Posted July 14, 2020
Aurelian and Jay were now outside of the farmhouse and at the barn when Ryker spoke up.
"Your daughter has the attitude of a grown woman." He remarked. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't like me."
"Well, I'm sorry about that in there," Aurelian winced.
"Wouldn't be the first one!" the other man added and even chuckled about it.
Aurelian was relieved at least the man didn't seem angry about it all but he did want to explain a few things.
"You are right when you say grown woman. Of course she is not one, not quite yet. She's almost sixteen but at times I think she is going on thirty. And in all honesty, part of that may be my fault. Since my wife, her mother died, Clara has had to grow up so fast, she works so hard around here and even takes jobs to make extra money for the family - as in she doesn't spend it, she gives it to me," Aurelian began.
"And maybe I have taken advantage of that when instead I should have insisted she slow down and be a girl. But this is a new farm and it means everything to us three. We need to make this work, I have no other options left."
"That said Clara does not complain, she has yet to shirk a single chore or be upset about this life that I've chosen for us all. We left Philadelphia for a new life, a new start. My wife was all for it but it had been my idea. Things weren't working out for me back there. "
"We were not in Montana for all that long when one day we were attacked by Indians. My wife and Clara were out by the river, doing laundry. An Indian spotted them and went straight for them. They ran for it but he was on horseback. His first arrow struck Clara in the chest. He wasn't done though and was going to shoot her again. My dearest, my brave Kathleen threw herself in front of Clara and took the arrow. She died and for a long time I thought I was going to lose Clara too. The doctor even told me he did not think she would survive. But he didn't know my daughter. She pulled thru....obviously."
"Clara has so many wonderful qualities to her, I dearly love her but I will admit she has her demons and it probably influences how she deals with outsiders, especially men. Please do not take it personal. "
He took a deep breath then concluded, "Sorry for the speechifying. Wanted you to know."
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted July 15, 2020
The explamation Jay received made him stop and listened to the man sharing his family's story very carefully. It was a tough story. One that made the girls' attitude somewhat adequat.
Swallowing hard Jay gave him a sympathetic smile. "Thank you for explaining. I'm sorry you lost your wife like that. Raisi g your children out here on the frontier all alone must be hard."
He made a mental note to cut the girl some slack. Silently he wondered which family had no father thanks to his bullets. Jay had never shot anyone out of cold blood but he had fired back when he was being fired upon.
He let that hoof down and grabbed the next.
"She's alright. Had to grow up tough. But that'll serve her out here."
Continuing his work he added. "Look at me. I'm from England. I've not be brought up to lead a frontier life. I had to learn everything. Had a run in with some Indians before, too. Chippewa...up North. Not quite that bloody though."
Posted July 16, 2020
The man gave him the courtesy of hearing him out as he told the sad tale of what happened to his wife and daughter. Aurelian could tell it now without getting emotional but it still hurt and always would. Ryker expressed his condolences then and sympathized with im. Aurelian had not told it for sympathy though, least not for himself but just so the man might better understand Clara's ... issues on occasion. Hopefully it worked. But he wasn't about to push it further. Time to concentrate on the task at hand.
Ryker checked out the first hoof on the horse.
"She's alright. Had to grow up tough. But that'll serve her out here."
"I hope so. Some day she will make some man a wonderful wife. And she will be an excellent mother too," Aurelian spoke like a proud father of course.
Continuing his work Jay added. "Look at me. I'm from England. I've not be brought up to lead a frontier life. I had to learn everything. Had a run in with some Indians before, too. Chippewa...up North. Not quite that bloody though."
"Chippewa huh? Oh, so you came from England then? Interesting. When did you come over? Do you remember much about England still?" Aurelian was curious, he'd never been out of the states.
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted July 16, 2020
Jay had to be careful now. He had told different stories over time to cover his tracks. That he was Englisch was too hard to hide but he usually told people that his parents had emigrated.
"I was pretty young when my family came here. I do remember a lot of things though. And my father was a British gentleman. Not much he could do with a gun."
Jay shrugged. "Brits do some hunting....different kind though. With dogs."
He finished the second hoof and continued running his hand along the horses hind quarters as he went to the other side to let the animal know where he was.
"The piece of land I inherited was up north. Most of the land I've seen there was farmable but not that piece of land. At least I had a skill to get me by."
He clapped the file against the next hoof. Noone needed to know that the other skill of emptying safes, which he had acquired, had brought him a small fortune. That didn't last as the gang spent it on booze, ladies and pleasantries as well as expensive rooms.
