Friends of the Family (The Colter Saga Book 1)

by Joel Baker

  “What about you Franklin?” Jasper asked. “You got anything to add?”

  “No,” Franklin said. “I think they covered it pretty well. I can tell you stories of what the Haskin boys and their old man did over the years to black folk, but it’s in line with what they told you.”

  “I think I got the picture,” Jasper said. “I would like to hear some specifics about how those Haskin boys died. Now Clarence appears to have been cut in half with a sawed-off shotgun and Calvin looks like he took a head shot from close range from a high-powered rifle,” Jasper said as he looked across the street to where Cole stood.

  “What I can’t tell is how Teddy died,” Jasper said. “I wonder who or what could have damn near decapitated him like that?”

  Jesse looked Jasper in the eye.

  “Those details are a little fuzzy,” Jesse said. “I’m responsible for everything that happened. I’d really appreciate it if that was where you left it.”

  “Okay, I will,” Jasper said. “But I got to tell you Jesse, in all my days, I never knew three men that needed killing more than those Haskin boys. Now if you want to have Franklin run that wagon out to the ravine north of town, we’ll be well rid of them. We can go have a cup of coffee and relax.”

  “Franklin will be coming with me,” Jesse said. “I hope that’s not a problem in this town.”

  “Franklin’s always welcome in Linden,” Jasper said.

  “Glad to hear it,” Jesse said. “Cole, make that dump run north of town and then look us up. Bud would you give Cole a hand?”

  “Sure Jesse. No problem,” Bud said.

  “Thanks, Jesse said. “Jasper, what should we do with the Haskin horses?”

  “Sell them or keep them, Jesse, that’s up to you,” Jasper said. “Now let’s go have some coffee and pie. I got one more thing to say before we go anywhere. You keep those bears you call dogs close to you. I like my neck just the way it is.”

  The three men walked down to the diner, scraped their shoes off, and entered the small eatery. Ten tables covered with red and white checkered tablecloths sat in front of a long counter. Jasper chose a table towards the front just as a heavyset woman came out of the kitchen door wearing an apron covered in white flour.

  “Jesse, my wife, Betty,” Jasper said. “Betty this here’s Jesse Colter and his friend Franklin.”

  After the introductions, Betty brought out heavy coffee mugs and matching plates with large wedges of blueberry pie. The men visited for a while about the weather and things in general as they finished their pie.

  “How do you explain Linden?” Jesse asked. “We came nearly four hundred miles to get here, and Linden was the first town we saw that looked like it was still a community.”

  Jasper thought for minute before answering.

  “It helped that I was already the county sheriff,” Jasper said. “When the refugees from up north starting arriving, and the phones, electricity and everything else stopped working, people kind of looked to me for answers. We made it up as we went along. Some of it involved frontier justice like you went through yesterday.”

  “When we first got here,” Jesse said. “A market was set up in the middle of the street. How do people pay for stuff?”

  “Barter mostly,” Jasper said. “Let’s say you got a chicken and I got some coal oil or a pie or something. If I want that chicken, we negotiate until we decide to trade. Takes a while to figure out, but you’ll get the hang of it. You find out real quick what has value, and what’s just old stuff nobody wants anymore. There’s a lot of that.”

  “Do you have any idea where all the people from up north went?’ Jesse asked. “We came from southwest Ohio after a hard winter. It was almost deserted by the time we left. With no TV or radio, we couldn’t even find out what was going on.”

  “I’m not real sure,” Jasper said. “We heard rumors from people passing through. God only knows how many people died. We had long lines of people filing through here for months. Lots of them were sick. But mostly, it was like some people just ran out of grit. Broke your heart it did, especially if they had little ones. But, nothing we could do. We just kept saying there was nothing here and to keep moving to those poor souls.”

  “Where were they all headed?” Jesse asked.

  “Mostly they were heading south and west,” Jesse said. “A lot of them were looking for relatives. I suspect those with some family and spunk, are homesteading some place and surviving on guts and determination. There wasn’t much of that around towards the end. Some people just gave up. Those are the lumps of clothing you see in cars by the side of the road.”

