Trego, p.21
Trego, page 21
“I think you have about an eighty percent calf crop, you must have close to 600 calves.” Angus said. Then the girls told him about the arrangement we had made in town, to get the bulk of the herd off of our grass. Of course you couldn’t take the mother cows away till the calves were weaned. But we could get the dry cows and bulls off anytime. Then it would be two years before these calves would be old enough to have calves of their own.
“How did everything go in town?” Angus asked.
Melinda and Janie told him all about it as we rode for home. He was some surprised to hear about the one that Lei conked over the head. Me and Jim, we just lazed along behind them. Jim was sort of like me, couldn’t see much sense in always trying to be the first in line. If you were the first in line, it made it sort of hard to see what was coming up behind you. And you couldn’t see if your loved ones were safe, if they were always behind you.
We stayed there a few days more. Helping to get all of the details lined out. And we spent a lot of time in the hot spring. Angus never would go in, when we were all there. Lei didn’t have that problem though. Bud and I always stayed as far from the naked women as we could. All though toward the last, I think Bud was starting to appreciate the attributes of Janie and Melinda.
Janie and Melinda had made up their minds to go on to Coolidge with us. They said they were tired of staying on the homestead. Couldn’t blame them much, there was the whole wide world out there and they wanted to see some of it.
Brie had asked them if they ever wanted to get married and settle down and raise kids? They looked at each other, “Not in the near future, we notice that you don’t have any children, why not?”
Brie looked at me, she cleared her throat, “Uh, you know I really haven’t given it much thought. Maybe some people aren’t meant to have children. We haven’t been trying not to, its just never happened. But it seems we have a lot of grown children, like you two.” The wagon bounced along for a little while, Then Melinda said,
“So you consider us, your children?”
“Why yes, I suppose so, don’t you want to be?”
Janie spoke up, “Yes, we both do. But we consider you both like our big brother and sister, more than parents. Is that alright?”
“Sure, I guess that would be more appropriate, age wise.” Brie said.
The conversation lagged, cause Brie and I kicked our horse’s up to scout ahead. The ranch wasn’t too far from a big complex of Hot Springs. We thought we would camp there tonight, cause we had got a late start this morning. Lei and the children didn’t want us to leave all that much, so we sort of procrastinated. But they finally got their minds around the fact that we were leaving.
We seen a little trail of smoke in the air. Looked like campfire smoke. When we came through here last time there were no people around the hot springs. But that smoke looked like it was coming from there.
We sort of eased up to the top of the hill that overlooked the springs. We dismounted and crawled to the top. There were two horses grazing near a spring wagon, with a surrey top. There were suitcases and a couple of trunks piled in the back of the wagon. In one of the springs, closest to the campfire we could see four women swimming. I had brought a pair of field glasses with me, making sure they wouldn’t reflect any light, I glassed them.
I handed the field glasses to Brie, she looked at them for awhile. I had turned over on my back was watching the clouds going by. “What do you make of that?” I asked Brie as she lowered the glasses.
“The same thing you do, I reckon.” She said, then added. “Saloon girls, probably whores. But not necessarily whores. They are pretty young, probably not too much older than Janie and Melinda. She picked up the field glasses again and took another look. Lowering them she said, “I think I’ve seen them before, in Helena, at the Golden Garter. How did they get here?”
“Well, there is a buggy and horses, I guess that’s how.” I said,
Brie, kicked me in the shins. “Don’t be facetious. I meant why?”
“Well, I guess lets just go on down there and ask them.” I said, as I stood up and went back for our horses. Jake had stayed with the wagon, he was riding in the wagon seat with the girls, he liked them.
As we rode up, they sort of tried to cover their nakedness, but not really. When they recognized us, they dropped all pretense of modesty.
“Hi,” one of them said, “we know who you guys are, you’re Trego and you’re his wife, Brie, isn’t it?” She was sort of jumping up a down a little, her breasts sort of floating by themselves though. Looked funny, I almost laughed.
