The Two Sams: Men of the West. F. M. Worden

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СКАЧАТЬ older man moved to shake Sam’s hand, “Call me Al, I ain’t seen Miss Sarah in a coon’s age. Glad she finally come to see us, I’ll have the boys go bring up the horses.”

      He called to two young black boys in a demanding voice, “Go get them horses. Bring em up here.”

      Soon there was twenty head in a pen by the barn. Sarah told Sam to look them over. “See if you’d like one.”

      Sam went in the pen and studied the horse herd for some time. Then he told her, “I like the big sorrel gelding with the blaze face.”

      “You can have him,” Sarah said with a flip of her hand.

      Al said to Sarah, “This man knows horses. This horse is the best on the farm. He’s worth four or five hundred dollars.”

      Sam turned to Sarah and said, “You can’t give him to me. I’ll buy him.”

      “No, you won’t.” Sarah looked mad. “If you really want to pay, I’ll split the difference with you, two hundred dollars, Okay Sam?”

      “It’s a deal Sarah.”

      She told Al to tie the horse to the back of the buggy. Sam was delighted with the horse.

      All the way back to town Sarah jabbered and jabbered. The horse meant nothing to her. Sam had to keep looking back to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He owned a horse.

      Monday morning Jake had a surprise for Sam. Colonel Colt had given a pistol to him. The Colonel told Jake to tell him, “A man who can shoot like that needs a good pistol.”

      Then Jake said, “I need to talk to you sometime today. You gettin the Itch Sam?”

      Sam smiled and shook his head yes.

      After work hours Jake asked Sam to come in the office. “Set Sam,” he said, “You getting pretty thick with this woman Sarah. I’m gonna tell what I know of her. You can take it for what it’s worth.”

      “Fine. I would like to know all you can tell me about her.” He was ready to listen to what Jake had to say.

      Jake starts talking. “I didn’t know her Pa at all. He was a big fella, always in a hurry. I don’t think he made friends very easy. Most of the folks around here never got to know the man. When he come to town, his little girl was just a little tyke. He had that café for ten or so years. When he died, she got all he owned being his only kin. She went kinda wild at first. She was about your age, maybe a little older, to be handed a lot of money, it was bad. Lots of people took advantage of her, she be-n so young. She met a river boat man and took up with him, he was probably forty years old. He moved in with her, in that up stairs’ apartment. She spent a lot of money redoing it, so we heard. One Saturday night they had a big fight. I heard the yelling and screaming could be heard all over town. In two days he was found a float-en in a back water slue south of town. Been told she had given him an expensive gold watch, it was never found. Some say them blacks that work for her will do any bidding she wants. They’re all free and married men they all live in the same location she had built for them south of town. Sam she’s had several men since then and they all disappear never to be seen again. I tell ya it’s kinda strange. You walk softly around that woman.”

      Sam thanked him. They never talked of Sarah again.

      Sam began gathering horse equipment. A saddle, pack saddle and camp gear. He made a leather saddle scabbard for a rifle and a pair of saddle bags. He had talked to Sam Hawkin about making a two-foot barrel for his colt pistol. Sam made it in a few days and he and young Sam screwed it into the gun. He had made a wooden shoulder stock for it and mounted the same on the pistol. The two fired the rifle-pistol out back on the range.

      He asked Sam Hawkin, “How far you figure she’ll shoot?”

      “Pack all the power in the cylinder you can get, set the ball deep and she should be good for two hundred yards.” Sam did and Hawkin was right.

      The winter turned to spring, it was 1849. Word came gold had been discovered in California, the gold rush was on.

      Many men started west and needed a rifle and pistols. The shop was booming. Sam was lucky, he found and purchased a ten-year old mare who had been used as a saddle and pack horse.

      A shipment of a hundred colt pistols came in. Sam purchased one and an English 10 gauge double-barreled shot gun. Now he was ready to go west.

      By June prices went sky high. Flour, sugar, corn went for a hundred dollars a barrel. Teams of oxen, mules and horses went for a thousand dollars if you could find any. It was a true seller’s market.

      Sam talked to an Army officer who told him mounted troops were going to a new post named Fort Laramie. Six hundred miles up on the Oregon trail. “There’s gonna be need for all kinda help up there. A man could make good money.”

      Sam told Jake he was about ready to go. Jake knew how he felt. “If you want ta start a repair gun shop up there, we’ll send anything you need. Mail has started coming in from that fort and going that way. Write and let me know, we’ll ship supplies to you. Them emigrants need all kinds of help by the time they get that far.”

      Sam said he would take him up on the deal. “Just as soon as I get set up.”

      He told Jake he planned to leave Monday morning. “Good luck and God go along with ya,” Jake hugged him, turned away and left the shop. It would be a long time before they saw each other again.

      Sam was busy packing. Sarah knocked on the back door. “You in there Sam?” she called.

      He went and let her in, it was raining hard. “Why you out in this rain?”

      “You won’t come down, so I came here.” She acted angry. “I’ll be up there in a little while. You go back, I’ll come up and eat.” She reluctantly returned to the café.

      The two had a nice supper. After supper he let her know his plans of going west. She went into a fit of rage, started throwing things at him calling him names, fell on the floor screaming and kicking, saying she hoped the Indians would kill him. He told her he didn’t like to see her act this way.

      “I just gotta go Sarah,” he told her. “I’ll miss you.” He went down to the kitchen. George heard it all and said, “Come by on your way, I’ll have a food sack for you’s.” Sam did.

      At sunup, with his saddle horse and pack horse he rode to the docks and onto a steam boat he had booked passage on to go up the Missouri River to the town of Independence. The jumping off place for most of the wagon trains headed west and to Fort Laramie on the Oregon Trail. Sam was on his way west.

       Chapter 6

      Fort Laramie

      Sam rode into Independence, after leaving the paddle wheel steamer. There were three wagon trains being made up to go west, one a Mormon with a hundred and fifty Saints. Many a pretty girl was with this train.

      Sam missed Sarah already.

      Sam asked a wagon boss when they expected to leave. “Not for another week.” The other trains were waiting for one thing or the other. No one seemed to be in a hurry.

      He СКАЧАТЬ