up. "My God, what a dick," she said, and I really didn't know what she was going on about. I'd never paid any attention to any other fellows dick if I happened to see one pissing or something, but Amy let me know mine was the biggest she'd ever even heard of, "Well, maybe I stretched it out. I was raised in the country you know and it was about the only toy I had, so I played with it plenty," I told her, trying to make a joke of it. "Whatever you did, don't stop now. Then again maybe you ought to. I'm not sure I could take it if it got any bigger. Hell, I'm not sure I can take it now," she said. "You mean you're going to let me do it to you?" I asked, nearly stupefied. "I'm gonna do it with you, not let you do it to me. Hell, we're driving across country like man and wife anyway and unless I'm wrong, doing it is what men and wives do," she said, grinning. "You mean you'd have me for a husband?" I asked her. "Of course I will. We're in the process of being common law married as it is," she said. "If I hired a preacher to marry us you'd say I do?" I asked, wanting to make sure. "I would if you'll ask me to marry you first," she said. "Amy, would you marry me?" I asked. "Whoopee. Hell yes I will. You just asked the magic question," she said, and then she reached up, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me down onto the mattress with her. Now I wasn't completely a fool, and due to my previous life I knew what French kissing was all about. Apparently Amy had never heard of such, but she took to it right off the bat. In fact I'd say it had her steaming in no time. I'd noticed right away when she took off her drawers she didn't put on anything else and soon enough we had skin on skin everywhere. I made another discovery when I moved a hand down into her bush to get a little finger action going. Amy was a virgin. Her cherry was right there guarding her pussy from intrusion, but I thought I had the cure for it. When I made the first move to put my legs between Amy's she spread hers wide and then reached down and took hold of my dick when I got between her legs. She rubbed the bloated head between her slippery lips and had it slippery too in only seconds. She lined me up and then told me to do it, and I did. I pushed it up her and through the barrier right away. She tensed up and cringed slightly as her maidenhead went away for good, but she bucked her hips up against me next and in only a few more seconds I was sliding my dick to the bottom and just kissing her cervix with my dickhead on each stroke. Apparently Amy liked that, or she liked something because her arms went around me and hugged me to her tightly. When I could tell her spring was nearly sprung I bent my neck and inhaled one of her plump nipples for a teasing suck and nip with my teeth and she began bucking beneath me and clawing my back with her fingernails. I had to put my lips back to hers to keep her screams muffled and in the middle of all the action I gave up the white lotion in the place it belonged for the first time. "Oh God, Jake, oh God. I never dreamed it would be anything like this. It was wonderful, wonderful. Let's do it again," she said. I explained it would take a while for me to recover and then she asked the magic question about whether she could do anything to speed matters up. Amy wasn't sure I was telling the truth when I explained about sucking my dick back up hard. She asked if it had ever been done to me before and I told her no, because I'd never done this before her. She seemed to swell with pride over that revelation and she promptly moved her head down into range and began licking around on my dick. It was such a shock to me I sprang right back up and it surprised her since she felt she'd barely done anything. It didn't matter because when I ran it up her again she did something. She showed me her tunnel had a grip of its own while I was pumping. It seemed she opened up and let me push it up her and then squeezed around it seeming to try to keep it up there when I stroked back. I had to beg her to stop that and when she asked why I told her it was too good and I'd go off before she did if she kept it up. "Oh, I can fix that," she said, and cocked her hips a little. Apparently it made the top of my dick rub against her button and in no time she was blasting off again and after she'd gotten into orbit she started gripping my dick with her cooter again and I blasted directly off myself. We were both winded this time but I recovered faster than Amy did. I rose up to kiss and nibble on her titties and nipples and when the nipples were stiff again I began trailing kisses down her body, over her navel, and then into her bush. She gasped when my lips and tongue found her pussy and began licking and sucking in earnest. I settled in for a good gash eating session and later Amy pulled the blanket up, put