“Yes, that’s us.” Brie said, “how come you guys are way out here, we also know who you are, sort of. We don’t know your names though.”
“Did you hear that the Sheriff and Charlie Kitchen got themselves killed by a Crow raiding party?” The lead girl said, as she was walking out of the water.
“No, really? Are they sure it was the Crows?” I said.
“Yes, they left their arrows in them, didn’t even pull them out and take them with them.” She said, she was completely out of the water. She was running her hands down her body to get the excess water off. Then she sort of shook like a dog.
Another girl spoke up, “Yes, when we heard, we took what money we had coming and left that night. We knew we had to act fast, or they wouldn’t let us go.”
“Where were you guys heading?” Brie asked.
“Just away. We had tried to escape before, but they always caught us. We knew this was probably the only chance we would get.” The first girl said.
I could hear the wagon coming, the girls turned at the sound, snatching up their clothes. “Don’t worry, that’s our wagon coming. Janie and Melinda are driving it.” I said.
One of the other girls said, “Do you folks have any food, we didn’t bring much with us and we’re completely out.”
Janie and Melinda recognized the girls, it was like a home coming or something. What I couldn’t understand was, why was it always girls that we found that needed help? And also, why was it, that they always thought it was all right to go around in the nude around me, like I was invisible or something. Should I be flattered or hurt? I decided to be neither. I was just going to be myself; happy to be alive.
I did know one thing, these girls were mighty lucky it was us that found them. There were a lot of men with low morals running around this territory. A lot of them from the big city’s back east, out here looking for gold. They would of forgot all about gold for awhile if they had run across these girls naked and defenseless.
Those girls sure could eat. One rule I did have though, if you wanted to eat, you had to get dressed first. Some things just weren’t seemly. Of course the clothes they did have weren’t all that chaste. It didn’t bother them none though.
Come dark, those girls bedded down under their wagon. Good thing the weather was decent, or they would of sure gotten wet. As it was the dew would make them some damp. The four of us and Jake had our lean-to get up to sleep under.
I was just about asleep when Brie said, “I’m worried about those girls, I just heard some thunder a long way off.”
I just said, “ummm,” then tried to crawl deeper under our covers. Of course you probably already know that it didn’t work.
“Come on Honey, if we scrunch closer together there would be room for them also.”
I turned over to face her. “Oh come on Brie, one of them is on the rag. I could smell her. I can hardly stand all of the female scent now, with those other four- well hell, you just might as well rope, brand and castrate me, then I’ll be just like all of you.”
“Trego! For heavens sake, how you carry on. You know I would never castrate you. And you’re already roped and branded. Just be a good boy and scoot over by Janie and Melinda. I’ll go get the girls.”
See, what did I tell you, when a woman has her mind made up, a man might as well shrivel up and blow away. Of course I wasn’t really all that put out. Janie and Melinda were soft and warm. And we were so close that Brie had to sleep mostly on top of me, which I wasn’t all that upset about. Turns out, she sort of liked it too. Might be what she was shooting for all along….
The rain didn’t last all that long. But of course I knew this was going to be a permanent thing, that is as long as these girls were with us. As to that, it came up at breakfast, “Where are you girls heading?” I asked.
“No where special, just away.” The leader of the ‘red rag’ gang said. I had a curse, an over active smeller. With seven women, one of them would be in that condition most of the time. Now it wasn’t offensive to me, just the opposite, that was what bothered me. Hell, I loved women, that was another curse, believe me….
The same girl said, “Do you know what Charlie and that Sheriff said about you? They said you were a killer, they called you a ‘damn killer breed’. And they called Brie ‘that Indian loving slut’. We heard them say that when they were getting ready to go after you. They said they were going to kill you and rape Brie, Janie and Melinda, then kill them, they said they were going to make it look like some renegades did it. Funny isn’t it, that they would get killed by renegade Crow’s themselves?”
Brie said, “Yeah, funny. But you know that old saying ‘what goes around comes around’. But the question still remains, what are we going to do with you four?”
