As the Eagle Flies

by J. D. Oliver

  It was two hours later when they came back, Faith heard them coming, she went out on the veranda, “You missed lunch, aren’t you hungry?” Faith said.

  “Oh, we found an apple tree, and a wild plum bush, Alita liked the plums, they were soft, I had to chew the apple a little bit for her.” Rosie said.

  Alita had plum juice down the front of her, but she had a big smile. Rosie handed her down to Faith, then Rosie took Wind Walker back to the barn and grained him. At least she didn’t have any tack to mess with, nothing to take off of the horse, cause he didn’t have any on.

  As Rosie came back, I asked her, “How did you know what was safe to eat?”

  “Oh, that was easy, Windy ate some first, he even pawed up some root stuff, some kind of tuber, I think, he ate some first, so I tried it, it was good. I didn’t give any to Alita though.”

  Alita wasn’t that full, she reached into Faith’s blouse, she wanted some milk. Faith was only too happy to oblige, she was getting a little full. It wouldn’t be too long till she would start to wean her. Faith popped one out, and Alita latched on. There was a shawl on one of the veranda chairs, I draped it around Faiths shoulder’s.

  Faith smiled up at me, and mouthed the words, ‘you big prude.’ Yeah, I suppose I was. Faith and Rosie winked at each other.

  When Alita had had her fill, she sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and reached her arms out to me. I took her, she pointed to her bottom. Sure, save the dirty jobs for me, that’s just like a woman. I took her in the house and changed her. Faith followed us in, “You need a bath young lady, would you like to go swimming?”

  All four us went to that swimming hole where Faith and I first made love, I made sure though that the women brought their swimming suits. And I brought something else, I never went anywhere, anymore without my gun, one never knows, does one?

  I said they brought their swimming suits, and they had them on when they got in the water, but the next thing I knew they were tossing them on the bank. I got out and went and laid in the sun on the bank and went to sleep. Let the nymphs play, I didn’t have to watch.

  I was glad they didn’t let me sleep too long, Faith woke me up, said I had better move to the shade or I would get a bad burn. She stood over me with water dripping down her thighs. “Where are the kids?” I asked. One big drop fell from her right breast and hit me between the eyes. “They went back to the house,” Faith said, as she pulled my trunks down.

  When we got back to the house, both kids were taking a nap. After that work out, I think we needed one also. But Dad and Felicia wanted to talk.

  “Well, we talked to Jake and Alona, I guess we’re all in consensus, to try and get an independent driller to drill for oil on our place.” Dad said.

  “Okay then, what do you want us to do?” I asked.

  “Well we thought that you and Faith could hunt one up for us.” Felicia said.

  “Alright, Faith what would you say to a little trip to Montana?” I said, looking at my lovely wife.

  “What about the children? Are they going with us?” Faith asked.

  “That’s up to you, I don’t think it will be too dangerous. But then again we didn’t think our trip to Santa Fe would be either.” I said.

  “Well, you could leave them here,” Felicia said. “Just leave some breast milk in the Fridge. Since Rosie is with us now, she and Alita are together most of the time.”

  “Miguel has already checked and serviced the plane, so you could leave tomorrow.” Dad said.

  “I guess so. But let me give all of you some advice,” I said, looking back and forth between them. “I think everyone on the ranch, the adults that is, should go armed.”

  Felicia said, “Goodness why?”

  “Trust me on this, it’s just a feeling I have. Times are changing, people have no natural affection. Also, this land grant thing, greed overcomes common sense. Just be prepared. As far as Rosie goes, you can consider her an adult and trust her the same.”

  Just then Rosie came in the room, carrying Alita, “What are we talking about?” she asked.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Rosie.” Faith said, then she filled her in on our plans. Rosie said, “Don’t underestimate the kids on this ranch, they can handle themselves. Did you know that Juan can kill a rabbit on the run at fifty yards with his sling?”

