| Western Fiction posted May 24, 2019 | Chapters: |
...7 8 -9- 9... 
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Chapter 8 Part Deux- Check out the notes
A chapter in the book Wilderness Redemption Road
Lyin' Eyes Part II
by Earl Corp
| Background Frontier story filled with hijinks and shenanigans. |
Carter Holler
1860
Roseanna stopped talking for a minute. She leaned back in her rocking chair. She felt the sun on her face and a light breeze kissing it.
“Granny, why couldn’t Mighty Beaver get ale in the Royal Boar?”Caleb asked.
“In those days Injuns wasn’t accepted as they are today,” Roseanna answered him.
“Why?”
“It’s the way things wuz back then.”
Her oldest grandson, Henry, emboldened by Caleb’s question took that as a sign he could ask one without incurring his grandmother’s wrath.
“Granny, what’s going on with Janie and Roseanna? Surely Doo and Clancy ain’t takin’ wimmenfolks into the wilderness, are they?”
Pittsburgh
“What do you mean I can’t go, Clancy?” Janie asked.
“You’d be safer here, and I’d feel a heap better knowin’ you wuz taken care of, Zack already said he could use a hand here at the store.”
“Bull, I can’t help him at all. I can’t read and I don’t know how to do my sums.”
“There’s other ways you could help asides from readin’ and cipherin’.”
Doo and Mighty Beaver were both grinning as Clancy looked at them in exasperation.
“A little help fellers.”
Doo shook his head from side to side in amazement how this slip of a girl could back Clancy down. But looking again, Doo thought, she don’t really look like a girl anymore.
This was true. Once they’d hit civilization Janie had transformed into a beautiful young woman once they got her out of the boy’s clothes she wore on the river. It’s a wonder what a bath and new duds could do for a body, Doo thought.
She was tall for a girl at seven inches over five foot. Her shoulder length yellow hair shone like corn silk in the sun. Though she was only 15, Janie filled out that blue gingham dress as well as any of the serving wenches at the Crowing Rooster could.
Janie had made it clear she favored Clancy over Doo. This was fine with Doo, his thoughts kept turning back to Roseanna McAllister.
“Well Clancy this don’t look like an us problem, it looks more like a you problem,” Doo said.
“I agree with Doolittle,” Mighty Beaver said, he then grinned and added, “A true warrior would have control of his woman.”
“Who are you saying needs controlled, you varmint!” Janie roared as she came out from behind the counter wielding a broomstick two-handed, as if it was a broad sword.
Little Beaver ducked to keep from getting brained with a broom. Doo started laughing.
“AND WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, YOU POLECAT!”
Doo wasn’t as quick as Mighty Beaver and took a solid whack in the right temple with the broom handle. This knocked him backwards into a flour barrel creating a white cloud everywhere.
Janie was readying to take another swing at Doo when Clancy grabbed her from behind.
“LET GO OF ME YOU BIG OX!”
“Simmer down, Gal, and I will.”
Clancy had her in his grasp from behind, her arms pinned down to her sides so she couldn’t swing the broom.
“Drop the broom, and I’ll let you go.”
Janie struggled against Clancy; he just tightened his grasp all the more. Realizing it was futile to fight any longer, Janie let the broom fall to the floor.
“You good?”
Janie shook her head yes, and Clancy released his grip. Mighty Beaver offered a hand to Doo, who grasped it as Mighty Beaver pulled him to a standing position.
The entire store was coated in flour; Doo righted the barrel which had maybe an inch of flour left in the bottom. He was coated in flour dust. It was at that particular moment Zack returned to the store.
“Thunderation! What went on here?” Zack demanded.
“Your son and these other two louts needed an attitude adjustment,” Janie replied.
“About what?”
“Me going into Ohio with them.”
“Ohio? Thunderation, girl, have you taken leave of your senses?”
“No sir, I have not.”
Zack squinted at Doo.
“And just how are you paying for this trip?”
“Godfrey Smythe is footin’ the bill he hired me, Clancy, and Mighty Beaver to guide him to some land near Coon Creek.”