Melinda spoke up, “Do you four have any talents or ability’s?”
“We can sing and dance, and of course that other thing, you know?” She said, turning a little red.
“Did you bring any guns with you?” Janie asked.
“We have two revolver’s, .45 caliber. I believe.”
“Do you know how to use them?” Brie asked.
“Some, we can’t hit much though.”
Brie looked at me and said, “Isn’t the pistols and rifles we took off of those two on the Jefferson under the wagon seat?”
“Yep, sure. They are still there. You plan on turning these Billy Boppers into gun hands overnight?” I said.
“Well they’ve got to be able to protect themselves. And those dresses, they have are in rags, their tits are hanging out, or didn’t you notice?” Brie said to me.
“Well its pretty hard not to. But it doesn’t bother me any, they’re nice and perky. Now if they were hanging down, I’d say cover them up.” Brie threw a pine cone at me. That was my cue for Jake and I to scout around a little bit.
I saddled Jim up, and we checked our back trail. Scared up a Doe and Fawn, that was all. We made a big circle, the only other thing we ran across was a Wolf feeding on an Elk calf. He growled at me and Jake. I had to call Jake back, he wanted to whip that Wolf’s ass. I bet he could do it too.
I sat on Jim with Jake setting down beside us. We just watched the Wolf eat. He would look up at us from time to time and snarl, pretty soon though he just ignored us. He finally ate his full, then he sat there watching us.
On impulse I got off of Jim, dropping my reins I told Jake to stay. I walked toward the Wolf, talking softly. He watched me come. He was a little gray around the muzzle, that told me he was getting long in the tooth. I bet he hadn’t killed this calf. In fact I found bear track, I wonder why the bear had left his kill without consuming all of it?
I watched the expression in his eyes. He was wary but not alarmed. He, in turn was watching my eyes. I guess he could tell that I bore him no harm. When I got within three feet of him, I squatted down. Holding my hand out to him. He inched forward and smelled it.
He had scars in various places, he had seen his share of battles. My guess was that he had lost out to a younger male, that was why he was by himself. When a wolf got to be his age, mother nature was pretty cruel. Without a pack to help in the hunt, he would have to depend on the charity of other predators. For instance this bear kill.
He licked my hand, I scratched him behind his ear. “Well old boy, how would you like to come with us?” I asked him. He looked deeper into my eyes. I stood up and walked back toward Jake, the Wolf followed me.
Jake and him touched noses. Jake wagged his tail. I guess the Wolf could tell that Jake was half wolf. I mounted back up. Jake and him followed along behind Jim and I. As we rode in, the women looked up. They took it right in stride, that I would bring a wolf back with me.
Brie said, “Where did you get him?”
“He was feeding on a Elk Calf, that some charitable Bear had left for him. At his age he wouldn’t last long by himself. I asked if he wanted to go with us. And I guess he did.”
“He has some fresh cuts on him, I have some carbolic salve in the wagon, do you think he will let me put some on them?” Brie sad.
“Sure, he understands that we mean him no harm.” I said. Brie went to the wagon for the salve, the wolf’s eyes followed her every step. She came back with it, and knelt beside him. She let him smell it, he wrinkled his nose at it, but let her smear it in his wounds. Then he went over to the wagon and crawled under it and went to sleep.
Strange thing, usually horse’s will have a fit with a wolf around, they looked at him and went back to cropping grass. I suppose they found no difference between that wolf and me.
The four new girls had watched all of this. I was glad of one thing, while we had been gone, Brie had got them in pants and shirts. Now like I said before, I found nothing wrong with a woman’s nude body, but there is a time and place for everything. I just realized that I didn’t even know the names of these girls. Did I want to? Naw, I didn’t. Watching them made me tired, a man can only take so much female. I went over and laid down under the wagon with the wolf and went to sleep. I was tired, Brie had did more that sleep on top of me last night.
When I awoke an hour later, Jake was sleeping on one side of me and the Wolf on the other. Brie was standing there, “Hey, you smell like dog, go jump in the spring and take Jake with you. Better not take the Wolf though, I don’t want the salve to wash out of those cuts. Did you notice he is leaving them alone, not licking them like canine’s usually do?”