it in her mouth, and bit down on it to stifle her cries. She fainted this time, dead away, and when she came back I was up beside her petting and kissing around her face and lips. "Oh, Jake, what did you do to me?" she asked. "Didn't you like it?" I asked. "Loved it. I've loved every second of this. Who needs a preacher anyway? I say we're married now," she said. "Well, I'll look around for a preacher tomorrow so we can get it down on paper. It won't hurt anything," I said, and she just sighed and snuggled in closer. "We were up at first light and we were dressed and over to the cafe shortly after. When we finished Amy went back to the wagon and I struck out looking for a preacher. I found one shortly. He asked me if I wasn't a little young to be getting married and so I trumped him. "I guess we could go on living in sin if you think that's best." I said, and he changed his tune and told me he could marry us just after noon. I was happy with the news and I returned to the wagon. As I got there I noticed a deputy and the Marshal standing near a body, which looked like it, had fallen out of the wagon. Amy was talking to them and I rushed up. "I was in the wagon changing and I was naked when he stuck his grinning face in. He just kept on coming and so I picked up my Patterson revolver and shot him," Amy said. "I told the judge he was being too lenient on the little bastard just giving him one night in jail. He was back up to his old tricks and it even sounds like he was going to try for more this time. The judge should have let me keep him to spend a few nights with Bubba before we turned him loose. After all, he might be alive now if he had," the marshal said. The undertaker's wagon pulled up then and loaded the boy's body and the undertaker came up asking the marshal who to charge his work to. "Send the bill to the judge, personal. If he won't pay it we'll argue with him a while and then the town will." the marshal said. "But why should I send it to the judge?" he asked. "Because I told you too, and if you don't I'll figure out some charge to get you a couple of days in jail as a guest of Bubba's yourself. You hear me. I want that judge to know he might as well have killed this boy by letting him off so light and nothing will bring the point home like getting a bill for his burial," the marshal said, and the undertaker took off like a dog with his tail between his legs. "I want to thank you and your wife, mister. You've rid this town of a thieving little bastard and got his daddy, who no doubt put him up to it in the first place, in jail finding out what it's like getting it up the ass. It ain't really such a bad town, but we've had some trouble makers come around since it growed so fast after the channel was opened up to let river traffic make it up here," the marshal said, and then he and the deputies took off. Amy and I headed for the cafe then and had some lunch. We finished it off with peach cobbler and lots of coffee and I was feeling like I was fat and slick before we were done. We had to rush a little to get back to the preacher in time, but we were wed and shopping in a big general store by one PM. Amy wasn't used to shopping like most other women were. She mostly looked around, found what she wanted and bought it. I encouraged her to look at things more closely to see if she was sure she didn't want them and it caused her to ask me about things she saw and didn't recognize. Hell, we had time on our hands anyway and strangely enough, I enjoyed it. We made a nice little haul and were over at our wagon when eight mules came up dragging one of the wagons we'd seen left in the woods and had gone through already. Apparently the one driving it had found it later and he wanted to sell it now. The liveryman didn't want it and when I enquired about it the one driving said he'd sell the whole thing, mules and all, for five hundred dollars. I just turned around thinking how dumb I'd been to leave it where it was and the driver must have thought the price was too high for me because he cut it to two hundred dollars and yelled it to my back. Hell, eight mules were worth more than that and I said sold and counted out the money. I held it until he found someone in an office to make him up a bill of sale and then I had him sign and date it and I paid him the money. I even took the bill of sale over to the courthouse and had it recorded for two dollars and they marked it with an official looking seal. When I got back to the wagon Amy was inside it and when I called her she let me know where she was. "Jake, they loaded everything out of both wagons into this one. The flour, the salt beef, everything. They even put in two rifles and three revolvers I guess we missed somehow," Amy said, sounding excited. "Well honey, it's ours now and I've got the paper work to prove it. Sit down in there