by Tj Reeder
I needed to find out just who this person was and where she came from and a lot more. She had skills most adult males didn’t have and another thing she wasn’t a whiner or complainer and never waited to be told to do anything.
I put about 40 dollars face value of old junk coins in a small cloth sack, put it in my pocket and swung around the place to come in from the side away from the way the vehicle headed.
I moved slow enough to give Sandy time to get as close as she could and still be hidden and then I rode out onto the road. Ahead was a roadblock with at least 3 people behind the old trucks sitting there.
I just rode right at them and didn’t act worried about anything and kept the rifle across my thighs. I wanted to look non threatening and yet unafraid at the same time.
They let me ride up within about 25 yards so I stopped and just waited. Finely one asked what I wanted so I said I needed to buy supplies if there was any if not then I’d like to keep going.
They whispered a bit and one asked how I was gonna pay so I said silver coins. They whispered a bit more then one got on a bicycle and peddled away. I asked for news and they said it could wait.
Soon the messenger was back said the mayor said let me in so I rode around their road block and on into town.
There was a small group of folks waiting there and most weren’t armed which was kinda funny but I figured it was their town. A man separated from the crowd and walked over and stuck out his hand and said his name was George Bradley the mayor of the place.
It wasn’t big enough to have a mayor but that was fine, I told him my name and he asked what they might do for me. I told him I had some silver money and needed some dry goods and some food if they had it.
He said dry goods they had but food wasn’t something they felt they could part with. I said fine with me can I look over your goods. He lead me to a store front and I tied the horse to a street light pole and we went in. It was dim in there but good enough to see.
The owner I assumed asked me what I needed but I said I’d like to just get a cart and look for my self. Which I did with them staying close.
I had Sandy’s sizes and started picking stuff that would be tough enough for the trip. I started to get Levies but saw Carharts and went for those, they are just better and tougher.
I got 4 pair in her size and two in mine, flannel shirts for both of us in earth tones. A belt for her and plenty of socks for both of us. I noticed she didn’t have a bra size and I was puzzled so I never even looked nor was panties listed. Strange but who was I to wonder.
I got a nice thigh length Carhartt coat for her with a hood and gloves for both of us and wool watch hats , then I got me a coat like hers with hood. Cowboy hats look good and shade the head but when the cold winds blow out onto the plains a wool cap and a hood make life so much nicer.
Looking around I couldn’t see anything more we couldn’t live without so I headed for the check out. The Owner said he wasn’t sure what the new prices should be against real money.
So he and the Mayor talked it over and came up with a figure that I had no idea was good or bad but I wasn’t gonna argue.
They came up with $30.00 in coins so I counted out that much. I had a canvas tarp used in packing stuff to tie on a pack horse called a mannie and I spread it on the counter and stacked everything on it and wrapped it up and tied it real good with some rope.
I thanked them and walked out the door and headed to my horse. I tied the bundle across the back of the saddle and started to mount when a large man pushed his way thru the crowd and demanded to know what the hell was going on.
I could see he was a problem for the Mayor because he was openly scared of the man but he did stammer out that I was just passing thru and needed some stuff.
The fool wasn’t going to let it go I could see that very clear, My Para was under my vest and the rifle was in my left hand so whatever was gonna happen he had the advantage and it was for sure gonna be loud.
I hoped the Mayor could calm the fool but I could see he couldn’t or wouldn’t so I asked what his business was butting into my affairs. That got his attention real fast. He was packing some kind of hog leg six-shooter tied down and had that big man about town attitude down pat.
Well he started turning red in the face and turned to face me and said “well now mister let me set you straight right now. Nobody is gonna come in here and just walk off with “our” supplies.
I did point out that I had paid fair asking price in real money for the stuff and since the seller and I were both happy he had no place in the deal. I was watching him real close and I knew he was going to do it before he knew it.
He grabbed for that gun and died right there of heart failure ! Well a bullet thru the heart will do that.
And no I wasn’t some kind of fast draw shootest. In fact I might not have made it. But Sandy sure as hell could shoot that AK !!
One shot from it sounded like 75 to 100 yards away and the mouth was dead. The Mayor was just getting up off the ground and the crowd was still in shock. I got on that horse and swung the old lever gun around and asked if there was gonna be anymore trouble?
These folks weren’t gonna last if they reacted this way to a bully getting his ass handed to him. None had so much as moved, all were froze, Well except the Mayor who was good at getting down!
The Man who owned the store spoke up and told the crowd I had paid fair price for my stuff and that was it. I just turned and rode right out of there back the way I came.
At the road block the guys asked me what the shooting was and I said just some fellow blowing his top. Nothing to worry about. I rode around their roadblock and headed out of there.