“Are you daft? You almost killed that little snake in the market square, why would he hire you?
“He said he needed a man with grit who knew the land to lead him to a place to build a trading post.”
“And you were the only one, that didn’t seem a mite suspicious to you?”
“You see, Mr. Carter, they need me along to look after them,” Janie interjected.
“Why in God’s name would any of you go anywhere with Smythe?”
“Pa, you said I needed to find another financier or I was stuck on the farm,” Doo said.
“Plus, Mr. Carter, Mighty Beaver and I will be there to watch Doo’s backside,” Clancy added.
Zack stroked his chin as he mulled this over in his mind. My idjit son is bound and determined to leave his scalp hanging in a Shawnee lodge. If Smythe is running this operation, it can’t be on the up and up. The girl has no business trekking into the wilderness with them.
“Janie, I could use your help here, no need traipsing off into the woods with these fools.”
“I’m much obliged for the offer Mr. Carter, but I need to go and look after these oafs.”
“If you change yore mind you're welcome to stay, but I will make sure yore outfitted for the trip. I just received a fresh order of Lancaster Rifles, some are sized for a boy but I reckon they’ll fit you just fine.”
“Thunderation, Pa, you’ll outfit her but not me your own son?” Doo asked.
“I don’t reckon she’ll lose everything like you did, now get to cleanin’ up that barrel of flour you dumped; by the way it’ll cost you $7 of Smythe’s money.”
“Aw, Pa…..”
*****
McAllister Household
North Hill, Pittsburgh
“I said no, Young Lady, and I meant it,” Angus McAllister said.
Even though her father’s face was becoming flushed with anger, Roseanna wasn’t backing down.
“Papa, I’d be as safe there as I would here, Godfrey’s assembling a company of 30 frontiersmen to accompany him and build a trading post.”
“Frontiersman? From what I hear he’s hiring every cutthroat, scalawag, scoundrel, and villain he can find in Pittsburgh.”
“I don’t believe that, Papa, Clancy Sinclair and Doo Carter have hired on with him.”
“Young Carter hmmm…, he’s a fiddle footed ne’er-do-well his ownself and Sinclair isn’t much better.”
“Oh Papa, he’s not a bad man he stood up for me at the market when Godfrey insulted and manhandled me.”
“Which brings up my next point, why would you want to go into the wilderness with such a man, he’s lucky I didn’t thrash him within an inch of his life after I heard what he called you.”
Roseanna was ready for that question.
“I can take care of myself, Papa; I dispatched that would-be robber with no problems.”
“The Shawnees will be a different matter altogether, do you know what they do to white women? To your mother, God bless her soul.”
This made Roseanna hesitate. She was only six when her mother, Rosalyn, had been taken in an Indian raid. While Angus had done a credible job raising her by himself, he had gotten help from Mary Miller, a widow.
Whenever Roseanna had a female problem or question he had sent her to Mary’s cabin. Whenever he went hunting or trapping, Roseanna came with him. Under Angus’s tutelage, Roseanna was as accomplished in the woods as any man. She could shoot, hunt, fish, and survive with the best of them.
When Roseanna turned 15, Mary suggested to Angus that he send her to a finishing school in Philadelphia to learn how to become a lady. Angus thought that was a good idea, Roseanna did not.
It took Angus and his son, Richard, to drag Roseanna out of the house to the waiting coach; there were still scrape marks in the doorway Roseanna had made being bodily carried out of the house.
It was in Roseanna’s second year of Miss Trudy Landers Finishing School that he had married Mary. Since Mary had practically raised Roseanna there weren’t any stepmother/daughter issues, Thank God, he thought.
Mary had been listening to the whole exchange, holding her tongue. She loved Roseanna as if she was her own daughter, but she knew how pig-headed the girl could be. Watching her and Angus argue reminded Mary of two rams crashing head-on in the pasture.
“Angus, could I speak to you for a moment, Roseanna, would you excuse us please,” Mary locked eyes with Roseanna letting her know this wasn’t a request, it was a command.