somewhere. One of these wheels looks a little shaky and I'm going to take it to the blacksmith and see if he can tighten it up." She settled into the seat beside me and I drove it to the blacksmith's shop. While he was fucking with the wheel he found a couple of other things which needed fixing and I had him take care of those too. He asked where I was headed with it and I told him we were intending to go to Independence and try to catch on with a wagon train and head West. "Well, I know it's in good enough shape now to make Independence, but you never can tell what might come up later, he said. "Well, there's no telling how much later it will be either. I'll have to fined another driver to drive this wagon first," I said. "No, you won't. I doubt they'll let you head out west with it like the way I can fix it. But for twenty-five dollars I can put a hook on the tongue and a loop on the back of your other wagon and you can just hitch 'em together. "Only place you might have trouble is going down a really steep grade since there won't be anyone in the back wagon to use the brakes. "Come to think of it I don't guess you'd want to ford much water like that neither. It'll be fine if your wheels touch the bottom all the way across the water, but you wouldn't want to try it if it's going to float the wagons," he said. Hell, I could hardly get the twenty-five dollars out of my pocket fast enough. I paid him and left Amy in the wagon while I went to fetch the other one. The livery hands even helped me hitch up my team. Amy just sat around while I watched the smith work, mostly. Suddenly he asked me if it was all right if he removed a box, which was attached to the second wagon's underside. I got under it and took a look and told him to go ahead and I waited under the wagon until it was loose and then put it in the first wagon. He finished around four PM and had me take it for a trial run. Somehow the team on the second wagon caught on about when to pull and things seemed to work almost automagically. I went back by the blacksmith shop and thanked him for a job well done. "Aw, twern't nothing. I seed it done once and then tried it out myself on a couple of wagons when I was moving down here. I don't know how the mules in the second team know just what to do, but ever time I've tried it they always do fine if they've ever pulled a wagon before. Hell, even if they ain't it don't take 'em long to catch on. The only trouble, like I said, that might come up is down a steep grade or crossing deep water," he said. The only trouble for me now, after Amy and I ate supper in the cafe, was wondering what had been in that box under the second wagon. It had been obvious the man who sold it to me hadn't looked in it because the way it was attached made it have to be taken off to get inside it. Well, it was off now and I thought I'd just take a look. I'll say one thing for it; the son of a bitch was heavy. Looking it over more closely I realized the board that had been up against the wagon frame was just fit tight into the rest of the box and it wasn't even nailed in place. It only took me a few minutes with a small pry bar I had to get it out. As soon as it was out of the way I felt a surge of excitement go through me since there was a metal box inside it. I wanted to jump and shout when I got the metal box out and open. Hell, it was full of gold double eagles. I had to call Amy to come and help me count them. We ended up with four hundred and thirty six of them. This was the biggest bonanza of either life for me so far. I thoroughly understood how you made money by selling or trading. You bought low and sold for a higher price. I'd bought this low and hadn't even had to sell it to make money. It was also the first time I'd ever made money by buying something without selling it later. For a while there I wanted to go back to the spot where I'd found this wagon in the first place, but I finally realized the others probably weren't there any longer. I did make up my mind to never pass up a wagon for sale without looking it over thoroughly, or at least looking it under thoroughly. Amy was thunderstruck when I gave her the news. "My God, Jake, we're rich," she said. "Well, we've got a good start anyway," I said. "We've got a hell of a start, and by the way you might want to look around under the wagon you found me in. Daddy was a little secretive about his money and I wouldn't put a trick like that past him. I told her I'd check it out, but mostly blew it off as being too lucky to even think about. Lightning didn't strike twice in the same place. Even if this was a different wagon. Different wagon or no I still wanted to try out our little rig. I hitched both teams the next morning after breakfast, put the wagons together and headed out of town. I drove it about a mile and then turned around in a farmyard to head back to town. Three dogs came out from the barn and started raising hell and shortly thereafter a man came out from the barn cussing them until they stopped barking at us. "I'm sorry if I upset your dogs mister," I told him before taking off again. "Hell, it's my fault. I shouldn't have kept so many after not enough people wanted pups from the last litter. Heck, I just hate to drown puppies," he said, and shrugged his shoulders as if it was some failing of his. "Would you sell a couple of them then?" I asked him. "Hell yeh, you can have them all, except for the mama dog, for ten bucks," he said. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a double eagle, and asked him if he had change. He didn't, but he made me another offer then. I'll sell you their mama too and their pap for the whole double eagle," he said, and since I'd already pulled it out I took him up on it. "You'll like 'em. They's all trained to come when you call them," he said. He yelled out for Bessie and Ben then and damned if the mamma and daddy didn't come right on out. It only took him a second to send Ben, Bessie, Jim, John, and Lila up into the wagon through the back. "They won't dig though stuff back there, and if they start just yell at them to leave it alone and they'll mind. You might want to tie them to the wagon for a couple of days though to keep them from coming back home though," he said. It's just what I did. They already had collars on their necks and I took some light cotton rope I had and tied them in place. The dogs all tried to get loose when we started to town and even though I yelled at them to leave their tie ropes alone they'd stop when I did, but they'd start back up in a little bit. I went right to the general store, left Amy in the wagon to make them leave their tie ropes alone, and went inside and bought five six foot lengths of a light 3/16th chain and five snap on hooks. Amy was just sitting there with the dogs all laying down and sticking their heads up for her to pet them every now and then when I got back in the wagon. Even though she had them minding well I still attached the chains to the inside of the wagon and clipped one on each of their collars. When I removed the ropes the dogs all thought they were free, but when they came to the end of the chain as they tried to make their escape they found out different. Amy left me with them this time and she walked into a butcher shop next to the general store. She was back in a few minutes with two big sacks. One had four thick steaks in it and the other had five big bones. She gave each of the dogs a bone, calling them to her by name before she did and she put the steaks in a meat cache box in the wagon. "Now we can leave. Don't forget it's our wedding night, she said, and then winked at me. Getting turned around reminded me of a song from my original time. "Give me forty acres and I'll turn this rig around," hadn't been a real big hit, even with the truck driving crowd it was meant for, but it had a hell of a title and it sure went well here and now. The dogs perked up when we passed their former home, but they didn't whine and mostly went back to gnawing on their bones. We kept going through one more little town and then I pulled off the road into the woods to set up a camp for the night. I started a fire for Amy to cook on and then moved all the dogs out of the wagon and chained them up to the wheels. Then I took each one of them for a walk and they did pretty well with all of them pissing often and most of them squatting to take a shit. I didn't want them to get started with such in the wagon. Things were peaceful after dark and the dogs settled down to lay on the ground under the wagon. I moved their bones out of the wagon and spread them out and they all went back to gnawing on them. We decided to leave the dogs outside after supper and we got into the wagon and celebrated our nuptials vigorously. I was just lying there cuddling with Amy when the dogs started growling lowly. I dragged on my pants and boots, picked up a Henry and poked my head out the front of the wagon. Two turd heads were standing just outside the bright firelight and they both had their side arms out and pointed at the dogs. "Shoot them dogs," one of them said to the other. "You dumbass, if I shoot it'll wake them up and they'll come out looking for us," the other one said. "Well, we'll hide and then later, after they's back asleep we can slip up and rob them," the other one said. I don't guess they were the light of intellectual thought their fathers and mothers were hoping for. One of them did raise a pistol and point it at the dogs so I put one right in his eye. I shot the other one as he was hopping around wondering what to do and then I bailed out of the wagon and went over to see what I'd done. The first one I'd shot was deader than shit, but the other one I'd