I cut off the road and beat feet back to our camp where I found Ol Dead Eye leading the pack string riding Buck and headed where we had agreed.
We switched critters and head out at a good clip and pushed it all day thru some rough country filled with gully’s. Neither of us talked we just rode and put miles behind us.
We came across several fences that I cut and repaired after we were through. It might seem silly with the world melting down around us to worry about such a small thing but in a way it made me feel better to do something in the right and normal way.
At last we came across a stream and stopped for the night. Sandy
helped unload the mules and said she would be right backed. When she returned she said there was a deep pool down a ways and it was bath time. I told her to take “her” AK which brought a smile. She took her kit and took off.
When she came back I took off down stream and found a nice pool. I spent the better part of an hour just floating and thinking about nothing at all just being I guess.
Finely I became aware of Sandy sitting on the bank with her AK. She just shook her head and I blushed and said your right. I’ll not forget my weapon again.
She wasn’t bothered by my being naked but I was getting uncomfortable. Finely she got up and walked away and I noticed my 870 shotgun laying close to the waters edge. Now I really was embarrassed .
I got back to camp and found her dressed in her new pants and a tee shirt both of which looked way to good on her. I kept my eyes to myself because I became aware she had no bra on and I really despised being a dirty old man.
She again had fixed dinner, this time it was chili and crackers. I asked how we were doing on food and she said we were ok for a week maybe 10 days if we could supplement the canned foods with fresh meat.
She had made some coffee and poured mine all doctored the way I like it, then she dug around in the pack and came out with a bottle of JW which she poured in her coffee and passed to me.
I was clearing my throat to say something when she said “John, I’m not a child, I may look like one but I’m actually 38 years old and what happened back there wasn’t my first brush with sex. But it was my first brush with rape.
And as long as I’m telling all, none of them had got to me yet , the one in the tent was the first and he wanted me to b
low him and stupidly dropped his pants with that nice sharp knife just looking at me.
Him and the one I stabbed were the ones who lead the raid and they killed my people. And come hell or high water they were gonna die before I did.
So thank you for taking out the other three and thank your for burying the family.
So John, I’m not a child, I am a woman grown who don’t have big tits and I look like I’m 12 years old. So please stop walking on egg shells around me and stop treating me like a child.
Well she had me. I was flat out blown away, I really thought she was a kid. I just sat a moment before saying ok, I’ll treat you as an adult and not a china doll.
I told her the asshat in that town had me in a bad spot and she saved my ass. Now where in the hell did you learn to use a knife and shoot an AK I asked ?
She said it was an easy shot but to her eye the rifle threw a bit left. I had to laugh out loud. And made a come on motion with my hand. While she talked she carved another notch into the 30-30 butt plate.
She told me her dad had been a career Army officer and after her mom bailed out on them she was the son he always wanted. In a nice way, shooting, riding, fighting. You name it and they did it together.
She had earned her jump wings after being schooled by her dad and his buddy’s. She sat there a moment lost in memories and suddenly smiled and said I may have small tits but I can shoot a squirrels balls off at 30 yards with most any thing you hand me!
I was again laughing and really liking this spunky lady, or woman but to me she seemed so young, Maybe coz I thought of myself as old? I was gonna have to work on that attitude.
Maybe it was the laced coffee but whatever things changed that night. No more tension. No more feelings of having taken on a big responsibility. Now I had a partner who had a pair of brass balls bigger then bowling balls.
Now if her balls didn’t get her killed we might just make it to Texas. Morning came and once again, the coffee was on the fire and she was gone but her Ak was leaning against her saddle.
Ok fair is fair. I grabbed it and headed for the pool.
She was floating on her back, long Red hair spread out in the water and she was right, she had small tits but they were perfect ! I looked but couldn’t see her brass balls I figured as big as they had to be they should have dragged her to the bottom.
I sat down just as she had the evening before and just watched her. After a bit I saw a small smile trying to not burst out into full laughter. At last I said are you gonna prune out or get out of there? She laughed and said took ya long enough to get here Ol man.
I answered by holding up her AK. She smiled and answered by holding up her glock in her right hand. She asked me if I ever saw the video of the test firing of pistols under water?
I had but said no what about it. She said well it don’t work for shit except in the movies, but out of the water they do a good job. I nodded and said well yea but you can’t keep submerging that ammo every time you wanna swim.
Agreed she said and walked out of the water. Proving beyond a doubt she was a real for sure redhead. She was one beautiful woman now that I was past the young thing. And very aware of it! She dried off with me watching and smiled and said soon John, Soon!
I handed her the rifle and dropped my sleeping shorts and walked into the pool. She walked off laughing leaving me needing the cold water. What the hell I thought, I’m an old man. But apparently not that old.
