Storiesonline.net ------- Squaring the Odds by cmsix Copyright© 2009 by cmsix ------- Description: Yeh, I had some shitty things happen to me growing up, but hell, I lived over 'em. Lived over a four year hitch killing terrorist too. So now it's time for at least a little fun. Codes: MF ------- ------- Chapter 1 My Mom and Dad had been jokers. Always full of it and seeming to live only to make each other laugh. Bill Sprat had been born to a wealthy father and mother and apparently they were his model for getting along with women. He learned to make girls laugh and it always helped their panties slide off, sooner or later. Sally Waterman's parents weren't po folks either. She and Bill dated off and on before Bill decided Sally could make him laugh too. After they graduated from University they purposely got Sally nocked up, for a laugh. They had planned to marry all along, but they just thought it would be such a hoot to start the family first. Neither of their parents thought it was a damned bit funny, but the wedding went ahead rapidly and Sally was only about four weeks early with her delivery. Of course it left me to be born with a broken arm, from trying to hold on as long as I could so we could try and make things look decent. Things rocked along almost normally until I was fourteen years old. Of course Mom and Dad were always playing little jokes on me. Some were funny and some weren't, but I could tell they loved me better than teacakes and of course I loved them back, even with their, often weird, sense of humor. Their last joke on me hadn't been a damned bit funny though, and I'm sure if they'd had the chance they would have apologized. They'd been off partying, leaving me home alone. What the hell, I was fourteen and old enough to look out for myself. You guessed it. Dad was just a little drunk when he started home and Mom was even drunker. It wasn't the first time they'd come home under the influence. The trouble was they didn't make it home this time. All I can do is thank God they didn't hit anyone else and hurt them too. After the singing and slow walking I moved in with my Dad's parents. We had all been fairly close, and the only reason Dad's parents took me in was because they were about ten years younger than Mom's. I still went over to see Mom's parents often and even spent nights with them lots of times. Sometimes when bad luck gets its hooks in on you it just doesn't let up. In what I considered a payback by fate for something I didn't do, both sets of grandparents had been off on an outing together and were killed in a horrible crash, with a drunk driver for fuck sakes. Of course my grandparents weren't drunk, but the other guy had been and that was that. I was eighteen by then, and old enough to see to myself, but it was a shitty deal all the same. Money wasn't a problem because they all had insurance and the drunk driver had been pretty wealthy. Our families' good lawyer made sure I got my share of the leavings of this drunks estate and I was well set up from my Grandparents estates anyway, since I was the only one listed on any will. Still, it was a dirty trick for fate to pull on me, an all around shitty deal. I'd like to say I took it like a man, but I can't. I was devastated since I'd got started clinging to my Grandparents when my parents bit the dirt so early. I wasn't a titty baby or anything, but I did care for and depend on all of them, and it was just fucked up losing them all at once that way. One of the worst things about it all was dealing with the school counselor. I know she was trying to help, but she'd call me in every day or two to ask me how I felt about things and other shit. I considered it a checking my pulse sort of thing. She finally told me she'd decided I needed to take a semester off to get my thoughts together, and I hit the ceiling. The semester she wanted me to take off was my last one in high school, which meant I'd have to show up next August for another school year. I stormed out of her office, climbed into my pickup, and headed straight to my lawyer's office. Now, I know what you're thinking. Going from a school counselor to a lawyer is exactly the wrong direction to jump. Maybe most of the time, but my lawyer had been my parent's and all my grandparent's lawyer too. He was a smart old bastard and already rich, so he didn't need any of my money. I explained the problem to him and in two days he had a court order to make the counselor leave me alone and he was threatening the school district with a lawsuit. Of course the school board didn't like being told what to do - small town politicians always think their shit don't stink, but he'd already burned their asses for a couple of hundred thousand over past misbehavior of a principal and they were loath to tangle with him in a lawsuit situation, especially since they didn't give a rat's ass whether I got counseling or not. The rest of my school year and my graduation went off without a hitch. I ended up going to the lawyer for advice afterwards too. I had plenty of money to go to college, but I didn't feel like doing it at the time. When I asked, he advised me to join the armed services. "There's not a war going on now and one isn't likely in four years. It's a good time to sign up and live on your Uncle Sam's dime. You'll probably never need a GI loan, but it won't hurt you to qualify for one and you can get some training and learn a little about life along the way. He talked me into it and off to the recruiter I went. I finally signed up and took a shitload of tests. With my scores it was basically my choice of what I wanted to do, within reason, and so I decided to join the Navy and give SEAL training a try. The recruiter took one look at me and said, "With your size you might have a good shot." He was referring to my physical size of six two and weight of a damned near fatless two-fifty-five I guess. I'd always been a big boy, and I wasn't even old enough to get fat yet. He gave me all kinds of options for showing up. I could have as long as six months to get my shit together before showing up for basic training. "Hell, I was ready to go before I walked in. My paper work at home is in order and in the hands of my lawyer. I packed a grip. I'm ready to leave from here," I said. It turned out here wasn't where I had to show up, but he told me where and gave me three days and a voucher for a bus ticket. I at least decided not to show up early, but three days later I was mustered in and on my way. And I really was on my way. Tom had already given me a hint about how to conduct myself so I listened when someone talked and hopped when they said jump. There were a few natural born fuckups in my group for basic training, but I ignored them. I was big enough they didn't spend much time trying to fuck with me over things either. Since I had joined up right after high school graduation I was through with basic training and off to more advanced fields of learning the way to make sure I didn't die for my country. The instructors were clear on that point. They wanted us to make the other poor sons-of-bitches die for their country. To me it was pretty much fun and games. We had a lot of PT at first, but I didn't need it since I'd always kept myself in great shape. Hell, I could outdo most of the drill instructors and I'd been marching since the eighth grade in the high school band. I was actually a little appalled at how sloppy military type marching was. Things were rocking along, and I was getting set for my final generalized training. I'd just got a three-day pass and orders to show up for my next phase on September 12, 2001. I was up about eight am on the eleventh and was fixing myself a pound of bacon, six fried eggs, and a mess of cathead biscuits when I turned on the television and saw the whole world had gone to shit just a few minutes earlier. I finished cooking and ate, all the while watching the twin towers burn and then fall. I called in and they said I might as well head on down if I didn't have anything better to do. "We don't have any orders yet, but you can bet your ass training is going to be expedited." Damned if it wasn't. Six months later I was a newly minted SEAL, first stop, Afghanistan. I spent the rest of my four years in the service there and nearly a year extra waiting for relief while they tried to talk me into reupping. Hell, I'd already killed all the terrorists I wanted to, and even if I didn't have anything pressing to do back home, I felt sure I could find better uses for my time. If they still needed me in a year or so I might even join up again, but for now I wanted a break. In the service it was common knowledge W was fucking the war up by the numbers. To top it all off he'd just been elected for another round of screwing up the works. If they needed troops so bad they could draft Dickhead Cheney. Maybe they could teach him to shoot the enemy instead of his hunting partners. I did feel a little bit of pride landing at DFW and walking down the concourse in my uniform, what with people stopping to applaud me and all. Hell, they didn't know I was quitting and besides, I'd killed seventy-seven of the fuckers with the Barrett I'd just turned in and the combat knife I'd got to keep. Somebody else could go play in the sand for a while. ------- Chapter 2 When I got home I took a day off the first day to go around and say hello to the people I knew. I dropped in at my lawyer, Tom's, office and we shot the shit awhile. "I have to say I'm a little surprised to see you down here looking so friendly," he said. "Why's that?" "It seems like the last advice I remember giving you didn't turn out so well." "Well how in the hell could you know what was going to happen, and besides, I didn't even get a scratch. I got some excellent training besides and I got to help seventy-seven terrorists on their way to collect their virgins. I probably know fifty ways to kill a person, even though I've mostly really done it one way." "I'm glad there are no hard feelings. I really didn't have any idea I was sending you off to a shooting war, and I've worried about you more than a little bit," he said. "Shit, it's all over now unless I get bored and sign up again. That's one of the reasons I came down here to see you. I want some land out in West Texas where I can go and hang out. I'd like something down near Kerrville if you can find it." "I do know another old lawyer from down that way. I'll give him a call and see if he can come up with anything. How much land were you planning on buying?" "I thought I'd like a section or two if I can afford it. Did you make me any money while I was gone?" I asked, since I'd left all my assets in his keeping. "As a matter of fact there was a good well to come in and you had more than half the acreage in the mineral rights after the division order. It wasn't the mother lode or anything, but it's been worth about three million to you so far. "I also sold both the houses and you cleared half a million on them. You shouldn't have any trouble paying for a couple of sections as long as you don't want them too close to Kerrville." "That's no problem because I'm mainly interested in some hill country property. I don't need anything on it." "I'll do some calling and see what I can come up with," he said, and then we just shot the bullshit for about fifteen more minutes and I left. The houses he'd sold had been my grandparents'. I still owned the one my parents had left me, and I'd moved my things into it after my grandparents got killed. It was a bunch smaller than the other two and it fit my needs better since I was a single man. I spent the next week just roaming around our small town. I did some shopping at Wal-Mart for new jeans, underwear, and socks and a little more at Oscar's Boots and Western Store. Oscar's place was a small one, but he carried Red Wing boots, a lot of the Rodeo shirts that had been popular for years, and he also had a good selection of cowboy boots. He had about the only place I knew of where you could get a real riding heel anywhere near us. Last, but not least, was Johnny's Sporting Goods. I'd gone to a gun show and peddled all my firearms before I took off for the Navy. I felt like I needed a few things to keep around the house now and I wanted a good rifle for deer hunting since it was nearly autumn already and deer season would be coming around soon. I might have been a little more ready for Johnny's place if I'd known his son, Junior, had come into the business with him. Johnny was a sort of self-elected local historian. Last time I'd been in his shop it was a meat and potatoes type of gun and ammunition store, but it had been mostly a sideline for Johnny. What he mostly sold was BS. He'd spent most of his life collecting arrowheads and other crap left over from when the Caddo Indians had roamed these parts. There had been some changes made since Junior came into the business with him. Damned if it didn't look like at least half of the place had actual merchandise now. It didn't cramp Johnny's style though, since they'd bought the building next door and spread out. All of the pottery and arrowheads Johnny had collected were still on display, but the place was twice as big now and there was equally as much merchandise, as in weapons. What the hell? I had plenty of money and Johnny's place had plenty of things I wanted to fool with. The first thing I spied was an Extrema2 shotgun. Now deer hunting season was coming up, but I intended to do some bird hunting too, and there was always duck season after the first of the year. I liked the Extrema2 so well, after Junior's sales talk, I bought two of 'em. One with a barrel for bird hunting and another with one for duck hunting. Of course I could have bought one shotgun and separate barrels, but I had plenty of money and what was the sense in fucking around with changing barrels? I also saw a Super Blackhawk in 45 Long Colt and of course I had to have it, along with a Glock 21 for actual self protection. I fucked around and bought a Thompson Center Contender with a 7mm TCU barrel just for the hell of it. I had nearly decided to buy a Barrett 50 since I was used to shooting them, but he didn't have one in stock and while he was screwing around trying to find a number to call my eye fell on his newly acquired archery stock. When I was a kid I'd liked fucking around with my bow, and I could hit pretty well with it. Of course it was a recurve since compound bows were new and super expensive back then. Well, they were still pretty expensive, but now I could afford one, or several in fact. I spent three hours looking at bows and finally came up with one I liked. I wasn't looking for one with all the add on aiming and stabilizing shit some of them had hung off them. I wanted a fairly plain bow with plenty of cam I could use to turn up the power. I was looking for the shortest and easiest to handle bow he had that was still top notch quality. By the time I paid up and left I'd spent a lot more money than I'd intended to, and it wasn't the last I'd be spending there. Today though, I went home, put my target together, and got started with my bow. I guess I sorta obsessed on the bow. I spent the first five days shooting it and fucking around with the settings. I ended up cranking the cams up to their highest output, and while it was tough pulling them over the first few times I managed and it got easier as things went along. Next thing you know I was buying blank arrow shafts and putting my own arrows together, and of course I had to buy a feather burner and start fletching my own shafts. Suffice to say I got way off into my bow and arrows fetish. It was a Monday morning and I was starting my third week of getting ready for bow season for deer when I got a call from Tom. He'd found two sections damned close to Kerrville, and the price was right. The only rub was the old character who lived on the place. He wanted to keep five acres around his home and it was nearly right in the middle of things. I didn't see it as a big drawback, but decided to go down and take a look at things before I bit. I didn't plan to build a house on the place anyway, I just wanted a place to come and have plenty of room to hunt or fuck off. Tom called ahead and the old guy said come on down, anytime. The drive was a little over three hundred miles, and I nearly bought a car to make the trip. I could afford one, and the only vehicle I had now was my old 1976 Chevy Silverado. It would do the distance all right, but it was four wheel drive and they aren't the smoothest ride around. Finally I decided I was being stupid, because I never paid very much attention to a vehicle's ride anyway. Most of my automotive traveling lately had been in a Humvee and my pickup was a Caddy compared to it, as far as the ride went anyway. It was a long drive, and mostly unpleasant, but it got a little better as I pulled off the Interstate and came near Kerrville. The directions led me down Texas 27 to Texas 39 and then off up into the hills. I crossed the Guadalupe River a time or two before making my way up the side of a steep hill or low slung mountain on a hacked out road and onto the property with its small frame house. The fellow who came out the door looked like a wiry old cowboy, and no doubt he was. His eyes made him look like he'd seen everything, twice. He introduced himself as, Clyde Warbler, but claimed everybody called him, Cowboy Jack. I could believe it. I introduced myself and he didn't even laugh at the name my parents had hung on me. "What'd ya think of the place?" he asked. "It looks exactly like what I'm looking for. I just wanted a place in the hills to do a little hunting and this looks like just the ticket. I see I can get in a little fishing here too." "You can if we can make a deal, and we can if you're a likely fella. You ever been in the army?" he asked, and it threw me off a little, but I admitted I'd done time in the service and with a little prompting he got most of the story out of me. We were inside his house now, relaxing and having a Lone Star Long Neck or two. He quizzed me quite a bit about my service time and I was surprised he concentrated mostly on any unarmed combat I'd done. I told him we were always armed, but that I'd done a little knife work and I'd trained for a lot more of it than I'd had to do. His next questions floored me, because he asked me if I could use a bow and arrows and then asked if I'd ever handled a sword. I told him of my earlier interest in archery and then relayed the tale of my new interest. I frankly admitted I had never had a sword in my hands. "You might do after all, Jack, but I've got to spin you a yarn and you'll have a hard time believing it. It's true though and I can prove it. He told me about Crossroads and then about Chaos. It sounded like a dream sequence or something, but he just kept telling about the things he'd done there and the adventures he'd had. By the time he stopped telling I was wishing he really could prove it to me. We called it a night though, and he showed me to his guests room. It wasn't anything fancy, but it did have a comfortable bed. I slept like a baby with nothing but the sounds of the hills to sing me to sleep, and I woke the next morning and had a big breakfast he cooked. It was right up my alley with eggs and biscuits and the real treat was javelina ham. He claimed there were plenty of them for the taking on his place. I was getting ready to break the news to him that I needed to be on my way, but he threw me another curve. "So, Jack, are you up to taking a trip to Crossroads?" he asked. I didn't want to rain on his parade and I didn't want to call him a liar. I'd let him show me what he thought he had to show and then say no more about it. I didn't have any place special I needed to be anyhow, and I could waste time here as good as anywhere. "Yeh, I'm ready. Where do we have to go?" "We ain't going nowhere. Put this ring on and walk through the door back yonder," he said, pointing to a door at the back of the cabin which I'd thought was another way out. Hell, it was another way out since I could see the yard plainly through the open door. "You'll come into a white room and Glenda Caretaker will meet you. She knows I ain't coming back no more and we've already said our goodbyes. She'll tell you more about the place and help you find a Caretaker of your own. I'll be waiting right here for you to come back. You can't take no weapons with you so might as well empty your pockets on the table," he said, so I did. I'd made up my mind to humor the old man and so I acted like I'd chewed his tale like a pickle. I put on the large sapphire ring he handed me and walked out the door, expecting to find myself out in what he called the side yard. I felt dizzy for a second when I walked through and I noticed right away I never made it to the side yard. I was in a white room, furnished with only a well worn leather couch. I gawked at my situation and before I'd had time to think on whether it was some elaborate joke a remarkably beautiful woman came in to greet me. "Welcome to Crossroads. I'm Glenda Caretaker. I see Hero Cowboy Jack did find someone to take his place. Did he explain Crossroads and Chaos to you?" she said. "Well Ma'am, I'm the one and only Jack Sprat you might have heard about, but I'm not the real deal. I ain't even got a wife. I was led this way astray by Cowboy Jack, but I'll admit I thought he was just an old man shining me on," I said. "Everything he told you is probably correct, though he might have added a little something just for fun. I'm sure he didn't tell you anything to get you into serious trouble though. "You are at Crossroads and you need a Caretaker of your own. From here you'll leave on adventures to Chaos where you'll need to rescue a Damsel in Distress. I could explain more about it to you, but it will be better if you choose your own Caretaker and let her fill in all the details." "Well I'm flying blind here so I guess I'll just do what you say. How do I find a Caretaker?" "Take a look at these three files. They have the information on three potential Caretakers for you. If for some reason you don't want to choose any of them just tell me and I'll get you more files." I guess I should have asked more questions, but I didn't. I took the files, sat my ass on the couch, and started looking. It might have helped me out to ask her a few questions before I started, but I never. The first file I opened had the prettiest redhead in it I'd ever seen. I read her bio and discovered she'd been to college somewhere, but I'll admit I'd never heard of the place. There were other things about her listed, and the one to surprise me most was about her fencing. She was an avid participant and had apparently won several medals. She did look a little athletic, but she had the goods in other ways too, and I wondered how she'd ever been able to do much fencing with a pair of titties like she was sporting. I looked over the other two folders carefully too, but I have to admit I kept speculating on whether I'd be able to get in Kathy Caretaker's pants after I'd known her a while, and I might have let lust in my heart sway my decision, because when all was said and done I took Kathy, the redhead. I was surprised again when Glenda Caretaker collected all three of the folders and walked out a door in the back and doubly surprised when Kathy Caretaker walked right back in the same door and came right over to me for a smoldering kiss. Hell, at least I felt like I knew where I was for the first time this morning, but I wondered about it again when Kathy started taking my clothes loose while we kissed. I didn't want her to think I was a sissy though, and before you know it we were both naked and I was pounding her to glory on the leather couch. She moaned and groaned and squealed and hollered until she got her cookies big time. I'd held off to make sure I did the deed for her and when she got her breath back and saw my dick was still up to snuff she sighed, asked the air for a restorative, and a tall thin glass filled with a green fluid popped into the air near her hand. She took hold of it, swallowed it down, and then it was Katy bar the door again in only a few seconds. I went ahead and pumped myself off with her this time and soon enough we were both snuggled up together and panting for breath again. "It's nice to meet you too, Miss Kathy," I said, after I had my wind back and she laughed like hell. "I guess I was a little abrupt, but I've waited so long and I couldn't help myself," she said. "Don't let it worry you none. You can have some anytime you ask for it. Do you know anything about this Chaos place?" I asked. "Yes, but I have to ask you what you know about fighting." I gave her a rundown on my service connected fighting and also told her about a couple of fistfights I'd been in. She didn't seem very impressed with my tales of derring do and she asked if I knew how to use a sword. I admitted my shortcomings in the swordplay department and so she called for some type of sword fighting equipment, loose pants and shirts, and some pads and such, along with a kind of mask to cover our faces. She also got two wooden swords, and then she led me into another part where we put the equipment on and she started teaching me the basics. Apparently I was playing too rough, though I wasn't trying to. I broke both our wooden swords and she had to call for replacements, three times. "Well it isn't the orthodox way of using a sword, but you're damned sure fast enough and strong enough to get your way. I think you'll do fine on your first mission. Let's settle down and I'll give you the lowdown on Chaos and how it works. We settled down ok. We settled down to about an hour's worth of her explaining and two hours of fucking before she gave me another hour of training. There didn't seem to be any rush so we kept it up for four days. When we needed to eat she'd order our food into the air and it would pop up a few seconds later on the table. Finally she told me she thought I would do fine on my first mission and she showed me a folder with another beautiful woman's picture and explained she was being held by some jackass who thought slavery was a good thing. Now I was from Texas and all, and I was brought up sorta country, but I'd never come across anyone, black or white, who I thought needed to be a slave. I had a run in with a couple of young KKK wannabees once in high school and after I beat the ever loving shit outta them I never got propositioned by any of them again. So I didn't have any use for slavery, no matter where I was borned and raised. At first I assumed it was sexual slavery she was talking about, since the woman was so damned pretty, but Kathy explained about the cock burning thing they had going on in Chaos and I figured if he was fucking her he was paying a high price for it. The cock burner tale sounded like gonorrhea on steroids to me. Next we got down to the nitty gritty of the details. As in, I'd show up there inside a bank vault with not a kiss your ass as far as money went. She explained about getting a safe deposit box in the bank after I'd earned some money and encouraged me to try and get a job to take in enough for a weapon right off the bat. What the hell. I'd been broke before - not often mind you - but I still knew how it worked. If the place was as backward as she claimed, I could probably get a job helping a livery stable with horses or with a blacksmith swinging a hammer. Hell, I could even shoe horses if times got hard. She thought I was ready to go and I thought I might as well give it a try and so she led me to another doorway and pushed me through. ------- Chapter 3 I knew I was supposed to come out in a bank vault type thing, kinda like the one where they take you to look into your safe deposit box. Of course I didn't have a box, but Kathy assured me the bank would pay no attention to me showing up in the vault without having the bother of coming in the front door. She'd told me there might even be a guard in the bank, but said he'd probably just say hello or give me some other greeting as I went by. Wrong. There was no guard and in fact there were two robbers in the bank when I arrived, luckily for me. I guess they'd come in to try their luck at robbing the bank, but the teller was behind a cage and when they noticed me they must have thought I'd do just as well since I came walking out of the vault. One of them had a sword out and there was another one in front of him with a wicked looking knife. It was dagger style and I just knew both sides had to be sharp. He didn't give me long to get my bearings and he attacked me with the knife just about as soon as I walked out of the vault. It didn't really matter because some of the terrorists in Afghanistan had been even quicker on the draw and they'd still ended up in a mess that would have made their mother's puke if they got a look at them after the fracas. I let him swing at me and stepped back just enough for him to miss. I grabbed his arm as it passed and clamped down on it with all my strength. He wasn't a very big fellow in the first place and as I started twisting his arm I heard a bone or two snap. He dropped the knife and commenced screaming. The other one had his sword out and by now he wanted in on the fight too, but I just swung the little one onto the point of the sword. While he was trying to remove it from his friend I grabbed him around the neck with both hands and it was pretty much the end of things. I snapped his neck easier than I had the other one's forearm. Meanwhile the first attacker was lying on his back moaning about his arm and the wound his buddy's sword had made to his guts. I stomped down on his windpipe and the fight was officially over. The teller, behind his cage, didn't even ask me if I was hurt, he just started going on about me getting the bodies out of his bank. "Hell feller, are you drunk or just naturally that stupid all the time? I was just coming out of the vault and they attacked me. You want 'em out of here come get 'em out yourself, or else start bidding for my services. While you're making up your mind I'll just relieve them of the things they won't be needing any longer," I said, and stooped down to go through their pockets. I found two shells and four pinches in the pockets of the one who'd been swinging the sword and I found a shell and a pinch in the other's pocket, along with a small pocket knife. I took the sheath he had for his dagger too. As I was buckling on the belt and sword of the other one I considered myself through with the matter. I knew the change they'd had in their pockets wouldn't pay for any armor and I knew I needed some. No matter, I could get by with a buckler for a while and a good mail shirt if I could find one. I had the sword on my hip by now and the knife in its sheath around my waist. I was headed out the door when the teller shouted at me. "You can't leave them there," he said, apparently not believing what I'd said before. "Just watch me. You let them hang around in your bank to attack me without even trying to get rid of them. If it was alright for them to hang around alive it's gonna have to be ok for 'em to hang around dead." I'd caught the scent of something in the bank, but hadn't paid much attention to it. When I made it outside I could tell it was the smell of shit. I could recognize horse, cattle, and human varieties. Oh well, even though there was plenty of it in the street it wasn't so bad. I'd smelt worse cleaning out stalls for my own horses and I'd smelled a lot worse after opening the guts of other combatants in Afghanistan. Taking a look down the street I realized I was already money ahead after meeting the two in the bank. I had a good knife, a fairly good short sword, and three shells and change. It wouldn't last a lifetime, but it was enough to get me started. I saw a livery down the street and headed toward it. I figured horse shoeing would pay best of all if I could get a job doing it without tools. I was in luck again when I made it there. There was a farrier working already, or part of one anyway. Turned out he was the stable's owner and he was shoeing at a horse. I knew at once I was much better at it than he was and from the looks of things he had several horses to tend to. "Need any help?" I asked, as he took a break. "If you can shoe horses and know what you're doing I can use some help for a few days at least. Mr Martin, just outside of town, has hired several new men and he sent these horses in for me to tend to. The pay is half a shell per horse," he said. "Well I don't have any tools, but all I need is a rasp and a couple of hammers. Do you want me to spell you or just take care of it?" As an answer he took off his leather apron and handed it to me. I unbuckled my sword, set it against a wall of his stable, took up the hammer, and finished the shoe he was working on. As I worked on the second horse I remembered why I didn't like shoeing horses much. It was a strain on the back, but these horses were more cooperative than the ones I was used to and the work went pretty fast. It was a little more work than doing it at home on my own horses too. I had to shape the shoes from bar stock, but still I did six of them before dark, and Bill, the stable owner, told me I could sleep there tonight if I wanted to. I nocked off at dark thirty and headed down the street to an inn where they were serving supper. Inside I found out it was all I could eat for three pinches and so I sat at the rear with my back against the wall and started on the first bowl the serving girl brought me. It was remarkably tasty and I welcomed the second serving, gobbled it down, and called out for another bowl. She had just started my way with it when a big lard ass between the kitchen and me grabbed her and spilled my bowl of stew while trying to get a free feel of her ass. The girl saw me stand up, but she looked a little frightened and of course there was nothing she could do about the bowl of stew. She couldn't get loose from the fat ass either, and the other three at his table were egging him on. There were four men at his table, including him, and the two facing nominally in my direction saw me get up, head their way, and raise my dagger over lard boy's head. They were trying to get their heads around what I was doing when the bottom of the dagger's grip smacked fat ass on top of the head, hard. He went out like a light and as the girl escaped back into the kitchen I swapped hands with the dagger and used my now free right hand to draw my sword. The others at the table, the third one having caught on after fat ass dropped, jumped up trying to draw their own swords. I let them finish and then started waling on them with mine. I actually don't know what they were thinking, because I could see at once they owned precious little skill in the use of the implements they had holt of. Hell, I knew I was an amateur at sword fighting and they were worse at it than I was, by a long shot. They certainly had no chance against my strength. My third blow, which they were only trying to block by now, cut two of the swords into pieces and my next one removed a head and one hand half way up the forearm. Kathy had told me time after time any fight on Chaos was usually to the death, so I went ahead and dispatched the three and then, thinking of it, I cut the throat of the man I'd nocked unconscious. During the fracas many of the nearby tables became suddenly vacant. Now things had come to a rapid close a few of the men were making their way back to their seats. I looked around the room to see if anyone wanted to take up for the four dead men and no one seemed to. I did feel like I needed to at least say something though. "I have no quarrel with anyone in here, but I want to tell you all I get a little twitchy when someone causes the serving girl to spill my stew," I said, in a loud voice. I saw the serving girl hurrying back with another bowl then, but asked her to hold it until I got back from disposing of the trash. I took hold of fatso's arm and headed out toward the back door with him and then dragged him on outside. I felt like I'd hit a gold mine when I went through his pockets and found a conch, two shells, and eight pinches. He also had a nice single edged knife about eight inches long. His sword wasn't bad either, but I thought the one I was using was a little better. The other three had a shell or two each and some pinches. None of their swords were worth shit, and only the one still had a whole blade - and I didn't have any trouble removing the hand I'd cut off him from the grip. They each had sheath knives too, but they were mostly just shitty made examples. No matter, I gathered it all up and walked back into the Inn and resumed my seat. The serving girl was quick to bring another bowl of stew for me and I resumed my meal. When the girl came again to ask me if I wanted another bowl I told her no, and I gave her a pinch as a tip. Apparently it wasn't the custom, but she took it gladly and hid it in her dress. As I was walking out with my hands full of my ill gotten gains I saw the owner making the girl hand over the pinch I'd given her. I dropped what I had in my hands and had my sword out and at his throat in half a shake of a sheep's tail. "Did I give that to you?" I asked, pressing the tip into his neck. "Uh, no, sir." "Then what the fuck do you think you're doing? Are you stealing it from the girl I gave it to?" He didn't say anything and I was sure he was afraid to answer. He should have been. "When I give her money I mean for her to have it. I'll be back here to eat again tomorrow, and if she doesn't have that pinch she better be able to show me what she bought with it," I said, and left after picking up my things again. Outside I saw a young man standing around and I asked him if the four I'd dealt with had horses. He looked like a local and I'd seen him inside during the fight, so I figured he'd know. "They came on those four horses, but if you take them the overseer of the Martin place will be in town tomorrow looking for them. I don't think they belong to Martin, but the overseer has done that sort of thing before when men who worked there ended up dead in town." "Thanks for the warning. I think I'll take them with me and see how I come out," I said, and tipped him a pinch too. He took off after getting it as if I might change my mind and want it back. One of the horses was well fed and had a rather nice saddle, comparatively speaking. The other three weren't much, but I could see one of them might make a decent pack animal. I tied my spare equipment onto one of them and mounted the decent horse, riding it back to the stable. Once I was there I put the decent horse into a stall and turned the others out into the pen. I used the saddle blankets over hay I spread for bedding, and I put all the saddles away in the tack storage room. I slept like a baby, especially since I spent a little time petting the dog I'd seen staying around during the day to catch and chew on the parts of the horses hooves I cut off. I figured he had to be pretty hungry or at least bored to chew the trimmings off their hooves. I was up before sunrise the next morning and I washed my face in a horse trough and headed down the street to a general store so I could buy something for breakfast. They had some summer sausage and I bought a big stick and also a loaf of bread. I walked back down to the stable, ate the bread and most of the summer sausage on the way, and gave the last of it to the dog, then I started the fire in the forge and put metal in it to get hot. While the metal was heating I started trimming the feet of the other horses I needed to finish today. When the metal was red hot I took it out and started pounding. I had made eight shoes before the stable owner came out and I kept at it. I'd just finished the second horse this morning when a well dressed and well mounted man came riding up. He called out to the stable owner and started asking him about three of the horses in the pen, claiming they were his. The stable owner asked me if I knew where they came from and I told it all at once. "I had to kill four men in the Inn last night. One big fat one caused the serving girl to spill my bowl of stew. When I killed him for it the three who were with him took offence, so I killed them too." "The men are not my concern, but the horses they were riding belong to the Martin place," the one who'd just rode up said. "They might have belonged to the Martin place when they came into town, but they're mine now," I said. I'd already seen him take a look at my sword where it leaned against the wall. Apparently he thought he had me at a disadvantage, so he reached to draw his. He'd either missed the two-pound hammer I had in my hand or he hadn't considered it a weapon. I considered it a good weapon and I threw it, hitting him squarely on the end of his nose, and all points beyond. When he fell off his mount I went over, took his own knife out of his belt and slit his throat. He didn't have a bitch coming, since I let him die in his hammer induced sleep. The stable owner got excited then and started yelling at me for killing his customer. He was upset about it for a minute. "Well, if you don't want me to shoe horses for you no more just pay me for what I've done and I'll be on my way." "Pay you? I won't pay you since you didn't finish the job. How dare you ask for pay without finishing." "Oh well," I said, drawing the sword off the dead man, "I'll just cut your throat too and take what I want." "Now let's not be hasty. Maybe I was excited and spoke too soon. The horses you are shoeing belong to mister Martin. This was only his overseer. Maybe you should go ahead and finish the job," he said. Fuckitall. After stripping the overseer of his valuables and most of his clothes I dragged him out to the backside of the horse pen and went back to work. I was finished with the twelve horses an hour before sunset. Bill, the stable owner, settled up with me then. He paid me the six shells for shoeing the horses and he bought the three from the night before off me. The overseer's horse was even better than the one I'd kept for riding so I nominated it as my riding mount and moved the other best one to pack animal status. Bill wanted that one too, but I told him I'd need it for a packhorse. "Does it mean you're leaving? I could probably get more business for shoeing if you stayed around," he said. "I'll only be staying if I don't have enough money to buy what I need. I will stay tomorrow though, and hang around in case you get some business - if I can stay in the stable again tonight." "Done then, you can stay and you can put your horses in stalls for free," he said, and I thought he'd sure changed his tune since his little outburst about me killing his perceived customer. I walked down the town's main and basically only street then and visited the armorer. He wasn't one of course, but he did have a stock of assorted weapons. I carried all the mostly junk weapons I'd acquired since I'd arrived. Carlton reminded me of Johnny at his sporting goods store. He didn't have a collection of Indian artifacts, but he did have a long and twisted line of bullshit. He also had a bow I lusted after. Unless I missed my guess it was made of yew, just like the famous English longbow. Of course this wasn't England and it wasn't a longbow. It was only about four feet, but it was made thick. I couldn't be sure it was made of yew, but it looked like it and it was well made. He tried his best to sell me on one of the crossbows he had in abundance, but I knew a hell of a lot better than to even think about one. A crossbow is for firing from battlements, or at least from a fortified position. How else were you going to cock one with any speed unless you were standing on the ground or at least something solid? That squared off thing up near the front ain't a handle, it's a step, as in put your foot in it and hold it to the ground to cock the damned thing. They were all right for one shot when mounted, but after it you were shit out of luck cocking one with any significant draw weight at all. It was fine with me though, because the regular bow had a quiver with twenty-four arrows in it and though the bow wasn't strung - in his shop he had six good strings for it. Of course his sales talk on the advantages of crossbows had naturally undercut the cost of the normal bow. I found out something else too. Even a broken sword was worth something. Apparently any sword was worth having. I traded him the two broken swords, one whole one and two of the lesser knives I'd acquired for the bow, arrows, quiver, and extra bowstrings. He had a damned good sword in his place too, but unfortunately he knew it. It was a little bit out of my reach since I wanted at least a mail shirt too. It was a great sword though and I finally let him have the three simply good ones I had and most of my cash for the sword, a mail shirt that was better than nothing, and a small round buckler for use mostly in blocking any sword being swung in my direction. I stopped by the Inn on the way back and ordered the stew again. Luckily this time there was no commotion, and I noticed everyone was careful to get their asses out of the way when the serving girl was headed toward me with a bowl. It was nice to have an evening meal without having to kill someone and I sprung for a mug of wine even though my funds were low. I found it let me relax and go to sleep more quickly, but even though I'd acted like I wanted to be done shoeing horses I actually hoped Bill would be able to find some customers tomorrow. Bill had indeed been drumming up business for me and there were eight men with horses standing in line by the time I'd made it back from the store, eaten my breakfast, and cut off a little breakfast treat for old Skinny. Once again I trimmed feet while the forge was heating metal. I was well into the swing of shoeing again by now, and even though six more men showed up with horses I still finished before the day was done. Several of them said they'd bring more horses tomorrow if I was going to be there and I promised them I would be. ------- Chapter 4 The next morning men were waiting with horses to be shod before I even walked toward the general store for something to eat. I started the fire in the forge and headed off for breakfast, telling them I'd be back directly. I finished my sausage and bread, except for the treat for the old dog, on my way back. I'd just pulled a piece of steel stock out of the fire when two gents rode up saying they'd come for the horses belonging to the Martin place. "I sent them all out there yesterday and Mr Martin paid the boy for them," Bill said. "We didn't come for those horses. We came for the ones the smith stole when he murdered the four men in the inn and after he killed the overseer," one of them said, while the other one pointed a crossbow at me. I don't know what got into the old hound dog, old Skinny, but he jumped up and bit the one holding the crossbow, and it made the horse jump. Of course he triggered the crossbow when it happened and of course it made a killing wound in the stable dust. The other one pulled his sword then. Amazingly he took a swing at the dog, but only creased his back. I had set my bow near my sword this morning and I proceeded to show the two tough guys how much more handy it was to be able to nock an arrow and let fly - of course it was much faster than cocking a crossbow. I nailed the first one who'd pointed his crossbow at me right in the Adams apple, since he looked like he'd have another bolt ready in half an hour or so. The other one, the one who'd taken a swing at the dog, got an arrow in the upper arm of the one he was trying to raise his sword again with. Then I went to work on him. Trying to kill the dog had pissed me right off. I put a hand under his right foot and lifted for all I was worth. He went flying off the horse and landed face first in the dirt. I rared back and kicked him square in the balls next, and then turned him over onto his back. "If you'd'a fought like a decent man I'd just kill you now and your pain would be over, but no, you had to come sneaking up on me and worse yet, you tried to kill my dog. Your riding days are over unless you can hire someone to help you on a horse. I took his own sword and cut a hand off, then I grabbed the tongs and took a red-hot piece of iron out of the forge and cauterized the wound. Next thing I replaced the iron in the forge, cut off his other hand and repeated the procedure. For luck I kicked him in the balls again, then I stripped off everything he was wearing and went to the other one, who was safely dead by now, and took everything off him too. I took a break from shoeing then and went through their pockets. I unsaddled the horses afterwards and led them into a couple of stalls and put the tack in the storage room. All in all I was making a good living on the men from the Martin place. I had two more pretty good swords, two nice crossbows and nearly three dozen quarrels. There were also a few assorted hide out knives for good measure and some pocket change. Last of all I ripped my arrow out of the handless one's upper arm. "Now, get your ass away from here before I decide to cut your feet off too. You're making a nuisance of yourself with all that whining. This is a respectable business and you're scaring off the customers," I told the one I'd dehanded. Some people just can't listen to good advice. He kept his caterwauling up so bad I took the red hot metal out of the forge again and applied it liberally to his naked ass. He finally got the hint, got to his feet, and took off running. Before I could get back to shoeing Bill came up. "You must take your horses and run. When he gets back to Mr Martins place they will send more men and they will be trying to kill you this time," Bill said, and I was touched over his concern. "In case you ain't noticed, Bill, they been trying to kill me all along and they ain't been able to get the job done. Besides, I'm going to clean Mr Martin's plow by and by, and it's easier on me to thin his band of thieves down a few at a time," I told him, whispering so the men standing around with horses to be shod wouldn't hear. Dear old Bill. Of course he couldn't take a hint and keep quiet about things. He opened his mouth and I'm sure he was going to damn near scream out what he said next. I clamped my hand across his mouth and picked him up by his shirtfront with my other hand, taking him back into the tack room. "Are you just stupid, Bill, or are you trying to get you and me both killed? Keep your voice down when you're talking to me about my business. Better yet, you call me in here if you want to talk to me again. "Martin is the reason I'm in town in the first place, and I mean to kill him within a few days. Now, I'm going to go back out there and take care of our customers and their horses. You're going to settle your nerves and then come out and stand around trying to look busy. Why don't you do something useful and keep a watch on the road from Martin's place?" I said, and I sat him down on a saddle to let him get hold of himself. It seemed the more horses I put shoes on the easier it got. Even with the interruption I did twelve that day, and still had time to get back to the inn for supper before full dark. The same little gal I'd been tipping a pinch a night brought me the stew again. I ate six bowls at this sitting and even though it was still all I could eat for the one price I paid the innkeeper double this time. The general store was still open when I headed back to sleep in Bill's barn so I went in and bought a whole summer sausage for the dog this time. I could have probably come out without his help, but I didn't have to bother, and he did get a small cut on his back. The hound was wagging his tail when I came up and he wagged it faster after I gave him his due. He wasn't so happy while I tended to his cut, but at least it didn't need any stitching up. He did howl a little when I put some of the horse liniment on it for safety's sake, but he still came over to sleep beside me when I lay down. I wasn't so lonesome I needed a dog for company, but I had made some enemies in this town, even if I only let the one without hands live. The dog seemed to like my company and I'd already seen he'd be good for at least a warning if someone came snooping around at night. When I woke the next morning I began to wonder where all the damned shoeless horses were coming from. Wherever - there were twelve men with horses waiting for me when I woke up. It must have been a long time since Bill had a decent farrier working at his place. I started the fire in the forge, put the metal in to heat, and headed out for the general store. This morning I bought two summer sausages and bread. "Working at the livery stable must have perked up your appetite," the lady who was running the place said. "Well, it has for a fact, but one of those is for that old hound dog. It helped me out yesterday and I like to keep my friends close to me," I said, paid, and left - all the while she just looked at me like I was crazy. While I was trimming the feet of the first three or four horses I realized why I was getting faster at shoeing. It was in the hoof trimming and not the shoeing. Oh, I could form the shoes faster now all right, but mostly I was doing a better and faster job of trimming their feet. I was just finishing up on the fifth horse this morning when I heard Bill make a little noise. I looked at him and he held up four fingers and nodded his head toward the road to Martin's place. My customers were a hell of a lot smarter than Bill, and when I picked up my bow and quiver and knelt behind the next horse in line they didn't do a thing but move back away from the action spot just a little. Sure enough four men came riding around the corner of Bill's livery barn then and one of them yelled. "Where's that murdering smith? We've come to settle his hash." I let him know where I was with an arrow from under the horse's belly. I had a lucky shot and put it in his left eye and he lost his seat aboard his horse at once. I shot two others before they even saw where I was hiding and then I stepped out behind the horse and finished the last one while he was trying to settle his horse and shoot me with his crossbow at the same time. I didn't bother torturing any of them this time. After all, none of them had pestered my dog. I just went over and cut their throats to make sure they were dead. I did lose two arrows in the deal though. The one I put in the first one's eye socket came out when I pulled it all right, but the arrowhead stayed inside. One of the other men had fallen on the shaft sticking out of his throat and broken it. I made out though by saving the arrowhead off that one. I'd be able to put it on the other shaft and only lose the one arrow. I didn't let on to any of the men who had horses for me to shoe, but this was my last day of this kind of work, for a while anyway. I had more weapons, saddles, and horses than the law allowed by now anyway, and I was losing money staying in one place shoeing horses. I didn't let on because I didn't want the word getting out. I kept my routine up and finished with today's crop by two hours before sunset. I hurried on down to the inn for supper and then headed back to the barn to get a little sleep. Of course I had to stop by the general store for the dog's supper. I was growing fond of old Skinny by now. One thing I'd noticed in town the last few days was the way people went to bed when the sun went down. Oh, you could usually see a light on in a few houses, but they all went out by about nine o'clock at the latest. I hoped the same was true for the Martin place. I slept until about eleven pm and then got up, put my clothes and boots on, gathered my weapons, and headed out. I had to turn right back around and tie the dog in the stall so it wouldn't follow me. I had a feeling it might come in handy if I'd had some time to teach it to keep quiet, but as it was it would more likely wake a sleeping guard than do any good now. By asking around and just shooting the breeze with my customers I'd found out the Martin place was only about three miles out of town. It had been six or eight months since I done any serious PT running, but I still had plenty of wind to trot three miles in thirty minutes and have a little break at the end to sit down and get my breath back. Luckily for me it was a dark night with no moon. My eyes were well adjusted by the time I crept up on the gatehouse though, and I had no trouble finding and killing the gate guard who died in his sleep. I stayed in what shadows there were on up to the main house, but I was unmolested. There was a guard sitting in a chair near the front door, and even though I didn't intend to enter there I still took the time to slip up and slit his sleeping throat. The very idea, sleeping on guard duty. Didn't these guys realize they could end up dead? I wasn't exactly so lucky at the back door where I did plan to enter, but it wasn't much more of a problem. The guard wasn't alertly watching his post here either. He was taking a leak and if I'm not mistaken he was giving his dick a few extra shakes to make sure. No matter what he was doing he died with his dick in his hand. The rest of the adventure was duck soup. I entered the house and didn't find a person awake. I must have looked in nine rooms before I found Martin. I could have killed him in his sleep, but I didn't. There was no point in getting blood all over the bed, and I'd need a place to sleep until sunrise. I did wake him with my sword tip against his throat though. He was scared shitless and when I told him not to move he listened. It only took a little shoulder shaking to wake the young thing beside him and she was about to piss the bloomers she didn't have on too, until I settled her down. I'd already heard a few things about Mr Martin's way of doing things, and I knew he wasn't married, but kept three young girls to do alternating dick manipulation for him after dark. Of course the word was he made them work as maids during the day too. I told the girl to get up quietly and get dressed and then I had her sit in a chair on the other side of the room. I had Martin get up then and I let him put some pants and a shirt on to keep him from being too suspicious. When he was dressed I asked the magic question. "Where's the cock burner?" "What cock burner? I don't know what you're talking about," he said, but I could see from the way the girl reacted he was lying and I figured she knew where to find her, or knew someone who did. I sent Martin out in front of me and had him walk outside first. Before he went out the door I apologized for troubling him and told him as soon as I was past his gate I'd turn him loose. He'd been tense before, but I could see him relax at the thought he'd dodged a quick run through with my sword. When we were both outside I lopped off his head with a roundhouse swing of the sword, and I went back up to his room. The girl was still sitting in her chair and she actually looked relieved when I came back in. She was full of questions though, or at least she had one. "Where is Mr Martin?" she asked. "He's a head shorter now and his body is lying just outside the back door. Is there any other man in the house?" "Not unless one of the guards is inside getting something from the kitchen." "How many guards are there?" "Just the two. The one by the front door and the one by the back." "Well there's just the none now then. Do you know where he keeps the cock burner?" "Yes, but is it true what they say. Does the man's thing burn after he lays with her?" she asked. "It's what I've heard. She is not from this world. Let's go see her now," I said, and Carlita got up to lead the way. I was a little surprised at Damsel Mary's condition. She was kept in a nice room with the main difference from the others being the lock on the outside, keeping her in. She was a sound sleeper and even after I woke her she was groggy for a few minutes. "Who are you," she asked, when she finally had her senses. "I'm Hero Jack, come to rescue you." Her face lit up and she squealed, throwing herself on me and wrapping me up in her arms. "I'm so glad to see you. I've been here four years now, and even though it wasn't terrible like some of the stories they told, it was boring. I am ready enough to get home. Are we leaving right away?" "No. I have some things to take care of here first, and we have a little sleeping to do before sunrise. Come on up and stay with me in Martin's former bedroom," I said. "Former bedroom? Where has he gone?" she asked. "To hell I guess, if there is one. At any rate he's dead and I'm sleepy." "He wasn't so bad you know. Did you have to kill him?" "No, in point of fact I didn't, but I'm not in the habit of leaving live enemies behind me. He was holding you against your will, and when I gave him a chance to confess he told me there was no cock burner here," I said. "Oh. He told me the whole time he was just keeping me safe until one of the Heroes came to get me." "I doubt you'll need the advice, but I might as well tell you now - men will lie to you for pussy. I know he couldn't get any from you, but he was probably hoping he'd find a way." "Well it's good enough he's dead then. The bastard. You, on the other hand, are going to take me back to Crossroads and get all the pussy you want from me. I've dreamed of nothing else for years." "Well come along then and lets go to bed for the rest of the night. I know it's too dangerous to get started while we're still here, but I'll bet I can find something to do to help us sleep." Mary hopped out of bed in only some bloomers and when she looked a question at me I told Carlita to go on back to her own room. When we got to Martin's room I thanked myself again for not killing him in bed. I stripped off naked and it didn't take Mary long to drop her drawers. I didn't waste much time and gave Mary the best licking I knew how. I was pretty adept at it since I was well familiar with Cassandra pussy after all the practice I'd had on Kathy Caretaker. When it came time for me to get rid of a load Mary showed she knew the proper etiquette for sucking a long dick and she managed to get the expected donation. Fun was fun, but I woke an hour before sunrise and I was waiting out back standing over the bodies of the two guards and Martin with my bow in hand when his men started showing up. I killed the first four as soon as they said a cross word, and I did away with two more who had lately been hired before the rest decided they didn't really want revenge for my killing their boss after all. After a little questioning I found the one who had been overseer to start with, before Martin decided he needed more men to protect himself and the woman he was holding. I talked with him a good bit and he let me know two of the ones still living had come on lately and were mostly hired for their prowess with arms. Of course they didn't really own much skill, and I proved it by killing them too. I spent two more weeks setting up the household to my specifications. During the nights I ate Mary's pussy every chance I got. There were only four women besides Mary living here. Carlita, Candra, and Margy were indeed house help who were forced to put out during the nights, and Kala who was the cook. She was a little older, but she still looked good and her cooking had the inn in town beat to hell and back. I'd put the former overseer back to his job, but I told him I'd be sending someone out to take over the business part of the operation and he seemed relieved. Back in town I gave Bill the happy news he was to move out to the former Martin place and run it for a profit. He was upset at first and said he couldn't leave the livery stable, but I told him to have the men out at the place build him another one if he wanted to keep horses so bad, and I had him promise to hire a good farrier and pay him a shell for shoeing a horse. "But it would leave no profit for me," he said. "Don't you remember how many horses you had here when you got a good farrier? Charge them a shell and a half. You'll still probably get just as many, and besides, I'll give you a share of the profits from running the cattle operation. Raise grain if you'd like too. There should be plenty of land." He agreed, though doubtfully, but by the time Mary and I headed to the bank to take our leave he was all for it and even thinking up other ways to show a profit. At the bank I had to go through the song and dance of renting a box for my belongings. We got it done, and once we were alone in the vault I stored what weapons I hadn't left at the place and then we were transported back to Crossroads. ------- Chapter 5 Kathy was waiting with bells on, or at least she was happy to see me. She put Mary into the healing chamber first and bathed me while we were waiting. I could learn to live with this kind of treatment. I had my shot at the chamber next and when I came out Mary was sparkling clean too. We all went directly to bed and it didn't take long at all to have both of them hot enough to fuck, and buddy, did I? It seemed like all I did for the next three weeks. Oh, we ate and talked and teased a little, but mostly we spent our time fucking. I was a little surprised when Mary came out of the bathroom one morning and told us she was pregnant. Apparently the two of them knew what was going to happen next, but I didn't. Well I found out soon enough - once the Damsel said her rabbit was dead she left and it was time to for me to go. In fact Kathy shoved me back through the portal, naked as a jaybird. I flopped onto the floor just past the end door in Cowboy Jack's little cabin and he was sitting in the same chair he'd been in when it all started. He looked at me for a second and then burst out laughing. It took him ten minutes to stop. "I guess I don't need to ask you how it went," he said. "Well it was damned sure interesting, but what was the deal at the last. She practically booted me out," I said. "Once the Damsel is knocked up you're history until next time. You have about five minutes to get your ass out under your own power and your Caretaker probably realized she hadn't told you the deal right at the last. "It's the one thing about a Caretaker you have to watch out for. Once they get started on the fuckfest after a mission they kind of lose it in a sexual frenzy. They'll lie around and keep ordering those restoratives until you drop if you don't watch 'em. "You might as well let her get a little of it out of her system the first time or two, but you'd be wise to pull back on the reins a little after a few times. The Damsels are just as bad, or even worse. They think they're just living only to fuck their life away until they get knocked up. "Surely you know by now she'll get just as pregnant from one fuck every other day. Come has a pretty good shelf life once you push it up where it belongs. Hell, if you want to be sure give 'em a good dose once a day, but that's all you need to get the job done. The rest of it is just fucking for fucking's sake. Come to think of it - that ain't all bad." "Well, I wanted to ask her a few more things about the rules, but every time I tried to we were fucking again in no time." "Yep, and it's the way it'll be every time, at least in the after mission fuckfest. If you've got a question you'd better ask it about the third day you're there - or at least before you go off on a mission. You'll have your caretaker fucked down a little and she'll be able to pay attention to something besides your dick. "One thing I managed to do was ask Glenda for an instruction book. They've got several, but I don't even think the Caretakers read 'em close. They get a sort of orientation course and most of them just wing it from there. It's the way things work there. You've got to put up with a little inefficiency for the fine looking women and the good pussy," Cowboy Jack said. "I'll have to ask about getting some of those instruction books next time," I said. "Naw you won't. I've got the whole set, such as they are. I read 'em through after I got 'em, but I've probably forgot more of them than I remember. They're a little dry for my taste. You ought to read 'em through at least once, but if you're looking for loopholes there ain't many," he said. "How long do I have to wait until I can go back?" "The Caretaker will tell you a couple of weeks or so, but you can go right back if the portal lets you. Mostly you have to be in good health and your dick's sure got to be up to snuff. They don't need you if your dick don't work." "Even I can see that. Say, do you know how this portal works?" "Don't I wish? If I could build one to take me anywhere else I'd damned sure like to have it. So would this whole damned world as far as it goes. I built that one with some instructions I got from the guy who put me onto this. It really ain't very hard to do, but since you'll be buying into this place you can use the one that's here already." "That's right. I've got to get the paperwork straight. Does the lawyer know how much the price is, or can you tell me?" "Shit, don't worry about it. I got no one to leave it to, so I'll sell it to you for fifty grand and leave the money right here in the house, unless I need to buy something big. I've got plenty to live out my life already. Only thing I want to do is stay right here until I die. If you'll promise me that I'll just have the whole thing deeded to you now, or as soon as we can," he said. It's just what we did. I drove us into town to his lawyer's place and I wrote a check for fifty thousand bucks. The lawyer said he'd get the paperwork settled and we could sign it in a week or so. We went right back out to Cowboy Jack's cabin and he started in on lunch. I asked if I could help and he laughed. "I spent ten years as a trail cook after I was too broken up to ride herd any more. I'd be in a hell of a mess now if not for the healing chamber at Crossroads. As it is there ain't nothing wrong with me 'cept for being too old. Nothing really hurts or anything - I guess I could go again another time or two, but really I just don't want to go again. Maybe it's something the portal does to you, but I just don't feel the need to go like I once did. "How about you. I'm betting you'd just as soon jump right back on the horse." "You're gonna have to bet with someone else, cause I know I would. I'd head that way now except I want to know a little more about it. I guess I'll just read the books and see if I can puzzle it out." "Well hell. Why don't you at least ask me? You never can tell, I might know something you don't." "Well you told me I couldn't take any weapons with me, but I don't know if I can take parts or not," I said. "Parts? Parts of what?" "Parts of a weapon," I said. "You mean take a part now and then a part next time and then try to put it together later?" he asked. "Yeh, kinda. I know a weapon I'd like to have there. Hell, I could make one there with time and patience. There are two parts that would be a bitch to build there though," I said. "Well if it's part of a gun or something I don't think you can get any of it at all through the portal." "Naw, it ain't a gun. It's a compound bow. It would be easy to make most of it even there, but the cams and the axles for 'em would be hard to come up with." "I'll be damned. I've sat on this chair for hours at a time before -hours, hell days - trying to think of a better weapon to have there and never even thought of a compound bow. It would be as powerful as any of the crossbows they have there and a hell of a lot easier and faster to shoot. Hell, it isn't even as complicated as a crossbow." "That's what I kept telling myself while I was there. I found a damned good bow there, and I got it pretty cheap, but it still isn't nearly as good as a compound bow would be." "Well I don't see why it would be a problem at all. There's no real technology breakthrough in it. It ain't like they don't have the wheel already, but I still don't think it can go through the portal. I know what will make it through though," he said. "What?" I asked. "Paper. You can take detailed drawings and instructions through." "I guess it will help a little, but I don't remember seeing any machine tools there. How'm I gonna cut out the cams?" I asked. "You're not going to cut 'em out. You're going to cast them." "Cast? That'll be even harder." "No it won't. Haven't you heard of investment casting? Lost wax casting some people call it. You just need to make a wax dummy of what you want to cast and then pour the mold around it. When the mold has hardened you just fire it like a ceramic and burn the wax out. Drill a couple of holes in it and pour in the metal." "Does it really work?" "Hell yes it works. It's the way most jewelry is made, and for the use you'll be putting it to you can use almost any metal. Hell, you could afford to pour two cams out of gold if you needed to, but bronze would be a good bit cheaper," he said. "It sounds like the perfect way, but where can I find out more about actually doing it?" I asked. "Any big jewelry store can probably help you out. Spread a little cash around and you're home free." Come to think of it there was a big jewelry place up in Texarkana and I even knew a jeweler who used them. Looked like I'd be making a trip back home after all. I stayed around at Cowboy Jack's place for a couple more days. We talked more about the bow and both of us tried to figure how to get it past the portal. I didn't have a lot of hopes along those lines, but Cowboy Jack said you could never tell. Hell, I was of the opinion they should just let me walk through with it openly since it wasn't technology they didn't have already. "You can think they should let it pass all you want to, but the nut cuttin' will come when you pass through the portal. If it kicks it out you'll just be there without it. I think your best bet would be trying to take the parts in disassembled, but I can't figure out any reason that makes sense for you to have 'em on you," he said, and I decided to make sure I knew as much about investment casting as I could before I went again. Making the actual bow after I got there would be easier than making a normal bow. I wouldn't have to fuck around trying to find a good piece of wood with tight grain structure and all that. Hell, to make a good bow I'd need to look at all the timber God's got to find a piece to start carving on. For a compound bow, on the other hand, I knew enough about tempering even shitty steel to make decent limbs and I thought I could make the grip portion out of bronze once I learned about casting Cowboy Jack's way. Of course it would be too heavy if I made it out of solid bronze, but I figured I could get an engineer to make me a drawing to go by so I could get it strong enough without making it solid. When I got home I went to see my favorite jeweler and he called the wholesale manufacturer and got me set up to take a tour and have my questions answered. When I made it the deal did look pretty simple, but the devil was in the details. One of the guys who was actually pouring the jewelry went on and on about how you had to get the metal just the right temperature to make sure you didn't end up with voids in what you cast. I figured if it came to that I could get it done sooner or later, but it sure as hell looked like it was more complicated than just a little. Especially since the only way to heat the metal I'd have would be in a forge. I wouldn't have a nice little electric furnace handy like they did where they made rings and ear screws and such. The answer to my prayers occurred to me then and I was almost positive it would work out fine. I was so happy I could just shit. I didn't really know it for sure of course, but the more I thought about it the better I felt. I learned all I could about the casting and even cobbled up a test rig for trying it out at home. A week of making wax patterns and then pouring molds and I had that part down. Next I bought the metal to make bronze and actually built a small forge in my back yard and tried out the process. I had it down for making the grip portion, so I got my ears pierced and headed out for Cowboy Jacks place to give it all a try. When I drove up to his place he came outside and told me we'd just have time to sign the papers if we went into Kerrville right away. I told him to get in and he did, but he started cussing me right away. "I'd a never sold you the place if I knew you were the kind of jackass that went around wearing earrings." I'd actually forgotten about the tiny studs the piercing pagoda had put in my ears to do the job and they did make me look a little weird I guess. No matter. "Hell, the holes'll be good as new as soon as I get in the healing chamber and I've got plans for these holes in my ears," I said. "What kind of plans?" "You'll see in a day or so," I said, and wouldn't tell him any more about it. We just made it to the lawyer's office in time to get the papers all signed and then we went to a steak house he knew about and ate our fill. Next stop was a liquor store for a few cases of Lone Star Long Necks and then we headed back to his place. He fixed supper and then we ate it and had a couple of Long Necks. I had plans starting early in the morning so I headed for bed. I asked Cowboy Jack if he wanted to run down to San Antone for a couple of days the next day, but he said he'd pass and just told me to look around good for him. Damned if the old coot didn't get up early and fix my breakfast and I thanked him. I asked him if he wanted me to bring back anything when I returned and he told me there was another guy who took him into town every few days, so I got into my truck and headed out. The last time I'd been on Chaos I hadn't really looked the part. My wranglers didn't really go with what everyone else was wearing and I intended to cure it in San Antone. It didn't take much asking around to find a woman who would make clothes for me, and when I got to her place I knew I was in luck. She had four daughters who helped her and they were more than willing to do a rush job for extra money. I had some duck trousers made, button fly of course, and I had her make me six shirts out of moderately heavy canvass. The only thing odd about my clothes when I got there this time would be the good fit. After getting her started I found a motel for the night and went to bed early again. ------- Chapter 6 The next morning I got up early, went to a cafe and ordered enough for two people, and ate it. I was making a run to Austin this morning. I swung by Marty's Hats and ordered a straw with a rolled brim and then headed back to the bigger town down south. Most of the next two days I just spent fucking around and shopping for clothes. I kept them simple but sturdy and I guess I'd a been fine with what I wore last time, but I wanted to make sure anyone who was looking me over when I went through the portal would have something to look at. I didn't know whether the checking was all done with machinery or some type of computer scanning or if people looked too, but I figured I'd have it covered either way. On the last day, before I was going to pick up my clothes and head back I happened to drive by a leather works and saddlery and it hit me I didn't like the saddles on Chaos worth a shit. Now I didn't have any notion I could take a saddle with me, but I went in to take a look at 'em anyway. I spied a sweet double rigged roping saddle all done in rough out leather and with a nice dally horn. I even had a chance to talk to the one who made it. He was a likely fella and he appeared to be about ten years older than me. He also looked like he was in awfully good shape. I started bullshitting with him a little and found out he'd just finished twelve years in the army. He had a pretty serious limp in his right leg, and he finally told me he'd been shot in the knee ten days before he was supposed to leave Iraq. "It got me started home a little faster than I was scheduled, but all in all I think I'd rather have stayed the ten days more," he said I bought the saddle and two hand plaited dally length ropes too. I doubted I could get 'em through the portal, but hell, I could use the saddle at home and the ropes too for that matter. I drove back up to Austin for a little boot scootin' at the Broken Spoke that night, but I left about eleven and came back to San Antone and hit the sheets in the motel. After breakfast the next morning I drove over to the Mexican woman's shop and picked up my clothes and then drove straight back to Cowboy Jack's. He came to the door and just watched while I unloaded my things and headed into his house. "What the hell did you buy all that for?" "I had the clothes made to look like the crap they wear on Chaos," I said. "Hell, you coulda had it made a lot cheaper while you was there." "Sure I could, but I wanted to make a good showing through the portal. I'm gonna be all dressed up to look like the locals when I go." "Hell, it don't matter what you look like when you go through the portal. You're just going to see your Caretaker first," he said, and he was right, sorta. "Well I'm gonna try taking my new clothes through and my new hat too. I'm even gonna try to take my saddle, and my new earrings," I said. "Yeh, you told me about your earrings, dammit." "Just give me a few minutes to get this stuff packed and you'll see what I got in mind," I said. I changed into a set of my new clothes and put on my new belt. I bundled the rest of the clothes and tied 'em up with a string around them. Then I put on my earrings. I'd seen several men on Chaos wearing earrings, some big and some small, and no one seemed to pay a bit of attention. My earrings were a little bit on the big side, since they were the cams and axles out of a new compound bow I'd bought just like my first one. "Well I'll just be damned. I'da never thought about doing that in a million years. Hell, I think it might even work. I'm pretty sure you ain't gonna get to take that saddle cause I tried taking one of mine once and it stayed just this side of the portal. I never tried taking a throw rope though. "Well, if the saddle don't go and the ropes don't go I think I've got a cure for it next time." "Well save it for a surprise for me. It'll be something I can try to figure out for the fifteen minutes you'll be gone." "Fifteen minutes! Hell, I wouldn't even have time to pat Kathy Caretaker on the ass in fifteen minutes." "That's right, I didn't tell you about that part neither. No matter how long you stay you'll only be gone fifteen minutes our time." "Hell you say. I musta been gone two months at least last time." "You mighta been there two months, but you was only gone from here fifteen minutes. Didn't you notice I was still in the same chair with the same clothes on when you got back?" he asked. "Well yeh, but I figured you spent all your time in that chair anyway and you always wear them same clothes," I said. "That's all you know. I've got twelve sets of clothes just alike. You mean you ain't even noticed no time passed since you got back?" "Nope. Hell, I been so busy running around trying to get ready for the next trip I ain't paid any attention to what day it was here, or what month either, as far as that goes. "Fuckitall. I'm ready to go and I want to get started," I said, and I picked up my saddle, ropes, and clothes, put my hat back on my head and headed out through the door. I popped up in the white room again, but I noticed right off the bat it looked like it had been decorated a mite since last time I was there. The old leather couch was gone and it looked to me like a sitting room you'd see in one of those architecture magazines. I forgot about the furnishings when I noticed my saddle and ropes hadn't made the trip, but I wanted to jump and shout over still having my earrings - until Kathy saw 'em that is. "What have you got hanging from your ears?" she asked, as soon as she came through the door, and she didn't sound pleased. "Just some fancy earrings. I noticed several men had pierced ears on Chaos and I thought I'd try to fit in. I'll take 'em off if you don't like 'em. When I go through the healing chamber after I get back the holes will even grow back, won't they?" "I'm sure they will, but whatever possessed you to get them in the first place?" "Well, I saw some of the men on Chaos had some and I thought I'd try them out and see how you liked them." "Oh, I like them fine, in your pocket," she said, and reached to take them off. I stepped back away from her and took them off myself and then put them in a pocket of my spare clothes. I'd gone to a lot of trouble with the axles in those cams. Since the portal wouldn't pass metal the axles wouldn't go through and I knew that part from the start. My cams weren't metal, they were some kind of space age plastic something or other. The axles were metal though and I'd replaced them with some I made out of a stiff paraffin. I knew I'd be able to cast replacement axles easily if these didn't get damaged before I even got to the other portal. She looked at me funny, but when I pulled her into my arms she must have forgotten about it. Just like last time we were naked and making the beast with two backs almost right away. I decided to try Cowboy Jack's method and do my best to fuck her down. It worked too, sorta. She could take a lickin' and keep on tickin', but I noticed she needed a lot more restoratives than I did. Now, I had no complaints cause she put her all into every ride, but I had a little staying power my ownself and Cowboy Jack had told me Cassandra women were quicker on the trigger than earth women were. After the first two days she wanted to go at it with the wooden swords again. I suggested we try it with fencing foils this time. "You can teach me the techniques that way and we won't keep breaking the wooden swords," I said. "But the technique isn't the same," she said. "It'll be close enough for me to learn better control and we can do some practice with the wooden swords too," I said, so we did it. This way was much better and it taught me to be fast with my moves instead of using the sword like a club so much. I even had better control and was able to handle the wooden sword better. I didn't even break 'em anymore, much. After about a week and a half she thought I was doing much better than last time and she said I'd need to take a more dangerous mission this trip. Hell, I thought it would have to be a lot more dangerous to give me any trouble. She brought out three files for me to choose from and I got another shock. Every one of them was more than a hundred miles from where my last mission had been. I explained the problem to her and learned something else. "The time moves faster on Chaos than it does on earth or Cassandra. You came back in a hurry, but it's been nearly two years already on Chaos. It's possible Bill still has control of the same property, but it's also possible he doesn't. You should always put what ever you can into the storage box to make sure it's still there when you come back." She explained about the boxes being available at any bank then and I could see it made sense. If Bill was gone or dead it wouldn't matter much since I had put plenty of money in the box, but I would damned sure sell out of everything I gathered or stuff it all into the box no matter how tight the fit was before I left this time. We had two more nights and days of all out fucking and then I went through my clothes, dug out my earrings, put on my hat and she saw me through the magic door. I was on my way to help out the Damsel Dena. This time I'd expected the earrings to come through ok, but I was still glad about it when they did. I took them off and put them back in my pockets as soon as I was in the vault. I stuck my finger in the hole and opened the box when it showed up. I gathered up the money first and then put on the half assed mail I had. Just like I'd thought it didn't show under the coarse shirts the Mexican gal had made for me. I took the knife next and used its blade to cut slots in its sheath to fit it on my belt. Afterward I strapped on my sword belt, closed the box back up, and left the vault. There was a guard on duty in this version of the bank and I nodded to him on my way out. The smell of shit wasn't so strong in this town and I noticed they actually had a guy rolling a cart around and picking up fresh piles when he could. This town was bigger than the first one I'd been to - by a long shot. I couldn't even see to the end of the street and after I walked around a little I found they had cross streets and two other main streets, one more on each side of the middle. I found a big stable on one of them and there was a blacksmith shop next door to it. It was a far cry from Bill's place. There were four forges and three work places with anvils. They also had grindstones that were being powered off a belt system driven by two horses walking around and around. I knew I'd found my place to work on my compound bow. I walked into the shop hoping to talk to one of the smiths, but an older guy came out of a sort of office and quizzed me to find out what I wanted. "I need to rent some time with a forge and anvil and later I'll want to use the stones," I said. "What do you want that for? My smiths do good work. They can make anything you want," he said. "Good. Do they know how to read a drawing?" I asked, and pulled out a three view drawing of the bow's limbs. I knew damned well he couldn't read it. Hell, I wished he could. He turned it over and looked at it three different ways, but finally gave it back to me and asked me what it was. "It's for a bow." "We've already got crossbows made up," he said. "And if I wanted a damned old crossbow I'd buy one. Are you going to rent me some time at a forge and anvil or ain't you?" "Well, I don't know how to price it. How long do you want to stay?" "Until I get done. Let's just say I give you two conches and I'll get started. When I use up two conches worth of time you come tell me and I'll give you two more." "Why you can use it a week for two conches. One smith just quit anyway and there's nobody that needs it now no how." "Good then. I need to buy some of your best steel too." "How much do you need?" he asked. "About enough to make four or five horse shoes," I said. "You don't need good steel for shoes!" he said. "I know it! They ain't what I'm gonna make. I'm just trying to tell you about how much steel I'll need." "Oh. Three shells will be plenty for enough of the very best steel for five horseshoes." I paid him up front, went back to the vacant anvil, and started building a fire in the forge. The place was better than I thought even though the one running it seemed entirely too stupid to remember to wipe his ass after he took a shit. They had some kind of forced air system in the forge and I assumed the same horses powering the grinding wheels were also providing the forced air. However it worked it beat hell out of a bellows and I noticed it let the smiths work a lot faster. After I had the forge going he led me to the steel and I picked out about what I'd need and took the pieces back and put them in the forge to heat up. I'd brought my leather apron with me, but I didn't have a hammer or tongs. I decided to use the ones near the anvil unless somebody pissed and moaned about it, and they never. Soon enough I was pounding hell out of the steel. I'd beat it out to a long shape, bend it over with the tongs and a chisel and then forge weld it back together and beat hell out of it again. This was slow going because I had to make sure it was welded back together completely. After the third time I did it the smith nearest the door stopped what he was doing and came back to see what I was up to. He sounded a lot smarter than the one I thought was the boss, so I explained about laminating steel to him. He didn't want to believe it, but he could clearly see what I was doing and I guess he thought I wouldn't put so much into it if it didn't work. "You mind me asking what you're going to do with it when it's done?" he asked. "I don't mind you askin', but I'm not going to tell you. It's for a weapon and I don't want to meet anybody with one like it down the road. I will tell you it can make an excellent knife or sword blade though. If I have time I might try to make a sword and knife for myself out of it later," I said. "Damn mister, you've got me curious as hell now. How 'bout I make your sword for you. We ain't really got much going on now except for candleholders and frying pans and such. I won't charge you much for making you a fine sword. I'd like to see how it comes out." ------- Chapter 7 Since I had what I considered plenty of money right now we made a deal on a sword. He charged what he normally did for a top quality sword and swore he wasn't charging me any extra for laminating the steel before hand. I was interested in seeing how he did with it, but I didn't keep too close an eye on him. If he didn't weld the layers together properly it would show up plainly later anyway. He selected some metal and then put it in his forge to let it start heating. "You know mister, you look like one of them Heroes to me, no offence. I've had one come through here twice before and he was a damned nice fella. Are you on a quest for one of them cockburners?" he asked. "As a matter of fact I am, even though this weapon I'm building is more of a just in case deal than something I think I'm going to need any time soon," I said, but I was struck by the fact a Hero had admitted his identity to one of these people. The more I thought about it the more I realized it was inevitable. After all, a Hero was basically stuck on Chaos for months or years at a time and you had to trust somebody at least some of the time. "Well, I thought you carried yourself more like a fighting man than a smith and I wondered about it. That one I talked about before showed us how to make the horse powered bellows and how to make it run the grinding wheels too. You know any tricks like that?" he asked. "Well I might, but none come to mind right now. Say, do you ever pour any bronze?" I asked. "Well we do a little of it, but the molds are a bitch to make," he said. "If I showed you a better way to make 'em could you keep it to yourself?" "Hell yes I could. I'm always looking for easier and better ways to do things and make things," he said. "Let me tell you how to make a mold out of beeswax then." I nearly laughed at the look he gave me, but I strung him out waiting for the info while I worked on the limbs for my bow. He pounded hell out of my sword while we weren't talking, and by the time I'd told him the whole story he was dying to try it himself. I recommended he just make a simple little something first and see how it went from there. It was a day's work to get the limbs ready for grinding, but I did get it done and gave him the tale of investment casting while I was at it. I knocked off and went looking for a place to get a meal and spend the night while he was still fartin' around with the beeswax to try his first time. I passed by three Inns without bothering to look for a room because their common rooms were full and the places were none too clean. I figured I could find better in a town this big and damned if I didn't. It wasn't on the main street, but I found a nice Inn one street over. They were doing a good business so I decided to try a meal first. They offered an all you can eat special like the place I'd eaten in the smaller town, but it was six pinches. I didn't mind because I figured the food would be better. I asked and found out they had rooms to let too, so I paid for three nights and a serving girl showed me to my room. It actually looked clean, and when the girl showed me to it she told me I could have hot water for a bath for a pinch more. I told her I'd take one later, but I just wanted to put down my things and get a meal first so she said fine and left. There was no provision for locking the door from the outside so I kept my cams on my person and left my extra clothes on the bed and then made my way back down and ordered the meal. Thankfully there was a higher class of people eating and drinking here and there was no rowdy behavior causing stew spillage. I ate four bowls and discovered I'd been right about it being better. There was much more meat and grain both in the stew and it tasted much better too. I had two cups of wine too and then went back to my room. I saw a wooden tub in the middle of the floor when I got back to my room, and I barely had my drawers off when the girl came back with the first bucket of hot water. I put my feet in, took hold of the bar of soap, and got to washing. She came back with two more buckets of hot water before she was done and then came up with a bucket of lukewarm water to rinse me. She'd even brought a towel for drying off, but it was a little threadbare. Once I got out and had dragged up my drawers I saw her about to dip the bucket into the bath water and I figured she was going to empty the tub. "Where are you going to pour the water?" I asked. "Out the window there. It'll fall down to the street," she said. "In that case just open the window and I'll pour the whole thing out at once," I said. "Oh, thank you," she said, and opened the window. After I emptied the tub she took it and the bucket and left. I turned back the thin blanket as fast as I could and didn't see any bugs running for cover so I blew out the light and went to bed. Early to bed and all that crap. I was up right about sunrise the next morning. I dressed, checked my pockets to make sure the cams were still there, and then headed downstairs and out the door. I stopped in a small general store and bought a big sausage and a small loaf of bread for breakfast and headed back to the smithy. George, the smith I'd met yesterday, looked like he'd been up a little late the night before. He greeted me with a smile on his face though and since no one else was around he told me how pleased he was. "It worked just like you said. I only made a little something to try it out and it worked perfectly. I could barely believe how smooth the metal was when I broke the mold off. "I didn't use sand like you said though. I used some molding powder like we use to make moulds out of and it worked real well," he said. "Do you mind showing me the powder?" "No, it's everyday stuff, but before we had to make a block of it and carve what we wanted to mold into it, inside out kinda. I mixed some up with water and just dipped what I wanted into it. Like you said to do with the sandy mix. We don't have much real sand around here anyway." He showed me the mold powder and I knew at once it was gypsum - practically plaster of paris. Hell, I'd have suggested it in the first place if I'd thought there was a chance in hell he had any. "It'll be even smoother using this. I'll give you a few days to practice up and then I want you to cast something for me." "I should be ready before long since I'm not doing nothing else until I get this down. Frank can take care of anything else that needs doing unless we get a big order or a complicated job. "Today I'm fixing up a big room to work in so the stuff ain't out in the open for anyone else to see. I can make good money on it if I can keep the secret of how it's done." "You should be able to. Say, you aren't going to have to tell the boss man about all this are you?" I asked. "Boss man? Who? Daddy? Oh, I remember him giving you the business when you first came up now. No, I won't have to tell him about it. He comes down to act like he's running the place two or three days a week. "You can't see it no more, but he got kicked in the head by a horse he was shoeing a few years ago. Used to be an indentation in his forehead from the shoe he'd just put on before he got kicked. It went away slowly after a couple of years, but Daddy gets confused real easy ever since then." I stayed at it all day, and with the help of the powered grinding wheels I was able to get through with the limbs by late afternoon. I let George know I wouldn't be back for a couple of days and took off for my room again. The next day I walked by the house where the Damsel was supposed to be spending time as a house slave. Reportedly a banker owned her, even though slavery wasn't supposed to be legal, and the information Kathy Caretaker had given me had said he never let her out of his house. I walked around town, having breakfast at a small cafe like place near his home and I waited around until I thought he'd probably be heading to his bank. It wasn't the bank I'd come in by, and I had the notion it was more likely to lend money to those who weren't as credit worthy. I expected it was more of a loan shark type operation with a sort of heavy-handed