Roseanna took the hint and retreated from the dining room to leave her father and stepmother alone to talk.
“Angus you know she’s going to go on this excursion whether you permit it or not, she’s sweet on the Carter boy.”
“I know that, it’s what concerns me more than the Shawnee, he’s almost 10 years older than her and it doesn’t look like he intends on settling down any time soon, he’ll break her heart.”
Mary grasped Angus’ meaty hands and looked him in the eye and said, “My love, you’re not giving your daughter enough credit, she has a good head on her shoulders.”
“Still, I’m not comfortable with her going into the wilderness with Smythe, and his merry band of cutthroats, no good will come of it,” Angus said, then added, “Unless I go along.”
This alarmed and surprised Mary. Angus wasn’t a spring chicken anymore. An Iroquois arrow to the hip during the French and Indian War had left him with a limp; A British musket ball in the left shoulder during the Revolutionary Battle of Blue Licks had left him very little use of that arm.
“I need you here with me, but you’re always saying Richard needs to toughen up, here is a great opportunity.”
“Hmmm, that may be a solution; he can protect his sister from Smythe and Carter, as well as the Shawnees.”
“Then it’s settled?”
“There ain’t no roads where we’re goin’ Smith,” Doo answered.
Smythe looked at Clancy, who nodded in agreement.
“A pack mule train will get you where yore goin’ a heap quicker than buildin’ a road for wagons. Yore talking about a 200 mile trip through virgin wilderness,” Clancy said. “We’d be lucky to make Raccoon Creek before snow flies.”
How on earth will I get the rifles I promised to the Shawnees, Smythe thought.
“How many mules might I need?”
“Depends on how much yore figurin’ on toting, a good mule can tote about 200 to 250 pounds” said Doo.
“My Lord, I’ll need at least 50 to carry everything we need to build a post and stock it,” Smythe said, and then he thought, I also need a way to sneak 50 rifles to the Shawnee.
1860
Roseanna stopped talking for a minute. She leaned back in her rocking chair. She felt the sun on her face and a light breeze kissing it.
“Granny, why couldn’t Mighty Beaver get ale in the Royal Boar?”Caleb asked.
“In those days Injuns wasn’t accepted as they are today,” Roseanna answered him.
“Why?”
“It’s the way things wuz back then.”
Her oldest grandson, Henry, emboldened by Caleb’s question took that as a sign he could ask one without incurring his grandmother’s wrath.
“Granny, what’s going on with Janie and Roseanna? Surely Doo and Clancy ain’t takin’ wimmenfolks into the wilderness, are they?”
“I’m getting to that, now where was I…”
*****
Zack Carter’s store*****
Pittsburgh
“What do you mean I can’t go, Clancy?” Janie asked.
“You’d be safer here, and I’d feel a heap better knowin’ you wuz taken care of, Zack already said he could use a hand here at the store.”
“Bull, I can’t help him at all. I can’t read and I don’t know how to do my sums.”
“There’s other ways you could help asides from readin’ and cipherin’.”
Doo and Mighty Beaver were both grinning as Clancy looked at them in exasperation.
“A little help fellers.”
Doo shook his head from side to side in amazement how this slip of a girl could back Clancy down. But looking again, Doo thought, she don’t really look like a girl anymore.
This was true. Once they’d hit civilization Janie had transformed into a beautiful young woman once they got her out of the boy’s clothes she wore on the river. It’s a wonder what a bath and new duds could do for a body, Doo thought.
She was tall for a girl at seven inches over five foot. Her shoulder length yellow hair shone like corn silk in the sun. Though she was only 15, Janie filled out that blue gingham dress as well as any of the serving wenches at the Crowing Rooster could.
Janie had made it clear she favored Clancy over Doo. This was fine with Doo, his thoughts kept turning back to Roseanna McAllister.
“Well Clancy this don’t look like an us problem, it looks more like a you problem,” Doo said.