  Cole and Bud walked in and got their coffee and pie. They sat down at the table next to the men. Jasper studied Cole closely.

  “Cole? How old are you?” Jasper asked.

  “I turned seventeen about three weeks ago,” Cole answered.

  “You strike me as someone that can handle himself,” Jasper said. “You ever think about becoming a law man?”

  “Well if I can get another slice of this pie,” Cole said, smiling. “I would seriously consider it,”

  “I thought that in a year or two,” Jasper said. “You might want to come up here to Linden and work with my son Luther and me for a few months. You might take it up as a trade. We’re going to need strong honest men that aren’t afraid to pull a trigger if need be. Judging from your daddy here, it runs in the family.”

  Jesse and Cole looked at each other and smiled.

  “All three of my boys are straight and strong,” Jesse said. “What do you think, Cole?”

  “I think that would be very interesting,” Cole said.

  “I know we’re going to need somebody in Eagle Rock about that time Cole,” Bud said. “Maybe you could come back to the Rock and look after us when Jasper’s through with you up here.”

  “I think we got us a plan,” Jasper said.

  “Well, we got to be heading back home or Franklin and I will be sleeping in the barn,” Jesse said.

  “Spent a few nights there myself,” Jasper said smiling.

  “Good chance you’ll be there tonight,” Betty yelled from the kitchen.

  “Woman’s got ears that can hear anything,” Jasper whispered.

  When everyone was mounted and ready to head out, Jesse rode over to where Jasper and Betty stood.

  “Jasper, thanks for everything,” Jesse said. “Betty, the pie was wonderful, and if my wife Sarah can just get the bread to rise, we’ll bring some to trade for your pie the next time we’re up here.”

  “Don’t you worry about it, Jesse,” Betty said. “You just make sure that the next time you come, you bring that wife of yours with you. Franklin, you make sure your wife comes too.”

  The small procession headed towards Haven. It was well after dark when they came down East Ridge road and saw the cabins with light streaming from the windows. Sarah and Hattie sat in the rockers on the front porch. Mark, Paul and Lily sat on the steps. Boss and Daisy were there, with their puppies sitting beside them, in a row.

  Jesse stopped Abby to admire the scene and wait for the wagon to catch up.

  What a beautiful sight, Jesse thought. This is where we should be. It’s good to be home!

  Chapter 24

  Jesse healed slowly over the next month. Franklin showed the boys how to harness a team of horses, and the difference between gee and haw. Jesse supervised the conversion of the truck into a power takeoff for the logging saw. Cole and Mark were put to work felling trees with trunks a foot in diameter, and sixteen to twenty feet in length. The ringing of axes and the sound of crosscut saws resounded off the sides of the ridges.

  They used logging chains and Fisher to drag the logs down to the saw. Jesse and Franklin repaired the takeoff belt and mounted it on the rear axle of the truck. When they were ready, Franklin and the boys hoisted one of the logs up onto the rollers of the cutting table. Jesse fired up the truck and the belt turned freely.

  “Paul, you climb up in the cab and give
it some gas when it starts cutting,” Jesse said.

  The dogs sat side by side on the porch watching with apparent interest. Jesse yelled to Franklin to engage the blade and Franklin grabbed the large lever and pulled it towards him. The saw blade started to spin slowly and picked up speed until it was humming at a high whine.

  “Mark, start feeding the log, slowly,” Jesse said.

  Mark started the log forward. The first cuts were intended to square the log and remove the bark. When wood met the steel blade the resulting scream sent the dogs running in all directions. After the first cut, they rolled the log back and rotated it a quarter turn and repeated the process. It took ten minutes to square the first log. After four passes, the beam was a solid square, nine inches on a side.

  They shut the truck down. The women came out on the front porch. The men stood around admiring their first squared timber. Franklin and Mark were both covered with sawdust from head to foot. The sweet smell of fresh-cut wood hung in the air. All the men shook hands and slapped each other on the back with congratulations. There were high-fives and at least two chest-bumps in celebration.

