Then they all boarded a much less luxurious ferry that evidently was sometimes used to transport livestock.
There were a couple of wagons waiting for them at the docks. It took only a few minutes for the ranch hands to transfer the provisions, that had been loaded for them in Laketown, from the ferry to the wagons. Sue introduced the ranch hands as John Baker, a blue eyed blond young man with a gentile disposition and Steve Angler, a green eyed middle aged man with black hair with a gruff personality. Each of the wagons were drawn by a team of two horses and had an open bed for cargo. Each wagon also had a single bench wide enough to seat three passengers. Which was somewhat protected from the elements by a small cloth awning. There was also a much smaller seat for the driver which wasn't quite so well protected.
Jake climbed into the first wagon with Sue and her father. Jess and Sam escorted Mary into the second wagon. Steve climbed into the drivers seat of the first wagon. John did the same with the second.
Just before the drivers sat down, they each retrieved and donned a straw hat from under their seats. Sam couldn't help thinking the hats looked out of place to him. He would have expected something with a shape resembling what he thought of as a cowboy hat. Or perhaps a Mexican sombrero. Anything but a tall cone shaped center surrounded by a wide floppy brim, that only needed black paint to look like a witches hat. Steve held up his arm, pointing at the sky. Then he let it fall forward as he yelled “Yo!” As he yelled he flicked the horse's backsides with the tail end of the long reins.
The first wagon hadn't moved more than 5 feet when John spoke softly, “Yo yo.” As he gently swung the reins from side to side causing them to lightly brush against the sides of the horses pulling his wagon. The result was the same as Steve's more vigorous method. Soon both wagons were rolling along an unpaved road at a steady trot.
Neither driver had to do much to keep the horses moving. Every now and then Steve would would slap the wagon with the end of the reins and the horses would take the hint and quicken the pace. Or he'd call out “kay” and they'd slow down. Either way John didn't need to do anything for his horse team to quickly match their speed. Maintaining a distance of two to three wagon lengths from the lead wagon. As soon as they did so however, he immediately sung out in a loud but kindly gentle voice, “That's the way.” Occasionally John would add “Keep it up and I'll find you some carrots.” It didn't seem like either driver had to tell the horses when to turn onto a side road. The horses knew the way home.
“I've noticed a thing or two about this world Jess,” Sam spoke quietly as they road along. “There are a lot of parallels to our ‘Earth’. Right down to kind of names the people have. And while those translator nanites we're infested with, make it hard to tell. I'm pretty sure were still speaking something that sounds a lot like English. So I figure the world these people came from must have been a lot like our Earth. Am I right?”
“Damn near identical!” Jess replied. “Why do you ask?”
“Well I've also noticed that I haven't seen a single Black, Hispanic, or Asian among any of the people I've seen so far,” Sam paused for a moment. “How come?”
Jess looked uncomfortable as he tried to think what to say. Then before he could come up with a suitable answer, Mary spoke up.
“That, I'm ashamed to say, is mostly thanks to our advanced medically enhanced good health,” she said. “All of those ethnic groups and several others as well, were among us when we first migrated to Luna base. But when our ancestors first devised the genetic modification system that eventually gave us such long lives, it's designer did a terrible thing. He was a genius but he was also a racist. Everyone knew that he believed that the so called white race was superior. But few believed that he hated all the other ethnic groups so much as to actually commit genocide. What he didn't tell anyone was that his treatment would gradually render everyone who wasn't ‘genetically white’ sterile, unable to conceive children. By the time that was known, it was far to late.
The initial results of the treatment had been so good that everyone had taken the treatment. He was eventually tried and publicly executed for this terrible deed. But not before he learned that his own children were so horrified by his crime. That they had all committed suicide, rather than live with the shame of it.
We spent most of the next three hundred years trying to find a solution. But to no avail, the last of them passed away without the blessing of children long before we reached Slowlane.”