With a good nights sleep and an early start it looked to be a good day so we were just moving at the pace the critters wanted to move at. We were up on a long ridge with some large rocks scattered out at different distances so I asked her to try a few shots at one about the size of a basket ball maybe 100 yards out.
She slid off the horse, thumbed on the sight , flipped out the bipod
and went prone in seconds.
She fired her first shot and clipped the left edge of the rock, the second shot ditto and third the same.
I tossed her a dime and she made her adjustments and fired again still a bit left of center, a couple of more clicks and she was blowing the center out of the rock.
I told her to pick one about 200 yards out and she smacked it just fine. The girl wasn’t bullshitin she could shoot! With that she closed the bipod and turned off the sight and mounted up like a pro.
Since I lost my Ak, I was down to my 308 Savage Tactical so I needed to do my fighting a ways off or rely on the 870. But with Sandy at my 6 with the Ak I wasn’t worried about it. Also at the rate I was finding asshats with guns I’d probably have my pick in a few days.
I figured we were someplace South and east of Ashton Idaho near the lower slopes of the Teton Mtns. West of the park and Jackson Hole.
I figured there just had to be a small town someplace out here to add to our food supplies.
After looking at the Idaho Atlas I spotted a small dot that said Squirrel.
Now that had to be a small town or at least a place with a few folks who were probably doing pretty good.
But not being just exactly sure where we were in relation to the town I was kinda stumped. Sandy spoke up and said well lets head for the higher ground to the East and find a spot where we can see a light if they have anything to make a light or a fire.
She’s a sharp cookie for a woman and I so can‘t believe I wrote that.!!
So that’s what we did.
And towards late afternoon we found a nice high spot that over looked the entire country to the west. I swear if my scope was bigger we could have seen the ocean!
And she was right. Just at dark we saw some flickering bits of light to the south and closer to us then I would have thought. It looked like cooking fires or some such.
With the I compass I found north and then just looked at the degrees to the West and hoped it worked.
I know I took map reading in the Marines but that was in the last century. And maybe it was with a needle on a thread instead of a compass. I said I was old.
But I promise I plan to learn now what I didn’t listen to then. Hard to believe most of us were willing to trust our asses to some 2 LT who wasn’t shaving yet to get us where we needed to be.
I’m so surprised I’m still alive! But some days God smiles on the lame and halt. Well somebody must because stupid kills.
Since we had eaten earlier and it was damn cold up here in the high timber we sacked out early. Sometime in the night I felt a chilly body slide into my bedroll and snuggle around my back. I knew it wasn’t Molly.
Morning came and I woke up spooned around a very warm and small body and my left had was cupping a small but nice round object. So I just laid there and didn’t move.
After a bit she did move and slipped out of the bed and went behind the bushes. Then she came back, looked at me and slid off her sleeping shorts and top and wiggled back into the bedroll.
Some time later and it’s none of your business how much later we got up and using some water heated on the fire we washed up and made coffee. I guess the transition from kid to full blown woman was done in a very nice way.
After coffee and some canned bacon and crackers with canned cheese we packed and headed out. Neither of us said a word until about mid morning when Sandy said “ Old Man my Ass” ! and we both laughed.
Suffice to say we found Squirrel Idaho. And it was a nice little place. People were working outside in gardens and wash was hanging on lines. To call it small would be wrong, tiny..? yea tiny works..
Nobody seemed at all surprised at all to see us riding in as we were. Most folks just waved and kept working.
We stopped at what looked to be a general store or what passed for one these days. And noticed right away the new hitching rack in front.
Tying the mules and telling Molly to stay we went in. We left our rifles but both had our handguns out in the open. Sandy hung back to watch the stock.
Behind the counter was an old gent and dusting the shelves was an old woman who looked up and smiled at me and then se
eing Sandy headed over to her and started fussing like only an old granny can.
The old man said we was welcome but he was only taking silver coins or ammo. I said I’d look around if it was ok and he said help yer self sonny.
Mean time Sandy was chattering up a storm with the old woman and referring to me as “ Daddy” and talking about how horrible it was “Out There” and how lucky we were to have made it this far….I swear that gal should be on a stage! Daddy my ass.
The Old woman was tisking and tasking and shaking her head a mile a minute.. After a bit I said “Sandy honey, Daddy can use some help here!! “ this was fun, if only the old gal has seen my “Daughter” a few hours ago!! Lol…
I asked the old guy how it was that he still had supplies to sell ? He said that because of the bad winters here bouts he always had a store room full and that the men in town had got some old trucks running and had hit the freeway to the west and scored on several 18 wheelers sitting loaded with most everything in the world.