  “No, I did not know that. But I tell you what, Rosie. You’re in charge of organizing them. You’re right most adults underestimate what kids can do. Let’s hope the bad people do anyway. Along that line of thought, do you remember the movie ‘Cowboys’ with John Wayne? They were all kids, but they beat older men, because the men underestimated the boys.”

  “No, I never seen that movie, but I do understand what you’re saying, that’s why I was so good at pick pocketing, people never expected a kid to pick their pocket.”

  Dad and Felicia looked at each other, “What’s this?” Dad said.

  “Uh, I didn’t fully explain about Rosie, she was taken against her will by those pickpocket couple we told you about. They had trained her to pick pockets. And oh yeah Dad, while we’re gone, I was wondering if you would contact the ranch’s lawyer and start making arrangements for us to legally adopt Rosie?”

  “Sure, no problem. Is that what you want Rosie?” Dad asked her.

  “Yes, oh yes, of course I do! This is what I’ve wanted all of my life.” Rosie said, as she came over and gave Faith and I a big hug.

  “Are you going to check in on the home place in Wyoming, as long as you’ll be flying over it?” Dad asked.

  “Yes, I thought I would. I know we don’t have to worry about it, I’m sure Red and Daisy are running the place Okay.” I said. Faith spoke up;

  “Who are Red and Daisy?”

  “Cousins of my Mother. We run about 500 Cow and Calf pairs. Red is the Foreman for us. Daisy his wife cooks for the hands and keeps the books. They are very competent.” I said.

  “How come you never mentioned them before?” Faith said.

  “I don’t know. Really the ranch belongs to Dad, I just didn’t think it was important.” I said.

  “Felicia,” Faith said, turning to her, “did you know about that?”

  “Yes, of course, Karl told me all about it. Don’t be mad at Clay. He’s right, the Big Horn Basin Ranch is in Karl’s and my name, now. As is this ranch. But we have already had a new will drawn up, all of you kids are in it.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t worried about that, I was just upset that he didn’t tell me all about it, you know how noisy I am.” Faith said.

  “And it’s well that you should be sweetheart,” I said, “don’t worry, from now on you’ll know everything. I guess it’s just that so much has been happening, so fast. That our home place didn’t seem important.”

  With that, the confab broke up. It was about an hour till supper time. So, we used the time to pack for our trip. I checked my guns over. It seems we had gathered guns like a ditch does tumbleweeds. But they were all standard size. Faith wanted something a little smaller. “I know,” Faith said,

  “In the hall closet, where we keep all the guns, Teddy had bought me a little .32 Auto. But he said he reloaded the shells. He took out the lead and shaved some of it off of the butt end. That way there was more room for extra powder, he said he changed it into a magnum.”

  “Well why don’t you go get it, make sure you bring the ammo with it. I’ll finish packing. That was one thing the Navy taught me, is how to fold and pack clothes.”

  We only took one suitcase a piece. We wouldn’t be gone that long. Faith came back with the pistol, along with four extra clips for it and a box of shells. We laid out our clothes for the morrow. Jeans, boots, western shirts and overall jackets. With the needed hats by Stetson. I made sure the jackets were loose enough to accommodate the guns and extra clips.

  Chapter Seven

  That night in bed I got to thinking about Teddy, you know, Faith’s Ex. On how he seemed to be somewhat of an over achiever. Faith rolled
over and said, “What’s wrong? How come you’re not sleeping?

  “What made you pick me? I mean, your late husband seemed to be perfect. And I know I’m certainly not.”

  “What brought all of this on?”

  “He seemed to be able to do anything, so why did you want me?” I said. Faith sighed, and snuggled closer. Then she said,

  “I know it may seem that Teddy was the perfect husband, but he wasn’t. I’m not going to list all of his faults. But I know one of the reasons I wanted you and still do. But in order for me to explain that, let me tell you one of his faults. When we had been married for about a year. One of my friends suddenly became a divorced single mother. Teddy and I were talking, and he said that she was going to have a hard time finding a husband now.” Faith gave another sigh and tried to crawl inside of me, then she continued.

  “I asked him why? He told me, ‘well she has a kid, I know I wouldn’t want to raise another man’s kid.’ I couldn’t believe he said that. I was very disappointed in him.