collection process. Whether it was or wasn't was no concern of mine. He had the Damsel and I was leaving with her, sooner or later. Sure enough, when I went back outside after eating I saw the banker walking out of his house to meet a couple of hefty men and they escorted him toward his bank. I didn't follow them and I didn't even try to get a closer look at his house. My main focus was on what type of weapons they had on them and I couldn't see any swords. That was good. Neither of them were even nearly as big as I was. Even though I hadn't told George I'd be back today I headed his way after eating some lunch. He was shut up in his new foundry room, but when I knocked on the door and told him who it was he said for me to come on in. I was impressed with his progress. He had graduated from just making junk to making sword, knife, and dagger hilts and handles. I didn't think he was into production mode yet, because he was only doing one at a time and it seemed he was carving them out individually. While he was working on one I noticed what an excellent carver he was. Of course he was working with beeswax, and it was easy to carve. Still, he did excellent work and I knew he'd be able to make the grip section of my bow one hell of a lot better and easier than I could. It brought up the thought of what I was going to do for cables for my bow. Hell, I'd planned on trying to get them through the portal next time by having them sewn into clothes or something. I knew it would be a pain in the ass and I was worried about getting suitable cables made of something that wasn't metal. I had Kevlar in mind, but I was really only guessing it would be useable. On a whim I asked George if he knew how to draw wire. "Of course. It's what made my money when I first started my own shop. Drawing wire to make nails. It is a hard way to make a living though," he said. "How small can you draw it?" I asked. "Well, it depends. I guess I could eventually draw it as fine as hair, or nearly so, but I'd hate like hell to have to. You can only take it down a little at a time, and you have to make separate draw dies for every step down." With a little more talking I was able to get him to agree to draw enough fine wire to make the cables for the bow. I suspect he would have refused flat out if I hadn't shown him how to do the lost wax casting. That brought up another thing. I was going to get him to cast the grip of my bow and now I saw how good he was at carving I intended to get him to do that too, though he didn't know it yet. I let him be then and took another walk by the banker's house. It was a water haul since it was already past lunchtime. I returned to my Inn then and paid for another week. I also bought some stew for lunch while I was there then went up to my room for a nap before dinnertime. For dinner I walked to the place near the bankers house and I happened to see him arriving with the two guards. He let himself in the house and they took off once he had the door closed. I sorely wanted to know if he was putting a bar across the door from the inside or not. For the hell of it I asked the man running the place if he had rooms to let. He said he did have one and he told me he usually had steady customers, but one had moved away recently. When I asked his rate he seemed almost ashamed to tell me it was a conch a week. He did say it came with an evening meal every night though and half price per meal if I wanted breakfast and dinner there too. Hell, I paid him for a month. I know it left me paying for two different places, but I didn't care. I went back to the other Inn, gathered my things, and moved right away. I was halfway back to the new one before I realized my room might look out over the backside of the building instead of the front. When he showed me to the room I was very relieved. It had two windows overlooking the street. He even apologized for it and hoped I wouldn't be disturbed from my sleep by noise from the goings on outside. I told him I was a very sound sleeper. Hell, it was the truth when I wanted it to be. I could sleep through an Indian raid if I told myself to. Of course I could always wake up any time I wanted to too. It all went on in my head somehow and I'd always been able to do it. When I went to sleep that night I made sure I planned to wake before sunrise. Turns out I could have slept until nearly nine and done the same thing. I was up watching out the window just after sunrise and not a thing happened until right before nine when the two goons came by to pick up the banker. I guess even as backward as Chaos was the bankers still didn't get to work until nine. I kept watching just for something to do, and about thirty minutes later the door opened again and an older woman came out and headed down the street. She was back in less than an hour with a basket of groceries. I watched her go inside and something was funny about it, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Something she'd done, or hadn't done had registered somewhere deep in my pea brain, but I couldn't think of what it was to save my life. It kept me glued to the window and watching. About ten minutes after noon the banker and the two goons came back and the banker put his key in the door, opened it, and went inside while the goons took off. They were back just before one and the banker walked out, used his key to lock the door, and then they left. What ever the woman had done still didn't come to me. I hung around for another hour watching and then went down to eat lunch and go see George again. George was back in his nascent foundry again and after I got him to open up to let me in I saw he was carving like hell on some beeswax. He told me he was making dagger hilts. He was still doing them one at a time, but I didn't care. I showed him the drawing of the bow then. He looked at it amazed for a few seconds, but then he asked me why not use a crossbow. I told him I needed it for one special thing and I'd have to have more than one shot, fast. "If you got to have it I guess it's worth the effort, but I just don't see how all that stuff will help it any." "Well, I just need it for one thing, and then I'll be done with it. What I need you to do is make the wire so I can make the cables and I need you to cast this section with the grip, handle riser, and arrow shelf on it. "That will take a lot of bronze. Does it have to be that big?" "I think that's as short as a I can get by with. If it turns out too heavy I can drill out some of the weight, but if it does let me do the drilling." "Well, I'll get some beeswax and start carving. I want you to look it over good before I pour it though. Do you need it in a hurry?" he asked. "It will be fine if you can get it in a week or two." "Oh, it won't take that long, but it's nice to know I don't have to do it tonight." "I need these two small pieces to go with it too," I said, and I pulled the cams out and carefully removed the axles. He didn't comment on the cams and I kinda got the notion he was hoping I didn't want him to carve out copies of them to cast. "These shouldn't be any problem at all. I'll have to add a little wax to the end of 'em to let the metal flow in, but we can snip it off again after it cools." I left him then and wandered around town a little while. I was going to have to practice at least a little with the bow, and I needed some arrows to practice with, so I was looking to see if I could find an armorer who could make them. I happened to pass a leather working shop then and decided I needed a cover for the bow to keep it hidden and also to hang it from my saddle in. To save answering more questions I bought a sewing awl, thread, and a large piece of nicely tanned leather. Right at the last I remembered I'd need a good thimble. I took my package back to my room and put it away and then went down and had my supper. I saved the sewing until the next morning while I was watching the banker go and come and go and come. I finished my project after two days while watching my life away. I wasn't paying much attention to the banker now though, I was mostly watching in case the older woman made another shopping trip. On the third afternoon I decided to go back and check on George. I was amazed to find my parts already cast. I turned right back around to fetch the two limbs and was back to his place half an hour later. George had done a better than perfect job. He'd carved out a lot of the solid space in the handle and he had unerringly removed the dead weight without compromising the strength. When I was back George explained he'd gotten tired of waiting for me to come back and so he'd just made it. "If it won't do I can melt it down and try again," he said. I told him it looked fine. We spent the rest of the afternoon with a brace and bit drilling the two holes in the bronze to attach the limbs. Well, mostly we spent the time sharpening the bits, and then re-sharpening them. Suppertime came and George wanted to keep working on it, but I told him we'd do better in daylight anyway. "We should be able to finish it tomorrow and that will be in plenty of time." Hell, it would be more than plenty of time since I didn't know how I was going to get into the banker's house without breaking in the door. ------- Chapter 8 The next morning I forgot all about watching the neighbors and went directly to George's place after having some breakfast. With a little file and rasp work we got the limbs where we wanted them and George riveted them in place. I'd have preferred screwing them down with nice sized bolts, but we didn't have any. I had to get the drawing back out after we attached the cams and we spent a couple of hours making seven or eight feet of steel cable from all the fine wires George had drawn and annealed. We broke for lunch then and I got to eat with George since we went to his house and had a fine meal made by his wife. I was damned happy to get a home cooked meal. I was even happier my bow had come together so quickly though. After we made it back to his shop there were some finishing touches and I knew I'd have some adjustments to make, but first I needed some arrows. I took a piece of string and held it in the hand I drew the bow with and had George grab it just past the arrow rest after I drew the bow. He held the place and I tied a knot in the string to mark it. I took off then to find someone to make me some arrows. I didn't have much trouble finding a place one street over from the bankers house and the guy must have needed a cash paying customer pretty badly because he said he could make me thirty-six arrows and a quiver in three days. The next day was Sunday, and even though I hadn't noticed any churches on Chaos anywhere they still took the day off. I lay around in my rented room and just about all I did all day was go down for meals. In the afternoon I did get a bath, but this Inn had a separate room for such with a special drain in the floor where you just poured the water out. It still ran into the street, but you didn't have to pitch it out a window. I kept an eye peeled toward the banker's house, but as far as I could tell they didn't open the door a time. The waiting around was getting to me by noon the next day, but I kept watching and I finally got to see the old gal come out and go shopping again. I watched her closer this time, and after she returned I finally tumbled to what was different. She wasn't locking the door behind her when she left. I hadn't known the trick when she'd left today, and besides I wasn't ready to travel anyway, but I'd damned sure be ready next time. I was supposed to get my arrows tomorrow. Fetching them would make time a little tight if the woman left again, but she didn't go out that regular and I decided to take the chance. It was four more days before she went shopping again, but at least I'd had time to take care of my other business in the meantime. My arrows had been ready when I went to pick them up. I even tried them out at George's place using a haystack to catch them in. They worked perfectly and the bow was nearly as good as the one I'd bought on earth. I was well pleased. George had also come through on the new sword for me and he'd made me a dagger too. He used hilts he'd made with the new way of casting I'd taught him. He was so happy with the investment casting he wouldn't even take my money when I tried to pay for the sword and dagger. I went to the bank and put everything in my box except for the sword I'd come with and my original eight inch knife from the lard ass I'd killed in the other small town for causing the serving girl to spill my stew. I even put my spare clothes in the box and all I had with me now was the clothes I was wearing, my sword, and my knife, plus a little money for eating. I was back to watching the door closely now because I figured the old woman would have to go shopping again in a day or two. I'd already accomplished more on this trip to Chaos than I could have ever expected and I was happy about things turning out right, so far. Danged if the woman didn't come out this morning. I headed downstairs and out the door. I made it just in time to see her rounding the corner about two blocks up the street. Walking directly to the banker's house, I tried the door. It opened right away so I went inside, acting like I knew what I was doing, and shut the door behind me. I took a good look around and noticed a door in the kitchen. I found it led down to a cellar. I opened it, and from the dust on the stairs I knew they didn't use it much, so I went in, closed the door behind me, and waited. I listened while the woman came back and could hear her plainly as she rattled the pots and pans to get his nibs lunch on the table. I even heard him come in and listened while he ate and then farted around in another part of the house. As soon as I heard him leave after lunch was over I walked out of the cellar door and the old woman was staring right at me when I did. She was scared shitless and luckily speechless for a second there. I rushed her and grabbed hold, clamping a hand over her mouth. She fainted dead away. When she came back, less than a minute later, I already had a gag stuffed into her mouth. I tied a rag around it to keep it in place and then tied her hands behind her back. This was just too easy. I told her to show me the way to where the cockburner was being held and she led me right to the door. It was locked from the outside. I opened it and a beautiful blonde was staring at me with mouth wide open when I walked in. "Howdy Ma'am. I'm Hero Jack," I said, and she rushed me, wrapping me up in her arms and kissing me soundly. "My Hero. I'm so happy you're here," she said, but I had to get hold of things. She wasn't even dressed and she needed to be. I got her settled down and it didn't take much talking to get her to put her clothes on. While she was at it I led the old woman to a big chair in the front part of the house and tied her to it. Less than an hour later the Damsel and I strolled out the front door and walked down to the bank. I shut us in the vault, put my finger in the hole for my box, and then put everything in it. When I closed the top it disappeared and then we did too. Kathy Caretaker was waiting for us and for a minute there I didn't know which one was kissing me and which one was fondling me. I don't guess it mattered, because they swapped off twice before I could pay attention. Soon enough Kathy had Dena in the healing chamber and me in the shower. She led me straight to the healing chamber when she had me dry and she took Dena off to get her showered. I didn't know of ary scratch I'd picked up on the whole trip, but I did my time in the healing chamber anyway. Right when I woke up I realized the piercings in my ears were probably healed now. When I came out there was no time to worry about piercings. It was all fucking all the time from the get go. I concentrated on fucking Dena long and hard, giving her several comes until she was worn out and then I pulled Kathy to me and did it all again after I got it back up. The women were a caution though, and the harder I fucked one the hotter the other one got. I finally decided I didn't care since there wouldn't be time for any talking after Dena got her bun in the oven so I might as well just lay back and enjoy it. By and by Dena walked out of the bathroom one morning and said the magic words. I at least had time to drag on a pair of pants and remind Kathy not to lose my clothes and boots before I skedaddled out the portal. Cowboy Jack was sitting in the same chair when I came flying through the door, but at least I had some pants on this time. "Well, I see you got your drawers on this time at least," he said. "Damn if that's so. I barely had time to drag on these pants. My drawers and boots are still with Kathy. I'm going to have to figure out a system." "Do you even know how many days the Damsel was with you this time?" "Not presactly. Why should I?" "So's maybe you could have a hint when she was gonna come up knocked up. I started keeping a count of the days after my third time to have to leave with my boots in my hand, and I see you ain't even doing as good as I was after the first time. "If'n you could work up the nerve to ask her when her last period was you could have a lot better idea, but I never could. You can count on 'em being knocked up anytime after fourteen days, unless you notice she's on the rag. I never caught a one in that condition though. "You know, they might have their cycle stopped when they get sent there, come to think of it. Anyway, figure it takes about fourteen days to get her knocked up and another fourteen before they can really tell if it took. If you start making sure you're ready to go at a moments notice after twenty-eight days you'll be ahead of the game. I also noticed they usually found out right after breakfast too, but not every time." "Now there's some advice I can use," I said. "So how'd your compound bow experiment work out?" "Better than I could have imagined. I went to a big town this time and found a blacksmith who was pretty damned smart right off the bat. He got to asking questions while I was making the limbs and we got to talking. "I turned out showing him how lost wax casting worked and he ended up damned near making the bow for me. The hardest part was making the wires for cables. "He already knew how to draw wire though and he didn't bitch much about having to pull it so fine. He even made me a nice dagger and a damned fine sword for showing him how to cast with the wax." "Well, at least you're learning a little. You can go and fuck around and make everything you need that's special, or you can find a good craftsman to do it for you. You've got kind of a gift for bullshit so I can tell you'll do well finding and befriending craftsmen." "It won't hurt a thing will it?" "Nope. When are you gonna try to go again?" he asked. "I've got to read your instructions on a Hero Companion first." "What do you want to take a woman along with you for?" "I don't plan to take a woman." "Well you're in a mighty strange game for a sissy, no offense," he said, and then looked at me a little funny. "Even though you'd never know it from the way the Caretakers and Damsels act, fucking ain't everything. I'm gonna try to get Amos Kirtchen, the saddle maker who made that last saddle I bought to go with me at least one time?" "It'd be nice if you could get a couple of good saddles there, but it might be kinda hard and dangerous for him," Cowboy Jack said. "He did twelve years in the army and I can tell he's still in good shape. He got his knee all fucked up just before he got out and he limps a little on it. I figure it would be worth it to him just to get a ride in that healing chamber. If I can talk him into trying it." "Well it might be at that, but tell me the tale of this last trip." "You ain't gonna believe how easy it was," I said, and then spilled the beans. By the time I finished my tale it was time for supper. Cowboy Jack cooked us up a couple of big steaks and he had a pot of pinto beans he'd started cooking yesterday on the stove - he had a good mess of turnip greens and he made a couple of pans of cornbread to top it off. We both ate so much we were nearly sick. One thing about staying with Cowboy Jack was when the sun went down it was time for bed or else sitting up in the dark. He had a little dynamo to run his refrigerator, but even though he had at least some electricity he didn't have a light bulb one in his whole house. Since he had a few chickens in the yard and a damned old rooster to service 'em you never slept much past sunup neither. He could make it worthwhile to get up though because he fixed a fine breakfast. I had talking to Amos on my mind, but decided to make a trip back home first. I wanted cash money to help lure him into sin and banks were fine when you wanted to deposit money, but try to get fifty thousand cash out of one that weren't your'n without a pistol. You might get it done, but you were looking at a week's worth of fucking around and I didn't need the hassle. Of course I got sidetracked at home and damned if it wasn't with horses. I visited an old boy who used to show a lot of quarter horses, but now mostly bred 'em, trained 'em, and was an AQHA judge. It was my downfall 'cause he had a young stud for sale and it had the deepest darkest sorrel color I'd ever seen on one. The star and strip on his head, snip on his lower lip, and two stockings on his hind legs were just the right amount of chrome to make him the prettiest stud horse I'd ever seen. Of course his ass was nearly as wide as the barn door and he was all muscle around and between his front legs too. He was something else. I tried not to buy him, but ended up with both him and a bay mare a year older. Of course I had to go buy a horse trailer to haul them down to Cowboy Jack's place. I'd missed going by the bank for fucking with the horses, but the next morning I went by and took out seventy-five thousand. I rode off down to Shreveport to a place that sold show horse trailers and bought a ten horse model. It was the biggest they had for a bumper hitch, but it would be plenty for now. Hell, it was more than plenty, but my pickup was a short and wide and I needed the horse trailer to haul long stuff too. The next morning I went out and picked up the two horses and drove straight through to Jack's place. "Hell, how you think you're going to get them through the portal?" was the first thing he asked me. "I ain't even gonna try. I bought them to ride around here," I said. "Well if there's any posthole digging comes up you're gonna do it," he said. "You are gonna help me with the barn ain't you?" I asked, mostly yanking his twine. "Sure, I'll keep the beer cold while I watch you nailing." "I happen to know they've been in an electric fence before so I thought I'd start out with one and see how it goes from there." "Well, we've sure as hell got enough grass for 'em. You did bring some hobbles didn't you?" "Of course." We unloaded and hobbled them and turned them loose. They stumbled a step or two over the hobbles at first, but quick enough they were cropping grass and apparently happy as pigs in shit. It was about halfway between lunchtime and suppertime so I spent the rest of the day drinking a Lone Star Long Neck every now and then and shooting the shit with Cowboy Jack between bottles. ------- Chapter 9 The next morning after breakfast I headed into Kerrville and bought fifty sticks of half inch rebar, three hundred push on insulators, two rolls of electric fence wire, and a sun-powered charger. I paid way too much for the charger, but it had a lifetime guarantee and I intended to keep a close watch on the papers that came with something for once. The man what sold it to me might know or he might not, but I'd danced a step or two with fence chargers before and I already knew a close lightning strike would knock their dicks in the dirt. I hadn't been around Cowboy Jack's place long enough to know for sure, but I figured lightning was a pretty common experience up on the side of that short mountain where his place was. I intended to get my money's worth out of the guarantee. I also picked up a short handled two pound hammer, a nice old fashioned wooden handled Plumb they musta had for years, a hundred feet of good garden hose, and a country bathtub for a watering trough. Next stop was a welding supply where I bought a cuttin' torch and all the trimmings and leased a bottle of oxygen and one of acetylene. I headed back to Jack's place and started cutting electric fence posts out of the rebar. It took me all damned day to get the job done. The next day was spent pounding the cut off rebar into the ground for posts, putting on the insulators, and then stringing the wire. I finished this chore a little before sunset and I hooked up the charger and called myself done. "I might ought to get a bigger dynamo," Cowboy Jack said, "It wouldn't hurt to have a light bulb or two around and we'll need some juice to run a circle saw when we start on the barn." "I'll pick one up. I saw some at the welding supply and I might get a deal if I buy a Lincoln Welder at the same time," I said. The next morning I headed right back into Kerrville, dragging my show horse trailer with me. I stopped at a lumberyard first and got down to business on barn material. They wanted to sell me some package deal and I saw right away it didn't amount to shit, and besides, it was a bunch of custom cut lumber that was too small to make a decent barn in the first place. I knew damned well they had mostly used cut offs from around there and were trying to sell 'em like they were worth real money. I bought thirty creosote treated posts twenty feet long with six-inch tops and a bundle of two by sixes fourteen feet long. I figured it was about all I wanted to carry in the trailer. I did order twenty each of five on twelve trusses to span thirty-six feet though. They said they'd have to deliver them after they made 'em up and I told them I knew it all along. I dragged the trailer off after they got the posts and two bys inside and made my way back to the welding supply. Hell, I hit it just right there since they had a deal on the diesel powered Lincoln welders and they even cut a hundred off the biggest Generac dynamo they had for me buying both of them at once. My pickup was loaded down on the way back. Of course there was more I needed to buy, like a couple of ladders, a hand saw, a circle saw, nails, a couple more hammers, and some corrugated galvanised iron for the roof, but I saved that for another trip. We got started the next day and like he promised, Jack watched me close while I dug every posthole. I ended up thinking me and Cowboy Jack did a pretty good job getting the barn up in just four weeks. It was time to make my pitch to Amos then so I lit out early the next morning and made it back to his saddlery. When I got him hemmed up in his office I asked him straight out if he'd do a couple days worth of custom saddle making and rope braiding for me for twenty-five thousand bucks. He nearly shit. "Why hell yes I will." "Well it ain't as simple as it sounds, so let's us get another cup of coffee and let me spin you a yarn." I gave him the deal then and he looked at me about like I'd looked at Cowboy Jack when he told me this tale. Then I hit him with the clincher. I put twenty-five thousand in cash on his desktop and said it was his to keep for just coming out to try it. He looked at the money and he looked at me and then he looked at the money again. "When do you want to try it, and how long will I be gone from home?" I told him about the fifteen minutes then and it nearly queered the deal. "You're telling me it'll only take fifteen minutes and you're willing to pay me twenty-five thousand dollars. I'm a good mind to take you up on it just to see what happens." "Remember, there's a chance you might get kilt in a sword fight." "The best way to win a sword fight is with a pistol," he said. "Don't I know it, but guns won't go through. If we get in a fight there it'll be swords, bows and arrows, or knives and such. I know this sounds crazy, but it's the truth. The only trouble is when I show you, you'll be stuck there until I get done." "If we ain't gone but fifteen minutes I don't see how I can lose. I know you said we might stay there longer, and it sounds like science fiction to me, but I'm willing to take your word for it as long as I get the twenty-five thousand first." "Well there it is. Pick it up," I said, and he did. He told his helper he wouldn't be in tomorrow and he called his wife and told her he'd be late getting in tonight. I'd told him where Cowboy Jack's place was and he told her, but of course there was no phone number to give. He came out and got in his pickup to follow me and we headed back to the place. I was ready to go, but I didn't try to rush him. When we got there I was going to introduce him to Cowboy Jack, but they recognized each other from somewhere. I noticed he got Jack off to the side and asked him something. Jack just laughed like hell and asked him where he thought I'd found out about the deal. I knew I was taking a risk for the twenty-five grand. If the portal wouldn't accept him I'd be out the money. I figured it would though so we had a beer and then walked through the portal. I don't know who was more surprised, Kathy Caretaker or Amos Kirtchen. Kathy just stood there looking and Amos turned to me. "It's all true, ain't it?" he asked. "Would I lie to you? Of course it's true, and that ain't all. As soon as I explain things to Kathy Caretaker she's gonna put you in the healing chamber and cure all your ills," I said. "How did you know I had cancer?" he asked. "I didn't until you just said it, but the healing chamber should fix that too. How 'bout it Kathy Caretaker? Will it cure his cancer?" I asked her. "The rule book says it will. If he's well enough to get here he's well enough to get well, if that makes sense," she said. She led him to the healing chamber then and put him in, then she came back to me. "What's going on, Jack?" she asked. "He's my Hero Companion, and don't worry, he's madly in love with his wife and he won't need any attention from you except for food and such," I said. "I wasn't worried, but I just didn't expect it. You know it's recommended you tell your Caretaker before you bring a Hero Companion." "Well it just sort of happened quick like at the last and you never did give me your phone number so's I could call ahead. I brought him because he's an excellent saddle maker and I haven't been able to find a saddle I like on Chaos," I said. "I didn't realize one saddle was different from another," she said, as I put my arms around her and then gripped her ass cheeks with both hands. "That's because you've never had your pretty ass in a saddle for days at a time," I said, and kissed her. At least we headed for the bedroom before we got naked and down to a serious welcome back fuck, or three. I was surprised Amos was still in the chamber when we got out of bed and took a shower together. The threat of him coming out any time now put a halt to any more immediate sex play though and so I talked Kathy into ordering us some food. We'd just finished eating when Amos came out. "How do you feel Amos?" I asked. "My knee is perfect. The both of 'em are like new now and they both were starting to hurt a little, even before I got shot," he said. "You probably won't know about your cancer until we get back," I said. "Nope, I already know about it, sorta. I had prostate cancer a couple of years ago and it was removed and I got radiation treatment. The cancer spread though. I'm not absolutely sure the cancer is gone, but I know my prostate is back," he said, and laughed out loud. "Well that's great then." "Who you telling? My wife might make me give the money back," he said. We spent about three hours while Kathy went over the Rules for Hero Companions with Amos. He listened carefully and didn't argue or interrupt. We ate another meal later and then Kathy called for some more of the wooden swords and she had Amos and me go after each other with them. I was surprised at how much I knew now, but I guess Kathy caught on so she dressed out and put me back in my place. We tabled that motion then and Kathy showed Amos to another bedroom I didn't even know we had here. When she came back she was on me like a duck on a June bug. I wondered what had lit her candle more than her normal burning blaze, but I didn't know so I concentrated on plowing her furrow and then I got down between her legs and licked for all I was worth. I found out I could keep up with her and only take about half the restoratives she did. I found out something else too. For some reason, me bringing a Hero Companion gave her a big charge. I was surprised at how easy it was to get Kathy down to business the next morning, but I only had to give her one good going over before we got out of bed and put our clothes on. After she called for breakfast for us and we ate it she was even more inclined to knuckle down. She had three missions to choose from, but she tried to hold back showing me the last one. Of course it made me suspicious so I made her fess up. It was at or near as hell to the town I'd been to for my first trip. It turned out a new top dog had moved in. He was doing a little slaving on the side according to the details and he had come into possession of the Damsel Kira, or that was the information they had anyway. The rest of the details Kathy had were light as they always seemed to be, but they hinted he kept Kira cooped up in the big house he'd had built. "Why hell, Kathy, you know I want to go there to check up on Bill and my old place," I said. "And it's just why I don't want you to go there. This is the most dangerous mission yet and you haven't had enough experience," she said, and seemed about to cry. "You don't know it, but the ones on Chaos are the ones without any experience. I did three and a half years in Afghanistan sneaking around and killing religious fanatics for a living, and they all wanted to kill me worse - they weren't swinging swords neither. "Hell, Amos is a veteran too and they weren't playing marbles with him over in Iraq." "But some of the men Blanksdale has hired are warriors!" she said. "Honey, if they're warriors they'll be the first ones I've seen on Chaos. What you're about to do is turn two real life warriors loose on Chaos." "But the hero companion is only there to support you. He isn't supposed to help you fight," she said. "That'll be fine, and I'm sure Amos won't be trying to help me fight, but if he's with me and a fight breaks out he is allowed to defend himself isn't he?" "Of course." "It's settled then. Amos, don't you dare attack anyone as long as they're only trying to kill me," I told him, and gave him a stern look I don't know how I kept up ten seconds. "Whatever you say, Jack. You're the real Hero in the picture," he said, and managed to keep an even straighter face. "That's a damned good idea. Somebody should be filming us. It would make a great movie," I said, and then Amos and I stepped through the magic door. We turned up in a bank vault of course and I stuck my finger in the hole. Amos jumped a little when the box appeared and made its normal cracking the whip sound. I opened it up and started dragging things out. Amos was quick to look at the saddles I pulled out and he was shaking his head after only a couple of minutes. "Man, I don't see how you rode those saddles. They look sturdy enough, but the seat is made so awkward. It's a wonder you didn't do your poor ass a permanent injury," he said. "Well, I doubt I've rode more than ten miles all together on this world. It just hasn't come up yet. Now you know why I wanted you to come along. And no, you don't even want to see what they use for a throw rope here. "In fact they don't even use ropes like cowboys do. They herd cattle mostly with men afoot and cross fences. One of my main hopes, if my place is still here, is we can teach a couple of the locals how to cowboy up a little. I'm sure it would make the place a good bit more profitable, or at least easier to get things done on," I said. "I thought you came to rescue the Damsel?" he said. "Oh, I did, and I intend to, but I've got other fish to fry too. I can see where it could get to be a real pain in the ass coming here and operating out of what they have for hotels all the time. I need to make sure the place I took over the first time I was here is a going concern. "Hell, if it is now or if it ain't it'll be firmly in my hands again before we leave here, unless I don't get to leave live," I said. I checked Amos out to make sure he had his sword attached the right way, and thinking of the way I was greeted the last time I left this very vault, I drew my sword in one hand and my dagger in the other and had Amos do the same thing before we swung the door open and walked out. The old man in the lobby, the one with a sword tied on his waist and acting like a guard, nearly shit his pants when Amos and I came walking out of the vault with our swords drawn. He held his hands up like someone surrendering in an old time cowboy movie. "Take it easy old timer. A couple of robbers met me the last time I walked out of that vault and I just wanted to make sure I was ready if there were more of them hanging around." He looked relieved and let his hands down and said, "That must have been while Jenkins was the teller here. He'd have thugs hang around and try to rob people. When the bank's higher ups found out about it they sent a man who could get in the cage with Jenkins whether Jenkins wanted him to or not. Jenkins left in two or more pieces." "Well, it's good to know the bank is keeping an eye on things. Say, does, Bill - the one who used to run the stable, still have that place outside of town?" "The Hero's Place? Yep, he's still there, but I'm sure trouble is coming his way. Mr Blanksdale came here a year or two ago and he's been building up his own place with money made from slaving. Word is he's about to take over the Heroes Place. "They've both been hiring extra workers, but Blanksdale has been hiring more and lots of them are from out of town." I knew he had to be right about out of town help, because I didn't think there were enough men to hire near this town to have a decent fight at a ladies afternoon bridge club. We wished the old man well and walked out the door. "It's a good thing we got your knee fixed right off the bat, Amos." "Why's that?" he asked. "Cause we've got about a three mile walk ahead of us," I said. "I can tell you how to shorten it up if you want me to." "How's that?" "Turn it into a three mile run," he said. "I'm glad you told me. I'd have never thought of it myself," I said, and took off. About thirty minutes later we came up where I thought the entrance should be, and damned if I wasn't right. There had been some changes made though. For one thing there was a rail fence stretching as far as you could see down the road and there was a big gate now with a sign over the top of it that said The Heroes Place. I walked up to the guard, and he wasn't sleeping at all. "Good morning gentlemen. What's your business here?" "I came to check up and see if Bill was making any money on my place," I said, and it threw him for a second. "Are you Hero Jack?" he asked me. "I sure am, and this is my Companion, Amos." "Well by all means go right on ahead, unless you need me to guide you. Bill left strict instructions that you not be molested if you ever came here." "We'll be on our way then." It wasn't more than a quarter mile up to the house and the next thing we saw was a yard full of kids. The oldest one looked to be maybe five or six and they trickled down to barely able to walk size. There were six of them running loose, and there were three mothers with babes in arms sitting on rocking chairs on the porch. I walked up to them and though they were older now I could tell it was Carlita who spoke up, asking if it was really me, while Candra, and Margy just gaped openmouthed. "You knew it was me before you asked, Carlita. Where's that scoundrel Bill? Is he the one who got you all in trouble?" I asked. She giggled then, but said, "We made him make honest women of us first before we let him get us in trouble. Well, we made him marry us before the first baby came anyway." "Well the place looks a lot better than it did when I left. Is it making me any money?" "We're doing well, but you'd best talk to Bill about the details. It seems all he wants us to do is have babies, or practice making them anyway," she said, and they all laughed then, but had the decency to blush afterward. Carlita yelled toward the open door then and soon enough a younger girl came out to see what she wanted. "Lead these gentlemen to Bill's office, Wanda. The owner is here to take him to tasks," Carlita said. The young girl blushed and then didn't know what to do with herself as Amos and I were walking up the front steps. "Don't worry, Wanda. We've come to help Bill out, not to cause him trouble," I said, and I could see her shoulders relax. "Mrs Carlita is such a tease sometimes. She had me flustered when she said it," Wanda said. "Well don't worry, Wanda, I don't bite, but I might pat you on your splendid bottom every now and then," I said, and I could tell she blushed over it from the bright red the backs of her ears turned. ------- Chapter 10 The door to Bill's office was open when she led us there and as he noticed who it was he was up out of his chair and around his desk to say hello. I put my hand out to shake before I remembered it wasn't a custom here. I held it out until he shook and decided it was gonna be a custom around me. I introduced him to Amos then and we all finally sat down and had a little talk. I noticed Bill had put on some weight and was no longer the scarecrow-looking thing he had been when he ran the stable. He also seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. I figured it was the three wives working his ass off at night, but I didn't tease him about it, yet. "How have we made out since I left, Bill," I asked. "Better than I could ever have imagined. For the first month or so I tried to over manage the place, but after Ben, the overseer got enough of it he sat me down and gave me a good talking to. He told me you'd left me here to be the idea man and he was to take care of the details. He also encouraged me to go ahead and marry the house girls since it would help me calm down. "I took his advice and things have been doing well since then. I am glad you're back now though, because lately we've started having trouble with Mr Blanksdale. He came into town about two years after you left and seemed nice enough for a year or so. "Lately he has been rather standoffish and he has been hiring more and more men. The rumor is he is dealing in slavery. No people have gone missing from here and really not from any of the nearby towns, but last year we started missing cattle and so we built the new fence all around the place. "I suppose we needed a fence all along and it was a good enough reason to put it up, even though it was expensive. It cut down on the number of cattle we were losing for a while, but lately we've started losing some off the very back of the property, and we've found the fence torn down in small sections seven times now." "It sounds to me like you've expanded the land quite a bit," I said. "Oh we have. No matter how many cattle we raise we always seem to be able to sell them for a good price. People have been moving into the area. I think many of them are moving away from areas of more slaver activity. "That's why I'm glad you are here. Do you think you can help slow down the slavery issue around here?" he asked. "I can give it a good start at least. But not today. Have you got room in the house for Amos and me to stay or are you going to make me sleep in the stable again?" I said. "Of course we have room in the house. Martin had twelve bedrooms in this house. We've left his in the same shape you left it and it's ready for you right now. My wives have it cleaned once a week, though there's never much to do except dusting. "There is another bedroom near it for Amos to use," Bill said. "Surely your wives must take up some of the bedrooms, and your children," I said. "My wives had me combine two bedrooms into one for us, and they did the same for the children, but it's taken three for them by now. It seems taking out the walls makes for much more room than you'd think. We only have two maids though, and of course Kala is still the cook and she has a helper now. "They all have their own rooms of course, but they are on the first floor and not up on the second floor with our bedrooms," he said. "Well, could you get someone to show us to our rooms. I'm afraid I don't remember the way." "I can show you, they're just upstairs," Bill said, and then he led us out. He left us to get settled in and it didn't take long, since I hadn't brought any of my extra clothes with me and Amos didn't have any extra clothes. We headed back downstairs in a minute and I could at least find the kitchen. "Hero Jack," Kala said, when we walked into the kitchen, "Wanda told me you'd showed up like a stray dog or something." "Yes, and we're just as hungry. This is Amos, my Companion, and we're here to beg for a bite to eat before we have to get to work," I said. "Do you want a full meal, or just something to tide you over until lunch? I've got plenty ready to feed hungry men, especially since Wanda gave me the warning." "Just about half a meal will suit me. What about you Amos?" "Half would suit me too. We had a big breakfast," he said. On a cattle farm I should have expected beef, and Kala didn't disappoint us. She put a roast on the table and mashed potatoes, pinto beans, and some fresh bread. We ate more than we should have, but we didn't completely pig out. We bragged on her cooking most of the time we were eating and it was some to brag on too. We finally got up and I wanted to go take a nap, but we didn't. Instead we headed outside and I happened to see Ben, the overseer I'd left in charge before. "Howdy, Ben," I said. "Why, Mr Hero Jack. It's good to see you," he said. I introduced him to Amos then and after a little chatting I asked him if he had a couple of good horses we could use while we were here. "Of course I do. The one you took off the former overseer has been kept in a stall since you left and only ridden for exercise between breeding times since. I'll swear the damned thing gets bigger every month and it ain't all fat. We've got some of his sons around too and they're all broke to ride. "That horse is not only big, it puts big on his get too. Some of them are bigger than he is. Come on, I'll show 'em to you," he said, and led us into a nice big barn that wasn't here when I left. "Who does your leather work here now, Ben?" I asked, as we were walking into the barn. "We've got three younguns tending to it now. They've mostly just picked it up as they went along though. They can't do nothing fancy," he said. "Well Amos is an expert saddle maker. Maybe he'll have time to show 'em a thing or two before we have to leave." "It shore would be a big help. They're all good boys, and handy with their hands, they just don't know much," he said. We'd made it to the stall the big horse was in by then and Ben had been telling the truth. The horse was about fifteen and a half hands tall and he likely weighed twelve hundred pounds by now. Ben showed us what he said was the best stallion out of him then and he was even bigger. He wasn't as stocky as his daddy, but he was half a hand taller and there was still plenty of meat on him. He showed us the tack room then and Amos was looking over the saddles right away. Ben left us to it and Amos had to ask me something right away. "Why are the cantles so high and wide on all these saddles? A couple of them look like they're made decently, but the cantles are so high and straight up and the pommels almost look like boxes on some of 'em." "They're to hold the riders in. They do a lot of fighting from horseback, at least some men do, and I don't think they realize they're supposed to hold on with their legs. Oh, they know how to ride all right, but they don't seem as keen on gripping the horse's barrel with their inner thigh muscles." "Sounds like you need to teach 'em to ride more than you need me to make saddles," he said. "Well, I figured if you taught 'em how to make some good saddles the riders would eventually learn how to hold on, or else they could just keep on climbing back on," I said. "You have a real point there," he said, and laughed. We saddled up ourselves and headed back into town. There were a few things I needed to get out of the vault that I hadn't wanted to pack out to the place on my back. As we rode out the gate I could see three mounted men about a mile up the road between us and town. I wondered what the hell they were doing just sitting their horses in the middle of the road. I guessed we'd find out when we got there, and it wouldn't be long. "Remember, Amos, you're supposed to hang back and only offer logistic support," I said. "Damn if that's so. You're going to have to race me there or I'll get 'em all," he said. "Don't jump to conclusions. They might have ordinary reasonable business on the road. It is a public road you know." "Well you're the one who got me started thinking they were there to fuck with us. From the way you talked I thought you recognized them," he said. "Well, it does look a little funny with them just sitting in the road waiting like that, but we'd better at least give them a chance to explain themselves." We turned and headed their way. Before we were half way to them I saw they were getting a little nervous and sitting twitchy in their saddles. As we got closer it was obvious they weren't going to move out of the way. "Amos, I think they want to fuck with us after all. Since they haven't pulled their swords yet I think we should just ride along normal like and kick hell out of these horses when we're within fifty feet, unless they act like they're going to move out of the way. "Those nags they're riding look like ponies compared to our mounts and I'll bet we can just bowl them all over," I said. "I think you might be right. In any case it ain't likely we'll get knocked out of these damned saddles. I'll be right behind you, since I'm your Companion and all. The only reason I wanted to start fifty feet away was so my horse could get up a good head of steam. I made my best guess at it and took off. I barely had time to hear Amos leave behind me when my big mount shouldered his way between two of theirs who were standing closer together. It actually didn't do much to me since my horse hardly slowed down and barely moved out of his line of travel. I did hear a solid lick on each side though. Of course the others hadn't had time to draw their swords. Hell, they barely had time to believe what they were seeing. I pulled up and turned around just in time to see the damage we'd done and I saw Amos pulling up to turn around too. I walked the big stallion back to where the three had been. All their horses were riderless now and they were standing where they'd been shoved. The men were on the ground groaning. Well two of them were anyway. What I thought of as their leader, since he'd been the biggest one, was laying very still and I didn't have to wonder why. His neck was bent at a very unhealthy angle. I had time to dismount and draw my sword and Amos had time to get back before one of them shook his head and then opened his eyes. "Did you three have something you wanted to tell us?" I asked, the one who'd come to. "We was told to stay here and not let anybody from the Heroes Place come to town," he said. "And what have you learned?" I asked him. "I've learned there's a lot bigger dogs in this fight than I was led to believe. I shore wish I was about twenty miles away from here in any direction right about now." "I might just let you go. Lay still now since I'm not sure yet," I said, and went over to the dead one to check out his body. He had five pinches and a shell on him, a piece of shit sword, and even a lowlier piece of shit knife. I took them anyway. When I asked, the boy told me which horse belonged to the dead one and I checked it out. It was the best of the bunch, but still not much. Amos laughed at his saddle and I nearly laughed at the crossbow tied on back. Hell, it was broken and wouldn't do any damage unless he threw it at somebody and hit 'em with it. The other boy was back with us now and so I asked him where he'd go if I turned him loose instead of killing him on the road right now. "I'd go with Ralph here, we're brothers. If I had my druthers I'd like to slip back to our bunkhouse and get my few belongings, but I ain't got to," he said. "Well boys. It's your lucky day. Mount your ponies and one of you grab the reins of the dead fools horse. We're going back to my place and we're gonna hold you a few days while you tell my Companion everything you know about Blanksdale's place. If you don't tell us everything I'm going to skin you a little bit at a time until you do," I said, and they mounted and I had them ride ahead. "You know, Jack, that's a pretty good idea. They probably don't know any of the plans or anything like that, but if they've been around a while they'll at least be able to tell us the strength in men and horses and such," Amos said. "You wouldn't care to question them would you?" I asked. "Hell, I've done it before, but skinning them to do it won't help any. They'd just make up stuff to get you to stop," he said. "Hell, even I know that, but it didn't hurt to scare 'em some," I said, and then Amos laughed and said no it didn't. I left the questioning to Amos and headed back to town. There weren't any bad guys in the road this time and I figured Blanksdale didn't even know his faithful followers had been disbanded yet. Mostly because the body hadn't been moved at all. Oh well. I made it to the bank with no trouble and went in and retrieved the other things I needed. Mostly my extra clothes, my cowboy hat, and my new bow and arrows. Thinking about it I took the other bow and quiver too. I might as well give Amos some archery lessons while I was at it. You might know it. There were two men looking at the dead body when I came back. They both looked older and appeared armed better and they didn't seem like farmers. I stopped about a hundred and fifty yards from them and pulled out my new bow just so they'd understand I was ready to rumble. They had a hurried discussion and then both mounted their horses, drew their swords, and hauled ass right toward me. I had to let them get closer than I would have liked because I wasn't familiar with the bow except for the few times I'd shot it into George's haystack. It looked like I was going to have to learn by doing, like the Boy's State motto said. At thirty yards I let fly and though I'd aimed for his chest I saw it hit him in the throat. I nocked another arrow just in time to let fly when the other rider was within ten yards. It was too damned close for comfort. Of course I'd adjusted my point of aim allowing for how high I'd hit the other one and by the time he got so close I was too low. Oh well, a gut shot is fatal too, and they damned sure hurt. He let go of his reins and grabbed the shaft right away. Apparently he forgot about staying on the horse too, because he fell off and it stopped down the road a piece. I rode back to collect the horse first and then came back to the one I'd gutshot. He was moaning and groaning, and I cut his throat, mostly to quiet him, but he was dead now or later and only with a lot of pain, fever, and suffering later. I'd been lucky as hell with him on the shot and fall because he hadn't even broken the arrow. It was sticking about eight inches out his back and I pulled it on through after he stopped moving over me cutting his throat. No sense in letting him lay around and die of infection. It didn't even muss the fletching except for getting blood on it. He was a better haul too. He had a conch, five shells, and twelve pinches on him. I took his sword and three knives but left his chain mail in place. It was obviously too short to have done him any good and both Amos and I were taller still. Then I changed my mind and took it off him thinking someone at the place could get some use out of it. I remounted to go to the other horse and didn't have any trouble leaning out of the saddle to get its reins either. I led the two of them down to where the other man was lying. He was already deader than a doornail so I just stripped his body. He had a good sword and he had a fairly nice buckler too. I saw I'd been lucky to miss my target on him since he had a rather good set of chain mail and he also had a piece of plate armor across his chest. Wasn't that a pisser for him, dying from a lucky miss. I found four conches in his pockets along with several shells and a handful of pinches. He also had a really nice sheath knife and he had something I hadn't thought of on a sort of harness around his neck. It was a well balanced throwing knife and he had it in a sheath up on the back of his neck. It was obvious he could reach behind his neck, grab it, and throw it - probably pretty damned fast too. It took longer fucking with him since I wanted to take his armor and chain mail too. It left him stripped to the waist, but I doubted the cold would bother him again. I had to walk about twenty yards back down the road because even passing through his neckbone hadn't slowed the arrow much. It still looked perfect when I picked it up and I thought I might try for neck shots more often. I mounted up when I was done and headed into the place, not stopping until I came to the big new barn. Ben and Amos both were out to greet me before I was good and down from the horse. "I see I missed out on supporting you. You take all the fun out of it," Amos said. "It's like I told Kathy Caretaker. The men we're up against think they're tough since they've only come up against farmers or the like. I'll bet Blanksdale has some hard men hired, but they're probably all sitting around the house and swaggering around letting the other men know how tough they are. We'll hold a little get together before long and they'll probably all shit right up their backs." ------- Chapter 11 "As I was coming back from town two higher ups from Blanksdale's place were looking over the body we left the first time. We ended up quarreling over the remains and I left more remains while I was at it. I found a damned good trick on one of the bodies though," I said, and then I showed him and explained what it was. "That would be a good hideout knife and especially useful here where there are no firearms. It would take a little practice to get good with it, but I can see where it would come in handy." "Yeh, me too, and I can also see where more compound bows would come in handy, especially if I'd do a little practicing with mine," I said, and then explained my lucky break. "You know, even if you'd hit him in the armor there's a good chance it would have knocked him off the horse. That thing has to be delivering a wallop. Even with the ceramic armor in Iraq we knew it when it stopped a bullet," he said. "Damn I'm glad you said it. Ceramics are something that's here already." "Maybe so, but supposedly it was some high dollar shit ours was made of and I know it was tricky as hell to make it. They had a bad batch one time on our gear and it was useless as hell even though it looked normal," he said. "Yeh, I heard about it. They claimed ours was from a different batch, but how in the hell can you know about something like that." "You can't, and two soldiers died thinking they were protected, but shit rolls downhill don't'cha know?" "Hey, what did you find out from our prisoners?" "Everything. I separated them and I walked into the first one's stall with a wicked looking knife, a burning brazier, and a wide bladed knife on it already red hot. "I told him it was to stop the bleeding after I had cut some skin off him. He pissed his pants before the first question and when I started asking he started giving answers. He told me everything, even how big his momma's nipple was the last time he suckled her tit. "After I was done questioning him I told him to scream his heart out every time I touched him so it would scare the bejesus out of his brother. I told him I'd use the hot knife on him for real if he didn't make it sound like I was killing him. "It worked like a charm too. When I took the brazier and all into the other stall where his brother was he told me everything he knew. "The only trouble was they didn't know much. Oh, I found out they were responsible for stealing the cattle. They'd find a good place in late afternoon, knock down a couple of sections in the fence just at sunset, and then drive out a few cows and drive them into a little spot they've got in the woods. It hits a trail which goes right into the back of the other place." "Did you find out where the spot was?" "Of course. I've already got a man out watching it for tonight. Seems they always have one watching their trail on nights when they're gonna make a grab. "The watcher I put out knows to run back up here as soon as they come through the woods. Of course I picked a watcher who is good with a crossbow and he's going to cash in their watcher after the others are out of sight," Amos said. "That, my friend, was good thinking. "What about numbers. Did you get any idea about how many men he has over there?" I asked. "Yep, got that too, but they had to count with handfuls instead of saying fifty. They both showed the same count though so it's probably pretty close to right." "Well things are looking up. We've only been here since this morning and we've already cost them five men. I'm betting we can cost them more the next time they try to steal cattle." "We can for sure. Apparently it's the same higher up that takes mostly young boys out to steal the cattle and he usually takes ten to twelve with him. Both boys said they don't even take swords or crossbows with them when they go, just their knives. "I figure we can hem 'em all up with a net or something strung along their backtrail after we get rid of the watcher. Of course, I don't have it all set up if they were to come tonight, but I can probably get it arranged for after tomorrow though," he said. "I can tell you're going to have to become a hero too. You just ain't worth a shit about hanging around supporting." I said, mostly joking. "All right, all right. I'll be good, but rigging a trap sounds like it comes in under the supporting business to me. I'll just let you spring it," he said. We both went in to turn the boys loose and damned if they didn't want to stay. I asked them why and got a hell of a surprise. "You are so much smarter than Blanksdale's men they have no chance. We can already see your farm is much better managed and we have no jobs now, and no horses either," Ralph said. "We're not keeping your horses. You are free to take them when you leave," I said. "Thank you, but after seeing the horses you have here we realize we don't really have horses, just ponies," Carl said. "Well, I don't want to talk bad about you two, but you aren't fighting men," Amos said. "We never said we were. We asked Mr Blanksdale for jobs as farm hands and today was the first time his overseer asked us to do any type of work like even watching the road. We didn't want to do it, but we didn't have any say. We are farm boys and we want a job tending cattle or raising crops. We don't want to be fighters." "Well go see Ben and ask him for a job farming then. He hires and fires the hands here, not me. Tell him I said I had no objections and be sure to tell him you tried to hire on as farm help over at Blanksdale's place," I said, and we let them go. "Let's go in the house, Amos. It's only a couple of hours until suppertime anyway," I said. "You go ahead. I came to support you by making saddles, throw ropes, and other leather goods. Believe me I am well satisfied with my pay so far and I want to do a good job," he said, and then laughed like hell. Of course Kala wanted to know where I'd been during lunch so I lied and told her I had plenty to eat from the snack she made us. She let me slide this time so I went back up to my room, dragging the stuff I'd taken from the safe deposit box and my ill gotten gains from the dead men. I separated out all the money to give to Amos in case he needed some and put the rest of the stuff away. I pulled off my boots and lay down to rest my eyes a minute and the next thing I knew Wanda was in my bedroom shaking my shoulder to wake me up. I hadn't intended to go to sleep, but had dozed off. I was glad I had though. I had a dream, but not one like Martin Luther King's. I dreamed of the powered grinding wheels and forge blowers at George's place. I knew with all the horses we had now Bill or Ben one must have hired a smith, and I was going to make his day, or it's what I thought at the time. Right now I got up, put my boots on, and gave Wanda's ass a pat as I followed her down to supper. I don't know why she stayed to lead me down there, but I imagined it might be to see if I really would pat her on the ass, at least it was why I hoped she did. Kala had a meal ready and from the looks of the table she had her work cut out for her over everyone she was feeding. I knew they had a separate cook for the hired hands, but what with Bill's three wives and nine children, plus Amos and me, and three or four young maids for the house the table was long and piled deep with food. Everyone was just sitting there at the table. I knew I was waiting for someone else to start eating and I thought Amos was too. It turned out the others were all waiting for me to start and as soon as I found it out I started filling my plate and passing the serving pieces around. I didn't eat every bit I could hold, but I did my share and packed in more than I had at the mid-morning snack we'd conned Kala out of. Amos did his share too, but Bill really surprised me. He shoveled it in. The thing was he wasn't fat. He wasn't as skinny as the old dog had been at his stable, but he wasn't fat at all. Just then I felt something pushing around on my butt. I looked behind me and damned if it wasn't old Skinny. He damned sure wasn't skinny anymore. "Well how dee do, Skinny. I wondered what happened to you," I said to him, just before he gave me a lick and started wagging hell out of his tail. "Do you know Skinny?" one of the oldest boys asked. "I hope to shout. Skinny used to sleep with me when I was staying at your Daddy's old stable in town. He even saved my bacon once in a crossbow fight," I said. "Really? Skinny saved you? Do you know why he's named Skinny? Because he isn't skinny at all." "I know that too. I named him Skinny, because when I first saw him he was so skinny his ribs were on the other side and sticking out in the wrong direction," I said, and I knew it was a dumb joke, but all three of the oldest kids laughed and then their mothers and even Bill laughed too. "How did he save you?" the oldest asked again. "Why, when Skinny saw the man about to shoot me with the Crossbow he jumped up and bit him on the leg. He even pulled him off his horse. Nearly tore the fellow's leg off before I came around and finished him off." "Wow. All this time I thought he was just a fat old dog. He is fun to play with though, but I didn't know he could do all that," he said. "Well dogs get older faster than people do, and old Skinny is getting old. He's earned the right to stay at home now and play with you kids," I said, and was nearly ashamed of telling the tall tale, but then I forgave myself. Especially when I saw the way all six of the kids who could walk on their own gathered around Skinny wanting to pet on him after supper was over. Skinny finally lay down and they all found a place to sit around him and pet on him. He took it like a man, but his tail was wagging even while he was lying there. I didn't know about everyone else, but I was ready for bed. Amos headed upstairs with me when I left the table. "Man, I need you to come to my house and spin some tales for my kids. By the time you were through I wanted to go with the kids and pet on that old dog myself," he said, and then laughed. "Well, it got started with the truth. Skinny did cause the guy to miss his shot with the crossbow and it distracted his buddy so bad I took him out before he realized I was armed and dangerous." "Well it was a hell of a tale no matter how it went. It's gonna be strange going to bed this early in the evening though," he said. "Well I ain't gonna come in your room and tell you stories until you go to sleep," I said, and Amos laughed louder. "At least you'll be rested up in the morning and ready to get to work after a big breakfast," I said. "There is that, and I'm going to need to be doing something because if I don't I'll be fatter than old Skinny before we leave here," he said, and then we went into our separate rooms. I shucked my clothes and got into bed. I was asleep in minutes. I was up before sunrise too, and I was the first to make it to the kitchen except for Kala and Carol, one of her helpers. They served me a hot cup of tea right away and they had one ready for Amos when he made it down, then they started in with flapjacks, ham, and eggs. Amos and I were in heaven, especially since they had real butter made on the place and also real maple syrup which they also made here. I had to make myself stop eating before I got too full. Amos asked me what I was going to do today, and he almost choked when I told him. He did bring up an alarming question though. How was I going to get the pipe to route the air from the blower I would be trying to build. "I guess we'll have to carve them out of trees. We'll have to split small tree trunks and then hollow out the center. I guess we'll have to put them back together, seal the edges with tar or something sticky, and then tie them together with rawhide. Naturally we'll try to put the blower as close to the smithy as we can." "Have you seen the smithy?" he asked. "No, I haven't. Have you?" "Yes, and it's between the old barn and the new one. Looks like you'll be building a new smithy if you want it very close," he said. "Oh well, it may be too much work for this trip and who knows when I'll come here again," I said. "Why don't you spend a little quality time with Bill and see if you can't get the idea over to him. If you can you can teach one or two of the smith's apprentices to do the casting you were so proud of last time. They could at least cast the bearings you'll need for the blower and for the grinding wheels. Besides, the smith you have now is a little old and set in his ways," he said. "Well he can get with the new plan or get on down the road," I said. "Spoken like a true youngster. Don't even try to get him started on the new way. He's a good smith - I've already heard it from Ben. Let him train the youngsters like he's been doing. They can take over when you get the new stuff built. It'll take time to do it anyway," Amos said. He was right and I knew it. I was trying to get too much done in too little time. I would have a talk with Bill and see if I could get what I wanted done over to him. Now that Amos mentioned it I was fairly certain I could get the new smithy built to my specifications while I was gone, however long it would be. While Amos went to work I waited for Bill to make it to breakfast. He came in a few minutes later and we exchanged pleasantries until Bill's breakfast came. I made my excuses and left the table since I was full to near overflowing already and I didn't want to sit around and watch Bill eat. Thinking about what I was planning, I returned to my room, took a seat at the small writing desk, and looked around for a pencil. There wasn't one. I noticed the inkwell then and found a quill pen so I pulled out a sheet of paper and gave it a whirl. I gave up after about ten minutes. I'd already ruined six sheets of paper by smearing the ink everywhere. If I had to do the drawings with this pen and ink I might as well forget it altogether. It would take weeks to get accustomed to using it enough to even make a crude drawing. ------- Chapter 12 I left the house then and went looking for Amos. I thought maybe he could come up with something I could use for a pencil. He was out near the barn in the leather working part, talking to three young men. He stopped when I came up. "Amos, I need a pencil. All I can find to write with is a damned old quill pen and an inkwell." "Well I just happen to be able to dry your eyes," he said, reaching to his shirt pocket and handing me a carpenter's pencil. "I always have one in my pocket since I started working leather - it's a habit by now. The thick lead doesn't break so easy when I'm trying to mark leather, especially if I'm using it on the rough side," he said. "Great. I was trying to lay out the new smithy and couldn't write a damned thing without spilling ink everywhere. I'll make sure I don't lose it," I said, and headed right back to my room. As soon as I started drawing I realized if I'd been forced to use this pencil without trying the ink first I'd have been bitching about it. It was funny to hold since it was wider than it was thick and the lead was too. After trying with the quill and ink though it was like a dream come true. I'd have to try and remember to bring a handful of pencils next time. Now I had something to write with I realized I needed to do a lot of thinking about what I was writing. I decided to just rough out a building this time and worry about the details next trip. I was done in an hour or so and I put the pencil in my pocket, grabbed up the drawing, and headed for Bill's office. He was working on his books when I got inside and I noticed he was doing a nice neat job with a quill pen and ink. He stopped what he was doing and when he saw me holding the paper he gave me a curious look. "Go ahead and finish what you're doing, Bill. I'll be waiting in the kitchen for when you come to a stopping place," I said. "Stopping place?" "Yeh, you know, when you come to the end of one thing and you can have time to talk to me about something else. I don't want to cause you to have to stop what you're doing right now," I said. He looked at me funny again and then said ok and that he'd come to get me. I headed back into the kitchen and Kala looked busy too, but Wanda was there and I talked her into getting me a cup of tea and I stole another pat on her ass while I was at it. Bill came in to get me shortly after I'd finished my tea and I went back to his office with him. I showed him the rough sketch and after I made him understand the approximate size he questioned why it needed to be so large and why we couldn't just keep the other forges where they were and put extra ones in another place. "We're not going to keep doing the smithy work like we have been, Bill. I want this new place exactly because it will be different. I need this extra room around it for something I'll be doing next time. "In fact I don't even want you to use this building until I come back. We'll go outside, pick out a place for it, and then I want you to get the building built and put nothing in it or around it until I get back." Surprisingly he could understand it more easily without even thinking about the forges and such. When we went outside he understood perfectly he was supposed to build a big building here and leave all the space around it vacant. In fact he took it better than I'd thought he would. There was no power struggle like I'd expected, what with him being in charge on his own here for so long. He didn't even question me much about what we were going to be doing in the building, he just found out where I wanted it, how large I wanted it, and he was set on go. He was even intending to get some men started on it tomorrow until I told him we wouldn't need it for a year or so. He went back into the house then and I went to talk to Ben. He was busy with someone too, so I saddled the big horse, strapped my bow carrier onto his saddle again and mounted up. I figured I might as well take a ride around the place. I started out on the other side of the gate from the one where we expected the next raid to come from and made my way around the fence. I was surprised when I came to the first section of woods. The fence went into them for a little way and I noticed all the brush had been cleared from the fenced off part, but I also noticed some posts going through the other section. Sort of like markers or property lines, but they weren't a fence. As I moved on I came to another part that looked similar. A portion of the woods had been cleared of brush and undergrowth for about an acre or so. It looked like the fence had just turned into the woods for a little bit, the brush had been cleared off, and the fence had come back out. By the third such section I came to I figured out what they were for. We had way too many cows to build barns enough to put them in. The cleared out sections of woods were lounging areas for the cows. I figured they were for bad weather or to let them get out of the sun if the weather got too hot. The cows could migrate into the cleared out sections during bad weather without the bother of having to gather them up. Basically the cows took care of themselves with just a few provisions to help them out. We had a hell of a lot of cows too. They weren't covering the area like a bunch of bison or anything, but there were several large groups of them. I rode all morning and doubted I'd made it halfway to the back of our property. I came up on three different houses too. It was odd there was just a house out in the middle of nowhere so I stopped at the third one. A man was working in a fenced off garden, but he stopped what he was doing and came up to talk as soon as he saw me. "Greetings, Hero Jack. Can I do something for you?" he asked. I stopped to talk for a while and learned the house was actually mine. He and his family lived here and he took care of the fence in this part. Apparently there were six of these line camp sort of houses - each with a family living in them and specifically there to take care of the fence and watch for predators and such. I didn't say as much, but I was amazed by the scope of our holdings. One thing I didn't want to be was late for lunch. I turned back and put the big horse into a trot. I cursed the saddle most of the way back to the main house, but Kala made me glad I'd remembered to come eat when I got there. Four days later, late in the afternoon the watchman we had near the road crossing came running up to say he'd just seen them cross the road and shot the one who was their lookout. Ben gathered the ones going with us and we took off, walking. There wasn't any hurry since the thieves would have to gather some cows and make their way back to cross the road, and they'd have to do it in the dark. Our biggest bother was the waiting. We got in place and had time to fell a few small trees and block off a catch pen sort of thing to catch our cattle and the men stealing them. Ralph and Carl were with us and I intended to let them try to talk the others into surrendering. After way more waiting than I wanted we let them cross the road and head down the path. The men, or more like young boys, were confused after they made the crossing and couldn't find the watcher. They finally decided to go on without him only to find the cows had already discovered they were in a makeshift pen. "All right. Stop where you are and do not try to escape. We won't kill you if you stay where you are," I said, and then Ralph spoke up. "They captured Carl and me days ago. They have forty men surrounding you and each of them has a sword and a crossbow. You had better do what they say." What could they do? Ralph was telling the truth and the boys learned it quickly enough. We tied their hands behind them and most of the men took off for the house leading our prisoners. I stayed in place with eight armed men. We made a cold camp and damned if I didn't discover old Skinny had come along. He snuggled right up against me when I lay down. I woke about an hour before sunrise when one of my men shook my shoulder. I assumed he was the one with the last watch and sure enough he woke the others. We didn't fool with trying to eat anything - we concentrated on hiding ourselves in the woods near the opening to the road. Soon enough three men came riding down to see what was wrong. They were fit to be tied when they found the remains of the pen and they were even more disturbed when three men and I walked out with crossbows to block their retreat. Of course I had my bow and not a crossbow. "All right, get off your horses before we shoot you off," I said. "You don't have any right to bother us. We're on Mr Blanksdale's property," the leader of them said. "You're coming down here to see where the thieves you sent out last night ended up. We're going to take you to see them or else we'll shoot you now and take your things to see them and leave your naked dead bodies here. Make your choice." I saw him tense just a little and then I saw his horse tense too so I shot him in the thigh. He yelped loudly and fell off the mount and the other two got off on their own. The one on the ground came to his senses then and reached for the arrow in his leg. He grabbed it and looked like he was going to try to break it off. I'd approached him so I kicked him in the head and he stopped trying to damage my arrow. We took all their weapons from them and then I pulled the arrow on through the wounded one's legs. I at least cut the fletching off before I did it, but I made sure not to damage my arrow. I intended to make them walk back to the place, but the wounded one was walking so slowly I had my men tie his feet together too and we put him across his horse's saddle like a big sack of grain. When we made it back to the barn Amos was already questioning the younger thieves from the night before. I knew he was because I heard one screaming from the stall Amos was using to interview him in. The three we had were older men and they looked tougher, as if they'd been to the circus and seen the elephant before. I made them strip off naked to wait for their turn. I figured Amos was going to apply the hot iron to their asses for real. When he came out in a minute I had a thought and decided to try it. "Amos, this one will probably need his wound cauterized while you're at it, but we might as well clean out the inside first so's it won't get infected." "It does look like it needs some attention," he said. I had Ben get me a scrap of clean cloth and a bottle of liniment while I pulled the arrowhead off the one I'd shot him with. When Ben got back I took the cloth, soaked it in liniment and while Amos and four of the men who'd been with me held the leader down I used the headless arrow to push the piece of soaked rag back through the wound. I'll bet it hurt. I was right too. He screamed like I was killing him until he fainted. I stopped with the rag halfway through his leg and had Ben throw a bucket of water in his face to revive him before we pushed the rag on through. "I guess you can go ahead and question him now, Amos," I said, and two of my men helped him into a vacant stall. Amos made a production of fetching his brazier out of the stall he'd just vacated and while he was entering the one for his next session he spoke up again. "Ben, would you mind getting me a bigger set of tongs. Sometimes these grown ones talk better if you squeeze their balls real good with tongs first," Amos said, as he walked into the stall. Ben sent one of the men who'd spent the night out in the woods with me off for the tongs and when he came back he was smiling his widest and holding them proudly. He took them in to Amos and then came right back out and closed the door. The screaming started almost right away, and I was sure it was actually pain induced. Of course the first two screams could have been because of Amos cauterizing the wound, but the next four weren't and they sounded genuine too. At least the other two didn't piss their pants from the ruckus, but it was only because we'd made them take their pants and all their clothes off. Amos worked on him for about an hour, but I called him out after a while and we went to breakfast. We had Ben move the other two into a dark closet so they couldn't see what was going on and then emptied all of the stalls of previous subjects so none of the upcoming ones could see they weren't really hurt. We ate a big breakfast this morning and the mood was a little quiet. Mostly it was because everyone else had eaten, but still Kala, Wanda, and the other girls were in a somber mood. "What cat got all your tongues this morning?" I asked, after a few minutes. "I know those boys done wrong stealing our cattle, but the screams just tear me apart," Kala said. "They're supposed to, Kala. The screams are for the boys who are about to be questioned. All I do to make the screamers scream is tell them I'll put the hot iron on them if they don't scream loud enough. The next one is so scared by the time he gets in the stall with me and the hot iron he'll tell me everything he knows," Amos told her. "Why you. You could have told us that from the start and we wouldn't have been in here worrying about those poor boys," she said. "Well you can worry about the grown man I've got in there now. He's part of the slavers over there and I'm putting the hot iron and other things on him for real," Amos said. "Slavers? Have we got slavers right here in our town?" Kala asked. "Sure do, and Mr Blanksdale is the head of 'em. "Well go ahead and cut their guts out an inch at a time then. There's nothing worse than a slaver, nothing," she said, and then she piled more food on our plates. ------- Chapter 13 Amos and I finished our meal and then headed back out to the barn. I asked him if he had anything out of the man he was questioning yet. "He's a tough nut and I may not get anything out of him. I'm at least going to make him wish he'd talked though. I'm thinking about taking off a hand and then promising to take off the other one and let him live," Amos said, and when he did I told him about what I'd done to the one who'd cut old Skinny with his sword. "That's a good idea. I'll remind him of it in case he's heard the tale. Even if we don't get anything out of him I'm sure the others will tell all they know once they see his hand come flying out of the stall without him attached to it," Amos said. I decided to saddle up the big horse and take a ride into town. When I headed for him Ben asked where I was off to and I told him. "Let me get a couple of the men to go with you. I have four hired mostly for fighting help. Most of the men can handle themselves, but Tom, Brad, James, and Conroe were real fighters one time. They've all settled down now and got married, but they still know how to watch themselves and take care of business," he said, but just then the most God awful scream yet came out of the stall Amos was in with the tough guy. Ben and I both looked that way and sure enough a hand came flying over the front wall just then. Hell, it hit one of the two naked ones we'd brought back out into the hall so they could hear the screaming well. He puked and then the one beside him did too. "Ben, can any of them handle a normal bow, not a crossbow?" "All of them can and they all say the same thing about them. They like a normal bow because they know they can have more than one shot with it," he said. "See if you can get 'em to mount up and bring their bows and swords then. I'm going riding into town. We're not going to start any trouble, but I want to be able to finish any that does start." Thirty minutes later we were mounted and headed away from the house. When we left I saw two men looking around down where we'd caught the cattle thieves. I was able to turn out of the drive and head their way seeming like I'd intended to go toward them all along. The two men had been down trying to examine sign, but they got their asses mounted right away. I called for my men to spread out across the road as we approached, effectively making it impossible for the others to miss the fact we had them blocked in. They could wait on us to get there, leave in the other direction, or take out through the trees. "Nock an arrow," I said to the ones with me as I stopped us about forty feet from the two. "Y'all down here looking for the cattle thieves we killed last night?" I asked the other two men. One of them might have had some sense, but the other was stupid plumb to the bone. He started trying to get his crossbow from where it was hanging off the back of his saddle. I went ahead and shot him in the upper thigh and the other one showed he might have good sense by raising his arms. The arrow didn't make the one I'd shot fall off his horse, but it did make him yell and quit trying to get the crossbow. "Y'all ride on up ahead of us and turn down the lane toward the place. If you try to run you'll just die with your horses tired," I said, and we split up to let them through. They didn't give us any trouble and there were plenty of armed men waiting for them to help them down by the time we got back to the big barn. I saw right away why the one I'd shot in the leg didn't fall off his horse then. The arrow had gone thru his leg and also thru the saddle below it. Luckily it hadn't gone all the way into his horse. One of my men had to cut the saddle away to get him loose. Amos must have been through with his questioning, because he came out of the barn to see what I'd brought him. After we got them stripped off naked we walked them into the barn. They stopped short when they saw old lefty tied up to the front stall. "My God, what have you done to Clem?" the one who was smart enough not to try anything asked, while the other one lost his last meal. "Amos questioned him. Lucky for me I caught you two so quick. It's my turn now and Amos babies the ones he questions," I said, going into the stall and picking up the brazier, tongs, and the knife he'd been keeping red hot. "You ain't got to do nothing like that to me mister. I's 'bout ready to leave Blanksdale's bunch anyway. I'll tell you everything I know without none of that." "Me too mister, me too. I lost my head when you five come riding down the road and I've done learnt fighting ain't no good way to make a living. Blanksdale don't even pay much. If I live over the arrow in my leg without it getting 'fected I've done signed on for my last fighting job." I knew they were probably telling the truth, for right now anyway. Old Clem was tied up to the stall's wall with his right hand gone and his balls swelled up like a couple of grapefruits. If Amos did use the tongs on them he couldn't get 'em around them now. "Let's take 'em into the house, Jack. We can write down everything they say then. If it turns out they lied after we go visit we'll torture 'em after, and then we'll kill 'em," Amos said, and I knew he'd said the right thing. I went in to talk to Bill about it and he was agreeable. He said there was a dining room they almost never used anyway and he thought it would be a good place. Amos and I went back out to the barn and rounded up every live prisoner we had, still naked, and marched them out by the back door. We had six men stand around them with swords at the ready and then we took them inside, one at a time, where Bill, Amos, and I interviewed them. We didn't use torture this time, we were going to count on the threat of our raid not succeeding preying on their minds. We promised every one of them if the raid fell through we'd be back to hang them by the neck until dead. They didn't have a bit of trouble understanding what it meant. I also noticed every one of them watching Bill carefully as he made drawings of what they explained and as he wrote down their words as they spoke them. It was obvious they knew what he was doing, but just as obvious they couldn't read a word of what he put down. They could understand the drawings, or most of them could anyway, and in fact three of the boys looked the drawings over and corrected mistakes Bill had made or been told. It also seemed we got much more out of them than we'd expected, and I considered the fact we were writing it down to be a partial cause of it too. Bill sketched out a crude map of Blanksdale's whole operation. Most of it was inside his large brick home, but we even learned about a secret way inside. We learned where the male slaves were held, the females, and we even had one youngster who told us where the cockburners were kept. This threw me for a few minutes and I asked him again if there were more than one there. He told me there were two in there now. He said there had been three, but one had been taken away three nights ago, but he didn't know where she'd been taken. I at least knew someone who knew where she'd been taken - Blanksdale - and he was going to tell me in a couple of days - whether he had a hand, or foot, or penis left after he told it would be up to him. We also learned another two wagon loads of slaves would be coming in within a few days, or one was supposed to be coming in then anyway. I decided to post lookouts on both sides of town every night until we saw the wagons had arrived and then we'd hit the place the next night. The questioning took so long Kala had to hold supper on us. Or at least she saved us some. Every one else ate and the kids were even all in bed asleep before we got done. Finally we finished up with the last two I'd brought in. The one I hadn't had to shoot in the leg tried to lie at first. "Well let me see here. Four boys told us where the cockburners were kept and they all said there'd been three until a few days ago when one was carried away in the night. Remember you ain't going a damned place until we take the place over and we'll be counting noses when we do. "If I find cockburners over there after you told me there were none ... Let's just say your cock will be burning when we get back over here. It'll be cut off and cooking, then I'll make you watch our dog Skinny, gobble it down," I told him, and he spilled his guts fully and finally then. We pulled in our horns the next day and let Blanksdale have his way with the road and the town. I split up Tom, Brad, James, and Conroe as sneekabout watchmen - alternating them in two shifts and putting them covering both ends of town. Meanwhile I let Amos get to the business of teaching his charges to make decent saddles, throw ropes, and I even asked him to show them how to plait a decent bosal. When I learned he knew how to tie the hackamore reins and lead rope knot I asked him to try and teach them how to tie it too. He said he would and he also intended to teach them to plait ropes from the horses' mane and tail hairs. Blanksdale and his main helpers really made it too easy on us. They had two bunkhouses, one for the youngest hands and another for the older ones. The youngsters were shut and locked in at night and we'd learned there was a lock from the outside on the older hand's bunkhouse too - it was left over from when the bunch had been first hired. The wagon didn't show up for six nights, but it did show up. It had six girls in it and one was another Damsel. I had Ben let everybody who was going on the raid sleep in most of the day and on into the night if they could sleep. We woke them around midnight, had a meal, and then we got ourselves armed and headed off on foot. Blanksdale didn't have any kind of fence anywhere. Me and the thirty men with me didn't have any trouble slipping up without making any noise. There were two guards to deal with, but of course they were sleeping and they woke up dead. The easiest part was shutting the doors on the two bunkhouses and putting the big cross log down in the slots. Blanksdale, or some of his men had made sure there was no way out with the doors shut tight. The secret way in the house was off a small door into the basement. It was as dark as any place I'd ever been and I didn't want to light a candle, but I finally had to. Thank goodness there was a closed door on the other side leading up into the house. We didn't have a bit of trouble with anyone in the house although we'd come armed for bear. We had all the bedrooms identified from the drawings and I sent three men in to take care of every man. All of them, but one, were captured in their sleep. The one who woke got the shit knocked out of him by a big club for his trouble. I saved Blanksdale for myself and I woke him with the ever-popular sword tip on the Adam's apple trick. He fussed and blustered, but it didn't do him any good and I had the men with me bind his hands behind him and then we frog marched him outside naked. He was getting a little portly in his old age and he wasn't shown in his best light. I sent a runner back to the place to tell Ben everything was ok now. Ben sent a wagon over with bedrolls for everyone who was with me. Half of them sacked out around in the house and half did guard duty. They were supposed to alternate before daylight, but I never knew if they did or not since I stretched out on Blanksdale's bed and caught my own nap. There was hell to pay the next morning though. The cook was ready to skin me alive for bothering her dear Mr Blanksdale. I told her she could forget about him and get started on breakfast or she could join him naked and be tried as a slaver. She changed her tune right away and damned if she didn't show me she could poach eggs. There were twelve young boys who were slaves and sixteen girls. Thank God none of the babies had been molested, but two of the older boys had been butt fucked a few times and four of the oldest girls had been hosed off and on too. I sent those six and all the kids under ten over to Bill's house and he promised he would raise them unless he could find where their parents were. That was doubtful since they had been stolen from towns no one had ever heard of. Bill said he'd do something decent with every one of them, whether it was give a job to the older boys or make sure the older girls had work or at least a place to stay and food on the table until they found a husband. That afternoon Bill called a town meeting and gave everyone the news about Blanksdale being caught red handed with slaves. Most of the town was shocked, but they were mad as hell after we paraded a few of the children in to tell their tales. The youngest boys we'd caught were given two years as indentured servants and Ben took responsibility for them. They weren't branded since none of the slaves could remember seeing any of them actually participating. The older men were given a choice between death and thirty years indentured servitude and they all took servitude. Blanksdale, his main two men, and lefty weren't given any choice. They were executed. There was a lot of howling after the sentences were given out and the men learned they would be branded as slavers with the big S on their foreheads, but Ben told them not to worry. "I'll work you to death long before your thirty years are up," he said, and it did quieten them down some. Finally I met the Damsels. I'd been holding off hoping the one I'd come for was among 'em. She was, but I didn't know what to do with the other two and of course there was no one I could ask. I did find out the last one to come in had been captured within a week of when she came to Chaos. I also wanted to take off looking for the one who'd been hauled off before we found out about them, but I gave it up as a bad job. Blanksdale might or might not have told me where she was going, and my real responsibility was to the Damsel I'd been sent for. Amos laughed at me a lot during this time, a whole lot, and the girls all insisted in calling me their Hero. The distribution of assets kinda threw me too. Apparently the town had enough law now that the house and property had to go up for auction. It was mostly a formality though, since Bill had by far the most money in town and when he showed up and started bidding everyone else dropped out on the big stuff. We ended up owning the property and livestock. Bill turned right around and auctioned off any equipment or stock he didn't need. Damn, it was the most complicated ending I'd had so far and it took more than a week to get settled up. Amos laughed his ass off at me everyday about having to sleep with three women I couldn't hose yet. I knew I'd get his ass back now though. He'd have to stay in Crossroads with me while I did my duty to God and the Cassandra women and it had finally dawned on me what it meant when he said he knew his prostate had been put back. Hell, he could beat it - served him right. I made sure to take everything