  “You men,” Hattie finally said, with some disgust. “You just cut the log, you didn’t make the tree.”

  Everyone looked as Hattie disappeared back into the house, and started laughing.

  “See what I got to put up with?” Franklin said, with some pride.

  "I heard that Franklin Pierce!” Hattie yelled from inside the house.

  Franklin bowed his head in defeat, but was laughing along with everyone else.

  Jesse gave Paul the job of dragging the scraps from the squaring process down to a shed and piling them for later use. As the sawdust formed a small mountain, Jesse decided to save it as well; Paul was given a wheelbarrow and shovel.

  That night Jesse sat down with some pencils and paper, and did some figuring. He felt that with the trees available, providing timbers and boards for Haven would be important. Excess lumber could be used to trade for whatever else they would need going forward.

  Jesse was confident they could sustain themselves with the food they raised in Haven. But they would need something of value to meet their other needs. Timber was a good possibility, except for one problem. From what they’d got done today, Jesse calculated that their fuel for the truck would be gone before they cut enough timber to build up Haven, let alone have extra for trading.

  “Paul, run next door and see if Franklin can come over,” Jesse said. “Find Mark and tell him to come in here too.”

  Paul ran out the door. Franklin and Mark came back a few minutes later with Paul, and all three sat down around the table next to Jesse. Jesse told them his ideas about a lumbering operation and the need to come up with a permanent power source to drive the saw.

  “OK guys, here’s the deal,” Jesse said. “We need a way to drive that saw after we run out of diesel fuel. If we don’t find a way to drive it, someone’s going to be in the hole.”

  “What do you mean?” Mark asked.

  “Before people used power saws, they used a cross cut pit,” Jesse explained. “You laid a timber or log across a pit about eight feet deep. One guy crawled into the pit and one stayed up with the log. They’d start the crosscut saw with one pulling and the other pushing. They would adjust the log across the pit until they’d cut the full length.”

  “It was really bad up top,” Franklin said. “But nobody wanted to be in the hole. It was hot, tiring, and dirty work.’

  “We need a way to power that saw,” Jesse said. “Let's brainstorm a little.”

  Everyone sat for a while and looked around the room and at each other with blank stares. Jesse thought that this was going nowhere fast.

  “Let me start,” Jesse said. “If we could get our hands on a boiler or steam engine, we might be able to make that work. In fact that would be best. You could use coal and in a pinch wood scraps to heat the boiler. Anybody know where we could get a steam engine?”

  Nobody did. Paul was deep in thought while Mark and Franklin looked at the ceiling and the floor. Paul’s face lit up with an idea.

  “Dad,” Paul said. What if we rigged a crank like the fan on the forge?”

  “We would have a hard time keeping a saw blade spinning, but good idea,” Jesse said, thinking it over. “Wait a minute! Paul may be on to something.”

  Everybody looked first at Paul, and then Jesse.

  “Franklin, our creek is deep and fast,” Jesse said. “The principle behind a water wheel is that it turns slowly, but consistently. If you connect a small wheel to a large wheel with a drive belt, the small wheel spins many times faster than the big wheel.”

  Both Franklin and Mark looked confused.

  “Look. If a wheel, twenty feet around, completes six complete revolutions per minute, how many feet would a belt advance in that minute?” Jesse asked.

  More confused looks came from Franklin and Mark.

  “One hundred and twenty?” Paul ventured.

  “Bingo,” Jesse said. “Now if we hooked a belt onto the saw drive hub that’s one foot in diameter, how fast would the saw turn?”

  “Same answer. One hundred and twenty,” Paul said.

  "Correct,” Jesse said. “Now, double the speed of the big wheel. How fast is the saw blade spinning?”

  “Two hundred forty turns a minute,” Paul answered.

  “If you two don’t mind, Franklin and I are going to leave,” Mark said. “We’re getting a headache listening to you two.”

  As they left, Paul moved over by his dad and they began drawing pictures and planning how a water wheel could be constructed capable of driving a saw blade through timbers. They worked late that evening and Jesse went to bed thinking about flywheels and transfer vectors. Jesse was truly happy.