“I agree with Doolittle,” Mighty Beaver said, he then grinned and added, “A true warrior would have control of his woman.”
“Who are you saying needs controlled, you varmint!” Janie roared as she came out from behind the counter wielding a broomstick two-handed, as if it was a broad sword.
Little Beaver ducked to keep from getting brained with a broom. Doo started laughing.
“AND WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, YOU POLECAT!”
Doo wasn’t as quick as Mighty Beaver and took a solid whack in the right temple with the broom handle. This knocked him backwards into a flour barrel creating a white cloud everywhere.
Janie was readying to take another swing at Doo when Clancy grabbed her from behind.
“LET GO OF ME YOU BIG OX!”
“Simmer down, Gal, and I will.”
Clancy had her in his grasp from behind, her arms pinned down to her sides so she couldn’t swing the broom.
“Drop the broom, and I’ll let you go.”
Janie struggled against Clancy; he just tightened his grasp all the more. Realizing it was futile to fight any longer, Janie let the broom fall to the floor.
“You good?”
Janie shook her head yes, and Clancy released his grip. Mighty Beaver offered a hand to Doo, who grasped it as Mighty Beaver pulled him to a standing position.
The entire store was coated in flour; Doo righted the barrel which had maybe an inch of flour left in the bottom. He was coated in flour dust. It was at that particular moment Zack returned to the store.
“Thunderation! What went on here?” Zack demanded.
“Your son and these other two louts needed an attitude adjustment,” Janie replied.
“About what?”
“Me going into Ohio with them.”
“Ohio? Thunderation, girl, have you taken leave of your senses?”
“No sir, I have not.”
Zack squinted at Doo.
“And just how are you paying for this trip?”
“Godfrey Smythe is footin’ the bill he hired me, Clancy, and Mighty Beaver to guide him to some land near Coon Creek.”
“Are you daft? You almost killed that little snake in the market square, why would he hire you?
“He said he needed a man with grit who knew the land to lead him to a place to build a trading post.”
“And you were the only one, that didn’t seem a mite suspicious to you?”
“You see, Mr. Carter, they need me along to look after them,” Janie interjected.
“Why in God’s name would any of you go anywhere with Smythe?”
“Pa, you said I needed to find another financier or I was stuck on the farm,” Doo said.
“Plus, Mr. Carter, Mighty Beaver and I will be there to watch Doo’s backside,” Clancy added.
Zack stroked his chin as he mulled this over in his mind. My idjit son is bound and determined to leave his scalp hanging in a Shawnee lodge. If Smythe is running this operation, it can’t be on the up and up. The girl has no business trekking into the wilderness with them.
“Janie, I could use your help here, no need traipsing off into the woods with these fools.”
“I’m much obliged for the offer Mr. Carter, but I need to go and look after these oafs.”
“If you change yore mind you're welcome to stay, but I will make sure yore outfitted for the trip. I just received a fresh order of Lancaster Rifles, some are sized for a boy but I reckon they’ll fit you just fine.”
“Thunderation, Pa, you’ll outfit her but not me your own son?” Doo asked.
“I don’t reckon she’ll lose everything like you did, now get to cleanin’ up that barrel of flour you dumped; by the way it’ll cost you $7 of Smythe’s money.”
“Aw, Pa…..”
*****
McAllister Household
North Hill, Pittsburgh
“I said no, Young Lady, and I meant it,” Angus McAllister said.
Even though her father’s face was becoming flushed with anger, Roseanna wasn’t backing down.
“Papa, I’d be as safe there as I would here, Godfrey’s assembling a company of 30 frontiersmen to accompany him and build a trading post.”
“Frontiersman? From what I hear he’s hiring every cutthroat, scalawag, scoundrel, and villain he can find in Pittsburgh.”
“I don’t believe that, Papa, Clancy Sinclair and Doo Carter have hired on with him.”
“Young Carter hmmm…, he’s a fiddle footed ne’er-do-well his ownself and Sinclair isn’t much better.”
“Oh Papa, he’s not a bad man he stood up for me at the market when Godfrey insulted and manhandled me.”
