Harem on the Prairie
Part Three: The Stormy Mountains
by Nick Storming
Publisher: Fractured Press
Copyright© 2019 Fractured Press
All characters are 18 and older
Table of Contents
Harem on the Prairie
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Fractured Press
Chapter One
The dawn was bright and the sky clear as I climbed out of my wagon, smelling the morning air. I felt refreshed and more alive than I had in months, years probably. Looking around is saw other camps coming to life around the wagon circle and the ordered chaos of the morning beginning for some. Most of the wagons were unpacked, with the settlers deciding to stay until the next wagon train caught up with them. Probably the last of the season.
The rest of the wagons some eight to ten were packing up, cutting their livestock from the herds, and outfitting their wagons for colder climates. We were just beginning the real climb up into the mountains and would see a couple weeks of high altitudes with strong chances of inclement weather. There was also warlike Indian tribes who would range down out of the north, that we would have to stay on the lookout for.
I went around to the different wagons who were packing and thanked the people for putting their trust in Colt and us. I was also taking an assessment of the people and what kinds of personalities we were bringing with us. Seamus and Henry had their wagon packed up and would be helping Colt out on scouting duty. Helen would have her wagon and I and Annabelle ours. The DeMille family had decided to come, the plump pretty wife running roughshod over her husband as they packed up. I had my concerns about how they would fit into our dynamic. That is until I got to Albert and Daisy’s wagon.
"Not a man coming who doesn't understand the situation, ma'am," Albert said doffing his cap and clutching it in two nervous hands.
“The situation Albert?” I said with one raised eyebrow.
“Yes, ma’am,” he ducked his head again, glancing at the DeMille wagon and then the other few that were packing up. The man’s shyness or nervousness got the best of him and he wasn’t able to finish his thought, face just turning redder and redder.
“The Stevens came to us,” Molly said glancing at her husband and blushing. The man looked at her grateful and began nodding along, “The oldest brother wanted to know if the rumor was true.”
“Rumor?” I asked feeling a cold chill run down my spine. I had no doubt our way of life would become public to those who traveled with us, I just didn’t want to deal with the puritans who had chosen to stay behind.
“You’re never gone believe this,” Molly said moving in close and whispering, her red curls tickling my cheek, “Rumor among some of the wagons is that Albert bought Colt’s stud fees, to breed me.”
I looked from the woman to her husband a little stunned, “Oh yes ma’am,” Albert said nodding, “I don’t know how the rumor started but it certainly wasn’t from us.”
“What did you say when the Stephens brother asked?” I asked Molly.
“We’ll I was shocked, and they saw it, I denied it for certain, but I don’t think the men believed us. An hour later their clan had signed up to follow Colt.”
“Take care these first couple weeks, both of you,” I cautioned, “I have no desire to alienate any who have decided to join us.”
“Of course, not ma’am,” Albert said, “but we’ll be sure to keep our eyes open. That young man was… something else to witness in action, if I can be so bold.”
“Something else, if you’re so blessed to experience it,” his wife breathed with a dreamy look on her face and her husband patted her shoulder with a fond loving smile. His tiny hardon pressing against his pants.
“Colt and I will be gathering everyone in a bit to lay out some rules and guidelines, but I wanted to ask you,” I said glancing around, “if you would set up your wagon behind ours going forward. Helen will be to the front, both during the day journey and at night.” I let my words hang for a moment and then saw the dawning realization on both of their faces. None to either the front or the back would hear certain sounds with the buffer of wagons around it.
“We would be honored,” Albert said, with a big grin on his face. I could see the chubby man’s mind working. Every night he would be either witness or be able to hear Colt in action. Molly’s face was strained, and I placed a hand on her forearm, knowing what troubled her.
“There will be different guests in our wagon often,” I said, “but you and Helen will both be within easy reach. I would have women I trust nearby." Her eyes met mine and I saw her pride swell and she nodded smiling up at me gratefully. With a pat for both of their hands, I headed off continuing my rounds, making sure to greet and welcome all. Just as I was heading back to my wagon, I heard the outraged caterwauls from the other side of the train.
“But Momma!” Recognizing the voice of Edith Eaton, I made my way over to their wagons, “Please let me go with Annabelle and Elenore!” I stepped out and saw the girl confronting her parents before their wagon. She had a trunk packed and had drug it through the dirt for several feet, before being stopped.
“Child, you can’t just abandon your family and head into such dangerous lands,” her mother pled with her, “Please say something to her!” She said to her husband. The man wiped his brow with a kerchief.
“She is a grown woman Maggie. I don’t like it any more than you do, but the girl has made up her mind.”
“She may have made up her mind,” I said walking up to the family, “but that doesn’t mean she has been given a place with us.” I turned a stern look on the girl, “What’s the meaning of this? Breaking your parents’ hearts and leaving them in the middle of the wilderness to fear for their little girls’ safety? I thought you had more wisdom than this girl.” Her mother Maggie was staring at me with wide eyes as I spoke before she turned on her daughter nodding along with my every point.