"One day I'll find the right land and do what I'm supposed to do....and I'm not talking about putting horse shoes on."
He was now on the fourth hoof and asked Aurelian. "Mind getting the fire going? It'll take a bit for the right heat."
Posted July 17, 2020
Aurelian listened to the man relate about his English experiences. He had actually heard of how their upper classes would go hunting mounted on fine horses with a large pack of dogs to run down the ....fox wasn't it? And no guns were used or at least not talked about? Seemed like a lot of fuss for a mere fox but to each their own. Then Jay explained about that worthless farmland of his, bad luck there.
"Yes indeed, the blacksmithing," Aurelian nodded, "So who taught you blacksmithing? Did you apprentice at a shop someplace? Isn't that the usual way of things."
Ryker then asked if Aurelian could start up on getting a fire going. Aurelian nodded, "I will get right on that. It'll be a bit to get a fire nice and hot for metal working." But then the man would realize that too.
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted July 17, 2020
"Yeah, I know.' After all having a nice hot fire was part of his job.
"It's a family tradition. My grandfather was a blacksmith. He taught me when I was a little boy. I then went to school and became a bank teller but I kept doing it as a hobby."
He gave the horse a few claps on the neck. "Good boy."
Then he measured the horse shoes on the hoofs.
"It became a valuable skill out West. Much better than being a teller. What about you? What did you do in the city."
Posted July 18, 2020
"Oh, family tradition, well it was a useful one alright," Aurelian nodded at his explanation.
"Teller might be steady work and less harder on a body than blacksmith," he pointed out though. Blacksmithing was difficult hot labor, he would not want to make a career of it but of course he didn't say that aloud to Jay.
The other man now inquired what did he do back in the day.
"I did not get along with my parents, my father especially. We never saw things the same way. I eventually got into trouble and spent some time in jail. I got lucky though and my uncle took me in on his farm. I enjoyed working for him on the farm, he was a good, fair man."
"I met and married the love of my life while working on that farm. We had Clara. When the war broke out, I signed up with the cavalry - the Union of course - and spent the remainder of the war fighting with my regiment, the 6th Volunteers of Pennsylvania. Once I got demobilized, I went back to trying to farm but things had changed. My uncle left me the farm in his will but ... well, long story short. We could no longer make a go of it. Lots of reasons but in the end my wife and I agreed. We wanted to go west and start over. So the four of us headed on out and we ended up in Montana," he smiled.
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted July 18, 2020
Jay carefully listened to his story while checking all hoofs and irons, then setting aside the tools, that Aurelian could provide. The fire was smoking a lot, which was an indicator of the wood being wet, so it would take a while.
"That'll take a while to heat up." He remarked and sat down on a log.
The most interesting part of the mans story was really the time before he joined the army.
"Why were you incarcerated, if you don't mind me asking." It couldn't have been that bad but it definitely was a topic of interest as it could be a fate Jay might meet one day if he was lucky and didn't swing from the gallows pole.
Posted July 19, 2020
Aurelian nodded, "Yeah, it will. Fortunately we are in hurry."
When he had finished his short form personal life story, the man still had one question he was curious about,
"Why were you incarcerated, if you don't mind me asking."
"I was young and kind of wild. I hung around with a few locals I probably should not have but I was trying to show my father I could get along without him in my life,' explained Aurelian
"One day I was accused of stealing a horse. I actually hadn't done that to be honest. It was one of my friends but they blamed me for it. I was lucky I didn't get hung probably due to my youth. But I had to serve some time in the county jail. I learned my lesson and stopped hanging around with those friends."
Retired Characters and NPC Writer.
Posted July 19, 2020
Jay very carefully listened to him about his horse stealing prison story. He could have hung for that. Swung from the gallows pole for something much less severe than even one of the crimes Jay had committed. If he ever got caught they'd probably make a decent show of plucking him apart, so he'd better not be that stupid. That ultimately meant that he couldn't stay anywhere for too long.
"That sounds like a tough lesson to be learnt. Especially if you didn't do it. I hope your friend is forever thankful."
Jay poked the fire with a stick and sent some sparks up in the air.
He got a little lost in thoughts because there wasn't much to do or say other than wait for the fire to get the right temperature.
He leaned back and crossed his legs when he stretched them out. The boots were old and worn but still good protection in the winter. Nobody knew that they were stolen like so many things Jay owned. The owner didn't miss them though. Jay had made sure to take them off a man, who had way too many things. Every time he looked at them a small smile tugged on his lips.