back to the bank with me this time, or everything I needed anyway. I left Bill most of the money I'd taken from Blanksdale's house which we hadn't reported to the town for auction. I did take the two saddles Amos and the boys had made and the two best throwropes too, and of course I took a half-inch bosal Amos had made himself. The saddles the boys had worked on were good stuff, but they didn't look up to Amos' standards. I knew they'd be serviceable though. Bill had driven us to the bank in a carriage and I put the saddles out of my box in it for them to take back. I still couldn't get all my crap into the box even after taking them out, so I went out and asked to rent an even bigger box only to find out I already had the biggest they had. Hell, I rented another one and this time they made me put a finger of the other hand in. What ever. While I was doing all that I went ahead and had Amos rent a box too. "Hell, I might not even come here to this bank even if I do make a Hero," he said. So I had to tell him about the universal availability of the boxes. He thought better of it then and so I let him have my first bow and its arrows, a good sword, and two good knives to put in his box, along with a good bit of money to get him started. It was all worth it though to see the look on Kathy Caretaker's face when I came through that portal. Of course she had some way of knowing what I'd done, but she just about peed her panties when I got out with the three women and Amos. At least she put me through the healing chamber first. Later she led me to the bathroom, stripped me down and washed me off good. "Jack, I'm so proud of you I'm about to burst. Some Heroes go and don't even bring their Damsel back. Here you've gone on a mission and brought back the Damsel you were assigned and two more besides. One of them hadn't even been put down as in distress yet. The hero looking for the other one was probably completely floored when he was yanked back without finding her," she said. "Well, what could I do Kathy. They were all in the same room when we took over Blanksdale's place," I said, and I'll admit I might have sounded a little like I was whining about it. "Silly. I'm not cross with you. Of course you did exactly the right thing, but it's just so unbelievable. I'm so proud of you," she said, and stopped washing and started groping if you asked me. "Well what about Amos. What's he gonna do while I'm servicing all the Damsels?" "I don't know. He'll have to entertain himself as best he can. I can get him a complete set of the rules to go over. He looks like he should be a hero himself to me," she said. "That's it. He's already here and he's already patched up. Get a Hero Greeter up here and let's get him signed up. He was chomping at the bit to get in the fight every time something came up anyway. Just about then the three Damsels intruded on my bath. Kathy told them to make sure I was clean and dry and to wash themselves, because she had some business to take care of. God almighty, they nearly washed my dick off. Soon enough I was in the bed with all three of the horny bitches and I was determined not to let them get the better of me. Fat chance. I could have swallowed that restorative by the gallon and not be able to keep up. At least I used my head about it. I kept the count like Cowboy Jack had recommended and I tried to make sure I gave each of them a good comeshot every day. I'd cheat on them after that and try getting them off without coming after I'd hosed each one of them good. And you needn't think Kathy Caretaker cut me any slack either. She was as wanton as any of them and she wanted every inch of dick I could muster. The great thing about it was none of them argued among themselves. I considered it a miracle. Starting about the eighteenth day I made sure to get up first each morning and get my clothes on before they got out of bed. I had to do something to keep their minds off fucking before breakfast, so I had Kathy order me a deck of cards and a set of chips. It took some fucking around with the works before she had it down right, but as soon as she got me the cards and chips I taught them to play Texas Hold-em. It wouldn't keep them off my ass all day, but I made it a rule the one with the most chips got the first shot when we climbed in bed. When the rabbit died, it died for all three of them on the same morning. Luckily I was fully dressed. I gave them all goodbye kisses and then they left at the same time. I had just enough time to give Kathy Caretaker a good spit swapping and then I bailed out the door. ------- Chapter 14 I did the now familiar appearance into the end of Cowboys Jack's house and Amos was right behind me. I was just going to say something to him when he turned around and went right back through. I damn near followed him, but caught myself and backed off at the last. "What the hell was all that about?" Cowboy Jack asked. "Damnifiknow. When we got back with the Damsels Kathy Caretaker was washing me up while the Damsels were in the healing chamber and we were talking and wondering what Amos was gonna be doing stuck with us for a month or so. I suggested she get him a Hero Greeter and I hadn't seen him since, until just now," I said. "What the hell you mean Damsels?" "I ended up rescuing three. They were all at the same slimeball slaver's place when I took it over," I said. "I thought Sid got rid of all the slavers a while back." "That was before my time, and apparently he didn't get 'em all. I don't see how he could anyway. With no law at all to mention on the planet you could never stamp nothing like slavery out. Best you could do would be slow it down a little when it got out of hand." "Well that still leaves us wondering what become of Amos?" "He was probably sitting around having breakfast or something with his new Caretaker and they hadn't realized I was about to get sent home. Hell, I don't know. I'm just guessing." "Well, we should be able to get the details in seven more minutes." "That should give me enough time to fetch us both a Lone Star." I walked over to the fridge, pulled two out and handed one to Jack. On second thought I pulled another one out and opened it. It left me standing around with two beers in my hands. I was taking a swig of one when Amos popped up in a bathrobe this time, barefoot too. "Now what the hell am I gonna tell my wife if I have to come home in this bathrobe?" he asked. "Well hell, you was fully dressed when you came out with me," I said. "Yeh, I was ready for that. We'd been getting up every morning for a week just in case it happened. Rita warned me I'd have to pop back here as soon as you got sent home. We had it all planned for me to come back and go on a mission after you came back. Trouble was, the Damsel June caught a couple of days earlier than we thought she would, and she found out right at bedtime too," he said. "Well you're in better shape than Jumbo Dick came back on his first trip. He came squirtin' outta that doorway bare assed naked," Cowboy Jack said, and then he laughed like hell at me. "I'll say one thing for the boy, he saved my bacon before I ever even got it on the fire," Amos said, just before I handed him the beer in my other hand. "Do tell," Cowboy Jack said. "He got me a safety deposit box and had me put some weapons, clothes, and money in it before we left. I didn't have to start out shoveling shit, picking apples, or nothing like that since I already had a sword, a couple of knives, that bow, and some money when I got there." "Well tell us about your mission?" I said. "It went pretty easy. I'm sure it was because Rita sent me on the easiest one she could find. It was probably easier than your first time since I already had a decent saddle so I didn't have to put my poor ass in that crap they call a saddle there. "Damned good thing too, I had to ride about seventy miles one way. The Damsel had been in one place and it was supposed to be easy. I just charged in and put my sword to the drunk bastards nose and demanded her. The fucking fool had let her get kidnapped from him two nights before I got there. "I wanted to kill him for it, but decided not to, so I just turned my back and left. I'da got killed my own self if he'da been sober because he jumped up and tried to pull his own sword. He was so drunk he nearly dropped it twice, but when he finally got it ready to swing I just let fly and cut his fucking head off. "I nearly skipped stripping his body, and after I went ahead and did it I wished I hadn't. He didn't have shit on him but a knife and that damned sword and it wasn't worth hardly a damned thing. To top it off, while he'd been in there getting so drunk someone had stolen his horse. After I tracked down the Damsel and took her away from the two goofballs who'd stolen her I tried to sell that shit and all the guy offered me for the sword was two damned pinches. I told him I'd use it for a tooth pick before I'd give it away, but it is in pitiful shape." "Well at least you got the Damsel and got back in one piece," Cowboy Jack said. "There is that, and she was a treat - sweetest thing you ever saw. I don't know what I'm going to tell Kerry, but I'll think of something. "What am I saying - I know what I'll tell her. I'll tell her to just come out here and go on the next trip with me. She likes to munch a little rug now and then anyway and Rita is just the girl she can chew on. "I do hope it's all right for me to come out here and use your portal until I can get one built?" Amos asked, and when I didn't answer right away Cowboy Jack jumped in. "Well, are you gonna let him use your portal or not?" "Hell, it's fine with me, but as far as I'm concerned it's your portal. I was waiting for you to say yay or nay," I said. "Well I ain't afraid to squat down and decide. Yes, you can use this portal as long as you want to," he said. "Good. Say, how quick are you going back?" he asked me. "I 'spect I'll try it again in a week or no more than two. Why?" "Well I was going to try to build a saddle I could take through the portal and if you were going quicker than me I was gonna get you to try it, but I want to go again next week and maybe take Kerry, so I'll just try it. "I think I know why the portal kicked it out last time, and the throw ropes too. The saddle was made with metal in it lots of places and we've been using small steel cable in some of the throw ropes instead of all rawhide. "I'll make up some with no metal at all and we can see if they'll go through." "The ones you made on Chaos are good," I said. "Oh, they're functional enough, but I can do a better job in my own shop. I'll just make one designed to go through the portal and see if it flies. I'll tell you though, you've got some damned nice horses at your place. I was a little disappointed with most of the stock I bought and sold on my adventure." "Were you a long way from my place?" "No, it wouldn't have been too far out of the way to go by and pick up a horse, at least it wouldn't have been at first, but I was in a hurry until I found out the Damsel had been carried away and by the time I found out she was gone I wanted to stay hot on the trail. Hell, I might as well go on home and face the music. I am going to have a big surprise for Kerry when I get there," he said, and then he took off. "What kind of surprise is he going to have for his wife? Is he going to tell her all about taking a trip to never never land and fucking two beautiful women?" Cowboy Jack asked, after Amos was gone. "I suppose he'll have to tell her before it's all said and done, but I imagine the first thing he wants to tell her is his dick is working again." "Huh?" "I didn't know it, but he'd had prostate cancer and he'd had it removed. I sent him through the healing chamber almost as soon as we got there and that's how I found out. I was just intending to get his knee fixed up, but after his dick got put back into shape he spilled the beans." "That's odd. I had a guy I was gonna turn this over to about a year ago who had the same trouble. I was going to let him go and sign on the dotted line, but the portal wouldn't take him. I always figured it was because his dick didn't work." "It might have been. Did you take him as a Companion or did you send him through on his own?" "I sent him on his own. I had him try on my ring and then I ran out the door acting like I saw something outside. He followed me through the portal, but it didn't even do a thing. I thought it was kinda funny at the time and I wondered if it was his cancer that kept him from getting to go or something else." "Maybe you could try it again, or I could take him as a Companion or something," I said. "Naw, he got kilt about a week after. He was leaving here again and a damned old deer crossed the road in front of him. It came in the windshield on him and an antler stabbed him in the temple. It was the damndest thing you ever saw." "Shit happens." "Yes it does, and I think I'll have another beer before some of it happens to me." We didn't do anything else for the rest of the day except sit around, drink beer, and try to think up pure bullshit we could tell each other. We didn't get plastered, but I did have more than was good for me. I guess the four women at a time had kinda sapped my get up and go. Hell, I knew I'd get over it in a day or two. The next morning I woke up needing to piss. Cowboy Jack was in the kitchen cooking and I was looking forward to breakfast, but I stepped out away from the house to piss. Damned if Joe Bob, my new Quarterhorse, wasn't out of the electric fence and up cropping grass. I reached for his halter after I had my dick back in my pants, but he turned his head and damned if he didn't walk right into the house. I would have been all right if Cowboy Jack hadn't hollered "Get that damned horse outta my house," so loud, but it just shickled the tit outta me. I stumbled into the house and when I did Joe Bob turned and headed out the side door through the portal. I don't know what I was really thinking when I swiped a hand at him, but I touched him just at the wrong time and he popped on through to Crossroads. I had to hop through behind him because I knew damned well Kathy Caretaker wouldn't know what to do with him. I made it into Crossroads just before Kathy opened the door and I told her to close it before she even got it open good. I didn't want Joe Bob running loose and going nuts in the place. In a minute Kathy opened the door again, just a little bit, and asked me what was going on. "Well, I fucked up. My horse headed through the portal down on earth and before I thought about it I grabbed for him and I guess I was in contact and it let him come through like a Companion," I said. "Well, what are you going to do with him now?" she asked, but I could tell she was trying hard as hell not to laugh at me. "Damnifiknow. What can I do? Now that I'm here I'll have to go on a mission, won't I?" "Yes, and you'll have to take the horse with you. I could have dealt with a kitten or a puppy if you'd let one slip through - it's happened before more than once - but I'm not going to be able to deal with the horse while you're gone." "Well, don't worry, I'll take it with me when I go and I'll clean up after him while he stays here," I said. "Oh, you don't have to worry about any of that. The room will clean itself. I guess I'd better order it something to eat though. What should I get for it?" she asked. "See if you can get a bale of alfalfa hay. Hay will keep it occupied longer than grain." She asked for a bale of alfalfa hay and one popped into the room, and at the other end of it too. I guess to be on the safe side she had everything else removed from the room. I left Joe Bob happily munching away on the alfalfa and slipped on through the door. Once I was in with Kathy she just lost it laughing and it took her ten minutes to quit. "I'll have to say you are a laugh a minute. I thought it was pretty bad when you came through with the cams from your bow hanging off your ears, but this one takes the cake," she said, and then she lost it laughing again. "You mean you knew about the cams all along?" I asked. "No. I thought you'd lost your mind normally. I never thought you were hiding them from me. Why would you? I'm not part of the over watch. I'm all for you getting anything through the portal you can. It was clever of you though, even if it was unnecessary," she said, and then laughed at me again. "Well, I think I've had enough of the details for a minute or two. Order me up some breakfast will you?" I asked. "Did you miss your breakfast over the horse wrangling?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face, but not doing a very good job. "As a matter of fact I was outside taking a leak when the horse sneaked in the house. Cowboy Jack yelled for me to get it out just about the time I shook the dew off and buttoned up my pants. It was already heading out through the portal when I got back inside the house and everything would have been fine if I hadn't lost my head and grabbed at it as it went through. "I guess I was in contact with it at just the right time. I stopped before I went though, but then I knew I'd have to come on through or you'd be stuck with it here," I said, and she burst out laughing again. She finally settled down enough to tell me the horse would have gone back on its own if I hadn't come through the portal so fast after it. "Well, all is not lost. We can hang out a few days and then I'll take off on a mission," I said. It's just what we did. Oh, we didn't screw the whole time. Kathy worked me with the wooden swords and the foils for about a week. She finally told me I needed to find someone on earth to practice with the sword since she'd taught me everything she could with it. I promised her I'd try. My only misgiving was about missing the chance to bring one of the new saddles Amos was going to make with me. Also I really wished I'd been able to try and bring one of the new ropes. Oh well, I'd come back through the portal so quickly he hadn't even had a chance to make them yet. Hell, he and his wife were probably still fucking over his repaired dick and I still had the ropes and saddles he'd made during his Companion trip. I decided on another mission Kathy thought was beyond me. It had the advantage of letting me start out from the same town The Heroe's Place was located. And that was another thing. I was renaming The Heroes Place to The Heroe's Ranch while I was there this time. Of course starting out at the ranch wasn't the easiest way to do it, but I had to do something with the horse anyway. I knew I was finally going to get a chance to take a good long ride on a mission, because the actual Damsel, Carla, was reportedly in the hands of the banker I'd already taken one Damsel from. I thought for a second I should have just killed him last time, but I guess I was glad enough I hadn't. I was looking forward to another similar type snatch and skedaddle, and he was a pretty safe one for a Damsel to end up with. The one I'd taken from him before said all he ever did was have her parade around naked in front of him and jack him off. It was pretty mild as far as treatment went. ------- Chapter 15 Even though this mission hadn't started off the best, it was looking good by the time I left. I hadn't had time to scare up a bunch of pencils before my unexpected departure, but Kathy had been able to provide some and they had plastic retainers for the eraser instead of the normal metal ones. I hit the bank vault with Joe Bob on a lead rope and a pocket full of pencils. It took me a couple of minutes to settle him down after I called for my boxes to remove my stuff, but it wasn't a big pain in the ass or anything and he settled right on down when I put the blanket and then the saddle on him. Finally I was ready to exit the vault and there were even people in the bank when I came out leading Joe Bob. They didn't say a word as we left and the old guy who was still the guard howdied me as I went leading him out the front. I mounted as soon as I was on the street and we trotted on out to the place right away. When I came riding up to the gate the guard recognized me and I waved as I rode by. I was back earlier than I'd told Bill I was going to be, but the new smithy looked like it was finished already anyway. Ben was out in front of the barn and he was surprised when he saw me riding up. "That's the finest horse I've ever seen," Ben said, when I got down. "He is a good 'un, and I think I'll leave him here for breeding when I leave this time. You'll notice he don't have good working shoulders though so don't count on getting plow or wagon horses out of him. We will get better horses to work cattle with out of him though," I said. "But how do you use horses to work cattle?" he asked. "I'm gonna show you before I leave if I have time. You can work cows a lot easier with horses to ride and ropes to throw," I said. "You'll have to show me because I've never done it that way," he said. "Well we'll just try it and if you don't like it you don't have to do it. It'll take some time to breed up some good cow horses anyway." "Well, let's get him in a stall if you're through with him for now," Ben said, and led me into the barn. Of course with a new stallion coming into the barn the others were up in arms squealing and kicking their stalls. I was sure Joe Bob would be right in there squealing too in a minute. I'd let him do all he wanted of it while I was up at the house begging for food from Kala. Kala didn't make me beg. She put a meal right on the table for me. Of course she'd just finished feeding everyone else since I'd dragged in about half an hour past noon. I noticed Wanda was still here, but she was very pregnant and I doubted she'd be working another month before she was mothering for real. "Wanda, I can tell what you've been up to," I said. "Yes, and it's your fault. Well not that way, but I mean you did save Ralph from the dreadful job he had," she said, and then blushed over her earlier accusation. "Where is Ralph working now?" "Bill put Ralph and his brother in charge of raising crops over on the former Blanksdale place. They're doing well and as soon as the baby comes I'll be moving over into the big house there. When I'm able to work again I'll be working there." I talked with Wanda and Kala for a few more minutes and they introduced me to Jerri - she was a tasty little redhead - one of the girls we'd rescued from the slaving bastards across the road. Jerri had me wondering just how solid the rule against not fucking the Chaos residents was. She had titties for days and her cute little ass was rounder than Wanda's had been when I first patted it. Oh well, I'd just have to wait until I had the Damsel rescued and was back at Crossroads with Kathy. I had already found out I could come awful close to getting too much of a good thing when Kathy and the three Damsels from hell had worked me over good last time. Jerri led me to see Bill in his office after we'd teased each other for a few minutes and I was at least able to get a good fondle of her ass on the way. Bill was in his office, but he looked like he was just putting some paperwork down when I walked in. "I see you're back sooner than you expected to be," he said, getting up and offering his hand to shake this time. "Yep. I got into a little scrape with a horse and it sent me back sooner than I expected. I see you were able to get the building finished though." "Yes, it went more quickly than I expected. I think you had a lot to do with it though." "How could I have anything to do with it?" I asked. "Ben and I told the men it was a building laid out by you for a new project and they worked especially hard on it. They did so well I had a sort of celebration after it was finished and that worked out so well I'm trying to plan a reason to have another one. "The men were all laying around with pounding heads the next day, but the day after that they were back to their usual output or even more." "It couldn't hurt if they actually like working here. Do you have plenty of land for raising cattle? Could you raise more on the land if you needed to?" "Yes. I think we could raise three hundred more head per year if we kept back some of the females and let them raise calves instead of butchering them. Do you want me to increase the number we're raising?" he asked. "I want you to do exactly what you think is best. I do think this region will be growing for the next few years though. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I think it is going to. I'll be traveling in another day or so and I'm going to try and bring an experienced smith I've met back to live here when I return. He will be making some items that are a little different from the normal things too," I said. "I'll try to help him any way I can," Bill said. "I think he'll be able to help you too. We'll have to see how it works out though. I was planning on putting together some machinery for the new building, but I think I'll wait and see if he can do it. I'm sure he knows how better than I do. "Now, let me show you something else I have that is new," I said, and I dragged out the pencils. He wasn't so hot on the pencils at first, but when I showed him how to erase a mistake he perked right up. He was amazed when I told him the writing would stay for years, just as the ink did and he was more excited when I showed him how much easier it was to draw layouts for buildings with them. He was so excited when I showed him how to use a piece of wood like a ruler and draw a straight line down it he nearly wet his pants. I couldn't wait to get someone to fabricate a compass for him. We talked until it was time for supper. I loaded up during supper and after it was over I asked Kala if she could put together some traveling food for me, explaining I would have to travel about a hundred and fifty miles starting tomorrow. I also asked Ben if he could provide a couple of horses who could travel hard for me and he said he had just the two to go along with the one I rode in on. I was up before sunrise the next morning and luckily I found Kala already in shape to feed me. I gobbled up all I could and then headed outside to start packing the horses. I realized I needed shoes on Joe Bob as soon as I took him out of the stall. I'm sure he'd had shoes before, but he hadn't had any on when I bought him and there'd been no need for any later since I didn't ride him very much at Cowboy Jack's. He needed them for this trip though. Thankfully I hadn't run the farrier off last time and I saw what Amos meant when I led Joe Bob over to get him taken care of. The farrier was excellent with him and he had shoes on him in nearly no time. In fact, I could see he was a lot better at it than I was. I thanked him profusely. "I wouldn't be much if I couldn't take care of the owner's mount. This is a good place to work and I try to do a good job," he said, but I thanked him again anyway and then packed up and headed out. I wasn't taking the big horse, but I was leading two of his sons behind me. I put a packsaddle on one to carry the food and I was planning on using the other one to spell Joe Bob on the trip because I planned on moving fast and it was a long way. They were all good horses though and I thought they could do the job. Could they ever? I rode Joe Bob for about three hours, mostly trotting, but letting them slow lope for stretches. I switched off after the three hours and the other one had a trot that covered the ground a little faster. Or course Joe Bob didn't have any trouble keeping up since he had nothing on his back then. I rode until the sun was going down and moved out into the forest on the side of the road, hobbled the three, and unrolled my bedding. It was a cold camp and I wasn't looking forward to two or three more of them. I hadn't stopped a time during the first day except to swap saddles twice - once when I switched to the other horse and once to swap back to Joe Bob. I woke early the next morning and ate a big cold breakfast, then left on the big horse with Joe Bob carrying nothing again. We came to a stream about thirty minutes later and I stopped to water the horses. I led them to the stream, let them drink a little, and then pulled them back. I did it twice before I figured they'd had their fill and I took off again. I barely slowed down when going through the villages or small towns. I picked up some followers after one of them and I assumed they were up to no good. I had some sad news for them though. I'd seen the nags they were on when they fell in behind me and so I loped a little more often and trotted a little faster for about an hour. By the time I stopped to change back to Joe Bob they must have been long gone, but in case they weren't I skipped the lunch break and kept on trucking. When I stopped for the night I was probably thirty miles past the place I'd picked up the tail, but I made my way further back into the woods for sleeping and I stayed awake three hours just to make sure no one rode by. I didn't hear anyone. I wasn't afraid to take on the three of them, but I figured they didn't even have enough to make killing them worth the effort. I wasn't likely to meet anyone equipped to handle me coming in the other direction either. I was up early and headed out the next morning too. I didn't find a handy stream to water the horses this morning, but there was a town about an hour down the road and I stopped, watered the horses in a watering trough and decided to go ahead and eat a hot meal in the Inn there. I watered the horses, pulled them back for about ten minutes and watered them again and then tied them to a hitching rail in front of the Inn. I found a place to sit where I could watch out the glassless window and sat down to eat. I carried my bow inside with me and it turned out to be a good thing. Two jackasses waited until I was eating and then crossed the road to try and steal my horses. I'm sure they thought they had plenty of time, but I'd tied the lead ropes in a knot and hadn't just wrapped them around the rail. I was out the door with my bow nearly as soon as they were mounted and I shot the first one before he'd made twenty yards. I got the second one about twenty yards further out. It turned out they had two other men waiting outside to take care of me if I came out, but I'd beat them to the shooting. They were racing across the street yelling at me as I shot the second one so I just nocked another arrow. When I saw them pulling their swords I shot one of them, dropped the bow and pulled my sword. I guess the one who kept coming thought he was hell on wheels with a sword, but he wasn't much and his sword was less. It was the first time I'd had to use the sword George made me in anger and it performed wonderfully. He took a big open swing at me and when our swords met his was only half as long as it had been before. I took the top of his head off with the next swing while he was looking at his shortened blade. I picked up my bow again and walked down to the one who'd made it farther. He had a decent sword and a nice big knife. I used it to cut my arrow out of his back. He complained about the rough treatment until I cut his throat. He also had a few shells and change on him and looking through his clothes I found another hideout knife that looked decent. I left him lying where he was, took hold of Joe Bob's reins and led him back to the hitching rail, taking the other horse's reins as I passed him I walked back to the other horse thief then and cleaned his body too. I didn't have to cut his throat since he'd fallen oddly and broken his neck, He had a fairly good sword too, and of course a couple of hideout knives. He also had more money - two quads and six shells and a few assorted pinches. Whoever they'd been robbing must have been well off. The two on the ground weren't so rich. They both had a couple of shells and the one with a whole sword had an all right example. All four of them turned out to be well equipped with hideout knives. I considered myself done with the trash after I stripped the last two, but damned if they didn't have another buddy. He'd been hiding behind the Inn's building and he came out with a sword, rushing me while mine was in its scabbard. I tried my behind the neck throwing knife on him and got him right in the windpipe, just below his Adam's apple. I stripped him while he was choking to death on his own blood. His sword wasn't much and even his hideout knives were shoddy, but what the hell? He only had two shells and six pinches and I figured he was the least accomplished thief. I had just about all I could carry back into the Inn. Things were pretty quiet when I came back and sat down to finish my lunch. I noticed my bowl had already been picked up, but after a stern look at the one tending the counter another one came out to replace it. No one else bothered my horses while I finished. "You done us a service, mister. That bunch has been hanging around robbing people for a couple of weeks. This was the first time they ever pulled anything like this in the daylight though," a man across the room said to me. "Maybe they figured since I was traveling I'd be an easy touch." "Well they damned sure found out how wrong they were right there at the last. I'm obliged for you taking care of 'em for us. Weren't no reward on 'em yet, but if there had a been you shore earned it. What you gonna do with them swords and knives you got off 'em?" "I figured I'd sell 'em in a bigger town I'm going to, but I'll sell them right now if you'll make a decent offer for 'em." He came over closer to take a look at the haul and he asked me what I wanted for what I considered the best one of them. I was about to tell him to make an offer when he tried to stick me with a knife he'd palmed somehow. I just had time to jerk back and catch his arm. He tried to jerk it free, but there was no chance of getting loose from my grip, and when I clamped the other hand on his throat he tried to get me loose with his free hand and then he dropped the knife and tried to get his hand free to help get me loose from his throat. I just squeezed his throat harder with my grip and then watched him turn blue in the face and start flailing around trying to get away. I finally squeezed hard enough to crush his windpipe - I heard the cartilage snapping, but I held on until he was dead. This was a shitty little town and I was about to think they weren't so friendly. When he'd stopped moving at all I let him down and checked for a pulse, but never found one. I started stripping his body then and it was the best of all of them. The son-of-a-bitch had five conches on him along with a few quads, shells and pinches. This had turned into a nice little haul. I pulled his coat off him and found the rig under his right sleeve that let the knife drop into his hand. I took that too. Hell, it might come in handy some day. I left his body where it lay, collected all the crap I had, and went out to put it on the packhorse. Afterwards I let all the horses drink again, then mounted up and shook the dust. I made it into town just at sunset and headed right for George's place. ------- Chapter 16 George was just about to close up, but he was happy as hell to see me and I was happier to see him. After we said our hellos he went to the stable with me and introduced me to its owner. I put my horses in stalls and George and I went back to his shop. "You know, if you hadn't showed me how to do that casting I'd have never made it around here. I had to let Frank go about six months ago after business dropped off so badly. Mostly all I'm doing now is casting and selling what I make," he said. "Well, don't take this wrong, but I'm kinda glad. I want you to move to my place and take over most of the smith and casting work there. I just had a big new building built and I left plenty of room around it for a setup like you've got here. The forges aren't even in it yet and you can put 'em where you want to." "There is nothing holding me here and that's for sure. How many other smiths are in your town?" "I've got one real smith and three boys learning. It's a small town and my smithy is the only one in town. I'll furnish you a place to live and all the beef you can eat. Most everything else you'll need to eat too. I'll pay you for the work you do or we can work out a salary, either way you want it." "It sounds good to me. When do we leave?" "As soon as I can collect the girl. The same one who had her last time has got another one," I said. "And I know who it is this time. He raised hell with another smith after you took her last time. He claimed the smith made you a key to get into his house. "He never let on about holding the girl though. He just said he came home and found his housekeeper tied up and a bunch of stuff missing." "How do you know so much about it?" I asked. "Because I'm the smith he came to for another lock and key. He made me promise it wouldn't be anything like the one he had before," George said, and laughed like hell. "I never had a key the last time. His housekeeper wasn't locking the door behind her when she went out for groceries, and I didn't steal a damned thing out of his house," I said. "I figured it had to be something funny, because I knew the other smith he claimed did him wrong. He's a good smith, but he does not keep a copy of the keys he makes when he builds a lock. He couldn't have made you a key if he wanted to. "On the other hand I can give you one right away," George said, and laughed like hell again. "That's going to be a big help, but I think you need to get on the road before I take the girl this time. I also want to show you a better way to make wagon wheels. Do you have a wagon big enough to carry all your things?" "No, but I can buy one cheaply enough. It'll have wheels on it when I do though." "I know it will, and they'll be those solid wooden wheels won't they?" I asked. "Yes, what other kind of wheel is there." "Get the wagon and I'll come by tomorrow and show you how to make new wheels for it. It's a long way to where we're going and I don't think solid wheels will hold up for the whole trip. Even if they do, they will make the going much slower." "Whatever you say. I've got a couple of friends that need to move too. Do you think you could find them jobs there?" he asked. "What do they do?" "One does carpenter work and the other one is a farm hand." "I can find them work. Do they have families?" "No. They fought in the slaver war you might have heard about, but neither one of them ever married. They live together, but both of them have been short of work lately." "If they can afford a wagon have them get one and we'll fix the wheels on it too. If they can't afford a wagon have them find one and I'll advance them the money." "They've got one spotted, but they haven't been able to afford it yet. They've only got ten shells and the wagon cost twelve," he said, and I counted out twelve shells. "The road back has a few rough characters hanging around it. They do have arms don't they?" I asked. "Yes, they have two crossbows each and I've got two. My wife knows how to cock mine so she can cock one while I'm shooting the other. We've all got swords and bucklers too, though we never really need them in town." "You might need 'em on the trip though and I want to let you get a few days start on me before I take the girl and leave," I said. He agreed and I headed back to the middle of town to see if my old room was available. It wasn't. The man remembered me, but he had a permanent boarder now. I didn't guess I needed the room so much this time so I went back to the first place I'd stayed last time and the same room was available. I took it for two weeks and sat down to eat before I even went up. The next morning I got up and walked by the banker's house and into the small Inn across the street from it. I had time for watching his exit this morning since it was only about eight thirty when I ordered some sausage and bread for breakfast. I happened to see a peddler deliver some eggs while my sausage was cooking and I ordered a couple to go with breakfast. I was just wiping the last of my fried eggs out of the plate with my bread when I saw the same two goons he'd been using last time come by to escort him to work. I noticed they both carried swords now and I wondered what he was thinking. They could have had all the swords they could carry with them last time and it wouldn't have helped a thing. Or course, I wasn't the only variable and there was a chance he'd had other troubles on his trips from his nascent bank to home or the other way around. He came out of his house then with a medium sized chest he was carrying. He handed it to one of the goons while he locked the door and then he took it back and he and the goons took off for his bank. I noticed they kept their hands on their swords as they walked, as if ready to pull them at any second. Here was something that made no sense to me. If he was carrying his money home at night what was the point in announcing it - telegraphing the number of his guards and their complement of arms. Frankly it was a stupid move. Even stupider was carrying the money home at all. He had to walk right by the real bank on his way. He could have rented a box in there and his money would have been almost perfectly safe in the real bank overnight. It was jake with me though. Any attention he was paying to his money was attention he wasn't paying to my part in the deal. I left the Inn and headed back to George's place. He wasn't open when I got there so I went into the stable next door and took a look at the horses. They were having their morning oats at the time and they'd occasionally pull a mouthful of hay. The stable owner came to talk to me while I was standing around, but mostly all he wanted to do was brag on my horses. He asked where I had found such wonderful examples and I told him we raised them on my ranch. "But what is a ranch?" he asked. "Like a farm, but mostly for cattle and horses. We have a separate farm across the road from us though," I said. We talked for about an hour and his story was a little like George's. It seemed the town wasn't only overrun by smiths. To hear him talk there were a lot of stables jumping up on every corner too. George showed up with his wagon then and I opened the gate to let him pull it into the back portion of his smithy. It was in better shape than I'd expected, but the damned wheels on the thing must have weighed two hundred and fifty pounds each. "Now, what will we do with the wheels? You said you would show me a better way to make them," he said. "And I will. Let's sit in your office and I will show you how it's done. He had a small writing desk in the office so I took out one of my pencils, he found me a piece of paper, and I gave him a serious lesson on making wagon wheels. His first complaint was about how expensive the iron rims were going to be. "We aren't worried about the expense since I have the money. If it comes down to it we can reuse the iron after we get where we're going. We want the speed and you will probably need it. I also want you to convert the running gear for a four horse hitch." "But I don't have four horses," he said. "You don't even have two. You only rented the two you brought the wagon here with. I was there when you turned them back over to the stable owner next door, remember." "Yes, I know, but I was going to buy those two." "I'm glad you haven't already. I will check over town and look at every horse and pick the best twelve I can find and buy them." "But why will you buy twelve. Surely four will be enough," George said. "Four for your wagon, four for your friend's wagon, and four extra in case something befalls some of them during the trip. We are going to be ready to make a fast trip. Don't worry about the expense - worry about getting the wagons ready to go. "You will leave early and I will catch up to you. When I leave town there may be men following me to try and take the woman back. I will be leaving in a hurry and when I catch up to you I might want to move much faster than the leisurely pace you will have taken up until then." I was finally able to get him to realize the last part of our trip, after I'd caught up to him, was what we were planning for. The more he thought about it the better he liked the idea. After I had the details over to him Dan and Donald came up with their new wagon, or their used wagon. Dan took off to take the horses next door when we had the wagon in place and then he returned. We already had their wagon up with the wheels off when he made it back. The wooden wheels for their wagon weren't in good shape to begin with. I left George to explain things to the two of them and get started on the wheels while I took a stroll up by the real bank to make a withdrawal. I was just walking into the bank when I saw Amos coming out of the vault. "I'll be damned Amos, what are you doing here? Did they foul up and send us both after the same Damsel." "No. I've got one about halfway between here and your place. I knew you were coming here so I thought I'd try to catch you and maybe I'd ride back to the ranch with you if you're going back." "Seems like I'm going to take a little wagon train back with me," I said, heading into the vault he'd just come out of and explaining what was going on as I went. We cut the talk off as I called for my two boxes and Amos called for his one. They were a tight fit on the table, but I was happy he'd called for his again when he pulled out a new saddle for me and a couple of throw ropes - one dally style and one to tie hard and fast. "Hell fire, Amos, I'm gonna have to start calling you Santy Claws," I said, looking over the new saddle. "Well, I felt bad about the way the other saddle I made you here turned out, so after I made myself one that would come through the portal at home I made you one too. Damned if I don't think they came out better for not using metal in them anywhere. The throw ropes are the same. Seems they're just better when you do 'em the old fashioned way." "Well come on and bring your saddle. We might as well take 'em on down to the stable where the horses are," I said. We both grabbed one of the new ones and headed right back toward George's place. I introduced Amos to the stable owner and we set our saddles down in his tack room, then we went over to George's place where he, Dan, and Donald were getting on with the wagon modification. I introduced him around and then he and I took off again, walking up to the small Inn across from the banker's house. We both ordered some lunch and I gave him a rundown on what I had planned. Then he told me what he had going on. "So you see, I need to get on down the road toward where they're taking her. I'm supposed to only be a day or so behind them now, though I don't know how Rita got me information so up to date." "Well we do have time to finish lunch don't we?" I asked. "Sure, but are you intending to go with me?" "Hell, I've got time on my hands for a few days anyway, and I happened to bring two spare horses with me so I've got you one ready to go already." We finished eating and headed on back down to the stable. Amos saddled both the horses from here while I went over to tell George we'd be gone for a couple of days. We left Joe Bob in the stable, climbed on the other two nags and lit out. The more Amos talked about the town we were headed to the more I thought of it as the one I'd had trouble in. ------- Chapter 17 We didn't cover ground quite as quickly as I had on the trip before, but we made up some by traveling on into the night. We had to slow down before we got into the town because we came up on the four men herding Amos' Damsel. We decided not to take 'em on out here on the road since there would be a danger of hurting her in the fracas. After the other bunch turned around to look at us a time or two we drew rein at the side of the road and dismounted. We moved on off the road and into the woods and I built a little fire while Amos broke out some sausages he was carrying. We cut some short branches, stripped off the tiny limbs and leaves and heated 'em up over the fire. "They're supposed to be taking her to the next town for some head honcho's amusement," Amos said. "Well, I had dealings in the town on the way down here and there's six less assholes living there now. Most of the ones I killed were just traveling trash though, best I can figure." "Well this head man is supposed to have about twelve men working for him, but Rita couldn't discover what he was doing to make a living," Amos said. "It don't really matter, does it? I mean, we're basically going to stop them from whatever they're doing unless we get lucky and they stash the girl in an outbuilding or leave her somewhere else where we can steal her." "When you're right, you're right," Amos said. We let them get about an hour on down the road and then fell in line behind them again. We'd just caught back up to them when they turned off the road about two miles from town, or it was my best guess anyway. We cut off through the woods about a half-mile before we came to the small road they went down. All we could do now was cut the angle on them and hope. There was some underbrush to give us fits, but it wasn't bad on the long legged horses we were riding. Well it wasn't really bad, but the brush against our legs was annoying. "Looks like I'm going to have to try my hand at making chaps before long. In fact it looks like I should have tried it last night instead of banging Rita's box all night," Amos said. "Well you do what you can think of and try to think of what you left off last time before you come back again," I said. About a hundred yards at a time was all I could keep up with in the wooded area and I at least knew we'd done that much and more. Finally the woods thinned out and we were looking at an argument going on. The four men who'd come with the Damsel were still mounted and they were having a squabble with six men from the house. "I tell you he got killed in the cafe a couple of days ago, and five of our men did too. We don't know where the money he was supposed to pay you with is hid out," one of the men on the ground told the leader of the bunch that had just come down the road with the Damsel. "Well, we shore ain't leaving the woman with you without no more money," the leader of the traveling crew said. "But he already paid half down. You can't take her back with him having paid half already," the leader on the ground said. "Like hell we can't. It was his money anyway, not yours. We brought her here and it was cash on the barrel for the rest. No cash, no cockburner. We'll just take her off and sell her to someone else, the mounted one said, and then he collected an arrow low on his left side. The fight was on now and the other three mounted men took shots with their crossbows right away. The trouble was there were more men to shoot at than they had shots ready. They nailed the three they were shooting at all right, but it left three standing and they had the benefit of being able to put their crossbow's end on the ground for proper cocking. The wounded leader got hold of himself then and charged the other leader with his sword a swinging. That one was working on his crossbow, with his foot in the end of it and pulling back on the string. It didn't leave him much defense when the sword came slicing through his upper body, but the one swinging it fell off about the same time. Amos and I watched the cluster fuck with amusement, knowing we'd have the last laugh and hoping they'd all wind up having killed each other. The horse with the girl on it had backed away from the fuckup on its own and she was pretty much out of the line of fire. We were about two hundred yards from the fracas and we both started walking toward it with our bows in hand. I was thankful I'd had a chance last time to practice with mine. The three remaining on horseback were finally finished off by the ones on the ground, but not before they wounded two of the others. Essentially there were two men left standing, sorta, and one of them started walking toward the horse with the Damsel on it. Amos and I both turned that way and fired at him, and of course we both hit him. It left the one still standing and even though he didn't know what part we were playing in the fiasco he knew we weren't with him. He bent over the crossbow again trying to get it ready for another shot. He found out the big advantage to having a normal bow just then, but it was at the very end of his life. I walked over toward the wounded while Amos went to claim his reward. The poor Damsel Jennifer was so worn out from all the riding she was only in the saddle because they had tied her there. While Amos was cutting her loose I busied myself cutting throats on the men who were lying around badly wounded. An hour later we had the men all safely dead, stripped naked, and their horses unsaddled and gathered up on a picket line. I took them all plenty of water, including the ones we'd rode in on, and then I found a sack of grain in a shed behind the house and gave them all a bait in their nosebags. Amos and me were horse poor now. There were seven penned up behind the house and the five the delivery men and the Damsel had rode in on. To top it off there was tack for every horse. Amos was poking around in the food stored in the house and he found the money the others had claimed they didn't know where it was hid. There was no telling if they'd known or not, and it didn't really matter. We didn't know how much was saved up for the payment and that didn't matter either. No matter the whys or wherefores there were twenty-five conches in the bag he found in the flour barrel, along with several quads and even more shells. There were no pinches saved up in it, but we'd come up with damned near two handfuls from the bodies we'd stripped and they'd had a few shells and quads on them too. Amos had made a hell of a haul. Hell, he even had a bunch of money after he split it with me. Amos cooked a damned good meal that night and it was lucky he knew how. My cooking was fit to eat, but just barely, and the Damsel Jennifer was too worn out to even eat, much less cook. All Amos could get down her was some soup he'd made for the purpose. We went to bed early and Amos and I got up early the next day. We'd already decided there was enough food here for us to spend three or four days and there was plenty of grain for the horses. Since they didn't have any pen here at all we had to hobble the horses to let them graze, but there were plenty of hobbles to go around. Damsel Jennifer felt well enough to eat breakfast the next morning and she even cooked lunch. She kept on making eyes at Amos the whole time, but she didn't get antsy to get on down the road until after the third day. On the fourth morning we decided to head back to town. We cobbled up a long lead rope and tied it to the next best horse the others had owned. We put Jennifer on the best horse and gave her the lead rope of the next best. That way the horses would only be pulling against the other horse and Jennifer could just drop the one lead rope if the shit hit the fan and she needed to make herself scarce. All the horses would still be tied together in case we needed to gather them back up later. Of course we tied all the saddles on the horses and all our other ill-gotten gains too. Amos and I both rode with our bows out and an arrow nocked, but during the three days of the trip no one so much as Howdied us. We made it back to George's place about half way between noon and sunset. The stable owner was proud to put most of the stock in his pen and the two horses I owned back in stalls. I told Amos where I was staying and he was about to go and get a room for himself and Jennifer when George came to the rescue and volunteered to let her stay at his house with his wife. It was a good thing because at least the Damsel Jennifer would have someone to talk to during the day. Amos and I walked up to the Inn across from the banker's house for supper after he had Jennifer stashed at George's house. We were in time to see the banker and his two goons arrive and we watched the banker let himself into the door. We had a fine meal for a couple of hungry men and then took off for the place I stayed. They had a room for Amos too, and we spent the biggest part of the evening working the poor girl damned near to death bringing us hot water for baths. We went down to the common room for a mug of wine and then back to our rooms for sleeping. It was a Tuesday evening and I planned to make my move on the banker Saturday night. The next morning Amos and I came out of our rooms 'bout the same time and we both bought a big sausage and a small loaf of bread and ate on the way to George's place. We helped George, Dan, and Donald work on the wagons until noon and then we split up. Amos walked around trying to sell the extra horses we had, except for three we thought were good enough to pull either George or Dan and Donald's wagon. Meanwhile I started at the other end of town looking for horses to buy to help with the pulling. Word got around ahead of me that I was looking to buy horses with cash money and by the time I made it to the third livery stable the owners weren't wasting time anymore trying to sell me their shitty stock. It took me the rest of the day to get the nine other horses I wanted. I'd buy one or two, take them to the livery near George's place and then strike out again. I had it done by the end of the day though, and George, Dan, and Donald were nearly through with both wagons. "Now all you need to do is load 'em and spend a day driving around to make sure they'll hold up," I said. Dan and Donald were chomping at the bit to go on and leave so I told 'em they could go the next day after they spent a day testing out the wagons. "But why do we need to waste time doing that. It'll be just as easy to fix them on the road if they break down," Donald said, and I thought he was being a little uppity with the man who was providing his job and the horses he was anxious to get on down the road with. "You can leave any damned time you want to, but if you're looking for a job at the end of the trail you'll do it like I tell you. I ain't usually so damned bossy, but I didn't come here to save your and Dan's asses, I'm just doing it for my own reasons, and those reasons include you doing what I tell you. "You're gonna load your wagon and spend tomorrow riding it around town to make sure it's fit to make a fast trip. You can leave the next day following George. Or you can go today if you'd like, just don't figure on using my horses I bought if you do." That settled his hash, for the time being anyway, and there were no more arguments over when they were leaving. ------- Chapter 18 Amos and I were up early again the next day and we headed down to George's place to help them load up. Tearing down his blower and grinding wheel machinery was the biggest problem, but it wasn't much and we found plenty of room to store the parts that needed to go in the two wagons. George, Donald, and Dan took off for their trial run about noon. Amos went over to George's house to visit with the Damsel Jennifer while I spent the rest of the day walking around town and just looking things over. I even went by the bank my Damsel's owner worked in and it seemed about like I thought it would be. It was made to look like the real bank, as best it could, but it was smaller and not nearly as sturdy. Apparently the goons were out collecting when I made my way by, but I knew they'd be back in time to help the owner home to lunch. I beat them there and was having a nice lunch of my own in the inn across from his house when they escorted him there. He unlocked the door, went inside, and then the two goons left to find their own meal I guess. I was still sitting in the same place when they came back for him and left. I made a few more rounds around town that afternoon and then ate my supper in the same place, watching the banker's return and the song and dance he made getting his cash box inside the house while the goons watched out for him. To me the whole thing was stupid since it wasn't going to help him hold onto his money. Of course I had the advantage of knowing I had a key into his house and of course the precautions he was taking weren't going to help one bit. I walked by George's place after the banker was settled and I found Amos, George, Dan, and Donald working on Dan and Donald's wagon. One of the iron wheel rims George had made for it had come loose and they were getting it repaired. "So George, did everything else go about right?" I asked. "Better than I expected. We'll be ready to roll in the morning. In fact we'd be ready in an hour or so, but we don't think leaving in the dark would be such a good idea," he said. "Me neither. Are you planning on leaving from here?" "Yes. We'll come over here in the morning to hitch up the teams and then drive by our houses to throw in the last of our things and take off from there," he said. "I guess you'll be leaving with them, Amos?" "Not on your life. I'm going to stay with you and make sure you get away," he said. We argued for about half an hour over it and I finally convinced him he needed to leave with the others and get the Damsel Jennifer away from any commotion I might cause. Of course I didn't intend to cause any, but then again he didn't know it. Another supper in my own inn was in store for us and then the next morning Amos ate breakfast with me - another sausage and loaf of bread - and then we went over to George's place. They were all there getting the wagons hitched, and after saddling Joe Bob, Amos mounted up and they headed out for the houses to finish loading. I told Amos I'd probably catch them in three or four days. The rest of my stay was spent being a little nervous. I mostly sat in the inn across from the banker's house. I planned on letting him leave and then going right over and letting myself in. After his lunch Saturday I got another break. He and the older woman came out the door at the same time. Apparently she was going shopping again and they happened to leave together. As soon as both of them were out of sight I walked across the street, used the skeleton key George had left me, and walked in like I owned the place. The first thing I did was lock the door behind me. I found the Damsel Elaine in the same room where I'd found the Damsel Dena before, and she was oh so glad to see me. The banker had left a hitch in her get-along though. He had a chain attached around her ankle and it was mounted solidly to the wall. He probably wouldn't have done it if he'd realized it wouldn't do what he wanted it to, as in, keep the Damsel. All it was going to do was make me hang around until he got home. I told Elaine to lie back down and keep quiet until the woman came back. "You mean Gertie?" she asked. "I don't know her name. It's just the woman who keeps house here," I said. "It's his mother. You aren't going to hurt her are you?" "Of course not. I didn't hurt her last time I came to this very house to retrieve a Damsel. In fact I'm going to try and not hurt the banker. He's a pretty good customer by now. It's a lot safer for a Damsel to end up in his clutches than any other place I know of," I said. "That's easy for you to say. You don't have to jack him off every night," she said. "You must have been caught and brought right here nearly as soon as you were released on Chaos. Most of the Damsels I've retrieved would have killed to end up in such an easy captivity. "Now, lay there and keep quiet while I tend to Gertie," I said, and I left her. Poor Gertie was scared even more shitless when she came back in the door. I let her get it locked before I showed myself, and I even let her put the groceries down first. "It's nice to see you again, Gertie," I said, as soon as she'd put her packages down. She turned to face me and she looked like she was getting wound up to scream until I pulled out my sword. "I'd hate to have to cut your head off to keep you from screaming, Gertie. If you did scream all you'd accomplish is get your boy in a lot of trouble. What do you think the neighbors would say if they knew he was keeping a slave? What do you think they'd say about you for not telling it?" It let the air out of Gertie and she slumped to the floor. I went over and helped her up and put her in a comfortable chair and then fetched a wet cloth from the kitchen and patted around on her face with it until she was back with me. "Now, Gertie, do you know where the key to the lock around the Damsel's ankle is?" "The Damsel? Oh, you mean Elaine. Yes, I know where it is. He keeps it on a chain around his neck. He'll never let you have it," she said. "Well, he doesn't have to let me. I can always cut his head off and take it," I said, and poor Gertie fainted again at the thought. I applied the wet rag again and I had to do it three more times before she came back. She gave me a pitiful look then and started asking me to let him keep the girl. "He doesn't hurt her and I make sure she has plenty of food. Can't you just leave us alone?" "No, Gertie, I'm afraid I can't. Why doesn't he find himself a wife?" "He doesn't want a wife. He just uses the girl for relief," she said. "Well he is just going to have to keep buying girls for relief then, but there will always be someone coming by to retrieve the girls. It might not always be me either, and some of the others might kill him for it," "But he's my son - can't you help him somehow. He's a good boy and makes a good living. He just has needs," Gertie said, and I realized the perfect solution to the problem. "Why don't you take care of his needs then, Gertie?" I asked. "I could never do such a thing." "And why not? After all, it's to save his life. No matter if you do or not I'll be accosting him once he comes into the house. I'm going to have to put you in another room and gag you again," I said, and then I did it. I took her into his bedroom and tied her hands to the headboard then I tied one leg to each side of the foot of the bed. I topped it off with a gag in her mouth again. Of course I thought I'd come up with the perfect solution for the two of them. Gertie wasn't really ugly or anything and she looked like a healthy enough woman, even if she was a little plump and long in the tooth. Hell, come to think of it, she wasn't even that old. Who knew, maybe her banker boy would like some pussy if it didn't burn his dick like fire when he put it in. The rest of the afternoon crawled by. When I finally heard the key in the lock I backed into a side room and hid out of sight. I let him lock the door, put the bar across it, and carry his box over to the kitchen table and set it down before I stepped out behind him and drew my sword. There was no mistaking the sound it made, and he turned at once, pulling a small knife. I didn't quite laugh at him, but I nearly did. "What's your name, I forgot to ask Gertie?" "Delbert. My name is Delbert," he said, waving the knife at me. "Well, Delbert, let's think about our situation a minute or two. I have a four-foot sword, and it is a fine and very sharp one and you have a six-inch knife. If it comes to a fight, which one of us do you think is going to win? "I'm a trained fighter and you are a banker. Are you starting to see the handwriting on the wall yet?" I asked, and he dropped his knife. "Take the money then, and be gone. I can recover somehow," he said, and looked resigned. "Well, I'm going to take a little money off you to cover my expenses, but the lick will be lighter than you expect. "First though, we need to talk about your habit. It won't be so bad if I keep coming after the girls you buy, but sooner or later another Hero will get the job and he'll probably just kill you. "I know I should take a wife, but something about it just doesn't suit me," he said, and I wondered how I'd come along and got the job of confessor. "Use your head for once. You don't need to buy a woman, you have your mother here living with you." "But she would never allow it. She'd never do it," he said. "Then don't ask her. I've got her tied up in your bedroom now. Go in there, pull off her clothes and yours then get between her legs and root around until you find a slippery hole. If you think she'll yell and scream over it just leave the gag where it is." "But won't she hate me forever?" he asked. "Not if you eventually get to doing it right. Why don't you drop your clothes out here then go in there and give her a test ride. Remember, if her slot isn't wet enough you might need to play with her titties and lick around on her twat to get her ready," I said, and I could tell from the lump in his pants he was ready to go get the job done. I went over to take a look in his box of money then and I was shocked. Loan sharking must pay about as well here as it did where I came from. I stopped counting after I passed two hundred conches and there were many more in the box. I settled for fifty and put them in my pocket, replacing the others. I'd heard the banker grunt loudly after his first come, but it didn't slow him down much. Apparently he'd removed his mother's gag too, because she was egging him on by now. "Oh, my baby. Do it to me. Show your mother you really love her. Oh, harder, harder now. That's it, that's it baby," was coming from the room and I guess his mother had decided she could stand it after all. I'd forgotten to get the key off his neck, so I walked into the room just in time for the big finish. Young mister banker was right up between his mammy's thighs and pumping his naked ass for all it was worth. Come to think of it, his mama wasn't a bad looking gal even though she was a good bit older. I'd thought she was a little fat, but now I could see she was actually only a little plump and she was mostly in pretty good shape, just big. She had titties for days and I could tell she was enjoying the way her baby was nursing the whole time he was plowing her hairy ground. I watched until they both got a nut at the same time and then I slapped the banker on the ass. "See what I told you. She loved it from the start. Now all you have to do is teach her to suck on your peter when it goes soft and you'll have a much better home life. Don't forget to roll her over and do it up her ass every now and then. It'll keep her pussy tighter. "Now, give me that key to the chain on the Damsel Elaine's leg. We'll be leaving in a few minutes. Meanwhile, you need to keep on pumping your mother until you get plumb wore out," I said. He raised up to take the chain off and I could see even though he must have let his mother's arms go to get her clothes completely off he had her arms tied to the headboard again. Then she realized I could see her in the flesh and she started squawking over it. "Delbert, cover me up so that beast can't see me," she said. I walked closer to the bed and took one of her splendid big titties in hand then and began teasing a big nipple. "Watch your mouth, Gertie, or I'll tie Delbert up and take a ride or two on you myself," I said, and then gave the nipple a firm pinch. Delbert handed over the key in just a minute and he dropped his mouth to the titty I'd just pinched and started pulling a vacuum on the nipple. Gertie went back to moaning and I left to go fetch Elaine. After I turned her loose she wanted to snuggle up in my lap, but I swatted her naked ass and told her to get dressed. "Did I hear you abusing poor Gertie out there?" she asked, while she was dressing. "Not me. I merely pointed out to Delbert how much cheaper it would be for him to fuck his mother than waste time and money on a Damsel he couldn't even fuck." "That sounds creepy," she said. "Not nearly as creepy as a lot of things that go on here on Chaos. Besides, it looks like old Gertie has hot pussy and she seemed to be loving every minute of the abuse." When she had some clothes on we left Delbert and Gertie still slamming against each other. The Damsel Elaine was confused when we didn't go right into the real bank and leave, but I told her we'd be going elsewhere. She complained a little when we got to the stable where my horses were kept, but after I paid the man and saddled them both she was quick enough to climb on board. We had about three hours of daylight left and we traveled quickly until the sunset. I pulled us off into the woods and spread some blankets and settled us into them for the night. Elaine wanted to play with my dick so I let her and I even fingered her to two comes while she was at it. Afterwards we went to sleep, but I woke and had a small fire built to warm up a little of the sausage before daylight. We caught up with Amos and the others on our second day out and we stopped and fixed a big meal over a nooning fire. George's wife did most of the cooking, but both Elaine and Jennifer helped. Three days later we came riding up to The Heroes Ranch and I was happy to see Bill had the sign changed. It made me remember about branding irons and they were another custom I was going to introduce. Bill was out on the front porch with his wives and kids when we came riding up, and he was down to see me right away. "It looks like you have brought some more workers with you," he said. "Yep. I'd like for you to give them a try, but of course, if they don't work out you can send them on their way later," I said, since we were out of earshot of the others. I was still a little antsy about Donald's behavior. I took George up to meet Ben then and after the introductions I showed George the new building I wanted his smithy and casting operation in. He had a little work to do, since he'd left some of the bigger parts of his mechanical works where they were. I left him looking around and planning while I walked back up to the house to get Elaine settled into my bedroom and then took her around to meet everyone. The one I was most interested in seeing was Kala, and she didn't disappoint. It was still about an hour before suppertime, but I could tell she was going to have plenty of food for the occasion. The next morning Amos and I had a big breakfast just at sunrise and then we headed out toward the barn. I wanted to have a few words with Ben. I explained about branding to him and he liked the idea right away. When George showed up I explained about a branding iron to him and he was sure he could make a couple in nearly no time. I took him to meet the other smith then and after they were acquainted George went to work at a forge and anvil there. He had our first branding iron ready in about an hour. And what brand did I pick you ask? A Running W of course. I'm a Texas boy after all and I doubted the King Ranch would ever open a branch here on Chaos. I only had one more innovation for the folks on the ranch, and it was so simple I was ashamed to act like I'd known about it all along, because I hadn't. I'd learned about it by asking Mr Henry, the local science teacher, how plastic pipe was made. He told me about a way to make simple plastic. I asked Ben if they had some milch cows and of course he said they had plenty. I asked for a gallon of milk and a cup of vinegar and they were brought to me almost at once. I made sure to show both Ben and George how to mix up the concoction and while we were waiting for it to gain the proper consistency I gave George a simple lesson in extruding. I explained how to make the dies and he saw at once it was a little like drawing wire, except for the fact the wet plastic had to be pushed through the die instead of drawn through it. Of course the fittings to connect the pipes would have to be hand made, but I was only thinking about the air blower for now and maybe a few water pipes. The next day I was up early again and I climbed on the hurricane deck of Joe Bob and gave a splendid demonstration of dally roping. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't the rodeo type where two men headed and heeled a beef. I had to teach them how to catch the smaller cattle first, for branding don't you know. They'd have plenty of men around to throw and tie the calf after they got a loop on it and dallied the rope to slow it down. Of course it wasn't that easy, but I gave them the general idea and then settled in to teach them to rope. Thank goodness the three boys Amos had taught to work leather had already learned how to make lariats and had a good supply of them for practice, cause practice was what our nascent cowhands needed. Shit, I had faith in the men I'd gathered up and so I was ready to leave after a couple of days of watching them work cattle. Meanwhile, Amos had been doing some more classes in leather working for the three who were engaged in it full time. Four days later we headed into town to the bank and made our separate ways to Crossroads. Of course I was leaving Joe Bob here for breeding purposes, but I figured I could take him back anytime. ------- Chapter 19 Kathy Caretaker was there with bells on when we came back and she put me in the healing chamber first. I knew I didn't need it, but I went in anyway. After I came out she put Elaine in and took me for my shower. She asked me how the mission had gone while she was washing me, and as I gave her a few facts she settled on soaping my dick. When I explained about getting Delbert and his mother together she thought I'd done a wonderful deed. "Maybe, but maybe not. He was a good place for Damsels to end up. It was easy to steal them back from him and he never hurt any. Now they'll end up somewhere else and might not be so easy to extricate." "I hadn't thought of that at all. Oh well, all you can do is the best you can do. You can't think of everything," she said. "Maybe not, but I'm always thinking of something." "Hey, that's right. Where is your horse Companion?" she asked, squeezing it just a little too tightly when she did. "I left him there for a while. I decided to spread his bloodlines around a little as long as he was there." "But men from earth aren't supposed to have sex with women from Chaos," she said. "Well Joe Bob ain't a man. He's got a whale of a lot bigger dick for one thing, and I doubt he'll be breeding any of the Chaos women." "You may be right, but I'd better ask someone about it." "Why don't you just let things be? We'll find out if it comes out in the wash next time I go, and that'll be soon enough. No sense in starting any shit where there ain't none flying around now," I said. She was quiet for about ten minutes as she rinsed me off and then led me out for drying and putting on a robe. "You know, you might be right. We should probably let well enough alone and see what happens." "I've got a suggestion for you. Why don't you order me a big meal and then take care of Elaine. I'm hungry," I said. "You're always hungry, but I'll get a meal on the table for you." "There you go. Get in that kitchen and rattle the pots and pans," I said. "Silly, you know I don't really have to cook it." "I know, but I like to think you are, and besides, you're a wonderful cook," I said. I'd just sat down to eat when Elaine came out of the healing chamber and she and Kathy Caretaker headed for the shower. I was finished and wishing I could order a big serving of apple pie when they came out dressed in the ubiquitous robes. "Hey, order me a big apple pie while you're getting Elaine's meal, will you?" I asked Kathy, as they came in where I was seated. "I think Elaine is ready for the good stuff and wants to eat later," Kathy said. "That's fine, you two can go on into the bedroom and get started without me then, but order me an apple pie before you go," I said. "Jack, that's so rude of you," Kathy said, and when she did I saw Elaine's lower lip trembling a little. "No it isn't. Rushing around to get to it is the rude part. It's like they all want to get started right away and get away from me just that much faster. It may be the way they feel, but it isn't the way I feel. I want them here with me for just as long as I can keep them," I said. It just sorta popped out of my mouth before I thought it through, but it was damned sure the right thing to say, even if I did think of it myself. They both looked stunned for a few seconds and then they were falling all over themselves apologizing and then kissing me everywhere decent in seconds. The upshot of it was Elaine sat down to eat and even Kathy ordered a meal for herself - and, I got a whole apple pie to work on while they were eating. The mood carried on through my whole time with Elaine. She talked to me a bunch more than any previous Damsel and we spent a lot of time with the three of us snuggled up together just petting. It was a lot more enjoyable for me, and I was pretty sure Kathy liked it better too. I'm not sure if Elaine liked it better or not. I do know she did a lot more clinging and crying just before she told us the happy news. Apparently they could stay until they gave us the details. Of course once she said it I was outta there nearly as soon as she was. At least I was fully dressed when I rejoined Cowboy Jack. "Where in the hell is Joe Bob," he asked me, as soon as I appeared. "Joe Bob is on Chaos, making horse babies I hope. I didn't intend to take him through the portal, but once I did he magically became a Hero Companion, sorta. Now I've got him on Chaos doing dick work and improving the stock there, quite a bit I hope," I said. "Well, it might help with riding horses, but his get won't have good working shoulders," Cowboy Jack said. "Hell, even I know that, and I made sure to tell Ben about it," I said. "Who is Ben?" "He's the foreman on my ranch. I told him to cross Joe Bob on as many mares as he could while he was there. I'm planning on getting a stud to keep there and keep Joe Bob's line going. I'll probably bring Joe Bob back the next time I go." "Now you're using your head for something besides a hat rack." "Say, I wonder what's keeping Amos?" "Huh. Amos ain't been here," Cowboy Jack said. "That's right. He won't be out to go for a couple more days. It'll be weird for me though, since he just played a big part in my latest adventure. The way they have the time fucked up is really confusing if you try too hard to keep up with it," I said. "Well stop talking about it now. I don't want to get any more confused than I am already and if you keep it up I'll get a headache." Three days later Amos came out and took off to Crossroads for an adventure. Just to make sure I didn't screw anything up I saddled my show mare and took a ride the morning I figured he was coming out. I was back at the house when he came back fifteen minutes later. We all had a talk about it then and decided if it came up again we'd do it the same way. Hell, we could never figure out how it worked anyway and it was better not to get ourselves even more confused. After Amos went home Cowboy Jack had another minor bone to pick with me. "I guess you noticed the mare you bought is horsin' now. What are we gonna do with her until you get Joe Bob back?" "I didn't notice, but I knew she was acting a little frisky. I'm gonna go right back home and see if I can find another stallion to cure her ills," I said. "Well, get your ass on the road then. She won't stay in forever." I threw some clothes in the pickup and lit a shuck. It seemed to me Jim had another stallion he was wanting to sell when I was there last time. It was a big black so and so. I never cared much for black horses, but it wouldn't hurt to have one for luck. I was mostly just glad I'd made the barn big enough for six stalls while I was at it. I didn't tarry about getting the black stallion either. I didn't even stop at home when I got to town - I just drove out to Jim's place and made a deal. Luckily Jim liked to deal in checks and I didn't have to fart around and go after cash. I did at least leave him out there until the next day so I could go home and get a little sleep. The next morning I drove out to Jim's place early. Before I could get the stallion loaded I spotted a mare the same sorrel color as Joe Bob and when I asked Jim about her, he said she was an own sister of him. Hell, she looked one hell of a lot like him so I bought her too. I wrote the check fast and got them both in the trailer and carried my ass back to Kerrville. It was after dark when I pulled up in Cowboy Jacks yard, but he was outside with me to help nearly as soon as I got stopped. He didn't say much about the mare I'd bought except to point out she looked almost exactly like Joe Bob. He did turn on the new light we'd put up outside and then we turned them loose in the pen. Damned if old Blacky wasn't topping the bay mare before we got back in the house. There was a whole lot of fucking going on between the bay mare and Blacky for about a week and then damned if the sorrel mare didn't come in. Hell, I'd been home nearly a month by the time Blacky got the job done on both the mares, so when I decided it was time for another dose of the game I led him through the portal with me one morning. Kathy was better equipped for horses now - not so much in accommodations, but mentally. She even came out to ooh and ahh over Blacky before she called for a bale of alfalfa hay and a watering washtub. We went a little crazy catching up on each other's bodies for three days, but by then the pressure was off and she wanted me to look at and choose from three different missions right away. All of them sucked as far as my plans went. The closest one was over a hundred miles from the ranch, and the one I chose was a little over two hundred. The Damsel Lena had been on chaos for four years already. Remarkably, she had been relatively safe for three and a half of those years, but lately a gang of raiders had attacked the big farm she'd been indentured to. The owner had been killed and Lena had been stolen. The oldest son of the deceased owner had taken over, and while they all missed Lena, who'd been a house servant, they didn't feel like they needed to send out a bunch of men looking for her. They merely bought another indentured servant. Kathy hadn't wanted me to take this assignment and if I were to tell the truth it was probably the biggest reason I wanted to take it. Then again, the Damsel was in real danger since she would probably be raped as soon as they got enough ground between them and where they'd taken her from to feel safe. Kathy even said it would make them more dangerous. I knew it would, but figured it would make them more dangerous to Lena, mostly. When the first one fucked her and his dick felt like he'd jammed it in a fire they might get a little testy over it. I wouldn't give a dime for Lena's situation after that. There were supposedly twelve men in the gang and reportedly they were spending their lives riding around, raising hell, and stealing everything they could get their hands on. When Kathy realized I was going to take that particular mission she drilled me hard on my sword work for a week, barely leaving time for anything else except several good night screwings. She also packed me full of food at every chance too. I must have gained ten pounds in the two weeks I stayed with her. It was a hell of a long way from the ranch and I knew I'd have to arrive at a bank closer to where they were. Kathy had some indication of where they'd been lately and the direction they were going, so I picked a bank I thought was ahead of them. When Blacky and I popped up in the vault I had a little trouble calming him down at first, but with gentle talking and stroking around his head and neck he chilled out. When my boxes popped out he tried to bolt again, but there really wasn't anywhere he could go. I put the blanket and saddle on him and then the bosal and hackamore. Hell, I knew he'd been ridden a lot, but Jim had told me he hadn't graduated to a bit yet. I took my time putting on my sword and knife and I added two hide out knives I didn't usually carry. Of course I had to take my shirt off to don the harness for the throwing knives I carried up behind my neck. I had let Amos modify the sheaths and I now carried two side by side up there. I had a sinking feeling I was going to need every weapon I owned, twice, before this mission was over. When I walked out of the vault the bank's guard came over to hassle me about having a horse in the bank. "Tell me smart guy, did you think I walked in the door with the horse when you weren't looking?" I asked, and it stumped him. "Well. Uh." "Exactly. There's something going on you don't know about and the best thing for you to do is forget about it," I said, though I knew I shouldn't have. He reached his hand toward his sword, but of course mine was out and against his throat before he got his hand on his. "Now, are you through fucking around and acting tough, or do you want me to go ahead and split your Adam's apple?" I asked him, and he allowed he'd seen about as much of me and my horse as he needed to for now. It was a shitty little town and it smelled that way, but I expected as much. At least they had hitching rails and a respectable looking inn across the street. I untied the lead rope's knot off the saddle and used it to tie Blacky to the hitching rail when I got across the street. Then I walked into the Inn and ordered some lunch. After I finished eating I went out and boarded Blacky and headed out of town. I thought I was ahead of the gang holding Lena and I headed down the road I thought they were coming along. On the second day of traveling I gave up on the idea of finding them this way. I continued to the next town and started asking around about a group of twelve men of unsavory disposition. Not a peep about them, so I mounted up and headed for the next town. I came to the fourth town, one on a crossroads and a fairly large one, before I got word. A group of twelve men traveling horseback and in company with a wagon had robbed two farms the day before and they had headed west down the road where it crossed the one I'd been traveling north on. I turned around and headed west. I'd already learned Blacky could trot all God Damned day if I'd let him. I was about five miles out of the town when I came up on two men riding along side by side and they seemed to be intentionally taking their half out of the middle. This wasn't out of the ordinary, but when they turned around to face me I thought it was getting that way. I knew it was when one of them pulled a crossbow and started pointing it at me. I was still nearly two hundred yards from them so I pulled Blacky to a sliding stop and had him turn back over his hocks. I kicked him out the other direction and we left much before the others had a chance to react. We were also a hell of a long way down the road in about twenty-eight seconds, Blacky's best time in the quarter mile. By the time they came around a little bend in the road I had my bow out and I let fly. I was still a little out of range, but I wanted to at least give them a warning of what was coming. I also wanted them to fire a crossbow or two if they would, since I was out of their range too. They weren't the smartest bulbs on the tree and they both cut loose. I put Blacky back into full speed toward them now and while they were both fucking with their crossbows I nocked and fired and cleaned the saddles. I was off checking them out quickly, but they were both dead. I used my knife to dig out my arrows and then stripped their bodies and pockets. They had a couple of shells each and a few pinches, about enough to get something to eat and spend a night in an Inn, but nothing worth crowing about. Both their swords were good enough though and I was witness to the fact their crossbow's worked. I walked Blacky back down the way we'd come and picked up the two bolts they'd let fly at me. Hell, I even played good citizen and dragged both their naked bodies off the road and into the woods. My best guess was they'd been trailing the wagon by about a mile or so. After I had their horses tied onto a long lead and had all their clothes and gear packed onto them I mounted Blacky and resumed the pace I'd had when I'd come up on them. Forty minutes later I spied the wagon and the, now ten, men riding along beside it. I hung back so I could only get a glimpse of them every now and then, and when they pulled the wagon off into a small clearing I stopped and took my horses out about a hundred and fifty yards into the woods and tied them. I returned to the side of the road and hid myself just inside the trees. Sure enough a man came riding back down the road looking for the two about half an hour later. I let him ride up even with me and then took him out. I took his horse back to tie with the others first and then came back and stripped his body too. His money situation was about the same as the others, but his sword looked considerably better and his hide-out knives were better too. He even had a throwing knife harness down his back and near his neck. Oh well, I don't guess I could get too many of them. Just after dark I heard several horses coming my way. I could see there were five and I figured they were beginning to wonder what had happened to their buddies by now. It was getting near dark by this time and I was back hidden in the dark shade. I let fly when they were even with me and I got two of them before the others turned their tails and hauled ass back the way they'd come. After waiting about thirty minutes I went out and stripped these bodies too. I didn't take time for an inventory this time, since I was mostly watching the road ahead while I was at it. I caught the two horses and this time I left the bodies where they'd fallen. After stashing the horses with booty attached, I made my way slowly back out near the road, found a tree I could sit up against, and took a seat to try and sleep. I was certain anyone walking toward me would wake me. After I got still I could hear the sounds of arguments coming from where they'd pulled off the road. Good, let them argue, it would keep them from sleeping or from pestering Lena. On the other hand I was feeling good. I'd only found them today and had already cut their numbers nearly in half while I hadn't even lost a single arrow. I was up at false dawn and I slipped through the woods up to take a look at their camp. They still had the fire piled high with wood and it was blazing. I'd been able to see it all night so I know some of them had stayed awake to tend it. I was trying to think of something else to do to them to make them even more nervous. It finally came to me. I backed out as far as I could away from them and waited for a good shot at the leader, but I didn't want to kill him. I finally got the chance while he was bending over the fire to grab off a piece of meat they were roasting for breakfast. I took careful aim and let fly. Luckily the arrow hit him right in the ass cheek. The sudden stop it made let me think it had damaged his hip joint or the bones around it. Whatever it did he made so much racket it covered the noise of my exit. I guess I could excuse his screams, because the arrow strike knocked him over into the big fire. About ten minutes later I could hear the leaders voice sending them out into the woods to find the bastard who'd done this to him. I'd backed off nearly four hundred yards from where I shot him, but I knew I'd be in a target rich environment again soon. There were only six of them in fighting shape now. I made my way up in an oak tree and waited. Since there were so few I thought they would have to spread out a good way. Of course they did, and I waited until one of them had passed me and I took a good shot into his back. His scream convinced all the others they were tired of looking for me. They headed right back to the campsite and the arguments started again, but with one fewer participant. They hadn't even bothered to look for the one I'd just shot. When I got to him he was hurt badly, but not dead, yet. I took care of the detail, stripped off his clothes and weapons, and returned to the horses to pack his truck up too. I had unsaddled Blacky during the night, but left the others saddled since I had my ill-gotten gains tied onto their backs. I saddled Blacky back up and got ready to move out. ------- Chapter 20 While I was making sure everything was ready to travel I could still hear loud voices from their camp. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but they were doing a lot of arguing. I could tell that much. I didn't press them today - I just stayed close enough so I could get a look at them every now and then. They all rode a little way from the wagon now, keeping some space, but not straying far. They traveled straight on through all day, but the wagon was so slow they didn't even make it to a town. They pulled off into another small clearing for the night and they spent most of the rest of the daylight gathering firewood. Really, they were idiots. They were working their asses off to make sure they'd have light during the night, but they never understood all it was doing for them was destroying their night vision. Hell, there wasn't even a moon on Chaos and as soon as they looked anywhere out of the tiny circle of light the fire gave off they were completely blind. They were worn out besides. They'd been up most of the night while I'd catnapped several times. I'd even rested most of the time in the saddle today. I couldn't sleep while I was riding along, but I slumped in the saddle and did the next best thing most of the day. While they were fucking with the world's biggest campfire I hid the horses in the woods again and even unsaddled all of them. I'd stopped along the way to let them grab a mouthful or two of grass today, but it wasn't nearly enough and they'd only really had one good sip of water. I figured I'd have to get this over with tonight or the horses would be done for before sunset tomorrow, even the ones who weren't carrying anyone. When I had the horses secured I moved off about two hundred yards from them and lay down in the leaves to have a nap myself. I slept for about two hours and woke up to listen then slept for three hours. I decided it was time to see what was up. I crept up on their camp, and it was a long creep, but it was productive. The guard nearest me was asleep and I got close enough to cut his throat without making a sound. I backed off into the woods and moved back up to the next nearest. He wasn't asleep, but he wasn't paying attention like he should have been. I made my way between him and another one who was more alert. I put an arrow in the one and nocked another one. The one nearest him was asking him what had happened when my arrow found him. The hell of it was I could see him clearly, but the bright fire near him had his night vision useless. This left only two men in shape to fight and they were about to panic. They got up from where they were hiding out and went to the fire. They were standing beside the wagon, arguing with the leader when I walked up within a hundred feet and shot one of them in the back. The other one turned to look in my direction, but of course he couldn't see me and I put one right in his neck as he stood there staring out into the black woods. I finally got some return fire from the wagon, but he must have been trying to aim by the sound since he didn't come anywhere close to me. Using my head for one of the few times I let him drag out another crossbow and then I threw a branch about twenty feet to the left of me. He fired at the noise when it hit in the leaves. I wondered if he had another crossbow handily loaded and waiting, but I heard him fussing over the one he'd just fired so I decided he didn't. I soft footed it up beside the wagon seat where he was hiding and when he looked over the edge of the wagon side again I split him down through his head with my sword. That was the crop as far as my count went so I called out. "Lena, are you in there?" "Yes, Who is it. Please help me," she said. "It's Hero Jack, and you can consider yourself rescued." "Oh, thank God. Please, come in here and untie me. I did it at once and I found her in better shape than I'd expected, though her arms and legs were completely numb from being tied up so long. I also found some provisions in the back of the wagon and as soon as I had Lena loose I dug into them and started cooking a simple meal. They had a big barrel of water on the wagon and I put a pan of it on the fire to boil. They had some wine too, and I guess I could have made watered wine for us to drink, but I didn't know how long it needed to be in the water to provide the curative effects. Anyone could tell when water was boiling, After about half an hour Lena wanted out of the wagon and she thought she could walk. As soon as I set her on her feet she headed for the edge of the woods to take care of business. She told me later they'd been making her use a chamber pot and she was sick of it. After the meal I wrassled the dead one out of the wagon and moved a few of the things around so Lena could make herself a decent pallet and stretch out for sleeping. I had been doing all the good sleeping out in the woods so I picked out a place and went to sleep myself. I was up at sunrise, but I didn't wake Lena right away. I stirred the fire back up and then went to work tending the dead men, as in stripping off their clothes and weapons and going through their pockets. The one from the wagon had the most money. He had a conch and twenty-two shells plus some assorted pinches. The rest had a shell or two each, but taken all together it mounted up and I had more swords, crossbows, and knives than the law allowed. As soon as Lena woke and went out to visit the bushes again we cooked some breakfast and then I told her about having to go and fetch the horses. She wanted to come with me before she saw me taking off through the woods. She decided to hide in the woods near the camp and wait. I was back with the horses in about an hour and then I spent nearly as long watering them slowly from the big barrel. Lena cooked lunch when the time came around and we spent the rest of the day just resting and watering the horses. I even found a sack of grain and put some in their nosebags. I hobbled them about an hour before sunset and let them graze. We had another meal after dark and then took our same sleeping quarters as the night before - Lena in the wagon and me in the woods. I might have been being over cautious, but slipping up on twelve men and killing them will do that for you. When I woke at sunrise the next morning I started the fire again and woke Lena this time. I was already packing the horses and the wagon when she finished her business in the woods and started cooking breakfast. We left heading back the way the wagon had come as soon as we'd eaten. Thank goodness Lena knew how to drive a wagon so I could ride Blacky and have some freedom of movement. It turned out we didn't need it, but it's always better to be safe. We were able to move more quickly on the way back since I picked out the two best horses to pull the wagon. We were back in the decent sized town on the second day. There was a nice enough inn there and I rented us a room for the night and we had supper in the inn. We were both glad enough to eat someone else's cooking. Lena was glad we were in a room together and she promptly got naked and crawled into bed. Who was I to complain, and I was licking her pussy and making her buck in no time flat. Lena showed me she knew a little about sex play without penetration too. She gobbled down my dick and made me even happier I'd rescued her. After breakfast in the inn the next morning I left Lena there and took off with the wagon to sell all I could. I was surprised at the price the horses brought since they seemed a little higher than I'd expected. The wagon was about average and most of the weapons sold well enough. I still had a few we'd need to carry along and try to sell elsewhere though, so I kept one of the horses I'd intended to sell. Of course it made me end up keeping the best three besides Blacky. It was about half way to sunset from noon when I finished and got the horses I was keeping into a livery stable. I went to the inn to get Lena and took her shopping. She bought a few items of clothing and plenty of traveling food. I'd already told her we'd be traveling horseback for the balance of the trip. We spent one more night in the inn, ate a quick breakfast there, and then hit the road. Two days later we came through a town that had a real bank and I stopped, called for my boxes, and took out one of the other saddles Amos had made. I switched it out with the one on Lena's horse and then sold that one and the rest of the crap from the twelve men. It didn't pay as well this time, but the prices were reasonable. I even sold the extra horse I'd been packing the stuff on and got us back down to three only. The horse was a good one in my opinion and he brought top dollar, or shell. I found out the best way to keep the Damsel from thinking about sex all the time on our road trip too. Lick their pussy every night and talk to them about everything you could think of all day. I knew it was a little dangerous getting to know them so well, but I figured I could convince myself they were just somewhere away after they'd gone. Traveling with Lena wasn't nearly as fast as traveling by myself. She wanted rest stops during the day and I didn't blame her. It was about all the pace her horse could handle anyway, but the time did drag on. Finally the day came when we rode up to The Heroes Ranch. The oldest of Bill's boys looked to be about ten by now and it was obvious he was tired of playing with his younger siblings, but it was just as obvious his mother was making him stick to it. Carlita was on the porch, rocking with a new baby, and the other two were on it with her, rocking their pregnant selves. They called their new house girl, Carol, to show us into the house after we shared a few pleasantries. Bill hopped up out of his chair as soon as he saw me, and he followed us up to the room. "Jack, I can't believe what George can do. Did you realize he knew how to make that pipe?" he asked. "I guess I did, Bill, cause I'm the one who showed him how," I said, and laughed. "Well it is just wonderful. We have running water in the house now and George is saying he is about to figure out how to make some of it hot water," he said. "Well that's on his own, because I didn't show him how to do that." "It has made things so much easier ever since he built the water tower. The horses pump water up into the tower and then it flows down into the house and barn. It is ten times easier to water the horses and the milch cows now." "Oh, are you running a dairy now?" "Yes. It's mostly for milk to make the pipe, and that's mainly for our own use, but there is plenty of milk left over for cooking and drinking. The strawberries are a delight with cream on them too," he said. "Well I guess we can look forward to a good meal then." "You can look forward to all you can eat. We also put up a water tower across the road, but we mostly use it for watering crops over there," he said. "Are you having any trouble selling the produce and beef?" "None at all. The town has been growing and I happen to think some of it is because we're able to provide meat and vegetables at such a reasonable price. Do you realize with the watering system we can produce more goods with less workers? "Of course we have more actual men hired, but overall it is less men per unit of output." "It sounds like you're doing a hell of a job to me, Bill. Have you thought about giving yourself a raise?" "No. What do I need a raise for? I have plenty to eat and plenty to feed my wives and children. We have everything we need on my current salary and I'm even saving money. This ranch is the best thing in my life," he said. "And to think, I had to talk you into moving here and taking over," I said. "It was the best thing to ever happen to me," he said, and I told him it was the same for me. I left Lena talking to Bill's wives who'd all come in from the porch. She did a lot of holding Carlita's newest and I could almost feel her switching into soon to be mother mode. Hell, I was all for it. I finally snuck outside to go see Ben and George. I found them all gathered around the older smith, Frank, and it looked like a full force bullshit session was being called to order. I was right. Frank was ragging on George to get him involved in real smithing like shoeing horses and George was ragging right back about Frank getting an education and learning how to cast bronze the new way. "I do the real work around here, shoeing the horses so the work can go on. We need it especially now since so many horses are being used for handling the cattle. You are only playing at smithing, making cups and dishes," he said. "Yes, and I notice you eat and drink from the playthings I make. And didn't you just have me make you some pipe and fixtures to get water into your smithy so you could quench without having to send boys for bucket after bucket of water. Frank noticed me coming up then and tried to set me up to get in on the argument. "What say you, Hero Jack? Who does the real smithing work around here?" he asked. "Do you think I came to own this place by getting in among the arguments of the hired help. I'm just too smart for that. You both do real smithing work and I'm glad to have you both to do it. I'm also too smart to get into your pissing contest." They all broke out laughing over what I said and their faux argument was over. "What I need to know from you, Ben, is how you came out using Joe Bob for breeding?" "Well there were mixed results. They ranged from very good to excellent. Some of the mares had good foals from him and some of them had excellent. What I'm especially looking forward to is how he will do with some of the mares out of him. I know it would be better to have a different stallion to breed back to the mares he got, but he is the only one I've seen anywhere like him," he said. "Oh, you haven't seen the black horse I rode up on then." "No, the men must have put him away before I came up." "Well, he is the same breed as Joe Bob, but Blacky has some different bloodlines." "Bloodlines?" he asked. "He is raised from different sires and dams, but he is the same type of horse." "That would be wonderful. Can you leave this Blacky here and take Joe Bob away for a while?" "Actually, it's what I had planned." "Good then. I look forward to crossing them." The call for supper came then and I didn't want to miss it. Kala had the table piled even wider and deeper this time since there were more kids old enough to eat on their own. Lena and I hung around for a few days at the ranch and then Ben rode to the bank with us and took Lena's horse back. Things were a little complicated in the vault, what with taking Joe Bob back and all. I had my things to store in the boxes and as they came and went, snapping the whip, he got nervous. Thankfully it didn't take long and soon enough we were back at Crossroads and Kathy Caretaker was taking care of us. The oddest thing was she wanted to put Joe Bob through the healing machine first. It really was sort of amazing. He calmed right down as he neared it and he went inside and actually settled to the floor, then he fell over and stayed out for several hours. Kathy took a look at the readings and said all that was really wrong with him were a few infestations with different worms. It was nothing at all unusual for a horse after all. The bad part was she wouldn't let Lena and I eat before we had our turn. When Joe Bob came out, none the worse for wear, Kathy had me put him back in the entrance room and I noticed she had changed the decor in there. It was no longer a white room, but now was covered with a pasture scene mural on all walls and a green carpet. His bale of hay and washtub of water were already in place when I put him in. The rest of our stay was almost perfectly normal. Lena and I got started on the baby making as soon as I was out of the healing chamber and we all had a wonderful time together for thirty-five days. I was dressed and ready when she came out with the news she was pregnant. We had just enough time for a slightly tearful goodbye, and then Joe Bob and I hit the trail. ------- Chapter 21 Cowboy Jack was in his chair when Joe Bob and I made it back. He encouraged me, loudly and vociferously, to get the horse out of his house right away. I was more than happy to, and by the time I had Joe Bob in the electric fence with the two mares, he sniffed around on them for a minute and since neither of them were in he lost interest soon enough. When I made it back inside the house Cowboy Jack had a Long Neck already opened for me and I took it gladly. He wanted to hear of my adventure and I spent about an hour giving him the details. "You ought to take a Thoroughbred for a trip. You've been upgrading the bloodlines there and a Thoroughbred would put some height on them." "Maybe, but what bloodline should I try. I think they've gotten a little spindly lately," I said. "Maybe you can find some of Big Red's get still hanging around, though all the ones really close to him are long in the tooth by now," he said. "You know, Kathy put Joe Bob through the healing chamber before I brought him back. Maybe if I took an old one she could give it a checkup before I took it on through," I said. "You know, you stumbled onto something taking Joe Bob through." "You're right about stumbling. In fact I nearly fell on my ass when I did it. Everything seemed to turn out ok though." "I'll say, Joe Bob looked better when he came back than he did when he left. He must have been there four or five years their time and he don't look a day older now. Just a little fatter, and that don't hurt a horse. Maybe we should take a look at his teeth," he said. "Won't hurt anything. I'd like to know if they put him any older." "Well we'll check 'em out after lunch then," he said, and then he got up and cooked a meal. After we'd eaten we went out and had a look at Joe Bob's teeth, whether he wanted us to or not, and he didn't really. He still looked like he was on his first bunch to me and even they didn't look worn down any at all. "I'd say he ain't a day older than when he left," Cowboy Jack said. We just hung around and tidied up the barn and such for the rest of the day. I spent some time in the tack room I'd put in, and I put up some hangers to hold a couple more saddles. I had plenty in Chaos now, but I still had just the one here. Since I was just fucking off I headed into town and bought a couple of archery targets and backstops - the kind with the high-density foam to catch arrows. I also bought a couple hundred more arrow shafts. Nothing fancy mind you, but some to use for practicing. I spent the afternoon working with my first compound bow, the one I'd bought and hadn't taken the cams off of. Like with any type of practice I was getting better with it. The trouble was I knew it didn't shoot exactly the same as the one I had on Chaos. I decided to see if I could find a bow made without any metal at all. I was considering going back to San Antonio and I talked with Cowboy Jack about it. He had a suggestion. "Why don't you get one a them computers and hook it up to the Internet. My buddy, the one what comes to take me to town, said his daughter got one and she can look up anything for sale. As soon as he said it I knew he was right. I even knew they had satellite dishes which could hook you up to it, even without a phone wire. I also knew you'd take a fucking buying a computer from just about any store. I had the cure for that though. In my home town, at the feed store, young Whooper had grown up liking computers and he could build 'em himself. Don't ask how he went from working at his Daddy's feed store to building computers, but I knew he did. I lit out before breakfast the next morning and made it to town in the afternoon. I decided to take a spin by Johnny and Junior's sporting goods store just in case they happened to have a compound bow made with no metal, but I struck out there. Junior went on and on about how expensive they were and how long it'd take him to order me one. He was a little surprised when I told him "Ok then," and walked out the door. The next morning I went down to the feed store and got to talk to Whooper. I had to walk down to the fertilizer barn where he was mixing a load for someone's pasture and follow him around to get the details across. He told me he was out of the business of making computers since it took up too much time from working at the feed store and from mixing the fertilizer they sold in bulk. I wasn't having that, especially since I knew no one much was fertilizing at this time of the year unless they were just freshening up a pasture for better grazing. If they were fertilizing for a hay crop they'd have done it at least six weeks ago, or else they were pissing in the wind. I waited until he was done mixing and loading it into a spreader truck though and then followed him back to the main store building. "I'll pay five thousand bucks for the best computer you know how to build me," I said, and since I'd said it where both his Momma and Daddy could hear me the deal was done. The next part was a little tricky since he started asking me what I wanted to do with it. I decided it would be best to tell the truth here, since I didn't know enough about computers to make up a good lie anyway. "Hell, I don't even know what I can do with one. A friend of mine said I could get a hookup through DirecTV to reach the Internet and I know you can buy stuff ordered off it. That's what I want to start with, and I guess if I need something else I can call you back later." He had a slight change in attitude then and he told me he could build me plenty of computer to do that for a lot less money, but I wasn't backing down so easy. "Use any extra involved to make it faster and better and to get all the stuff I need for it. I'll run by the bank and pick up the money right now," I said, and since the bank was in walking distance from there I trotted over and withdrew the cash. By the time I'd got back his Momma had told him to take a couple of days off to go home and build it for me. He took the cash and asked me to follow him over to his house. I did and I was in luck. His wife was just putting lunch on the table and there was already a place set for me. After we ate he took me into his computer workroom, which has been a smaller bedroom at one time and was now piled high with parts and other shit everywhere. It also had a bunch of computers running in there on a long bench with swivel chairs in front of it. Hell, he even had a Coke machine in there. I guess he bought it for an antique or something, but it looked like it was brand new now, only it didn't look like a new type machine. In the first place, all it had was the old time real-glass Coke bottles in it, and not even king size ones either. The next thing was the price. It only took a nickel to by a coke. Damn if it didn't work when I put a nickel in it and pushed down the handle. After we got through joking about the Coke machine he sat me down in one of the swivel chairs, gave me a few instructions, and showed me how to look for stuff with Google, then he turned me loose and got to work himself. I'll be damned if he didn't have the computer put together and was doing what he called loading software before I figured out much about how the Internet worked. He ended up working me harder than I'd worked him. While the one he'd built me was doing something by itself, he explained how to run Opera to me and he told me about Avast, the free for home use, virus protection. About an hour later he switched me to my computer and showed me how to make sure Sygate Personal Firewall was working and he explained someone had bought them out, but he told me all I had to do was keep using the one he put on my machine for me. I finally took off about six pm, but he said something that caused me to get him to build me another one just like the one he just finished building. He let me know two computers could use the hookup from one DirecTV deal with a home network. He said there wasn't much to a home network and he said he'd throw one in for my lagniappe. The next day, when I got over to his house, he showed me he had Cowboy Jack's computer built even before I showed him the money. When I did he didn't want to take it and claimed the first five thousand had me well covered for the parts. "To tell the truth, Jack, I feel a little obligated to you for the time you spent in the service," he said. "Don't worry about it. It was pretty much a water haul for getting anything useful done to my way of thinking, but at least I got to kill a bunch of bastards who needed killing pretty bad. You just take the money. I've got plenty," I said, and he did, but I could tell he still didn't like it. It took him three hours to show me how to hook 'em up together. I worried I wouldn't remember how to do it when I got back to Kerrville, but he told me to just call him and he'd walk me through it. He didn't know it of course, but that caused another complication. I didn't want to admit I didn't even have a phone, so I decided to get one of the cell phones and I asked him which was the best one to get, not mentioning that we didn't have a phone at all. He told me a Blackberry would be best. Hell, that was easy enough to remember and I didn't even have to write it down. He did warn me about getting a good desk for each of us to put our computers on and good office type swivel chairs too. At the end of the day he packed both new computers and both the 32 inch flat-panels into boxes and he made sure I had all the wires for hooking things up, including big surge suppressors and heavy-duty battery backups. He even showed me where to hook the DirecTV receiver into the flat panels so we could watch TV on them too. I didn't tell him I wasn't much for watching TV and neither was Cowboy Jack. Besides, I might turn it on a time or two since we were going to have the DirecTV hooked up anyhow. I knew damned well better than to head out for Kerrville without a cell phone since I'd done made up my mind to buy them anyway. I took Hwy 77 over towards Naples going back, and turned up Hwy 259 until I hit I-30 four miles up and then I headed west for Dallas. I wasted an hour finding an AT&T cell phone place and telling them I wanted a connection for cell phone in Kerrville. They said they could fix me right up, but the salesman kept trying to sell me on an iPhone and the more he showed me it would do the less I liked it. I finally had to get shitty with the guy trying to talk me into it and tell him if they didn't have a Blackberry I'd just go somewhere else. A woman who looked like she was higher on the totem pole came over then and eased him out of the way. She didn't have a damned bit of trouble getting me two Blackberries and signing me up for five years. The afternoon was mostly taken up buying two desk and two executive office chairs. Then I had to look around for an hour to find a U-Haul trailer to rent because the desks and the chairs wouldn't fit in my pickup bed. At least I had enough room in the trailer to have the desks and the chairs assembled before I hauled them away. I knew I could have bought chairs a lot cheaper at Wal-Mart, but I wanted these to last longer than three months. I drove all the way through, back to Kerrville, when I was done with all the gettin' in Dallas. Cowboy Jack woke when he heard me drive up and he asked me what I had a U-Haul following me around for, so I told him. "Well shit. I can't even think of nothing to cuss you out about over it, and them phones might come in handy. I've heard they don't put out no phonebooks with cell phone numbers in 'em and we ain't likely to be getting a bunch of calls we don't want," he said. "Well, we'd best go to bed now anyway. I sure as hell can't keep you away from your beauty sleep long." We were up at sunrise the next morning and Cowboy Jack laid in heavy on breakfast. We had a hell of a lot to do today. First thing, I called in to DirecTV and got the hookup and TV works on the way and then me and Cowboy Jack unloaded the chairs and the desks. We didn't even argue very much about where to put 'em. Hooking up the computers wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but of course all I could do was make the network connections and wait for the dish to be put in. It didn't come about for two days, but the guy was helpful after he got it all in place, and before he left Cowboy Jack and me both were looking for stuff. "I'll be damned," said Cowboy Jack. "What about?" "They got a page on here and it shows news stories from all kinds of newspapers. I never could get a paper delivered way out here," he said. "Hey, they got lots of stuff like that. You can even go to several web sites and sign up for a matchmaker. Maybe you can find a woman." "Fat fucking chance of me doing that. If I'd had enough interest in women left I'd a kept on going on adventures and kept on pounding Glenda Caretaker and the Damsels. If the truth were known, I'd still like to have a tussle with Glenda every now and then, but I just got tired of the fuck fest at the end of every mission," he said. "Hey, couldn't you take her home with you when you went back?" "I'll just be damned. I never even thought of trying it. With the way you been taking horses back and forth I don't see what one little woman more or less would hurt. Anyway, I never thought of trying it," he said. "Well that sucks big old long Donkey Dicks," I said. "Tell me about it. Anyway, there's nothing I can do about it now." We went back to what we'd learned was surfing the net and it didn't take me long to root around and find a compound bow made completely of some space age material with no metal in it, except for the axles through the cams. They even had a number to call for custom orders and thus I got to try my Blackberry for the first time on something useful. Of course I wanted to know if I could get one with non-metallic axles and the guy talking to me kept telling me I didn't need 'em. I finally got through to him. "Ok, dumbass, I don't need 'em. If I don't, then I don't need any of your bows anyway." "But sir, there are so many advantages to this kind of bow." "There are zero advantages to me unless you can also provide non-metallic axles. Maybe you should let me talk to your supervisor." He was gone for a minute and someone else came on the line. "Hello, can I help you?" the guy asked. I already knew this wasn't a big manufacturing place since I'd done a little checking around on the Internet. It was more like a custom made bow shop on steroids. "Maybe you can. Did you know the salesman I was talking to was about to queer the deal for ten of your three thousand dollar bows because he was trying to talk me out of non-metallic axles?" "Why no. I didn't. Maybe he will work out better at McDonalds. At any rate we no longer need him here. Can you provide me with your specific requirements?" he asked. "Sure," I said. It turned out they could easily fill my needs and he was ever so happy to charge it to my debit card. He did say it would take two weeks to get the order to me, but I didn't mind that. Hell, I wasn't sure they would go through the portal anyway. It did make me worry about the long-term longevity of the company though. Didn't anybody teach the first rule of salesmanship any more? As in when you get the order, stop talking. Of course the first goofball never got the order because he started trying to sell me on something I didn't want before I got a chance to finish specing out what I did want. It was a custom-made bow shop for Gawd's sake. He should have listened and just quoted a price. Cowboy Jack and I spent a couple more days looking up things on the Internet. Some we ordered and some we didn't. The UPS guy tried to deliver the first thing that came in, but he tore the rear axle out of his little brown van, and after he walked the last half mile with our package he asked to use the phone. It was damned lucky for him we had 'em now. While he was being retrieved by a UPS wrecker he helped us get the paperwork lined up to have the packages held for us at their nearest distribution office. Luckily they had a small one in Kerrville. At any rate, I was happy with the non-metallic triggers for the bows he'd brought and even happier that UPS called us early every morning when we had a package now. Cowboy Jack and I were just about bored to death before the new bows came in. He liked the looks of them too and claimed one for himself. "Hell, why didn't you get a bunch of carbon fibre arrows to go along with 'em?" he asked, as we sat around with brand new bows and only a handful of arrows to use in 'em. "I never thought about it. I guess I could order some tonight." "Well do it then, but don't cause no fuss while Rachel Maddow is on. She's one thing about having a TV I like." It took another few days to get the arrows and it took even longer to find a place that claimed they could make non-metallic broadheads. I put some on order, but wondered if they wouldn't get hung up on the no weapons part. They would supposedly come with a screw-in mount for the arrows. I also found a bunch of normal screw-in points for practicing and then we spent two good weeks doing just that, practicing. I was getting pretty damned good with the bow by now and to tell the truth I was about ready to have another adventure. It just made things worse when Amos and Kerry came out to take a turn the next day. Kerry was going along as a Hero Companion for Amos, but it turns out it was supposed to be a one time trip. Even though Kerry believed what Amos told her, she was going just to catch a ride in the healing chamber if it was really there. She had turned up with a lump in her breast during her last mammogram. We saw them off, such as it was, and sat around waiting the fifteen minutes for them to come back. Of course it seemed like no time. Kerry looked happy as a lark when she got back and she laughed at Amos about the trip. She teased him about being in the bed with Rita Caretaker, the Damsel, and her at the same time. Amos gave us a rundown on his mission, but it was a fast one and they headed out for home quickly. ------- Chapter 22 Maybe my using the first cams as earrings hadn't helped a thing and maybe it had. Anyway, I knew I couldn't skate taking a fully assembled bow through the portal and I didn't even try it. I took off to San Antone, got my ears pierced again, and went back to the woman who'd made my last clothes. She looked at me really funny when I wanted her to make me a sort of windbreaker/raincoat/rainsuit and use the kevlar bowstrings for drawstrings around the head and waist. Especially when I told her she couldn't cut the strings at all in any shape or fashion. She didn't even ask about using the two limbs each as stiffeners in the pants legs of the rest of the rain suit. I couldn't think of a damned thing for hiding the handle part until I thought about how Bill had loved the pencils. I decided to go and buy him a drawing board with a T-square, a bunch of triangles, rulers, compasses, and a couple of mechanical pencils. I nearly wore the Internet out looking for all that shit made of plastic instead of metal. I finally had to order the mechanical pencils and replace the springs inside them with some plastic shit I rigged up. I figured it wouldn't work when I got there, but I also figured I could get George to make some of the little chicken shit springs I was having to leave behind. I know I was just using the shit for camouflage for the handle, but I wanted it to work for Bill when I got there with it. When I finally had everything set to go I grabbed up my packages and hit the portal. You should have seen Kathy Caretaker's face when I arrived with two cams hanging off each ear. She just laughed in my face and pointed at me. It was embarrassing, but at least she didn't say anything about it. Even without mentioning it we had a good time warming up to each other again. Hell, half the time when we were relaxing in post-coital bliss she'd look over at me and burst out laughing again, as if I still had the earrings on. Still, she took the mission selection seriously and she didn't even bitch when I took the one she thought was most dangerous again. Hell, it was the only one that would let me start out by the ranch and by now she realized it was a big advantage to have good horses available. When I dropped into the vault I arrived with all my equipment and I made a place right away for most of it to stay in one of my boxes. I wanted more of the bows here than just two and I wasn't taking any chances on them being short-circuited at the portal next time. So what if I had two good bows available to me here now. The one I had suited me well enough and I was building up my stock for later times of need. I already knew the plastic-fantastic bows I had were even stronger than the one I'd cobbled up to start with. I walked out of the vault horseless for a change, but it was an easy run out to the ranch and Ben hitched a new buggy and drove me right back into town. He was wanting to show off the buggy to me anyway because George had just built it and it had a really nice set of slim wheels on it. I went into the bank and carried my saddle and Bill's drawing board and things right back out. We even made a round through town in the buggy and Ben was proud to show me the town had two streets now. Jackville, the name they'd hung on the poor town, was coming up in the world. There were a few changes out at the ranch when I got there, but none were earth shattering. Bill's eating had finally caught up with him and Kala had him on a diet of sorts. He'd collected a little potbelly and she was keeping an eye on how much he was taking in now a days. She wasn't by her lonesome on the job either, since his three wives were more interested in what he was cramming down his pie hole now. I hated myself for doing it, but I mentioned exercise to them during my first meal back. Of course it was a completely new concept on Chaos. Imagine, doing work to keep your weight down. I had my own reasons for wanting Bill to stay healthy though. He was doing a bang up job running the ranch and by now he was mayor of the new town of Jackville too. I had a vested interest in keeping him healthy, and I was oh so happy to explain pushups, chinups, situps, and the advantages of jogging to Bill's wives. I was glad to see the oldest boy was taking on a little responsibility of his own now. He was watching over the place we'd acquired after ridding the town of Blanksdale. I was happy to hear he was doing a good job. They had also shifted to a minor concentration in raising horses. Ben told me they kept all the best horses, but they were selling quite a few now too, and they were getting a good price for them. He had even specialized in two different lines, using Blacky, Blacky's get, and Joe Bob's get for one line and the big horse I'd come by the first time and his get for the other line. The Chaos bred horses tended to be around a hand taller and the Quarterhorse crosses were stockier and a good bit more nimble. Ben was even protecting our interest by castrating all the males he sold. Bill was thrilled with the drawing board, T-square, and tools. He could barely keep from getting started fooling with them right away. I gave him a little instruction for using the T-square with triangles for drawing horizontal and vertical lines. He was fascinated with the compasses too. I'm sure it was the first time in his life he'd ever seen a circle drawn so perfectly. I got to bed late that night, but I was up with the sunrise anyway. One thing I didn't want to be was late for one of Kala's breakfast. In fact it looked like it did her heart good too. She seemed happy to have someone she could stuff full again. Time was wasting though and I had the Damsel Chatla to worry about. She was supposed to be in the hands of some jackass about a hundred miles off to the south. She had fallen into indentured servitude shortly after she hit Chaos, but this Krowgaut who had her had shifted it to real slavery and he was abusing her by now. I took a few days to practice roping and teach it too. I had gone to a lot of trouble to get decent ropes on Chaos and by God somebody was going to use them. I was a little surprised at how well some of the men could rope after giving them a try out. Turned out they needed training for their horses more than training for themselves. What the hell, Blacky needed a little training too, so I used the two days I'd set aside for showing him how to act after I had a loop on something. It was a productive two days working with the cowhands. I was able to teach them how to handle a calf or cow after they had a rope on them, but more importantly, I was able to show them how to go about training the horses what to do with the animal they had roped. The next day I headed out for the small town where the Damsel Chatla was being held. It was a hard three-day ride on Blacky and Joe Jim, one of Joe Bob's first colts. I also had one of the bigger horse's get for a packhorse. When I made it to town the first place I headed was the livery stable. I should have realized showing up with three horses of such obvious quality would draw attention, and I'd barely finished making a deal with the hostler for stalls when two men came up to give the new arrival in town a little shit over the matter. "You shore got some nice horses Mister. I think I'd like to trade you out of one of them," one of two men who approached me said. "Thanks, but I have a use for all of them," I said, trying to dismiss him. "Well I've got a use for 'em myself," he said. "Fine, all you've got to do is take them away from me and they're yours," I told him, without raising my voice. Apparently what I said was more along the lines of what he had in mind in the first place, because he walked up to invade my space right away, as if he were trying to intimidate me or something. It seemed just a little odd to me since I was nearly a head taller and outweighed him by at least forty pounds. What the hell, he was close enough to me for it, so I gave him a straight right hand to the end of his nose. It knocked him right back on his ass, and while his buddy was trying to figure out what to do, and since he was already on the ground anyway, I kicked him in the balls good and solid. His loud groan finally galvanized his pal into motion and into making a serious, if not fatal, mistake. Most of the time you can notice a really poor swordsman by the way they get their sword out, and this guy was one of the poorest I'd seen carrying a sword so far. I was patient though and let him get it completely out of the scabbard. I blocked his first half-hearted swing at me with it and then ran my sword tip through the shoulder of the arm he was swinging his sword with. Of course he dropped it at once. I swept his legs out from under him and gave him a swift kick of his own when he hit the ground. "Mister, I'm sorry for your troubles here and it's partly my fault, since I should have run them two off when I first saw them hanging around. Be that as it may, they work for the Krowgaut place and there'll be others from there in the inn who'll be looking to make things come out more in the place's favor. When them two get back inside and tell what happened there'll be a ruckus," the stable master told me. "Well do tell. It's been days since I was involved in a good ruckus. I hope some of the ones who come out can fight better than these two." "They can for a fact," he said, but by that time four men were coming out already, swords in hand. Apparently they'd heard some of the screaming and recognized the voices. I didn't pay them any attention, or at least I didn't let them know I was. I turned back to Blacky and acted like I was taking his saddle off while they approached. I figured they were about forty yards from the stable when one of them yelled at me. "Hey you, turn around here and face someone who can fight why don't you?" one of them yelled at me. What the hell? I did it. I turned around with my bow in hand and started facing them. I put an arrow in every one who was holding a sword, including the one I'd recently applied my own sword to. He must have been the one to slip into the inn and give the warning and he was carrying his sword in his other hand now, or he was until the arrow went through his heart. He just kinda dropped it after that. "Wow! What kind of bow is that, Mister?" the stable man asked. "It's a strong fast one. Do you reckon there are any more of them in the Inn? I asked. "Probably about five or six more, but these was the best fighters off the place. Old Krowgaut don't let but half of his men come to town of a night, and he makes the other half wait 'til the next night." "Shit, I knew I should have only wounded one of them," I said. "But why?" "So he could go back in and let the rest know what happened," I said. "You're gonna kill the others too, ain't cha?" he asked. "Not unless they come after me, but I've got a feeling they will when they find out what happened, and I'd just as soon get it all over so I can have a meal and get some sleep," I said, and I knew it would sound logical enough if not absolutely crazy. "No worries there. I'll just mosey on over to the inn and start spreading the tall tale," he said, and then he walked that way. I stood just outside the door opening of the stable and waited. I had my bow in hand and I was ready for anything I thought. Sure enough, I heard a little commotion inside the inn a few minutes later and then five men came boiling out of it with their swords ready. I took it on faith the first out would be the best fighters and I started dealing with them as they came. It was nearly sixty yards from the Inn to the stable and it left them one hell of a run before they could get close enough to me to matter with a sword. Still, two of them made it and I had to drop my bow and pull my sword. I guess they would have been all right with a sword, or at least they could have done good service holding one for someone who wanted to use it. As it was they got in each other's way more than they bothered me. I finished them off without fucking around with them too much. In a way it reminded me of what I'd always considered the old west to be. Everyone walking around carrying a pistol on their hip, and not one out of ten who could really use it. They could strap on a sword, but it didn't make them a swordsman. It sure as hell didn't help the ones who'd brought a sword to an archery contest. I had most of the bodies dragged back near the stable door before the owner came back out and I'd already stripped two of them before he made it to his stable. I finished up as he talked. "I'll swear mister, that's the damnedest thing I ever saw. You done kilt half the fighting men old Krowgaut has on his payroll." "Well, I needed to leave some for tomorrow anyway. Grain my horses will you? I'm going to the inn and get a little something to eat. Say, somebody will tell Krowgaut about this before tomorrow won't they?" I asked. "You can be shore of that, mister. You can be dead shore." After putting away my gleanings I asked the stable owner about the horses and he said, best he knew the horses all belonged to Krowgaut's place. I knew I could claim them and fight it out later, but I didn't need them anyway so I left them tied wherever they were tied. I took my bow with me when I went into the inn and the waters parted around me as I made my way to a back table against the wall. I yelled my order for stew across the room, and since no one else was talking at the time the innkeeper didn't have a bit of trouble hearing it. A serving girl brought me a big bowl and a loaf of bread right away. I had six more bowls of stew and another loaf of bread before I was done. Most of the folks in the place warmed up to me a little while I ate and talked some. Seemed to me they weren't so fond of Krowgaut or his men. I hired a room for the night and went up as if going to bed. I didn't know how my opponents were going to act, but I didn't take any chances. I sat up in a chair for a couple of hours and then headed out back to the privy. I took a shit and then made my way to the stable. It was locked up, sorta, but I was able to get inside it. It took me a damned hour in the dark with nothing but the tiny candle to get my horse saddled and the pack horse packed with all the shit I'd taken off the dead men. I guessed it was about twelve or one when I let us out the back way of the stable and led my string down the edge of the road toward Krowgaut's place. He had a pretty big house place, a big barn, and a couple of outbuildings. I figured one was a bunkhouse and I thought of trying to pen the men up in it, but I didn't take the chance it would work out. I headed into the woods on the other side of the road from his place and hobbled my horses about three hundred yards from the road. Meanwhile, I took a blanket back with me and settled down to sleep about fifty yards off the road. ------- Chapter 23 I woke just before sunrise and was eating cold sausage about an hour later when thirteen mounted men came off the lane from Krowgaut's place and headed for town. I was practically positive the lard ass dressed so fancy on the biggest horse in the lead was Krowgaut and no doubt he was headed to town to right the wrong done to his men the night before. As soon as they were out of sight I sprinted across the road and ran all the way to the front door of the house. It opened when I tried the handle and I roamed around until I found the kitchen. There was a woman cooking and she was mighty surprised to see me. "Where's Chatla?" I asked, but she just stared at me, so I drew my sword and asked again. She came to her senses then and led me to a room with a lock outside the door. I kicked the door in and saw Chatla lying on a pallet, naked, and more than a little worse for the wear. At least she could see I was someone who wasn't normally there. "Chatla, I'm Hero Jack, here to rescue you. Can you put on some clothes?" I asked her. "Oh good. I'm so happy to see you, but I don't know if I'm even strong enough to travel," she said. "Help her get some clothes on and then help her get to the kitchen, pronto," I told the woman I'd found in the kitchen. I returned to the kitchen and as I got there I ran into another woman who was looking for the cook. She was impressed with my sword too when she got the full effect and she was more than happy to listen while I talked. "Krowgaut has been holding a slave here. I'll be back with many men who hate slavers tomorrow. We will kill everyone still on this place, so you'd better warn all the ones who aren't slavers to be gone by then," I told her, and sent her on her way. She didn't let any grass grow under her feet since she took off so fast she nearly left a streak behind her. I watched out the back door as she ran to the barn and started spreading the word. Apparently I had convinced her and she was no doubt convincing in the tale she told. I saw eight men and one other woman leaving with her before I heard the cook helping Chatla back into the kitchen. "We'll be leaving now, all three of us. What's you're name?" I asked the cook. "Maime." "Maime, pack us two baskets of food you can cook on an open fire, quickly." She did it and I had her carry them while I carried Chatla over my shoulder like a sack of grain. She didn't complain. Twenty minutes later we were across the road and working our way back into the woods. I took them back to where the horses were hobbled. I saddled Blacky, loaded the packhorse and sat Chatla in Blacky's saddle. I handed Maime up onto the spare horse and had her hold the two baskets of food as I took off walking, leading the horses, and looking for a proper campsite. I found one near a small creek and stopped, letting everyone down. I made a pallet for Chatla and Maime to lie on and then hobbled the horses again. I gathered up some firewood, knowing it wouldn't show up in the daylight, and built a cooking fire. "Maime, fix us a good lunch since I missed my breakfast. Cook plenty. I'm going back to the road to see what happens, but I'll be back in time to eat. You need to help Chatla take care of herself while I'm gone," I told her, and she nodded her head. I crossed back over the road when I came to it, but I stayed in the woods as best I could while making my way up to try and see what happened. The place was obviously deserted now and a gate had been left open somewhere, since several cows and two pigs were out. Of course we'd left the front door of the house swinging wide. Not ten minutes later Krowgaut and his men came back leading the mounts I had left rider-less last night. He started yelling for his hands as soon as he got near, but no one came. He was yelling and screaming after he noticed the front door was open and he dismounted and ran as fast as his fat little legs and big belly would let him to check out his house. I thought he should be happy, since I could have easily burned the place to the ground while he was gone, but apparently Mister Krowgaut didn't see it that way. I guess he had checked for the Damsel first thing, because when he came back out he was screaming orders at everyone and fit to be tied. He ranted and raved for about twenty minutes, but by that time he had figured out there was no one to listen except the men he'd taken with him. He had them get down from their mounts and he was soon directing them to catch the cattle and the two pigs and put them back where they belonged. I was especially interested in watching the men chase and catch the pigs, or try to catch the pigs anyway. Everything was back ship shape within twenty minutes except for the pigs, but they took an hour to get control of and the only way they accomplished it then was to wear them out chasing them around. Of course the men were all completely worn out by then too, and they barely had the strength to put the pigs back in their pen. Things had pretty much settled down by then and I turned back toward the road, crossed it, and made my way back to lunch with Maime and Chatla. Maime was surprised she got to eat with me, and I could tell it perked up her spirits. "It's nice to be treated like a human again, even if I am captured. I can't even think of how mad he'll be when this is all over," she said. "He won't be mad at all, Maime, he'll be dead, and so will all the men who are still with him," I said. "Oh. What will become of the farm?" "I don't know. I'll be taking what I want from there, but otherwise it will be left alone as far as I know. I won't be taking anything away from there I can't carry on horseback." "If he's really dead, do you think my family can have the farm? All of us who worked there were kin." "You can have it as far as I'm concerned. Some of the men will have to learn to protect the place though," I said. "Oh, we have some younger men who know how, but they didn't want to work for Krowgaut. Maybe they'll come back if we have hold of the place," she said. I didn't care if they did or they didn't. My concern was getting Chatla back to my ranch and then back to Crossroads. She looked better already and while we talked I learned she'd only been getting one meal a day. It was a little strange that she seemed to get along so well with Maime, but I was all for it. I guess I could have gone ahead and taken off with Chatla, but it would be a long hard ride with twelve men potentially on our trail. I figured she'd do a lot better resting here for a couple of days and my time would be better spent getting rid of Krowgaut and killing, or at least disbanding, his gang of ruffians. After we'd eaten and given it time to settle a little I saddled Blacky and led him back toward the road with me. I'd been watching for about twenty minutes when Krowgaut and his band of merry men came riding out again. This time Krowgaut was at the rear of the procession and they headed out away from town. Apparently he'd decided if he hadn't found me between here and town I must have gone the other way. A sneaky little thought came to me then and it was so outrageous I had to try it. I didn't hold out much hope for success, but then again, I didn't have to worry about them catching me on their mounts if it fell through. Krowgaut was riding the only horse that even looked decent, and I doubted he'd be chasing me personally. After they were on down the road a couple of hundred yards or so I swung up into Blacky's saddle and eased him out onto the road. They were all headed away from me and none of them seemed to be paying attention to the back trail - the men were probably too tired from the pig chasing to pay attention anyway. I started following, just barely gaining ground on them. I shook out my loop as I went. I used the dally rope since it was longer, but I didn't build a community loop like dally ropers often used. I concentrated on staying exactly behind Krowgaut since he wasn't looking behind himself at all. I was surprised I was able to get up to within about a hundred feet before one of the other hands looked back and raised the alarm. Krowgaut was as good as caught by that time though. His first mistake was stopping when the shout went out and his next was being too big and fat to dodge the loop when it came. I made a Houlihan throw and it settled right over his fat ass at once. I signaled Blacky to back up with my toes and I kept signaling. It made him practically run backwards, dragging lard ass off his mount and along the road. I was glad enough I wasn't having to steer right at the moment, since I saw the men draw their swords and start for me. I pulled my bow and was encouraging them to think things through almost right away. When they stopped to get organized and a few of them pulled crossbows I stopped signaling Blacky to back up and just left him keeping the line tight around Krowgaut by taking a step back when needed. "You know, Krowgaut, your only chance to live is if you have them throw down their weapons. Oh, they might hit me with a lucky shot, but when they start firing those crossbows our way, you're the most likely one to get hit. Besides, I've got my bow on you too and I damned sure can't miss from this close," I said, and it only took him a couple of seconds to realize I knew what I was talking about. He screamed for his men to put down their bows and after I encouraged him to he told them to put down all their weapons. I knew they wouldn't drop their hideouts now, but it didn't matter. I got down off Blacky and raised the loop up around Krowgaut's neck and tightened it so it would stay there, then I mounted again. "Have 'em ride by me one at a time with their hands up. I'm going to kill any of them who still have a weapon on 'em," I told Krowgaut - a few more knives and two clubs hit the ground before they reached me. When the inspection was over I made then all dismount and I had Krowgaut tie their hands behind each one of them. I did a careful over watch of the procedure with an arrow drawn and pointing at him. I made the men lead their horses back to the farm with me taking the lead this time and Krowgaut walking in front of me. We all got a big surprise when we made it back to the house. There were armed men waiting there along with Maime and Chatla. They asked if I needed any help with the prisoners and I said I thought we should strip them all naked and make sure they weren't hiding any more weapons. There was a lot of bitching going on for a minute there until clouts on the head from stout clubs started being doled out. All the men were soon naked and tied hand and foot. Krowgaut was an ugly site naked. "What should we do now?" the leader of Maime's clan asked me, when we had them all bound. "Well I don't think the nearby town is big enough to have a mayor is it?" "No. There is no mayor or town guard." "We'll just have our own trial here then." "Can we do that?" Maime asked. "Sure can. I'm a big land owner in my town and I know I have the right to hold a trial. Now, I want to hear from the victim, Damsel Chatla. "Damsel Chatla, did Krowgaut hold you in slavery here?" "Yes. He has held me nearly a year, doing awful things to my body and barely feeding me enough to stay alive." "It's true. I can vouch for her. She was brought to him and sold as an indentured servant, but she was always held in a room in the house in slavery. He must have done unspeakable things to her since she often screamed late into the night," Maime said. "Did any of his men know of this or participate?" "All his riders knew about it. That one was in with him a time or two, and another one too, but I don't see him here," Chatla said. "I probably killed him in town the other night. "Now, if there is no other testimony I will pass judgment." "You can't pass judgment. You aren't a judge, and I am a landowner myself," Krowgaut said. "I might not be a regular judge, but I am your judge. I find you and your foreman guilty. You will be hanged by the neck until dead. I find all the rest of your riders guilty of aiding slavery and they will be sentenced to thirty years of servitude and branding as a slaver." Everyone was silent for a few seconds and then the riders began complaining about being branded. I asked the ones standing around with clubs to encourage them to be silent, and they did, with relish. I had Krowgaut and his lead man dragged over under a tree with a handy overhanging limb, threw my rope across the limb, and one of Maime's family members was happy to put the rope around his neck. I thought to myself I was going to have to tie some hangman's nooses if I kept this shit up. As it was, a three loop dally around the horn and a quick start finished first Krowgaut and then his man. Maime's family members knew what to do about the slavers and one of them even had a nice little S brand handy. They built a fire right away and the iron was red hot within twenty minutes. They had a novel way of settling the participants down to make sure it was a clean brand. Three of the men with stout clubs beat them until they were very still, but they made sure not to hit them on the forehead. Was it a cruel punishment? Of course it was, but it wasn't a bit unusual for Chaos. Men who had been branded slavers rarely took part in slavery again, since the penalty for a second offense was death, usually by torture. As far as I was concerned it was only fair - nothing was more cruel than making someone a slave. I was surprised to see the new servants were allowed to dress again as soon as they quit their crying about the branding. They were quickly hustled off to their new duties and a general clean up was organized right away. Maime surprised me again by telling me to come on in the house and clean up a little because supper would be ready soon. Chatla came with me and showed me to Krowgaut's former bedroom. She told me the others had decided I should have it. "I've got to go fetch my other two horses and pick up the weapons I made his men drop in the road," I said. "No you don't. When her kin came to get us in the woods they brought your horses and everything else. They also sent some of the younger boys to pick up everything off the road," Chatla said. The girl I'd sent to warn everyone away from the farm earlier came in with a bucket of hot water then and she asked if I'd be taking a bath or just cleaning up in the basin. Chatla told her she'd be washing me in the basin and that one bucket of water would be fine. Chatla proceeded to do it just then. She had me strip off my clothes. She took a long look at the drop harness for holding a knife up my sleeve as it came off and she also perused the harness holding two throwing knives behind my neck. "My hero. It's no wonder they couldn't defeat you. You had knives waiting for them everywhere. I can't believe you are finally here to rescue me," she said, grabbing hold and kissing me soundly. There was nothing I could add so I just kept quiet and let her wash. She did an excellent job, especially around my dick and balls. She had me harder than times in 29 before she was done and I had trouble stuffing my dick back into my pants later. When I made it to the table it was piled high, but I was the only one being served. I asked Maime about it and when she said it was out of respect for the new owner I set her straight. "Your family now has ownership of this place. All I want is a little of the money he had squirreled away if we can find it. I will expect you all to do a good job running the place though and if I get by here again I'll stop in and check on you," I said, and then I asked her to bring in all the people who could fit around the table. When they were seated I met Jed, the natural leader of the clan I guessed. I went over with him again about them owning the place. He promised they would work hard and he even told me there would be six more fighting men joining them as soon as they could spread the word. I decided to stay until the others made it here and they made it within two more days. I had watched Jed run the place until then, and I decided to give them a couple of breeding horses. Chatla was getting antsy to go by then, but I threatened to spank her ass if she didn't settle down a little and she did. When Chatla and I left we took Jimmy and JoJo back to the ranch with us. They had been riding as guards for a larger farm somewhere, but they were moving onto the new farm now. ------- Chapter 24 We had a pleasant trip back, but it wasn't fast. The horses Jimmy and JoJo were riding couldn't keep up the pace. No matter, we got there soon enough and I had a lot of introducing to do. I left Chatla inside getting acquainted with Bill's wives and Kala. Ben and I gave Jimmy and JoJo a tour of the place. Ralph happened to be over on this side of the road and I let him give the two visitors a tour on the other side of the road while I talked to Ben about sending some breeding stock back home with Jimmy and JoJo. "It's come at a good time since we have plenty of stock now. I was afraid I would have to cut some of the better young stallions because we just can't afford to keep them all," he said. "I'm putting it on you then. Pick them out two mares and two stallions to send back with them." "How about two each from both of our main lines. Two stallions and two mares of the larger horses and two each of the Quarterhorses. We really are getting loaded down with good horses. I know it's a good problem to have, but still, I'd like to give some of these young horses a chance," he said. "Do what you think is best. Do you also have one of the young smiths you could send down there to live?" I asked. "No, but I've got Frank, and I think he is wanting to go to a place with a more traditional type of smithing. He is getting a little older and I think the work here is getting to him too. He can't let the younger boys take on most of the work like he should. "He is great at training them, but he can't seem to let them take over the work," Ben said. "Talk to him then and see what comes of it. Be sure to let him take anything we can supply to make his life easier down there," I said. He took off to talk to Frank and I looked up George for a word. I could tell I needed to do something with him or for him too. Fully a quarter of the space down in George's domain was full of things he'd cast. The first thing I though was that he was making things people didn't want to buy. "George, is your inventory building up on you," I asked, when he met me near the door. "It has a little, but I think I've got a better handle on what to cast now. A lot of that stuff sold well at first, but I guess I've got the local market flooded for the time being. I'm thinking about melting some of it back down and casting it as something that sells well now," he said. "What would you think of a new outlet?" "What do you mean?" "I just took over another big farm down south. It's over a hundred miles from here. Now that I know the deal, why don't you send some of the overstock down there and see if they can sell it for you?" "It sounds like a great idea to me. I'm more of a make it guy and I've already turned the selling part over to Jethro. Let's talk to him about it," he said. He rounded up Jethro, one of the young boys we'd rescued from Blanksdale, and we had a talk. Jethro was a natural at organizing and he was all for it right away. He even dragged out some papers where he had been keeping up with what was in inventory and he was able to tell us right away what was selling here and what wasn't. The upshot of it was George went right to work finishing a wagon he'd been building off and on. He and Jethro had been planning to pile the wagon full and send someone off to try selling the merchandise. The only hold up was they couldn't figure out a way to keep the goods and driver safe without sending about six men with him. They figured it was too big a price to pay just to send it off to try selling it out of the wagon. I had already figured out I'd need to make another trip down south before I took Chatla back to Crossroads. I knew she was about to get antsy over the delay, so that night I gave my all with tongue and fingers, time after time. At least I had her worn down enough she slept late the next morning. I pressed hard for the next three days to get the trip lined up and when I explained to Chatla what we'd be doing she took it better than I'd thought she would. Of course I'd paid special attention to her needs while we were waiting. We took off the next morning with Frank and his wife riding in a big wagon, hauling all their things. Jethro and his wife and all their things were crowded into the wagon with all of George's over supply. I rode one of the horses that was going to stay with the new place and Chatla rode another one. We also had six guards with us. They were mostly to make sure there'd be someone to take the wagons back. It was a long boring trip and there was some negotiating to do when I got there. At least it was the easy part. Jed could see the benefits of the castings right away and he'd been worried who would take care of his smithing work anyway. I concentrated on getting the details ironed out for a couple of days, while the wagons were being unloaded, and while places to put Frank and Jethro and their wives were worked out. Soon enough it was time for Chatla and I to make our departure. There was a town with a bank twenty-five miles on farther south and so my six guards rode down there with us to bring the horses back. When we made it into the bank everything seemed normal and we headed to the vault, I stored all my equipment, and then when I closed the last box we were back at Kathy Caretaker's place and Chatla wasn't a bit happier about it than I was. Kathy got me healed and Chatla bathed right away, and then she reversed the process. "Jack, I can't believe how well you handled yourself while you were gone, and you've even got another safe hangout started." she said. "Maybe, but it was only by the hardest. It required another long trip with the Damsel after she was rescued and I hated the delay in getting back to you." "Well you're here now and maybe it did Chatla some good. She seemed happy enough about spending time with you on Chaos after she was rescued," Kathy said. "No doubt the delay was not so bad due to my excellent tongue work," I said. "But, Jack, you aren't supposed to have sex with the Damsel on Chaos," Kathy said. "I Did Not Have Sex With That Woman, on Chaos," I said, in my best Bill Clinton imitation. "But you just admitted having sexual contact with her." "Sexual contact is not sex. Bill Clinton already hashed out that whole thing and he convinced me," I said. "But who is Bill Clinton?" "He was once the President of the United States. The most powerful man on earth, for a time. If it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me." "But your President doesn't have any authority on Chaos or Crossroads," she said. "Did the portal allow me through as a Hero?" "Well, yeh." "Then I, as a Hero from Earth, say sexual contact is not the same or equal to having sex. If another Hero considers it sex, it isn't my fault. Maybe their tongue is longer than mine." "That's why the last few Damsels you've brought back seem more calm when they get here, isn't it?" "I'm sure I'm not qualified to know what is calming the Damsels, but it does seem that way to me too. One thing I'm not going to do is treat them with the disrespect of a lab experiment and withhold the tongue simply for empirical data." "But you're getting awfully close to bending the rules," she said. "That sentence doesn't make lexical sense. Rules are rules and therefore must be absolute - they are not bent. If they weren't absolute they wouldn't be rules. The portals are the definers of the rules and the enforcers of the rules. We can only go by what they teach us. They have taught me it is perfectly allowable for me to lick the Damsel's pussy before I get back to Crossroads - else they wouldn't have let either of us back in. "The whole system would fail to function if the rules were applied capriciously. If it were the case they would cease to be rules and would become merely suggestions. The only possibility for rule breaking is capricious application on someone's part. As long as the portals function for me I can't be breaking the rules. "Now, there may be some members, further on up the line in the organization, who would like to impose other restrictions, but they are only spewing conversation. "Someone made the portal mechanism and they built the rules into it. Those are the rules, anything others have tried to add is simply and purely bullshit. If they had the power to do anything about it they would install it into the portal. They had better leave well enough alone before they do something to fuck the whole thing up." I hadn't realized I'd taken the portals so much to heart, but I guess I had. Hell, it was what made sense to me and I didn't mind saying so. After my time in the Navy I was more than well familiar with people on up the chain of command making rules they had no right to and I wasn't going to take it here anymore than I'd had there. I was going to fight it tooth and nail here too. Kathy was a little subdued for a minute, but I started teasing her titties and she snapped right out of it. She left me to dry off on my own and went to fetch Chatla. I didn't move from the shower and was still naked and under the water when she got back with Chatla. "Come on in girls, the water's fine." We had a great time in the shower and after we were dry we retired to the bedroom where I put on a tour de force, showing what a masterful job a long dicked Texan could do when inspired. I even skipped meals until in the morning and Kathy was still so wrung out she could barely order for me. She and Chatla slept until late afternoon. I dialed it back a little for the rest of the time Chatla was with us and the discussion about the rules never came up again. By and by Chatla caught and came out of the bathroom announcing it one morning. I was already dressed as I had been every morning for the last eight and I had time to give Chatla a nice warm kiss and then Kathy the same, along with a farewell fondle on her ass, then I left as I started to feel the squeezing sensation in my chest. "I'll be damned," said Cowboy Jack, "I was beginning to think the world was coming to an end." "What?" "You was gone two seconds longer than fifteen minutes." "Bullshit. You just forgot to carry the one." "Well whatever. I done something useful while you was gone this time. I'm glad you came back dressed decent. Come on, we need to get to San Antone," he said. "Welcome back to you to," I said, as I found my truck keys and headed out the door. "Where are we going in San Antonio?" "I got to go see a man about a dog - two dogs in fact," he said, and then settled back in the seat. "Wake me up when we get to town." I did of course and Cowboy Jack pulled out his phone, switched something on it and it started giving me directions about where to turn. It led us into a residential district and up to a house. Cowboy Jack bailed out when I got stopped and of course I followed along behind him. He knocked on the door and a woman answered. After the pleasantries were over she led us to a room where a mama dog was in a box and sucking eight pups. Cowboy Jack knelt down and started stroking her head and then Jane, the woman who'd opened the door, showed me out into the back yard where a German Sheppard male was lying around. He hopped up and came right over to us when he heard us come out. He approached me with a wary eye, so I put my hand down and let him sniff it. I guess he liked what he smelled because he looked up at me then. I knelt down and patted his head. Cowboy Jack came right out then and he knelt down and patted the dog's head too. We stroked on the dog for about fifteen minutes while the woman just watched. Then Cowboy Jack rose up to his feet again. "Mrs Gonzales, I can't tell you how sorry I am for your loss. If you think we'll do, I'd like to take the dogs," he said to the woman. It was all pretty much business then. Cowboy Jack wrote her a check and we took the dogs out and put 'em in the pickup's cab. I was surprised when we took the male and female grown dogs too, but I didn't say anything. Just as I was about to start the truck Cowboy Jack told me about the dogs. "I been wanting a dog or two for about a year. I looked around on Craig's List and found these. The grown dogs belonged to her son, and he was just killed in Iraq. I bought 'em from her," he said. "Hang on a second," I said, and got out of my truck and went back to the house, checkbook in hand. I'd just finished writing the check when she came back to the door and looked out. "I forgot to pay my half ma'am," I said, handed her the check, and headed back to the truck. "How much did you give her?" Cowboy Jack asked. "Ten thousand, just like you." "It won't cure her ills you know," he said. "I know, but it's the best we can do, and maybe it'll help just a little. We drove straight back to Cowboy Jacks place and those grown dogs were damned sure ready for a place to pee when we got there. We let them out to run around and I took the box of pups back into the house. About ten minutes later the mamma dog came in and got into the box with the pups. The male dog came in a few minutes later. "You get their names?" I asked. "Samson and Delilah," he said, and they both perked up their ears. "Well, that answers that question. They know their names. I wonder if they know any tricks? "Only tricks I need these two to know is go outside to shit and piss and make more pups whenever she can. God, I just love to handle puppies," Cowboy Jack said. "Now you mention tricks, how 'bout you do that cooking trick you're so good at." "I guess it is time for a bite to eat," he said, and started making noises in the kitchen. We mostly played with the pups and the dogs for the next three days. Early one morning Samson and Delilah were both staring out the portal door and then they took off out it after a coyote nosing around outside. They never made it outside. I could tell by now what it looked like when something left through the portal. "Jack, grab the pups and come here," I said, and he did it even though I don't think he'd seen the dogs leave. I pulled him through the portal and both the grown dogs were sniffing and whining at the door Kathy had open just a fraction. She opened it up when she saw me and Cowboy Jack standing there and the dogs rushed on by her. She came out to give me a kiss and then she noticed the pups in the box Cowboy Jack was holding. "Jack, you've brought the whole circus this time. Where did you find this guy?" she asked, waving at Cowboy Jack. "Kathy Caretaker, I'd like to introduce the one and only Hero Cowboy Jack," I said, and you could tell she was embarrassed right away. "I'm so sorry, Hero Cowboy Jack. I didn't mean any disrespect," Kathy said, and I could tell she was about to cry over it. I guess Cowboy Jack could too. "Now don't you start with that Hero Cowboy Jack stuff Glenda always used to pull on me," he said, and just then Glenda opened the door and the waterworks started up for real. "Cowboy Jack," she said, nearly squalling, and ran to him throwing her arms around him. "I got the buzz you were here and I couldn't believe it. Where did you get all those puppies?" "The grown dogs ran through the portal, I guess, and somehow they made the trip. Jumbo Dick hollered for me to bring the puppies and come on and here I am, clueless as usual," he said. "Haven't you got something you wanted to ask Glenda, Cowboy Jack?" I asked. He gave me such a look, but then he said, "Glenda, I love you more than anyone I ever loved, and I'd like for you to come on home with me now and stay." "Do you think it will let me pass?" "No time like now to find out. Samson, Delilah, come on back now," he said, and then he took Glenda's hand and he, the puppies, Glenda, and the two grown dogs disappeared. "What about you Kathy. Want to come to earth with me?" I asked her. "But you'd have to get another Caretaker here," she said. "Maybe, maybe not, but you don't have to stay if you don't like it." Just then the door to what I thought of as the apartment complex opened and two tall but skinny guys came rushing through. I gave Kathy a nudge through the portal and then turned to face them. "Bring her back at once, we demand it," one of them said. "Get her yourself," I said, and grabbed each of them by the throat, backing through the portal with them. Since I'd known what I was going to do I landed on my beet between them and the portal. They both turned around as if to attack me. I was pretty sure I could handle them, but I didn't want to have to. "Cowboy Jack. Grab my Glock and shoot both these bastards in the hip, make it both hips," I said. Old Cowboy Jack would fool you any chance he could. He put on a good show of being old and stove up, but he had Glock in hand and was about to shoot them both before quick could get ready. "You two better hit your knees and start begging unless you got some magic that keeps Earth Bullets from hurting you." They hit their knees and were begging like lawyers before Cowboy Jack could even pull the trigger. "But, Jack, they're the Powers that Be," Kathy said. "More like the Powers that Were. My real guess is they're just Cassandra men who are jealous of the portal scheme and the success it's having. They either found the portal mechanism or were shown the works by the real Powers that Be. "I think they've been busily trying to screw with it for decades. Didn't you notice the breakdown it had this morning?" I asked. "Breakdown?" "Tell her Cassandra men. Tell her how you tried something on the portal controls and screwed the pooch. Is any of the screening left on it at all now, or are they just open to any and all who want to come through?" I asked, and from the way they hung their heads I was pretty sure any portal at all was open for business now. Neither one of them would say a word, and I was trying to think of a way to make them talk, a little at least. I called Samson over and told him to sic. Man, he did an excellent job. He was up in one of their faces growling so loud it scared me and his jaws were practically foaming. It was all either of them could take. "Yes, you're right. We were trying to modify the software and something went wrong. All portals are completely open now. You must let us return and fix it at once," he said. "No need. I'm betting Cowboy Jack's portal is the widest open one in existence and it ain't all that accessible. What you've got to worry about is not people slipping through. You've got to worry about whether I'm going to call up at least a hundred real life heroes I know and invite them out here to join the game - new rules and all," I said, and one of them actually fainted. "New rules?" the other one asked. "Yep, like full battlefield packs, weapons, and full ammunition load outs. I won't let them fuck up Chaos of course. I'll just send them straight through to Cassandra with a thousand dollar bounty on any man they deball. The way I see it you Cassandra men are worthless anyway. Might as well get rid of you all now and send in some real men from earth," he said. "But the portals we use will only let females pass," Glenda said. "She said, as two men who had just come through them from Cassandra were kneeling in plain view," I said. "For right now all portals are open in either direction. The only thing keeping the status quo is the expectation of everything being normal," I said. ------- Chapter 25 Apparently, unbeknownst to us, the portals made a sort of high-pitched sound when they operated. Not within our spectrum of hearing, but it damned sure got Samson and Delilah's attention. Another man popped through and he had some sort or weapon in his hand. "Sic," I said, and I'll admit I was a little loud about it and might have sounded desperate. The guy was on the ground at once with about two hundred and thirty or so pounds of German Sheppards snatching pieces out of his ass, and other parts. His toy stunner, or whatever it was, went flying. "I'll be damned. You musta been right, Jack. That was damned sure some type of weapon he just came through the portal with. Samson, Delilah, stay," Cowboy Jack said, and then he went over with a piggin' string and tied the new arrival up, tight - while he was at it he tied the hands of the two we'd had all along. "OK. Glenda, you and Kathy are going to have to decide what we're going to do. You're the only ones we can get any input on the Cassandra way of thinking from," I said, but the one on his knees who'd been doing all the talking butted in again. "That's ridiculous. They don't have the training to decide anything," he said. "Well you two damned sure don't, and besides, you won't have to worry about it. In a few minutes I'm going to test out the portal's other feature. I'm going to see if it will return your dead asses to Crossroads and then ship them out to Cassandra. I wonder who'll be around when three dead Cassandra men pop through. Well, that went over like the proverbial turd in the punchbowl. Only reason you couldn't hear a pin drop in Cowboy Jack's little house was because the birds were singing up a storm outside. "Seriously, Jack, what are we gonna do now?" Kathy asked. Just then Samson and Delilah perked up watching the portal again and a beautiful, but obviously older, woman popped through. "Mistress Eva," Glenda and Kathy said, in unison. Mistress Eva took a look around and she looked especially hard at the three we had bound. "What's going on here?" Mistress Eva asked, and her tone wasn't the most polite. "Watch you mouth, Mistress Eva. Cowboy Jack's got more piggin' strings available. You're not on Crossroads, Cassandra, or even Chaos now," I said, and both Glenda and Kathy cringed. "Excuse me sir. You are quite right. To my mortification I see I am in someone's home at that. I'm Mistress Eva that Be," she said, and reached for my hand to shake it. "I'm Hero Jack," I said, shaking her hand. I introduced her to Hero Cowboy Jack then and after he shook her hand I introduced Caretaker Glenda and Caretaker Kathy. She allowed she was acquainted with them, so I introduced her to Samson and Delilah and they promptly put their paws up to shake. That got her goat, but she duly shook hands with them too. "I'm guessing you know these gentlemen tied up on the floor too - and you have my sympathy." The whole sordid tale came out then and finally Eva asked what would satisfy me. I told her I could let bygones be bygones if things were just back to normal. "Of course, I'm going to have to kill the three Cassandra men here," I said, and it was another shocker, especially for her. Mistress Eva had been trying to hang on to a little of her high-horse act, but it all disappeared then, since she realized if I intended to kill them they would be dead. Dead is dead after all. Everyone involved with the game knew it. "Can't we persuade you to change your mind? We could allow you to bring anything you want to Crossroads and Chaos," she said, but it looked like it put a bad taste in her mouth to say it. "That's the last thing I want. I want the rules to be strictly enforced, for everyone, but I don't want them changing every time some Cassandra man gets jealous or has a little snit. I want the rules to be what the portals enforce and I don't want some jackass showing up with some new interpretation to my detriment every time I turn around. "In fact, I'll bet most Cassandra men couldn't care less about the whole adventure scenario. It seems to me putting Cassandra men in a position of power does something terrible to their delicate psyches, and I recommend they all be excluded from those perilous duties at once. To tell you the truth, I've always felt women were much more capable of making rational decisions in pressure packed situations. "Let me sum it up. You can satisfy me by removing all men from Powers that Be status and have only Cassandra women in charge of things. Do that, and put the rules back like they were and we'll be Jake. I'll turn these three over to you, for punishment, and I'll expect your guarantee they will never have any authority ever again, anywhere. "But we will need them to restore the machinery. Some of the women have been in training, but they might not be up to it yet," Mistress Eva said. "Nonsense. Just restore the software from the latest backup. I know damned well there has to be one," I said, clearly remembering Whooper telling me about restoring my computer via the backup he made for me before I left. "I think I did hear one of the technicians speaking of something like it, but I'm afraid I don't know a thing about the technical details. "In that case I'm going to insist I keep these three until the software is restored. Does anyone else know what has happened?" I asked. "No. We were very tight lipped about things as you can probably imagine." "I can indeed. Why don't you go back and see if things can be arranged to our mutual satisfaction. Maybe speak to the technicians in training and see if they can do it. If worse comes to worst I will accompany these men to deal with the problem and I will encourage the ones I leave alive to cooperate "If the backup thing works we should have an agreement. I have the authority to make those decisions, especially in view of the permanent incapacitation of these three." She said her goodbyes then and walked back through the portal. I immediately dragged the three tied up Cassandra men out of the house and about fifty yards out into the pasture. "Be very quiet out here. If the dire wolves hear you they'll come to investigate and they'll surely eat you at once. I'd be as still as I could too," I told them, and I didn't even snicker. Once I was back in the house I had Cowboy Jack help me gather up all the plastic fantastic bows. Hell, might as well take mine and the ten extra I ordered that you didn't know about. I guess we should take the two thousand carbon fibre arrows I ordered too," he said, and I nearly choked. "But I wasn't trying to take advantage of this situation," I said. "I know you weren't, and it's something I'm going to have to tutor you on. You should always be alert for changing conditions and be ready to take advantage. Right now, just do it. I was working on a place what said they could make super strong plastic broadheads, but all I've got now are real broadheads, and they're just going to have to do. Just then Mistress Eva popped back through the portal and said everything was Jake. "The restoration from the backup will be completed in eight of your hours. Until then we'll have to hope no gross violations occur," she said. Cowboy Jack, Glenda, and Kathy made themselves scarce then. No doubt they were trying to conceal what we'd been about to try. I sidled up closer to Mistress Eva and whispered in her ear. "One more thing. What about the Caretakers coming and going with us?" I asked Mistress Eva. "Well, it is strictly confidential information, but in lieu of your excellent service tonight I'll tell you the Caretakers and the Damsels have always been able to pass either way to and from Earth. In fact, trying to change that is exactly what got the men into trouble and disrupted the portal screens." "You're secret is safe with me," I said, and I gave her ass a nice fondle just as she was leaving. I joined the others then and as soon as I sat down Kathy was in my lap. "That went much better than I expected it to, and don't think I didn't see you give her ass that little squeeze at the last," she said. "Well, Powers that Be need love too," I said, and the three of them broke out laughing at me. "What are you gonna do with those three you dragged outside?" Cowboy Jack asked. "I'm going to wait until the software is back right and then I'll carry them to Crossroads and turn them over to the new Powers that Be. They're being very still and quiet until then so they won't attract dire wolves to come and eat them." "What in the hell are you talking about? There ain't no dire wolves on earth," Cowboy Jack said. "I know and you know, but they don't," I said, and finally laughed once myself. Cowboy Jack and I packed up all the bows and arrows we had into the boxes they came in and then packed them through the portal and set them down in the room near the other portal, the one which went to Chaos. It was a little odd to be walking back and forth through the portal like it was just another doorway, but that was what it was like. Hell, I noticed Samson and Delilah taking a couple of strolls back and forth and it was almost like they were making a patrol to make sure nothing was bothering anything. After we had moved all the contraband into the room which held the portal to Chaos I picked up the first boxes and made the leap. I appeared inside a bank vault, called for my boxes and started stuffing things in them It took several trips back and forth to carry it all, and more than a little time to pack it up. When I was done I closed my boxes, they disappeared, and I was back in Kathy Caretaker's apartment. There was a lot of fucking going on in Cowboy Jack's little cabin that night after I made it back The next morning we weren't up at sunrise, but it felt awfully good to wake up with Kathy in my arms in my own bed on earth. The first thing I noticed was Samson and Delilah walking in and out the portal's door and going nowhere, but outside and then coming back inside. I figured the portal was back in service for real now. Cowboy Jack and Glenda made breakfast together, with Cowboy Jack doing most of the actual cooking. We all sat down to eat and the women raved about his cooking. I warned them they were going to make his head swell, but they didn't pay me any attention. I went out to wake our outside sleepers when it was time to go and I saw they couldn't make the trip with no ring. I had a little twinge about letting them go through, but I'd promised, so I did. Kathy called someone as soon as we were there and a squad of armed women came and took them off my hands. Kathy called for restoratives for us both before we could even get our clothes off and soon we were snuggled up in her bed panting it off. "You know, there was something very relaxing about making love in your bed on earth," she said, after we both had our breath back. "Well feel free to come down and get some anytime you feel lonely," I said. "Do you think the portal will let me?" she asked. "If it doesn't I'll have a word with Mistress Eva and give her another pat on the ass. I'm sure she can fix it up for me," I said, and she slapped me on the arm and then laughed at me. "Do you think they really put those men in jail?" she asked. "If they did or if they didn't they'd better make sure I never find out. I tried to play nice with them this time and I made sure not to change the status quo. There's no telling what I'd do if I found out I'd been deceived." We finally rolled out of bed and had another breakfast. The machinery here could fix it almost as good as Cowboy Jack, but it just couldn't get the taste of fertilized eggs down perfectly. No matter, I could adapt. We were just sitting around snuggling after breakfast and I finally asked Kathy if she had any missions to look over. She showed me three and for once I took the one she wanted me to take - the one she thought would be easiest. It did seem simple on the face of things, but it was over three hundred miles from the ranch and even farther from my other newer point of contact. Still, it involved getting there via a bank, as always, so I put on my Chaos clothes and took off. As soon as I was in the vault I called for my box with all my weapons and strapped them on. My next trick was to go out and hire four more boxes. I knew I wouldn't need them long, but I needed the storage space now. The teller was a little disturbed by me wanting four boxes, but he finally told me to put different fingers into the hole for each separate box and then he saw the charges had been removed from my account and he forgot his objections. I went back into the vault, called for the boxes one at a time, and rearranged the things I had shoehorned in before, trying to get things organized so I could get them in or out more easily. Finally I had all the bows put away except for one new one. I had twenty-four of the new arrows in my quiver and I called for my original box back and put my Chaos made bow away. As long as I was in the vault and closed up I fiddled with the new bow I was going to be using and made sure everything was right with it. I'd have a good idea of how it shot since I'd used it on earth. Finally I decided I was ready and left the vault. There was a guard in the lobby, but he was in a chair and looked like he was asleep. I acted like I was walking out the door, but stopped at the last moment and a sword slashed right where I would have been if I'd taken one more step. I took my step then, onto the blade which had just slashed down. It surprised the wielder and my weight ripped the sword from his grip. I stepped around the doorframe and stuck the dropdown knife low into the guts of the one who'd tried to cut me in half as I came out the door, then I pulled up as hard as I could and split his abdomen open like gutting a deer or something. His insides spilled out onto the ground while we both watched. I stepped away from him quickly and drew my sword. The guard was up out of his chair by now and he had his own sword out. The only trouble was he was heading for me instead of to help me. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his buddy's condition. "Clem. Are you ok, Clem?" he asked, and I cut his sword hand off while he was worrying about his partner. He started screaming then and Clem was groaning awfully loud too. Come to think of it, he was making an impressive amount of noise for someone with his diaphragm cut in half that is. Anyway it drew a crowd. There were four armed men who showed up first, but I use the term armed loosely. At least they did have some kind of sword hanging on their waists. "What do you think you're doing mister? You've done kilt Clem and cut Jake's hand off," the obvious leader said. "Yes. I would have killed Jake by now if so many hadn't come up. Clem attacked me as I came out of the bank and Jake tried to help him," I said. "So you say. We may just have to take a town vote over that." "Well let's get it on then," I said, pulling my sword, "get your sword out and get ready to vote. You can see I'm ready now." I could see I'd overloaded his faculties already, but since I figured this was some kind of community action I didn't want to waste time in case some one of them actually could come up with a good idea. I stepped forward and slapped his cheek with the flat part of my sword. "Come on asshole. Get your sword out and let's vote," I said. The four ringleaders pulled their swords then and using my usual quick estimate of their skills method I decided they couldn't cut a hole in the bottom of a boot to let the piss drain. I removed the head of the one I'd slapped with the flat right away and then waded in on the others. When I was through with them, in about forty seconds, one more was headless and the last two were in the same shape as Clem - except I'd sliced their abdomens open horizontally instead of vertically. "All right now. If any of the rest of you want to vote draw your swords and come up here. If you don't have a sword of your own you can pick up one off the ground and use it," I said, after stepping back a little. I caught a little motion off to the side then and just managed to duck in time to keep a rock from hitting my head. I switched hands with my sword and threw a knife from behind my neck at the rocker. I didn't quite get him in the windpipe, but I did sink the knife to its hilt right beside it, and I could tell at once I'd done for his carotid artery on one side. I switched hands again with my sword and waited for developments. There weren't any more. There were five more men standing around with their mouths hanging open and a couple of kids who had watched the show. I called to one of them. "I'll bet you a shell you can't show me which horses these men were riding," I said, to the kid, and he started pointing them out. One of the geniuses remaining standing and looking made a grab for the kid, to shut him up I guess, but he lost a hand doing it. While he was screaming I opened his windpipe too, just for luck. The boy had finished by now, but he looked back up at me and asked, "Do you want to know which horse was his too?" he asked, pointing to the one who'd tried to grab him. "Yes, his too, but just keep an eye on them and sing out if someone tries to move them. I've got to take care of the bodies before I get to the horses. I dragged Clem, Jake, and the one with my throwing knife in his throat over near the others and proceeded to strip bodies in place. Mostly they had a sword or a knife and a shell or two in their pockets. Except for the one who threw the rock. All he had was eight pinches. Finally I was done - I had their money in my pocket and their weapons and clothes packed onto their horses. The boy, he looked to be twelve or thirteen, was still hanging around. I paid him his shell and gave him another one and six pinches to go with it. "Is that the only inn in town?" I asked him, pointing to the one most of the assholes had come from. "Yes sir. And you've killed about half their customers," he said, and grinned like hell about it. "Do you think I'll have to kill the other half if I went in to get a meal?" "You might have to, but most of them don't have any real weapons. The innkeeper ain't a bad fella, but they sort of took over his place and runed off all his other trade. They've only been in town about a week or two." "Well where can I get a good meal then?" "My momma is a good cook, and she's been feeding some people for money at our house. She had to since this bunch killed my daddy the first night they was in town," he said. "My names Jack, what's yours?" I asked. "I'm Tom Smith Jr. Daddy owned the livery, but nobody in town let the bastards know it after they kilt him. Bob, my daddy's hired man, has been taking care of the stable since it happened, but he turns what money he takes in over to momma at the end of the day. Momma says we're lucky to have him." "Well, will you help me take my new horses down to the stable for Bob to take care of?" "Shore, Jack, I'd be glad to." We went over to the hitching rack and untied the seven mounts Tom said belonged to the dead men. None of them were much worth a shit, but at least they could carry their own saddles and the weapons and clothes I tied on them. Tom introduced me to Bob when we made it to the stable and he said he'd take care of the horses, tack, and other things for me. I headed back for the hitching rail then and Tom followed me. "What'cha gonna do now mister?" he asked. "Well, I figure I might as well take the rest of the horses of these men who came into town together," I said. "But they ain't dead yet mister. They went back into the inn." "That's all right. I can just kill them if they come out to argue," I said. I only had to kill one as it turned out. When I made the happy announcement after disposing of the first one who came out I also said I'd be coming into the inn when I got the horses settled. Some of the men took off down the road walking after I said it and the rest went back into the inn and then slipped out the back door. I didn't blame them. I don't think another one of them even owned a sword and a man armed with a knife in a sword fight is usually at a disadvantage, even if he is a good knife fighter. ------- Chapter 26 Bob could hardly believe it when we got there with the rest of the horses. He was happy enough to take charge of them though. "Now, Tom, where is your house. I'm just a little hungry and I'd like to buy a meal or six off your mother," I said. "Right this way, Jack. I know she'll be proud to feed you for free when she hears what you done," he said, and he led the way. Of course there wasn't room for seating inside, but they had a couple of tables outside under some shade trees. His mother came right out when Tom had me sit down, and she asked what I'd like. If she'd been on earth I'd have liked a piece or eight of her ass. She was a relatively young woman and even in her rough clothes I could tell she was well set up for titties and had a splendid ass to boot. I was about to tell her to bring me plenty of anything good, but Tom couldn't contain himself any longer. "You can tell Nancy she don't have to hide any more. Jack kilt eight of those turd heads and he runned the other'ns off. He even took all their horses, though they weren't much." "I'll tell her then as soon as I find out what he wants to eat," she said, and then I told her plenty of anything and she headed into the house for it. "When she came back with the food the Damsel Nancy was right behind her. I'd figured it would be the case since Tom mentioned her name. "Damsel Nancy, I'm Hero Jack, and it seems I've rescued you, by accident almost," I said, and stood up. "She rushed into my arms and kissed me soundly right away. "I've been so scared they'd find me. They captured me and I managed to steal their best horse and make it here. I ran into the stable and Tom's father sent me to his home to hide. They showed up and killed him, but no one in town would tell them where he lived. They didn't know for sure I was here anyway," she said. "Well, I killed the worst of the bunch and sent the others packing. Since I sent them off afoot I expect at least a few of them will be hanging around trying to steal anything they can, so I guess I'd better ride around a little and do some patrolling for them for a few days at least," I said. "But aren't you going to take me back?" Nancy asked. "Of course I am. I have to think about my reward don't I. Still, it wouldn't be fair for me to leave right away. You coming here did cause a lot of grief for Mary after all, and I need to make sure she will have a decent chance to make a living after we've gone," I said. "Oh Mary! I'm so sorry. I've been so worried about my own situation I didn't even consider the grief I've caused you. I'm so sorry," Nancy said. "Don't you worry about it. Tom Sr was a fine man and a good husband. Things happen though, and there's nothing you can do about them, but try to go on. I'll make it somehow, and Tom Jr will be able to help. He's getting close to being a man now," she said, and then they hugged each other and started boohooing. Thankfully Mary had brought some food before the waterworks shut on. I tried to keep out of it and eat my late lunch like a good boy. Later, after I'd finished eating, I tried to leave to go to the inn for a room. Mary and Nancy nixed that notion and I ended up staying in the room with Nancy. It was a little crowded, but it was fine with me. I didn't have to reach very far for a handful of titty or to fondle an ass cheek. The next morning I was up early and Nancy was sleeping in. I stumbled into the kitchen and Mary was there cooking already. She fixed me a cup of tea and I sat down to talk with her for a while. She was sure they would be all right here and that they'd be able to get by with the stable and with her cooking and serving meals. She said she could already charge double what the inn did for meals since her cooking was so much better. "Tom Jr will be able to help at the stable after he learns some things. His daddy was about to start showing him how to shoe horses before he was killed," she said. I was mostly watching her splendid ass as she worked and getting a look at her swinging titties when she was facing my way. She looked delicious and I could tell she knew it. I ended up volunteering to show Tom Jr how to shoe horses, and I'm pretty sure her charms didn't do it all, but I knew they did most of it. After breakfast Tom and I headed for the stable, sorta. He walked us farther out of town nearly a mile first to a small farm and when we saw a man working around his barn Tom went over to talk with him. It turned out it was where they'd hidden the horse Nancy came riding in on and Tom had come by to pick it up and take it back to the stable. I didn't have any idea where the bunch of assholes had come up with the horse but it was a good mare. Oh, it was nothing like our stock at the ranch, but it was a good mare all the same. I knew right away which horse I'd be riding while I patrolled around the area. As soon as we made it to the stable I gave Tom his first lesson in horseshoeing. Well it was the first step anyway, and thanks to the donations by the turd squad he had plenty of stock to practice on. I found the one with it's feet in the worst shape and gave Tom a good lesson on cleaning a horse's feet with a hoof knife and pick. I left him at it after a short demo and I saddled the horse we'd retrieved and took off. My first stop was at the inn. I tied the horse to the hitching rail and made my way inside to see if I could get a cup of tea. The owner served me right away and told me it was on the house. "Mister, I can't tell you how glad I am for what you done. That bunch runned off all my regular customers and they wouldn't pay for what they got half the time besides," he said. "Well, I'm going to take a ride around this morning to make sure they're long gone. If you know of any place they are or hear of it, be sure and let me know." "That's even better. You ain't planning on settling here are you? We could use a good man to sheriff for us around here," he said. "Nope, but I'm gonna be around here a couple of weeks helping out Mary since she lost her man and all. I'll try to deal with any trouble makers while I'm here." "Well that was the thing that got us into trouble, kinda. We ain't had no troublemakers in this town in years, and when that bunch came along we just weren't set up for it. Some of us been talking since you run them off though and we're trying to find a way to be ready next time. I mounted up and left after my tea and conversation. I struck out up north on the main road through town. I'd made it about two miles when I saw a horse and rider running down a lane from a house, with a man chasing after them with a pitchfork. The rider was bent down over the horse's neck and he was obviously getting all the speed he could out of the poor thing. I came up on the head of the lane about the time the man with the pitchfork made it. The horse and rider were at least a quarter mile ahead by now. "Howdy mister. It looks like to me that fella just stole your horse?" "He did. It was one of them what got run out of town t'other night. I hired him because he would work so cheap, but now he's stole my best horse." "Well, I'm gonna run him down for you and bring your horse back, but I'm gonna fine you two pinches for being stupid enough to hire him," I said. "And I'll be damned if I don't deserve it. I'll pay it gladly to have my horse back." I put my heels to the horse I was riding and picked up my bow while we were moving. My horse wasn't alarmingly faster than the mount we were chasing, but I'd been walking her and he'd run the stolen horse nearly a quarter mile down the lane what with the farmer and pitchfork so close on his ass and all. I ran my mount up closer than I normally would have because I wasn't so sure about my aim with the new bows and new arrows. It was good enough though, and the broadhead went right though his heart from the back and on out about six inches in front. He hit the ground dead I expect. Once I caught up where the horse had stopped after he'd fallen off I dismounted and turned the jackass over. Sure enough I recognized him as one of those I'd run off from the inn. I got to use one of the excellent features of the carbon fibre arrows then. They had threads in the end of the shaft, and with a handy little stamped wrench I could remove the broadhead. I did, pulled the shaft back through the dead body, wiped the blood off on his clothes, and then screwed the broadhead back in place I went through his pockets and he only had three pinches. He didn't even have a knife at all and his clothes weren't worth taking for rags or scrap leather. I rolled his body off the road, took the mount's reins in hand, mounted mine and rode back to the farmer. The farmer was happy to get his horse back, but he talked me out of cash money for the fine and gave me two laying hens instead. He put them in a bag and I headed back to town, going straight to Mary's house to get rid of the hens. Or course this let me arrive in time for a late lunch, and since the serving outside was basically over I was served in the kitchen and with two women to wait on me. Mary had Tom take care of the chickens and put them in the pen with the others. "What have you been up to this morning," Nancy asked. "Well, after I gave Tom a few instructions I took a ride and caught one of the ones I ran off trying to steal a horse. That's how I got the hens. I fined the farmer who lost his horse two pinches for hiring the scalawag in the first place," I said. "That must have been farmer Jones. He is in love with money more than he is with something to eat. I can't believe he gave you two hens in place of paying two pinches," Mary said. "His tight fistedness is what had him hiring the guy in the first place. He took him on, knowing he was rotten, because he could pay him less," I said. "Sounds just like him. His wife left him two years ago because he was too cheap to buy her any material to make dresses with," Mary said, and laughed. I noticed a little going on in the kitchen that wasn't being mentioned. Nancy would wag her ass at me as if accidentally and then Mary would out do her at it. Then Nancy would bend over the table to put something down for me to eat, showing me a good view of a large part of her titties and soon enough Mary would pull a similar stunt. My dick was harder than the iron I'd be showing Tom how to pound into horseshoes before long. When I finished eating Tom and I returned to the stable. It was time for a lesson on trimming hooves now and I knew it would be a long one. Trimming a hoof isn't such a big deal unless you're going to shoe the horse within a few days, but if you are you need to get the hoof at exactly the right angle and you need to make sure you get them all at the same angle. It isn't such a hard concept to get over to the one you're trying to teach to do it, but in practice it is devilishly hard at first. There was no setting him to it and leaving him to get done. I had to work with him on every hoof and keep him on the straight and narrow. If he fucked one up it would be weeks of using the horse without shoes until he could try again. Once you take material away from a hoof you just have to let it grow back if you take too much. I started him on the worst horses first. By the next morning I had Tom to where he could trim on his own and I spent two hours making us a couple of wooden swords. In the afternoon I gave him a lesson in handling a sword and then we worked at it a little. He knew nothing to start with and damned little when it was over. I had managed to get him started though. Time seemed to pass slowly while I was there. It was punctuated by good meals, teaching Tom to shoe horses, and after the forth day I learned it was also going to be replete with ever increasing peep shows. First, on the forth morning, I noticed Mary's dress seemed to fit her ass more snugly and when she bent down to put my breakfast in front of me I noticed there was more room in the top of this dress and the neckline was lower. I could plainly see her stiffening nipples when she put the plate down and she didn't raise back up in any hurry either. She was showing me the goodies on purpose - that was one thing I was sure of. Later she seemed to be working at the cabinet right across from me and it took one hell of a lot of ass swinging and swaying to get whatever she was doing done. I was bone hard before Nancy even came in. By lunchtime it was worse. Mary's get up was the same, but I could tell there had been some alterations done to Nancy's since breakfast. I now got a good look at her already stiff nipples when she put my plate down, and when Mary put a small dish of pie in front of me I got another gaze at her even bigger stiff nipples. They were even more brazen at suppertime. When they weren't showing me the goodies they were rubbing them against me. I didn't get the real treatment until bedtime though. Nancy was oh so happy to announce that since Mary didn't need the large bed for her and her husband to sleep in any longer they had swapped them out so Nancy and I could be more comfortable. I didn't bother to mention I'd been easily comfortable enough as it was. The bed wasn't very much bigger anyway, but I did think there was now easily room enough for three close friends in it. They had me so hot from all the teasing they'd been doing all day anyway that I did an excellent job of nearly licking the hair off Nancy's slick treat. I was so ready to come I was thinking about rolling her over and doing it to her up the back door. I was saved by the bell though, or at least by hearing Mary slip into the room. I rolled over and grabbed her arm before she could get away in case she tried, but I noticed at once she was completely naked when I pulled her into bed. I was so ready for this I got up and lit two candles so I could get a good look at what I was sampling Nancy was still nearly comatose from the treatment I'd just given her and I did the same to Mary, and then some. I'd already made her come twice from licking when I crawled up between her legs so I could get my mouth on those titties she'd been teasing me with all day. Mary was taller than most women on Chaos. In fact she was equally as tall as Nancy if not an inch or so taller. When I crawled up between her legs for some titty play I hadn't intended to actually put it in, but her hand shot down between us and placed me to her entrance. What could I do? I pushed it home, and it felt just like home too. I knew there was a rule against fucking the local women and I knew I was breaking it. It was all the worse since I had just raved about keeping the status quo here, but I rared back after the first stroke and gave her a good old country fucking. Well, she helped. After the third stroke she wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck and fucked back like a maniac. I felt her come twice while we were at it, but she didn't let up and she seemed almost starved for dick. I forgot about the rules then and just fucked. We were both yelling and screaming before we got done and when I blew my load I just collapsed onto her while she hugged me even tighter. As she caught her breath she laughed and then Nancy did to. When I had mine back I wanted to know what was so funny. "The trick we pulled on you is what's so funny. When I first came here I tormented my hero so much he couldn't resist either. We were a long way from a bank and by the time we got there I was pregnant and couldn't pass through the portal. He went back as usual, but I stayed here. "I walked out of the bank and luckily I had some money on me. I went directly to an armorer's place and bought a big knife and then got a job in an inn. A big strong Chaos resident hit me up in the inn that night and so I went to his room with him. He didn't believe me when I told him I was a cockburner and when he plowed my furrow I wasn't. Since then I haven't been at all. My best guess is once I was pregnant here on Chaos the cockburning went away," she said. "So, do you want me to try and take you back?" I asked. "Not on your life. I want you to fuck me as hard as you can while you're here and then take Nancy back and claim your reward. I don't recommend it for any other women from Cassandra, but living on Chaos has its advantages," she said. "Such as?" I asked. "Such as I've been here forty years already and I don't seem to get a day older. I've raised sixteen kids and if you hang around long enough I might just get number seventeen started. Say, can you get it up again yet?" I could and I did and we went another round. After I caught my breath that time Nancy was feeling left out and I gave her another good licking. I slept a little late myself the next morning, but apparently Mary could take a fucking and keep on ticking. She had breakfast on the table as soon as I got up, but she was dressed outrageously for Chaos. She served my breakfast in a thong and a tiny bikini type top. She was even more beautiful in broad daylight and I was happy to hear Tom Jr had already gone to the stable to get in some more hoof cleaning practice. "See anything else you'd like a bite of," Mary asked, after I'd finished my breakfast. I might have been able to resist if she hadn't bent down over the cabinet and showed me the thong was already gone. I was on my feet with my dick out in seconds and I pounded us both to glory over the kitchen cabinet. When I was done Mary turned around, hit her knees on the floor before me, and inhaled my dick to the root. When I finally headed for the stable I was a happy man. ------- Chapter 27 I spent four more weeks in town with Mary, Tom Jr, and Nancy. I did what I could to help Tom Jr with the stable and I gave him all the instruction I could in how to defend himself and his property. I also gave his mother all the dick I could and gave Nancy the licking of her life every night. Nancy got a little antsy after the second week, but Mary brought a bowl of rendered lard to bed one night and with a liberal application of same she had me roll Nancy over and stick it up her ass. She put a hand under Nancy to diddle her clitty while I gave her the good assfucking she deserved and Nancy was cured of her nervousness from then on. By the time we left, Tom was proficient at shoeing horses and he was pretty damned good with his sword and a good bow we'd found for him. Of course I knew I'd be dropping back by for visits from now on and I intended to bring him a compound bow sooner or later. He was still a little small to handle one of the ones I had in my bank boxes. What I really wanted for his next step was the yew bow I'd found on my first trip, but I was sure it was being used at the ranch. Kathy Caretaker was happy to see Nancy and me when we popped up on her portal step. She sent me to the healing chamber first and I was beginning to get an inkling she usually sent me first so she could get the dirt from the Damsel about what had been going on. I wished I could be a fly on the wall when she heard about the goings on this time. Whatever Nancy told Kathy it had set her nearly on fire. She was so hot to trot I had to bend her over the bathroom counter and give her a neat injection before we even got into the shower, and after we were dry and in robes, when Nancy came out, we went straight to the bedroom and got it on. Of course Nancy was revved up from all the assfuckings she'd been getting and finally getting a chance to take it up the cooter and Kathy was on fire because I'd been cornholing the Damsel and even more so because we'd found and I'd fucked Mary. Cassandra women were a little quicker on the trigger anyway, and I'd long ago learned they amplified each other's horniness when you got two or more together. I didn't get a damned bit of rest until the next morning and I had to go on strike from the dick works to even get breakfast. Finally we were all at the table eating and I just had to ask. "Why haven't you ever mentioned the possibility of me running into someone like Mary?" I asked Kathy. "Because there is no official knowledge of anyone like it. There are rumors among the other Caretakers, but no official word. I think the word Stonewalled from your political process would apply. No one in official capacity will even respond to questions about it," she said. "Don't make me go over your head to Mistress Eva," I said. "You'd have to go over my head to get any official word. Don't you think we've tried to get explanations before, and not just from the Caretakers who have heard the rumors? Other Caretakers who say their hero has met a fallen Damsel have asked too," Kathy said, and I could nearly feel she was being truthful. "Ok, I guess I'll let you slide over it. You aren't going to be telling all the other Caretakers about me meeting Mary are you?" I asked. "I won't if you'd rather I didn't," she said. "I don't see the need in it if no one else knows anything anyway. You don't have any requirements to point it out to anyone do you?" "No." "Then I wouldn't mention it. I'll try to get back by Mary's location in the next trip or two and ask her if she knows anything else about it," I said, and I tried to make it sound innocent. "Try to find out if her pussy still feels the same as last time is more likely what you'll be wanting to learn from her," Kathy said, and then laughed at me. "Well, there is that." Our conversation degenerated into dirty talking and it led to dirty dancing and of course that led to the horizontal bop. Man, could those two dance. I had a great time with Nancy and Kathy and when Nancy reported her condition I only had time for a quick kiss and then I was headed out the door. Right at the last I grabbed Kathy's hand and pulled her through with me. "Why'd you do that?" she asked, when we were in Cowboy Jack's cabin. "Well, I wasn't tired of you yet, so I brought you down for a little quality time." "Boy, I never realized how smooth you could spread the bullshit. It's a wonder Miz Eva didn't stay for a few days herself," Cowboy Jack hooted, from the sidelines, and Glenda was blushing and slapping him on his arm. He craned his neck around to kiss her then and he even gave one of her titties a squeeze, which only flustered her more. "Well sit down and tell us all about it," Cowboy Jack said, and it was only then I realized he and Glenda were sitting in the same chair. There wasn't really enough room for both of them in it, but she was on his lap, sorta, and they seemed to be getting along famously. "Damnation, I wonder why I never ran into her. I thought I'd seen every woman on Chaos," Cowboy Jack said, after I'd spilled the beans about the whole mission. "Hell, you'd probably have stayed there with her," Glenda said. "What, and miss a chance to ravish you at the end of the line, never." "Uh huh, who's spreading it on thick now?" I asked, and Glenda and Kathy both burst out laughing. It was at Cowboy Jack this time. We had a pleasant week at the house, but finally I was getting itchy feet. I'd spent a little of the time trying to train Samson how to help me out, but I didn't think he was anywhere near ready to go on a mission yet. After a damned good Cowboy Jack special breakfast one morning I took Kathy by the hand and we slipped out through the portal. Kathy ordered me a pot of coffee and then went somewhere to fetch the mission files. She was gone about twenty minutes and I knew it hadn't taken her that long any time before. I was about to go looking for her when she waltzed in with four files. "You run into trouble?" I asked, and she tried to keep a serious look on her face, but lost it giggling at the last. "My immediate supervisor called me into her office, or I should say into her waiting room. She made me sit ten minutes before she called me into the office. I think she was getting ready to call me on the carpet I think is the earth saying. She started out asking me where I'd been the last few days and so I told her Mistress Eva had asked me not to divulge that information. "She nearly swallowed her tongue. She couldn't stop apologizing for bothering me and I nearly had to fight my way out," she told me, and then laughed again. "Well, it was the damned truth," I said. "Yes, but you should have seen the look on her face. It was like I'd said the magic word. I doubt I'll be called into her office again anytime soon." We looked over the files then, and I as much as dismissed one mission from the start, even though it would put me within fifty miles of Mary's hometown. It was just too easy. Four men had snatched a Damsel and just taken her to their place. All the others were completely out of any area I'd been to before and I looked it over again. Kathy was checking something about it and almost at once she didn't want me to take the mission. "Ok, spill it. I know there is something about this mission that isn't apparent and it has you spooked." "I was almost afraid to mention it at first because I wanted you to take it. It's so easy. Then I checked on some of the background information since it seemed so easy and it shouldn't have even been available for you. "The turds have had Damsels before, twice. The first time they had one she was taken away from them quickly, but the last time they were able to wound the hero and he barely made it back with the Damsel. He was only just in time into the healing chamber. This seemed to worry Kathy, and to be truthful it worried me more. If they'd had possession of a Damsel before they must know they couldn't fuck her. If they'd had two different Damsels they knew a Hero would be coming after the next one they captured too. I had a sinking feeling they wanted revenge on a hero worse than they wanted a Damsel and it worried me a little. There was no doubt they were more than the average Chaos bully if they had actually wounded a Hero seriously. Kathy got on my ass a little then for not finding someone on earth to help me with my sword work. "The last hero was wounded while fighting one of them with a sword. He only managed to get away by wounding the one he was fighting too. The Damsel had to help him into the vault," she said. It left a lot of possibilities. Maybe they were both just average swordsmen and had fucked around and cut each other. You could never be sure of anyone's qualifications until you crossed blades with them. I was inclined to err on the safe side though. If it was a Hero - he knew how to use his sword, a little at least. Therefore the bandit knew a little about swordplay himself. "Damn, I wished I'd brought Joe Bob with me again," I said, to Kathy. "Why?" Kathy asked. "I could have left him at Mary's stable for Tom to breed out, and I'd have been able to put in more closely to the location." "But they seem to be holding the Damsel in a permanent location," she said. "Yes, they seem to be, but what if they seem to move her after I show up afoot?" "Oh." There was nothing to do but bite the bullet though. I've got all the money and all the weapons I need, and then some," I said, and after a big meal I left for the bank in Jacksville. After arriving I took time to put on my sword, all my hideout knives, and I even took one of the new type bows and a quiver of the carbon fibre arrows with the new broadheads attached. The same old coot was guarding the lobby and I told him hello as I went by. It was still three miles to the ranch and I struck out running as soon as I was outside. I waved at the same gate guard as I ran by, and I noticed he looked a little more mature now. When I made it to the front yard the kids were all out playing, except the older bunch, who were no doubt working by this late date. The mothers were swinging on the porch, but none of them were pregnant now and they all had a teeny tiny baby in their arms. "Howdy girls, how's tricks?" "Well, we finally got the extra weight off Bill, if that's what you're asking. The only trouble is he feels healthy and good all the time now. He's about to wear us all out between the sheets and we're thinking about drafting another wife or two for him," Carlita said, and I wasn't so sure she was joking. I went on in the house and when I saw Bill sitting at his desk even I was surprised. He'd lost thirty pounds if he'd lost an ounce and he did look fit and trim. He hopped right up and came over to shake my hand when I put my head in the door. We swapped a few stories and I told him about the long trip ahead of me. I also told him of my plan to take two stallions and four mares with me to leave at the new location. "Good. If you have someone you can trust there it should be wonderful. We've been doing quite well and have a great relationship with the other farm you started. We had to make a special wagon to haul freight and we are sending it backwards and forwards every other week," he said, and I could tell he was happy and proud about it. I let him go back to work then and went to see my favorite person here, Kala. It seems I was just in time for a mid-morning snack, and while for once I really wasn't hungry, I made a showing just for form's sake. Then I was off outside to check on the goings on. With Frank gone there was a new young man taking care of the shoeing. Ben was with him and they were looking over some horses and not shoeing any. I joined them and Ben wanted my opinion at once. "We've got these four horses and we need to cut one of each type. They all look like good breeding material to me, but we have pastures full of good breeding stock. I've been putting off cutting two of these for months and it's time I made a decision and got it done," Ben said. Jason, the new smith, thought they should make room for the two, saying they were all good horses and we should at least get a couple of years worth of colts out of them to see for sure. "We've just got too many stallions around here already for that. We can't give every horse a shot at forty or so mares just to see if he's worth his nuts," Bill said. "Have no fear men, I've come just in time with the right solution. Don't cut any of them and I'll take them off your hands. Get all four of the stallions ready to leave by tomorrow and pick out eight mares to leave with them, four of each line. I'm starting up another operation a good way from here and I'll take the horses as I go." This suited both of them fine and Bill went to find a couple of hands to get things taken care of. I talked to the new smith for a few more minutes and then drifted on down to George's end of the operation. George was in fine fettle, but he was cursing something off by the side of his big shop. I moseyed over and asked him what he was giving such a dressing down. "It's the air lines I've made. There is nothing wrong exactly, it's just that the tar we use to seal the joints has been blown out again and I'm having to replace it. It's always a nasty job, and it takes a couple of days to do all the joints. Don't even get me started on the job for the water pipe. The tar last longer on them for some reason, but they're an even bigger mess to deal with since you have to drain the pipes first," he said. I knew I was at fault here, but I kept my mouth shut about it. When I'd showed them how to make plastic pipe out of milk and vinegar I hadn't told them how to make the glue to hold it together. I hadn't really thought about it since the glue on earth was ubiquitous and you could get a can of it, complete with the fuzzy dauber in the lid, for less than two dollars almost anywhere. I intended to maintain my silence until I could provide an answer to the problem. I stopped into the leather working shop then and it was obvious the young boys who'd been doing the work for years were now men and they were also masters of their craft. They had dozens of saddles ready to go and these were only the new ones. There were also about fifty throw-ropes hanging off the shelves. I talked with them for a while and they were excited about Amos' next trip. Seems he had promised to show them how to make cowboy boots. That was something I could get behind. When I ran into Ben again I asked him for someone to take me up to the bank and he did it. They kept a buggy with a horse ready for short trips now, and he had me to the bank in no time. On the way there I asked him about the men doing guard duty. He told me the same four were at it, but they had two apprentices now. While I was in the vault I got six of the new bows for them and thirty arrow shafts and broadheads for each. I looked up Tom, Brad, James, and Conroe when we got back and they introduced me to Calto and Domingo, their soldiers in training. I introduced them to the new bows and arrows and the first question was how to make the arrows. I explained they couldn't be made here, but that other, more normal, arrows would work in the bows and I promised to bring them more arrows later if I could. They took me out to their practice range and we gave the new bows a workout. As I expected I could get a little more useful range with the new bows and new, lighter, arrows. One thing I didn't expect was more stability and tighter groups. I was happy as hell about it though. Just before suppertime I called myself acquainted with my new equipment and took off for Kala's table. As I'd noticed earlier the table had been enlarged. It was also my first time to see Robby, Bill's oldest boy, since he was grown. He called out Uncle Jack as soon as he saw me and he introduced me to his wife. Like Bill's three wives, Junette had titties to be proud of and she was also showing the beginnings of a bun in her oven. I went to bed early, but put off leaving the next day. Robby had asked me if I wanted to take a look around his stomping grounds at the old Blanksdale place and I had agreed so we left right after breakfast. I was surprised to see a sign over the entrance similar to the one over the ranch. This one said The Hero's Farm and inside it things were ship shape everywhere. I'd never been one for farming of any kind and I'd never even raised a garden, but there were crops everywhere here. It was slightly disguised since they'd left about two hundred feet of forest around the perimeter, but everything was cleared and being farmed for acres within. I had an idea for some seeds to bring him next time if they'd make it through, but I didn't mention them either. I even saw Dan and Donald during my visit. They both came up to shake my hand and they thanked me again for helping them get a new start here. I took it as my due, but graciously. I should be ashamed of myself though, since they were obviously hard workers and contributing to my little empire on Chaos. Finally, the next morning, I was off - after a big breakfast courtesy of Kala of course. I was riding Blacky and leading a long legged stallion. The other horses I was taking - the other three stallions and the eight mares - had their lead ropes all attached to the stallion I was leading. I made good time, but I wasn't racing. I watered the horses in towns when I could, but I never stayed the night in any town since there was too much chance for trouble with the fine stock I was leading. Twice, small bands of men fell in behind me and I suspected they were intent on relieving me of at least a few of the horses, but a slight kick in Blacky's ribs brought my whole train up to speed and usually about an hour of this left the others in the dust. About a day from Mary's town I picked up two followers late in the afternoon. I just led the horses off into the woods and continued for about a quarter of a mile. I finally tied them to a tree, took my bow and quiver, and went along our backtrail for about two hundred yards and waited. Sure enough the two were slowly following and I emptied the first one's saddle before they even knew they were in trouble. I shot the other one about ten seconds later while he was pointing his crossbow everywhere but where I was. They were both dead by the time I reached them. After searching them I found they were well setup with hideout knives and they both had fairly nice swords. Their pockets were a little light though, since I only got a few quads and some pinches. There horses were the real treat. They were fairly nice, though nothing like what I was leading. They were worth attaching to the end of the string though. I stripped them completely and tied their things onto their saddles. I mounted one of the horses and led the other one back to where mine were tied where I unsaddled them and hobbled them with the others. I spread out my blankets and went to sleep. The next morning I had cold sausage for breakfast, saddled the mounts that needed it and then climbed on one of the taller stallions and headed for the town I'd been looking for. I even rode on through lunch in anticipation. I rode straight to Mary's house late in the day, hopped off the stallion, and tied him and the string to a tree. I was nearly skipping to the door and I knocked on it, intending to surprise Mary. I was the one to get the surprise though when a rough looking guy answered the door and asked, "What do you want?" ------- Chapter 28 "I'm here to see Mary," I said, in my most polite voice. "Well she ain't up to seeing the likes of you," he said. I didn't even think about it, I reached in and grabbed him with both hands by his shirtfront, made as if to shove him, and when he shifted his weight to compensate I yanked him as hard as I could and stepped out of the way as I tripped him on the way by. I gave him a stout kick in the ass on the way and had my sword point at his throat when he turned over. "Now, let's start over. Unless you want to die without me ever knowing who I killed you'd better tell me your name." "Cletus." "That's better, Cletus. You see, Cletus, I'm a good friend of Mary's and I ain't leaving unless she tells me to. If she's in there hurt it's gonna go hard on you. Now, stand up slowly," I said, and he did, but he looked nervous. I tied his hands behind him and then had him lead me into the house. I found Mary tied to her bed, naked, and she had a gag in her mouth. She did look happy to see me though. I released the eight-inch knife from my sleeve drop, caught it by the blade, and used the handle to tranquilize Cletus. I pulled the gag out of Mary's mouth and took a kiss before I released her hands. I let her up and she disappeared to go wash herself off a little while I encouraged Cletus to get back up and lead me back outside. Mary came out the door dressed in a few minutes and told me about Cletus. I only had to swat him once with my sword to keep him quiet. "He's a ne'er-do-well who showed up lately. He's been hanging around town trying to get odd jobs to keep himself fed. We tried to use him at the stable for a couple of days, but he's as lazy as he is ugly. "He came by this morning begging for food so I gave him some lunch and then when everyone went back to work he grabbed me and raped me. It wasn't a big thing," she said, and then laughed at him. "Well, normally I'd cut his dick and balls off for something like that, but if he's worthless anyway I might as well just kill him," I said. "It sounds like a plan to me," Mary said, "but don't let him bleed all over the front yard. Take him off down into the woods a little. I've got to go get supper started. He's got me running late." I told Cletus to head out toward the woods and he started begging almost right away. It was a shame - a guy who could beg like that could have made a good lawyer on earth. Finally, when we got into the woods he grew a little backbone. "You can't just kill me like this. It ain't right." "Yep, I can," I said, and ran him through the heart with my sword." I checked his pockets and the rest of his body and he didn't even have a piece of a knife, much less a pinch. Mary had said she was running late for supper so when I made it back to her front yard I mounted Blacky and rode him, leading the string, down to the stable. Tom Jr was there, but he was full grown now. We had a happy reunion and he was even happier when I told him I'd brought the stock for his breeding program. "The two with saddles were donated along the way by men who were tired of living." I left him to take care of the stock while I rode Blacky to the bank and got two bows and a hundred arrows out of my stash. Tom was easily big enough to handle the compound bow now. It was still an hour or so before suppertime so I took the bows and arrows down to the stable to show Tom how to get started with them. He had a target and backstop set up down there so I let him get a few shots in before we closed the place and headed for his home. Mary's table was just a little crowded since two of their hands and their wives ate with us, but the food was damned sure good. I ate a good bit, but I didn't stuff myself like I wanted to. After the meal was over and the dishes cleaned up Mary and I retired to her bedroom. I was as horny as a polecat of course, but I had a little sense. No woman had red hot sex on her mind just after being raped, and while Mary stripped off and climbed into bed I just held her and we talked until we went to sleep. Breakfast was wonderful the next morning and I ate all I could. I was no match for Tom though - he seemed to have a hollow leg. I guess it was the growing boy syndrome. Mary was in a better mood too, but still a little quiet. I went to work with Tom and hung around the stable for an hour or so, but then I decided it was time for me to get into the rescuing business. I left all the horses with him except Blacky. I didn't even take a packhorse. I did take one of the new bows of course, and a hundred arrows. I made a pass by the house on my way and got a little going away package from Mary, as in, food. She tried to apologize for being a little off her feed, but I told her not to mention it and I gave her a sweet kiss and then took off. I wondered if it seemed to her I was running off because she didn't feel like fucking, but I decided worrying about something like that was a good way to get myself killed. It was one way I didn't want to return to Earth. There was a town about five miles from were the supposed Damsel holders had their place. Kathy had told me it was a rather rough town and she warned me there might be people in it who were friendly to the kidnappers. It sounded like potentially any town on Chaos to me, and I decided it wasn't the place to modify my usual behavior. I had come to expect trouble from any armed man I met on Chaos. When I didn't get it I was pleasantly surprised, but when I did get it - most of the time - I was at least ready. For once I didn't hurry Blacky along. We mostly walked to Cancerville. I let him trot occasionally, but mostly didn't. I might need his speed on this mission and I wanted to save it as much as possible. I spent the night about halfway there, in the woods back from the side of the road. It was uneventful and the next morning, after warming up a sausage and eating it I rode to town. There were three inns in the town and I decided to stay in the most popular one. The common room was well attended, but I hired a room first and went to it, acting like I was leaving something, but actually returning with everything I took up there. I left a little stick closed up in the doorframe as I left and I went down and took Blacky to a stable and got him a stall for the night. Back at the inn I ordered stew and watered wine. I found a seat near the back of he room and a serving girl brought it to me. I noticed that I was noticed about then. A largish man nearer the front started talking loudly about fancy men coming in from elsewhere and lording it over the good people of the town. I wondered what he knew about the good people, but I ignored him. He did keep getting louder as things went along though and I kept ignoring him. Ignoring him didn't mean I wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. He seemed to have two helpers involved in whatever he was cooking up. He also moved my way as he talked. He didn't come toward me directly, but he would move now and then and he always ended up closer to me. I could almost feel him on the verge of attack and I could actually see he already had his knife out. The serving girl brought me another bowl of stew and he stood for his attack after she left it and headed back to the kitchen. He turned toward me with his knife in his hand and said "He..." and then was choking on his own blood since one of my throwing knives was lodged in his throat. I stood up, drawing my sword as I did and walked over to his thrashing body. I knelt to search his pockets as he lay trying to gasp from breath. By the time I'd cleaned his pockets and taken his knife he was dead. I pulled my throwing knife out of his throat, wiped the blood off it on his shirt, and pocketed the change, picked up his knife and resumed my seat. I let my sword lay across my lap while I was at it. Then I returned to my stew. "Hey, you can't just kill a fella like that," one of his former pals said. "If you and your friend hadn't sat there scratching your asses when he attacked he might have had a better chance. Damn, if you two were all I had for help I'd give up stealing for a living," I said, and took another bite. A quick-witted comeback was beyond him. He drew what he must have thought of as a sword, but when I faked a draw and throw of my knife again he fell down and then he crawled out of the inn, dragging his sword behind him. Suddenly I jumped up from the table and rushed to my room. As I'd expected my door was open and when I rushed to it I found their other friend searching my room. "What are you looking for?" I asked him, and it was the first he knew I was there. He was especially surprised to see my sword very near his neck. "Come on, get up," I said, and he did. I marched him back out to the stairs and gave him a kick down them. I went on back to my room then, shut the door, and placed the chair and the washbasin on my side of the door. I didn't bother to undress or get under the covers. I was up early in the morning and I left the inn and went looking for any place else serving food. The stew last night hadn't made me sick, but it was so greasy I knew breakfast would be worse. I saw a house off the main street with tables in the front yard and a couple of people eating breakfast. The food was surprisingly good and I paid for and ate a second breakfast after I finished the first one. I walked back to the main street and found a sort of general store and loaded up on sausages. I knew I'd had my last cooked meal for a while. Back at the livery stable the hostler told me a couple of men had been admiring my horse. I told him it was a good way to get dead, admiring my horse too closely. I saddled up, tied on my provisions, mounted, and rode out of town to the north. I only went a couple of miles north and then cut off into the woods. This was going to be a pain in the ass, but I intended to cut through the woods to make the five or so miles to the kidnappers cabin. I estimated it would take me a couple of days to find it this way. Early in the morning, four days later, I came across what must be the place. It was a small, but sturdy looking building in a clearing. Unusually it had a big window on every side, as if they were sitting in there waiting for someone to approach. While I watched a man came out of the building, went to the privy, and went back in. Soon enough another one did the same thing. I got confirmation I was on the right trail when another one came out and let the Damsel Geeneane use the privy. I was hiding behind a tree and lying on the ground to keep my head from showing at a height they might expect it. I watched the place almost all day. I finally got to see all four of the men hit the privy, and I even saw the Damsel Geeneane go again right before dark. When the sun set I went back to check on Blacky. I had unsaddled him when I stopped here, but I decided to move him further from their cabin. I let him drink at a small stream I crossed and then hobbled him in a tiny clearing maybe a third of a mile from the cabin. When I made it back to the edge of the woods I saw I had another bunch who had no idea about night vision. They must have had several lanterns going inside the house and no doubt they were looking out the windows. It was admirable they knew enough to understand an attack could come at night. It was stupid to have lights blazing to try and see out into the dark. I did nothing but watch all night. Apparently they had three men who took turns outside walking around and looking. I guess the smartest one was let out of this duty. What I couldn't understand was what they were doing. It was almost like they knew I'd be coming and were baiting a trap for me. What didn't make sense was them trying to bait me and spring the trap from the same place. Something was fishy about the whole deal and I wasn't about to make a move until I knew more about it. I made my way slowly back into the deeper woods where Blacky was tied, unrolled my blankets and went to sleep. I was confident Blacky would at least snort if someone approached us in the dark. I was up before false dawn, ate a cold sausage, and made my way near the edge of the clearing just as it got light. My quarry seemed to get up a bit earlier this morning and they were all out to the privy fairly promptly. New for this morning was a trip to town by one man leading two extra horses. He was gone about two hours and nothing much happened while he was absent. When he got back he went right to the house, turned one horse over to one of the men there and then led the other one out to the edge of the clearing not far from where I was hiding. To my surprise a man stood up and took a portion of the supplies. The man on horseback then took off and made another stop at the edge of the clearing about half way around the edge. Same thing, the man who stood up removed some supplies and then the mounted man made his way to the other side of the clearing to supply one more man. I didn't have to wonder what was fishy about the setup any longer, but I did have to wonder what the hell was going on. It was obvious now they were going to one hell of a lot of trouble to kill or capture a Hero. It was the only thing that made sense. I was also lucky as hell not to have been spotted already. If I'd approached the cabin at all, or even if I'd just moved twenty or thirty feet out of the woods I'd have been seen. I would have been backlit by the cabin's bright lights. At least I had something to occupy my time now. I could crawl. The clearing was probably three or four acres and I was going to have to make my way around the circumference without being seen or heard. Well, I had it to do. I didn't crawl the whole way of course, but I did walk damned slowly and carefully. The whole time I was making my way to the first one I marveled at their dedication. Of course I didn't know how long they'd been keeping this up, but they were going to one hell of a lot of trouble for very little gain. I was a little bit surprised they had even figured out the hero scheme and even more surprised they were putting so much effort into it. Did they think we carried big sacks of money on us or something? No matter. It was my job to make sure they never found out. It took me two hours to slip up on the first target and after being up all night watching he was asleep of course - snoring loudly to boot. I crawled quietly up beside him and then covered his mouth with my hand as I shoved the eight-inch knife up beneath his breastbone. He tried to fight a little, but the pain must have been excruciating and he flopped out his last movements quickly. It was another hour and a half around to the next one and he was asleep too. He had taken precautions though. There were dried leaves and twigs spread all around his bedding. Apparently he at least thought he was a light sleeper and would wake if someone stepped on them. Hell, he might have. I drew my bow and after carefully aiming I shot him in one ear and the arrow went all the way through. He didn't make a peep. Last on the list was a little closer and I didn't have to worry so much about him. If he yelped a little it wouldn't be noticed, or at least I didn't think it would. Turns out it didn't matter. He was off a little way from his camp taking a shit. I put an arrow in his back and that was it for the watchers. I stayed right where I was now that the three extra watchers had been dealt with. I even dug into his recent resupply and found a big chunk of jerky and half a loaf of bread. I ate and waited. After dark, with the lights back on in the cabin, I made my way until the privy was between me and it. It was the only place I could approach the cabin without being seen, and of course if the watchers had been still in place I'd have been spotted at once. As it was now though I was able to approach unnoticed. "I'd been behind the privy listening for half an hour or so when I heard some conversation from inside the cabin and a minute later it got louder. I recognized the Damsel's voice. "I tell you, something Jad brought back from town was rotten. It tore my stomach up and I've got to go now," she said. "She may be right, James. I'm not feeling so good myself," someone else said. "All right. Take her out there and use it yourself if you have to. Carl, you stay near the door in case something happens." "Like it's been happening the last week. I'll tell you what's going to happen. Nothing. We've been waiting out here for him to come for days and nothing at all has happened. This is a fools errand." "Well, fool, you're being well paid for it so shut up and listen at the door while they're out there." Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. But in this case I'd say it was more like when Preparation H met opportunity. Who'd have ever though a fortuitous case of the drizzlin' shits would help me rescue the Damsel. I reached to my belt to retrieve a piggin' string, hoping I'd get to use it as a temporary garrotte. I was even luckier after they came out since Jad was hit with a pain as soon as the Damsel sat down inside the privy and let loose. He practically ripped his pants off and squatted, making him an easy mark. Of course he did shit all over my boots while he was dying. Killing is sometimes a nasty business. I had to grab the Damsel as she came out and cover her mouth. I whispered I was Hero Jack into her ear and warned her to be quiet as I sent her off in the shadow of the privy and told her to lie down and wait. As I expected, about ten minutes later, someone yelled for Jad from inside. Of course Jad didn't answer and soon enough the door opened. I had my bow ready and I nailed a man sitting at a table right through the center of his chest. The door shut again at once. "Who's out there? Who did that?" a voice from inside asked." "Why it's the Hero you've been waiting for, Hero Jack. If you're wondering if your friends out in the woods are coming to rescue you, forget it. I killed them all before dark," I said, nearly yelling. "Can't we just call this off then? You've got the girl now and you killed James when you shot in through the open door. He was the one who wanted this whole thing in the first place." "I'll tell you what, Carl, I'm gonna do just that. You two sit in there while I gather up the horses and the girl and I will just slip off into the night," I said. "Hey! You can't take our horses. It's a long way from anywhere out here and we don't want to walk back." "Wrong, Carl, I am taking your horses. It's either I take them now, or you come out and I kill you and take them then," I said, and listened. As he talked I was pretty sure he was right up against the door. In fact he probably wanted to open it so he could see me while we talked, but of course he knew better than that. I made an educated guess, drew my bow, and let fly right through the door. I was rewarded with a scream, and then sobbing. "Did I get you, Carl?" "Yeh, you got him, right in the throat. You ain't gonna get me though. Go ahead and take the horses. I've got three crossbows in here and they're all cocked and ready. You just better make sure you don't show yourself to me while you're at it. "Oh, I ain't worried about that. I can slip up behind the privy and get low to the ground and you won't be able to see me. It won't take me ten minutes to set that cabin on fire and then I can just listen to you scream while you burn to death," I said, but there was no more conversation from the inside. All I did then was listen, and he was moving around damned quietly inside. The trouble for him was there was no wind and nothing moving. I heard a scrape here and a nudge there and I finally figured he was slipping out the window on the other side of the cabin. I even heard him when he made it to the ground and started running. I stepped out from behind the cabin then and took him down with a shot of no more than fifty feet. I went out to make sure he was dead, and he wasn't quite. I finished him off with my knife and then returned to the cabin. James was still dead at the table, but Carl was only nearly so. I had got him through the neck and the arrow was keeping him upright against the door. He wasn't conscious though since there was an amazing amount of blood all down his body and pooled at his feet. I walked back outside and called the Damsel back to the cabin. She had to make another pit stop in the privy, and afterwards she came on inside. I had removed the bodies while she was tending to business and straightened things up a little inside. She rushed into my arms and I hugged her to me. "I am glad to see you, but that bastard James was purely crazy. He captured me just so a Hero would come looking for me. He wouldn't even let the others touch me the whole time. He promised them they could have me after you were dead," she said. "Well maybe in the next life for them," I said, and she just looked at me funny. "I've cleaned up in here as best I can. Why don't you get some sleep on the bed and I'll go out and sleep outside. We might as well put out these lanterns too," I said, and we did. I woke with the sun the next morning and the Damsel Geeneane woke as soon as she heard me enter the cabin. There was a little stove and I built a fire in it. "I wouldn't eat a thing out of the food here. It made me sick last night," she said. "I'm just going to boil some water. If I were you it's all I'd swallow for a day or two. Your stomach will settle down a lot faster that way," I said. "Don't worry. I don't want a thing to eat for the next three months. That last sausage tore me up. When can we leave?" "It'll probably be tomorrow at the earliest. I've got a lot of dead men to strip and horses to find. Just sit around and relax while I get to it." "It seems like all I've been doing for weeks, sitting around. At least I won't have to listen to those idiots any longer." I went to fetch Blacky first and let him have a little drink from a stream. I saddled him up, packed my things back on him and rode him to the first dead man. His horse nickered when it smelled Blacky so it was easy to find. He had it tied though so I led it to the stream for a short drink and then took it back and loaded all his things onto it then mounted Blacky and led it to the cabin and hobbled it. It was the same for the other two men and by noon I had them all stripped and all their horses back at the cabin. When we left Geeneane would have eight to choose from and surprisingly they all looked healthy and sound. I threw away every scrap of food they had, except the jerky. I'd eaten it the night before and besides, I'd never seen jerky go bad unless you saw something crawling around in it. ------- Chapter 29 I put Geeneane on the best horse of the bunch, a bay that had some size to her, and we took off. Traveling the normal way it wasn't far to the town I'd traveled through, but we didn't stop since neither of us wanted to eat. Well, I really wanted to, but I didn't want Geeneane to have to suffer thought it. I looked wistfully at the house with the tables in the yard as we went by. Normally I'd have sold the horses, or tried to, but since I was headed back to Mary and Tom's place anyway I figured to let them get the benefit. I at least made up all the time the horses and Geeneane could stand on the trip. My poor old belly was getting pretty tired of only water and a little jerky two days later by the time I led us up to the stable. Tom and one of his men were out to take care of the horses at once and then we hoofed it on the ankle express to Mary's house. It was a little after noon, but when Mary heard my stomach rumbling she put some food on the table. She even cobbled up some pale soup for Geeneane in light of her recent stomach troubles. I could tell Mary was in better spirits by now, but I was still a little worried about her being off down the road from the stable and any help she could scream for, and I had the kind of manners that didn't keep me from saying so. "We've been thinking of buying the big house next to the stable, but it is expensive and I'd hate to put the old woman who lives there out on the street. She's only renting it, but she's lived there for thirty years," Mary said. "Well, it's a big house. Don't you think you could get along with her staying there with you?" I asked. "I hadn't thought of it, but we probably could. The old lady only uses one room and the kitchen. I think she said she has the top floor blocked off, but it is still expensive," she said. "Well, I just happen to know a rich traveler who might be persuaded to make a large donation to make sure one of his favorite places to eat stays in business," I said. Mary perked right up then and came over to rub the goodies against me. I could tell Geeneane was a little irritated over it, but she didn't say a thing, not even when I took a handful of one of Mary's titties. "Yes Ma'am, if you keep up that kind of action I'm pretty sure you could get an investor to let you move into a bigger house." I released the titty and no more was said about it. I left Geeneane there to talk to Mary while I headed back to the stable to make myself scarce mostly. I couldn't teach Tom anything about shoeing horses now and he was already doing very well with his new bow. I did take some time to show him how to throw a rope though and it was like a revelation. "There are two horses here that piss me off every time I go to catch them. I've been keeping them in stalls, mostly because they're so hard to catch, even though they're not really good enough to be kept up. Now I can rope them and cure the trouble. I'm kicking their asses out into the pen right now," he said, and put actions to his words. He did more than just turn them out though. As soon as they were loose he walked back to the barn, picked up the throw rope and turned right around to go catch them again. Sure enough, as he walked toward them they started moving away from him and he deftly dropped a loop over one of their heads. It confused the beast for a second, and then it realized it was caught. Tom was thrilled. "Do you want some more education about dealing with a stubborn horse?" I asked. "Yes, teach me anything you can about it." "Go ahead and put a halter on that one and tie it to a stout post," I said, and he did it. "Tie it up tight and a little high so it can't really do anything except stand there." "Ok, now catch the other one and do the same thing." "Now. Just leave them there." "But what will that help?" he asked. It will teach them to stand tied when they are tied. They're tight enough so they can't fuck with other horses or really do anything, but wait. It's usually best to give them this treatment when you're first breaking them, but better late than never. Give them five or six days of this all day long and see if they don't improve. Hell, make 'em stand there all night too for the first day or two. They'll be better horses when you turn them loose," I said. "But they aren't very good horses as it is. Look at them, they are poor examples." "Maybe so, but good or poor it is always better to have a well trained horse." I waited while he closed down the stable and we walked to the house. I was surprised to find Mary and Geeneane weren't in attendance. Tom was surprised his mother wasn't home, but he didn't seem upset. "She probably remembered something she needed to do and went off to take care of it. She'll be back sooner or later. Probably sooner, since she left some of the food simmering on the stove," he said. And he was right. The two came in about ten minutes later and Mary announced she had bought the house nearest the stable for fifteen conches. I was about to be amazed at how cheap it was until she told me she traded her current house in on it. "Still, that was a hard bargain," I said. "Not really. He has been trying to sell it for years, but couldn't bear to put Mrs Frank out. I told him I'd let her live her life out there and we made a deal. I've already been by to tell her the news and she seems thrilled herself. She is excited to have someone to live with her so she'll have some company," Mary said. When bedtime came I was a little surprised to see the larger bed was still in the room I used, with Geeneane. Unfortunately Mary didn't make an appearance during the night. Geeneane was a little standoffish too, but what did it matter. If she didn't want to play yet I'd just get a little relief from Mary. The next morning Mary was up to her old tricks. Her get up today was back to the low and almost billowing top and the hip hugging skirt. I was up before Geeneane and I had eaten breakfast, bent Mary over the cabinet for a quick one, and gone to the new house to introduce myself to Mary's new house mate before Geeneane got up. My job today had been handed out by Mary after she slurped our combined juices off my dick. She asked me to get the house ready for them to move in during the day, and she gave my balls a minor humming to encourage me to get to work. I introduced myself to Mrs Frank when she opened the door and she showed me in and put me to work. First thing, I had to take down the makeshift partition on the stairway and then it was mostly cleaning up the dust and cobwebs and airing out the top floor. As usual on Chaos, there were windows, but no glass. They were either open or shuttered. Mary and Geeneane came over about midmorning for a few minutes and I think it was mostly to check on me. They didn't stay long since Mary said they had lunch on the stove. I knocked off for a time and went back to the house with them and Mrs Frank. She was happy because she said it would be the first time she'd eaten anyone else's cooking in years. Tom came in for lunch, but he mostly bolted down his food and rushed back to the stable and to work. The rest of us sat around drinking tea after eating and we got to know Bertalee a little. She was a lot sharper than I'd expected. After the dishes were put away we all headed for the new house and Mary had warned us it would be sausage and bread for supper and if we wanted the sausage hot we'd have to warm it up ourselves. She worked us hard into the night and I didn't have any intentions of trying anything with Geeneane when we went to bed that night. I did get a nice breakfast the next morning, but there was no bending Mary over the counter since Geeneane was up too. Mary announced she had already cooked her last meal in this house and she told Tom, and all of us really, we had better get ready to go find our meals at inns in town until she was back in business at the new place. Most of my day was spent hauling things from Mary's house to Mary's new house. I wished for one of the wagons from the ranch probably a hundred times. I skipped lunch like Mary, Geeneane, and Bertalee and kept working. Thankfully, about three or four Mary decided she might be able to get a small supper ready. Aside from moving furniture and clothing and other things from Mary's house there was quite a bit of furniture shuffling going on. One of the six rooms upstairs at the new house was piled full of excess furniture for the other rooms. The main bedroom up there had a nice sized bed in it, but there was an even larger one in storage, for example. My main job that last afternoon had been rearranging the furniture to suit Mary. At last, most everything was aired out, put back in place, and made ready for use. Mary did put supper together and even on a new, or different, stove she did a bang up job. After the dishes were washed we headed for bed and I was surprised to see I was the only one who showed up to sleep in mine. What the hell, I shucked my clothes and crawled in. Mary was out looking for me within minutes and she led me back to her bedroom where a naked Geeneane was already sitting up against the headboard with her headlights shining. Mary shucked the thin gown she'd put on and beat me into the bed, but since I'd traveled buck-naked I wasn't far behind. Mary got the ball rolling by pushing me to my back, devouring my dick, and having Geeneane sit on my face. Things got a little wild after that and the evening finished with lard and a Damsel's ass again. Geeneane was very receptive and with Mary diddling her clitty she was vocal in her praise. Geeneane and I spent another week with Mary, helping her around the new house was mostly what Geeneane did during the day while I practiced swordsmanship with Tom and helped him with other aspects of running the stable. I also spent some time with Mary getting her ready for a shipment that would be coming soon. I was going to divert the freight wagon her way for a stop or two to let her see if she could develop a market for our castings down here. All too soon we had to pack our things, such as they were, and go to the bank. The bank guard tried to object when I led Blacky into the vault, but I ignored him until he put his foot in the door to stop me from closing it. It was a major error on his part since it was in fact a heavy vault door. It wouldn't close with his foot in it of course, but man, I'll bet that smarted when I pulled it as hard as I could and it slammed against his foot. He was only too happy to yank it out again when I let off enough to allow him too. Kathy Caretaker was happy to see us of course and she sent me directly to the healing chamber. She had her little system now and I didn't want to upset her schedule, but there wasn't a damned thing wrong with me. Soon enough Geeneane was in it and I was getting mostly my pecker washed. "You are such a naughty boy. I didn't say anything about the lard incident the first time because I thought it was a lie, but that's just too much," she said. "You know, you'd better start watching your backside up here too. I might just roll you face down someday and show you what it's like." "You wouldn't." "Have you forgotten who you're talking to?" "Oh. You would, wouldn't you?" "Maybe, but maybe I'll just yank you through with me as a Hero Companion sometime and take you to see Mary so she can apply the lubricant," I said, and poor Kathy nearly melted with lust. That was how we got started, but of course we couldn't keep up the hectic pace. We settled down to merely nightly sessions after that, but we had a great time together. Geeneane was oh so clever too. She came out of the bathroom the last morning and gave me a serious kissing and hugging and then said goodbye before announcing she was pregnant and leaving. Kathy came to get a goodbye kiss too and then it was back to Cowboy Jack's cabin for me. I took Blacky out first thing and then came back inside. "Well, I see you're back in one piece. Where'd'ja go this time?" Cowboy Jack asked, as soon as I was back. "Well, it was like this... After I'd gone over it with him he said it was a good thing I got the mission. "You've had recent experience sneaking around at night and doing things like that, for keeps. It's a good thing you got rid of the jackass. Once someone's gone over the edge that way they can get dangerous, especially if he's got some money as this one obviously did." "It can sure be an advantage to hire help, but it ain't that much of one if you don't have sense enough to know who to hire or what to tell them to do once they're hired. "He might have done all right if he could have known when I was coming and only set his men out a day ahead of time, but keeping them out there watching an open pasture for days at a time ain't the kind of thing you can hire folks to do. You need a sure enough religious fanatic for that type duty. Hell, most people are bored after thirty minutes of that shit. To do it right he'd need dedicated men." "Ain't that the God's truth? It's good to be able to get away to Chaos where you can tell what a crook has on his mind by looking at him most of the time. It's even better you can just kill the lousy bastards and be done with 'em." "Say, Glenda, how are you liking life on Earth?" "Pretty well, and it's not so different from Crossroads really. When I want something, especially a meal, I just order it into thin air and Cowboy Jack gets up and cooks it," she said, and we all laughed. "I've really come to adore these puppies too. They're just so loveable. We don't really have good pets on Cassandra." "No pets at all?" I asked. "Well there are some, but they're mostly small reptiles and they're not so nice to cozy up to as these dogs. The way Samson and Delilah look at me when I talk to them makes it seem they understand exactly what I'm saying, and I've never even heard of anything being as territorial as they are. They chase off small animals all the time around here." "They do look after their home ground. We won't have a squirrel or ground hog within half a mile after these pups get on up to roaming around on their own," Cowboy Jack said. We sat around and shot the shit until Cowboy Jack got up to fix lunch, and he still kept up with the talk while he was cooking. Glenda was nice to talk to too. Hell, she had interesting things to say and she was just nice. I could tell she really liked being here with Cowboy Jack and I could also tell she was glad he wasn't going on any adventures any more. After lunch I sat down at my computer and started looking for the way to make pvc glue. It was a water haul from the start, since I didn't find any handy recipe like I had for the pipe. Finally I found a number of a chemist I could call and I did it. I didn't have any better sense than to tell one what I was doing and he laughed about me making the pipe out of expensive milk when I could buy it so cheap, but he gave me an answer to my problem even if it wasn't the type answer I was looking for. It was eminently practical though. He told me to just make up a small batch of the same plastic when I got ready to put pipes and fittings together and then smear it all over the joint and not let it move much until it was dry. I was happy and felt stupid at the same time. He also suggested I try Elmer's Glue, but I didn't have any idea how to make it either so I forgot about it. I knew this was going to be a big step forward at the ranch, and probably at the other two new locations too. I was also looking forward to getting the changes started at Mary's place, but I did have ulterior motives for visiting her. ------- Chapter 30 After I solved the mystery of how to join the milk made plastic pipe I was at loose ends. I could think of a few things I wanted to do, but none of them really appealed to me. Cowboy Jack came up with a winner though. "Are you ready to go look at a Thoroughbred to take with you?" he asked, and from the way he said it I figured he had one in mind. "Have you found one?" "I think I have. A Quarterhorse breeder has an own son of Secretariat up in Longview. He'd been using him to try and put some late speed into his Triple A horses, but the old man has been letting him down lately. Only about half of the mares he breeds him to catch. The horse is getting on up there," he said. "Do you know the guy?" "Yeh, I know him. Haven't seen him in a few years, but he'll remember me. I don't think the horse is in very good shape at this late date though." "Well we can probably cure his ills and at least let him feel good for his last few years. Let's go take a look at him," I said. "What about it Glenda? Are you ready to take a little trip on Earth?" Cowboy Jack asked her. "I'm ready to go wherever you go, but who's gonna watch this place while we're gone," she asked. "I've already talked to Amos about it. He's coming out to take an adventure today and he said he'd bring Kerry with him and they'll stay a couple of days if it takes us that long.' We started getting packed up for a couple of days of travel, but then I thought about what the trip would be like for Glenda. A couple of old jackasses like Cowboy Jack and me could get along just fine in my old truck, but we really needed a better ride to haul her around half way across Texas. "Tell Amos I said hello if he comes out while I'm gone. I'm going to run into town for a minute. "Ok. I think he'll be here within an hour or two," Cowboy Jack said. "I should be back before he makes it." Down in Kerrville there was a Ford dealership right across the street from a GM place. They both had those ramp-like things that held a pickup up off the ground for a sort of elaborate display and the one at the ford lot looked pretty sharp. I pulled in there, parked, and went to take a look at it. It was a dual wheel job with a long bed and a crew cab and it looked like just what I wanted. Of course I couldn't see much of it with it up on the mini rack. I went over a walked around it then took a look at some of the other trucks around on the lot, but it was really the only one I liked. A salesman came over after a while and started on his whine. "Well, I'm interested in the one up on the rack there, but I ain't gonna buy it with it up there," I told him. "Well, it's a lot of trouble to get it down just for a look," he said. "That's ok. I don't want to put you to any trouble. I think I see a nice Silverado across the street anyway," I said, and got back in my own truck and drove over there. They didn't have a truck up on their rack at the time, but they did have a nice dual wheel Silverado parked by the rack and it was probably more to my liking anyway. It was pretty plush on the inside for a pickup, but I knew they'd been doing that lately to pickups. I went ahead and bought it and then I noticed an H1 Hummer on the lot and the more I looked at it the more I liked it. Hell, I bought 'em both. The salesman was sure surprised when I told him "Hell no" when he asked if I had something I wanted to trade in. Of course they had to take me inside to get the information and I had to visit the sales manager to finalize the sale. He was very surprised when he found out I didn't want to finance either one of them and he whacked the price more than I thought he would for a check on the spot. I told him I had to go and get someone to drive me down here to pick them up and he started to fret and wanted to have someone follow me out to deliver them. "Not a chance. I'll write you a check if you'll give me the total, but I'm not about to let you have anyone else try to drive them out to my place. The last fella who tried it left on the back of a wrecker after he tore out his back axle." "I finally got them settled down and, let them know what size trailer ball I wanted on both of them and I took back off for Cowboy Jack's place. Amos and Kerry were just getting settled in when I got there. Amos had been on a trip and Kerry had gone with him, sorta. She hadn't gone the companion route this time though. She'd just hung around with Rita while Amos went and did all the work. Hell, I didn't blame her. I was able to get Cowboy Jack to drive me and Amos back to town and we picked up the Hummer and the new pickup and came back. "You're the damnedest fella I ever did see. Slip off to town to buy a truck and come back needing help to get them back since you bought more than you could even drive," Cowboy Jack said, just before he let me and Amos out. "Well, you'd a had to be here to understand," I said, and I waved at the Ford lot salesman as we drove away. When we got back Kerry and Glenda came out to take a look. Glenda didn't really know what to think about either vehicle. I don't guess the new car deal was so special in Cassandra. I did make her take a ride with me in the both of them though and I let her decide which one she wanted to ride five or six hundred miles in. She chose the Hummer and we drove back and hooked the trailer to it. We took off just after Cowboy Jack fixed us all a big lunch. It was late in the night when we got to Longview and I got us a couple of rooms in a Holiday Inn. I kinda wished we'd have sent Glenda to get Kathy to come with us, but we hadn't. We were up early the next morning, had breakfast, and then rode out to the place where the supposed son of big Red was living now. If he wasn't a son of big Red he damned sure looked the part anyway. He was a little heavier than his famous sire, but it suited me fine. One thing I liked was the owner hated to sell him. "He's been a damned good stallion and put some fine colts and fillies on the ground, but he's just about to old to cut the mustard any more. Only about a third of the mares we breed him to stick nowadays. I just wonder what you want him for?" I let Cowboy Jack spin the yarn about us only having a Quarterhorse mares and I figure the guy would have never believed it if he hadn't known Jack already. It sounded like a good end to a nice career as a stallion though, and the guy bit. I guess he was also thinking about the hundred thousand he was getting for a horse that was surely on his way to that big pasture in the sky too. We loaded the magnificent red bastard into the trailer and turned right around and headed home with him. I could tell the old man was having a little trouble with his getalong due to his age, and I hoped the healing chamber would do him some good. He could still walk ok, but when I let him out at Cowboy Jack's place I could tell the long ride in the trailer hadn't done him any good. We let him lounge around out in our makeshift pasture for a couple of days, but finally I put a halter on him and led him through the portal. Kathy was happy to see me and she even came out to take a look at my next Hero Companion. Red could tell something was up, but he didn't give us any shit about going to the healing chamber and he calmed down even more when we got him in it. He lay down inside it like the others had and soon enough he was asleep and we were outside with Kathy looking at some type of readout. "He has a lot of arthritis in his joints and he had something wrong with his equipment," she said. "What equipment?" "He had some form of cancer in his balls. It's a wonder they worked at all," she said. "Is it going to fix it?" "Sure, it isn't much trouble, but it does say it will be a while," she said. Hell, we decided to go give my equipment a try or six and we didn't come out of the bedroom until in the morning. Apparently since we weren't around to let him out the healing chamber kept him out of it until we got back. He came back as soon as I checked on him the next morning though and he got up and I led him out to the entrance room where Kathy ordered him a bale of alfalfa hay and had his water tub put down. I left him eating and headed to the kitchen for some of Kathy's vocal cooking. She came up with three choices of missions the next day and I took the one that let me start out in Jacksville so I could deliver the Red horse. It was slightly inconvenient since I needed to go from there to Mary's town and then about fifty miles farther. Oh well, I was supposed to love riding horses then, wasn't I? Kathy didn't like my choice because there was a Damsel in the hands of a large group and they were supposed to be heading to a larger town to sell her. It was a pain also in that I needed to get on the ground and get moving. At least if Red worked out I'd have some longer legged horses in a mission or two. After I made my decision Red and I stepped into the chamber and through the portal. He took ending up in a bank vault better than I had any reason to expect and he waited patiently while I retrieved my things, put on my weapons, and led him out of the vault. The same old guard didn't even raise an eyebrow as we walked out. I had taken the time to saddle Red while I was gathering my stuff and I swung up onto his back as soon as I had him outside. When I gave him my heels he sprang into a trot and it seemed the healing chamber had done a wonderful job on him. We were at the Heroes Ranch in minutes and I trotted up to the main barn and showed him to Ben right away. Ben could tell he was a little on the old side right away, but I let him know he was here to stay for breeding purposes. I told Ben I'd need some horses to leave on tomorrow and I also asked if he thought he could get along without a couple of the armsmen. He sent me to see them and told me to take all I could use. I knew where they lived and so went directly to their houses. After speaking to all of them I asked Conroe, Calto, and Domingo to accompany me. They seemed happy to get away for some real work and I was glad to have them. I told them to see Ben about some mounts and asked them all to take the longer legged mounts and to get two good mounts for pack animals too. When I made it into the house the kitchen was the first place I went. Kala had a full time assistant now and she was round and firm and fully packed and I admired what I could see of her charms as she help Kala put together a meal for me. Kala excused herself to tend to something else after a few minutes and left Terri, her new assistant, to serve me. What the hell? When Terri brought me the first plate load she leaned over the table to serve it and I got a good look down her blouse, and it was blousing for real. She had one of the nicest pairs of titties I'd seen on Chaos and I could see her plump nipples with no problem. I didn't say a word about it, but I did keep my eyes open and on her charms as she busied herself about the kitchen. She talked a little while she was bustling around the kitchen and I learned she had been one of the youngest girls I'd saved from Blanksdale. She seemed almost excited to be in the kitchen taking care of me now. I was slightly emboldened by her hero worship and the next time she brought me a little something to add to my plate I just had to get a little fondle of her great ass. It felt better than it looked even and she didn't scamper away at once. In fact she seemed up for a little physical flirting and made sure to brush up against me every time she came near. I prolonged my meal by eating slowly and it was obvious by the lack of sounds in the rest of the house that everyone else had retired for the evening. Finally my dick was as hard as I could stand it without relief so I brought my meal to an end and headed for my bedroom. I was surprised to see Terri coming with me as I headed off, but she claimed she was coming to check the bedroom and make sure it had clean linens. I knew it was just an excuse since the bedroom wasn't used by anyone else when I wasn't around, but I wasn't about to point it out to her. When we were in my bedroom with the door closed behind us I pulled her to me for some serious kissing. I'll admit the kissing was mostly just to hold her in place so my hands could drop around her and take serious advantage of her round little ass. It felt delicious and I eased us over beside the bed and then tumbled us onto it. Was I being a bad boy and flaunting the rules of Chaos. In my estimation I was and I didn't give a shit at the moment. I didn't even have any idea what the consequences were and at the moment I didn't care. Terri was obviously ready for action and I was too. Her peasant blouse type top came down off her shoulders easily enough and I found her titties were even more delicious than they'd looked and I feasted on her nipples until they were pumped up to near bursting. Terri wasn't a shy flower either. After wallowing around on the bed with me for a good bit I felt her hand undoing the buttons of my fly and she soon had my dick out and was handling it rather more skillfully than I'd have expected. I took it as an A OK and began removing her clothes in earnest. I was in for another treat. Her body was spectacular. She was rounded and firm everywhere and I nibbled and pinched every nook and cranny I could find. She was easily as lush as Mary and she was more than hot to trot. After I had her completely naked I stood beside the bed and removed all my clothes then lay down over her again as quickly as possible. After more serious kissing I let my lips trail down onto her neck, across her neck, and then down onto her breasts. Soon enough I had her breasts berries in my mouth, one at a time, and I sucked and nipped them until she was moaning in pleasure. I kept up my descent across her navel and then down into her deeply auburn bush. Her love lips tasted nearly sweet and I discovered right away Chaos women had something in common with Cassandra women. Her trigger was just as quick as Kathy's or Mary's and she was bucking and shaking in orgasm right away. I made another discovery about Terri while I was down there licking too. Her hymen was still in place guarding her entrance. It didn't matter to me at the moment. I wasn't about to break it of course, but she didn't have one guarding her mouth and I knew somebody would be sucking my dick soon. Seconds later I was really appreciating Terri's hobbits of cleanliness. Especially when I gave her rosebud a healthy licking. From the way she responded I knew it would always be sparkling clean from now on too. She went off even stronger from this nasty thrill and she was panting and babbling in seconds. As she calmed down I lay beside her to cuddle and pet and tell her how wonderful she was. She was quick to tell me she'd never been with a man before as I held her in my arms and handled her fabulous titties shamelessly. "You still haven't been with a man my sweet. I withheld my sword from your treasure, for now at least, but you do need to take care of it for me." "But how, I don't know how." "It will be simple my dear. Just take it in your mouth and suckle. Whirl your tongue around it and move your mouth over and back. Don't bite it by all means, but it won't hurt to see if you can swallow the head," I told her. She was a game little think and soon enough she had a mouthful of my dick. She didn't try to suck too hard, but she did slide her mouth up and back over it and it was lovely torture as she tried gamely to get the head down her throat. She achieved her goal too and her tongue beat it fiercely while she had the head lodged in her throat. She had to back off once to take a deep breath, but she swallowed it again soon afterward and her lips felt divine as they pressed around the root while she swallowed around the head and made it feel like she was pulling it completely off me. The few times I could think while this was going on I wondered if I could talk her into taking my balls in her mouth later and humming around them. Soon enough I was done thinking though. She managed the magic trick and I was blasting off down her throat. She was oh so proud of herself with her mouthful of spunk and she let my poor dick flop out and then held her head up proudly and showed me she swallowed every drop. As she settled back down beside me for more cuddling I was already thinking about devising a way to take her home with me. I was up early the next morning and was able to slip out of bed, get dressed and make it down to the kitchen before anyone else, except Kala. She was cooking already and she called for Terri a couple of times before I gave her the word Terri would be late. "But why should she be?" "I worked her a little hard late into the night," I said. "Oh. I see. Should I take it easy on her now?" "Only as far as letting her make sure she is rested before she comes to work. I'm sure she'll be mortified when she wakes and discovers how late she is. She'll probably work even harder to try making up for it." "Well, it won't hurt her, and I'll make sure she doesn't have any duties that will really strain her. Everything has been wonderful here for me since you took over, and she's the first girl I know of you've pestered. I've worried about you a few times and I'm a little glad you've finally found someone you wanted to diddle here. If you have to go away for a while have no fear. I'll make sure Terri is in good shape to take care of you when you come back. She proceeded to put much more breakfast on the table than I could hope to eat then, and her normally bright attitude seemed almost bubbly this morning. As I figured Terri came rushing down apologizing for being so late in a few minutes. Kala told her not to worry about it. "Haven't I always told you nothing was more important than making sure our master was well cared for. He told me you did a wonderful job last night and I'm proud of you. Now, make sure he had every chance for anything he wants while he's eating and from now on he's you're special guests whenever he's at our table," Kala told her and Terri blushed furiously, but she did serve me plenty of everything there was to eat. After I'd finished I asked Kala to put together some traveling food for me and my party. She said she'd have it ready by ten at the latest and I hustled myself out to the barn to make sure I was ready to go by then. Ben had horses selected for us and they were fine examples. He had to brag on Red when he first saw me. "He's an older horse for sure, but he's already topped five mares this morning since we let him out into the pen with the ones needing attention. He's still at it too. Every time I look out there he's strutting around with his long dick pointing straight out and half the time he has his nose stuck up under a mare's tail sniffing and making sure she's ready for his next trick. Even if you take him back when you go I'm sure he'll have a good group started. "I won't be taking him back ever. I'm glad he seems to like it here, because he has done well where he came from and I brought him here where there are plenty of mares for him in his last days." "I'll make sure there are always plenty to take care of him. I'm looking forward to his first crop of foals here. I'm already expecting good things out of him." ------- Chapter 31 Conroe, Calto, and Domingo showed up then and I told them we'd be leaving after ten. In the meantime I wanted to see them use the new bows I'd handed out last time. We all fetched our bows and headed to the backstop to show each other what we had. I was glad to see they were all excellent with them. It was my first time to try taking help along with me on an adventure, but I felt good about my men. The horses Ben got for us were excellent too. We each had one of the long legged line and we each had one of Joe Bob or Blacky's line too. I could tell we were going to be able to make good time when we started. We all gathered in the kitchen and found that not only had Kala packed us plenty of food for traveling, she had an impromptu meal ready for us to load up before we left. We all ate plenty and I even got a little time alone with Terri so I could reassure her I'd be back before long. We left practically bristling with arms, and after I made a pit stop at the bank to draw an extra fifty carbon fibre arrows with broadheads attached for each member of our band we were even more deadly. We headed out for Mary's place and we didn't even slow down for about five hours. We watered the horses at a stream near the roadside and then switched saddles onto our more maneuverable horses and finished the day on them. Making camp near the road and all sleeping at once. We left it to the horses to wake us if something approached. Nothing did. We had a cold meal the next morning and then we were on our way again. I was determined to make it to Mary's house before we stopped so we ate in the saddle and I said a silent thanks to Kala for the excellent food we could grab and gobble down. Tom Jr was surprised, but happy to see me when we arrived. Bob took care of the horses for us while I walked over to the house and darkened Mary's door. She flung the door open and wrapped herself around me at once and after I got over to her about the men with me she brought us all inside and doled out rooms for them. She even had news we could use about the Damsel Kitna, though she hadn't known her name. They came through town two days ago. To me it looked like a Hero in the lead and the Damsel was riding in a palanquin chair that had six bearers beneath it and ten more to spell the ones carrying it. The reason I knew it was a Damsel is because they stopped here to eat and I saw her get out. She used the privy and then sat at one of the tables outside. The Hero, or what I assumed was a Hero, was a little standoffish toward her. He held his men under tight rein though. He didn't even allow them watered wine during the meal and he even tipped me when I told him I could provide previously boiled water for them to drink. There are a lot of them for you to deal with though. Twenty-four fighting men and as far as I could tell they all had crossbows and swords. Of course I couldn't tell if they knew how to use the swords. Tom Jr told me later that the horses didn't look like they had been asking a lot of them. This was valuable information. It meant we could expect to close with them within a day, so we had plenty of time to stop for the night here. My dick sprung to attention when I realized it and anticipated the reunion with Mary during the night. Of course Tom Jr wanted to spar with wooden swords after the meal and so I organized a little practice session. I was delighted to learn Conroe and the others wanted to participate. Especially Conroe, since he showed himself to be a fine swordsman right away. He could stand toe to toe with me and frankly I needed the practice. We shut it down when full dark came and went into the house. Tom Jr got my men settled into rooms for the night and I was able to find my way to Mary's bedroom right away. "It's lucky you came at this time. It will be perfect for getting a Jack Jr started," she said, and it gave me pause. Of course I wanted to give her a baby if she wanted one, but it made me worry about where she was staying. I decided to get the baby started first and worry about talking her into moving later. I was reminded of my time with Terri as soon as I got naked and into bed. The main difference was Mary didn't need any cocksucking instructions. She swallowed my dick to the root at once and had me blasting off in seconds by humming around my dickhead once she had it in her throat. The treatment only got better afterwards. She even showed me she could grease her own bottom later and she declared herself surely pregnant since I'd put a load in all three places. I didn't think it worked that way, but I didn't argue after, I just cuddled and petted. She woke me early the next morning and had me come down to help her cook breakfast. As I'd hoped she wanted my help warming up her cooter as she leaned over a cabinet. It was highly effective on me since it combined my two favorite things in the world, cooking and fucking, and she even had a stack of pancakes on the table as soon as I had my wind back. "Of course you know Tom Jr will want to go on your adventure with you," Mary said, as I was stuffing my face full. "I worried it might be that way. This one will be difficult and dangerous," I said. "He's a man grown now and he's be practicing every chance he gets. Maybe this one trip will let him get it out of his system." "And if he's hurt badly, or even killed?" "What will happen will happen. A mother can't take care of her children and keep them from danger forever. He had to grow up. All I can do is hope for the best. Who better could I send him off with than you?" she asked, and I had no answer. Of course I would let him come along. "When we come back I'm going to want you to move to my ranch where you'll be safer," I said. "I knew you would sooner or later. You men just can't stand to have your women running loose. I'll go of course, but I can't promise I won't take another man in my bed while you are away. I can last longer without attention now, but I can't last forever," she said. "Maybe you'll find Bill attractive. He had three wives and they claim he is wearing them out. Maybe he can settle your nerves while you're waiting." "We'll see. At least you aren't asking me to go back to Crossroads and Cassandra," she said. "Don't think I wouldn't if I thought you would. In fact, I'd like to take you to Earth." "Not with what I've heard about it. I don't think I could tolerate life on Earth. I'm used to Chaos now, and to outliving my men. I don't want to go to earth and grow old with one. Even as young as you are you wouldn't last long enough to suit me." Tom Jr came in then and she started serving him. He asked me if he could go along with us at once and I told him he could as long as he followed my orders to the letter. Conroe and the others trailed in a little later and I gave them the happy news. Of course they welcomed him along since it would be another fighting man to help. After the meal I kissed Mary goodbye and those of us who were leaving walked to the stable and gathered our mounts. We left the packhorse there and only took two mounts each. I was delighted when Tom chose his two since they looked to be every bit the equal of the ones we had already. We saddled up and hit the trail shortly after and we left at a trot. We caught and passed our intended targets about an hour before dark, but we kept going. We found the place they were supposed to be heading for and passed it too, even though it was well dark before we did. We stopped beyond their last fence and dispersed into the woods on their side of the road, making a cold camp and this time I assigned men to stay up and watch during the night. As soon as it was fully light in the morning I started a fire and had Conroe cook breakfast. Hell, he volunteered and I let him. It took a while for Calto to show up and he