  And do you remember what you said when you brought Alita to me, while I was sleeping? Anyway, you said that it was as if she was yours! Well, that cinched it for me, your goose was cooked. So go to sleep, or do you want to have sex?”

  “Can’t we do both? I mean sex first, then sleep?”

  “You got it bucko, top or bottom? Faith said.

  “Yeah,” I said…….

  The next morning our plans changed some. We had planned on going, the two of us. But seeing Rosie’s downcast countenance, changed our minds. Alita also had a pouting lip on her, almost to the ground. How Alita knew that we were planning on leaving them home beats me. But as soon as we said they could go, she smiled. Big time.

  It didn’t take Rosie long to pack bags for the two of them.

  The whole family followed us to the air pasture. You really couldn’t call it an airstrip. As I stowed our suitcase in the plane. I noticed Rosie’s was a little heavy. “What do you have in here, bricks?” I asked her.

  “No, you said we should all go armed. I just got a weapon from the closet, along with ammo.”

  “Uh, do you know how to shoot?” I asked her with bated breath.

  “Sure, I read up on it, nothing to it. I got on the internet last night, it showed me how.” Rosie said.

  “What kind of a gun do you have in here?” I asked.

  “It’s called an Uzi, for its size it holds more shells and shoots them faster. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

  I looked at Faith, my eyes were asking her to step in here. She said, “Sure it is Honey. But we have a rule around here, we never draw a gun without intending to use it.

  So don’t go waving it around a like a kid, which you are not, we trust you.”

  Rosie was glowing, at the praise that she was not a kid. So far she had proved herself. After we got in the air, I asked Faith. “Just how many guns were in that closet?”

  “A lot, besides the ones on the back closet wall, if you open that wall there is a room back there, it is full of guns and ammunition.”

  “Why in the world so many, were they expecting a war?” I said.

  “I don’t know. But have you ever noticed the gun slots in all of the outside walls. I guess the local Indians, about three hundred years ago, would come by and just take potshots at the house. Those walls are three feet thick. Teddy told me they believed in being prepared.”

  Being that we left from our own private airfield, I didn’t file a flight plan. So when I reached 20,000 ft. I got on the radio with Denver and filed one. The plane was flying a like a new one. Which I guess you could say it was.

  Alita wanted fed, so Faith and Rosie changed seats. Rosie was bombarding me with questions about the plane. Finally I said, “Just take the wheel, keep her steady.” I showed her what did what, she learned fast. Then I had her do a few maneuvers, she was a natural.

  “How come you’re so good at this?” I asked Rosie.

  “Oh, I looked up this plane model on the internet. They showed how to fly it. It was a little easier than I thought it would be. Must have been how you showed me, you’re a good teacher.” Rosie said.

  “What’s your I. Q. anyway?” I asked her.

  “I don’t know, I’ve never been tested. I’ve always been pretty good at tests. Do you like to take tests?”

  “Heaven’s no, I hate them. I’ve always liked practical application, you know hands on?” I said.

  Faith said, from the back seat, “Does he ever.”

  Rosie said, “Huh, what?”

  “You never mind her, Rosie, she’s just funning you.”

  Rosie thought a little while, then said, “I know what she was talking about, I’m not a baby, you know.”

  “We know you’re not, Rosie. But sometimes we act like it.” Faith said.

  I changed the subject, “Do you know how to set the course?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Okay, this plane has the newest navigation system, just put in the coordinates and it will set the course, it uses satellites to guide itself by.”

  “Then it has Auto Pilot?” Rosie asked.

  “Sure, like I told you, we just put in the latitude and longitude of where we want to go and the GPS guidance system will take us there, pretty simple, huh?”

  “Well what if it malfunctions, how do we know where to go?” Rosie said.

  “Well then we just use dead reckoning, I just look out the window to see where I’m at and then I say, I reckon we’ll head that way, or I’m dead.” I said with a laugh.