only shot in the shoulder of his gun arm and he was lying there moaning. I got his attention by kicking his wounded shoulder. He screamed and then cried more loudly. "So, you thought you were going to shoot my dogs and then slip back up and rob me?" huh. "No mister, we was just looking around, the live one said. "No, you weren't. I heard you talking and you're the very one who told him to shoot the dogs and you'd sneak back after we'd gone to sleep again. "It ain't no use lying to me now, boy. I heard you two talking." "Well what are you going to do to us now?" he asked. "It's, do to you, now. Your friend is done dead. I shot him in the eye. What I'm gong to do to you depends on what you tell me next. Oh, I'm gonna kill you all right, but what you need to ask yourself is if you want to die quickly or if you want me to cut you into little pieces and let you suffer while you're dying." I said. "That ain't much of a choice for me, mister." he said. "You might not think so now, but when I start cutting your dick off a little at a time you might change your mind," I said, pulling the sharp sheath knife out of it's sheath. Since he didn't say anything else then I unbuckled his pants, pulled them down, and then dragged them and his drawers off. "Amy, come look at this," I yelled back toward the wagon. She must have spent some time putting her clothes back on, but she came out after a few minutes. She took one look at the naked boy and laughed out loud. "What are you doing to him Jake?" she asked. "I was just telling him I could kill him quick like or I could make him suffer. All he had to do to get it quickly is tell me where their horses are and where he's got his cache of other things they've stolen," I told her. "Well that ain't much of a choice for him, Jake," Amy said. "Shore it is and he'll wish he'd already taken the quick way out after I cut his dick and balls off, which I'm just about to do," I said. "Well, I don't know, but I'm sure gonna watch to see how it turns out," Amy said, and giggled. I grasped the boy's dickhead and pulled it tightly stretching his dick out straight. He sucked in his breath as if that was going to help and so I sliced the stretched out part in half. It got his attention right away. He screamed out until all the dogs started barking and when he settled down after I kicked him in the head and told him to shut up I told him to watch and when he was looking I threw the part of his dick I'd cut off over to the dogs and the old papa dog snatched it up and gobbled it down quick as a wink. The boy was stunned for a second and clamped his jaws shut. "Now for his ball sack," I said, and he broke down blubbering then. He told me exactly where their horses were hidden and explained how to find their ill-gotten gains, which were buried not far from the horses. I said goodbye to him and put a bullet right between his eyes. "Good God, Jake. Remind me to never make you mad. You get downright mean sometimes," Amy said, and gave me a little laugh. "Oh I don't know. It takes a lot to get me riled up, and besides, you don't even have a dick for me to cut off," I said, and then she laughed out loud. "Well what did they do to set you off so?" Amy asked. "Hell, it was the way they stood out there and talked about killing our dogs and waiting until we'd gone back to sleep to come and rob us. As if we'd just go right back to sleep after someone came up and killed our dogs," I said. "They probably couldn't help it Jake. They were just stupid to the bone from the get go," Amy said. "Maybe, but at least I've done my public duty," I said. "Public duty?" she asked. "Yeh, now they won't be able to talk some equally stupid girl into making a V for them and then getting some stupid children started," I said. Amy laughed again and then stirred up the fire to put a little something to eat on it. If I hadn't thought it was a bad thing to get started I'd have dragged one or both of our robbers over, sliced them open a little and let the dogs eat their fill. As it was I walked out into the woods in the direction the boy had told me and found their horses. Damned if they didn't look pretty good. They had good saddles and both of them had an 1860 Remington Lever Action rifle in their saddle scabbards. Finding their stolen goods cache wasn't any trouble with the directions I'd gotten right at the last either. They must have had a smarter partner in with them at some time because they had nine hundred and eighty dollars in gold in the cache along with four Ingersol watches, lots of ladies Jewelry, and even a couple of nice pepperbox pistols. A few things they had made me wish I could kill them again since there were two Calvary sabers, one from the union army and one confederate. At least it let me know they were too damned sorry to even take sides. I was convinced more than ever now that the world