There were tears in her eyes when she stopped talking. Nobody else thought of anything to say and an awkward silence befell them for the few minutes remaining until they reached the ranch.
As they approached the buildings, Steve once again pointed at the sky. This time, when he let his arm fall he, along with John, both called out with a loud drawn out “kaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!”, as they firmly pulled back on the reins. When the wagons came to a stop, both drivers hopped out and immediately began praising and rubbing their horse's necks. They also gently scratched behind their ears. John pulled a couple of carrots out of his pockets and feed them to his horse team.
“Damn it John,” Steve called out. “You shouldn't spoil them like that.”
“Ram shit!” John called back. “I seen you slipping the horses apples and such when ya think no ones looking.”
As the passengers stepped down from the wagons, Sue invited them all inside.
“It's nearly noon,” she said. “I'll bet Andy will have something good, just waiting for us to sit down for the midday meal.”
They followed her inside the main house. There was a large open room with a dozen chairs around a couple of tables at one end. As well as what looked to be a comfortable lounge at the other. There were two wood stoves in the middle of the room. The smaller one was lit and keeping a pot of some kind of stew hot.
“Hello Andy,” Sue said to a tall, skinny youngish man with brown hair.
“I might have known you'd bring home extra mouths to feed Susan,” Andy replied. “Not to worry though, Ellen, saw you coming up the lane and ran over to the bunkhouse to fetch back a bit more stew before the boys get a chance to finish it off.”
No sooner had he said that than a black haired middle aged women walked in from the back door carrying a fair sized cast iron kettle in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other. She had the appearance of a strong willed woman with a no nonsense attitude. She was also evidently used to doing things herself, judging by the way Andy just got out of her way.
“Hello Sue, Donald,” the woman said.
Then as she walked by the table she tossed the loaf of bread onto it, where it landed neatly on the edge of a serving dish that already held another loaf.
“You can introduce your guests after your all done eating,” Ellen continued. “For now, Andy's stew is hot and my bread's still warm.”
As she approached the wood stove she swung the kettle she was holding forward, grabbing the cloth she had wrapped around the handle with her other hand. Then using both arms, she smoothly lifted it up and set it down next to the kettle Andy had been stirring.
“Sit sit,” she insisted. “I'll have no standing on ceremony here. Besides I'm betting Andy can't wait for you to tell him how good his rabbit stew is this time.”
As she spoke she stepped over to a cupboard. Where she grabbed a stack of bowls and a handful of spoons. Which she quickly laid out at the table. Andy followed her with one of the kettles and a ladle, filling the bowls almost as quickly as she placed them on the table.
“Well you heard Ellen,” Sue said. “Pull up a chair and try the stew.” As she spoke Sue and her father practically jumped into two of the chairs. “Andy here won't feed the rest of it to the boys until he knows what we think of it.” No sooner had she finished speaking than Sue followed her fathers example who was already eating.
Jake decided that the stew smelled too good to pass up and the others followed his example. Once they tasted the stew, nobody wasted time doing anything but following the last spoonful wi
th the next. After a few seconds of listening to them trying not to slurp the Stew. Andy smiled happily.
“That's all I need to know,” he said. “Time to go feed the boys.” Then he walked out the back door.
When both kettles of stew and both loaves of bread were quite gone, Sue introduced her guests to Ellen. Then she explained the details of the horse ride she was planning.
“So you see, I'm supposed to deliver a dozen trail proven horses to a farm just the other side of the bridge from Shipend,” Sue explained. “But If you don't count a few I don't want to part with, I've only got eight that have already proven themselves on a back country trail. So instead of shipping them up the river, I want to ride them there. If you four would care to come along for the ride and everyone leads a second horse which can double as a pack horse. Then I only need to take three of my people from the ranch. This being the season for the annual round up and head count for my wild horses, the fewer ranch hands I take away from the ranch the better.”
Jake looked thoughtful for a moment.
“What say you Mary?” he asked. “Are you up for this?”
