I rode back to town and went to the office. It had a desk and two cells in the back. There was a potbelly stove there too, although there was no firewood or hay in the barn out back. There were eight stalls in the barn.
That evening I went back to the farm and told Mary we would be moving the next day. I told Carl that as soon as Moses was finished, I would send him to cut some firewood with his wagon and my mules. I would leave the big mare for him to harrow with. He said that was fine.
The next day we went in with our blankets in a roll and Mary rode in the back on the Arab. She met Mrs. Bailey and they became friends quickly. She started to help Mrs. Bailey in the kitchen. That afternoon she met another little girl and they played together. That evening she told me that her new friend’s daddy was dead and they had six children and no food.
“If you want, we can shoot a deer in the morning and you can take it over to your friend,” I proposed.
“I love you Uncle Dave,” Mary said.
“I love you too.”
We went to sleep and in the morning we saddled up. It was still dark and we rode to a creek not too far from town and saw six deer. I shot two does and let them bleed, then I cut them open but could not clean them out one handed. I asked Mary if her friend had any brothers. She told me that she had one who was about 14 years old. I told her to ride in and bring him back with her. They came back and he helped clean the deer out and we loaded both on the horse.
While we were going through town, we ran in to the cobbler and I asked how he was doing with the shoes. He said he would finish them tomorrow.
“What are you going to do with al of that meat?” he asked.
“Why? Do you need meat?”
“I sure do,” he stated.
I told him to take one of the deer.
“Get me two more and you can have the shoes,” he bartered.
“That is a deal,” I agreed.
I let Mary walk the other deer over to her friend’s house. She came back and told me that the lady said, “God bless you.”
We went over to the blacksmith and he had my hook all made. He told me that the cobbler would have to make the rest.
I was on my way out to the Smith’s to see how Moses was doing when I ran into two hard cases riding towards town. As I got closer to them, I saw that they were both armed; one had two pistols and the other carried a rifle across his saddle.
As I came up to them, the dirtier of the two said to the other, “Look Luke, we got us another Yankee,” and smiled with his broken teeth.
“I get his horse,” the other said.
Luke’s rifle came up and he got shot off his horse. After Luke fell to the ground, the other decided to put his guns away. I told him that he was under arrest and to get off of his horse and load up Luke so we could go to town and visit the jail. He did as I said and I started them towards town.
“This guy says you are going to take my guns,” he said.
“No, I have some of my own,” I stated.
Then I saw his hand inching closer to his belt and I told him, “Go ahead and try.” We came around the turn in the road and he reached over to situate Luke’s body back on the horse. Once he did this, he came out with a pistol from under Luke and I shot him right in the head. I jumped off my horse and tried to grab him, but he slid off his horse. One of his guns was a Navy Colt, and I put it in my belt. Then I looked through their pockets and found two dollars on Luke and another four in change on broken tooth; he also had a money belt that I took off him and stuffed in my blanket that I carried on my horse.
I saw a man coming from town and I waved him over to help load the other man. I put some of the change back in his pocket so we would find something in town.
When we got to the jail, a bunch of people came over and got the two men down from the horses. I told them to give all of the money they found to the colonel; he was standing there. I went over and explained to him what had happened. I told the men to put the saddles in one of the cells. I had four other saddles in there already. I asked a boy to go tell the storekeeper that we had two more horses for the farmers to put on his list. Some of the men took the bodies over to the cemetery and dug a grave and slid them in. The minister came up and said a short prayer and that was that.
I led my horse around the back of the jail so he could get to some grass. I took the money belt in and counted 400 dollars and some silver. I put it all in my pockets and then went home and stashed it away in my gear.
Chapter Five
I walked over to the store and asked the storekeeper who was getting those two horses. He had quite a list, so I suggested letting these two go out for 40 acres of plowing or 60 acres of harrowing. He thought that was a good idea. The storekeeper asked how we were going to get some seed in for the farmers; there was no seed and no money to get any. Most people were saving their money, what little they had that is, for taxes.
“If I gave two sacks of seed to a farmer how much could I ask for at harvest?” I inquired.
“You could ask for four back,” answered the storekeeper.
“How much seed would this county need?”
“A lot. Probably fifty tons, a rail car full,” he answered.
“How much would that be approximately?”
“Ten tons is seventy-five dollars. Fifty would be three hundred and seventy-five dollars,” he figured.
“Would you handle this, or me using your warehouse for fifty dollars, and I would get the seven hundred dollars?” I asked.
“I sure would,” replied the storekeeper.
“Alright, when you are ready I will bring you the money. Where can I buy myself some wiener pigs and how much would they cost?”
“Two for one dollar. I can have a farmer bring some in.”
“That’d be fine. I want two, and one must be a nice female,” I stated.
The next day there was a county meeting and all of the farmers were asked to come in. Mr. Jones, the storekeeper, told the people at the meeting that he could get seed through a financer but it would cost two sacks of grain for one sack of seed.