quickly gave us a rundown on what was happening at the house. He had spent his night creeping up through the woods and getting a good look at the goings on. I decided on a strategy then when all the others assured me they could do as well as Calto at working after dark. I stayed awake and on watch for the rest of the day while the men got good nights sleep during the day. I woke them for a meal around three and then sent them back to bed only to wake them again at ten for their last meal for a while. When it was over I went to bed and let them do their thing. I woke early the next morning, fixed a big breakfast for myself, saddled my mount, and rode back up the road to the Heroes house. I wasn't challenged when I headed up the lane and in fact I made it to the front door to knock. It was answered by the Hero and he was a little taken aback. "I'm Hero Jack. I've come for the Damsel you're holding," I said, and it surprised him even more. "I'm Hero Jefferson and I'm not holding a Damsel, I've rescued one and intend to return her to Crossroads myself," he said. "Good then. Get her up, dressed, and mounted and my men and I will accompany you to the bank so you can be on your way," I said. "I'm not ready to take her back yet," he said. "I didn't expect you were, because you're a hero no longer. I was sent on this mission to retrieve her and I will. It will suit me just as well for you to return with her, but she is leaving for Crossroads by tomorrow, one way or another. "We'll see about that," he said, and pushed by me and down the steps to stand in the yard. He began yelling for his men to attend him right away and he seemed a little surprised to see only four come out to do so. "You may yell for your men all you want, but no more will be coming. I have the others locked up in their own barracks." I said, even though it was my men who had them locked up. He headed for the barracks then and his four men went with him. I let them go, but he was too smart to get very close. He sent one of the men to go open the door to let the others out. One of my men cut him down with an arrow before he made it half way. I noticed he maintained his hidden status when he did it. "You aren't getting by that easily. You can fight your own battle against me or your men can all be slaughtered like that one was. Which is it, and what about you men. There are bows aimed at every one of you now. Do you want to die from an unseen archer?" I asked, loudly. They dropped the weapons they had in hand and backed off. He pulled his sword at once and I could tell he knew how to used it. I also knew he was older than me and not nearly as strong. I pulled my sword and went toward him then, letting him make the first move. I blocked it easily and waited for the next. I saw an arrow flash by then and heard a grunt behind me. I figured one of the men must have thought he could slip up behind me and end things. He did end things I'm sure, but it was only for himself. My opponent renewed his attack and I resumed my blocking tactics. I worked him back closer to where I thought my men were hidden as we went and as time wore on I could see he was tiring. Hell, it was about time since I was getting tired of this shit myself. He was slowing down though and I even had time to see his Hero's ring on his left ring finger. I decided I needed it before I let him get away. We waltzed around for about another half hour and then he gave me an opening I'm sure he didn't intend. I put my sword tip through his right shoulder and I must have damaged something important because his arm fell at once and he wasn't able to keep hold of the sword. I pressed him closer then and to add insult to injury I kicked him squarely in the balls. He fell to his knees and as I backed off he went down on his face. I put my sword away and knelt to begin stripping his body. I took his ring first and then removed his weapons and his clothes. Finally, when I had him naked completely I stood, pulled my sword again and relieved him of his head. His men shouted in protest, but they were silent after his body and head disappeared into thin air. I checked on the one who'd been shot during the dustup then and he was wounded in his thigh. I used he broadhead wrench to remove the head and then pulled the arrow back out. He was so weak from loss of blood he barely made any sound at all. I told one of the others to go check the one who had been shot trying to free his fellows and they did. He was alive and actually in better shape than the one I'd just tended to. I called Conroe and the others out then and they appeared from their hiding places with arrows knocked. They removed the other arrow and it looked to me like the guy had a decent chance of living if his wound were cleaned. I let Jr take over since he'd no doubt had some good experience cleaning wounds in his stable. I marched the remainder of the fallen Hero's men over to the barracks and told them to let the others know their fearless leader was dead and to come out one at a time without weapons and with their hands raised. They did it, mostly. There were five holdouts who claimed they were forted up inside with crossbows. I let others of them try to talk them out for about fifteen minutes, but they stayed firm in calling for us to come in and get them. "I'll send someone in to get you all right. Conroe, fetch some lamp oil and I'll send a fire in to get them out. After I light it we'll be shooting everyone who comes out afterwards. Look around in there and take a good look at the last thing you'll ever see. Conroe didn't even get to leave for the lamp oil before they were screaming about coming out without any weapons. I had all five of the holdouts tied hand and foot as they came out. I intended to let them know I meant what I said when I told them something. A few or them started wandering off then, making as if to get a horse and go. A couple of arrows in their ass cheeks persuaded them to give up the notion, and I had the rest of them tied hand and foot afterward. I left Conroe in charge and went into the house to check on the Damsel. As always the cook was the first one I went to see. She wasn't having any trouble figuring out who was running the show now and she asked me at once if she should keep on cooking and get a meal ready. "Yes, cook for all the men and a few extra, but first show me where he kept the slave girl," I said. "Right this way, Sir," she said, and I told her to call me Jack. The Damsel Kitna was in good shape and in even better spirits when she found out I was a real Hero here to rescue her. She wrapped her arms around me and planted a good kiss on my lips. If not, why not? I let my hands drop to her splendid ass and give it a thorough inspection via the Braille system. Apparently she took it personal. "Can we do it once here and now? I want you so badly," she said. "Only if you understand if you happen to become pregnant you won't be able to go back. Remember, heroes are much more fertile than Cassandra men," I told her. She reluctantly released me, sorta, but she kept herself pressed against me and kept up the rubbing she'd started around the area of my dick. Soon we were all inside eating, even the men who'd been captured this morning. After the meal I called them all outside and offered them a deal. Instead of being branded as slavers and sentenced to thirty years indentured servitude I would let them work for me. I told them of the ranch and farm I had in Jacksville and explained what type of work they'd be doing. It wasn't a hard choice for them. A choice between a good job and having an s branded into your forehead and thirty years of hard work for basically nothing isn't much of a choice at all. "What's to become of this place?" one of them asked me, and I told him whatever happened to it happened. He wanted a couple of days off before we left to go and fetch some of his kin and so did another man. I let them go and told them if they weren't back in two days to just head up the road to Jackville to catch us. I spent the next few days at the fallen hero's place digging around for buried or hidden treasure. Hell, I even found some. We picked out the best of the mares they had and left the rest of the stock for the families we expected to come take over the place. They arrived on the third day and I set about telling them what would be expected of them for the property. Mainly just supplying horses or food if I happened to come that way. They were thrilled to get it, even though it was two different families. I ended up letting the two men who'd gone to fetch them stay there to look out for my interest. We set out, after a good breakfast the next morning, and I took the cook with me. Never let a good cook get away. She didn't have any place to go anyway and she was happy with the thought of getting a job that actually paid something. There was a piece of a wagon at the place and we took it after patching it up a little. The cook needed something to ride in after all. I also took the two young men who had been working around the place. I sent Calto ahead of us with three of the long legged horses. He was to make his way to Jacksville and send the best wagon back to Mary's place for carrying her things back to the ranch. We made it to Mary's house and back to Tom's stable in only a day and I had the Damsel Kitna in Mary's care right away. Tom didn't think much of the idea of leaving his stable, but I told him there was one in Jacksville that could be his for the asking. I also pointed out there'd be much more trade to be had there. He finally gave in and then I went to give Mary the happy news. She had apparently been saving the Tom objection to put off the move, but when I countered with him already going she gave in. She told me I'd have to make a place for Bertalee too and I said I wouldn't have it any other way. We made up for the tiny squabble at bedtime that night and poor Kitna was so hot we barely had time to grease up her back door. She took to my anal intruder like the proverbial duck when I slid it up her though, and Mary's diddling fingers during the process set her on fire. ------- Chapter 32 Luckily, when the wagon made it back it was two instead of just one. We had a good day of packing and then we took off. Bob, Tom's stable hand, was going along too and so we had plenty of help getting all the stock to follow right along. It turned out we made money, or at least gained stock, along the way. Several groups of two or three men just couldn't resist trying to steal a horse or two and it was where Conroe and the men who'd come with me really paid their way. They really were hell on wheels with their bows now and they were clearing saddles seemingly all the way back. We left with twenty-four horses and had forty-nine when we arrived. When we finally rolled into the Hero's Ranch I was glad to get there. I let Ben and his men deal with the horses and went straight into the house with Mary and Bertalee. Bill was happy to see me and we settled on Mary having my bedroom. I also took Bill aside and let him know if Mary got to missing me too much while I was gone he should offer his services to help calm her down. He also told us there was a room right near mine Bertalee could have and we were set. I left Mary moving in and went to find Terri. She was surprised to see me, especially in her room, but she came into my arms right away when I entered and shut the door. "Are you ready for the next part of your life?" I asked her. "I guess I am, but what part is it?" "The part where you leave here and go to stay with me." "Can I, really?" she asked. "I think you can and I'm going to try it. Things will be a lot different there though. You can come back here if you don't like it," I told her, but I knew there was no way I could explain what was about to happen to her. She'd have to trust me, and apparently she did. She wanted to get naked and celebrate right now, but I had her table the motion and told her we'd have a little celebration tonight after we went to bed. I set her to packing up her things. When I made it out to the kitchen I found Kala, Mary, and Bertalee were all fast friends and looked like they'd be thicker than thieves any second. Mary and Bertalee knew what I really had on my mind and I'm sure Kala had a good hint, because something hit the frying pan before I even sat down. Mary made a show of wiping off the table and did a good job of showing me her titties while she did it. Bertalee and Kala concentrated on putting a meal together and Bertalee showed Kala how to make mashed potatoes just the way I liked them. It was a little like old home week at the ranch and it continued until all the others showed up to eat too. All we were missing was old Skinny, who had long since passed away. We had plenty of kids at the table though since a few of Bill's grandkids were eating with us now. After we were done eating Terri started helping Kala and her new helper clear the table, but Kala sent her on with Mary, Kitna, and I and the poor girl was destined to a life of debauchery. She went to her fate willingly though and soon enough I was in bed with three naked women and all of them seemed to be trying to get me harder than the next. I had a whole lot of licking to get to and I was happy enough all of it was done after I put the wood to Mary good and proper. Of course she'd already greased two asses and fingered her two accomplices to giant comes before I climbed between her thighs. They all slept in the next morning and I made my escape down to Kala's kitchen where she and Bertalee were in cahoots to get me as fat as Bill had once been. I ate all I could and then made my way outside to give George the happy news about sealing the joints on the pipe. He felt as stupid as I had when I gave him the details, but he was mixing milk and vinegar up to try it right away. He was ready to apply it shortly, but I had to burst his bubble and tell him it wouldn't work with the tar still on the pipe. He promptly pulled all the old fittings off, cut the dirty ends off the pipe and began the process. He had his air supply completely changed over before lunch time and he was busily walking around checking to see if the glue was dry yet for the rest of the day. That night in bed Kitna and Terri had a surprise for Mary. They greased her ass this time and encouraged me to give her the anal business. How could I say no? Mary liked it a lot better than she'd first thought she would and before I knew it she was yelling for me to do it harder and faster. Of course she insisted the other two take their punishment in the same way after she got her wind back. I was oh so happy to oblige. Mary was snuggled right up close to me the next morning and there was no chance I could get away without waking her. "You're going to take Terri back to Earth with you, aren't you?" she asked. "If it works I am, but I'm not sure it will." "How are you gong to do it?" she asked. "I'm going to put the fallen hero's ring on her in the bank vault," I said. "It'll work, but don't loose the ring. The powers that be will try to get it away from you when you show up with it in Crossroads," she said, though I didn't know how she knew. "I've had a run in with them once before, and I don't think they want to have any more dealings with me concerning the rules. Are you sure you don't want to go back?" I asked. "Not to Cassandra for sure, but I might like to visit Earth if you can work it out." she said. "I'm pretty sure I can get it done. I take my Caretaker down to the house whenever I want to now, and we got Cowboy Jack's Caretaker to move there too. "Let me think about it," she said, and then gave me a toe-curling kiss and shoved me out of bed. I dressed and went to the kitchen first, of course. Kala and Bertalee were already cooking and Bertalee had showed Kala how to fix hash browns and cream gravy for the biscuits. I ate like a pig, except I don't think I made too many of the grunting noises. Damned if both of them didn't smile the whole time about it though. "I know you two have got something cooked up, I can see it in your eyes," I said. "Bertalee told me how I could put Bill back on the see food diet," Kala said, and I could tell she was delighted with the scheme Bertalee had come up with. "Well, don't keep it a secret from me?" "She said all I had to do was keep after him on his exercise. She said if I did, all the extra he ate would just turn to muscle instead of fat. Damned if I don't think it will work. He still walks two or three miles a day," she said. "I can tell you it will work. Just keep your eyes on him and if he starts getting big around the middle tell him you're going to have to start cutting back on his portions if he doesn't knuckle down on his working out. He'll get the message. They both grinned like mean little kids then and started whipping up some pancake batter. I got the feeling Bill would have muscles on top of muscles the next time I showed up. The pancakes looked and smelled so good I hung around until Bill came in to eat and had a serving with him. I needed to talk to him about Tom Jr anyway so I took the time between bites. Bill had been renting out his stable in town since he moved here, but he said the last renter had given it up a month ago claiming he couldn't make a living competing with the ranch. "There's your answer then. I'll buy the stable from you and let Tom run it for me. You stop providing any competition from out here, especially on the shoeing end." "But I'm not sure I want to sell it," he said. "Fine, I'll pay the rent from now on then," I said, and he changed his mind and said he'd sell it. He gave me a price and I laughed at him. "I said I'd buy it, I wasn't asking you to give it to me. I'll start the bidding at ten times that," I said. He raised the price a little then, but the figure was still ridiculously low so I told him we'd got to fifteen times what he was asking now. He finally gave up and said for me to pay what I wanted to then and I told him I'd bring it back from the bank later on. Tom came in for breakfast then and I got onto him for sleeping so late and not getting down to his stable at a decent hour. "What stable?" he asked, and so I had to tell him about it. After Tom finished his breakfast we went out and saddled a couple of horses and rode to the stable. It was in rough shape, but it was easily the best location for one and it didn't take me five minutes to walk over to the farm and get four carpenters to come up and start the improvements. I let them know they weren't to skip their work on the farm, but that they should consider the stable second on the list until they had it in good shape. The foreman told me he had plenty of hands doing nothing much right now and he said he could always send over to the ranch for more help if he needed it. I rode back to the ranch and asked Ben for some help driving the horses we'd brought in up to the stable. I reminded him that Tom was part of the family now and he should steer all the business he could his way. "I've tried to tell Bill we're wasting our time out here shoeing horses for other people and even letting them rent some of ours. He always felt like he'd be taking advantage of you by not picking up the extra money here. As far as I'm concerned we're out of the livery business now. I'll send everything down to Tom. Hell, we've got cows to raise out here. We don't have time for that kind of crap. I felt like I'd accomplished more than I had any right to expect this time and I started thinking about heading back to Crossroads. Of course I was getting plenty of loving at night, and it would be a downer to leave Mary alone, but I had plans along those directions too. I went back to the ranch and happened to catch her in the bedroom so I gave her a going away dose and gathered up Kitna and Terri and headed for the bank with Ben driving us in the runabout. Kitna was excited to be going back and Terri was a little scared of the process. I put the fallen hero's ring on Terri's finger before I packed my things into my boxes and when I finally shut the last lid we all disappeared off Chaos. Kathy was waiting for us of course and her eyes lit up sparkling when she saw me with two women. She rushed me and put some serious kissing on me right away. "Jack, did you rescue two at once again?" she asked. "Not exactly. This is Kitna, the Damsel I rescued and this is Terri, a friend of mine from Chaos. They both decided to come with me," I said. "You're the Hero and I guess what you say goes. In fact I know it does once you're here on Crossroads. Mistress Eva was just by to see me the other day and she could barely stop laughing about the way I handled my supervisor. Apparently I'm not the only one proud of your work. Did you get the fallen Hero's ring?" she asked. "Yes, Terri wore it to make sure she made the trip." "I'm supposed to get it away from you somehow," Kathy said, but from her expression I knew it was optional. "Well, tell them if I leave it I'll be leaving mine too and the three of you will be joining me on Earth, for the duration." "That doesn't sound like such a terrible outcome to me, but if you want to do that why don't you just take the rings too. It isn't like we could overpower you and pull them off your fingers." "That's right, so lets just keep the status quo for a while longer. Don't you need to at least put one of us through the torture chamber?" "You mean the healing chamber, don't you, and yes I need to let you take a ride in it," she said, and led me to my fate. When I was out I went looking for Kathy and the others and I found them still in the shower. They were all slick and soapy and I joined them for some slippery fun. I could tell Terri was amazed by the whole thing, and when Kathy led Kitna out to the healing chamber, I soaped up my peter and had Terri take a good hold of the grab bar. She was more relaxed as soon as I worked my way up into her rosebud, and when I started soaping her titties from behind she started panting right away. Kathy was surprised when she rejoined us, but I told her to diddle Terri while I worked and Terri went off like a skyrocket seconds after Kathy started. I had to hold her up while we rinsed her off and after Kathy dried her and put her into one of the robes she led her directly to bed. Kathy came back and joined me again and I figured if it worked for one it would for all. Before she knew what was happening I had my dick all soapy again and when I urged Kathy to hold on she did, but she didn't get it up the hole she expected. It didn't matter one wit since the thought of it set her on fire and after I gave her a reach around she wasn't in any better shape than Terri had been. I rinsed her off, dried her, and put her in bed in a robe of her own. I went to fetch Kitna out of the healing chamber and took her for another rinse in the shower. When we got out there were no towels handy and so I called for some to the ceiling. None came for my voice. "Don't make me go looking for Mistress Eva to have your software worked on. You'll regret it if you do, I promise," I yelled, and two towels came floating down and when I had Kitna dry I didn't get any trouble over the robes either. I led Kitna to the bedroom and put her into the bed and crawled right in on top of her, When Kitna realized what was coming she couldn't get her legs apart fast enough. A testing finger showed me she was well wet enough and I slid her the meat. Kitna and I did enough moaning and groaning to rouse the other two and before long the multiple partner multiplication of horniness factor pushed them all into orgasm heaven. I was just able to last long enough to get Kathy, the last on the menu, off big time. I settled down and let them cuddle me to sleep. ------- Chapter 33 The next morning, Terri was amazed when Kathy just called for breakfast and it appeared on the table. She did get me alone after we ate and asked why I was still only doing her back door, and I had to explain about the Damsel and what would happen when she came up pregnant. "You see, dearest. Kathy is protected against pregnancy, but I'm afraid you aren't. It would cause all sorts of confusion if you got pregnant and had to leave. I wouldn't be able to go with you and they would take you somewhere I couldn't follow. We'll have plenty of time for the real thing after I get you to Earth. "Oh, isn't this Earth?" she asked. "No, it isn't. This is Crossroads. It's the only way to get from Earth to Chaos or back again and I have my duty to the Damsel Kitna to finish before we can leave. That duty includes getting her pregnant. I promise you will get the traditional treatment when we get to earth. Just try to enjoy your time here until we leave," I said, and she promised she would. She had a mischievous streak in her though and I noticed she outdid herself yelling and screaming while I was giving her the treatment. She drastically increased the temperature of both Kitna and Kathy. They worked me hard on into the night and without the restoratives I'd have been toast. Terri also learned to order restoratives on her own, while I still couldn't. Oh, I could get service when none of them were around, but I had to threaten the machinery every time to do it. Apparently all it took was a female voice though because Kitna, Terri, and of course Kathy could order at will and receive prompt service. Oh well, life had its little ups and downs. Terri kept up her loud moaning and groaning during sex and it got Kathy and Kitna boiling every time. She seemed to revel in it, and hell, it wasn't hurting my feelings. I did notice that after a session with all three of them Kathy was the most worn out of all, but she lapped it up like cream. One morning Kathy let it slip about me needing someone on earth to practice my sword work with and before you know it Terri was asking her about it. In no time they were off in one of the practice rooms going at it with fencing foils. They soon graduated to wooden swords and after about a week they had me in there with them, both of them attacking me at once. It sure as hell was an experience, but I thought it helped and we continued for as long as we stayed. Of course I could count the days as well as anyone, and when I knew time was drawing near I started making a point of getting up early in the morning and making sure both Terri and I were dressed. I also spent more time with Kitna with cuddling and other romantic stuff. Hell, I wanted her to miss me when I was gone. She showed up caught on the thirty-fourth day and we had a tearful goodbye just before she announced it. Terri was dressed of course and we had time to give Kathy a hug and a kiss before I made sure Terri had the ring on and launched her out the door with me. Cowboy Jack was surprised and Glenda was too when Terri arrived with me and Terri was a little bit surprised herself. I introduced them all, and soon enough Glenda was showing Terri how to cook Earth style, as if she'd ever get a chance to with Cowboy Jack around. Cowboy Jack was more indulgent with Terri than he'd been with the other females though, and he actually let her cook when she wanted to. He did hang around and kibitz while she was at it, but she took it well and she treated Cowboy Jack like an old master who was teaching a young pupil. She wasn't learning French Cuisine or anything, but he had her on the straight and narrow with cowboy cooking almost right away. She even scratched out a place outside for outdoor cooking and she often cooked there. Hell, Cowboy Jack loved it and he egged her on after a while. Cooking wasn't all she wanted to learn either. She had me out with the wooden swords almost every day and she was delighted when she realized we could ride the horses out back. She even cosied up to Amos when he came around and got him to make her a saddle just to fit her. Almost before I knew it she was packing one of the plastic fantastic bows off on small hunting trips in the surrounding woodlands. She was very excited the day she came home dragging a travois behind Blacky with two big javalinas on it. I was afraid I knew what she was working up to, but I didn't mention it. Sure enough the next time I started hinting about going off on an adventure Terri started getting ready to go along. "Are you sure you want to chance it?" I asked. "What chance am I taking? I've read the rules for a Hero Companion and it's what I'll be. You need someone to go with you to cook for and take care of you, and besides, when I go this time you can do it to me in the same bed with Mary. I can't even imagine how much fun we'll have with the Damsel after you rescue her," she said, and how could I argue over that. "You know you can't try to protect me while you're on Chaos don't you?" I asked. "Of course, but then again, if a Chaos man is slipping around trying to attack you how can I tell for sure he won't attack me too? I'm afraid I'll have to kill them if they come sneaking around and we can let the portal sort things out." I couldn't argue that point with her either. All I could do was make sure I didn't send her into any danger on purpose and just see what she did. I will admit she had been diligent working with the wooden swords and she was my equal with the plastic fantastic already. The only thing that worried me was her lack of weapons. Oh, I had plenty of bows and carbon fibre arrows still in my bank boxes, so there was no worry there. I didn't have a decent sword for her though and really not even a good knife. We'd have to try to pick up something suitable when we arrived. To say Kathy was surprised to see her back was an understatement, and Terri egged it on to the max. She pulled Kathy into an embrace when we showed up and she planted a scorching kiss on her, all the while fondling her ass as if I were going to make her stop any second. Not me! I was getting plenty of mileage out of seeing Terri's new aggressive sexuality, and from the way Kathy blushed and panted I knew she was too. We dispensed with the pleasantries and went directly to the bedroom where Terri practically took over. She had Kathy naked and pinned to the bed almost at once and when she moved her mouth over Kathy's pussy she practically devoured it. I noticed she was giving her rosebud a good sawing with her fingers the whole time. She called out to the ceiling for a lubricant and smeared it between Kathy's buns right away. "Now, give her a good butt-fucking to get her motor running. I'll take care of the business up front while you do it to her good," Terri said, to me, and who was I to argue. Kathy was besotted with sexual satiation before long, and all she could do was lie there and pant when Terri climbed aboard for a good Cowgirl Style ride. She even waved her hand around like a rodeo rider and yelled Yee Haw a couple of times when it got really good to her. Amazingly Terri took over seeing to Kathy and I both. After we had our wind back from the sex she took Kathy into the shower and washed her tenderly, dried her off, and called for a robe for her to wear. She even ordered the food, and she threw me a curve at first. I don't know where she'd heard the rumor, probably from Cowboy Jack, but I couldn't be sure. At any rate she called for two-dozen oysters on the half shell for me as an appetizer before she coaxed the biggest New York Strip I'd ever seen out of the equipment. She even instructed the Crossroads kitchen to leave it pink on the inside and she told it to make sure it stayed hot during the whole meal. I ate like a pig and I practically destroyed the large onion rings she ordered as a side for me. I sat there gobbling up onion rings with catsup all over them and stuffing that pink beef down my gullet until I couldn't hold any more. She had that Crossroads kitchen humming and even the little bit of gristle on the piece of meat tasted delicious when I chowed down on it. To me it's how you know you've found a good steak cook - when they can even make the gristle taste good. Terri showed her enthusiasm when we were going over the missions too. Hell, she could memorize the whole thing in what seemed like only seconds, and she didn't get any of it wrong either. Anytime Kathy or I had to return to the paperwork to look up a fact Terri knew it already and she had it perfect every time. Even though the mission I decided on was nearly two hundred miles from my ranch, Terri insisted we go there first. She said we had plenty of time for a short visit and claimed we'd be better off coming in from far away anyhow. I let her talk me into it. When we dropped into the vault I started right away trying to find a sword and knife for Terri, but she told me not to bother. "I'll get George to fix me up, and besides, I need some throwing knives like you have and I'll need a harness made to hold them anyway," she said, so we walked out of the bank with bows and quivers of arrows and hit the street running for the ranch. I guess it was just the wrong place and the wrong time, but twelve men came galloping into town just then and as they went by Terri one of them swung down as if to grab her. I shouted a warning, but I was afraid it wasn't in time, and meanwhile I was nocking arrows and clearing the saddles of his buddies, I needn't have worried about Terri. She turned just as the jackass got to her and grabbed hold of the arm he swung toward her. She picked her feet up as soon as she had a good grip and he came tumbling off to break his neck against the dirty shitty road. Terri was up and spouting arrows herself in seconds and before it was over we had every one of them on the ground, wounded at least, and some dead. "What in the hell was that all about?" Terri asked, as soon as we were out of opponents. "I don't have any idea, but I hope things haven't gotten so bad here that Bill has to let this kind of shit go on all the time," I said. I looked toward the stable and there were men coming out of it, but none of them were Tom Jr. What the hell? I still had plenty of arrows so I nocked another one and faced them. Terri did the same when she noticed what I was doing. The man who had been rushing toward me slowed down considerably when he saw it, but he kept coming. "What the hell did you think you were doing shooting all those members of the town guard," the man from the stable said as he came up to me. "I was defending myself and my woman. What in the hell did they think they were doing?" I asked. "They were the town guard, mister. They don't have to ask permission," he said, and since I was coming up on a wounded member of the town guard I reached down with my drop down knife and cut his throat, changing him at once from a wounded member to a dead member. "Hey, what the hell did you do that for," the man asked. "Because the asshole was still alive is why. What did you expect me to do, pat him on the back and tell him it would be all better soon? I may not be part of the town guard, but I know when one needs to die and I don't need permission either." "You're gonna be in trouble when the word of this gets around," he said. "Not unless you've got a hell of a lot more in the town guard. Looks to me like me and my woman just spoke for a dozen of 'em, and they took us by surprise. I'm a fighting man for real, and if you ain't got better in the town guard you won't have a fucking town guard when I get done," I said, and started gathering up the loose horses. "Hey, you can't take those horses," the belligerent one said. "Who in the hell do you think is going to stop me? You? Are you intending to stop me?" I asked, drawing my sword and giving him a nick across his farrier's apron. It settled him down considerably, but the ones with him started trying to gather horses too. I didn't want to kill them for it since the stable man had seemed to get it started. "See the ones stealing those horses from us, Terri? Just shoot them in their asses to give them a chance to understand what they're doing wrong," I said, rather loudly I thought. She nailed the farthest two right away and the rest lost interest. I don't know what the stable man had thought he was doing, but it didn't help anything. I went ahead and cut the throats of any of the town guard who were still alive and it was thanks to him I did it. We packed all their things onto the horses and then swung up into the saddles of the two best and headed for the ranch. There was a gate down across the entrance when we got there, but the guard, or the main one anyway, recognized me and raised it right away. I noticed there were now five men there with him and I wondered how things could have gone so wrong. We rode up to the main barn and Ben came out right away. "I had a run in with a bunch some people were calling the town guard in town, Ben. What the fuck is going on?" I asked. "About two months ago a man moved in and he had about thirty fighting men with him. He got the town to vote him in as mayor and he hired his own men as town guard." "Where is Tom? He wasn't at the stable." "He was wounded in a fight with the town guard and he's up in a bedroom in the big house." "Well what the hell is Bill planning on doing about it?" "He doesn't know what to do. Everything has always gone right in town until now and Bill is just lost. We even had a raid on the farm and Bill decided to let the town guard handle it." "That won't work. I just killed twelve of the town guard on the way down here. Are Conroe and the other men still working here?" I asked. "Yes, but barely. They were chomping at the bit to get some of our own back, but Bill wouldn't let them." "Well get word to them. I'm going to let them. In fact we're going to settle the stable in about an hour or so. Whoever that jackass is who's running it gave me some shit on my way out here and I'm about to go give him some back," I said, and then Terri and I walked over and into the house. Kala and Bertalee were in the kitchen and Bertalee ran to me and hugged me as soon as she saw me. Kala looked like she was happy to see me too. I found out Tom Jr was up in his mother's room recuperating and I left Terri with them and headed that way. He didn't look so good when I saw him and Mary was a wreck. I took a look under his bandages and saw a nasty wound across his chest that was obviously infected. I began taking the bandages off right away. Of course Mary tried to stop me. "We need clean bandages and they have to be boiled before we put them on him. Can you walk, Tom?" "I think I can, but I am getting weak from just lying around," he said. "Then get up and walk and get strong again. You'll need your strength for the treatment I'm about to give you. Come on, I'll help you up," I said, and Mary went off to see about the bandages. When I got Tom downstairs I told Kala to boil hell out of a washcloth first since I needed it right away. She already had some water on the fire so she threw one in. "Tom, as soon as she gets that rag clean and boiled I'm going to take you out to the barn and scrub hell out of your wound with soapy water, and then I'll be pouring liniment on it to kill the infection. It's going to hurt like hell and I'm not going to even try to take it easy on you. You should be better by tomorrow though. It doesn't mean you'll be up and around, but the fever should start to go away," I said. "Do whatever you need to. I was lying up there dying and I know it. I don't want to die," he said. "Just remember that while I'm scrubbing," I said. ------- Chapter 34 A few minutes later Kala handed me the rag and I asked her to send a big pan of boiled water out to the barn with us. She took some thick gloves and raised the pot she'd just boiled the rag in and set out to follow me. I grabbed a bar of lye soap and took off. Outside I had Tom strip off to the waist and then I wet the rag in the boiled water and worked up a lather with the soap. Two strong looking men were standing by watching and I had them hold onto Tom's arms and then I started scrubbing out the wound. It wasn't deep, but it was rife with corruption and I scrubbed until the foam was red and blood was running. Tom took it as best he could, but he did do a little yelling. He did a lot more when I rinsed the long cut with liniment, but I kept telling him if he lived over the treatment he'd be half way well. Terri came out then with another pot and it was full of cloths that had recently been boiled. I washed my hands with the lye soap again and then re-wrapped Tom's wound. "Tom, don't touch the wound anywhere or the infection will get started again. Don't let your mother or anyone put a thing on it that hasn't been boiled. I'll tell them about it to, but you keep a good watch since it's your ass that's on the line. "All I want you to do now is go back up and lie down in bed, and hurt. I hope I don't have to do this to you again, but I will if the infection doesn't stay gone. Now, let's get you back in bed because I need to take a few men and get the stable back." Bill came in then and when he saw Tom he hung his head and walked back into his office. I followed him after I had Tom squared away and I closed the office door behind me. "I'm sorry I let you down, Bill, but I'm here now and I'm going to take care of things," I said, before he could say a word. "But I'm the one who let you down. I just didn't know what to do," he said, and he sounded so pitiful. "You weren't supposed to know what to do, Bill. You're not a fighting man and I never told you to assemble many of them. We'll just keep more around here after we get this thing straightened out?" I said. "But what can you do. He is the Mayor, elected fairly," he said. "First, I'll kill him and then we'll kill all his men who don't surrender for punishment. After that we'll see who the Mayor is. "But that isn't proper," he said. "It isn't proper for the town guard to be running around bothering the citizens either, and I'm going to take care of those who think it is. It is better to vote for community leadership, but a sword or an arrow can be a vote of its own." Back outside I found Brad, James, Conroe, Calto, and Domingo looking like they were loaded for bear. They had six other men with them who they said were also trained fighters. "Are you ready to go deal with the town guard and the new Mayor?" I asked. "We have been ready for weeks. All Bill ever needed to do was turn us loose," Conroe said. "Well I'm not going to turn you loose either, but I want you guarding my back. The first stop is the stable. I'm going to collect some rent," I said, and then we went to the big barn and drew some horses from Ben, who was more than happy to get them saddled. In fact he wanted to go with us, but I settled him down and told him to get the rest of the men armed in case we had to come running back. I mounted up when the horses were ready and the men did too. I led them out of the gate and we arrived at the stable with arrows nocked. I got down and confronted the one who'd tried to give me the shit before. "I'm the owner of this building and I've come for my rent," I told him. "I don't owe you any rent," he said. "Who let you move into my building then?" "The Mayor said I could use it as long as I wanted to," he said "Well, the Mayor was wrong since it ain't his. It's mine. I'm going to get straight with the Mayor and then I'll be coming back. You'd better be gone when I get back here or else have the hundred conches you owe me for rent." I left him scowling about the rent being way too high and mounted up again. Conroe knew where the Mayor kept his office and so we headed that way. He asked what to do if there was a bunch of the town guards there. "If they don't throw down their weapons start shooting them until they can't hold them any longer. After that you'd better get down and cut the throats of any who are still alive." Sure enough there were four men hanging around in front of the door. I bailed off my horse, drawing my sword as I did it and headed for the door. One fool tried to stand in my way and I took his right arm off before he could draw his sword. I heard Conroe and the others letting fly then and the other guards started sprouting arrows in their chest. I pushed my way in the door and a woman was standing there looking sickly. "Where is the Mayor?" I asked, and I didn't even wave my sword at her, much, but she pointed to a room I took as his office. I went that way and he was standing in the door as I approached. I could see by the look on his face he knew the jig was up, but he backed into the room and tried to shut the door. He was about five six or so and even though he got the door nearly closed he couldn't hold it. I gave it my shoulder and when I got inside the room he was halfway across it picking himself up. "The stable man said you told him he could use my building for his stable. I've come for my rent," I said. "Well, if that's all how much rent do I owe you?" he asked. "It's a hundred conches a month, with a hundred in advance and the rent in advance. Two hundred conches will do until the first of next month," I said. "But that's outrageous. No stable is worth that much." "Maybe you should have considered that before you took it upon yourself to hand it out. Now, where's the money?" "But I don't have that kind of money." "Sounds like you let your outgo exceed your ability to pay. Last chance now, pay up or pay the price." "I can't pay that much I tell you." "Better find a sword then, because you know what happens to men who run up debts they can't pay," I said, drawing mine. "But, surely that boy who was running the stable couldn't have been paying that kind of rent." "He was running it for me, and that's another thing. If any of my horses are missing your estate is going to be responsible for their loss." "My estate?" "Of course. In case you haven't figured it out yet, you're a dead man." "But I'm the Mayor." "We had a fine Mayor before you got the job, and I happen to know he is still available. "But I was voted in by the people?" "What, you don't think I'm a person? I'm about to vote you out. Now, find a sword or be cut down like the dog you are." He never did even look for a sword, so I cut his head off and picked it up by the little bit of hair he had. I carried it outside and walked right across the street to the biggest inn in town. Conroe and the men followed me. I walked into the inn and held the Mayor's head high, swinging it just a little. "Just in case some of you don't recognize this gentleman, I'll tell you he's the former Mayor of Jacksville. If you work for the town guard or know anybody who does you'd better get your ass out of town pronto and tell others who were town guard members to do the same. All the town guard is fired as of now," I said, and set the Mayor's head down on the front table. "Let's go find the Mayor's house, Conroe. Could be we'll find some of the town guard there," I said, and walked back out. Word spread faster than horses could travel I guess. There were twelve members of the town guard getting ready to leave from the vicinity of the Mayor's place when we got there, but Conroe and the boys had been doing a lot of practicing. I barely got two of them before they had done for all the others. I left Conroe and the boys catching up horses and stripping bodies while I went to knock on the front door. At least I wasn't fooled a bit by this charade. The Mayor's house had always been a whorehouse before. The woman who opened to my knock was the long time madam of the house and I had to ask her how the Mayor came to be associated with her place. "He came in with a bunch of money and bought the place the first night he was in town," she said. "I have some sad news for you Ma'am. The Mayor fell victim to a sword fight just a few minutes ago and he's a head shorter now. The place will probably fall to me by right of conquest, but I'm not really wanting to move in," I said. "Well the owners have never lived here before the Mayor, and he was just taking up a room I could have worked four girls out of. I could stay on running the place for a modest pay," she said. "That sounds agreeable to me. How about we settle on five percent for me and you and the girls split the rest up as you see fit. I will expect them all to get a little raise though," I said. "I'd be happy to stay on for that kind of split. The Mayor took thirty-three percent right off the top." "Everything seems fine then. You can keep any of the Mayor's possessions he left here, including any money he had, except for my five percent of course. Are any of you any good at trading?" I asked. "We all are, but why do you ask?" "I just wanted to let you know we'll be glad to furnish cash for whatever you barter for, in case it comes up. I'll have a man come up here every day or so to do the trading with you if it suits you," I said. "Of course it suits me. We can nearly double our business if we can start taking barter. Say, I don't know you. Are you from around here?" she asked. "I'm Hero Jack, from the Hero's ranch and farm." "Well, I guess we should put up a new sign. The Hero's Whorehouse has a nice ring to it," she said. "Don't you worry about a thing. I'll have the sign made and send the men to put it up. Just don't let any of my hands have a discount. If they're gong to pay for pussy I want them paying full price. You can run a tab for Bill though. I'll stand good for him," I said. "We'll do that, and I promise you we'll do a good business here. We always have," she said, and I made my excuses and left after I told her I'd send some carpenters up to take care of any thing she might need fixed. Conroe and the guys had the horses gathered up and all our ill-gotten gains tied on them. We mounted our own horses and headed back toward the ranch, leading the others, but I had a little detour planned around about the stable. We passed the stable by, but as soon as we were out of sight I had half the men cover the back door while Conroe, Calto, Domingo and I turned around and headed for the front. The same jackass came back out to argue with me, but I had a little news for him this time. "The Mayor didn't pay the rent so I cut his head off and we went out and killed the rest of the town guard. You can pay the rent or you can get your ass out of my stable. Don't go far though because you're going to pay for every horse that was here when you started and ain't here now." "This place ain't worth all this trouble. I'll just get my things and go," he said. "You won't get shit until the rent is paid and the horses are all accounted for. When you start out stealing you don't get your toys back." "But I've got horses of my own in the stable." "No, you don't. Unless you pay the rent everything in the stable stays in the stable. You're lucky I'm letting you keep the clothes on your back." Just then there were a couple of screams from the back, and then all the hangers on came toward the front real fast. "What was that?" the wise guy asked. "That was the rest of my men encouraging these other fools to come out the front door. All right you men - strip off your clothes so I can make sure you aren't stealing anything," I said, and Conroe only had to shoot one in the leg to get them to shedding clothes. I drew my sword then and headed toward the main asshole. He tried to bluster at first until he saw it wasn't doing him any good. Then he started pleading about being unarmed. "That's the way I like 'em - unarmed. Just like the Mayor was when I trimmed his hair, down even with his shoulders. Get your clothes off like the rest if you want to live any longer." He pissed and moaned, but when I started forward with the sword again he stripped off like all the rest. I collected his two knives and the change out of his pockets and then told him to get his clothes and get gone. "I mean for you to get plumb away from Jacksville too. I'll have a town guard of my own starting tomorrow morning and if you're found in town you'll be shot on sight. That goes for all you thieving assholes. You're time in this town is over. I had Conroe and the boys pick every damned one of them clean and then ushered them on their way with liberal kicks to their asses. "Ok Conroe, you're head of the town guard now and I want you to pick out twelve good men to help you. Don't bother the working folks in town and don't let the trash build up. If you get some assholes moving through town just make sure they keep on moving. You'll need to furnish security for the ranch, the farm, and the whorehouse for a while until we can get some more men trained, but I want you to make sure all the men who are supposed to be keeping the peace have the right attitude. You're job ain't to bother people, it's to keep people from being bothered," I said. ------- Chapter 35 I saw the very best thing that could happen was happening when I made it back into the kitchen. Kala was cooking again and all was right with my world, especially since the stable was squared away and ready for Tom's return when he was up to it. Kala told me food would be on the table as soon as the others started showing up, so I took a seat to wait. Bill's wives showed up in a few minutes and the line of kids was right behind them. Carlita smiled at me and came to give me a kiss on the cheek and then she headed towards Bill's office, but he met her in the door headed our way. We were all seated in minutes and food started making the rounds. After we'd finished the meal I asked Bill if he could come to the office to talk for a few minutes. He said yes and soon enough we were in there with the door closed. "Bill, I've put Conroe in charge of keeping the peace around our business ventures, and they now include the whorehouse. The madam there is going to stay on and take care of it and I'd like for you to go check on her every week or so to make sure she don't need nothing. Send a man up there every morning or so to gather up anything she barters for and pay her cash for it. Just go ahead and pay what she asks for at first, but if she starts asking too much I'll have a talk with her when I come back again. "I also want the carpenters to go up there and take care of any maintenance she needs. Oh yeh, we need a big sign for the place. The Hero's Whorehouse is what I want it to say. Have the letters painted as red as you can find the paint for." "You've done a good thing there. The town needs a good whorehouse to keep lonely men from bothering the normal women." "Well, it may come up some of the women get pregnant, it's just an occupational hazard. I want any kids to have the best of care. I want the working girls to have good doctoring too. If the madam can't provide it I want you to make sure it's done. If I need to make up any money for it just let me know." "I don't think it will come to that. My wives are all pretty handy with common doctoring now. I'll just have the girls make a trip down here once a week or so and let my wives check them out. George built us a nice big carriage and I can send it up to bring them down here." "That sounds mighty good to me. I 'spect you're gonna be elected mayor again, so things should settle back down." I said. "I'd have never been voted out if he hadn't brought so many men in with him to vote in the first place." "Well, that's not gonna happen again. The first rule I want you to put in place when you're elected again is a residence requirement for voting. Nobody gets to vote unless they've lived here for two years. If you have any trouble getting it passed I'll encourage the town council to take care of it when I come back through." "I don't think we'll have any trouble. I'll just make sure everyone who works for us comes to the meeting this next time. Most of the folks in town didn't appreciate the way the last mayor ran things anyway. I expect them to be more careful with their votes from now on." "We'll just see. I've got to go get some sleep because Terri and I have one hell of a ride ahead of us. When I went upstairs I'd forgotten Mary now occupied my former room, but she and Terri were waiting for me in front of another one. They hustled me inside it and out of my clothes pretty quickly. "Tom is already a lot better and you need to get in the bed so I can start thanking you." "Damned straight he needs to, and this grease is for your ass this time, Mary. I'm a Hero Companion now and it's my official duty to fuck his brains out on this trip," Terri said, and giggled a little. "That's fine with me. I can take it up the ass any time," Mary said, and I'll admit she had a fine Junoesque ass to look forward to. I trumped all their cards though and did them both up the backdoor and then turned them around to do them right, kinda. I was downstairs bothering Kala for some breakfast early the next morning and she fixed me right up. Terri was down right behind me and, while she didn't eat as much as me, she did do her part. "What's got you up so early this morning?" I asked her, after we finished eating. "I had a little talk with George yesterday and he said he had some good metal already to make a sword for me, a big long dagger, and two well-balanced throwing knives. I want to go and check on his work. I need to go by and try out the harness the men in the leather shop are making for the throwing knives too," she said. "I'll bet they're anxious to fit you for it." "You know they are, but they'll only get to look while I try it on. I'm saving all the playing with them for you," she said. "Well, I think it's still early for Red to have any riding-sized horses on the ground, but I want to look at his colts and fillies anyway. We might as well get to it." We left the kitchen and I let her wander off to George's hideout while I went to see Ben. He was right out to greet me when I came up and he was raving about Red's get already. "He ain't been here long enough to get many has he?" I asked. "He took care of the first twenty mares I put with him in nearly no time, so I put him in with some more. We've already got some of his second year's crop on the ground and they are all excellent. How long are you gonna be able to leave him here?" Ben asked. "He's yours for the duration. He ain't leaving," I said, and it made me realize Red probably wouldn't get any older on Chaos. Surely he couldn't stay young forever, but Joe Bob and Blacky hadn't aged a bit here. It made me think of buying up some older thoroughbred mares. "I guess they're all still too young to ride aren't they?" "As age goes they are, but I'll swear some of them look big enough to start training. I haven't started any of them yet though," Ben said. "Well, I was hoping, but not too hard. I'm gonna need a few good mounts for Terri and me though. A good packhorse too." "I can fix you up with some of the best horses anywhere, so far, but I know I could do you a better job next year. When are you gonna want to leave?" "Tomorrow or the next day probably, as long as nothing else comes up in town." "I think your troubles in town are over with. Conroe kept four men prowling last night and he left out early this morning with four more. He always did take his job serious, and that's about the best kind of man you can hire." "Yeh, it's just a shame I had to put all that on his plate this time. I might need a couple of men with me on this trip. I'm not sure, but things might get a little rough." "We've got two that can go with you besides the ones he took for his job. They were just a little young for his crew, not that they lack any of what it takes. He just thought having older men on the job would stop a lot of arguments before they got started. "Johnny and Jimmy are better shots than most of the men in the bunch, but they're still young. Why don't you take them along with you? It would do them some good too, getting the experience," Ben said. "Well, let me talk to them then," I said. He led me out to the backstop they had set up for practice and there were two young men out there practicing throwing knives. They both had a double setup behind their necks just like mine, and they were doing a damned good job too. They stopped when I came up and we talked a little. They convinced me they would be assets and when I asked them if they'd like to go along they were ready to leave right now. I looked their swords over and decided I'd be better off having George make them new ones before we left, so I took them up to his hangout and called him over. George was happy to get the work since I knew he liked making swords a lot better than casting dishes. "I just finished making a good one for Terri, and a damned good dagger, if I do say so myself," George said. "Well fix Johnny and Jimmy up with some of the good stuff too," I said. "I might as well make them a couple of throwing knives each while I'm at it. I've just finished the two for Terri and I've got metal hot to make more of them anyway," he said. "Go to town on it then." "Good. I've got two boys I been training to make that bent over on itself steel like you showed me, and they're in good shape to pound on some metal," he said. "Say, now that I think about it. What's the biggest size milk pipe you make?" "About this big," he said, showing me about two inches between his thumb and first finger. "What if I said I needed some this big?" I asked, trying my best to show him four inches. "I could do it, but I'd have to make some bigger dies, and it would take a hell of a lot of milk to make very much pipe." "Well, it would be for indoor shitters and we damned sure wouldn't want it to leak. I don't know if you've heard it yet, but the whorehouse in town is now the Hero's Whorehouse. I'm thinking the girls need some indoor plumbing," I said. "You have some good ideas sometimes and I can see how this would be a good one. I'll get started on the dies and trying to make some big pipe, but you'd better get Ben and Bill involved in looking for more milch cows." "Don't worry about the mules, George, just load the wagon. I'll get the milk production ramped up," I said, and went off to see about it. I caught Ben near the front of the barn again and asked him about the milk for plastic. He said they'd have no trouble getting plenty, but it made me wonder. I'd seen the cows they were milking and they looked like normal everyday cows to me. I wondered how a couple of Holstein calves would turn out as hero companions. I'd have to ask Cowboy Jack if he knew where I could get some. It would take some time to get them into production, but more would come quickly once I got them onto Chaos. Terri and I spent three more days at the ranch, mostly waiting on Johnny and Jimmy's swords, daggers, and throwing knives to get done. I also worked the two of them with wooden swords in practicing. I didn't think they needed much practice with their bows. They did take the last day off for practicing with their new throwing knives and Terri and I spent a lot of time at that ourselves. When we left one morning we all ate breakfast early with Kala and Bertalee and they packed some traveling food for us. We took off with two mounts each and one packhorse and I set a fast pace, getting all the speed I thought the horses could maintain for half a day. They weren't worn completely out at the end of the day, but they damned nearly were. We took a break when we got to Jed's place and Maime started putting extra food on as soon as she saw me. I'd noticed the road was really light on nefarious traffic on the way from the ranch to here and I asked Jed about it. "The wagon runs at least once a week and with the six men guarding it I guess the bandits are steering clear, or dead. We've been doing a little patrolling south of here, but it's only about once a month. We've thinned them out down that way, but we still see a couple every time, so if you're going south you'd better keep your eyes open," he said. I told him we'd keep a lookout, but I'll admit I was counting on the speed of our horses to put us out of reach of the riffraff. I thought we were doing the right thing, but half a day out from Jed's place we ran into a group of eight men who were waiting on us. They dropped a roadside tree in our way, but we were coming so fast they misjudged it and we were able to stop about a half mile before we ran completely into their trap. The woods were thick near us, but not so bad with underbrush and so I turned off into the woods and we went maybe half a mile into them. I knew the men would be on our trail soon so I had Terri take all the reins and keep leading the horses deeper into the forest. Johnny, Jimmy, and I found some cover in the trees and waited for what I was sure was coming. About half an hour later they came along, following a tracker single file. I took care of the tracker after he'd passed our concealment and the fifth man in line was about even with me. It didn't take much work to get them all with me taking the lead man and Johnny and Jimmy working their way toward him from the back. I was a little surprised at the quality of the horses they had and they had more loot on them than I'd have expected too. We took a break to retrieve our arrows and clean the dead men and I took the best horse of the bunch to make another packhorse for us. We gathered all their weapons and decent clothes and packed them on the new packhorse. I then divvied up the money, which was better than I'd have expected too. Soon enough we were on the road again and when we came to the next town I decided we should stay at the inn there. We went to the livery stable first and ran into more static there. Four men hanging around were very curious about our stock and one of them braced me. "Where'd you get them horses, mister?" he asked. "A bunch of thieves tried to stop us up the road, so we killed them and took the horses and all their things," I said. "How in the heck did you kill eight fighting men and take their horses and things?" the fool asked, letting me know exactly who it was who'd attacked us by telling me exactly how many had done it. "Fighting men? Hell, they weren't fighting men, they were stupid and it was easy to get rid of them. Want me to show you how we did it?" I asked him, and the idiot said yes, so I did. I didn't really show him how we did it though. I just pulled my sword and emptied his guts onto the ground. The three with him were pulling their swords when Terri, Johnny, and Jimmy cut loose on them, too. After we stripped their bodies we took our bows into the inn with us, but it didn't cause any ruckus inside. Of course we didn't get by that easy since a jackass sitting near the door reached out to grab at Terri. I removed his arm for his trouble and then some of the others were up, almost in arms. Johnny and Jimmy were quick to nock arrows though and things settled down remarkably. "You can't come in here doing things like that to my customers," the man behind the counter said, and I showed him I could with my sword, but I didn't harm him for it yet. "You've got asshole customers, and I'm going to cut pieces off any of them who bother my companion. In fact, I'm gonna do it to any of them who even look like they want to." "I'll call out the town guard on you if you don't watch your step," he said. "Call them then. In the meantime we want some supper and we've got cash money. We just killed eight robbers north of town and they had plenty of money." One other customer took off just then and he was out the door pretty fast. I figured we'd have the town guard to deal with pretty soon so I ordered our supper and paid in advance. We made our way toward the back of the room and sat down. The one who had left came back in just after we got our stew and shouted. "They killed Frank, George, John, and Pee Wee over to the stable. Old Lyle said they came in leading Dan and all the boy's horses." "Let's get 'em. We can't let 'em get away with that," another man said, but I put a throwing knife in his windpipe before he was through. "Hell, yes, y'all come on and get us. We ought to be easy to kill. There's only four of us and all we've done so far is kill everybody from this pissant town who gave us any shit. Come on and get us. We'll even let you have plenty of time to get your swords out," I said, shouting it. There, I'd spoiled the fun when I said it. The rest of the dumb bastards caught on that we weren't as easy to kill as previously thought. I walked to fetch my throwing knife and did get one more taker though. His mistake was standing up to try and draw his sword and the drop-down knife in my right sleeve gutted him as if by magic. I nearly laughed when the man behind the counter came out with a club as if to teach me a lesson. I let him swing it at me, caught it in my left hand, took it away from him and then gave him a dose of his own club. I was beginning to wonder what they'd been drinking since he was five six at best. He was also unable to get up after I'd finished with him, but I hadn't killed him. I was tired of this crap though so I pulled my sword. "Now, all the rest of you who want me to kill ya just stand up and say so now. I came in here for some supper and I ain't got it yet and I've already paid for it. If it don't show up in a minute or two I'll burn this place down and go somewhere else to eat." A rather thin woman came to the front then from back in the kitchen. She had our stew bowls on a tray and she headed for our table. I noticed no one was making any room for her to get by, so I headed up the aisle knocking fire from their asses with my knife hilt. "Get your lazy asses out of the way so she can get through. I'm warning you, if you cause her to spill a drop you'll end up on the midden heap outside, you won't mind where you are by that time though." They were finally paying attention and they cleared the way at once. She set the stew down and headed back to the kitchen to bring us some bread and watered wine. To my surprise she made it there and back without being molested, but the talk was gathering a low volume among the natives and I figured we'd have more crap to deal with any moment. "Mister, I don't know what to do about it, but from what I hear you done kilt our whole town guard," a man sitting near the front door said. "If the eight we met on the road were the town guard, we killed them for trying to ambush us. Surely the four idiots at the stable weren't town guards. They went down easier than a bunch of babes." "They was the town reserve what stayed around to make sure nothing got started in town," he said. "Then what the fuck was the town guard for. Did they just try to rob everybody who came down the road?" "Well of course. What good is a town guard if you can't make money with 'em?" he asked. "Didn't you ever think someone was going to come along and take offence?" "Naw, it never happened." "Well, it happened tonight. Now I know what kind of town this is I'll just take everything I see I want and dare you to do anything about it." I said. "You can't do that," he said. "Why can't I? I'm bigger and meaner that the rest of you fools so I'll just do what I want. Maybe you'd better shuck your clothes so I can make sure you ain't got any extra money on you," I said, but he didn't reply. "Well," I said. "Well what?" "Get up and get your clothes and things off so I can take what I want. It'll save a bunch of blood on your clothes," I said. "He looked a little sheepish, but when Johnny drew back on his bow and pointed the arrow at the guy he started off with his clothes." Terri egged it on some too. When he got his pants off she started laughing and pointing at him. "What's so funny?" I asked her, out loud, but I was pretty sure what she was laughing about. "You sure can't steal his dick. He's barely got enough to pee with as it is," she said. "I'll bet my knife is still sharp enough to cut some of it off," I said, and pulled it, acting like I was going to get up and head that way. The naked customer ran out without his clothes and the other men started looking around and leaving one or two at a time. Soon we had the place to ourselves. ------- Chapter 36 The serving woman came back by to check on us then and I noticed she had a fresh bruise on her face. I made her sit down and I asked her about it. "I've got to where I don't much care about it any more. Things have really gone downhill here since the new Mayor got elected. My real husband got kilt soon afterward and I had to take up with that little shrimp you tended to earlier - the one who acts like he's running this place," she said. "He isn't really the owner?" I asked. "Oh, he's the owner all right. The new Mayor's town guard killed my husband, and since a woman can't really own property the Mayor gave our place to him." "Well, I'm sorry I didn't kill him earlier then, instead of just whipping his ass." "I don't guess it really makes much difference. If'n he gets killed the new Mayor would just turn this place over to someone else. "Janey. What are you doing out front there? Get your ass back here and get to cleaning up this mess in the kitchen," a voice from the back of the place called out. The serving woman tried to get up then, but Terri held her in place and then told me, "Why don't you go on back there and finish the job you left half done earlier." "I don't mind if I do, but I think I'll let him do the cleaning before I get finished with it," I said, and ambled on back to the kitchen. I found his nibs sitting in a chair like he was directing a play or something. I used my foot to usher it out from under him and gave him a swift kick in the ass while he was down. "You've got a little cleaning to do yourself big mouth. I just came to learn how you came by this place and I'm not pleased." "I don't care whether you're pleased or not. It's my place. The Mayor gave it to me." "Well I've just had a little experience with Mayor's myself lately and you know what I found out?" "No." "I found out Mayor's will die just like anybody else if you cut their head off. For now though I'm gonna find out just how much abuse you can take before you decide to do the cleaning back here like I told you to," I said, and then grabbed him by his scrawny neck. He yelped and then tried bluster as I walked him over to the big cast iron cook stove. He was begging as I forced his face down near the cook top and screaming and begging after I forced his face onto the hot metal. He was more than willing to get started cleaning when I let him up. "Now, don't get any ideas about stopping anytime soon. My next trick will be cutting your dick off and cooking it on that very stove. I'm going to teach you some manners or kill you really slow doing it, and most of it will come tonight," I told him, and then took his seat and watched him get to work. It didn't take long for me to get tired of that crap so I took a look around the kitchen and found there was only one door leading out of it while there were no windows at all big enough to let him escape. "I'm going back out front to check up on the rest of the place, but don't even think about trying to slip off. I promise you we won't kill you if you do, but I'll probably catch you and burn some more skin off you. Your best bet is to keep working." "You just wait until the Mayor comes over here to get his super. He always comes in late and he'll settle your hash when he gets here," the idiot said, and I thanked him for the warning. When I got back out front I was in hopes the Mayor had already arrived. There was a short dandified looking little man ordering from Terri where she was manning the counter. "Excuse me sir, but you wouldn't happen to be the Mayor would you?" I asked him when I left the kitchen. "Why yes, I do have that honor." "Do tell. I'm assuming you appointed the town guard we've heard so much about?" "Yes indeed. I had them scouting the road coming down from the north this afternoon in fact." Hell, it was right out of his mouth as if he were proud of it. I hit him as hard as I could with a straight right hand and I'm afraid it knocked a few of his teeth out while it was putting him back on his ass. He tried to complain, but another kick to his wind stopped all that, and then I was helping him up. "You know your honor. You might ought to think about the kind of things that can happen to you when you set out crooks and thieves and try to pass them off as a town guard. People might come along who would take offense. "Like me and my party for instance. Your town guard tried to attack us earlier today. You can imagine how we felt about it after killing them and finding out they were the town guard when we stopped in here to eat. Why, after we killed the reserve we were upset with you, as I'm sure you can understand. Come on back into the kitchen and you can try to make amends," I said, picking him up and throwing him in the proper direction. Turned out the Mayor thought cleaning up the kitchen was beneath his dignity too, but a treatment with his face against the hot stove convinced him to help after all. It was a good thing too, since the kitchen was pretty nasty for only one man to clean up by himself. I stepped back into the front room for a minute and called Janey back to make sure they were doing a good job. She was quite surprised to see who was tending to things, but she finally got hold of herself and showed me the small cat of nine tails the first turd I'd put to work had used to encourage faster work. "You mean you think they might work harder and faster if I gave them a dose from this?" I asked, swinging the cat against the doorjamb. "He's used it on me enough," she said. "Well good. There is a lot to do and it looks like they could go faster with a little encouragement," I said, and started handing some out. At first I thought their clothes were detracting from the effect, but soon I noticed the cat was ripping the offending articles of clothing off so I just hit harder. I must say it did seem to hurry them along quite nicely. I had to slack off on my application after a while though since it seemed when I overused it the pace slowed down a little instead of speeding up. I decided to take a break for a while and I went back to the tables to sit down and have a cup of wine. I sat by Janey and she seemed like she wanted to talk a little. "It's really nice what you're doing for me mister, but things will just go directly back to shit once you've left," she said. "That's all the more reason for you to come with us. We only have a short errand down this way and we'll be returning to Jacksville as soon as it's over. I can assure you a good job there and you'd probably end up with a good husband before long. "The town guard there is really in the business of guarding the town from troublemakers and not troubling visitors." "But I'll have nothing to even take with me. That jackass who owns this place would never let me keep what my real husband gave me," she said. "You won't have to worry about a thing out of him. He won't live much past sunrise if he even makes it that far. Why don't you go pack what you want to take with you and I'll make sure you get to keep it. Take everything from here you want, because it is likely we'll burn it down when we leave," I said. "Then why are you making them clean up the kitchen?" she asked. "It gives them something to do to keep me from killing them for being underfoot," I said, and I'd finally made her laugh, a little at least. Terri had served a few more customers lately and they actually looked like they were normal people. She had even shown a few men into the kitchen to let them know it was being thoroughly cleaned. One of he gentlemen came over to warn me though. "Mister, you're shore doing something that's needed did for quite a while, but that Mayor has eight tough men working for the town guard and they're likely to come give you trouble over this before long. "Well, as long as he didn't have any more than twelve all told, in the town guard and the reserve, I'll make it ok. We killed the guard and reserve before we got started," I said. "You've done this town a world of good mister. The only problem around here left is that man who calls himself the colonel with the farm outside of town. His riders act like they own this whole town and even the guard wouldn't do nothing agin them," he said. "You never can tell. They might do something to piss me off too," I said, and he left after that. He got me thinking though. If the Colonel had a good tight place outside town it might be hard to take on. When daylight came I'd wander out that way and see just how far out it was. I knew one thing for sure now though. We'd be up tonight until Terri got tired of waiting tables. She already had Janey up helping her and she had twelve or fifteen decent people eating. She was making sure they got good service too. I went back into the kitchen to check on my workers then and I had to dispense a little more encouragement, but not as much as you might think. I even gave them a little something to look forward to when I told them as soon as the place was clean enough I was going to let them go. I didn't mention I would be letting them go out back on the midden when I was done with them, but hell, you live and learn. Of course in their case they weren't going to get the chance. Not to live anyway. Johnny and Jimmy were parked on a couple of seats just behind the counter. They were watching the front room with bows in hand, but they weren't being obvious about it. They seemed to just be back there sitting down and looking around. Suddenly I remembered we'd have to sleep somewhere and I asked Janey about rooms in the inn. She took me upstairs and showed me and I'll be damned if they didn't look clean. She also showed me the former owners bedroom and it looked even nicer. Since he wouldn't need it any longer I decided Terri and I could stay there. Time wound down and all the customers left before midnight so we closed the doors. I told Terri about the owner's room and she took off for it with Janey. Johnny and Jimmy came with me to inspect the Mayor and the owner's work and I declared the kitchen clean enough and then cut both their throats. We cleaned their pockets and robbed their bodies of anything valuable and then Johnny and Jimmy considered it an honor to take them out to the midden and lay them to rest. "We put them right on top and on their backs. I tried to open their eyes so they'd stay that way and the crows will most likely peck their eyeballs out first thing in the morning," Jimmy said, proudly, and I told him it was a job well done. We went to bed then, but Terri and Janey were up early the next morning and Terri made me get up to come make sure they didn't have any trouble from anyone. I guess it was a good thing." Janey was back showing Terri how she got breakfast started and the stove going in the morning and they left watching the front to me. A tough looking guy came in first and was asking about Goober. "Who is Goober?" I asked. "He's the one who owns this place," he said. "Oh, you mean the one who owned it yesterday. He's out back on the midden with his throat slit," I said. "I'm gonna go tell the Mayor. He give this place to Goober," he said. "Well you can tell the Mayor when you go see Goober. He's right beside him with his throat slit to." "I'll tell the guard then, the town guard." "Well, I can't help you with the reserve since I don't know where they ended up, but the main guard is about five miles north of town off about half a mile in the woods. At least it's where we left them when we finished with them," I said, and he took off to find them I guess. I guessed I'd never know how word got around so fast, but when actual customers started showing up they looked like decent hard-working men. They came in an asked for breakfast and Janey came out and served them some sort of gruel she and Terri had cooked up. Only one of the lowlife's from the night before showed up and when he wouldn't sit down and shut up I encouraged him to leave with my sword tip. None of the others made an appearance. About ten Johnny and Jimmy were down and had already eaten so I told them I was going to go take a look at the situation and I headed for the livery stable. There weren't any hangers on around this early in the morning, but the stable owner was there and happy to let me get my mount. I saddled up and rode out of town in the direction I knew the Colonel's place was. I was pretty sue the Colonel was the one holding the Damsel. His place was only a couple of miles out of town on the road heading east, but it looked well built and made for keeping people out. I saw about six men outside just walking around and they were all wearing swords. I thought right away a night attack would be our best bet. I saw a couple of men saddle up as I was passing so I turned around in the road and headed back to town. I'd seen what I wanted to so I went back into the inn and was just in time for an early lunch. I ate at a table back in the kitchen, but then came out to handle the trade while Terri and Janey did the serving. The two who had been saddling up when I passed the Colonel's house came in a few minutes later, but when they came to the counter they asked for Goober. "He's out on the midden with the mayor," I said, and they just stared at me for a few seconds. "What?" one of them asked. "Goober and the mayor are out on the midden." "What are they doing out there?" "Lying there dead with their throats slit," I said. "Who did that to 'em?" one of them asked. "I did." "What for?" "I didn't like their attitude." "That ain't no reason." "It was good enough for me. Now, do you want something to eat or are you just about to leave?" One of them started to draw his sword, but Johnny beat Jimmy to it and put an arrow through his neck. I took the opportunity to draw my own sword before anything else got started. "If you came in here for trouble, asshole, you can see you can find plenty," I told the other one while he was standing there gawking while opening and closing his mouth." "Why you've done kilt James," the fool said. "What did he expect me to do? Wait for him to get his sword out. He might have hurt one of my customers with it." "But he's dead." "And? Would you like a serving of the same?" "What? No. I don't think I would." "Then what are you walking around with a sword on your waist for? It ain't helping keep your pants up. When you draw a sword it shouldn't be such a surprise when that you get killed for it. I know I'm ready to kill when I take mine out." "But nobody in town was supposed to bother us. They got the town guard here and the mayor promised we wouldn't be bothered." "Excuse me, I didn't realize you were hard of hearing. "The mayor is out on the midden heap with Goober. I slit his throat early this morning after I worked his ass half off all night. His promises ain't worth shit no more," I shouted at the top of my lungs. "I killed the town guard and their reserve yesterday too. If you come in my inn anymore leave your sword out on your horse. Now, get your ass out of here," I said, still yelling it and drawing my sword when I finished. I used the point to encourage the dumbass back outside, but I followed him out. He started to leave with both horses, but I whacked him on the side of the head with the flat of my sword and reminded him the dead mans horse went to the man who killed him. "The Colonel ain't gonna like this mister," he said, and for once I thought he just might be trying to give me some advice. "I don't really care what the Colonel don't like, and if I was you I wouldn't go back to his place," I told him. "But where will I go if'n I don't?" "I'd go just about any place else if I was you. I'd go someplace they ain't getting into fights all the time. A lot of men from the colonel's place are gonna end up dead over working for him and why should you be one of them?" "You know mister - I'd a never believed you just a little while ago, but after what happened to James in there I can see it is pretty damned easy to get killed, even if you got armor or mail, and I ain't got any. I believe I will amble on up the road," he said, and he took off north toward Jacksville. "Hey," I yelled at him as he was leaving and he rode back over to me a little closer. "What?" "When you get to Jacksville go to the Hero's Ranch and tell Ben, the foreman, that Jack wanted him to give you a job that didn't involve fighting. You look like you could raise crops or cows to me." "I can, mister. I can do either and I like both pretty much. Who'd you say to tell 'em sent me?" "Tell them Hero Jack said to give you a try, and tell them I was doing fine when you last saw me," I said, and he left telling me he shore would give them the message. Hell, I was glad he was gone because he was clearly too slow witted to be a fighting man and it would be senseless to have to kill him later. He sure as hell didn't get to help plan any of this shit. Being too slow witted to fight wasn't a knock on him either. Hell, everybody didn't need to fight and the less involved in it the better as far as I was concerned. I went back inside and Johnny and Jimmy wanted to know what became of the one I ran out. They laughed when I told them they'd see him again working at the ranch. "He'll probably be steering a plow over at the farm," Johnny said. "Well, at least the horse won't do nothing worse than fart at him, and a horse fart won't kill you even if it hits you right in the face," I said, and they both laughed, but not all that loud. I just left the dead one's horse tied out front since I didn't want to announce to the hostler, and through him everyone in the damned county that we'd killed one of the Colonel's men in the inn. Johnny and Jimmy were happy to strip down the corpse and throw it out with the mayor and Goober and we didn't have any more trouble for the rest of the day. About an hour after lunch I sent Jimmy and Johnny up to get a nap since we'd be doing a little traveling after midnight tonight. I mostly sat around on my ass behind the counter and napped in the chair when I could. We had a light crowd around suppertime and damned few of the hangers on from last night and it suited me fine. I wasn't planning on getting a good trade going on here anyway, I just wanted to use the inn for camouflage for a while. ------- Chapter 37 We closed the place up around nine and went to bed. Terri had overdone it working the inn and she wasn't all that sexy about getting naked. I wasn't up to snuff either and all I did was kiss her goodnight and tell her to wake me at midnight if she happened to wake up around then. Hell, I didn't have a bit of trouble waking myself up right on the dot. I dressed and rousted Johnny and Jimmy out and we left the inn via the back door. We were going to hike down to the colonel's place and we didn't intend to go right up to the gate and ask any questions. I guess I wasn't being all that heroic on this trip, but I'd had pretty good information the Damsel was being held in this town and I didn't know of another place around here she could be. Of course I could have been more diligent in my examinations, but then again this was a good bet and the colonel seemed like an asshole buddy of the mayor's anyway. I doubted he was doing the town all that much good. When we ran into a rail fence I sent Johnny and Jimmy over it to scout the territory and I told them I'd be near the guard gate just off the road. I was surprised when I made it near the place because there were two lights burning inside the gatehouse and I could hear conversation going on. