The Travelers 1

by Lee Hunnicutt

  They had put a door in the center of one of the long walls and Sonny had insisted on a door in the corner of the cabin at the opposite end from the girl’s room. They used leather straps for hinges. The windows had shutters.

  In Fort Laramie, they had bought three cotton mattresses. For the forth mattress they used two large comforters that they had taken from Anne’s family’s wagon. The mattresses were hard two-inch-thick cotton pads.

  The first night in their cabin, they fired up the stove and Jack cooked up four venison steaks. That morning he had gone out and shot a deer just for the occasion. He garnished the steaks with carrots, onions and potatoes and they broke out four bottles of beer from the case they had bought in Fort Laramie. To them it was a feast. It was the first meal in their new home. It was a special moment.

  When dinner was over, Beth cleared the table and Sonny washed the dishes. Once everything was clean, Sonny picked up the guitar they had taken from Anne’s wagon and began tuning it.

  Beth said, “It’s been two years since we have picked up instruments, except for a drum.

  Anne, do you play?”

  “Yes, the violin, flute and the piano.”

  “I’m impressed,” said Sonny.

  “Well, my father was a music teacher. We all played at least two instruments. My father could play anything he put his hand to. It was a gift. Music came naturally to him.”

  Sonny continued to tune the guitar. He then strummed a major cord, fiddled with the strings again and then, when it met his satisfaction, ran through the scales. The guitar was a good one and its tones were round and mellow.

  Beth was doing the same thing as Sonny with one of the violins.

  Sonny began to play an old song that had been re-released by Willie Nelson. “Golden Earrings”. It was a great song for guitar with violin accompaniment.

  He played the first few bars. Beth smiled and brought the violin up to her chin. Jack went over to Sonny’s pack and pulled out Sonny’ harmonica.

  Sonny began to play and sing the song.

  Anne was mesmerized by the beauty of the music and lyrics.

  All the time Sonny sang the song, he looked down at the guitar and his hands. When he sang the last line of the song, “So be my gypsy. Make love your guiding light and let this pair of golden earrings cast their spell tonight.” He looked directly into Anne’s eyes.

  Nobody said a word, silence.

  Tears streamed down Anne’s face. She broke the silence, “That was so beautiful. What a beautiful love song.” She then sniffed loudly.

  Beth’s eyes brimmed with tears and she said, “This is the first time in two years that I have felt home sick.

  Will I ever hear Willie again or Jerry Jeff?”

  Sonny and Jack let out a collective sigh.

  Jack said, “Yeah, I feel the same way.”

  Sonny said in a melancholy voice, “What are we gonna do?”

  Beth smiled and said, “Well tomorrow you’re going to build your magic outhouse.

  Moping’s not going to get us anywhere. Look at us! We’ve just built this magnificent house and we are about to embark on a brand new adventure. We need to be playing cheery sings not gloomy love songs.”

  She gave the violin to Anne and said, “Anne, play us an Irish jig.”

  Anne beamed, took the violin, stood up and said, “I’ll teach you all how to dance the jig and by the time we leave this valley, you will be step dancing.”

  With that she put the violin to her chin and played a jig.

  When she finished, Beth took the guitar and played “The Witch Doctor” which had a chorus of “OW EE OW AH AH Zing Zang Walla Walla Bing Bang.”

  Within no time their spirits rose and they were soon laughing. They sang a few more songs and talked some. They said their goodnights and then went off to bed.

  As Anne was going to sleep, she thought that something strange was going on here. At first she thought that it was because she was European and these kids were Westerners and of course there would be things that she wouldn’t understand.

  When she was sick, she caught bits and snatches of this feeling. Now that she wasn’t sleeping sixteen hours a day, she saw more of this strangeness. It was things that Beth, Sonny and Jack said and how they said things that didn’t make sense to her.

  She didn’t feel threatened or a sense of danger. It was the way they talked and they said things that didn’t add up. She went to sleep pondering these questions.

  The next day Sonny and Jack set about building Sonny’s magic outhouse.

  They had built the cabin on the edge of the slope going down to the river. They built an eight foot by eight foot room connected to the cabin. The room was partly on short piers going down the slope. Entrance to the room was through the door that Sonny had insisted on. At the end of the room, they built a one holer toilet. Beneath the toilet they had constructed a box that had a radically slanted floor. The idea behind this was to be able to lift a sliding door on one end of the box to allow water in. The water was to flush any waste matter out of the box through a hole and down a piece of stove pipe to a large hole in the ground that was to act as a septic tank.

  The boys had diverted part of the stream that ran by the house through a narrow flume so that the water ran by the back window into an open box and then out of the box and down the flume past the toilet. When the door to the waste box was open, part of the water from the flume would spill into the waste box and flush the box out. They used pitch as a sealant.

  The open box near the rear window was so they could reach out of the window with a bucket and get water for cooking or washing. It was a clever plan and to the boys surprise it worked.

  It needed debugging. At first the water ran into the house from the box near the window. In the toilet they had to keep the door to the waste box from leaking. They didn’t want the septic tank overflowing. Eventually they got everything working just fine.