was better off without them. When I made it back to the wagons with my new stock and the jewelry and gold Amy had supper ready and it was damned good. She asked me what I'd found during the meal but I told her it was a surprise. After we'd finished I helped her wash up and then we got into the wagon, left the dogs watching again and I opened the goody sack. ------- Chapter 3 Amy brought a small bucket of water into the wagon with her and she shucked her clothes and washed off with it before taking a towel and drying herself. I did the same after I thought about it and I made sure my dick was really clean in case Amy thought she needed to help stiffen it up again. Before we got down to the important stuff I opened the bag I'd put all the boy's stolen merchandise in and dumped its contents onto the bedspread. Amy was shocked again by the gold coins, but when I pointed out the jewelry, which was now hers and made it plain it was hers now, she nearly fainted. There was a large necklace with plenty of diamonds and rubies in it and I put it around her neck first. Then I strapped on her new bracelet, which mostly had rubies on it, and I slipped a large diamond ring on her ring finger. There was also a diamond encrusted ladies watch and several other things but since she wasn't dressed, there wasn't a place to pin them on her. As soon as she got the jewels back off she pushed me to the mattress, pulled my pants and drawers down, and gobbled up my dick faster than the papa dog had eaten the boy's cut off one. I loved what she was doing with her mouth, but was practically sure I'd like the plain old in-out-in-out better and soon enough she was on her back with her pretty legs spread and my one-eyed trouser snake was looking around for a hole to crawl up in. We were both really happy a few minutes after he found it. We fell asleep soon after we panted out our passion and I'm not sure about Amy but I slept until the sunrise woke me. Of course I needed to piss right away and I pulled up my drawers and pants and then dragged on my socks and boots. It was almost an after thought when I buckled my gunbelt on before I looked out of the wagon. I'd probably have been a dead man if the fool had kept still, but he moved just as I looked out. It made me look around a lot more carefully and I spotted another one about five feet from him. They were sitting with their backs leaned up against tree trunks and they both had Spencer Carbines laying across their laps. At first I wondered why the dogs hadn't raised hell about them but then I thought they were a pretty good ways from the wagon and if they'd crept in slowly and just sat down against the tree trunks the dogs might not have paid them any attention. I knew a Greener would be the best way to deal with them, but they were at least fifty feet from my firing position and I wasn't sure I could make a killing shot from where I was in the wagon. I didn't want to get out of the wagon either since I'd be exposed to their rifles right away. I squirmed around and pulled another Greener up close to me and then worked the business end of the one I was holding out the back and pointed it their way. I was a little bit lost about what to do next though since they hadn't attacked, thankfully. Actually, they looked mighty suspicious just sitting around in our camp but I couldn't be sure they had evil intent. After all, I'd hate to kill someone just for sleeping near out wagon. One of them settled it for me then. He spoke to the other one and then they were both talking. "God Dammit, Charles. I'm tired of waiting. Let's just open the ball by shooting through the sides of the wagon." "I guess it's as good as anything. I've had a nap now and I'm ready to get their stuff and money and move on." I triggered both barrels of the Greener in my hand and swapped it for the other one right away. I could tell it hadn't killed either one of them, but I'd damned sure hit them since both of them had jerked around and knocked the rifles off their laps. Hell, I triggered both barrels of the other Greener and then grabbed up a Henry. When I got it pointed their way one of them was shouldering his carbine and I drilled him right in the forehead with the Henry and then I pointed it at the other one. He was up on his hands and knees by now crawling toward his carbine and he was turned sideways to the wagon now and I put a new ear hole into his head. Amy was awake now and she was frantically trying to get into her clothes. I reloaded both Greeners and told her to use them if she got the chance, but reminded her I'd be out there too. Then I slipped out the back of the wagon and did a hell of a lot of looking around, mostly keeping behind the wagon from where the two assholes had been waiting. I caught a little movement, our of the corner of my eye, as they say and when I looked closer there was