  Faith said from the back, “Oh, you think you’re so funny, but yes we do go by the landmarks that we can see, in conjunction with the map. But at night, if we don’t have instruments, we can go by the stars, which help a little bit, but if it’s cloudy we’ve pretty well bought the farm.”

  I turned and looked at Faith, “Hey, you didn’t tell me you knew how to fly?”

  “Of course I do. Teddy taught me.” She seen my eyes cloud over, then she said,

  “I’m sorry, I won’t mention him anymore, I know he’s starting to get under your skin.”

  I nodded at her, “well, it does seem like every time I turn around, up he comes again. I’m going to have to do some fancy foot work to live up to his memory.”

  “No you’re not, you’ve already surpassed him in so many ways, remember, it’s you I love.” Faith said.

  Alita had finished her repast, she sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then held out her arms to me and said, “Papa”. Faith said, “See there, those are her first words, you’re the only father she knows.”

  I started to trade places with Faith, “Uh, perhaps you had better put those away,” I said,

  “What for, Rosie has seen them before? But just to please you I will.” Then we traded places. Of course I was just in time to change Alita, seems like it always turned out that way. It wasn’t long before Alita and I were fast asleep. Faith and Rosie could fly the plane for awhile.

  I awoke when I felt the plane change course. “Hey, what’s going on?” I said.

  “Oh, I was just giving Rosie some exercise’s to do, go back to sleep, we’ll put it back on auto pretty quick.”

  “Where are we at?” I asked.

  “We’re over the mountains west of Denver, I think that is Berthoud Pass down there.” I looked down, “Yep, you’re right. How’s the fuel?” I asked.

  “We have plenty, it’s just under three quarters of capacity. Nothing to worry about. I think this plane is a lot more fuel efficient than our old one.” Faith said.

  “That’s one of the reasons I bought this model, it’s supposed to use about thirty percent less fuel. So far I’ve been well pleased with it.” I said.

  All of this time Rosie had been making shallow dives and banking the plane, just getting the feel of her. Yep, she was a natural. She pulled back the stick and put her in a steep climb, then she pushed it forward and dove in a spiral, then she pulled it out like a pro. Wow! She was a pro�
�Then she put it back on course and turned on the auto pilot.

  Rosie looked back at me, “Do you want to change places, I want to take a nap?”

  As we were changing places, Rosie looked out the window, “What range is that?”

  “That’s the Medicine Bow Mountains, they lead all of the way up into Wyoming.”

  Faith asked, “How far are we from your ranch?”

  “A couple of more hours, the ranch is in the Big Horn Basin, a little south and west of Ten Sleep. I haven’t told them we’re coming.”

  “Why not?” Faith asked.

  “I don’t know, I thought it would be nice to surprise them.”

  “I thought you said that you trusted them, these cousins of yours, Red and Daisy?”

  “I do, but for some reason, I don’t know why, I just want our coming to be a surprise. Okay?”

  “No skin off my tush, I was just wondering.”

  We settled down for the duration. Rosie and Alita were asleep, Faith was nodding off. I was wide awake, I guess because I already had my nap. I got to thinking about why I didn’t call ahead, I still could, I had my Satellite Cell Phone. But no, I just had an uncomfortable feeling, something was not right.

  Seemed like it was no time at all and I looked down and we were getting close to the Basin. I woke Faith up, Rosie woke up also. I said,

  “Just so the both of you know, something is not right. I’m not for sure, but we should be prepared for anything. Faith do you have your weapon handy?” She nodded. I looked back at Rosie, “Why don’t you get your Uzi out of your suitcase, or did you put it in the luggage compartment?”

  “My suitcase is behind my seat.” Rosie said, as she complied.

  “Look, I don’t know what we’re going to get into, but when we land, Rosie I want you to stay in the plane with Alita, duck down out of sight. I know, I know, I’m probably making a fool of myself, but this won’t be the last time or the first time, I have.”

  When I got within sight of the ranch, I dropped down to the deck, just over the tree tops, I hit our runway going a little fast. But was still able to bring her to a stop just outside of our hanger doors.