  The boys were rather proud of themselves and so were the girls. In fact, the girls were downright delighted. The boys had intentionally built the room large so that it could be used as a shower room also. The shower was yet to be built but Sonny said it was on the drawing board.

  The next day, after one of Jack’s large breakfasts, they took the day off and the four of them rode out to explore the canyon. Sonny gave Anne his saddle and rode bareback.

  It was almost two weeks since Anne had been shot. She was feeling better now and much stronger. She was looking forward to this outing.

  They rode to the western most end of the canyon. As they approached the end of the canyon, the ground began a gradual rise for about half a mile and was mostly dense forest. The forest opened up to rough rocky ground rising steeply up the end of the canyon wall. The river cascaded over two hundred feet of almost sheer cliff facing. It was beautiful.

  They rode back along the river to where the forest gave way to a flat grassy area that was a mile long and as wide as the canyon, which was about two miles. There were some clumps of trees and some hills but this was mainly an open area. Where the snow had melted there were patches of grass and in the distance they could see a few deer grazing.

  Anne said, “This place is paradise.”

  “Yeah,” said Sonny “but it would be hell in the winter.”” He pointed to the unmelted snow “You can tell by the drifts that the snow in the winter probably gets thirty to forty feet high in some places.

  The deer you see here probably go in and out of the canyon the same way we came in. They probably go to lower altitudes in the winter months.”

  “Yes,” she said, “but in spring and summer it’s Eden.”

  At noon they stopped by the river and ate cold venison, large pickles and bread and drank ice cold water out of the river.

  They got back to the cabin by midafternoon. They pastured the horses and Jack fired up the stove.

  They pulled their mattresses around the stove and lounged the rest of the day away telling stories.

  Anne was dy
ing to know about the Indians. The three of them told her about life with the Cheyenne, about the thrill and danger of buffalo hunting, about sitting around the tribal fire and listening to the storytellers tell of the history and the magic of the Cheyenne.

  When they paused, Anne said, “I want to know the Cheyenne and to hunt the buffalo. Will you take me with you when you next go to visit them?”

  This caught the three by surprise. They didn’t know what to say.

  Beth finally said, “What about your family? You do have some family in Ireland, don’t you?”

  Anne looked a little hurt and said, “No, I’m completely orphaned like you and if you’ll have me … I mean I thought….”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. She cursed her tears “Damn.”

  Beth crawled over to her and put her arms around her and said, “Of course, we’re your family now. It’s just that this is the first time that it came up. None of us had ever thought of it. That’s all.

  Isn’t that right boys?”

  Sonny and Jack knew the correct answer to that and both of them stumbled all over themselves to assure Anne that Beth was speaking for them.

  “Absolutely Anne, Beth speaks for us all here,” said Sonny.

  “That’s right,” said Jack.

  Anne sniffed loudly and said, “Is it true? You won’t leave me?”

  Jack was sitting next to her. He reached over and took her hand and said, “We’ll never leave you, Anne. We’re tighter than ticks on a horse’s ass.”

  “That’s right, Anne,” said Sonny. “We’re just like the musketeers ‘All for one and one for all.’”

  Anne gave a weak smile and Beth gave her a hearty pat and said, “Tell us about Ireland.”

  Anne told of an emerald isle full of beauty and magic, the stories her Grandmother told her of the Wee People. She told of how green the island was.

  The best times that she told of was of her time spent every summer in her Grandfather’s summerhouse south of Waterford on the coast overlooking the sea.

  She told of a happy childhood and of a loving family. She didn’t retell the story of their downfall. She kept her story light and full of the good memories.

  That night in bed, as much as she tried to fight it, she began crying. She tried to be as quiet as possible but Beth heard her.

  Beth got out of bed and crawled under the covers with Anne. She held her and comforted her as best she could.

  She said, “I know how you feel. I know how much you hurt but the hurt will go away. I promise you, it will go away.”

  “It hurts so much” Anne sobbed, “and when I started talking about…about home. I tried to be brave. I …”

  “I am so sorry,” said Beth. “It was so insensitive of me to ask you about Ireland. I’m so stupid. What was I thinking of?”

  “No, I liked telling you of home. You and the boys have been so good to me. I owe you everything.”

  The boys could hear the muffled voices and the sobbing. It made them feel helpless and awkward and it filled them with a great sadness.

  Beth slept with Anne that night, comforting her and holding her.

  The next day, the atmosphere at breakfast was a little uncomfortable but the excitement of actually setting up the sluice and beginning the mining operation was too much to contain.

  Jack was the first to start talking, “Let’s set up right here. This valley is so rich one place could be as good as another. We can always look elsewhere but for right now, let’s start here.

  What do you think?”

  Beth said, “I’m game. What about you Sonny?”

  “Let’s do it. I’m like Jack. I can’t wait.”

  Beth looked at Anne who had been silent throughout all of this. “What do you think Anne?”

  Anne looked up. It was obvious that she hadn’t expected to a part of this conversation. It shocked her and pleased her at the same time.

  She smiled and in doing so she melted the boy’s hearts.

  “Yes let’s get started. Let’s get very, very rich.”

  The boys and Beth whooped with excitement.