another man trying to crawl closer. He'd already passed the two I'd shot but he was staying low to the ground and moving very slowly. I took careful aim and put a shot within a foot of his head. He stopped at once and I could tell he was looking around and trying to discover where the shot had come from. He started easing a rifle up near him and I went ahead and put one in his head this time. It did the trick for him since I saw it had entered his forehead and I doubted he could have lived over it. I spent another fifteen minutes sneaking around the wagon and looking carefully, but I didn't spot anyone else. Finally I stood completely up and headed toward the bodies. They were all dead now, or damned near it. The ones I'd shot with a rifle were for sure and the other one was still breathing shallowly, but he must have nearly bled out by now. I cut his throats and he lost a little more blood and then stopped breathing. After searching all three bodies I figured they were just trying to get a bankroll built up. Each of them had forty double eagles in their pockets and they all had nearly new Henrys. They weren't carrying any Greeners but they all had a double holster rig around their waist and they all had two Army Colt conversions. I stripped them of their valuables, including their weapons and then removed their clothes and boots. It didn't look like I could get any of their boots on my big feet, but we might get a dollar or two out of them later. I built another fire and Amy got out to cook while I walked around a little and located their horses. They were damned good stock and all had nice saddles. They even each had two saddle scabbards and a Henry in one on each horse. I had just finished dragging their bodies off further into the woods when I heard someone coming up through the woods. "Bill, Frank, Charles, are you done yet. Did you get much," the voice asked and when I saw him it was a younger man than they had been but he was obviously in with the bunch. "They didn't get shit but lead, boy. If you don't want some of the same better put down your weapons and lay down face down." I yelled to him. "But why mister? I's just walking around in the woods." he said. "You were just coming to see if your friends had killed and robbed us yet. Hell, I ain't deaf boy. I heard you calling to 'em." I said, He made a try at pulling his revolver then and I shot him in the right shoulder. He screamed, dropped the revolver he'd been trying to pull, and then fell down. I walked over and picked up his Army Colt and then dug around in his pockets. He only had ten double eagles but I knew damned well he'd taken them off some more innocent folks. "Well, so how do you like the life of a highway bandit so far?" I asked him. "It was good until this morning," he said. "Didn't the others tell you to wait for them to come back?" I asked. "Yeh, but I figured it was just so they could get first chance at any women they found," he said. "Well, it's good your bandit career is over quickly then. You're too stupid to be a robber. You tried to come slipping around before they came to get you and damned if you didn't end up shot yourself," I said. "What are you gonna do with me now mister?" he asked. "I'm gonna split with you even up. I'm gonna give you the same thing the others got," I said. "Well what did they get then?" he asked. "They got dead boy. I won't even torture you much if you tell me where the rest of the loot is hid out," I said. "It's in the other wagon, down the road about a mile on the other side about two hundred feet back in the woods." he said. "I'm just gonna trust you on that, boy", I said, and then shot him between the eyes with the Colt I'd taken off him. At least I didn't torture him. Amy rocked with me to sleep with her hips that night and the sun woke me the next morning. I pulled on my drawers and pants and buckled on my gunbelt before climbing out of the wagon to piss. I got a fire going hoping for something to be cooked later and then squatted down to look around under the wagon. Damned if I didn't find a box put up in nearly the same spot as other one had been and I fought it off with my small prybar. This one didn't have a wooden top like the other one had but it did have a thin metal box inside it and when I opened it up I was shocked. It was nearly plum full of double eagles. I found a small cloth in the wagon and poured the gold coins onto the cloth and started counting. It came to five hundred and six double eagles. Now we were talking about real money. I was so excited I had to wake Amy up instead of letting her sleep until she woke up on her own like I normally would have. She was a little grumpy until I told her what I'd found and gave her the count. "My God, Jake. That's more than ten thousand dollars!" she said. "I know it baby, and now we have a really good start," l said. "Oh