“Which brings up my next point, why would you want to go into the wilderness with such a man, he’s lucky I didn’t thrash him within an inch of his life after I heard what he called you.”
Roseanna was ready for that question.
“I can take care of myself, Papa; I dispatched that would-be robber with no problems.”
“The Shawnees will be a different matter altogether, do you know what they do to white women? To your mother, God bless her soul.”
This made Roseanna hesitate. She was only six when her mother, Rosalyn, had been taken in an Indian raid. While Angus had done a credible job raising her by himself, he had gotten help from Mary Miller, a widow.
Whenever Roseanna had a female problem or question he had sent her to Mary’s cabin. Whenever he went hunting or trapping, Roseanna came with him. Under Angus’s tutelage, Roseanna was as accomplished in the woods as any man. She could shoot, hunt, fish, and survive with the best of them.
When Roseanna turned 15, Mary suggested to Angus that he send her to a finishing school in Philadelphia to learn how to become a lady. Angus thought that was a good idea, Roseanna did not.
It took Angus and his son, Richard, to drag Roseanna out of the house to the waiting coach; there were still scrape marks in the doorway Roseanna had made being bodily carried out of the house.
It was in Roseanna’s second year of Miss Trudy Landers Finishing School that he had married Mary. Since Mary had practically raised Roseanna there weren’t any stepmother/daughter issues, Thank God, he thought.
Mary had been listening to the whole exchange, holding her tongue. She loved Roseanna as if she was her own daughter, but she knew how pig-headed the girl could be. Watching her and Angus argue reminded Mary of two rams crashing head-on in the pasture.
“Angus, could I speak to you for a moment, Roseanna, would you excuse us please,” Mary locked eyes with Roseanna letting her know this wasn’t a request, it was a command.
Roseanna took the hint and retreated from the dining room to leave her father and stepmother alone to talk.
“Angus you know she’s going to go on this excursion whether you permit it or not, she’s sweet on the Carter boy.”
“I know that, it’s what concerns me more than the Shawnee, he’s almost 10 years older than her and it doesn’t look like he intends on settling down any time soon, he’ll break her heart.”
Mary grasped Angus’ meaty hands and looked him in the eye and said, “My love, you’re not giving your daughter enough credit, she has a good head on her shoulders.”
“Still, I’m not comfortable with her going into the wilderness with Smythe, and his merry band of cutthroats, no good will come of it,” Angus said, then added, “Unless I go along.”
This alarmed and surprised Mary. Angus wasn’t a spring chicken anymore. An Iroquois arrow to the hip during the French and Indian War had left him with a limp; A British musket ball in the left shoulder during the Revolutionary Battle of Blue Licks had left him very little use of that arm.
“I need you here with me, but you’re always saying Richard needs to toughen up, here is a great opportunity.”
“Hmmm, that may be a solution; he can protect his sister from Smythe and Carter, as well as the Shawnees.”
“Then it’s settled?”
“Yes we’ll tell them both at the supper meal.”
*****
“What on Earth do you mean I can’t take wagons?” Godfrey Smythe blustered.*****
“There ain’t no roads where we’re goin’ Smith,” Doo answered.
Smythe looked at Clancy, who nodded in agreement.
“A pack mule train will get you where yore goin’ a heap quicker than buildin’ a road for wagons. Yore talking about a 200 mile trip through virgin wilderness,” Clancy said. “We’d be lucky to make Raccoon Creek before snow flies.”
How on earth will I get the rifles I promised to the Shawnees, Smythe thought.
“How many mules might I need?”
“Depends on how much yore figurin’ on toting, a good mule can tote about 200 to 250 pounds” said Doo.
“My Lord, I’ll need at least 50 to carry everything we need to build a post and stock it,” Smythe said, and then he thought, I also need a way to sneak 50 rifles to the Shawnee.