  The unexpected noise startled Anne. She jumped and for the first time since they had known her, she laughed.

  They all laughed with her.

  “Let’s go.” yelled Sonny. “We’re not going to get very, very rich sitting here on our asses.”

  When they had gone to the sawmill in Fort Laramie they had the wood for their sluice custom cut. Not knowing what to expect, they had prepared enough sluice lengths for fine gold mining and had had six twelve foot boxes precut. A sluice box this long is for mining fine gold dust. They had determined that the gold to be found here would be nuggets, small granules and flakes. They would start with three twelve foot boxes.

  They would pan the spill at the end of the sluice to see how much gold was escaping the box. This would determine if they needed to add more sections of boxes.

  They began by assembling the sluice. At the top of the sluice was a two stage hopper or flume. These hoppers were lined with sheet metal. They would dump their dirt and rock into the top hopper where the large rocks would be examined and discarded. The dirt and smaller rocks would then be washed into the second hopper, which had a quarter inch heavy metal screen mesh over the bottom end of the flume. This was to filter out all but the finer dirt and rock.

  In each box below the flume there were riffle boards. The riffle boards were two inches wide, one-inch-deep and thirty-six inches long. The riffle boards fit into groves in the sides and bottom of the sluice box. The floors of the sluice boxes were carpeted with a heavy burlap.

  Each box was stair stepped beneath the box above it so that the contents of the upper box fell into the box below.

  When water was released, the water would wash the dirt and rock out of the top hopper into the bottom hopper. The drop into the bottom hopper could be as high as two feet. The drop was intended to break up the dirt into smaller clumps. This dirt would then run down the second hopper where it would hit the screen. If the dirt was thick and clumpy, someone would be working the dirt with a shovel breaking it up so that when it hit the screen most of the dirt and small gravel would pass through the screen. The dirt would then drop down onto the sluice box and begin flowing over the riffle boards.

  The gold, being very heavy, would drop out behind the riffle boards and the lighter dirt would wash down and out of the sluice boxes back into the river. The burlap was there to help the gold stick to the surface. It was also there to trap the very small pieces of gold.

  Once assembled, the kids carried the flumes and boxes down by the river. They now had to find a place to set up. An ideal site would be where the river ran over an incline. All they needed was a drop of a few feet, which they found a little way down river.

  They set the box up at the bottom of the drop and then began digging a channel from the top of the drop to the top of the first hopper. Sonny and Beth went back for more wood so that they could build a flume to better control the water that was to flow into the hopper.

  When they were out of earshot, Sonny said to Beth, “This is going to be strange Beth. It has always been just the three of us. It’s strange to think about someone else being with us. I don’t know what to think about it.”

  “I know Sonny. I don’t know what to think about it myself. But I don’t know what to do about it. We can’t abandon her.” She shook her head, “I don’t know what to do or think.”

  “Well, if she is to be one of us, we have to make up our minds to accept her wholeheartedly, no half measures here. If that’s the case, we’re going to have to tell her all about us and we need to bring Jack in on this.”

  “You’re right.”

  She then turned and called, “Hey Jack, we’re goin’ to need some help.”

  Jack was clearing a path for the flume. He looked up and said to Anne, “They can’t make a move without me.”

  As he turned to go and join Beth and Sonny, he looked over his shoulder and said, “We
’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Anne was sitting on a large rock. She said, “Go on. I’ll be fine.”

  Jack took off at a trot.

  When he caught up to them, Sonny said, “We need to talk.”

  “Yeah, I know,” said Jack.

  “What do you think we should do about Anne?” said Beth.

  “We’re going to be here for five to six months. If she is truly going to become one of us, we need to tell her who we are, where we’re from. I don’t know how we’re gonna do that.

  If we do tell her, will she believe us? I wouldn’t. Hell I don’t know if I believe it.”

  Beth said, “If we tell her, she becomes a full partner. I know how I feel about her. How do you two feel about her?”

  Sonny said, “I like her. I think she has spunk. She took one Hell of a hit here and she’s held up pretty well.”

  “I agree,” said Jack. “Remember how we reacted to that family that Spotted Horse and his pals slaughtered? We were basket cases and those people weren’t even related to us.

  Anne was not only shot but she lost her family. My heart goes out to her and like Sonny, I think she has guts.”

  “OK, we tell her,” said Beth. “Who’s goin’ to tell her?”

  “You,” said Sonny. “You’re the closest to her. She likes us but she trusts you.”

  “Sonny’s right. It has to be you.”

  Beth exhaled, looked at the boys and said, “OK, after supper. Jack, you fix a great meal tonight and after we eat, I’ll tell her.”

  “That’s easy for you to say Beth. After a hard day in the mines I have to come home and slave over a hot stove and for what? A bunch of ingrates, that’s for what.

  And you told me that I was more than just a pretty face.”

  Beth smiled, put her arm around Jack and cupped the side of his face in her hand and said, “Of course you are Jack.”

  She then dropped the arm she had around his waist and grabbed him on the butt. “You’ve got a great ass too.”

  Jack put his head on her shoulder and said, “Thank you Beth, I needed that. Now I can carry on.”