“Actually, it's been so long since I've camped out,” Mary answered. “That it sounds like fun to me.”
“Well then, the only problem I see,” Jake continued. “Is that Sam here tells me he's never actually ridden a horse. So if you have one that's not likely to break his fool neck for him, the only other question is when can we leave.”
Sue sounded incredulous when she replied.
“Never ridden?” she asked. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Don't forget Sue,” Mary spoke up. “These boys are outworlders. They come from a world more like ‘Old Earth’ than Slowlane. They are more used to machines than horses.”
“Well I guess that could account for it,” Sue acknowledged. “I suppose he could ride Nelly. That's the old mare I'd choose if I had to put a sick, injured or drunken ranch hand on a horse, to bring him safely home. So I guess we can leave whenever your ready. How about first thing in the morning?”
“That would work alright,” Jake agreed. “But we still have half a days worth of daylight out there. Why waste it?”
“Even better!” Sue said. “I didn't want to rush you. I thought you might want to rest up a bit. But if you'd just as soon start now, my ranch hands can have the horses all geared up and ready to go in half an hour.”
“Just one minute,” Donald spoke up. “I want a word with these outworlders about how they intend to behave around you.”
At this point Sue's nostrils flared.
“I'm not a child father!” she retorted. “I'm a gosh dang prime. And what I choose to do or not to do with any of these gentlemen is my business. Not yours!”
Her father sounded sincere as he apologized.
“I'm sorry Sue girl,” he said. “But in my heart you'll always be my little girl. Besides, I just want to make sure that you get to do the choosing. We've both heard tales about the things a questor like Jake here can do...”
“Actually I'm just an apprentice to a questor,” Jake interrupted. “But I take your meaning and let me assure you, I won't do that. But I also wouldn't interfere with anything she might actually choose to be doing. What I can promise is that I simply will not allow anyone to take that choice away from her. Not even me. Will that do sir?”
Donald just stared Jake in the eyes for a moment.
“For what it's worth Jake, I believe you will try to keep that promise,” he said. Then he glanced at his daughter, who was obviously still irritated with him for meddling in her business, “And I'm guessing that it will have to do.” Then he turned all his attention to Sue. “I'm sorry.” he said again. “Will you forgive me?”
“Of course I will father,” Sue replied. “That is if you'll stop talking about it.” Then she turned to face Jake. “I suppose I should thank you for your pledge to protect me. If half of the things I've heard about you are true, then I shall feel very safe. You are the one who actually stood up without undoing the safety harness aren't you?”
Jake grinned.
“Not exactly,” he quipped. “By the time I was finished standing up, that poor harness was ‘totally undone’. But yes, that was me. When did you hear about that?”
Donald suddenly cleared his throat.
“Wait a minute!” he interrupted. “Do you mean that load of crap about a man ripping through an aircraft safety harness like it was made of paper wasn't just crap? We heard that rumor a couple of hours before we got on the train back in Capital City. Of course, I, didn't believe it.”
“Believe me,” Mary said, as she leaned forward. “It happened.”
To everyone's surprise Sam managed fairly well on the brown and white mare. Except for when, about three hours into the ride, he tried to get her to stop with the expression he learned from movies of the old west. Nelly was obviously getting mixed signals when he pulled back on the reins while calling out “Whoa Nelly.” To Nelly it must have sounded too much like the command “yo”, that they had been taught meant to start moving or to pick up the pace. The confused mare had started to slow down, then broke into a gallop.
“Are you all right Sam?” Jake called out.
For his part Sam made the mistake of yelling over his shoulder, “I'm OK!” When Nelly heard her rider say ‘K’ while he was still pulling back on the reins, she responded to the the command ‘kay’ and stopped so suddenly that Sam was pitched forward over the mare's head.
Fortunately Jess had spent some time over the past few years to teach Sam some basic martial arts. So he landed with a roll and only his pride was hurt. Jake caught up to Sam first and he jumped off Fleetfoot, the black stallion he was riding. While he made sure that Sam wasn't hurt the others caught up.