I have succumbed to peer pressure and made this chapter shorter by posting it in two parts, this is part II. The good news is there won't be as much lag time between postings. For those just reading for the first time, there are 7 more chapters in case you're interested, feel free to go back and read'em to catch up. For those only reading for Fanstory bucks and points, I know it's long and probably not you regular genre, give it a chance. Be kind.
Those wondering about the references to Our Grandmother, the Shawnees believed in a female deity they called Our Grandmother. Anna found this out while reading the chapter for me.
Ha-ho is a traditional greeting between the Shawnees
Cast of Characters
Roseanna Carter- narrator
Doolittle Carter-Extremely blessed and lucky frontiersman.
Janie Wolfe-Heroine, wise beyond her years, intuitive, follows her instincts, knows how to swim.
Roseanna McCallister- Heroine who will figure a lot more heavily into the story. Knows how to shoot, ride, and yes swim.
Swooping Eagle= Shawnee Warrior, vengeful but listens to the voice of reason, knows how to swim.
Wise Owl- Shawnee Warrior, the voice of reason, knows how to swim.
Running Deer- Civil Chief of the Shawnee and Swooping Eagle's father' Not happy with Swooping Eagle for getting his favorite son killed. Knows how to swim.
Mighty Beaver- Delaware Warrior, funny sense of humor,knows how to swim
Clancy Sinclair-Happy -go-lucky friend of Doolittle, knows how to swim
Godfrey Smythe- Ferret faced cad, probably knows how to swim.
Zachary "Zack" Carter- The Carter family patriarch and quite possibly the toughest man on the frontier. Men fear him and women want to be with him. Knows how to swim.
Percy Smithers- Owner of the Crowing Rooster Tavern. He's crooked as a dog's leg but looks like a straight arrow compared to Godfrey Smythe. Might know how to swim.
Red Mike- Royal Boar tavern owner. Doesn't need to know how to swim.
Dirk Fox- One of Smythe's minions and a five star rascal. Knows how to speak Shawnee and swim.
Angus McCallister- Roseanna's father and French and Indian War Ranger. Knows how to swim.
Mary McCallister- Roseanna's step mother, wife of Angus.
Richard McCallister- Roseanna's older brother who is about to get a surprise at supper. Knows how to swim.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Those wondering about the references to Our Grandmother, the Shawnees believed in a female deity they called Our Grandmother. Anna found this out while reading the chapter for me.
Ha-ho is a traditional greeting between the Shawnees
Cast of Characters
Roseanna Carter- narrator
Doolittle Carter-Extremely blessed and lucky frontiersman.
Janie Wolfe-Heroine, wise beyond her years, intuitive, follows her instincts, knows how to swim.
Roseanna McCallister- Heroine who will figure a lot more heavily into the story. Knows how to shoot, ride, and yes swim.
Swooping Eagle= Shawnee Warrior, vengeful but listens to the voice of reason, knows how to swim.
Wise Owl- Shawnee Warrior, the voice of reason, knows how to swim.
Running Deer- Civil Chief of the Shawnee and Swooping Eagle's father' Not happy with Swooping Eagle for getting his favorite son killed. Knows how to swim.
Mighty Beaver- Delaware Warrior, funny sense of humor,knows how to swim
Clancy Sinclair-Happy -go-lucky friend of Doolittle, knows how to swim
Godfrey Smythe- Ferret faced cad, probably knows how to swim.
Zachary "Zack" Carter- The Carter family patriarch and quite possibly the toughest man on the frontier. Men fear him and women want to be with him. Knows how to swim.
Percy Smithers- Owner of the Crowing Rooster Tavern. He's crooked as a dog's leg but looks like a straight arrow compared to Godfrey Smythe. Might know how to swim.
Red Mike- Royal Boar tavern owner. Doesn't need to know how to swim.
Dirk Fox- One of Smythe's minions and a five star rascal. Knows how to speak Shawnee and swim.
Angus McCallister- Roseanna's father and French and Indian War Ranger. Knows how to swim.
Mary McCallister- Roseanna's step mother, wife of Angus.
Richard McCallister- Roseanna's older brother who is about to get a surprise at supper. Knows how to swim.
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