“Well wouldn’t you, that salve smells bad enough, can you imagine what it would taste like?” I said. I got up and walked toward the water, taking my clothes off on the way. I didn’t care who was around, if they didn’t like it, they didn’t have to look.
“Wash your clothes while you’re in there, I’ll have clean clothes for you when you get out.” Brie called to my back, than gave a little whistle at my nude backside. I was one fortunate man, having a wife like her.
I did as I was told, washing my clothes on a rock in the water. Jake was swimming around making a nuisance of himself. I got out and hung my clothes on some tree branch’s to dry. There stood those four girls looking at me. Brie walked up and shooed them away.
“What are you going to do about those girls?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, they’re like lost souls, looking for a place to land.” Brie said.
“Well, I don’t want them landing on me.” I shot back. As Janie and Melinda walked up. “We might have an idea?” Melinda said, as they stood there looking at me. I was not going to be the one to break. Break? Break what? You’re wondering. I was still sans clothes. I could stand it as long as they could. I hoped anyway. Brie broke the stalemate. “Here, I have your clothes, get dressed.” I took them and before turning away, I stuck my tongue out at the girls.
Janie said, “What’s wrong with Dad, why did do that?”
“Never mind about him, what idea do you girls have?” Brie said.
“Well, they do have talents, I don’t mean sex wise, but being hostesses’. I bet they could run a store, or even a saloon. We could set them up in a business, what do you think?” Melinda said.
I had finished getting dressed and was listening, “Yeah, as long as they didn’t turn it into a whore house.”
“Really Trego, don’t be so vulgar. Go check on the horses, or something. We will figure something out.” Brie said, as she winked at me. That wink told me that she knew who the head of the family was, but now to let her work things out. Which I was more than happy to let her do just that.
I walked by the wagon and reached in and got my .50 caliber Sharps. Then Jake and I, along with Wolf walked to the small ridge above the spot where we were camping. Of course I had my twin .44’s. Plus my Bowie Knife on a sheath down the back of my neck. Why I decided to go there, I didn’t know for sure.
Just below the ridge on the side that faced the camp, there was an old Douglas Fir that had blown over. In the bowl of where the roots had been was a comfortable bed, you might say, it was full of old needles and such. It was sloped just right, I could lay there and see the whole camp. Wolf laid down on one side of me and Jake the other side. It twern’t long till I fell asleep.
I awoke to the sound of Wolf giving a low growl deep in his throat. Jake had just pressed his cold nose against my cheek. It was the way he always woke me when there was a need to be quite.
I perused the camp. Nothing amiss. But I could hear horses coming, they were walking slowly. Of course everybody at the camp couldn’t hear them. Due to the gurgling of the stream and such.
Probably some traveler’s, we weren’t the only ones that used this trace. But I didn’t get to be this old, without considering the worst, before the good. Is that being a pessimist? Maybe, but I’m an alive one.
One horse, two horse’s, three plus four, that makes seven, doesn’t it? Horses never did give me a problem. It was what was setting on their backs that scared the innocent of the earth. Of which I was not one.
They reined up facing my seven. One of them said, “Well lookie here, all the little girls, in their tight little britches, and Oh look at the great big guns strapped on their tight little butts.”
Crap! Here we go again. I’d better put a stop to this or I’ll have seven holes to dig for those idiots. And I wasn’t talking about my women…..The four girls were a little nervous, but Brie and the twins were actually smiling. They spread out a little bit. I laid my Sharps over a branch and took aim on the one who had talked,
I called out, “Unless you’re looking to be manure on the ground, I’d keep my hand away from those guns you’re packing. Those three women with the gleeful expression on their faces can blow you out of the saddle in the blink of an eye. And that don’t even take into consideration this Sharps .50 I have trained on your back. In fact why don’t you all just shuck those firearms, you’ll live a lot longer that way.”