“I mean no disrespect,” Edith said standing with her hands clasped and shoulders slumped, “but we all know the truth, even though none seem willing to speak it out." Her back straightened slightly and she glanced at her father and then back to me.
"There isn't another wagon train heading through the pass this year, the next train that comes along will stop in the Wyoming territory and carve out a spot there, most likely never to leave. You know you have your heart set on gold in the black hills papa,” she glanced at him and chagrined smile gave him away, “Momma I want to see the sea, I want to walk the Oregon trail in full and build a homestead for my family out of the wildest lands in the west. You know it’s all I ever wanted.” She looked at her mom not pleading but imploring, her confidence wavering before her mother’s baleful stare. Finally, the plump woman looked up at me, her big eyes round as saucers as they filled with tears.
“You will protect my baby, Miss Elenore?” She asked, her voice choking. Her husband placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder as I nodded.
"As if she were a twin to my own Annabelle, Maggie, I swear it." Edith’s face could barely contain the hope in it.
“If you are going child, then you best take the good silver, I always meant you to have my mother’s set, and you make sure you write now, you hear!?”
"Oh, Momma!" Edith burst out into tears along with her mother as they embraced. Mr. Eaton walked over and shook my hand.
"Thank you, Elenore, I know she would have been miserable if she’d stayed,” he said as he watched his wife and daughter balling into one another’s shoulders.
Chapter Two
I headed back to our wagons and found Colt. The tall lean young man was sitting on a stump with his rifle broken apart, cleaning it meticulously. Beside him were the two girls he had brought out of the forest. They had been scrubbed and plucked by Molly and Helen to within an inch of their lives and the girls glared at anyone foolish enough to draw too close to them with baleful eyes. They sat uncomfortably in dresses leaning over their spread knees like men.
The older and taller of the girls Mary gave me a respectful nod before going back to her work, cleaning and oiling her weapon. Her younger sister Goldie, so alike her in looks and dress but so different in attitude, stared hard at me as I walked up. I looked into the girl’s eyes, taking in her stiff shoulders and the white knuckles of her little fists. The girl had fear coursing through her, I could read it in her every motion and twitch of the muscles around her eyes. I stared deep into her eyes and let her challenge washed over me, leaving me unaffected. She glanced down, eyes troubled and I smiled a small smile as I sat on a stump just before them. Colt looked at me and I felt my chest swell under his frank regard. His eyes drinking me in and a slow warm smile stealing across his beautiful features. The young man had a way of setting my spine shivering.
“We need to speak to the group before they start lining up their wagons,” I said, and Colt nodded.
“I know what I’ll say to them,” he said, his deep voice quietly commanding.
“You will have your own wagon,” I said, “Annabelle and I will see to it.”
Colt’s eyes bore into me and I felt my body go flush as the air charged between us. He nodded slowly and could feel his mind turning over the possibilities of his own empty wagon and privacy. I smiled at him and nodded to the two young women, “We have tents for both of you girls and supplies set aside.”
“We have to wear these skirts forever?” The younger Goldie asked, and I could almost feel the difficulty she was having, getting the sentence out without swear words. I looked the girls up and down with a critical eye and both squirmed slightly until I shook my head.
“Once we are on the trail, those skirts won’t be necessary. Keep them or cut them up for rags. I’ll have Annabelle dig out some pants and shirts that should fit you properly.” Both girls looked relieved at my words. I stood, brushing off my skirts and turned to go. A cough caused me to look back and I saw Mary glance at her sister and up at me.
“Ma’am, we was wondering if you could show us… you know, how you do it?” Mary asked, her cheeks blushing.
“How you do it?” I said arching one eyebrow, I glanced at Colt and smiled, “I’m sure Colt here can show you girls the proper way to do it. But if you want a lesson, one can be provided.”
“No ma’am!” The young woman said her cheek coloring even more, “I didn’t mean do that, Goldie and I know how ruttin' works. I mean how do you… be you… be a real woman who tells menfolk what to do and they jump to it."
“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” I said.
“Just watcher her,” Colt said, his voice drawing all three pairs of eyes, “watch how she is kind to all and gracious. Yet still has a core so hard; all can sense it. Annabelle is learning and since we’ve come out here, she has become much more than she once was. It’s all due to Elenore’s example.” He looked at me with those pale blue eyes and I felt the heat between my legs, “Helen, Molly… many of the women are picking up her habits and becoming better for it.”
It was the longest speech I had heard from the young man in a long time and I felt my heart flush with love for him. I knew he saw more than he lets on, but it was gratifying to know he had been so observant and noticed the care I put into all my interactions. The sisters were looking between Colt and I, dawning realization on their faces.
“She is your stepma?” Goldie asked, and when Colt nodded her grin grew lascivious, “So she the one we have to ask permission of if we want to roll you in the bushes?”
“She is,” Colt said immediately as be began fitting the rifle back together with quick sure fingers. Then he stood and slung the weapon over his shoulder, “I’ll go saddle, Strider.” He said and with one final glance around at us he nodded and strode off. The three of us watched his long legs eat up the ground, his firm behind filling his pants.