  Sarah lay in bed next to Jesse, listening to his excitement over Paul’s mechanical aptitude and getting started on the water wheel. Sarah placed her hand on her stomach and felt a hard little ball. She smiled to herself as she sensed growing life. She fell asleep thinking of names.

  Jessica, she thought. I’ve always loved the name Jessica.

  ****

  The next morning Cole, Mark, Franklin and Paul joined Jesse on the front steps.

  “We’ve got to get organized,” Jesse said. “The garden’s in, but we have to get started on the corn, hay, wheat, and oats on the north side of the valley. Franklin, what do you need to make that happen?”

  “I think Mark and I can handle the plowing, dragging, and harrow work. But we’ll need help with the planting. With Fisher and that other big horse, we should be ready to plant in a week or so.”

  “Did you say ‘That other big horse’? Jesse asked. “We got to come up with better names.”

  “Mark and I actually did come up with names for the horses,” Franklin said. “But we weren’t sure what you’d think.”

  "What were they?” Jesse asked.

  “We named the big ones Calvin and Clarence and the little one Teddy,” Franklin said.

  “Okay,” Jesse said. “You and Mark take Fisher and… Calvin out and get started. As for the names, I couldn’t come up with better names than those three horse’s asses. The names will remind us to stay alert,” Jesse said.

  “Amen to that,” Franklin said.

  “Cole,” Jesse said. “I need you to scout out the area around Haven. If you find people living anywhere around here, you watch them. When you think it’s safe, introduce yourself. If we got another nest like the Haskin brothers nearby, I want to know it first. Decent folk we’ll want to meet and get to know. Keep track of anything that might be of use to us that looks abandoned. We’re interested in everything, but especially steam engines, boilers, and old farm equipment. Ride Clarence, and if you can get one of the dogs to go, take one of the friends with you.”

  “What you going to be doing Dad?” Mark asked.

  “Paul and I are going to build a water wheel,” Jesse said. “Franklin, we still got all those acetylene tanks from the tr
uck?”

  “Sure do. Why?” Franklin asked.

  “Because I need the tanks to weld the paddles on our new water wheel,” Jesse said.

  Chapter 25

  The next six months brought big changes to the valley. Paul helped his dad, and Lily hung on every word Hattie said. Hattie knew a lot about folk medicine and Lily soaked it up like a sponge. They would go on long walks on the ridges.

  “Just remember that every plant I’m going to show you has good effects,” Hattie told Lily. “We group them as either for sickness or wounds. Some, believe it or not, are good for both. For right now, just remember which is good for what.”

  “Okay,” Lily said.

  Hattie leaned over and picked up a small leafy plant growing next to a fallen log.

  “Now this here’s called Feverfew,” Hattie said, as she bent over the frail plant. “You can tell it by its fine feather petals. Can you guess what it's good for?”

  “Fevers?” Lilli said.

  “Yes,” Hattie said. “Fevers, but it’s good for those that get real bad headaches too. When someone chews it though they got to be careful to just chew a little, or it will give them mouth sores.”

  Hattie walked a few steps over by some ferns and picked up another plant.

  “Now this plant with the odd-looking pods is called Skullcap,” Hattie said. “An old Cherokee woman told me about this, when I was just a little girl your age. You make a tea drink using the pod once it’s been dried and ground up. It’s good for calming your nerves and digestion. It’s real good if you’re having a particular hard time of the month.”

  “Has your mama told you about that yet?” Hattie asked.

  “No,” Lily said, looking confused.

  “You got time so don’t you worry about it,” Hattie said. “Well looky here! See this pretty yellow flower? That’s called Marigold. It’s a really good plant God gave us. Now this is one of those plants that can be used inside or out. You pick the flowers like this. Lily, you need a whole bunch of them. You put just the flowers in a wood bowl and you smash them until they give up their oil. It becomes a kind of paste. That paste’s good for burns, infections, and all sorts of things when it’s spread on the skin. You just eat the dried petals and it will help cure a stomachache or inflammations. Best of all, the flowers are so pretty, these we plant up around the house just to look at.”