“I thought you said Nelly wouldn't toss Sam off like this?” Jake gruffly demanded of Sue but he wasn't able to keep a straight face long enough for Sue to answer. He broke out laughing as he explained. “Actually it's not really Sam's fault. On his homeland the traditional commands used to start and stop horses are a bit different than you use here on Slowlane.” Sue quickly gathered that Sam wasn't really hurt and made a suggestion.
“Perhaps we should spend a little time giving Sam a few lessons then,” she said.
Sam's cheeks turned rather reddish.
“No! I don't need any help,” Sam insisted. “I'll be O... all right. At least I won't soon make that mistake again.”
Nelly didn't seem quite as sure about it when he tried to remount her however.
“I can calm her down for you Sam,” Jake suggested after she shied away from him the second time.
“Don't you dare!” Sam pleaded. “I've got to do this myself or I'll never be able to look myself in the eyes again.”
“Alright Sam,” Jake replied. “Your on your own.”
Sam walked over to his pack horse and extracted a sugar tablet from his kit. He held it up so that Nelly could see it as he approached her. For her part, Nelly obviously recognized the peace offering for what it was. So after liberating it from Sam's hand so quickly that he felt like he should count his fingers, Nelly let Sam scratch behind her ears as he made apologetic sounds. After a couple of minutes Sam had worked his way close enough to put his foot in the stirrup. Once he was again on her back, Nelly accepted the fact that he was going to ride her some more.
As they rode the landscape gradually changed from flat grasslands to wooded hills. The sun was approaching the horizon when Sue called a halt. She pointed at a hill to the left side of the trail.
“There's a good spot to camp up there,” she said to Jake. “We will want to get a good nights sleep tonight. We will need to ride from dawn till dusk before we get to the next good campsite.”
Then she dismounted and led her horses up the steep slope. The rest of them followed her example. When they reached the campsite, Jake could see why Sue had recommended it. There was a small tree lined glen with a grassy clearing on the far side of the hill. There wa
s a steady trickle of water flowing from a rocky ledge at one end of what amounted to a very small box canyon. There was only one way for a horse to enter or leave the place and it was easily blocked with a few well placed ropes and a bit of netting that Sue had on her pack horse.
Once they had the horses unsaddled, they were able to let them wander freely. Letting them graze on the grass and drink from the stream as they liked. The steep sides of the glen provided a natural windbreak. There was also a ring of stones that had evidently been the site of many campfires. Sue had brought along two rugged looking rough riders from her ranch. Steve and a short redhead named Tom. Who sounded only a little more friendly than Steve. Which surprised Sam, at first. He had pegged the man as friendly during the ride. After a little while however he realized that almost everything Tom had said once they made camp was to unfavorably compare the camp to a nice warm bunkhouse. He, it seamed, really didn't like sleeping outdoors.
Steve, on the other hand had become almost cheerful as he broke out a harmonica and begin to play. Meanwhile Tom was busy getting a fire going. He never stopped complaining about the need for it as he quickly gathered up a fair sized pile of deadwood and he soon had a fire blazing away. It seamed that while he disliked camping out, he was actually adept at it. By the time there was a decent bed of coals, Ellen, the third and last of the people Sue had brought from her ranch, had a pot of vegetables and water propped up on a couple rocks at the edge of the fire.
“Steve, do you think you could put that away long enough to rustle up a bit of fresh meat for my stew, Ellen asked. “Or are you going to make me use some of the smoked meat in my pack?”
Steve didn't say a word as he pocketed his harmonica. Then taking a sling from his pack he walked into the wooded part of the glen. He was back before the water came to a boil, with a couple of squirrels tied to his belt. Ellen accepted them without comment. She lost no time dressing out the meat. Which she quickly cut into bite sized pieces and tossed into the stew pot, just as it began to boil.
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