“Is that your desire, Goldie?” I said and let my eyes linger on Colt before I turned to her with a small smile, “To roll my boy in the hedges?" The girl's cocky grin slipped, and she glanced at her sister and then let her eyes linger on Colt's broad shoulders. She glanced up at me and nodded.
“It’s why I joined with you Ma’am,” The girl said, tearing her eyes away from Colt as he strode off.
“And you Mary, is this part of why you joined our group as well?” I asked her.
“Reckon it is ma’am,” she grinned and shook her head, “Goldie and I never knew much about civilization, always said we just needed to trap us a man and we thought we’d found the perfect one. That’s why we came down out of the mountains.”
“You did find the perfect one,” I said as I sat back down on the stump and crossed one leg over the other, placing my hand on my knee, “But he is not for you girls alone.”
“Oh, we know that!” Goldie said with a big grin, her voice an excited whisper, “We saw you, Helen and Colt in the cave last night. If we ever needed a lesson on putting it in that sure looked like the perfect class.”
"Did you know," I said with a frown.
“We didn’t mean to pry,” Mary said, “We followed that Molly and her husband into the woods because we figured they were going to rut, and we wanted to get a good look at it. They didn’t do no ruttin’ but that husband he dropped to his knees and licked his woman… down there for a long time while she watched you, Helen and Colt playin’.”
“Thank you for telling me, girls,” I said with a smile, “I appreciate the candor. As for what you saw, it’s best to keep it to yourselves for the time being. Soon enough our whole group will understand the dynamics, but I’m in no rush just yet.”
“Yes, ma’am,” both girls said. They fairly shook with sexual energy, their fingers shaking on their skirts as they fidgeted.
“The way I see it, you two will be out scouting. The faster and safer we can get this group down the trail, the earlier we arrive at camp.” I let my hungry smile shine through ever so slightly, “The more time we have at camp in the evenings… the freer we’ll all be for...”
“Doing it,” Goldie and Mary said at the same time then grinned big as they looked at one another.
“You will set up your tent beside Colt's wagon," I said as I stood once again and smoothed out my skirts, "and you will protect my boy." I felt my eyes grow hard for one moment and both girls swallowed glancing down. "I promise you, girls," I said, letting my voice soften, "all that you desire will come to pass, and then some."
With that, I turned and made my way to the gathered group. I could hear the sisters whispering fiercely behind me, but I ignored them, focusing on the group of people gathered. They were a steady bunch, and that reassured me. Each and every one of them had been on the trail long enough to have a clear-eyed understanding of what we were riding into. Just as I was nearing them, Colt cantered up on his tall stallion. He looked over the crowd with his hard-pale blue eyes, weighing and judging each of them. I saw men stand straighter under that gaze and women eyelashes fluttering and chest heaving.
“We ride at dawn,” he said his voice iron hard. I saw many who had chosen to stay behind had wandered over and were watching the young man we had all chosen to follow.
“Weapons close to hand at all times. If you don’t know how to shoot, I’ll teach you.” He scanned the crowd waiting for objections and nodded when there were none.
“We hunt every night we’re able. Mary and Goldie know these mountains and will lead us through. They’ll be assisted in the hunting
and scouting by my Pa and Seamus,” he looked over the crowd slowly and I saw his hard eyes soften and a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth, “Value every moment of these next few months, for it will be the greatest adventure any of us take. Now mount up.” He tipped his cap and turned his horse up the trail.
I saw the group exchange excited looks, similar to what we had all experience when we had first set out. The thrill of the adventure alive in us all once more. They all burst apart chatting excitedly and pilling into their packed wagons. I was inundated with settlers’ questions about the wagon order and logistics. None of it was complicated and for the tougher problems the settlers themselves often already knew the best solution. All they needed was a gentle, but firm hand to lead them to it.
We waved and hugged, and I saw Elenore and her mother and father all sharing one final moment together. Then we were on the trail, winding up into the mountains. The cool wind blowing my hair as I sat beside Annabelle on our wagon, listening to her and Edith talking. The poor girl was heartbroken at leaving her parents, but I could hear the resilience in her voice and knew she would be fine with time. Annabelle was there for her friend and some of the things she whispered in the girl’s ears in order to coax a smile out of her, had my face bright red and scandalized.
Chapter Three
The morning passed and we made record time, in spite of the uphill climb. The path beneath our wagons was remarkably smooth. We were used to there being at least a few places the wagon train would have to ride around or even backtrack slightly but with the girls as our scouts, we didn't have to stop even once. We rolled through faster than we had since the early days of the well-worn trail on the plain.
In the early afternoon, we dropped down into a small valley thick with trees and blackberry bushes. There was a spring feeding a rushing creek that cut down the valley and a wide-open area perfect to roll our wagons into. There was a cheerful atmosphere as we set up camp. Colt and all the scouts headed out into the woods to hunt while those left behind tended to small chores and prepped and cooked the evening meal. Mary and Goldie returned with a brace of rabbit, cleaned and skinned and we roasted the meat, adding it to the food.
The Stormy Mountains Page 1