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could hear them laughing and joking around. I'd meant to just keep an eye out for the guards, but of course after a few minutes I had to try slipping up closer to see if I could gain any information from what they were saying. With the lights inside the building I didn't have hardly any fear of being seen. As long as I stayed quiet I thought I'd be ok. "What the colonel don't know won't hurt him. I can just look out across the grounds and see just as much as if I was walking a patrol," a voice from inside the guard building said. "Hell, I hear you. I'll be doing the same thing when it's my turn to walk the watch, unless Jenkins is on duty here in the guardhouse. He's a real stickler for having us walk the patrol." "Yeh, he's a bastard all right. I wonder just who in the hell they think is going to come bothering this place. It'd be suicide with all the men we have." "Twenty five fighting men is a bunch, especially with the way the colonel's house is built. It's all out of stone and the only way in is the front door or our entrance in the back, and there's plenty of men guarding both ways." "Not to mention the twelve he makes stay in that out building every night. I'm due out there for the next six days after tonight. Oh well, at least there ain't even a sham of patrolling from in there. With those solid walls it's real quiet inside and no one bothers you," he said. Johnny patted me on the back just then and when I turned around I saw Jimmy was with him. I motioned back toward town and we slipped away and trotted back after we were about five hundred yards from the guardhouse. We were nearly back to the inn before I remembered the colonel's horse still tied out front. I went around to fetch it and we stripped off the tack and the crossbow tied to the back of the saddle. I slapped it on the ass when we had it stripped down and we carried what we'd gained inside the inn. When we were in the common room I poured us all a cup of wine and we discussed what we'd learned. Johnny and Jimmy had seen things just about exactly as the loudmouth at the gate had told. They'd spied the outbuilding where the twelve men were supposed to be guarding, but apparently they were just sleeping out there since there was no light from the building. Things were better than I could have hoped for. With only two men awake we should have an easy time of it. Even if one man was patrolling around he should be easy enough to take care of and the man in the guard post should be duck soup. It still left twelve men inside the house, or ten anyway after today. Some of them might be real fighting men, but my guess was several of them were just farm boys who thought carrying a sword made them fighters. We broke up our little pow wow and headed back to bed around three am. I managed to make it into bed without waking Terri and I was asleep quickly. She woke me just as the sun was coming up and I got up, put my clothes back on and headed downstairs with her. Janey was already in the kitchen with a fire in the stove and she had some hot tea made. I was glad to get a cup. Within an hour the breakfast trade started showing up and Terri started doling out bowls of the gruel. I didn't really know what it contained, but I'd had a bowl yesterday and I was happy enough when she brought me one this morning too. She had even put a couple of fried eggs on top of it for me and I dug in when it came. The morning crowd was quiet and didn't cause any trouble. I even took time off to go back into the kitchen to see if they had any bread. When I found a couple of loaves Janey said were left over from yesterday I cut off two thick slices, slathered them with butter and fried a couple more eggs. When they were done I slid them on top of the bread slices and gobbled it down. "Hey, that looks good. I might serve it for a little extra some day," Janey said. "It is good, but it's a lot better with a little bacon or sausage to go with it," I said. "Well, we'd have to kill a hog for that and it just isn't cold enough to kill one now." Johnny and Jimmy came down from upstairs about then and Janey fixed them a dose of what I'd just made for myself. I noticed that Johnny was a lot friendlier to her than Jimmy was and I wondered about it. Jimmy was usually the one who talked more to other people. What the hell, I couldn't run their love life for 'em. The breakfast crowd petered out and things were pretty quiet for a couple of hours. About half past eleven the noon crowd started showing up and things got busy for a while, but the lunchtime customers usually ate fast and cleared out. No doubt they were heading back to work and on a tight schedule. Johnny and Jimmy were ensconced on their regular stools behind the counter and they appeared to be sleeping there, but I knew they weren't. I was glad of it too when four men wearing swords came in and I had no doubt they were from the colonel's place. "Say, where's old Goober," one of them asked me. "He's still out back on the midden dead I think," I said, and it threw him off for a second. "What happened to him?" "He let his mouth get away from him and I slit his throat," I said. "What did the mayor say about that?" "He didn't like it much so I slit his throat too. He's out on the midden right beside Goober," I said, and I could tell none of the four of them liked the sound of that. "Jimbo, you'd better go out and see if you can find any of the guard," the main talker said to one of the other men who came in with him. "If you're looking for the eight who thought they'd set up a little ambush north of town they're about five miles north and about a half mile out into the woods from there," I said. "Are they dead too," the talkative one asked. "They were when we left them, but you can go check, they might have come back to life," I said, and he shivered involuntarily. "Seems to me you've done an awful lot of killing since you come around here mister," the talkative one said to me. "Well, I can't claim to have done it all. Johnny and Jimmy helped," I said, nodding toward them where they were still acting like they were asleep." "Go on and find the reserve then, Jimbo," the man said, and I had to straighten him out on them too. "Well, I don't know if they buried them or not, but the reserve asked too many questions when we came into town leading the guard's horses, so of course we had to kill them too," I said, and I'd finally got a rise out of the one who had so many questions. He stepped back to draw his sword and I guess it was Johnny's turn this time because he drew and let fly and put one right in this one's eye. He fell like a rock and so did two others who thought they wanted in on it. The only one left standing was the one he'd called Jimbo and he kept his hands well away from his weapons. "Well, what'll it be, Jimbo?" I asked. "It won't be nothing from me mister. I ain't got a dog in this fight. I just came in here with them to get a bite to eat. I didn't know they was gonna cut up so," he said. "I guess you noticed they didn't get any mistreatment until they tried to pull their weapons," I said. "I shore did, and you notice I've got my hands away from mine. We was told by the colonel that we wouldn't have no trouble in town with the guard running things," he said. "Well now you know the guard ain't running things no more. At least they ain't running nothing, but maggot farms with their own hides furnishing the shelter. "I got some advice for a smart young man if you'd like it," I said. "It looks to me like I need some good advice pretty bad right about now, mister." "There's a place on the left side of the road about a hundred miles or so to the north. It's got a big sign says "The Hero's Ranch" over the lane and if you go up there and tell Ben that Hero Jack sent you he'll give you a try at a good job. "If you're a real fighting man he'll have work for you and if you're a farm boy wearing a sword he'll let you take it off and go back to farming. You'll have to work hard no matter which job you say you want, but the pay is good and the food is too. Hell, you'll even have the four horses you and these dumbasses came in on, but we'd like for you to leave the weapons this bunch brought with them." "I'll just need a minute to get them off their horses mister, and I thank you kindly for the advice," Jimbo said, and he was out the door and bringing in crossbows right away. "You know, Jack, them bodies are gonna get to stinking out on that midden, especially if we pile these on top of 'em. I think Jimmy and I ought to dig a hole and plant 'em," Johnny said, while Jimbo was gone. "Well go ahead then, but don't tire yourselves out," I said. When Jimbo brought in the last crossbow he dragged a saddle in with it and then he went out and brought two more. I asked him if he wanted a little something to eat before he left and he allowed it wouldn't hurt anything. ------- Chapter 38 Terri brought Jimbo a big bowl of the stew then and I left him eating. I was back at my place behind the counter when six more men, obviously from the colonel's place came in. They spied Jimbo eating and went directly back to sit with him. When I yelled across the room asking what they'd have, they called for stew. Terri headed that way with a tray holding three bowls, but when she got to the table one of the men took a handful of her asscheek. She dropped the tray with the hot stew into his lap and when he jumped up he took a swipe at her. I beat both Johnny and Jimmy to the draw and sunk one of my throwing knives into the back of his neck. Apparently it hit something important because he fell in a heap. While the excitement had been happening one of the other new arrivals had caught Terri up and was holding her with a knife near her throat. Jimmy asked him to let her go with an arrow that entered near his ear and from the amount that sunk in, nearly to the fletching, I was sure an impressive length was sticking out the other side. It must have been because one of the others bent over to puke at the sight. "The rest of you had better settle down and get your hands away from your weapons unless you want to die here in the inn," Jimbo said, just a little loudly, but with a calm voice. "But they've killed John and Jed," one of the newcomers said. "And how do you propose to help them by getting killed yourself? In case you haven't noticed, the three behind the counter are real fighting men, and obviously well trained. They killed John and Jed more easily than drowning puppies and even you have probably noticed they don't give a shit whether you are the colonel's men or not." "But what will we do?" one of the others asked. "First thing, I'd make sure I didn't cause the serving girl to spill the stew when she brings it, and I sure as hell wouldn't molest her if she does it accidentally." "Better pick up the bowls the dead one caused her to spill too," I shouted, from my place behind the counter. Johnny and Jimmy weren't acting like they were sleeping any longer. They were both holding their bows, drawn, ready to fire, and pointing toward the offenders. "The mayor and the guard will hear about this," one of them said indignantly. "You'd better hope you aren't the one to tell them," Jimbo said, "The mayor and Goober are outside with their throats cut and the rumor is they've already met the guard and the reserve. The jury is still out on where those worthies are waiting for their maker to come pick them up." "Can't you fools see they aren't just pretending to be fighting men? They are the real thing and they aren't worried about you pulling your swords out to wave around as if you knew how to use them." "Well, I'll just inform the colonel when we get back. He'll settle their hash," another one said. "You're supposing they'll just let you walk out of this place as if nothing happened," Jimbo said. "On no, Jimbo. We won't bother them if they want to leave. I would like to hear them explain to the colonel how the innkeeper killed their friends and ran them out without a fight though. I'm sure the colonel will understand about them taking his money as fighting men and not being able to get out of the inn without my permission," I said, and then laughed like hell, rubbing it in. "Not to mention what the other men out there will say about them," Johnny said, and that caused Jimmy to laugh and his antics started Jimbo laughing. "Well what can we do then?" "You can bring your crossbows and the tack off the two horses Jed and John rode in here and give it to him and ask if you can have his blessing to ride with me and take a job at his ranch," Jimbo told them. "But what's a ranch?" "I'm sure I don't know either, but he said I could have a job there as a farm hand if I wanted it. If you'd sit down and act like you knew about manners he might do the same for you," Jimbo told them, and one of them did turn to me and ask. "Sure you can go, and Jimbo knows how to put in the word when he gets there. I don't want your weapons, just any extra you are carrying and of course I want the ones that came with the men we've killed," I said, and the four of them got up and practically ran to their horses. I noticed one of them got on his mount and tried to ride away, but the other three killed him quickly and brought his body and weapons inside along with the tack off the horse he tried to leave on. "Now then gents. Go back and sit down and wait for your meal. Try not to bother the serving girl this time or I'll let her deal with you. She can get downright testy when bothered," I said. I talked to them a little while they ate and found out all the men I'd had run-ins with today were part of the outside guard who slept in the outbuilding. They thought inside men would be made to sleep outside now to make up for the reduction in forces. That made things a lot better for me. They were surprised when I let them slide on paying for their meal and they left after they'd finished - leading the vacant horses off toward the north. I had been planning on waiting another two or three days before taking on the colonel, but I decided tonight would be the night now. We didn't see any more of the colonel's men for the rest of the day, but we did do a brisk business with the suppertime crowd. As soon as the place emptied out we locked the door and Johnny, Jimmy, and I went to bed leaving Terri and Janey to tend to cleaning up. I wanted us to have a little sleep before we took on our nightly business. I woke at midnight and Terri stirred when I did. "What time is it?" she asked, and I told her it must be around midnight. "Are you going down there scouting again?" she asked. "Not really. I think we are going to tend to business." "Be careful then. They still have you outnumbered," she said, and rolled back over to return to sleep. I dressed and made sure my throwing knives and my drop-down were in place and ready for full use. I picked up my bow and quiver and left the room. Jimmy and Johnny were in the common room when I reached it and they said they were ready to leave. As we were walking through the woods toward the colonel's place Johnny and Jimmy wanted to know the plan and I told them. "We'll just shut the outside guard detail up in their building and then take over the colonel's house. The outbuilding is made of stone and the windows are high and small ones. I doubt any of the men can get out even if they want to. If we kill the roving guard and the one in the gatehouse I doubt anyone will even wake them until we do after it's all over. We went to the outer building first and found a good solid door standing wide open. We shut it without much bother and it had a place on the outside for lowering a bar in place. Of course there was a rope to the inside to allow for the bar to be raised enough to let them out, but one slice with my drop-down knife ended its usefulness. The gate guard and the roving guard were ensconced in the gate guardhouse as usual and we didn't have any trouble ending their worries with arrows. All we had to worry about now was finding a way to get inside the rear entrance. When we approached it we found the door wide open and we caught a guard outside with his dick out, pissing. We didn't even kill him, but we did get his attention with a short club and when he woke later his hands and feet were bound and there was a lot of his coat cut off and stuffed into his mouth for a gag. Mopping up was slow and tedious, but uneventful. The men were in a large bunkroom and we had six of them tied before the other two woke. We were forced to apply the club to them, but it was only enough to silence them until we could install more gags. While we were checking on other occupants we woke the cook and her two serving girls. They were scared silent until we started asking questions. They were only too happy to tell us where the Damsel was held and we got a bonus too. We learned where the secret room that held the slaves was located. Apparently it was only a way station for holding slaves between the times nightly deliveries and pickups were made. Since the cook and serving girls were some of the slaves they were happy to provide the details. Then it was time to deal with the colonel. I reserved the honor for myself. It was fairly easy since he was sleeping soundly. I entered the room and had Jimmy and Johnny light two lanterns. It only took about half a minute for the light to wake him. How he came by the title of colonel escaped me and you damned sure couldn't tell by looking, unless you considered all fat old men were colonels. He was the cleaning boy before the night was over and I had him in the kitchen doing the same type of work the mayor and Goober did during their last few hours of life. The slaves were surprised when I released them, but they were in better shape than most. There were three grown women and an older man with them and they had them pretty much organized. I gave them the run of the house but asked them to get a meal ready. They claimed they'd be happy to. I sent Jimmy back to the inn before dawn while Johnny and I stayed to keep the prisoners in line. Jimmy was just going to town to make sure nothing untoward happened in the inn. Johnny and I escorted the tied up in-house guards outside after sunrise and we kept watch on the windows to make sure no one tried to climb out of the barracks. We only had to shoot two really thin ones before the demands to be released turned to pleas for terms. Meanwhile I found a jewel among the in-house guards. The Jenkins we'd heard about was a retired officer from somewhere; and once he found out he'd been working for a slaver he wanted to kill the colonel himself. Hell, I let him. I didn't give a shit who did away with the old cornholer. Afterwards, I reserved the colonel's bedroom for my own use, helped Johnny watch the men being fed and I let Jenkins pick out six men of his own choice to guard the rest of the men. Just after the morning meal I had Jenkins and his chosen men let the rest out of the outbuilding with their hands bound behind them of course, and I made the happy announcement that they'd all been caught slaving. I gave them a chance to renounce slavery and go to work for me. Four refused and I happily produced the little s brand I'd had George make me for personal use on these occasions. I was rather happy that one of the four who refused to renounce slavery was the wise ass I'd listened to at the guard post on the first night we'd been checking out the place. He had seemed such a popular guy before when he'd refused to be bullied into renouncing slavery, but he was shunned like a pariah after his trial and my pronouncement of sentence -- thirty years indentured servitude and the ritual branding of his forehead. He also developed an aversion to being tied at the time, but with all the others around he was still held down and branded and then he was bruised into submission. It turned out he was an escaped farm boy and when I held the plowing auditions he came in second and so we put him to work along with the winner. I finally convinced Terri to move to the new farm and ranch and into the bedroom with the Damsel Carla and me. Running the inn was getting her down and after I sent two of the slave girls up there to help out and actually receive pay for the work she felt like she could get back to her job as Hero Companion. I myself thought she did an excellent job of greasing the Damsel's ass and was also a great help diddling the Damsel off while I plowed that back furrow. Carla had been anxious to leave at first, but with patience and the threat of a spanking, I was able to convince her to make the best of things while I got another way-station in operation. Jenkins turned out to be a great administrator, and though he didn't know much about farming, several of the men I'd captured did. Jenkins also got them started building a large barn and some fences on the promise I would be sending him some excellent breeding stock and not a little merchandise to sell in a store in town. I even let him pick out the building and I made a deal for it. This place was pretty far removed from Jacksville, but I thought it could be self-sufficient with only a little help and eventually it would help keep the road safe to travel from here to Jacksville if we sent the wagon and patrol down it from time to time. ------- Chapter 39 It seemed like every time I thought I could take Terri, Johnny, Jimmy, and the Damsel Carla back to Jacksville something else would come up. Nothing really dangerous or anything of the sort, but there always seemed to be some little administrative snafu sticking its head up to keep things roiled. I finally had Johnny and Jimmy go back to Jacksville and I sent a message with them requesting Conroe and about a dozen of his guards to make the trip with a wagon load of cast goods and other merchandise to sell in the new store. I wanted them down here to keep a lid on while we held an election for mayor. I had my heart set on Jenkins becoming mayor and there seemed to be more toughs dropping into town to stir things up. They didn't seem to be organized or anything of the sort, but I was getting a hint they were being sent in from somewhere with the express intention of causing trouble. I intended to enforce the rule about only long time residents voting in the election, but I was getting the idea there was someone with their own ideas about how the election should go working behind the scenes. Johnny and Jimmy had been gone about a week and a half when things started getting difficult in town. Jenkins had been sending a couple of men down to the inn every morning to help keep things running smoothly, but this morning they weren't going to be enough. We had eight customers for breakfast who came in to cause trouble and I knew it. Terri wasn't officially working at the inn any longer, but for the last couple of days she'd been backing me up behind the counter with her bow easy to hand. The new rowdies were getting restless and causing minor troubles when Conroe and the boys made their appearance and I was happy to see them. Hell, even Johnny and Jimmy had come back with them. It settled things right down when they all walked into the inn with their bows in hand and Conroe came up to me and reported, asking if we were having troubles. "Well we were until you made your appearance Conroe. We seem to have some customers this morning who want to cause trouble. They keep getting in the way of the serving girls while they're trying to work and generally making a nuisance of themselves," I said, and I wasn't whispering. "Should we start killing them at once, Hero Jack?" Conroe asked. "No, I don't think so. Just capture them and we'll take them out back, build a good fire, and begin asking them a few questions. Remind your men to do their best to only wound any of them who try and cause a disturbance at first," I said, and it was the loudest thing I'd said all morning. "Johnny, why don't you watch the door with your sword to make sure none of them get out before we've dealt with them," I said, and he drew his sword at once. I pointed out the troublemakers to Conroe and he detailed a few men to round them up. It was fairly easy to sort them out since all the real customers had already finished their breakfasts and gone on about their business. There were twelve men still inside the inn and they had a little organization about them since they rose and drew their own swords, as if to fight their way out. "Bows men, and remember to only wound them so far," Conroe called out and arrows started flying right away. Soon six of the rowdies had arrows in their arms or legs and the rest dropped their swords at once. Conroe sent a couple of rather burly men to tie hands behind backs and soon enough we were marching our captives out the back door. It was easy to see who the ringleader was now since all the others were watching him as if for guidance on what to do. I had a little news for them though. All the guidance they were going to get now would be coming from the flat of a sword upside their heads - or else from the short clubs all of Conroe's men seemed to be carrying. We adjourned to the back and Conroe had a fire built and a couple of long irons heating in it in no time. Several of the captured men asked questions and tried to complain about their treatment, but the short clubs served us well in keeping order. I decided to cut to the chase here though and I had the obvious leader brought up for questioning first. He seemed surprised we had picked him out of the bunch and I didn't even bother to tell him why he was first for the treatment. At a word from me he was stripped naked and tied down spread eagle to hastily driven stakes. I reserved the questioning and hot iron wielding to myself. I took out an iron and used it to singe his pubic hair off without really damaging him at first. He was begging and pleading before I had half of it burned off, and come to think of it, the hot iron so close to his genitals might have his attention. By the time I laid the iron alongside his dick he was ever so eager to answer the first question and he gave up the name of the real instigator right away. Apparently the town's long time storeowner was worried about the competition he was about to get and he had hired this bunch of toughs to discourage the civic improvements. I sent a couple of my hometown boys out to the colonel's former digs to fetch Jenkins and most of the men he was training for police type duties while we encouraged the rest of our captives to disrobe. There's noting to make grown men feel helpless like being naked out in front of God and everybody while there is a madman wielding a red-hot iron. Half an hour later Jenkins appeared with twenty men dressed for police work. I sent them to fetch the storeowner in question and all the men hanging around his store or his home. An hour later the twenty of them came back with the storeowner and six more men. Our new guests were promptly stripped naked and I did a little more hot iron work, starting with the storeowner. I wasn't sure about the finer points of the law here on Chaos, so I'm not sure the confessions the hot iron and I coaxed out of the storeowner were strictly within the law. Then again, most Chaos law I was familiar with went along the lines of the one with the strongest force of men got his way. Anyway, I knew they were the rules we were going by now. It seems that storeowner Jones had a few slaves of his own. Nothing major or anything and he wasn't part of any slaver conspiracy, but he was holding four women slaves and in fact his wife had been bought as a slave. Well of course we couldn't have any of that going on. I sentenced him to forty years of indentured servitude to the town at large and he got an s in his forehead before the stench from his burning pubic hair had cleared completely. I'd had his wife and the slaves brought over to watch his punishment and I declared the store to belong to his wife now. It did leave us with a problem though. We had over a dozen men who could be declared slavers now since they had been in a slavers pay and had been helping him try to take over the town. I held a separate trial for them, but gave them a break on sentencing. I gave them one year of indentured servitude to the town and promised them they would be released without the branding if they served out their full year. I set them to cleaning up the streets of the town right away and I had their promise to fix up all the buildings in town and keep the streets and their noses clean for the full year lest they be caught, branded, and get the full thirty years which was fairly routine. We released all the prisoners then, but some people just can't seem to get the details straight. Not an hour later the former storeowner was back in the inn with his former wife complaining he wouldn't do as he was told. I whipped out my sword and pushed it through his heart at once. What good is an indentured servant that won't take orders? Everything else seemed to be going fine though. The towns new indentured servants were cleaning the shit from the street and also repairing shutters, fallen eaves, sagging doors, and the like all over town. The stable owner was benefiting from their services too. There had been two stables practically together for years, but one owner had died a couple of years ago and no one else had taken the place over. Since the labor was available now the stable owner was having the two businesses combined and his building was being expanded and repaired with the materials from the other building which was being dismantled. It had been a busy day and the next one was even more so. An election was held and Jenkins was declared mayor at the end of it. He was charged with hiring a good town guard and chastened this time to make sure the guard spent their time guarding and not out on the road waiting to throw up an ambush. Conroe left one of his burly boys down here to train the guard and then direct their actions. I had a talk with the dead store owner's wife and she seemed like she knew her business and so we shelved the plans for opening our own store here and I promised her regular shipments of what we manufactured for sale on consignment. Hell, my work here was done and I decided we could leave in the next day or two. Jimmy came to me then and wanted to know if he could stay. It seemed he and Janey had taken a shine to each other and he wanted to stay and help her run the inn. "I really don't know much about running an inn, but Janey said she could teach me as long as I knew how to keep things to a dull roar in the common room." I gave my blessing while reminding him the bow he had belonged to the Hero's Ranch. I left it with him on the promise he would use it to help keep the town free of thieving assholes. That afternoon I sold off the horses we'd gathered on our trip to the stable owner and I made sure all of ours were ready to leave in the morning, then I retired to the inn, ate an early supper and talked Terri and the Damsel Carla into going to bed early. We left the next morning, but with one hell of a lot more protection than we'd come with. Conroe and his men were with us after all, and they rode in such good order that any group of bandits wouldn't dare to try them. We had a pleasant trip even if it was a little longer than I remembered. The gate was no longer down when we rode up to the Hero's Ranch and we were waved through. Things looked more cheery all around and luckily we were in plenty of time to make it to supper. The kids swarmed Terri and Carla both with questions and wanting attention and I was glad because it gave me a chance to sit down and anticipate the food we'd be having later. When Bill arrived the meal started and I was struck by how healthy he looked again. Apparently his worries were over now. We also had a young girl as a guest at the table with us. She looked rather shy, but she was sitting right with Carlita and the other of Bill's wives and it had my curiosity up, though I held my piece. Her name was Jennifer and I learned later she had been one of the working girls at the Hero's Whorehouse. Apparently Bill had taken a shine to her on one of his visits and had taken her home right away to become another of his wives. Apparently Carlita and the others adored her from the first and during the meal they encouraged her to tell all and she announced she was expecting. This news nearly caused a party to break out, but I wasn't sure why because it was obvious all Bill's wives had known all along. Mary was in good spirits too, but I noticed Tom Jr wasn't present for the meal and I was afraid to ask where he was. It came out a little later though and apparently Tom Jr had found a town girl he admired and had been married in my absence. The carpenters had combined their jobs and built a nice house up near the stable for the new young couple. Since Tom Jr was over his illness and had moved out anyway I was back to the big bedroom tonight. Terri was in her element again and she took over the sleeping arrangements. She greased the back doors of Carla and Mary and made sure I gave them both a good cornhole treatment before she let me roll Mary over and do her the more normal way. At least Terri took her due at the last and I was happy about it because she wore me out. There was something about bossing Mary around that lit Terri's candle. It also seemed to set Mary to blazing too, so I had no complaints. In the morning I slipped out of bed, dressed, and made it down to Kala's kitchen without being discovered. Kala was glad to see me and Bertalee was happy to introduce the new young serving girl, Anna, who brought me a cup of tea right away. I noticed she hung around after she put it down and so I gave her splendid ass a little fondle to show my appreciation; both of the tea and the ass. She giggled and scampered away to help Kala, but she was back soon enough with a big plate of fried eggs, sausage, bacon, hot buttered bread, and hash brown potatoes. I ate it all up promptly and gave her ass a little squeeze as I left for the barn. "Where are you headed this morning?" Ben asked, as he called for a mount to be saddled for me. "I thought I'd go take a look around the Hero's Whorehouse," I said. "It'll probably be the only time of day you can check it out without waiting in line," Ben said, and slapped me on the back. I mounted up and headed into town. I stopped by Tom Jr's stable on the way and he was out trimming the feet of a few of his horses. He stopped what he was doing and led me to his house to introduce me to his young wife. She was a pretty thing and I saw that Tom must have wanted a girl like dear old Mom, because Nita had titties for days, just like Mary. I rode on to the whorehouse after Tom and I shot the shit a little and I found a sign on the door that said closed until after noon. I gave the door a knock though and the madam answered it and invited me in right away. "I'm happy to see you. You can't believe what you've done for this place. As soon as I let it get out we would now take barter they've been beating down the doors. That poor boy who comes by to exchange it for cash for us has been having to come in a wagon every morning to haul it away, and we already keep back most of the food that's traded to use in our own kitchen. We never have to buy food any more," she said. "Well, I'm happy things are working out," I said. "Working out. They're doing better than working out. I've been asking the carpenters if they can't raise the roof and put on another story for more rooms so I can hire more girls and put them to work," she said, and I could tell she was happy. "Well, I just wanted to check in and see if things were suiting you," I said, thinking I might as well get away since all the girls were apparently sleeping. "Don't be so anxious to get gone. Come on back in the kitchen. Most of the girls just finished their baths and are eating breakfast. I'm sure a few of them would like to thank you too. You really made them all feel special by having the big carriage come to get them and take them out to the ranch for doctoring. "I'm sure a lot of them would like to suck your dick in appreciation. Poor Bill never gets to come and use up any of the tab you asked me to run for him, because every time he shows up they gang up and vacuum him dry." I wanted to tell her I was already pretty dry myself after the workout Terri, Mary, and Carla gave me last night, but I didn't want to spoil her mood. She led me to the kitchen and sure enough there were about fifteen young women at the table having breakfast. "Who's that you're leading around Ma'am," a cute blonde asked her from the table. "It's our benefactor girls. This is the one and only Hero Jack," she said, and all the girls squealed while about half of them left the table and came over to gather around me. I noticed right away that when a whore was at breakfast she didn't wear that much. They were all in skimpy robes and most of them were of very thin and transparent material. Suddenly a chair was shoved into the back of my legs while a nubile young redhead was before me at once and seemed determined to open my britches. Of course she found a hard dick when she achieved her goal and she popped the head in her mouth right away. She slurped up about half of it, gave it a good swabbing with her tongue, and then sucked her way back off the end. "Delicious. Maybe he'll give me some cream to go on my eggs," she said, and then damned if she didn't swallow my dick completely and as she pushed her lips into my bush and started gulping. I exploded right away and she slurped her way off me, stood up, and giggled all the way back to her seat. It was by far the quickest start to finish sexual encounter I'd ever had, but it wasn't the last one here in the kitchen. A blonde was on her knees before me in seconds and she'd shed her robe, to show me her lovely titties I guess. I barely had time to admire them before she had my shrinking dick in her mouth and had it rising again. "Now girls, don't be rude and just wait in line for the good stuff. A couple of you need to get your naked asses around there to give him something to fondle," the madam announced and two black haired beauties did it right away. They didn't look like twins, but they told me later they were sisters and when I got around to diddling them their pussies were greasy and felt delightful. I was actually quite surprised to see how attractive all the girls were. I'd seen my share of whores on earth and I'd never seen any this good looking, not to mention so many lookers at the same time and place. I was in for at least a penny now though and I thought they were going to suck my dick completely off before they decided I'd had enough. Even the first one came back over, dropped her gown, and stood beside me to let me fondle her goodies too. When they finally finished their meal, both at the table and from my lap, I was completely spent and the madam took pity on me and had the cooks serve me a little bit of breakfast to help me get my strength back. When she let me out later she made me promise to come back and visit the girls whenever I was in town and I told her I would. Shit, she didn't need to ask since I wouldn't miss breakfast with the whores on anyone's bet. It was nearly time for lunch when I made it back to the ranch and I took a little time to ask Bill if he needed anything. I told him I'd be trying to bring some milk cows with me next time and he assured me I needn't bother. "Well, I'm not trying to tell you how to run the place, Bill, but you've never seen the type of cows I'm planning to bring. Of course, they'll be young calves, but you'll be shocked when you see what they grow into," I told him. Since I was full from lunch and empty from last night's exertions and breakfast with the whores I figured we might as well light a shuck and haul our asses. Mary was especially kissy and romantic when she got the word and so I asked her to come along with us. "I wouldn't know how to act back on Cassandra after all these years here," she said. "Who said anything about Cassandra? I don't take Terri to Cassandra, she goes to Earth with me and I'm sure she'll let you come along too," I said. "Of course I will. I can't wait to get her to Earth where I can really boss her around," Terri said, and she gave Mary such a lecherous look Mary gave in and agreed. We packed up and headed out in the carriage with Ben driving us, but we had a stop at Tom's stable where Mary told him goodbye for a while. We were all off to the bank then. I put away my weapons and had Terri do the same and then I let her close the last box while I was holding onto Mary's and Carla's hand. We all popped up into Crossroads then and Kathy was nearly overwhelmed. When Kathy realized who Mary was she treated her like royalty, but she had her in the healing chamber right away and she put the rest of us in the shower. I was enjoying the shower while Terri and Carla washed my dick mostly, but soon enough Kathy brought Mary from the healing chamber and led me away for a ride in it. I took it like a man, pouting all he way there and back, and by the time I was done the party in the giant shower was over and had been reassembled in the kitchen, such as it was. ------- Chapter 40 When I arrived in the kitchen, or the meal delivery area, Terri was routed to the healing chamber and I started on my meal which she had ordered for me before she left. It was another giant platter of oysters on the half-shell and I chased it with a New York Strip and assorted sides. I had just finished eating when Terri came back from her ride in the healing chamber and all the women herded me into the bedroom where I gave the Damsel Carla a good shot and then did my duty to the other three backdoor style. Now I wasn't upset with these developments at all, but I did wonder about it. "Mary and I are suspicious of her time here in Crossroads. She is technically a Damsel and she doesn't want to take the chance of being sent back to Cassandra. Kathy and I decided to take it up the ass to keep her company in her enforced birth control method. "Of course I think Kathy will backslide since she has no risks involved, but Mary and I are going to provide relief via the backdoor only while we are here with you," Terri said, and it made perfect sense to me. I did silently resolve to yank them all out the front door together after the Damsel had gone on her way though. What the hell, if I knocked them up on Earth they would just be knocked up -- subject to their fate as pregnant women. The rest of the stay went off like clockwork, four times a day for the duration. As we got closer to the end I spent more time with Carla, giving her extra attention and special cuddles every chance I could. Hell, I had my reputation on Cassandra to think about after all. All too soon she came out of the bathroom one morning with the happy and sad at the same time news. I gave her a loving kiss and sent her on her way then took a good grip on Kathy and Mary and called Terri to follow me. Cowboy Jack was surprised to see me appear with three women in tow, but he knew them all except Mary and the two of them looked at each other and I could tell they had met before. "You must be, Mary," Cowboy Jack said to her and she admitted it. "I've seen you on Chaos before," he said, "but I don't remember where or which trip. I could never forget a woman as beautiful as you though." "Why you smooth talking old bastard. I wish I'd tried harder to get you into the sack when you were there," Mary said, and we all laughed at Cowboy Jack then, and at the last he joined us. "I hope he didn't drag you here with promises of my fair body," Cowboy Jack said, "because I'm a dedicated one Caretaker man now. "I've trapped the lovely Glenda here and I must save myself for her," he said, and we all had another good laugh, except I could see tiny tears leaking out of Glenda's eyes. "You old fool, you're just saying that because you've taught me to suck your dick so well," Glenda said, and then slapped him on the arm. "Damn," Mary said, "I thought Earth was a modern place. I've seen shacks on Chaos that looked better than this place." "I resemble that remark. I'll have you know I've spared no expense to make this place remind me of my time on Chaos." "It ought to do that well enough," Mary said. Cowboy Jack set his computer to playing an afternoon soap opera then and showed her something she hadn't seen on Chaos. Cowboy Jack also showed them another of his not available on Chaos, Crossroads, or Cassandra tricks then. A home cooked Cowboy Jack special steak dinner. He cooked the steaks over a hickory fire outside and fried the potatoes in a giant vat of peanut oil over a butane burner. Of course the steaks weren't long dead and they were from cattle he'd picked out and the potatoes were hand sliced before they hit the hot oil. It wasn't so much that it tasted better than a crossroad's meal, it was just that you got to see the whole thing cooked right before your very eyes. It wasn't delivered by machinery. And, it was every bit as good as anything delivered by said machinery, even if it didn't float down right out of thin air. "I know what it is, I know it now," Mary said, right in the middle of eating the supper Cowboy Jack had just delivered. "You know what what is?" I asked. "I know what's so different about this place than Chaos. It threw me off for a little bit at first, but now I realize what it is." "Well. Don't keep it a secret," I said. "The overriding aroma here isn't one of shit, and no, I don't miss it," she said, and laughed. She was right of course. On Chaos you became accustomed to smelling shit, everywhere. There was shit on the streets and in the edges of the woods everywhere. There was even the smell of shit in the houses from the ever-present chamber pots. About the only shit around Cowboy Jack's house was bullshit, and it didn't smell. After we'd eaten Mary wanted to watch some television and Cowboy Jack provided the show. He even managed to get both our computer screens to show the same thing at the same time. I don't know if it was a big trick or not, but I knew damned well I couldn't get it done. And I'm sure you want to know what we watched. "Titanic" of course. Mary had never even heard of a boat that big, and she didn't mind saying so. Kathy and Terri hadn't either and they finally admitted it under Mary's grilling. I guess they didn't have ocean liners on Cassandra either. Of course they all just ate up the love story and thought Leo Di -- I'd like to bust a cap off in his ass -- Caprio was so cute. I just tried to ignore the movie and hang around to console the crying women after it was over. I started having more kindly feelings toward the movie after I got my three into bed. We did it the right way for all of them tonight and no buttfucking need apply. I hate to brag on myself, but I will for once. I had a ball lighting all their hair trigger candles until they couldn't take any more. I even had Kathy calling for restoratives, but all I could provide was long neck bottles of Lone Star beer, and I got the feeling it just wasn't the same for her. All three of them slept in the next morning. Cowboy Jack was up early though and he fixed me a big breakfast. Like the caring man I was I left the house as soon as I'd eaten and went out to saddle a horse. Blacky looked like he needed a little attention and so I gave him some. I showed my face again about lunchtime and all my women were up by then. They were just finishing a big Cowboy Jack breakfast and I figured it was the best time I could show my face. They were all full, fat, and happy after the meal and it was bound to make things go easier on me. It did, since they greeted me like a long lost Hero and all of them helped Jack feed me a big lunch. After the meal I headed off for town. "But where are you going now," Mary asked, but I had the perfect answer. "I'm going to get a bigger screen for you to watch movies on. I can afford it easily and they just look better on a bigger screen," I said, and it met with their enthusiastic approval. I had to drive all the way to San Antonio to find some really big screen models, and while I was at it I even looked up a projection home theater. Of course it required men to come out and install it, but no matter. I had two Vizio fifty-inch stand alones to take up the slack until the giant screen got there. I made it back home around six pm and Cowboy Jack had kept supper warm for me. They were excited by the two big boxes, but they let me eat my supper and rest a few minutes to let it settle. After that small reprieve I set up both new televisions and Cowboy Jack helped me hook them up. I wasn't the only one who had given their all for the cause of entertaining the women today. Cowboy Jack had been all over DirecTV's web site picking out movies for viewing. He was a crafty old bastard too, and he had a list of tear-jerkers lined up for days. And so it went. We had to call in the next day and postpone the installation of the Giant TV screen since Cowboy Jack decided there just wasn't room for it in the house. He called some carpenter he knew named Vanina (pronounced Vanin) Green and he was out the next morning with his crew. I let Cowboy Jack handle all the details, except paying, and I started the guy off with twenty-thousand in cash. They were setting forms for a thirty by fifty theater room before I got my lunch, and Cowboy Jack was busy ordering things for the new room so's he barely had time to cook. Of course the girls and I tried to help after lunch was over, but Cowboy Jack sent us out to ride horses and he even sent Glenda out with us. Hell, we didn't have enough horses, but of course I knew the cure for that. Glenda decided she didn't want to go with us since Cowboy Jack was dead set against going himself, but Mary, Kathy, and Terri said they'd admire a look around Earth. I wasn't going to show them very much of it, but it would probably be more than any of them had seen of Chaos or Cassandra either. We took the new Hummer and I remembered to latch the horse trailer onto it right at the last. It was my first trip over our driveway in the Hummer while pulling the trailer and by the time I got to the bottom of the hill I had Cowboy Jack on the phone. "Yeh," he asked, when he answered. "Don't you know anyone around here with a dozer?" I asked. "I think old Clem Jefferson has a couple, why?" "We need the ruts knocked down a little on this road, and a load or two of iron ore gravel wouldn't hurt a damned thing. The men who come out to set up the TV might not have half-tracks to climb the hill getting it up there. The Humvee didn't even do a very good job of dragging the trailer down it." "Ok. I'll call him and call you back when he's done. Try to stay away until he's finished so you can get a big surprise coming back," he said, and I told him I would. It was on into the night before we pulled up to my house and got out to go inside. Mary, Terri, and even Kathy were shocked at the difference since I had wall-to-wall carpet and a modern kitchen. "Why do you live down there with Cowboy Jack when you have such a nice home here?" Terri asked. "It's like he says. His place reminds me of Chaos and since that's about all I do now, go for adventures, I like to stay there and keep myself in the mood," I said. "But I thought you had a normal life here on Earth," Kathy said. "I do have one, sorta." "But you make it sound like you don't even have a job to go to. And I sure don't remember you ever going to one when I was here before," Terri said. "That's because I don't have a job. My parents were wealthy, and my lawyer has made their investments pay off big time. I let him handle it all and he makes me more money than I could by working," I said. "If he's anything like the lawyers on Cassandra I just can't believe that," Kathy said. "He's not even much of anything like the lawyers here on earth. He made himself so rich he doesn't even try any more. He's old, set in his ways, and he just likes to have someplace to go in the day and he likes to keep his hand in on screwing big oil companies. It just so happens that I have enough mineral rights scattered around to keep him mostly busy fucking lease operators, and I think he enjoys it," I said. "But what about Cowboy Jack?" Mary asked. "I don't know where he got hold of that property he's on, but I bought it all off of him and told him he could live there as long as he lasted. I furnished all the food and improvements out there and he don't seem to want much more. If he wanted anything, all he'd have to do is ask and I could get it for him." "I think I see now. You're rich and you can do whatever you want to do," Kathy said. "Well, I guess you could look at it that way," I said. "See there, girls. We've got what all women need. A rich man. Let's take him inside and fuck him good and proper so he won't stray on us," Mary said, and it's just what they did. We were up early the next morning, and Mary wanted to cook breakfast, but I didn't have a damned thing in the house for her to cook. She made me promise we'd go grocery shopping during the day, and it was only after I promised she let us go out to J and L grill for breakfast. Our next stop was out of town at Jim's place for more horses. I told him I needed some first rate Western Pleasure trained mounts and he only had one and he was using her as a breeding mare, but he said he could call a guy who specialized in training them and see what he had on hand. He called, and after he talked to the guy he asked me when we'd be out to see 'em. I knew a hell of a lot better than to give him a firm time. I didn't want to come over and take a ride on horses he'd just shot up with tranquilizers for the event. That was just asking for a fucking. I told Jim we'd get by there in the next few days. "Well, he needs to know so he can have them ready for you," Jim said. "I know I've always taken your word you're selling me what I'm expecting to get, Jim. And I'm happy to say I'm happy with every horse I've bought from you, but this ain't my first rodeo and I'm not telling him when I'm going to show up so he can shoot up the horses just before I get there." I could tell from the look on Jim's face after he'd thought about it for a while that there was more than a possibility I'd hit the nail right on the head. He said he'd call the guy back and tell him we'd be there in the next few days. I took the girls shopping next and they were delighted with Wal-Mart, of all places. I gave them their head and found a bench to sit on and later furnished the credit card that bailed them out. We still had plenty of time so I carried them downtown to the Boot and Western Store and they got on my ass later for not taking them there first. I guess I deserved it. We drove up to Texarkana the next day for more shopping. I liked it better up there and I think the girls did to. There were several places that were home owned businesses and they had more of a selection geared to what the girls wanted instead of a one size fits all approach like at Wal-Mart. The next day we took off for Gilmer to look at the horses. I did catch the guy by surprise and I didn't give him time to fuck around and get the horses drugged, even if he wanted to. He got over it quickly when I told him I wanted a trailer full of mares or geldings that would act half right under a saddle. He had men stepping and fetching and saddling mounts in minutes and he brought out everything he even thought he might be able to sell. I took a short ride on every one of them and then set the girls to trying them out while I kept my eyes open for drooping lower lips on the mounts. It was possible he had his men trained to give the horses a quick dose when someone drove up after all, but I didn't see a single horse I though was getting calmer as we went along. I picked out the girl's favorites and took enough others to fill up the trailer. I even bought one stallion that was well mannered and did well under saddle. He told me the papers on him were as a gelding and that he really should be cut, but I told him not to worry about such because I wouldn't be selling any offspring from him. In fact I didn't give the first shit about the papers, but I took them anyway since they wouldn't hurt anything. I wanted to head on back to Kerrville, but the girls said we just had to go back by my house so they could pack up the rest of the things they'd bought. It was better this way anyway since we needed to get all the perishables out of the refrigerator. Mary had done a lot of grocery shopping on her trip. I had a good ice chest so we put everything in it and I bought two bags of ice to pour over it before we left. It was only at the last minute I remembered to call Cowboy Jack and see if he driveway was fit for us to come up it. He gave me the go ahead and said they'd finished it day before yesterday, so we put everything in the Hummer and headed that way. I was wishing for a restorative myself before we made it back, but I got the same type off effect when I turned onto the road up to Cowboy Jack's place. Whoever had done the dozer work had sure as hell earned his money. It was as smooth as a gravel road could be and it was a hell of a lot wider than the one we'd left over. Glenda and Cowboy Jack were out to meet us even though it was nearly eleven at night. Cowboy Jack was smiling wide over the road and he admitted he had been driving he and Glenda to town every day since it got finished. Apparently the shopping gene had started expressing itself in Glenda while we were away. The real shock was in the house though, or at least there was a door that led to the real shock now. The in-home theater was finished and the men had already come out and installed the works, and Cowboy Jack was as proud as a peacock over the whole deal. Unbeknownst to me he had ordered four Klipschorn corner horns with four Belle Klipsch to go between each pair for center channel sound. I knew I was looking at twenty-five thousand dollars worth of speakers to go with my Giant TV -- I just wondered what kind of amplifiers he had ordered to go with them. I found out when the lights went down for a demo and I could see the McIntosh logos glowing. He had a power-amp for each speaker in the room and six pre-amps to mix all the channels. He wouldn't even let me get a sandwich before he fired up everything to show me The Lord of the Rings and let me tell you. No commercial theater I'd ever been in could hold it a candle for surround sound. Those corner horns made you feel every low note right where you lived. Of course the women all loved the movie and I followed along as best I could after having read the books a dozen times. I had to admit the New Zealand countryside looked lovely and I started wondering if there were substantial plots of land for sale there. When it was over duty called though and I had women to tend to, all without getting a bite to eat since the burgers we'd had on the road around lunchtime. I was hard as a rock when I woke the next morning, but I managed to get out of bed without any of the women I was sleeping with finding out. Cowboy Jack must have realized he'd sent me to bed without supper the night before, because he had a mountain of bacon cooked and six eggs over-easy on my plate when I made it to the kitchen. The cat-head biscuits and hash browns weren't long in showing up either. The big surprise was the big glass of cold milk to wash it down with. "What's with the milk?" I asked. "Hell, I bought some of them Holsteins you wanted and we've got to do something with the milk, so drink up. The two cows make about six gallons a day and even with the extra calves I bought they don't drink it all up." "So you've got me set to get a dairy started on Chaos?" I asked. "After a while you can, but we'd better get those calves up a little bigger before you try taking them along. I bought eight dairy calves and the youngest two were young for real. It's why I bought the two cows that were already producing," he said. ------- Chapter 41 Now that we were set for entertainment for the women I relaxed into slovenly habits. I gave my three a royal fucking every night and then I rousted them out early in the morning for riding lessons and other treats. Terri also wanted to do some more practicing with her bow and her throwing knives and once Mary saw them she had to have a set. I took them all on another shopping trip to San Antone and we went to Amos' shop where he built Mary a dual-knife holster for behind her neck. It took a lot of driving around and we looked through a lot of pawnshops before we found suitable knives for her harness, but she was happy with what we found and as soon as we were back to the house she went out and tried them. She wasn't very good at first, but with Terri and me helping her she gained ground quickly. Kathy settled into horse riding and she quickly came to love it. She claimed simply riding a horse for the fun of it was a lot different than needing to saddle a horse to get her somewhere. Well hell, I could have told her that to start with, but I didn't mention the fact after she voiced her discovery. "When I saddle up I'm doing it for pleasure and not because I need to get somewhere. It makes a lot of difference," she said, and I think Mary and Terri took up her attitude after a while because before I knew it they were all spending a lot of their time riding. Well, why not? I had bought the best horses I could find for exactly that and I was at least glad they were getting some use out of them. We had a merry old time for about five weeks until I decided it was time to go on another adventure. Of course all this did was to let me know I had knocked up every woman on the place except Glenda, and I was pretty sure Cowboy Jack had her well along the way there. The best thing was all of them were thrilled to be great with child. It left me to face the music though since I'd have to go to Crossroads on my own if I wanted to have an adventure. Well, it wasn't exactly on my own though since I'd have the eight Hero Companion young milch cows tagging along. Or at least it was what I intended at first. Cowboy Jack had to burst my bubble and he did it with a question. "Say, how is it going to help you to take the calves to Chaos? The horses you've taken haven't gained a minute of age. What are you going to do with eight calves that stay calves for years on end?" he asked, and it stumped me right away. He was right of course, or at least our experiments showed that he was. I didn't get any older while I was in Crossroads or on Chaos. Joe Bob hadn't either and neither had Blacky. As far as we could determine we only aged the fifteen minutes we spent there in Earth time and that was so short a time as to be untrackable as far as our actual physical age went. I finally decided the calves were a bust and spent a couple of days getting the producing cows trained to behave under halter and also the bull. He would have to do his best to improve the native milch cows until the eight calves were a couple of years old. Of course the two producing cows could go along and increase the milk supply while they were there and thankfully the bull was a young one so he would be more easily handled. Terri, Mary, and Kathy all gave me a serious goodbye kissing and Kathy told me to say hello to the other Caretakers from her if I ran into any of them. They were good sports about it too and even helped Cowboy Jack and me herd the cows and bull into the portal and through it. I wasn't sure what to do when I arrived and the cows and bull sure as hell weren't. I shut them up in the entrance hall and walked on into the apartment. I got things straight with the machinery right away by telling it Kathy wasn't here for this trip and it would have to settle for orders from me. At least it fixed and delivered a meal right away. I was sitting at the table eating it when a great looking older woman appeared. "I'm Hero Greeter JoAnn," she said, and I stood up and swept her into my arms, giving her a sound kiss. "I'm Hero Jack, JoAnn, greet me," I said, and kissed her again. "But how did you get a meal without a Caretaker?" she asked. "I told the machinery that Kathy, my former Caretaker, wasn't able to attend this time and warned it if I didn't get service I'd be working on the machinery myself," I said. "Oh. I see. You declared an emergency," she said, and seemed satisfied. "Not in so many words, but I'm sure the machinery thought it would get to be an emergency quickly if I started working on it." "I see. And you already have a Caretaker?" "Yes, I've had my first one for quite a while, but she's stuck on Earth currently. Would you like to talk with her?" I asked. "Yes please. Let me talk to her," she said, so I picked her up into my arms, walked toward the portal, and sent her through it. I figured she'd be gone for a while so I ordered some strawberry shortcake with plenty of strawberries and plenty of whipped cream and sat down to polish it off. JoAnn came back within thirty minutes and she seemed none the worse for wear, but she did have a disapproving look on her face, "You have done a major transgression and I'm afraid I'm going to have to report you to The Powers that Be," she said. "Might as well go straight to the top and speak to Mistress Eva about it," I said, and she looked like she was about to shit after I dropped that name. "Have you met Mistress Eva?" she asked. "Of course. Who do you think told me my Caretaker and the Damsels could go to Earth with me. Now, I don't want to be rude, but you need to get to doing your job. I came for an adventure and I need a Caretaker to get started that way. Isn't your job to see that I have a Caretaker?" I asked her. "Yes, of course, but this is irregular." "You don't know the half of it, JoAnn. I think you had better call Mistress Eva and have her come straighten you out," I said. She finally gave in and called for Mistress Eva. I was surprised that she showed up within five minutes, but I wasn't missing my chance this time. I pulled her into my arms as soon as she showed and I found out Cassandra women were basically the same once you had them in your arms. The deeper I kissed her the tighter she held on. "What seems to be the problem, JoAnn?" Mistress Eva asked, after I turned her loose. "Well, he already has a Caretaker, but he has her stuck on Earth and she is pregnant," JoAnn said, and she was trying to sound huffy about it. "You do know what the object of the game is don't you JoAnn?" Mistress Eva asked her. "Why I certainly do. It is to rebuild the population on Cassandra with the offspring of the Heroes," she said. "And you did look up his records to make sure he was a Hero, didn't you?" "Oh yes, and apparently he is a most resourceful Hero at that. In fact he has never failed to return with the Damsel he was sent after and once he even brought back three Damsels at one time," she said. "If I'm not mistaken he brought back one of the long lost Damsels on his last adventure," Mistress Eva said. "Oh. It wasn't in his file. Neither was the cattle he brought this time," she said. "I'll admit Hero Jack takes every leeway with the Hero Companion rule. But, as he recently informed us, the rules are the rules and we tamper with them at our peril. Speaking of which how are we doing on our timetable for acquiring his new Caretaker?" "Oh, I'm afraid that slipped my mind. We seem to be half an hour past time," JoAnn said. "I see. I guess we are stuck with the duty until arrangements can be made," Mistress Eva said. "Oh my. I never expected this to happen," JoAnn said, and then she started disrobing and was joined by Mistress Eva in seconds. "I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am, Hero Jack, for delaying you on your mission. Why don't you come into the bedroom and let us try and make it up to you," JoAnn said and I followed her magnificent ass as she headed that way. I was following Mistress Eva and her spectacular ass too. Hell, if this was the reward for delaying tactics I was going to try using them more often. I was neck deep in pussy in minutes and the restoratives were coming hot and heavy for a while there. I took a little break after I did my third tour on Mistress Eva and lay back and let them provide a restorative for me. "My goodness. I never knew getting behind in my work would lead to someone else getting my behind in the meantime. I'm sure my performance will suffer over this," JoAnn said, and giggled. "Not to worry, my dear. Since you were forward thinking enough to have me present for this workout I can assure you I'll be grading your performance myself from now on," Mistress Eva said. "That's wonderful, but according to my cycle I might possibly end up out of service for a while after this," JoAnn said. "How wonderful. I was just thinking if we could keep him to ourselves for another week I might find myself in the same happy situation," Mistress Eva said. "What am I missing here?" I asked. "You haven't missed a damned thing I can remember, but you are well on your way to getting a Hero Greeter and one of The Powers that Be knocked up sky high. It feels like you've given me twins already," Mistress Eva said. "Well hell, Mistress Eva, I live to serve," I said, and they both smothered me in kisses. My adventure turned out a little bassackwards, but not completely so. It was true it started out with me fucking for babies, and I did the job too since both Mistress Eva and Hero Greeter JoAnn suffered the death of their rabbit on the same morning, but at least they didn't have to rush off like the Damsels always did. Mistress Eva pulled some strings after she got the news and she sent in a higher up in the Greeter chain to help me select a new Caretaker. I noticed she spent about thirty minutes speaking privately with the Greeter and I assumed she was telling her just exactly how the cow ate the cabbage. I know I didn't have a bit of trouble seeing the files for all the candidates I wanted to see. This was a much more extensive selection process than I'd had for Kathy and the file folders contained much more information. Actually, I thought there was more than I needed to know. I wasn't looking for a Caretaker to plan my missions for me. I would take one with more smarts and training, but when it came down to it I was the poor schmuck on the sharp end of the stick and I'd had my belly full of REMFs during my time in the Navy. I didn't need some shitass sitting out on a ship trying to tell me how to get down and dirty on the ground with a bow and arrows. I finally settled on Geena, a five-foot eight-inch redhead with dark auburn hair and more rack than a twelve-point buck. I'd never tell her of course, but the thing that made me pick her was the light dusting of freckles she had, especially across her big titties and all around her magnificent ass. Besides, her nipples were large and they were the pinkest of pink. The Greeter left and Geena showed up about fifteen minutes later. Geena showed up as pretty as a picture and she started out with the spiel for a new Hero. "Geena, honey, didn't they tell you anything about me?" I asked her, as she was going over the details of Chaos Hero 101. "No, should they have?" she asked. "Well this next mission won't be my first one. In fact, I've been on more than a dozen," I said to her. "But where is your Caretaker then, and why do you need me?" she asked, and looked very disappointed. "My dearest Geena. I need you because I lured my previous Caretaker down to Earth with me and got her pregnant," I said, and she burst out laughing. "No, really, what happened?" she asked. "Come here, let me show you something," I said, and I showed her the bull and the two cows. "But what are they doing here?" she asked. "They're Hero Companion cows and a bull. Milch cows in fact," I said. "I've never heard of such a thing," she said. "I just showed them to you to establish my bona fides," I said. "But, I don't understand," she said. "I just figured if you knew I was smart enough to be bringing them along you'd figure out I knew what I was talking about. Never mind, I'll give you the real details when I get back. Let's pick out a mission," I said. She fetched four missions for me to choose from, but she was really distressed by what we had to choose from. They all appeared too dangerous for her. Of course they were from the first missions for Heroes bunch and they all looked like duck soup to me. I actually took the one she wanted me to, even though it was the easiest one. I took it because it started from Jacksville and it would let me drop off the bull and cows with no bother. It wasn't until we had the livestock in the room before the exit portal that I remembered Geena and I hadn't even had sex yet. Man, was I slipping or what? I arrived in the vault to much bellowing by the livestock. It was lucky I'd had some hemp rope to tie up a lead line for them. They couldn't get out of the vault until I opened the door, but I felt sorry for whoever had to clean up after them. I got my bow, quiver, and other weapons out and on as quickly as possible and then led the bull and two cows out the door. When your luck goes to shit it just does and there's nothing you can do about it. The kindly old guard I was used to at this bank was not in attendance and the officious young prick who was in his seat was not amused when I came out of the vault with the livestock. He tried to accost me on my way out and I stopped and made the stock stand there while he tried to give me a talking to. Of course the bull and the two cows took the opportunity to start shitting all over the floor. "You'll have to clean that up," the guard said. "That ain't gonna happen, you ignorant asshole. You're the one who held me up and kept me from leading them into the street -- you can clean up after them. "I'll call the town guard on you," he said. "I wish you would. I'm dying for you to call them," I said. He walked out the door and screamed for the guard and damned if Conroe didn't come in leading two men. "Conroe, I don't know this asshole who is acting like the bank's guard, but I want you to take him into custody and put him in whatever lockup you have. Hold that thought. Have him clean up this mess before you do, and the one in the vault too. Oh yeh, you'd better disarm him first." Conroe knew exactly which side of the bread his butter was on and he had the bank guard stripped of weapons at once and then he sent him to get a bucket, a shovel, and a broom and set him to cleaning up shit. The rest of his guard squadron took over the watching duties and soon enough Conroe and I were trotting off toward the ranch. I couldn't help it, I laughed all the way there thinking about the bank guard cleaning up all that cowshit. Apparently the trip had upset their digestive system somewhat and they had really given their all to shitting in the bank. We trotted right past the gate guard I was familiar with and right on up to the barn. Ben was out in minutes to see what I had with me and, when I told him they were dairy cows giving more milk than he'd ever even heard of, he had them taken off the communal lead and had a man with a separate lead for each of them leading them to the dairy barn. "Are you sure they'll give milk?" Ben asked. "You won't believe how much they'll give. Just make sure to milk every drop out of them you can and you'll see. You know to raise all the females and sell off all the males don't you." "You don't have to teach your gramma to suck eggs, Hero Jack," Ben said, and then laughed. I made it into the house then and there were even more women inside. Kala had three helpers now, and I could tell she was getting on up there in years. Still, she had them put together a snack for me and she wanted to know how Mary and Terri were. "Pregnant, that's why they didn't come with me this time. They're pregnant," I said. "I should have known it. It's about time you started giving Bill some competition, but you'll need more women than just two to do it. He has five wives now -- he took a shine to a couple of girls from the Hero's Whorehouse and Carlita and the others just love those two new girls. Bill must love them too because he's got a bun in both their ovens already," she said. "Well, I'm not dumb enough to get into that kind of race with an old bull like Bill. I'll have a hard enough time keeping up with the three kids I've got on the way. "Three? Did you pick up another woman along the way?" she asked. "Yes, but she was a small one. She's just the cutest little thing you ever did see," I said, and Kala slapped me on the back and told me "that's how Bill got the last two." ------- Chapter 42 I decided to go take a look at the stock I'd brought with me and I caught them being milked, or milked at anyway. I went to find Ben right away and when I did I shared the word with him. "Ben, if you keep half-milking those new cows like I just saw them doing you'll end up giving them milk fever and they won't be worth shit to you," I said. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I just watched them being milked and it looked like to me the ones doing the milking are going by what they're used to getting from the other cows you already have. They stopped on the new ones before they were half through," I said. He went to the milking shed and sure enough the Holsteins were turned loose already and even I could tell they still had milk to give. Ben dove in tearing a strip off Someone's ass and soon enough the Holsteins were back in line. Ben and I stayed around until the milkers decided they had all the Holsteins would give again, and then Ben sat down and got another two gallons out of one and he put the one who'd given up on it to milking the other one. "Milk that damned cow until you can't get any more out of it and I don't want to have to come back here again to make sure you're doing it. If you can't even milk the damned cows what are you doing working in the dairy? I'm going to be checking your work for the next few days and weeks and if you don't get it done right I've got a job cleaning up shit out of the streets in town for you," Ben said, and I do believe he meant it. "I didn't mean to get any crap started, Ben," I said, as we were leaving. "I should have known better than to trust them with new stock anyway. They've taken to milking the cows until the get the same amount of milk out of each one. I think it's already caused a few cows to dry up before they normally would have," he said. "Well, you know what that means don't you?" I asked. "Of course I do. It means we're keeping more cows than we need to for milk. We have to start more in the milking shed and keep the others around and feed them until they have another calf. I can't really blame them for giving up on the two new ones so easily though. You were right about them. They give more milk than I'd have ever dreamed they could. I can hardly wait until I get some calves out of that bull," he said. "I've got eight calves at my house that should do just as well as these two, but I can't bring them until they're grown," I said. "But why not?" he asked. "Because they won't get any older here. Just like the stallions I brought," I said. "Speaking of stallions. We have some three year olds from that last one you brought and they are something else. They aren't any bigger than the ones from the tall stallion I started breeding with, but they are damned sure faster, and by a lot. They've already out run every horse on this place and every other one around here too. We can't even get up a race against them any more," he said. "Well that's what I wanted. If they're the fastest horses on Chaos it's what I intended. Have you tried crossing him on the mares out of Joe Bob and Blacky?" I asked. "Yes, but two year olds are the oldest I have out of them yet. They look like they're going to be something special too," he said. Good. When I got off to do my business here I need the best horses I can get. Have you got three of his get ready for me to use in a day or two?" I asked. "I've got three good ones, but they're all stallions and I don't want to cut any of them yet." "I think I can still handle a stallion. Have you got them going with bits yet, or are they still in bosals?" "We're still working them with bosals. To my way of thinking it just makes them better horses," he said. "Me too, Ben, me too. I won't be leaving for a couple of days, so you've got some time to show them what a packsaddle is all about if you would," I said. "I'll start them on it tomorrow, but I don't think we'll have any problem with that." I walked down to George's bailiwick then and caught him hammering on hot steel. "It's good to see you haven't forgot where you came up from," I said, as he put the piece he was working on aside. "Well, I've got to keep in practice. I've finally been able to get Cal going on doing all the casting and I'm back to my first love full time now. Need anything special?" "I could use three sets of two throwing knives for some women I've got lined up to help me out. They have some already, but they won't be able to bring them along. Can you fix me up?" "I can start in a few minutes," he said. "I won't need them until I go back and then come back so there won't be any hurry. When you get them made how about sending them to the leather shop to get a throwing harness made for them. Tell 'em to leave the ends loose and they can fit them to the women when they get here." "I can do that all right. Just come and tell me when you need the knives and I'll have 'em here for you," he said, and I headed back to the ranch house. I ran into Conroe on the way and he asked me if there was a chance I had any more of the bows I'd provided for him a few years ago. He said he had two more men who could really use them. I told him if he'd give me a ride up to the bank I'd get them out for him. Two of Conroe's men were still riding herd over the shitass guard when we got there and he was doing a good job with his cow-shit cleanup, whether he wanted to or not. I walked into the vault, called for the box that held the bows and drew one out of it before sending the box back. Conroe was glad to get the bow and the quiver of arrows I brought for it and we hopped back into the carriage and headed right back for the ranch. I made it back just in time for supper and I was glad I had. Kala might be getting a little along in years, but she still set a fine table and she had her helpers making sure I got all of everything I wanted to eat. Of course it was a little odd to be going to bed by myself after the meal was over, but I figured it would only be for a couple of days. The next two days passed without incident and on the third morning I ate early, and left the kitchen with plenty of food to take along. When I made it to the barn I could see there was something going on and it involved the big trade wagon plus Conroe and twelve mounted men. It didn't take me long to find out they were heading south to visit the place I had taken over for Maime and her family. They were good trading partners with us now and the wagon was going down that way for a delivery. Conroe was also taking twice as many men as usual because they'd had a little dust-up along the way last time. When I got the details out of him I figured his dust-up had probably started from the place I was going to check out. I was headed for a turn east off the road about ten miles north of town. Supposedly there was a big place five miles east of there and the owner was holding a Damsel. Slaver came to my mind right away and we didn't need any of that going on around so close to us. Conroe decided it would be best to take the wagon and all with us to look the place over. We headed out with our plans made and we spent the day traveling into range. We pulled off the road into a little clearing the wagon often used on the way. It was cleared off, had plenty of firewood stored, and it even had a fence surrounding it on the backside. We stopped in plenty of time to cook a big supper, and after it was over all the men, except the two with the wagon, scattered into the woods and bedded down. We weren't disturbed during the night and we were up with the sun to cook a breakfast and then get started down the road. When we came to the turn off headed east I was surprised to see and inn there. It was a small place and we didn't stop there, but still, it seemed odd. We headed east and as soon as I saw a big farm come into view I signaled Conroe and he signaled the men in turn. I noticed they all made ready to use their bows. The wagon turned up into the lane leading to the farm and we made it all the way up into the farmyard before anyone came to see what we wanted. I took the man as a hired hand when he came to ask what we wanted and I told him right off the bat. "I want to see the owner," I said. "Well, he's a busy man. What do you want to see him for?" "I'm Hero Jack, from Jacksville, and I've heard there was some slaving going on down around here. I want to see him so he can convince me he ain't involved in it. If he can't we're going to stop the slaving and hold a trial fro everyone on this place. If we find slaves here you'll all end up with a big s branded into your foreheads, unless you end up with an arrow in you're guts first," I said, and I finally got a rise out of him. "You ain't got no right to come here looking around as you please," he said, and then he started cussing when two loops dropped over his head and two cow-ponies started backing up and tightening the hold we had on him. "You'd better learn a little in the way of manners mister. Of course if you get that s branded on you I don't guess you'll need manners after all," I said, and we all dismounted then. The two who'd done the roping retrieved their loops and hog-tied the one they'd roped and left him laying where he was. The rest of us headed for the house and when we got to the door I banged on it and got no answer. Conroe spread a couple of men to watch each side of the house and three to watch the back door while I kicked in the front one. A crossbow bolt came flying out as soon as the door swung inside, but it landed on the door as it came back on the rebound. Conroe and four of his men took care of the return fire and then rushed inside. Conroe had me come on inside in just a few minutes. I found the kitchen and there was a woman in there cooking. "Are you a slave?" I asked her, and she nodded her head. "Well, we've come to get rid of slavers down here. Where is the boss man?" I asked. "He took off to meet the wagon from Jacksville to rob it about two hours ago. Most of the men went with him," she said. "How long until you can feed us?" I asked. "Twenty minutes or so. I could give you all a cup of tea now," she said. "I think we should get ready for the boss man's return first," I said, and turned to Conroe. The cook said there were no more men in the house and told Conroe she thought there were three out in the barn. He sent his men to the barn to find them and tie them up while he took a look at the grounds outside. I asked him to remind his men to try wounding the men who came back so we could have a good showing at the trial later and he said he would. It was a long wait. They came riding back up about two hours before sunset and I could see the astonishment on their faces when they saw the wagon they'd been lying in wait for right up in the yard. The leader was a little taken aback though and a little more so when I took the first shot and put an arrow into his ass. He fell off his mount at once and so did six of the others who were treated to some of the same by Conroe's men. Conroe spoke up then and told the others to dismount and drop their weapons unless they wanted out aim to improve. Only two didn't cooperate, and they soon found themselves with arrows through both legs. After that demo Conroe had them all lay on the ground facing it and he sent two men to ties hands behind backs. The boss man was pissed by the time Conroe got his hands tied behind his back so I walked over to have a word with him. His first words were curses, but a boot toe to his nose put him in a more respectful tone. "I came here looking for a Damsel, but I haven't searched thoroughly yet. I have found at least one slave here though and all it takes is one to make you a slaver. We'll be taking you to Jacksville where we can have a fair trial for you. In the mean time I'm sure you'll understand we won't be serving any meals for you prisoners tonight," I said. "What kind of trial mister," one of the others on the ground asked. "You'll all be tried as slavers. If you're found guilty it'll be thirty years of indentured servitude and a brand on your forehead," I said, and the pissing and moaning began. "Oh, you wanted to be rough tough slavers, but now you don't want to pay the price? To get that done you have to be smart, rough, tough, slavers, and I'm pretty sure you aren't any part of smart. Imagine running around trying to rob the Hero's supply wagon. Well, there it is, get your asses up and rob it," I said, and then Conroe and his men all laughed like hell over it. I'll say one thing for Conroe's guards. They knew exactly how to tie the men up for maximum discomfort. They had them get up and walk around behind the barn before they tied them together and they even stuffed rags in each mouth and tied them there so we wouldn't have to listen to them bemoaning their fate. Nalda, the cook, had us a good supper ready when we made it back inside the house, but before we sat down she asked if she could let a few of the other slave girls out to help serve. I had her lead Conroe and me to the basement cell where they were being held and we turned them all out after telling them we were here to rescue them. I spied the Damsel Juniper right away and went over to introduce myself. She squealed and wrapped her arms around me, kissing me everywhere she could reach. I felt much better and led her to the kitchen so she could eat too. Nalda had put on a fine meal and I'll admit I did my part to honor her hard work. I let Conroe explain where we'd be taking everyone when we left and he told them all we'd try to find their parents so they could go back home. Six of the oldest boys told him not to bother looking for their parents because they had been sold into slavery in the first place. This announcement led to four of the oldest girls giving the same story. "Don't worry a thing about it. You can all live at the Hero's ranch and learn how to help out there. If you want a job you can get one working for us and if you don't you can learn a trade and set out on your own later. We won't send you off with nothing either. You'll be earning money from the day you start," he told them. When time for bed came around Juniper wouldn't hear of sleeping away from me, and she even brought one of the oldest slave girls with us. Apparently they had become fast friends during captivity. I didn't mind it in the least since they both stripped naked before crawling into the former owner's big bed. Juniper wasn't a bit shy about grabbing hold of my dick for a little crank yanking and she talked Cherry, her friend, into helping her out with it. It didn't take much pumping for them to strike come and they didn't want to stop until they did it again. Besides, they made sure there was always a titty near my mouth for my amusement. I dropped off to sleep right away and I was very surprised to see Juniper had taught Cherry to suck my dick by the next morning. No doubt it was what caused me to dream of blowjobs during the night. Cherry also provided some information for me the next morning. Apparently there was another wagonload of slaves headed our way. I didn't know how she had heard it, but I told Conroe as soon as I got to the breakfast table and he put his men on alternating guard duty. Half of them went outside with their weapons while the other half ate, and then they swapped out. Just before noon another wagon pulled up to the ranch. There were four guards riding along with it and they were all excited to see our wagon parked in the front yard. Conroe and me were watching from the house and we cut down on the wagon driver when he tried to enter our wagon. The fight was a short one and the four outriders all left their horses with arrows in their legs. Conroe and me had both put an arrow into the ass cheeks of he wagon driver. When Conroe signaled his men they boiled out of the woods and began tying the new prisoners before they removed the arrows. They were led around behind the barn and tied to the others right away. When we opened the wagon we had four older boys and eight young girls. They were all happy to hear of the change in their destination. Conroe took the older boys and had them gather up the weapons from the latest wagon's escorts and then led them to where the older boys from the night before we gaining a little experience with sword and crossbow use. We spent three days at the new facility until a group of fourteen riders from down south found us. They had been working their way to Jacksville to see what had become of their freight and luckily one of them had recognized our wagon's tracks and headed them our way. They helped us get the salve wagon ready to roll and then provided an escort for the freight wagon back to their place. Conroe and his men tied our captives into a marching string and we set off with them the next morning after the freight wagon headed on for its proper destination. I had Conroe leave his best two men with our new acquisition at the now renamed Midway Ranch. We left the older boys with them to run the place and I had them get started on building a fence to hold horses and cows. I intended for this place to furnish a stop along the way for the freight wagon. I figured the boys could also keep the scum from building up nearby after they'd learned a little more about using the weapons. It was a long trip back to Jacksville - mostly because of the captured men we were making walk. The slaver's wagon we were using was in better shape than I'd have thought and we had plenty of horses to pull it since we'd taken all that were at the farm we'd collected. We let the former slaves ride in it and we had quite a crowd when we got back the Hero's Ranch. Bill didn't waste much time on the prisoners when he found out about them. He called a town meeting for out at the ranch. As I'd expected the headman in charge and the slaver's wagon driver got a hanging for their trouble. The rest of the slavers got thirty years of indentured servitude and a brand. Of course they pissed and moaned about the brand, and I didn't blame them. It let the world know what kind of scum they were and it was going to last a lifetime. Ben didn't have a bit of trouble putting them to work after they were branded either. ------- Chapter 43 After the hangings and the branding we had a big supper. Kala had places set aside for Juniper, Cherry, and me and I sat between them and played black hole for the food. We headed for my bedroom as soon as we'd finished and I found myself entertaining the two naked women soonest. Luckily I had a tine of lard in a bedside table. Juniper wanted to know what that was all about and so I warned her of he dangers of pregnancy. "But that was the whole idea of things. I came to Chaos to be a Damsel in Distress so a hero could come rescue me and get me pregnant," she said. "Yes, but if I get you pregnant before we get back to Crossroads you'll have to stay here when I go back. I'm not trying to shortchange you either Cherry, but the rules say I'm not supposed to have sex with any of the women on Chaos," I said, and she seemed to take it well enough, but she did ask the magic question. "Does it mean you'll take me back to Crossroads too?" "Normally I wouldn't, but it just so happens I'll be able to take you this time if you're sure you want to go," I said, since I knew exactly which pocket I had an extra sapphire ring in. Juniper didn't seem to like the Greek way of making love, but Cherry took to buttfucking right off the bat. She loved it, and I knew when it came time to head back I might be making her a few promises if she'd come along. It turned out I didn't need to promise her anything though. Three days later Ben drove the three of us to the bank. The same guard was on duty when we entered, but he didn't have a cross word for me this time at all. We went directly to the vault where I put the ring on Cherry's finger and then packed away my weapons, armor, and extra money. When I shut the last box we were whisked back to Crossroads and Cherry was quite a surprise for Geena. At least she got me started through the healing chamber right away and then she took Juniper and Cherry off to have a shower. I didn't need a damned thing done to me in the way of healing and I guess the machinery knew it, because it spit me out in less than half an hour. I was in plenty of time to join the ladies in the shower and I got my first real look at Geena naked. "Uh oh," I said, as I joined them in the shower. "What's the matter?" Geena asked. "I'm afraid you're about to find out what a male chauvinist pig I really am," I said. "Oh, and why is that," she said, but I could see her grinning. I pulled her to me for a serious kiss and let my hands examine her titties and then her asscheeks and believe me - I didn't find an inch I didn't love already. When I turned her loose she took Cherry directly to the healing chamber and I turned Juniper around, placed her hands on the grab bar, and slid it up her in the proper hole for the first time. She was a babbling wreck by the time Geena got back and wanted some. When Geena took Juniper away for her ride in the healing chamber she called for towels and robes for Cherry and me and took us to the meal preparation area. Lo and behold the meal was ready in about twenty seconds so Cherry and I sat down to eat. Soon enough Juniper was done and she came and had a bite to eat too. Later, we all piled into the bed and once more I got to see the Crossroads effect on the women. The harder I plowed one the hotter the others got. Geena and Juniper were good to go with normal fucking, but poor Cherry was still in line for taking it up the ass. She didn't seem to mind a bit and I sure as hell didn't. She had been raised on a farm after all and her buns showed she'd had some use out of them while helping with the chores. When I pushed it up her ass I had some wonderful cushions to push against and her sphincter could grip me like no pussy ever could. Time passed in a lovely routine of sword practice during the morning and early afternoon and even Juniper took part. Geena was more accomplished with the wooden swords than Kathy had been and she could give me a good workout. After supper every day we went directly to bed and let the fucking commence. After sixteen days in heaven I started getting up early, dressing myself, and making sure Cherry got dressed. I also started taking more time to spend with Juniper in my lap for serious snuggling, kissing, and romantic talk. Hell, I still had my reputation on Cassandra to think about. When Juniper came out of the bathroom one early morning to make the happy announcement I slipped the ring on Cherry's finger, kissed and petted Juniper goodbye and then wrapped Geena up in my arms and headed for the portal. What the hell, I'd try not to get Geena pregnant while she was with us on earth, unless she was really determined. We all popped through as if we were supposed to. Glenda, Kathy, Cowboy Jack, Mary, and Terri were waiting for us and I could tell they were surprised to see my guests. It only took a little time to get everything straightened out and it seemed Geena was the only one who was in the least miffed over her visit to Earth. Kathy and Glenda settled her down in only a few minutes by asking her what she was bitching about. "You've got it made down here. It isn't like you're going to have to work and earn a living. Jack is rich. If you don't want to get pregnant and have to stay there's always the rhythm method and Jack can get you off no matter which hole he sticks it in," Kathy said. "What went wrong with you?" Geena asked. "Nothing. Instead of having to wait until the end of my Caretaker days I'll have a child in a few months. If they won't let me stay on as a Caretaker with the child I'll just stay here on Earth. The apartment isn't quite as nice as the one at Crossroads, but then again it isn't so sterile either, and Cowboy Jack is a much better cook than the machines, even if he does make us help gather firewood sometimes." "Don't forget about the soaps, Kathy," Mary said, and all three of them started giving her the details of their favorites. "Yes, the television here is fantastic. The get more than a hundred channels and most of them are entertainment and not civics lessons like on Cassandra. And they have televised sports too. You can't imagine how big and muscular some of the participants are," Terri said. Stay a week and let us lead you. You'll want to stay forever. Especially with Jack tending to you at night," Kathy said. "But how will he be able to keep up with all of us without restoratives?" she asked. "Jack does it the old fashion way. He's young and horny all the time," Kathy said, "Besides, if we need a restorative we can always pop back up there and get them ourselves. "Of course we've been cut off from all that since we're pregnant, but Glenda can still go up there." "Next time you go Glenda you might try asking for restorative by the gallon, in something like a milk jug," I said. "We never even thought of that, but I'll bet it will work fine," Glenda said. "I'll go try it now," Geena said, and turned to walk back through the portal. Of course she ended up out in the yard. "What's wrong?" she asked, as she came back inside. "Here, try it with Cherry's ring. You might as well ask for one of your own while you're up there," I said, taking the ring from Cherry and putting it on Geena's finger. She didn't have any trouble taking the portal trip then. "You see how I've tricked you Cherry. You're caught here in my clutches now without the ring," I said. "Well clutch me then. Let's go into the bedroom and you can Double Clutch me, motherfucker," she said, and I wondered where she had ever got hold of that book to read it. No matter where she'd read it she knew exactly what it was talking about. I'm not sure who double-clutched whom but I did know some of it got done that night and in the proper hole for the first time. All my girls ended up in bed with me that night and we were all roused by the smell of eggs and bacon frying the next morning. Of course we were back to rooster-fertilized eggs and I asked the girls if they could taste the difference from the Crossroads eggs. They all said no except for Terri who said she thought she could and Cherry who said she could taste the difference for sure. "I knew there was something missing from the flavor of the eggs on Crossroads, but I hadn't figured it out until you said it," she said. It didn't take Mary, Terri, and Kathy long to get Cherry and Geena outside and on horseback. Of course Cherry raved about the horses we had here, claiming they were the best she'd ever seen, and I had to agree with her. Mary liked them too, but she had done her best to stay off horses while she was on Chaos while neither Kathy nor Geena had spent much time riding while on Cassandra. They all enjoyed it here though. I noticed that most of their outdoor activities were mostly done by noon. After they finished they came in for lunch and then retired to the new theater room to check out their favorite soaps and then Cowboy Jack would cue up a movie for them after the soaps were over. I also saw that Kathy and Geena seemed to spend a lot of time talking and I guess it made sense. I still considered them both to be my Caretakers and I was sure they were plotting ways to get me to take less dangerous missions. What the hell? I'd try to do as they wanted me to. After all, I had responsibilities on earth now too. Time flew while I was having fun and what could be more fun than a bunch of horny women to bump fuzz with every night. Neither Mary, Kathy, nor Terri were far enough along to cause any difficulties and Geena seemed to have settled in to only ass fucks lest she become pregnant. I also got the notion that Cherry was doing her best to get that way and I knew we'd have a house full of kids before long - even if Geena was avoiding the process for the nonce. I figured we'd been home about two months before I decided it was time to take off for another adventure. I made sure to talk it over with Geena to make sure I wasn't cutting her visit short and she said if I was ready to go back to work she'd be happy to come along and get me going in the right direction. I also decided to take Samson and Delilah along this time too. I figured the ranch needed some good dogs around and the pups were big enough to do without them now. I spent an extra week getting to know the dogs better and getting their attention for taking commands from me again and then one morning Geena, Samson, Delilah, and I headed out through the portal and ended up you know where. Geena and I went directly to the bedroom for some normal sex and we didn't come out of it until the next day. Geena had a better handle on why I wanted to enter Chaos via the bank in Jacksville, and it was reflected in the missions she brought back. None of them seemed dangerous to me and I let her talk me into taking the one that would let me stay nearest the ranch. I figured I could also do a little patrolling around to keep the roads clear of encroaching slavers and bandits while I was at it. When I finally popped through to the bank's vault with Samson and Delilah I put my armor and weapons on and then led my dogs out of the vault. The guard Conroe had taught such a good lesson was on duty, but his attitude had improved quite a bit. He Howdied me right away and even complimented me on the good-looking dogs I had. I stepped out onto the street and took off at a jog headed for the ranch. Samson and Delilah came right along with me, but I noticed they took little detours to sniff out things along the way. We went to the stable first to see Tom Jr and I could tell his new life was agreeing with him. He had put on a few pounds, but it looked like all muscle to me. I stopped to talk with him a while and of course he asked how his mother was doing and so I told him he'd have a half brother before long and it seemed to tickle him. He showed me his kids and his wife again and I could tell she also had another one on the way. Tom Jr had the stable looking good, but I noticed he still had a practice range out back so I guessed he was keeping up with his accuracy with the bow. He told me he loved it and he also let me know he'd been called on to use it a couple of times. Since I didn't see any scars on him I guessed he'd done a good job with it. We headed on down to the ranch after about an hour. He offered to hitch a wagon and give me a ride, but I went ahead and trotted. Besides, Samson and Delilah needed the exercise. As I approached the gate I saw the same guard they'd had so long and he waved me right on through. He looked a little more mature than I remembered, but it was natural for Chaos. Carlita and all Bill's wives were sitting on the porch watching the kids and they were excited to see the dogs. The kids were at least. I left Samson and Delilah to play with them and after kissing plenty of cheeks I walked into the house and went by Bill's office. He stopped what he was doing and gave me the lowdown on how things were going in town and he bragged on the Hero's Whorehouse right off the bat. Not only had it provided him with the two new wives, but he claimed it was turning a handsome profit. He raved about the Madam's trading abilities. He said they hardly ever had to even furnish them any food, except the occasional beef and he said the Madam always got more value than what he paid for. He claimed the only trouble they ever had out of the place was that Conroe had to go run off men every now and then. Apparently they gathered men who wanted to become pimps. Of course they didn't need any and Conroe and the boys always made that plain when they came to visit. Hell, I decided I'd go up and say hello if I had the time. Right now I wanted to say hello to Kala, and so I headed that way. She was looking a little long in the tooth, but still seemed healthy. In fact Bertalee still looked fit and active. Of course they had more help than they'd ever had before, but the kitchen was still working like a well-oiled machine. Kala and Bertalee both bragged on me to their helpers when I came in and she put a snack on the table for me right away. Since I was the only one eating at the time I had all four girls trying to serve me at the same time and they nearly brought more than I could eat, but not quite. After I finished I went out to see Ben at the barn and he was glad to see me too and he started bragging on the two Holsteins milkers I'd left him and on the bull too. He said the bull put another two gallons a day on all his get and they could now make enough plastic to sell some. It reminded me I needed to bring some drawings to show George how to cast and fire some shitters to start using. When I made it down to George's place he showed me the throwing knives he had made for Terri and Mar. In fact he had started a specialty of making throwing knives and he told me all of the ranch guards now had a rig like mine to hold them behind their neck and two good throwing knives each. He even bragged on the place I'd set up last time for moving more goods than he'd have ever thought. Hell, everything was coming up roses everywhere. I was looking forward to nabbing the Damsel and then coming back to the ranch for at least a couple of weeks of relaxation. ------- Chapter 44 This mission looked to be one of the simplest I'd ever had. The information I'd received told about another slave-house twenty miles farther east down the same road the Midway Ranch was on. I got with Conroe and asked him to lend me a couple of good men, and then I told him where I was going. "I've got two good men to let you have, but you'll need to stop by Midway Ranch and talk to Ben and Jerry. They're the two men in charge there now and they've collected quite a following. They started out with the older boys we rescued and they've been training them as guards. They have about forty young men in training there now and they should be able to provide all the help you'll need. Besides, the experience will do the boys good. The two men were Carlton