“If you pick up 20 sacks, you will have to bring back 40 at harvest,” he announced.
“How much are you making on this?” one man asked.
“One dollar a ton at harvest, when all of the grain comes back in,” Mr. Jones told the men.
The colonel got up and stated that farm investments were very risky and demanded a high interest. Another man got up and asked the meeting if anybody had any other ideas on how to get seed for them. Nobody did, but several suggested a mixed load of winter wheat and corn, or even some oats for spring planting if they didn’t get their acreage plowed. A handsome woman at the meeting and she stated that before she could get in on anything she would need some land plowed.
“Did you put your name down for a team, Martha?” the storekeeper asked her.
She said that she did but then asked, “How am I going to get another six hundred acres plowed? Would you ask your Yankee sheriff how I am going to do that?”
“Ask him yourself, he is sitting right behind you,” one man said.
She looked around and said, “Well, he can’t be old enough to know anything.”
“I aged fast with you rebels shooting at me,” I relied. They all laughed, including her.
“How does it feel to win the war?” she asked.
“You have not looked at me very closely, Martha. I lost the war too,” I assured her as I held up my missing arm.
She looked at me again and said, “I guess you’re right about that.”
When the meeting was over, I went up to her and asked her to come over to my place so we could talk. She came over and we had a cup of coffee. I called Mary in and she came in all excited.
“I have my new shoes!” she exclaimed as she pranced around in them. Then she came over and said he
llo to Martha. I told her to sit down because we were going to talk some business.
“Is it her that has the wisdom?” Martha asked.
“This is part of her education,” I said. “I need a good wagon and a milk cow. I would be glad to help you do some plowing. I also need a harness for two regular horses, and I have a mare that is a large draft horse that also needs a harness.”
“I have some wagons,” she said. “You have to come out and look at them.”
“Do you have any chickens?” Mary asked her.
“Sure, we have chickens.”
“Alright, we will come out and look at your wagon,” I told her.
“I have three, come out tomorrow,” she told me.
We shook hands and then she left.
I went over to the store with Mary. She wanted a comb for her hair. There was a young couple with two kids inside shopping, and the girl at the counter was telling them how sorry she was but they could not give them any more credit.
“Where do you folks live?” I asked the man.
“Right out of town, to the north,” he told me.
He had a bad leg but was still in uniform with corporal stripes. I asked him if he wanted a job. I told him it would only be for two months, but I was in need of a deputy. It would pay 18 dollars a month.
“Sara, I guess you have credit,” the girl at the counter said.
The corporal looked at me and put out his hand and said, “John Mason, Sheriff.”
I shook hands with him and told him, “You will be starting tomorrow morning, but if we get any prisoners you get the night shift.” John said that was fine with him.
The cobbler came in and told me to come over to his shop so that I could try on my new arm hook.
I went over to his shop and he laced this contraption on above and below the elbow. I pulled what was left of my shirt over it and tied it to the shank of the hook. I asked him how much I owed him and he told me it was on the doc’s bill. I let Mary go and play and talked to the cobbler about a pair of winter boots for Mary. He told me that he would have to find some good leather and he would make them for her.
Mary and I rode out to the Smith’s and I told Carl to butcher another sheep for me with a nice hide. We took in the stretched hide so we could get it cured. Moses had one more day of work at the Smith’s, and then he was transferring operations to the other farm so we would have some hay in town. Carl kept the big mare for harrowing. I told him I would come out for the meat the next day and he said that would be fine. I asked him if he had seen any deer out his way and he told me he had seen a whole herd. I handed him my carbine and told him to get me a couple if he could.
“Sure,” he said, “Just give me enough ammunition to get a couple for myself too.”
We then rode over to Martha’s farm and she invited us in. we then went out to her barn to look at her wagons. One was a big freighting outfit, it was in good shape. I asked her if it had an extra double tree for a four-in-hand and she said it did. I looked at the others but I didn’t want them. After we sat down, she brought us some milk and we both thanked her.
“We caught five hens and a rooster,” she said. “My kids want one dollar for them. They will need school books since school starts tomorrow. I am the teacher.”
She had a black woman as a servant.
“Do you have any other servants?” I asked.
“I have a field-hand that I kept.”
“Well, what about a milk cow?”
“The best I could do is give you a bred heifer that will calf by Christmas, then you can milk her. In the meantime, I can bring your daughter some milk to school,” she offered.
“I think that would be acceptable. How about a harness?” I asked.
“We have a harness, but with the big wagon going to you, it will not be part of the deal.”
“Well, let’s take a look at them anyway.”
She had harnesses for draft horses and regular horses.
“I only have a harness for my mules,” I told her. “Actually, they are Mary’s property, but we have a partnership and I am her manager. By the way, do you know anybody that has a stud horse? I would like to get my mares bred. Of course, one mare is big; she is a Belgian cross with something.”