my God. I've married a rich man," she said, and then laughed like hell. She got dressed and came out of the wagon and then started on breakfast. She fried eggs, cooked two big slices of ham, and even made some big old Cathead biscuits. I ate until I couldn't eat any more. We were both happy as hell this morning but we cleaned up the dishes, hitched the teams, and then got on down the road. It was a nice morning and peaceful driving along through the wooded road. I was just thinking things couldn't be nicer when a damned old tree fell out of the woods. I grabbed up the Greener and told Amy to get back into the wagon bed and then I looked around and saw two men riding our way out of the woods. There was enough room for me to kneel in the wagon box to get a little protection from the front and I saw one of the men aiming his revolver my way. He hesitated a couple of beats, and I figured it was because he couldn't see my body down behind the wagon. It was all the time I needed too. They were both riding side by side and I cut loose with the Greener, aiming high since it always seemed to work so well. It worked well this time too since it knocked them both out of their saddles. I broke the Greener open and shoved in two more shells and then hopped down off the wagon. Reloading so quickly was a needless precaution this time but it was a good habit to keep. I walked over to the men and they were in one hell of a shape. All of their eyes were shot out, their ears were shot off and even their lips were mostly gone. "Your little tree in the road trick didn't work out so well for you, now did it, boys?" I said, but all they did was moan. Ugly as you'll be if you get well I guess it won't matter so much if I cut your dicks off," I said to them, and one of them did sound a little like he was begging me not too. Just then I thanked myself for reloading so quick since another one jumped his horse out and headed my way. He was stupid for doing it so close to where I was standing now, or maybe he thought I hadn't reloaded. I gave him another thought if that was what it was though, because I blew his ass off his horse too, but I only used one barrel this time. Anyway, I reloaded the spent shell before I went over to take a look at him. I went ahead and slit his throat when I got to him and since he looked about my size I pulled his boots and pants off before he could get them too bloody. I saw right away his boots wouldn't even nearly fit my big feet, but I put them and his pants in the back of he wagon anyway. Hell, maybe I could get a dollar or two out of his boots. Amy stuck her head out of the back of the wagon then and I asked her to just sit up there with a Henry ready so she did it. I started checking pockets and found twenty double eagles in each pocket of the last one I'd shot and I also found a double barreled derringer which fired the .44 rim fires like a Henry. He also had an army Colt that hadn't been converted yet and a pretty nice gun belt for it. The next one had a double holster gunbelt with two .44 Remington revolvers. He also had two extra cylinders in pouches on the belt. I knew the cylinders could be switched out easily. It would make the revolvers nearly as useful as a conversion since you could switch cylinders and have six more loaded shots. I didn't think they were as handy as a conversion though because after you shot up all twelve shots you'd be out of ammunition until you could pour in powder, press in a ball, and put on another cap, where with a conversion you could just put in six new cartridges. It was worth having though so I kept it. The last body had a two-gun belt too, but he had conversions in both holsters. When I started checking pockets I was amazed. Apparently they didn't trust their money to a cache since they all had twenty double eagles in each of their pants pockets. These three bums had a hundred and twenty double eagles on them in all. It was no mystery now that they all had a new Henry in one saddle scabbard and a ten gauge Greener in a scabbard on the other side of their horses. They all had brand new looking saddles too, and their horses were prime stock if looks were anything to go by. I dragged all their bodies into the woods at the roadside and then got back into the wagon with Amy. I now had two Greeners just behind the seat and more revolvers than I could ever shoot. We drove on down the road a little and then pulled off into the woods where I built a fire and Amy cooked us some lunch. "Damn, Jake. If these robbery attempts keep on we'll be rich before we get to Independence," Amy said. "Yeh, we will if we don't slip up and let them kill us first." I said. "There is that to think about," she said ------- Incomplete and Inactive ------- Posted: 2010-07-16 Last Modified: 2010-07-21 / 07:55:03 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------