and Delgado. Ben fixed us up with two mounts each and a long legged packhorse. I was a little surprised when I saw their bows and asked about them. "George figured out how to cast the cams and handle and he makes the limbs out of the bent over steel. They aren't quite as good as the other bows, but he can make plenty of them and they're nearly as good. I'm so used to mine now I wouldn't trade for one of the others," Carlton said, and Delgado agreed with him. We decided to leave just after noon and when I suggested we stop and find a place to rest for the night Carlton let me know they usually rode straight on through the night now and he told me we could get good rooms at the Hero's Midway Inn. Apparently they had taken over the inn sometime lately and we could count on sleeping there and having a good breakfast in the morning. When we arrived at the inn I saw it was more than just an inn now. There was a nice stable nearby and they even had a man awake during the night to take care of our horses. There was also a night duty man at the inn who gave us rooms and soon I was sleeping soundly in a comfortable bed. We were up and down to breakfast just at sunrise the next morning. Carlton introduced me to the young girl who was manning the counter and she said she was glad to see us. Apparently she wasn't so sure about two of her guests. They had been very argumentative about the charges for a room for the night when she let them have one yesterday afternoon. She brought our breakfast shortly and we were eating when the two men came down. They didn't pay any attention to us, but they started up with the young lady again and it ended when one of them drew a rather long knife and began to threaten her with it. One of my throwing knives sank respectably into the shoulder of the arm he was waving his knife with and it took his complete attention. His traveling companion turned toward me and started drawing his sword, but Carlton and Delgado didn't intend to let me show them up and they put a knife each into the man. He dropped his sword at once, but I pulled mine as I stepped up to speak to the men further. "It looked a lot like you were trying to rob my inn just then gentlemen. What say you?" They didn't say anything until I put my sword tip to one of their noses and opened it up a little. Then they had plenty to say, but none of it sounded good so I cut the throat of the one I'd been carving on already and put my sword tip to the other one's throat. He said plenty. Not much of it made sense to me, but he did let on they had been sent here to force the inn out of business and it only took a little sharp encouragement to find out he'd been sent from the place we were about to visit. I had Carlton and Delgado roll him over and bind him up tight and they removed all his weapons while they were at it and cleaned the dead one too. We took the live one back to lie in the floor beside where we were eating, and he didn't seem to be able to keep his mouth shut now. He kept asking what we were going to do with him and things like that. I got tired of it and finally told him. "We're going to finish our breakfast, have a cup or two of coffee, and then we'll be taking you down to Midway ranch. Since I own it too I'm sure they'll be happy to help us torture you until you tell us everything you know about the place that hired you to come down here. If you live through the torture we'll probably kill you later," I said, and then we had to leave because he'd shit his pants. I sent Carlton up to search the room they'd been staying in to make sure we weren't passing up any valuables while I had Delgado frog march the live one over to the stables. I grabbed the dead one by the collar and followed. At the stable we found out they had come riding up on two nice horses. The hostler saddled them both for us while we saddled our own. We tied the live one to his horse and threw his dead pal over the one he'd come up on. Carlton joined us and saddled up then and I led out for the short trip to the Midway Ranch. There was a small guardhouse at the head of the lane to the Midway Ranch now and the guard knew Carlton and Delgado. He gave them a friendly greeting and then straightened up alarmingly when they told him I was Hero Jack, come to make an inspection. When we made it back to the ranch building I was surprised since there was a nice big new barn here now and it was obvious that more land had been cleared and most of it was cultivated. The head men in charge were Ben and Jerry. I'd already met them before at The Hero's Ranch back in Jacksville. They were quick to ask what they could do for us and I laid the torture scheme on them and they were glad to comply. There was a bell mounted on a post and Ben went over and rang it right away. Thirty or so young men gathered around and Ben shared the plan with them. Two of them built a fire right away and two others removed the dead meat and took him over to a rather large hog pen they had. They threw the body in and the hogs started fighting over it almost right away. "If you're lucky we'll make sure you're dead before we throw you to the hogs," I told our live captive, and he started talking right away. He gave us chapter and verse about how the other place was organized. Told us where the slaves were kept and on and on. I'll swear he told us about every misdeed he'd ever been a part of too. It took most of the fun out of the prospective torture since I didn't think we could get anything more out of him. I made him tell it all over again and told all the boys to listen closely because we were going to ride down and put a stop to the goings on down there. The idiot kept coming up with additional little tidbits of information and it made me suspicious. I called for the fire to be stoked up to make it hotter and I asked that two long irons be put into it. I had our songbird stripped off naked while I was at it, and then I had a word or two with him "I have no doubt you have given us plenty of information. In fact I wonder how you could know some of the things you've let us in on without being higher up in the organization than I thought. Now you are going to start from the first and tell us everything, and I don't mean just a piece at a time. "You may have twenty minutes to get your thoughts in order. After that I'm going to spend ten minutes with you and the hot irons to convince you to tell us everything promptly. "Carlton, have the boys drive four stakes deeply into the ground and then we are going to tie him spread eagle so that I can apply the hot iron where it will do the most good. Make sure they tie his wrists to the stakes and leave his fingers free so I can cut them off later if I need to encourage him. By the time he isn't able to pick his own nose he should be ready to tell all," I said, and made sure everyone heard me, especially the object of our affection. When he was properly tied down and the irons were hot I got right to the business of making him talk. For my first trick I laid the red-hot iron against the bottom of his ball sack. I wanted him to know I meant business this time. He must have been convinced, because the quality of the information picked right up, promptly. All the hands were still listening and most of them were stupefied at what they were hearing. I called Jerry aside and asked him if he had anyone here who could write, and he did. Jaime was kitchen help, going on manager of the farm since she could write, do arithmetic, and she could plan well also. I had him fetch her and he came back with her in a minute. Two of his boys were with him also and they were carrying a writing table, a chair, inkwell, and paper. I stopped our songbird and had him start again. Through two more hours of questioning he kept Jaime writing at her top speed. He had a whale of a tale to tell and I was glad we'd killed his partner and not him. He was the son of the mastermind of a scheme to get slavery going strong again. The place he was telling us about was the tenth they had built in the last year and for some reason they were encircling Jacksville from a distance with intentions of taking it over later. As soon as they got a new place in business they started on a road toward Jacksville and they intended to have them like spokes in a wagon wheel with Jacksville at the hub and thirty facilities spread out around it. By the time he was done spilling his guts I was wishing they were finished already. It would be great for the town, as long as the slaving never really got off the ground. Only trouble was it had already gotten off the ground since the places were being built with slave labor. He also gave us the details about the security of the building nearest us and they sounded ominous at first. He claimed they had thirty armed me protecting the place. It sounded like an insurmountable task at first, until I realized he would have considered the one with him and armed fighting man, and he hadn't been at all. He'd been a bully with a knife and a sword and he'd barely known how to use either. At least I knew all the men and boys at Midway knew how to use their swords, knives, and bows. They were also all supplied with the same type bow Carlton and Delgado had. They all had a George made compound bow and from the hay backstops all around I was pretty sure they knew how to use them. We had slavers planning on taking over Jacksville and the best way I knew to stop them was to cut off the head. First though, I had a Damsel to rescue and she was just right down the road. I told Ben and Jerry I was going to need most of their men to help me and they agreed at once. I suggested a couple of days of extensive training before we left and they said they'd get it started first thing in the morning. Carlton and Delgado agreed to help out. The training woke me just after sunrise the next morning. Half the boys were out swinging wooden swords at each other and the rest were working at their marksmanship with their bows. Fine, it couldn't hurt a thing. I spent the day going over Jaime's notes and also having her write a letter to Bill. As soon as she finished it I gave it to Delgado and sent him back to the ranch with a list of items we needed. He was going to deliver the note, wait for the items to be loaded onto horses and then come back leading them. I didn't want a wagon load of stuff because it would take longer and I intended to use the packhorses he brought back to mount my new troops on. I specified they all be packed with normal saddles if there were enough available. Two days later Delgado came riding up just at sunset with plenty of horses and with six other of Conroe's guard with him, including Conroe. "I might have known you wouldn't miss this fight," I told him as soon as I saw him. "Of course not. Things are slow in Jacksville and the hope of action brought me down here," he said. "Well, if we don't get things settled down things might not be slow in Jacksville for very much longer. I think we can blunt the tip of the sword though," I said, and he laughed. Thanks to Ben and Jerry's cooks we had a big supper that night and a bigger breakfast the next morning. We took off just after the noon meal and what with the extra experienced men we moved out in good order. Everything was ship shape including the weapons of all the men. Conroe, Carlton, Delgado, and the extra guardsmen Conroe brought made sure of it. Thanks to our tattletale we knew guards were posted a mile on either side of the place in the woods each night. We left five men to watch for the ones coming to watch our end and sent five men past the place to take care of the ones heading that way later. We waited in the woods on the other side of the road for the watchers to get past us and then crossed the road and slipped up on the target through the woods. According to our source most of the men lived in a bunkhouse outside the main one, but it was supposedly too flimsy to lock them up in. It didn't really matter since we laid low until after midnight and then sent in sneakabouts to gag and tie the men in their beds. It went off without a hitch and before daylight there were thirty men bound and gagged in their beds. It left six men higher on the totem pole sleeping inside the main house, but they had to come out to use the privy and they ended up bound and gagged too. Hell, we even waited out the head honcho and stopped him before he even got to go in and take a shit. We had them all hogtied before we walked inside and ate their breakfast. We freed the slaves after we'd eaten and I found the Damsel Gloria right away. She was very happy to see me and she hung closer than a shadow the rest of the day. I didn't mind since her splendid ass gave me something to do with my hands when they weren't busy elsewhere. The headman had shit his pants by the time I got to talk to him and he tried holding out on me. He cursed savagely when I read him some of the things we learned from our source, but he cried a lot when I had a fire built, irons heated and began applying same to his naked ass. I'd had his shitty britches removed from the first. He mostly sulled up and answered my questions after I told him he'd be headed to Jacksville for a slaver's trial as soon as I had this place squared away. The slaves told us the main project they had been working on was the road to Jacksville. It went up through wooded country and they were mostly just removing trees and stumps now. They were agreeable to continue working at their present location when they found out we would pay them and let them live normally. They were especially glad we were taking the troops away to be tried. I left Carlton and Delgado in charge of he new outpost and they said they'd make sure to secure the premises before they set some of the men back to working on the road. I knew it would be one hell of a job, but at least I wouldn't have to wait around for it to be completed. Four days after we took over the slaver's outpost we headed back. Carlton and Delgado were going to try keeping in on the slave deliveries and only cash the slavers chips in if they tried to leave with any of the slaves. Why not let the mastermind keep supplying things for our use. Gloria was happy when we arrived in Jacksville and she liked staying at the ranch. I went over my plans with Bill over the new threat and left him in charge of the snitch we'd turned. He promised to take good care of him. He also got up two wagonloads of materials for the new outpost and he put George to making leg irons, handcuffs, and chains for the new indentured servants we branded that afternoon. He intended to send them right back where they'd come from for additional labor for Carlton and Delgado. Of course they'd all have a brand new s on their foreheads when they went. Unfortunately the x-headman wouldn't be able to make the trip with them. Hangings are fatal after all. ------- Chapter 45 Gloria and I hung around the ranch for a couple of days and then I had Ben take us back to the bank. It was only a few minutes wait for me to put away my armor and then Gloria and I were headed back to see Geena. Geena was happy I was back and she led me to the healing chamber right away. When I came out it was in with Gloria and Geena went with me to make sure I was clean enough to be impregnating a Damsel. She did an especially nice job washing my dick. When Gloria came out we brought her into the big shower with us and then we all dried off and headed for the bed. I was delighted with Gloria and Geena too and I'll admit I wore myself to a nub that first night. Of course Geena already knew I ate a lot and so when she ordered breakfast she did a good job. We took a break after eating for some wooden sword work and Geena's style was more aggressive than Kathy's had been and so she gave me a good workout. I reserved the afternoons and evenings for pampering and playing with the Damsel and Geena and apparently I was a hit with both of them. I actually looked upon this time of plenty of pussy as almost a vacation. I didn't have to worry about my mission and I didn't have to worry about going home yet. Mostly I devoted myself to doing anything I could to make Gloria and Geena know I was there for their amusement. As always, when the days to Gloria's departure drew closer I tried my hardest to make her feel loved and appreciated. She was already sniffling when she came out of the bathroom after getting the news, but I was already dressed too. She was on her way in seconds and so was I. I didn't even try to bring Geena along this time since I figured she'd need some time to become accustomed to her duties. Of course I knew while she didn't that I'd be back much sooner than she had been led to believe. What the hell, she could get the happy news later. Cowboy Jack, Glenda, Mary, Cherry, and Terri were waiting for my arrival and we all had a good greeting and then Cowboy Jack told me a meal was on the way. "Where's Geena?" Mary asked, as I sat down. "She's still at Crossroads." "Why didn't you bring her down here with you?" "I figured she'd need a little time to herself up there." "Did you even ask her to come down?" Mary asked, and she didn't seem like she was going to let it be so I waked back through the portal and Geena looked at me so funny." "What are you doing back so soon?" she asked. "The women down there wanted to know why I didn't invite you back with me," I said. "Oh that's just silly. I have asked for my own sapphire ring and received it and I can come down anytime I want now. They're just being silly. I need to stay up here for a while and actually do my job, or I should at least act like I am. Do I need to come down and tuck you in?" she asked, and laughed. "Well, I don't guess you really need to, but it might be nice every now and then. Do pop in anytime you can. You're always welcome," I said. "I figured that much already since you made sure I knew how to go back and forth on my own. Tell them I'll be down in time to catch "Days of our Lives," she said, and laughed. I took my chances and went back. I hadn't been positive I could go back without going on an adventure, but it seemed like there was no problem for now at least. I gave the others the word and they settled down and we ate since Cowboy Jack had a meal ready now. As soon as we finished Mary, Cherry, Kathy, and Terri took me to the bedroom and ravished my body. I had just sent Mary off into lala land with a massive orgasm when we heard Geena walk into the bedroom. "Oh goody, you all have him going already and this will be even more fun than the soaps," Geena said, and dropped the robe, which was all she'd been wearing. "I want to see you do Cherry the right way now. Go ahead. Do it to her," Geena said. Cherry was up for it and thankfully my dick was too. I slid between her legs and then slid it up her cooter. Her lips latched to mine right away while her arms hugged me to her and then her legs encircled my hips for some of the same. One of us pounded the other to glory then, but I'm not sure who was pounding whom. I knew I had the advantage since I was fucking down, but Cherry pretty much gave as good as she got. We were both gasping when we got through. "Now have a restorative," Geena said, and I noticed she had two milk-jug like plastic containers and she poured us out a dose each. Of course, as always, it went straight to my dick and I was up to snuff again right away. Terri was next on my list and once I set her off I grabbed Kathy. As a dyed in the wool Cassandra girl she was hot as a pistol from the previous action and Geena was naked and ready when Kathy was done for. I'd made it through my current crew pretty much intact and I had them all retired for a while. They still petted and kissed around on me for a while until Glenda came in and called them out for the beginning of the soap opera parade. I found myself alone in my bed a few minutes later, but I couldn't even work up any sorry for myself feelings. After all, how many other men on earth, or anywhere, could count on a ride like I'd just had before soap opera time. Besides, I knew good and well Cowboy Jack was going to start a tear jerking movie for them as soon as the soaps were over and they'd all be back wanting some reassurance that I still loved them after the movie was over. It was really a pretty good deal when I had them down her on earth in Cowboy Jack's and my den of iniquity. We fed them early and then hosed them all good and proper. We took a break while they were watching the soaps and a movie and then we pulled another train for them when the shows were over. After that we had a good supper and then a quiet evening of all out fucking and then stayed in bed for a good night's sleep. If there was another man on earth who was doing as well as Cowboy Jack and me I didn't know who it could possibly be. That didn't even mention the restorative by the gallon scheme which turned our dicks into everhards. We also found time during the day for some horseback riding, some bow and throwing knife practice, and even a little wooden sword practice. When Geena was around for this I always came out on the loosing end of the everyone attack Jack party. Glenda even joined in on me sometimes and she was quite a hand with a sword. Only Cowboy Jack gave me a break and didn't attack with them, but he and Glenda went at it often. My guess was he just wanted to keep himself sharp. I'll admit I wasn't as anxious to go right back to Chaos with all the women I had at home. I'm sure it had something to do with me having all of them, except Geena, great with child. Of course, even the earliest participants were barely showing yet, but still, I felt like I needed to stay around. Kathy and Geena finally ganged up on me and pointed out I'd only be gone for fifteen minutes, and I relented and joined Geena one morning when she made her trip to Crossroads. We'd barely been in the apartment at Crossroads when we had a visitor. It was Mistress Eva and it wasn't a social call, though it nearly started out that way. As soon as I saw her I pulled her into my arms for a thorough kissing and a minor fondling. Apparently I was still full of the animal magnetism that had let me get her panties off last time, but cause she barely struggled to get free of my clutches. Geena was laughing when we broke up our little Howdy ceremony and I wasn't sure if she was laughing at me or at Mistress Eva. "Good God, it's no wonder you talked your last Caretaker into abandoning her post and staying on earth," Mistress Eva said. "I didn't talk her into abandoning her post, I yanked her through the portal and then knocked her up. I don't see how you could fault her for that," I said, teasing her, and to top it off I groped her ass soundly and she didn't shy away. "Ok, ok, I give. Or is it Uncle I'm supposed to say?" she asked. "Either will do nicely. As long as I'm sure you have the facts correct," I said. "I don't know how I forgot so quickly. How about you Geena? How do you keep him in line?" "Keep him in line? There's no keeping him in line. I managed to keep from getting pregnant by watching my cycle closely and taking it up the ass during times I might be in danger. Lately though I've been weakening and it is harder and harder to roll over and take one for the program. It's an idyllic location down at Cowboy Jack's place with nothing to do but ride horses, lie down and spread 'em for Jack, or watch their television. It's much better than anything on Cassandra. No stupid civics lessons blathering on and on. Even their history programs are more entertaining than the ones on Cassandra." "Well that isn't my department, but I can see I need to make a little noise that way. It would be dreadful if all the Caretakers left Crossroads because the television was better on earth," she said. "All I can tell you is the producers on Cassandra have a long way to go, and I doubt they can find any male actors to fill the bill. After all, if there were males on Cassandra who could get it up we wouldn't be in this shape in the first place," Geena said, and Mistress Eva just nodded her head in agreement. Geena fixed us all a big lunch, or at least she ordered us one and we sat down to eat. Mistress Eva didn't seem like she really had anything on her mind and I finally figured out she had just wanted to come along and see her baby's daddy. I cut her protest short after lunch and got she and Geena both into the big bed and I plowed them mercilessly for the rest of the afternoon. Geena was all for it anyway since she'd been taking it up the back door for the last four days she spent on earth. Mistress Eva couldn't get any more pregnant, and I don't think she could have gotten any hornier either. She was a glutton for dick and she showed it without hesitation any time I got her into bed, especially if Geena joined us. It suited the hell out of me, because even if Mistress Eva was older she was still lushly appointed. It seemed the older the Cassandra women got the finer they were. Her massive titties didn't sag a bit and the nipples were always ready to poke an eye out if you weren't careful. And hot to trot, was she ever? She would be dripping in seconds after any teasing or the slightest fondle. If I could get it up, Mistress Eva was ready and willing to try getting it back down. After about four days of taking a pounding every time she got me stirred up Mistress Eva bid us adieu and returned to her duties. She hadn't made any comment on how I was conducting myself and it made me feel like I was doing just fine. I even asked Geena about it. "You can do no wrong in Mistress Eva's eyes, and therefore in the eyes of anyone in power. She thought it was wonderful of you to take Kathy to earth and stuff a baby up her and she hopes Kathy will come back with her baby and raise her right here on Crossroads, at least until it is time for her to go to school. I even got a definite hint she was going back to examine the official rules to see if pregnant Caretakers were only disallowed by the men while they were The Powers That Be. "If they were responsible for that little trick you can bet it will be removed soonest. Mistress Eva rules the roost now and she has a death grip on other members of the ruling council. I just hope I can hold out until a final decision is made," Geena said. "What do you mean?" "I mean I'd like a baby as much as any woman, but I like it here too. I'm hoping the rules can be clarified soon so I can have my baby and stay with my Hero too." "I can tell you already you can do it. If the fifteen minutes I'll be gone bothers you I just won't go while you're pregnant," I said. "No, that isn't what I meant. I just think it would be better if I could keep being your Caretaker and have my baby too. AT least I want to wait until Kathy can come back so I could be sure there was someone I trusted looking out for your well being," she said, and it degenerated into a tearful stream of I Love Yous from both of us. We postponed further discussions and headed for bed where we spoke the universal language of in out in out for the rest of the evening. After breakfast the next morning Geena went off in search of mission files and she came back with five this time. I didn't even ask her why -- I just looked them over. I was surprised to see that three of the files showed the Damsel's last known location as the Hero's Ranch in Jacksville. It was quite a shock for me and I took a mission there at once, but I made sure to keep in mind where the others in the group of five were being held. All of them were within a hundred miles of Jacksville. I wasn't thinking of much when I stepped through the Chaos bound portal and I took my time putting on my knives, sword, and armor, such as it was. I'd still never gone beyond the one mail shirt with a metal panel over the chest I'd collected from one of the first assholes I had ushered off Chaos via the spiritual exit. I had my bow in my hand when I walked out of the vault. There was the guard who'd done such a wonderful job on the cowshit last time and he perked right up when he saw me. In fact he drew his sword so I did the same. "You won't have Conroe to back you up this time you arrogant asshole. I know for a fact he and most of his men are out taking care of one of the far distant branches of the Hero's Ranch." "Good, that means I get you all to myself," I said, and quickly fetched a throwing knife and stuck it into his sword hand. He dropped his sword right away and I was on him like stink on shit a few seconds later. I had him kneeling at sword point in only seconds more. "Let me ask your dumb ass something. Did you really think I needed Conroe to protect me from you? He was only here to keep me from killing you in the first place. Alas, I don't think he'll get back in time to save you this time," I said, and then lopped off his head. The clerk behind the cages started yelling then and so I walked over to see if I could reach through the bars and get to him with my sword. No such luck, so I put my sword back up and took hold of my bow. I knew damned well I could reach him with an arrow, Just in the nick of time, as they say, an older looking man came out of the rear offices and asked the yelling clerk what he was yelling about. "That beast came out of the vault and cut John's head off," he said. "And what did John do to deserve it? This man has been a customer of the bank for years. I happen to know the last guard thought highly of him. John must have done something to annoy him," the manager said. "Well John has never liked him since he brought those cows through the vault, and I don't blame him," the clerk said. "Oh, I see what it is now. You and John thought you'd select the customers you liked and run the others off. Well I can save you the trouble. Get your sorry ass out of that cage and get out of the bank. There are plenty of more suitable applicants around and I doubt it will take me longer than an hour to hire another one. "Come on out now. If you don't I'm going to open the cage and let Hero Jack in there to run you out, piece at a time if he has to." ------- Chapter 46 The clerk was smarter than he looked. At least he knew he'd be better off outside the cage where he could run instead of inside it, where I'd have him cornered from the start. I didn't bother him as he left until he got to the front door and then I stomped my feet a couple of times as if running after him. He practically flew outside when I did. "An excellent day's work Hero Jack. Neither of them was worth shit, but we have strict rules at the bank and they were already hired when I came here to take over. Getting killed on the job is definitely a way out and showing disrespect for a customer is another no no. "The only sad thing about it is Rita will be left without a husband now. I doubt she will be devastated over the loss, but she does have two children to raise." "You should know me better than that if you know much at all about me. I would never let a widow suffer from my hand. He caused the hard feelings, but his wife didn't. If you'll be so kind as to tell me where to find her I'll go take care of it right away," I said. Banker Paul was glad to tell me where I could find the new widow Rita. Apparently they were living in an apartment not far from the Hero's Whorehouse. I walked over there at once and had no trouble finding the widow. I did have trouble telling her what had happened though. She was strikingly beautiful and there was quite a little beauty running around on her own in the house. She looked to be four years old to me. Rita also had a babe in arms and it was obvious from the first glance the child suffered from cleft palate. My heart went out to it at once and my heart went out to the mother, along with other parts of my anatomy trying to get out. It was a delicate situation and since I'm not a very delicate man I feared the worst. I explained about the altercation and then the outcome and hoped for the best. "It sounds just like the fool. He was always bragging about how he made this one or that one in the bank do something. The very idea, acting as if he'd performed some manly feat by ordering old ladies around about their banking business. Oh well, it's my fault for letting him get the babies started and now I'll have to raise them on my own. At least it isn't far to walk to the Whorehouse for a decent job," she said. "If I might be so bold I think I can find you an even better job. Out at the Hero's ranch," I said. "Oh. Can you? I've heard it was a very nice place. Do you think they're hiring out there?" "I don't want to shoot my mouth off just to hear myself talk, but I'm positive I can get you a job there. I'm the Hero Jack you see," I said. It threw me for a loop for a second when she laughed out loud right in my face, but she was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry for laughing, but it was just so funny. John went on for weeks about how the Hero had called his men and they'd made him clean up the cow shit the Hero's cattle had left in the vault and bank. He spent a lot of everyday for a while there dreaming of what he was going to do to you if he ever got a chance when your guardsmen weren't around. Now we know he only managed to dull your blade a little as you cut his head off. "I would very much appreciate it if you can find a job out there you think I can do. In fact, I could start appreciating it tonight if I'm allowed in the house," she said, and if I'm not mistaken what she did next was often called batting your eyes at someone. "That won't be necessary for me to find you a job, but of course if you insist I can make sure you stay in the big house. I think I'll see if you can't help Kala. You can cook at least a little can't you?" "Of course I can cook, and I'm also an excellent serving girl in case you need some service." "Well why don't we take a stroll that way. If we run into one of my carriages on the way they'll take us, but it isn't so long a walk anyway. You can leave all your things here if you think they'll be safe. I can send others to move your belongings once we see where your room will be." "That sounds wonderful, but I'm afraid Tina can't walk very far without straying. She's very curious," she said. "Who? Are you talking about this lovely little girl? She seems precious to me and I was hoping she'd let me carry her. I was so glad to see you had two girls and no mean little boys to tend to," I said, and Tina approached me without saying a word. When she came close she reached her hands up for me to lift her and I got a big old lump in my throat when I did. "Hello Tina. How are you today?" I asked. "I'm just fine sir. Are you going to be our daddy now? Our last daddy wasn't very nice to us, but you seem very nice," she said. "I'm not sure Tina, but if your mother wants it I'm sure she can convince me," I said, letting my mouth overload my ass again. "Good, maybe you can find a doctor to fix Nita's mouth. Our last daddy said it would cost too much money," Tina said. "I'm sure of it Tina. I promise you I'll find a doctor to fix Nita's mouth," I said, but Rita gave me a scolding look when I did. Of course she had no way of knowing, but I was sure it wouldn't take the healing chamber ten minutes to fix Nita up better than new. We ended up walking all the way to the ranch, and I'll admit I loved every step. Tina had thousands of questions and I had a ball answering them. She was thrilled when we walked up toward the porch and she saw Samson and Delilah playing with the children on the front yard. Of course the mothers all knew me, and they were up on their feet and rushing forward to meet the woman and children I was bringing. They only seemed a little disappointed to learn Rita was the widow of the dead bank guard and they seemed to switch into matchmaker mode at once. Three of the five mothers escorted us in and they led us to my bedroom right away. Of course we met the three Damsels then since they were staying in my room. The Damsels were overjoyed when they found out I was the Hero come to return them to Crossroads, but mostly they wanted to play with Tina and Nita and talk to Rita. I had sense enough to know when I wasn't needed. "How did these Damsels turn up here?" I asked Carlita, as soon as we left the bedroom. "Conroe did it. He was down at the last place you captured and he got itchy feet or something and took most of the men down the road about twenty miles to capture the next place in line. It was heavy with slaves and the three Damsels were included among them. He brought them all back when he brought the slavers for trial." "It turned out a good thing though because that place had made the most progress on the road up to Jacksville. It's much shorter to go that way now and men from everywhere are working on getting that road completed," Carlita told me. "Where is Conroe now?" I asked. "He's down there planning to take the next place around the circle." I made my way to the kitchen to speak to Kala and Bertalee then and got another Hero's welcome. Kala wanted to put on a feed for me right away, but I asked her to just wait and serve me with the rest at suppertime. She said she would and then she started bragging on the milk the Holsteins were giving. "It has so much cream in it and it hardly takes any time at all to churn up butter. I hope they don't have to use it all to make that pipe one day," she said. "I'm sure they won't. They should have some more before long. It'll be a wonder if this place isn't flooded out with milk." "You can never have too much milk for cooking. It makes just about everything better," Kala said. I sure as hell didn't argue with the cook. Just then the Damsels, Carlene, Danielle, and Rebecca came downstairs. Carlene was carrying Tina and Danielle had Nita while Rebecca was looking around trying to find a child to carry herself. Tina surprised them all and me too when she shouted out "Daddy", and held her arms out for me to pick her up. I did so at once and left it to Rita to explain why Tina was calling me Daddy already. The rest of them gathered around Nita to tease and tickle her and I was just as glad since I took a seat with Tina in my lap and introduced her to Kala and Bertalee. Earning myself points with both women and with Tina too. Bill appeared in just a few minutes and others came in too and soon enough supper was making its way to the table. Apparently one of Bill's newer wives had blessed him with twins, because he had one to feed during supper. It only lasted a while since Carlita stole the youngster and took up the process. I fed Tina from my plate and she took right to it. Opening her mouth and doing the little bird trick. Delgado was eating with us tonight and I asked him if he could take some of the guard up to pick up Rita's things and he said he'd be glad to. I let her give him the details and as soon as supper was over Rita, the Damsels, Tina, Nita, and me headed up to my bedroom. Bertalee came with us and showed us the room right next to mine was empty too so Rita put Tina and Nita to sleep in there. Tina was thrilled to be sleeping in such a big bed, but Nita looked like she was just glad to get a chance to lie down and rest. Back in my room with Rita and the Damsels there were questions aplenty. The Damsels wanted to know when I'd be taking them back to Crossroads. I thought about it for a few minutes and decided to go ahead and go. There wasn't a lot I could do here and I wasn't a bit ashamed to have the Damsels delivered and waiting for my arrival. Besides, I was already fretting about getting Nita into the healing chamber. I gave them the word and the Damsels were thrilled. Rita didn't understand what was going on, so I had to tell her. "Rita, I don't really live here on Chaos. What I'm planning on doing is taking you back to where I live. I already have other wives and I want you to be one of them. You won't have to work because I am very wealthy where I live. Will you go with me?" I asked. "It's why you told Tina you'd find a doctor to help Nita's mouth isn't it?" she asked, and I admitted it. "I don't know about all this. What do you girls think? Should I go away with this rich man and never have to work again in my life?" she asked the Damsels. "Well, I'm sure there is one job you'll have to do, but it might not be so bothersome. After all, the three of us took an awful chance to get him to do it to us," Carlena said, and the other Damsels giggled. It was decided then, everything except who was going to sleep right up against me. When they stripped off their clothes it was the first time I could ever remember a woman from Chaos looking better than a Damsel, except for Mary of course and she was from Cassandra herself after all. Bill and the family were a little let down I'd be leaving so quickly, but they understood the Damsels were ready to go. I didn't bother to mention the treatment Nita would be getting right away either. Bill took us to the bank in the carriage they kept ready all the time and we were inside in minutes. There was a new guard in place and a new clerk too, and I was surprised to see the clerk was a young woman. I went over to her and requested she call the manager out to see me and she did it at once. When he came out he smiled big at me and shook my hand then he introduced me to the clerk and then the guard and he told them both I was a special customer of the bank's. They let us get on our way then and soon enough I had all the women and children in the vault. I gave Rita an extra ring I had in my pocket and held Tina in my arms while Rita held Gina. I figured the Damsels would come along as always and when I shut the last box they did. We must have been quite a surprise for Geena when we popped into view, but she handled it well. She wanted me to go into the healing chamber first, but I showed her Nita and asked that she get the first turn and Geena did it right away. We all just waited while Nita was in the healing chamber. Geena ordered us drinks while we were waiting and I had coffee while the rest had tea. The healing chamber made a little noise I had never noticed before, but Geena went over and lifted the baby out and her smile nearly broke her face while tears leaked down from her eyes. It was nothing compared to Rita's reaction though and Tina had to have a look too. When Tina saw her sister she came over to me, climbed into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Oh, thank you, Daddy. Thank you. You said you would have the doctors fix Nita and you did it. I am so happy you found us. You must be the best Daddy anywhere," she said, and it broke me completely up. I was blubbering like a baby myself in seconds. ------- Chapter 47 We managed to get hold of ourselves and get through the healing chamber and all get a shower, or a bath in the case of the kids. Geena was running around in a tizzy trying to get things just right, get everyone healed and bathed, and then ordering food. Tina claimed her place in my lap to be fed again and Nita was able to eat normally for the first time in her life I guess. It was strange to me, but she acted as if there'd never been anything wrong with her at all. That suited me fine and Rita was at once amazed and overjoyed. She looked so odd sitting there, feeding Nita with a huge smile on her face, and tears streaming out of both eyes. Things were exciting until we got the kids in bed in another bedroom and then the women attacked me. Hell, I tried to surrender from the first, but it didn't dissuade them. Geena was so proud of me she was about to burst. Not only had I brought home three Damsels, but I'd brought Rita and her children. Geena was especially proud of being able to help Nita's problem and it was hard for me to tell whether it was Rita or Geena who was most delighted by the job the healing chamber had done. The Damsels were all affected by the miracle cure of the innocent, but as anything out of the ordinary at Crossroads did, it seemed to make them even more horny. We ended up needing to give Rita a rundown on the process the Damsels were going through and in the end she just egged them on. It was probably my busiest time at crossroads, but it had its benefits. In what had to be a miracle all the Damsels came up pregnant on the same day. It seemed I had time for a tearful goodbye for each of them and then it was time for Rita, Nita, Tina, and I to leave. Luckily I had made sure to get them all in the habit of getting up and dressed early in the mornings. When we headed out the portal I grabbed Geena and dragged her along with us. If you ever find yourself in the position of having several pregnant wives I can tell you it will be to your benefit to bring along another one with two small children in tow. Even Mary, who had raised several children of her own already, was quick to latch onto Tina and pull her directly into her lap. For a while there I was afraid we were going to have to make up ration cards with time allotments for playing with the children. Of course Tina would have fouled up the schedule, because any time I sat down she migrated to my lap almost at once. It didn't hurt my feelings one bit. Tina had found a new Daddy, and she intended to take full advantage of his lap time availability. The girl knew what she wanted, and so far she wanted Daddy. It didn't take long to discover her second choice either. If my lap wasn't available Cowboy Jack's seemed to suit her nearly as well. Her feelings weren't unrequited either. When Cowboy Jack sat down and patted his lap even Glenda knew he wasn't calling for her to sit in it. He was beckoning for Tina and she usually showed right up. In fact when it came time for him to fix lunch he took Tina to the kitchen and started on her cooking lessons right away. When we settled down to eat he made an announcement. "You know what we need around here? A pony. We need a pony and I'm going to go find us one this afternoon," he said, and it wasn't like it was hard to figure out who the pony was going to be for. Of course it left me with some explaining to do. Coming from Chaos, Rita had no comprehension of owning an animal strictly for the entertainment of the children. Oh well, she was going to have to get used to not having much to do. So, Rita, Glenda, Tina, Cowboy Jack, and me attached the trailer to the Hummer, climbed inside, and headed for Kerrville. As soon as we hit town Cowboy Jack directed me to a Western Store and inside it we went. Cowboy Jack got the attention of a clerk and had Tina seated in the shoe department and trying on boots almost at once. I steered Rita towards the jeans and shirts and told her to shop full speed ahead. Of course she didn't know shopping from a kick in the ass and so I asked Glenda to help her out. I will say she took right to it though. Soon enough she was seated right beside Tina and trying on boots of her own. Cowboy Jack even talked Glenda into westernizing her wardrobe. After the women had worn the plastic out in the western store we boarded the Hummer and headed out of town to a place Cowboy Jack knew of. Another dyed in the wool character met us when we drove up and it was obvious he and Cowboy Jack were close friends. After their greeting Cowboy Jack had Tina step out and he told his friend she needed a pony. Of course Tina wasn't sure what a pony even was I'm sure. She knew it was a small horse, but like her mother, she'd never dreamed of having one only for her amusement. Of course I was afraid we'd be getting a Shetland pony. Luckily Cowboy Jack was way ahead of me on that score. The first horse Bill, Cowboy Jack's friend, brought out looked like a normal Quarterhorse, except small. I doubted it was even twelve hands. It looked like the perfect size for Tina though and soon enough it was wearing a saddle and bridle and Tina was on its back, thrilled. She could hardly believe we were doing all this for her, but she was lapping it up as fast as she could. She listened carefully to Cowboy Jack when he told her what to do and soon enough she was riding around like a champ. Cowboy Jack bought the first one Bill brought out and damned if he didn't buy the next one too. He also talked Bill into loaning him the saddle, telling him it would take a few days to have a saddle made for Tina. I knew Amos was about to get a commission. We returned to the house with our ponies in tow and it was time to turn them out and get ready for supper. Of course there were packages galore to take into the house and after it was done Cowboy Jack, Glenda, and Tina started on supper. "Where did he find those ponies?" I asked Cowboy Jack, while I was sitting and drinking a cup of coffee and he was cooking. "They ain't ponies and you know it. He bought what he thought was a stunted mare about twelve years ago, but it turned out she was just abnormally small. He bred her to a registered horse and damned if she didn't give him a small stallion. He's been crossing them on each other and on other small horses he could find. He even looked around all over until he found a small rider to train 'em. They're all registered Quarterhorses, sorta. If the AQHA ever came out to take a look at 'em they'd cancel the papers of course, but he has a good market for those ponies. There are a lot of folks who have kids and want small horses for them. Hell, there are even plenty who understand it cost just as much to raise and train a small horse as it does to do it for a regular one. He don't have no trouble selling all the small ones he can raise. This is Texas for God's sake, and people with kids want them to have a horse. It's just a plus when they can find one small enough for their younger kids. Now that supper was over and the dishes cleaned up Tina broke into her new clothes and put on a pair of jeans, one of her new rodeo shirts, and her boots and came out to ask Cowboy Jack if she could ride her horse. Of course he said yes, and since there were about three hours of daylight left we all went out to watch. Amos drove up just as we were getting the show on the road and I figured Cowboy Jack had called him. Amos took a tape measure out of his pocket and did a little measuring on both the small horses and then Cowboy Jack saddled one of them and put Tina on it. He turned her loose to ride around, but told her to stay close and then he started talking to Amos about what he wanted. Amos made some notes and then took off for home. Soon enough the sun headed down and we put Brownie away. Tina was sad to see her go, but knew she'd be available for more riding tomorrow. It turned out Cowboy Jack had another ace up his sleeve for Tina though. He'd talked Mary into recording several programs for him during the afternoon and he took Tina into the entertainment wing of the house, sat her down, and gave her her first look at Mickey Mouse. She was spellbound for an hour when he called a halt and turned her over to Rita to put her to bed. Soon enough we all retired and as I expected the women were ready to have at me. I didn't know any better than to just ask Rita how she felt about more children and she didn't know any better than to tell me she had to catch up to the others around here. I warned her she wouldn't be able to travel back to Chaos while she was pregnant. "And why would I ever want to go back there?" she asked, and I guess it settled the question. Geena was up fairly early the next morning and she was dressed and about to go through the portal when Cowboy Jack called her to breakfast. "You didn't have to fix my breakfast Cowboy Jack. I could have just ordered it when I got back," she said. "I know that, but now you don't have to. Sit down and eat. You've only got one customer and he's about to sit down and eat hisself," Cowboy Jack told her, and she laughed. We dug into Cowboy Jack's offering, and it was a big one. Bacon, ham steak, sausage patties, fried eggs, hashbrowns, and big cathead biscuits with gravy. I was piling it in and Geena just looked at me. "Why don't you weigh three hundred pounds or more. I know you eat as much or more when you're on Crossroads and I'll bet Kala feeds you even more. How do you keep your weight down?" she asked. "I don't know, but I never worry about it. Maybe I fuck it all off," I said, and she just laughed. Soon enough though she was finished with her breakfast and on her way. ------- Chapter 48 Geena's departure left me at home alone with many pregnant women, Cowboy Jack, Glenda, Tina, and Nita. It made me realize what a great thing the healing chamber was, especially in light of its recent good work on Nita. I was also reminded that my latest woman wasn't pregnant, yet. Hell, I could do with a break in between some of them so I thought I'd try to let well enough alone, for the day anyway. I took Tina out for her pony ride lessons for a couple of hours and we had a blast. She had a million questions about the saddling and bridling, but mostly she just wanted to ride around. I finally caught up Blacky to ride with her and we took off into the fearsome outback. Well, it was outside the part of the place we mowed anyway. I did take a machete with me to lop off any branches that hung down enough to get in the way. We had a nice ride of about four hours and I wondered how she could sit still for such. We weren't really doing anything but riding around and there wasn't all that much for her to see. She seemed to love it though and she was catching onto how to control the horse. Of course it was thoroughly trained and that was a big help. We finally brought the day's lessons to a halt when lunchtime drew near. After unsaddling and putting up our mounts we went inside to the table and Cowboy Jack had done us up right. Soon after lunch was over it was time for the women to see their shows and since neither Cowboy Jack, Tina, nor I wanted to help them we sat still for Cowboy Jack showing us how to find cartoons on youtube. At least it gave Tina something to do for the afternoon and I watched carefully as Cowboy Jack showed her how to find them on her own. It looked like a wonderful way for her to spend time when we weren't available to play. Really though, I could see myself doing a lot of playing, or having the time to anyway. I mean, I didn't have a job or anything and unless I needed to tend to something at the house the only time I'd be away was the fifteen minutes when I was on an adventure. Speak of the devil and up she pops. Not exactly, but Geena did come down for a chat and to invite me to come back to Crossroads and tend to something she thought I needed to see. I kissed all the women and kids goodbye and we went through the portal. "I was just looking through some missions to try my hand at being a better planner, and I came across one that seems to be right up your alley so I thought I'd fetch you. There is another Damsel supposedly in one of the ring camps that are being established. According to my information it is two places over from the last one Conroe took over," she said. I figured by the time I got there Conroe would be taking over the one next to it, but I decided to go down to Chaos and at least act like a Hero for one trip anyway. I complimented Geena on being alert and then let her fix me a big meal, or order me one anyway. After I ate we retired to the bedroom and I gave her a one on one session that had her calling for restoratives early and often. The next morning I was on my way to see what kind of help I could give Conroe. In the bank vault I called for my boxes and dressed for the part. When I was ready I left the bank trotting and was soon coming up on Bill's house. There were plenty of kids in the yard and by now plenty of pups too. It seemed Samson and Delilah had indeed been fruitful and multiplied because there were several puppies chasing the kids around. Inside I stopped by to talk to Bill and he asked me to come into his office. He wanted to talk about the new facilities that had been coming fast and furious as far as he was concerned. "To tell the truth, Bill, I'm a little surprised you've taken so many already. I'm not for slaving in any form or fashion, but if we kill this bunch off too quickly they'll just move their operation somewhere else. I'd originally intended to take all the places they'd built, but I'd also intended to let them get the roads here closer to finished before I did. Let them finish on their dime was my idea of things in fact. "I guess it is a little bit of a dirty way to do it though since I'm letting them take advantage of the slaves they're gathering and I'm holding off cleaning them out completely to take advantage of their work." "I hadn't even thought of it that way. It seems to me like every time I turn around Conroe is taking over another place down there. The thing is they seem to start paying off as soon as he gets them in hand. He brings all the slaves up here and we turn them loose of course, but he always hires them right back to take care of the last place we've taken over. "We usually send a shipment of cast goods and leather goods to the new place and they seem to sell out as soon as the merchandise gets there. Of course we usually get some of it back when he takes over a new place. "The last two he took over he even asked me to give the younger hands a parole against the s on their foreheads. He vouched for them and said they hadn't known they were joining slaving operations when they hired out," Bill said. "I don't see anything wrong with that, Bill. If they weren't really had line slavers I can't see branding them until we catch them at it red handed," I said. "Well we haven't yet. We are getting a lot of men on the payroll, but the new places are making it worthwhile. All we're really straining are George and the leather workers and they all seem to be shickled titless over the situation. George has already trained others to do the casting and he mostly just makes limbs for the new bows now. He still cusses up a storm over having to make so much of the tiny cables for the bows, but he loves it all and don't let him fool you into thinking he doesn't. "I guess what I'm trying to say is we're building up a little army here and the hell of it is it is paying for itself," Bill said. "Well, someone else is paying for the facilities, for now anyway," I said. "Yes, but I don't think we really need them anymore. Every time we take over a new place we build an inn near it and it makes money too in just a short time. I can't even think about how much we're going to be harvesting when the time comes around and we've sent not only meat cattle down to these new farms, but breeding stock too. We're just doing really well on this, and we're getting rid of slavers while we do it." "It never hurts to make a profit when you're doing the right thing, Bill," I said. When I left Bill I went straight to the kitchen to see Kala and Bertalee. They had a big lunch on the stove and they were also cooking some kind of elaborate desert, which was a hit with me right away. I decided I could hold off until official lunchtime, but Kala talked me into sitting down with a cup of coffee and a serving of the special desert. She claimed she had a smaller pan of it for testing. It was some type of cobbler and she had cooked peaches and apples together in it. It was delicious and it turned out I needed two servings and three cups of coffee to make sure it was just right. Lo and behold when everyone started showing up for lunch Conroe was among 'em. He came right over to sit beside me and give me a rundown and I was glad he did. He told me he was planning on taking the next place around the circle within a few days. I just kept wondering what circle he was talking about, but I got the details after lunch was over when we went into another room and he spread out a map of the whole area. I could see why they were calling it a circle while it actually wasn't one. The places the slavers were building were about equidistant from Jacksville, but there wasn't a circular road or any such thing. I'm sure the circle wasn't even evident unless you were looking at the map he had and I doubted anyone else had such a map. It was easy to see things would look even more circular if lines were drawn through each of the adjacent places, but there weren't any lines -- at least there weren't any roads going directly from one place to another. Of course you could get to each of them by roads, but they didn't take the shortest path between them. The roads were laid out more grid fashion, such as they were, and the only real circular look was from the map. It was easy to see that once the roads to Jacksville they were all starting were completed things would look very circular though, or at least they would look like a wheel with roads for spokes. As I looked more closely at the map I could see where the financial gain was coming from. We were covering a lot of area. Each place was about twenty miles from the next and it ended up covering a lot of ground. Most of the places weren't even close to any towns and they were actually becoming small town-like places themselves. It was fine with me and I told Conroe I'd be happy to go with him for the next raid. After we were done talking I went out to the main barn to see Ben. He was bragging on the cows right away and then moved on to the horses. Apparently he was in love with the offspring he was getting out of the thoroughbred, especially after crossing it or its sons onto the mares he'd gotten from Blacky and Joe Bob. He even had me a special mount picked out. When he showed me the big stallion he had for me I was in love at once. It was sixteen hands and had the long legs of a thoroughbred, but it had the bulging muscles of a Quarterhorse. The best part was he had another stallion from the same cross from the next year and it looked just like it own older brother. "I might want to take this one home with me, Ben," I said, as soon as I saw it. "Hell, it's yours, do what you like. In fact I bread heavily from him this year in case this very thing came up. You're the one responsible for me to have this chance at breeding fine horses and it's only right for you to get some of the best ones," Ben said, and he looked really pleased about the whole thing. He wasn't the only one either. I was pleased as punch. It was a little odd for me sleeping alone that night, but I'd get over it. Conroe wanted to leave out early the next morning and when I asked Kala about a sandwich or two to take along she said she had me fixed up already with a knapsack full of goodies for me to eat on the trail. Conroe and I left not long after breakfast and I was happy to see Ben had a packhorse for me that looked nearly as good as the one I was riding. I was thrown off at first because Conroe didn't turn right out the gate and go the way I knew. Instead he took me downtown and we struck out on the road coming up from the first place we'd taken over. It was finished now and while it was a little rougher than the other road it was a good bit of a shortcut. The most surprising thing was when we came to a beltway road. That one wasn't even nearly finished, but I could see where men were working on it. Conroe bragged that it would intersect all the outlying spokes that were headed toward Jacksville. Hell, if it made sense in the modern-day world it made sense here too, albeit on a smaller scale. For one thing it would help protect the town by cutting across the woods all the way around it. No one would be able to sneak up on the town after it was finished. ------- Chapter 49 We headed down the first finished spoke toward the first of the slaver's places we had captured. It was more of a straight shot than the other road had been and we were covering the ground with the trot we were using. Still, the road was new as there was basically nothing to see on it. Nothing at all in fact. No doubt people would stake out claims for farms after a while, but for now there was nothing. Around noon we stopped to give the horses a blow and to have a bite to eat. Kala had made sure I had plenty and it looked like she had done a good job for Conroe too. After we'd finished we mounted up again, but we walked the horses for nearly an hour before we started trotting them again. Frankly I was surprised when we came to the place the road had started from. It was ours now, and we were well met. We took the horses over to the barn, removed the tack, and turned them into the pen with the other mounts. Conroe and I walked up to the back door and entered, going directly into the kitchen where the same woman who'd been here when we took over the place was holding forth. She was already working on supper, but it was over an hour away. Conroe asked her after Ben and Jerry. "They went off to the next ranch down the road to see the foreman there, but they'll be back in time for supper," she said. Conroe and I just hung around until they got back and then he asked them how things were going. They said the plans for taking the next place over were in place and they thought the men were ready to take it on as soon as they got some good guidance. Conroe and I ate supper and then took to the bedrooms we were assigned. We planned on getting things moving early the next morning. Conroe and I were up early, and we were happy to see breakfast was about to be served. Ben and Jerry came in and it was obvious they were surprised to se us up so early. "You don't intend to take them on this morning do you?" Jerry asked, and I told them no. "We're going to slip over there and get a look at things for ourselves and then we'll probably come back here and take a nap. We've had good luck attacking them at night and we'll probably do it again that way this time." "We both thought that would be the best way too. Most of the armed men stay in one of the outbuildings and the slaves are all held inside the house in a large basement." "If that's so we'll probably try to pen the armed men up in their outer quarters and then pick off the men from in the house as they come outside. It'll be easier that way instead of going inside the house and trying to root them out." After eating breakfast Conroe and I saddled our horses and rode that way. We cut into the woods at a place Ben had told us about and we made our way through them until we could get a good look at the set up. The bunkhouse was apparent and I was glad to see it was sturdy and only had one entrance. There were high windows around it, but we should be able to take care of any leaks with archers stationed outside. You usually only had to shoot a few trying to slip out a window to get them all to stop. It was really about all we could discover about the place without getting close enough to be seen, so we headed back after a couple of hours and shared our plan with Ben and Jerry. We didn't let the troops in on the plans because we didn't want to take the chance of word getting out. We had lunch, went to bed, and tried to sleep. I didn't think I'd be able to, but I did lie down and close my eyes to get all the rest I could. We got up in time for supper and then just sat around for a few hours. We still hadn't let any of the men in on the secret, but about midnight we went out to their bunkhouse and rousted them out, giving them the news then. All of them seemed enthusiastic about the plan and by two AM we were all saddled up and heading out. We were in place in the woods with the horses tied off by four AM. We slipped though the woods and encircled the bunkhouse first. There was a stout door and it was easy enough to close it for the duration. Then we waited. The sun was maybe an hour before rising when two men came out of the house to wake the others. We captured them easily and tied them up, gagging them securely. About forty-five minutes two more men came out yelling for the ones who'd gone missing. Conroe and I kept our bows trained on them because they were wearing swords, but six of our men rushed them, knocked them senseless with short clubs and then dragged them back behind the bunkhouse to bind and gag them also. Fifteen minutes later a man came out with a crossbow and I just went ahead and shot him because of the danger of trying to capture him armed as he was. He was dead when we reached him and so we signaled the men to come up to the back door with us and then we went inside with me leading and Conroe right behind me. The others followed him. It didn't take long to round up the other four men inside. They were in the kitchen eating and when about a dozen of us rushed inside with swords drawn they didn't do anything stupid. The obvious leader started yelling for help to come, but one of the men with us put a stop to the noise with his club. The four were bound, gagged, and ushered outside while the rest of us sat at the table and encouraged the cook to bring more food. "Serving would be faster if you would let some of the other girls out of the room where they are being held," she said. It reminded me of what I was here for in the first place and after getting directions from her I left, taking two of the new men with me. As soon as I opened the door I spotted the Damsel Terlita at once. I went to her and told her I was Hero Jack and had come to rescue her and she threw her arms around me at once, squealing. I took time to tell the others they had all been freed and then explained the cook needed some help in the kitchen. I told all the others they were free to go and I explained we would help them get home if they wanted to go or we would help take care of them if they needed it. Most of them didn't even consider going back home. The youngest two, a boy and a girl who were brother and sister, told me their parents had been killed when the slavers took them. I told then they could go to Jacksville and live with Bill and his wives. "But sir," the young girl said, "We've heard them talking about taking over Jacksville. Won't we be in danger there?" "They do think they are going to attack Jacksville, but we are ready for them and they'll meet the same kind of treatment they got today if they do attack. You will be safe in Jacksville," I told her, and she seemed happy enough about it. Soon enough we were all in and around the kitchen and the cook, also a slave, along with the ones who normally helped her put some breakfast on the table. She also made plenty so the other rescued slaves could eat, though there wasn't room at the table for all of them at once. After Conroe and I finished eating we went back outside with the others who'd been inside eating with us. We relieved the few we'd left guarding the bunkhouse and put more out covering the windows while Conroe and I went to the door. We were just in time to hear someone inside cursing and banging on the door. We stationed several archers back in a good firing position and then Conroe opened the door. "All right. This nest of you slavers had been taken over by decent folk now. Come out without your arms up and lie face down on the ground," Conroe told them. "The hell I will," what seemed like the leader said as he came charging out sword in hand. He collected six arrows for his trouble. "Anyone else care to come out bearing arms? We have plenty of arrows and men ready to shoot them," Conroe yelled back into the building, but no more men approached the door. "As I figured. You're a bunch of rats in a trap I see. All right men, go ahead and put the bunkhouse to the torch. We'll see how they like burning to death. If you make us burn this building down you'll all be killed as you leave while it's burning. Business picked up right away as most of them wanted to get out at once, but Conroe and the archers sorted them out quickly. Soon enough all of them, except the ones who tried to come out with weapons, were face down and tied up. Four who had tried to come out with swords drawn were dead along with the first one by now. We saved the news of where they were going next until after we had them all secured. We brought the head man for the place and all those who'd been living inside the house out to join the others then. They were all bound, hand and foot, but we removed the gags before we gave them the news they'd be traveling to Jacksville for trial as slavers. It caused much consternation among the troops, especially when we leaked word that the ones who weren't sentenced to death would be branded with the dreaded s on their foreheads. They were mostly young men and many of them claimed loudly they hadn't played any part in the slaving. "You were standing guard at a place where slaves were being held. Which part of those duties aren't slaving? You were a bunch of young fools guarding another man's slaves. You were slavers, plain and simple. You might receive some dispensation for good behavior on the way to Jacksville. Those of you who were in the house needn't count on it though. You can look forward to thirty years of indentured servitude and a brand. The rest of you might have a chance if you're on your best behavior during the trip to Jacksville," Conroe told them all, and it quieted much of the grumbling. The rest of the day was pretty much a madhouse of getting ready for the trip to Jacksville. There was one decent wagon on the premises and it was loaded with the few belongings of the slaves and also with the things and weapons of the guards. We let the freed slaves take their pick of the weapons and belongings of the captured guards. It was a little trouble to keep it orderly and there was much more bitching from the captured slavers. Conroe was careful to explain it was tough shit for the captured men. He also took pains to inform them what would become of them if they kept up the bitching. "Maybe a few of you would like to go ahead and get the s brand now, instead of having to wait until you get to Jacksville," he said, and the bitching once again hit a lull. We also took some time to interview men who had been in the house and with careful application of a hot iron to unprotected parts we learned another slave wagon would be arriving in another day or two. We decided to put off the trip until we could take care of it. The meals went much more smoothly since the cook had better access to her helpers now. All of the released male slaves had already decided they want to join our ranks, and since most of them had gained a weapon or two from the captured former guards Conroe organized a preliminary training program for them. It would give them something to do was the main benefit, but we were probably going to need some more help when the wagon came up. The following day we stationed about thirty men to hide out in the small wooded area between the road and the main building. Along about noon the slave wagon drove up with six guards riding along. We only had to shoot two of them before the others saw the wisdom in putting down their weapons. I'm sure they would have fought to the death if they'd known their upcoming fate. They were full time slavers after all, and I didn't see much in the way of mercy waiting for them in Jacksville. It all worked out though. The wagon was in fairly good shape, and after the new captives got a taste of the lash from Conroe they were only too happy to clean it thoroughly before we pressed it into service for the trip to Jacksville. Who knows? It's possible the men got the impression they'd be riding back to Jacksville in it. It must have been disappointing for them to learn they would be walking back in chains, but there you go. Sometimes rumors just don't pan out. Soon enough the day came and we all headed out for Jacksville. We scrounged up enough horses and wagon space so none of the innocents had to walk and we chained the guilty together for the walk, or should I say trot, to Jacksville. ------- Chapter 50 Our trek to Jacksville was long and boring for most of us. I'm sure it wasn't so boring for the former guards who were used to sitting on their asses most of the day. It was nearly as much work swinging lashes to keep them trotting as the actual trotting itself. The now-captive guards were worn out by the time the procession made it up the lane to the ranch. It was apparent that not all the captives were done in over the trip since many of them had enough energy left for bitching -- especially about the accommodations. "Don't worry," said Conroe, "As soon as we have your trials tomorrow and we get your foreheads branded we'll go ahead and get started on your indentured servitude. Why in thirty years you'll all be free men again." This little announcement didn't cheer them up. Neither did the work they had to do yet. We had them all drive their own tie-down stake deep into the ground and then we let them spread their blankets. We fed them while Conroe sent men to check the stakes and make sure they were all fully secured. After they'd finished eating we had them all lie on their bedding and then we chained both their hands to their respective stakes. Of course the only pastime left to them was bitching over their fate, but Conroe warned them about making too much noise. "You can piss and moan all you want to, but make sure you don't make so much noise you disturb the sleep of the decent folk around here. If you do I'll get up, bring a few men, and we'll tie the noisemakers over the stable fencing and start doling out lashes. You will not be amused if we do." I was proud of Conroe and in actual fact he was helping the captives out. He was letting them know this was a no-bullshit operation. They were fairly caught now and they were going to do as we said or they were going to be beaten, early and often. They'd been allowed to run free up until now, but they had fucked all that up when they went to work for slavers. The next few years, for all of them, would be spent making amends for bad behavior. I think the captives were all a little surprised the next morning with the early breakfast. They were even more surprised to find this was judgment day. The word had gone out in town the night before and there were nearly two hundred people who had come to watch the trials and the potential hangings. Things went as expected for the first few anyway. The inside men, those who had been living inside the house, were all found guilty of slaving and of managing a slaving operation. Six of them got the noose and the others got thirty years and a brand. Since we had so many spectators we stopped the trials then and took care of the hanging and branding. It was nearly noon by the time those formalities were over and after a quick meal we were down to only ten onlookers for the other trials. Bill was more patient with the remainder and all of them, except for two with smart mouths, got only ten years of indentured servitude and no brand. The two who were mouthy got twenty years for their trouble and instead of a brand on their forehead Bill had it applied to their ass cheeks. It seemed to do their loud mouth ways a world of good. Of all my time in Chaos I hated the trial days the most. There was no action to it, and even though I realized they were necessary I still hated taking part. At least supper was coming up and my spirits rallied while I was eating. Terlita and I retired shortly after supper. We had both been tired the night before, but I could tell she had recovered with only the one day of rest. What the hell? She was a Damsel, she had been rescued, and now she was ready for some slap and tickle. My first move was to throw water on her fire by telling her if she became pregnant she would have to stay on Chaos from now on. Of course she was naked by this time and her fat wobbling titties and womanly hips and buns had me aroused so I did mention the safe way we could engage in sexual congress -- with my dick up her ass. She didn't seem very enthusiastic at first, but with us both naked and under the covers wiggling and squirming against each other she allowed she might just try it one time to see what it was like. After getting her as hot as possible with tongue work and titty teasing I slicked up her back door with lard and slid the meat to her as gently as possible. I also made sure to put a hand in her bush to tickle and tease her button while I was pounding against her backside and by the time she blasted off I knew I had a convert on my hands. It turned out Terlita loved a big dick up her backside. I was actually surprised at how she took to butt-fucking. We stayed around the ranch for a week with me going over things with Bill, Ben, and George. Terlita never complained over the delay. She was sweet as sugar all day long and she was a demon in bed for most of the night, even if she did her best work with her face to the mattress or her mouth around my dick. With things all settled down and all my talks with Bill, Ben, and Conroe all tidied up I decided I would leave for Crossroads the next morning. I also decided to make a visit to the Hero's Whorehouse that afternoon. After a good lunch I went to the big barn and Ben had my new favorite horse saddled for me. My whorehouse looked different when I reached it. It was easy to see the carpenters had been busily at work. There was a new wide front porch on the front of the building and I was delighted to see most of the girls out taking the afternoon air. I was even happier to see what they were almost wearing, and it wasn't much. Even the madam, Gloria, was with the skimpy and see through outfit program and I nearly gulped when I saw for real just how big her titties and especially her nipples were. "It's good to see my girls out taking some air," I said, as I tied Roach to the hitching rail and walked up onto the porch. When they noticed who it was all the girls, except one, bounced up to greet me. It made their titties shake up a caution and I was quick to notice there wasn't a panty covering a single bush. Gloria called the shy one over and introduced me to Linda, their newest helper. "Linda is still a little shy and she isn't really working yet. She's a virgin and I've got an auction going on for her first visitor." "Well she's pretty enough to bring a high price. In fact all y'all are pretty as pictures," I said. "Flattery will get you between someone's legs if you aren't careful," one of the redheads said. "I can do better than flattery. I'm here bearing gifts, or taking requests anyway. What do you girls need to make you happier here?" "Happier. I'd fall down dead if I were any happier with a job. We have it made here. Hell, they even put in running hot and cold water and we can have a bath anytime we want one. We don't even have to use the chamber pots any more since they made that bathroom," the redhead said. The party on the porch broke up then and we drifted back into the kitchen where the cook, Rosie, had coffee and cake ready. Gloria made Linda sit by me and told her to take care of me since I was not only the owner, but the best sugar-daddy she'd ever come across. Linda loosened up a little and brought me a plate with a big slice of cake and a hot cup of coffee along with a serving for herself. When she sat in the chair beside me I noticed she made sure we were close and she was pressing the flesh against me. She was a delicious looking little treat with her long brown hair and big brown eyes, not to mention her bigger than I would have expected titties with their bright pink nipples. As the coffee was swallowed and the cake eaten the other girls started drifting out of the kitchen. Soon it was just Gloria, Linda, and I left at the table. "You know, Jack, you should take Linda home with you. She's a terrific looker as you can see, and she ain't taken up whoring yet. I'm not saying she won't make a good one, but it just seems such a shame for a good girl to have to turn to it right off the bat. She's a sweet little thing too, aren't you dear?" Gloria asked. Poor Linda was shy to start with and Gloria's little talk had her even more so. She was blushing furiously and I could tell she was mostly mortified over the conversation. I couldn't help teasing her too, though, and now that Gloria had mentioned it I wouldn't be ashamed to bring her home to my other wives. "She probably doesn't even like me," I said. "What's to like or dislike. You've got a dick like other men, and she'd probably like it a lot better to only have to take care of one." "Well, I already have some wives to tend to when I get back home." "She'll be fine with them. All the girls here just love Linda and I'm sure your wives will too. If they don't there's something wrong with them. Linda is as sweet as she can be." "Well then, what about it Linda. Are you ready to leave with me and become one of my wives?" I asked. She was still blushing to beat the band and she was speechless too, but I saw her nod her head just a little, and I could already see tears sneaking down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, baby. I know it wasn't much of a proposal, but I'll try to make it up to you later. Do you have any things you need to pack up and take with you?" "Just a few clothes," she said, and after a minute of discussion she left to gather them. Gloria was so full of herself after hitching Linda to my train I was afraid she would burst. She tried to maintain a calm demeanor, but she had a hard time keeping the smile from splitting her face. Linda was back in a few minutes with just one small bag and before you know it we were headed outside to catch up Roach and ride back to the ranch. Linda wasn't sure how to mount so I told her to just swing her legs across his back as I pulled her up by her hand. She made it, and as she settled down behind me I told her to just put her arms around my middle and hold on. One thing I noticed right away was two warm tits pressing into my back and I liked it that way. Linda was a big surprise when I came back in with her. We stopped and got down in the front yard. Bill's multitude of wives was sitting on the porch keeping an eye on their broods. They seemed thrilled to meet Linda and took her away to show her the house and to my room. I went in and talked to Bill for a while before ascending to my room. I found Linda and Terlita talking and they seemed to be getting along well. Getting along or not it was time for packing. I gathered my few things and Terlita had hers packed already. Linda had her small bag and we went back downstairs and called on Ben for a ride to the bank. When we arrived we went directly to the vault where I called for a box or two and stored the things I kept in them then I fished out a sapphire ring for Linda's finger, shut the last box's lid and we were through the portal and on Crossroads. Geena was surprised at first and it was plain because she was standing there with her mouth open. She got hold of herself quickly enough and had me in the healing chamber right away. When I came to I headed for the bathroom and caught the women wet and naked in the shower. I joined them at once, but after just a little fooling and fondling she led Terlita to the healing chamber and left me to wash on Linda while Linda washed me. We were having a good time shortly and then Geena joined us again. I entertained myself by vigorously washing every titty and bush in sight, and I even made sure their rosebuds were clean. It was my first real hands on time with Linda and I was struck by her lush attractiveness. Her pink tipped nipples were a treat and they sat in the big middle of wonderfully round and firm knockers. It made me wonder a little about Chaos. It seemed like most Chaos women were attractive when I was there, but once I got them to Crossroads or home on earth they came into their own as raving beauties. The Cassandra women were always spectacular, but the Chaos women I brought to Crossroads or home seemed to shine during the process. Sooner than I would have liked Geena was taking Linda away to the healing chamber and escorting Terlita and me to the kitchen area. I always considered it the kitchen since it was where food was most likely to appear. It was just another room with a table as far as food preparation went though. ------- Chapter 51 After eating we retired to my bedroom. Linda was a little shy about removing her clothes but Terlita wasn't a bit. Soon they were both nude and piled up in the bed and soon enough I joined them. We merely played around with each other and left off the old in-out in-out to make sure there were no hangups due to pregnancy, but I had plenty of fun and soon Terlita was teaching Linda the proper way to suck a hero's dick. After I recovered I showed Linda and Terlita both I knew the way around their pussies with my lips and tongue. We slept most of the night through, but Terlita egged Linda on around three AM and they woke me sucking on my dick again. After I was drained I set about getting them both squealing and bucking their hips. After I got them blasted off we snuggled together again and I managed to sleep until sunrise came around. We took a communal shower, dressed, had breakfast, and then left via the portal and returned to Earth. Cowboy Jack was up to greet us and after he discovered we'd already had breakfast he showed Terlita and Linda to the entertainment room and they were in time to catch the first soap of the day. I saw Linda and Terlita again at lunch and as we were eating Terlita began asking me about my reward for rescuing her. I explained about the danger of her ending up pregnant and she blew it off. "Let me make sure I understand this. I can sit around down her doing without or I can give it up and maybe get pregnant. If I get pregnant I can't go back to Crossroads and then Cassandra, but I can still have my baby and be stuck here with you. All I need is the rest of the story. As in, what's the downside?" "Well the downside is being stuck here on earth," I said. "Where is the downside to that? I'd be stuck here with a virile man, no job, and a wonderful entertainment system with shows I actually like to watch. Not to mention being able to find a hard dick on a man who is ready, willing, and able to use it. If I get boared during the day I can go out, saddle up a horse, and go for a ride in nearly perfect safety. It is even likely I could learn to drive and go for a trip into town if I wanted to. Where is the downside? Back on Cassandra I'd have to find a job and try to find a man who could even get it up once a month. Besides, if you give me a baby I'd be able to stay here with you and you'd be able to play with it all you wanted to. Your child wouldn't be on another planet and you without even any visitation rights." "Well, hell, you talked me into it. Lets get naked and get it on." I said. The next morning I discovered Terlita had also discussed her situation with Linda and she'd convinced Linda too. It was no wonder since Linda had an even less attractive future waiting for her back on Chaos. What the hell, they both ganged up on me and decided to start a campaign of fucking for babies right away. They managed to worm it out of me that I understood about women's cycles, something that wasn't common knowledge on Chaos or even Cassandra. They manipulated the fucking between themselves to try and get the most potent dose of come on the most fertile days. and when they both calculated they would be fertile at nearly the same time they even alternated days to receive the white lotion between themselves. "What did I care whether I unloaded in one or the other? I didn't give a fat rat's ass eithe way. Soon enough they were both knocked sky high and they weren't going anywhere." This near wedded bliss couldn't last forever though. After I went on another adventure and slipped the damsel Hadley back down for a few days at Cowboy Jack's place she got the lowdown from Terlita and Linda at once. She took up their way of thinking right away and sooner than you'd think I had two Damsels and one Chaos girl walking around with a bun in their oven and mostly as happy as larks, or at least as happy as their hormones would let them be. Needles to say my Caretaker was upset with me having two Damsels to my credit and neither one of them had turned up back on Cassandra. She warned me there would be trouble from above. "My dearest Geena. Why do you sit up here worrying about such things. All you need to do is come home with me, wait until whatever they're treatin' you with to wear off and have a baby of your own?" I asked. "But I wouldn't be able to be your Caretaker any longer," she said. "Who's to stop you? You could be my Caretaker all you wanted to be, except you'd have to share your duties with Linda and Terlita," I said. "But they aren't really your Caretakers," she said. "My dear, they most certainly are my Caretakers for real. They take care of me every day without having to worry about sending me off into danger to support a scheme on a planet that has fucked up the reproduction process so badly they need men from another planet to keep things propped up. Face it darling, you're a last ditch effort to keep a planet populated and the males on said planet aren't even interested enough to fuck the women. Cassandra is a twisted world and there is nothing natural about it. I'll admit it does produce beautiful women, but look what you have to go through to keep a population up." I said. "I know, don't you think we all know? It's why we work so hard and go through it all," she said. "Why not take the easy way out while you can? You're beating your head against a wall when you could come to earth and all find a man of your own." It was almost too much for her at first, but we went through the motions of finding me a mission and we actually talked things over more than we fucked until it was time for me to go. I didn't press her for an answer and went through with things. Soon enough I found myself in a bankvault on Chaos, retrieved my weapons, and walked out the door of the Jacksville bank and began trotting out to the Hero's Ranch. When I reached the gate the guard waved me through and I went directly toward the front door noticing the kids playing in the yard and Bill's wives relaxing on the porch. I kissed every available cheek and then went in to greet Bill. He was in his office going over the facts and figures but he stopped and stood to shake my hand. "How have things been going, Bill?" I asked. "Never better," he said. "It's good to hear." I said. "It's good to live." he said. "Well, just keep it up. I have an appointment in the kitchen," I said, and took off to see Kala. She put out a couple of big thick sandwiches and a tall cool glass of milk as soon as she saw me and I ate like a pig and then headed for the barn. Ben was happy to saddle one of Big Red's get for me and I left almost right away. My mission this time wasn't going to be such a normal one though no one knew it but me. I'd spent extra time going over the briefs Geena had brought me and I'd made notations of the names and locations of all the Damsels I'd been shown. I had a list of three and since they were all close I fully intended to get them all on this trip. No, of course it had nothing to do with all of them being so good looking, but I'll admit it didn't hurt anything. The closest was being held not ten miles from my ranch. There was a new arrival in the Jacksville area and it was reported he was trying to revive slavery for his own use anyway. He might have gotten away with it for years if he hadn't acquired a Damsel and decided to change her status from indentured servitude to actual slave. Of couse he drew attention from the Powers that Be and they had scheduled her for rescue soonest. I spent a day riding around lookiing the place over and since it was rather new the guards weren't as familiar with the goings on in the area yet and they barely noticed me riding by and looking around. After looking the place over nearly all day I rode on to the next small town where a long time resident had recently come into possission of two Damsels. They weren't in any real danger yet and it seemed the old gentleman merely wanted to keep them around for company and as fancy and beautiful decorations. His place was rather large, but he didn't keep many guards very close. I looked things over and went on down the road passed two more small towns to a roadside inn. After hitching my horse to the rail I went in for something to eat and spied the Damsel Judy manning the counter. I ordered a bowl of stew and a pitcher of watered wine and then took a seat. She brought it to me shortly and since there was no one else in the place I spoke up when she set it down. "How is he treating you, Judy?" I asked her, keeping my voice down. "He doesn't treat me badly," she said. "Are you ready for rescue?" I asked. "Yes, he isn't so bad but some of the patrons are pushy," she said. "Do you have anything important to you that you need to gather?" I asked. "No. Nothing but clothes and not very good ones at that," she said. "Let's just go then. Just walk out the door behind me, I'll mount my horse and then take your hand and swing you up behind me," I said. "But he has guards who'll chase us. They always keep a few horses saddled," she said. "I have a special horse I brought a sire from Earth to get. They couldn't catch us if they were mounted and waiting when we took off. It isn't far to my ranch in Jacksville and there will be plenty of guards of my own there," I said, and she nodded a quick acceptance. We were out the door and aboard the horse in seconds. One man did see us leaving and he shouted an alarm, but I was on one of Big Red's get and nearly a mile down the road before the first one got after us and it was easy to see he was using up the horse he was using, fast. I actually pulled up and turned toward him to watch his progress. I took my plastic fantastic bow out, knocked an arrow and waited. It was easy to tell he was alarmed at the developement, but he came on. I let fly when he was within two hundred yards and though he saw me he didn't stop. Of course he had no idea what kind of bow I was using and I'm sure when the arrow struck the horse in one of its shoulders he was surprised. He must have been even more surprised when I turned my horse around and gave it my spurs. He could have never caught us on the horse he was riding in the first place and with the short breather I'd given mine and the wound to his now he sure as hell couldn't catch up. Others were behind him by now, but they were too far back to matter and after letting my mount run for two more miles I dropped him back to a trott and after his wind got back in good shape I urged him into a slow lope and took us right back to Hero's ranch. I pulled up and let Judy down in the front yard. Of course Bill's wives were down to meet and greet her right away and soon enough she was up on the porch in a lounger with them and one of the serving girls had brought her a glass of tea. I headed out toward the barn and luckily I ran into Conroe. I told him of the chase and warned him men might be approaching with eveil intent. He called the others of the guard force and had them take up hidden positions near the gate and the front porch. I walked the horse around for a while until his ordeal was worn off and then I gave him back to Ben to have him put away. As I walked back toward the house sure enough six men came pounding down the road and slowed to turn up into the drive. I signaled the guard gate to let them pass and once they were inside the gate I had him lower it again. The one in front shouted to me. "We were chasing a man horseback who kidnapped a woman from us down the road. We can plainly see his tracks led here," he said, shouting. "You were chasing a man who rescued a slave and my tracks damned sure did lead here. Since you were trying to get the slave back it seems to me you must all be slavers. Arrest them men," I said, and Conroe and his men showed themselves right away with arrows knocked and bows drawn. Since there were only six mounted mem who now had twelve bows pointed at them the tone changed at once. The one who had been accusing me started explaining he hadn't known she was a slave. "Ignorance is no excuse. Dismount and lay down your arms since you are under arrest. If you don't comply we don't mind since it will mean fewer of you we have to hold a trial for," I said, and after a quick look around at the weapons trained on them they complied. The rest of the afternoon was mostly a bother, but luckily I was able to put it on Bill. He was the Mayor again by now and he was able to come to terms with the men. In exchange for a plea of guilty to the lesser charge of working for a slaver the men were only sentenanced to one year of indenture with a moderate salary, plus rations and a place to stay. The no-branding sealed the deal for them. Bill had someone write up the court proceedings and then had every one of them sign the agreement. Conroe took over their instruction then and had them all out being trained to use a compound bow. I talked it over with him and we decided to capture the owner in a few days. Meanwhile I set George to work making laminated steel swords for all our growning guard force. ------- Incomplete and Inactive ------- Posted: 2009-02-24 Last Modified: 2010-05-16 / 09:45:13 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------