“Why don’t you breed her to a jack and get a big mule out of her?” she suggested. “The bakers have a big jack. I heard of a Yankee mayor that has a thoroughbred stud over in Jasper. What is the other mare that you want bred?” she asked.
“She is a red Morgan.”
“It would probably make a good cross,” she stated.
“Well teacher, we have a deal. I will be over here as soon as I can to start plowing. Where will my man sleep?”
“Out in my barn; we have some straw and he can put his blanket on that.”
I went back to town and saw the colonel. I told him that I hired myself a deputy out of my own wages. I would be moving around a lot for the next two months getting some plowing done with my teams.
“By the way,” I added, “I promised the captain that we would have a U.S. flag in front of the school and the sheriff’s office, in return he will keep his men out here.”
“We might as well order a couple of flags,” he agreed. “It had to come sooner or later.”
The next morning, I took Mary to school and stayed around for a while. Then I rode out to Carl’s and picked up the butchered lamb. He had a deer, cleaned but not skinned, hanging for me; he also had one for himself. I took the deer by the cobbler’s and the lamb home. Then I took a leg of lamb over to the doctor’s. When Mary came home, I sent her with a shoulder over to the widowed woman. She came back and said that the woman told her to tell me, “God bless you.”
“Is her boy going to school?” I asked.
“He is not. He is trying to find a job,” Mary said.
“Tell him to come to work for me tomorrow,” I told her.
“What are you going to have him do, Uncle Dave?”
“Cut wood,” I replied. “Then he can work with Moses out at your teacher’s farm.”
“I need one dollar for books, Uncle Dave. I’ll get four books and a notebook, three pencils, a slate board, and some chalk for that. We can go over to the store and pick it up.”
“Alright, let’s go now and then we will come home and eat some lamb stew.”
We went over to the store and bought her the books. They had some new material for sale to make some warm shirts and dresses out of. I asked the girl how much I would need for a warm dress and a shirt for myself.
“I will fix you up,” she said. She cut off a big piece and folded it up or me. I handed her ten dollars and told her to put the change on my account.
We went home and Mrs. Bailey was ready to feed us. I asked her who could make me a shirt and Mary a dress. She said she would be glad to do it.
“That is great,” I told her.
After Mary went out to check her chickens in the barn, I asked her if she could take apart a gray pair of pants to make Mary another dress, or a shirt for Moses. “It belonged to Mary’s Dad,” I told her.
“Bring them down and I’ll look at it later,” she replied.
Chapter Six
The next morning, the teacher did not show for school. I saddled up and told Mary to get the minister to hold class at the school and I was going to check on the school teacher. I rode out to her place and saw two men and a young boy there. They were robbers, left over trash from the war. Martha was being pushed around by one of them, and he was holding a knife on her. The other one was telling him that they needed bacon. They had a bunch of stuff piled up on the porch.
I rode up to them and asked, “You boys having fun? I would like a little of that one myself.” I shot the one with the knife and then shot the one that wanted bacon. I looked at the boy holding the three horses and told him to throw his
gun over to the porch and he did.
Martha rushed in the house and her boy was on the floor. The bandits cut off part of one of his fingers on his right hand. Her little girl was sobbing in the corner. I told Martha to wrap his hand up and that we were going to see the doctor. I told the maid not to touch anything and told her field-hand not to touch the dead man; I would be right back.
“Let’s go Martha, let’s ride for the doctor. Maybe he can save that finger,” I said hurriedly.
I told the prisoner to get on the horse, and then helped Martha on and put her boy on my horse and told him to hold on to the saddle horn, which he did, and we went to town. As we rode in, I fired my gun twice. My deputy came out of his house and I told him he needed to take Martha and her son to the doctor. I jumped down from the horse and handed my deputy the reins. He got in the saddle and I marched our prisoner over to the jail and searched him and locked him up. I told John to stay around, and then I rode over to the doctors to check on Martha and her boy. I told Martha to stay with the boy and I would bring her little girl in and she could stay with Mary. Martha thanked me.
“I have two out there to plant,” I told the colonel, referencing the dead bandits at Martha’s place. He asked me if I needed his help. I told him I was going to take the deputy with me. “Would you check the jail for us if we are very long?” I asked.
The boy that was going to work for me was there, so I had him bring the horses over to the jail and told him to unsaddle two of them and put the saddles in the office, then lead the two horses over to the store and tie them up. The storekeeper wanted to know what happened, and I told him a little about it. I told him to get a hold of the next farmer on the list and let him take the bandits’ horses. I would keep one at the jail for my deputy. I told the boy, Danny, to stay at the jail until I got back. I told him not to talk to the prisoner and to keep people out.
When I got out to Martha’s farm, I looked in on her little girl. I told her that her mother and brother were alright. I then told her that I would take her in to town as soon as I was finished.
Sheriff Tucker Page 4
