The boys and the Sheriff hopped back on the horses and headed back to the farm. The first thing they did after putting the horses away, of course. Robert, Pa, and Richard laugh, reaching for buckets behind the barn. Splash, splash, splash, soaking the three deputies and running. Tugging off their shoes and socks before entering the house because Martha would skin them all alive if they tracked mud all through the house, then ran back outside after changing their clothes and playing the rest of the afternoon in the sun.
Down in the Villa, things were not going as smoothly as on the farm; oh no, sure, the roster's names were filled and stacked. The problem was there was nobody left in charge. They were all up at the farm, taking the afternoon off in the sun. So the only thing left for them to do down in the Villa was? You guessed it. "Yee haw," as they threw their hats in the air, fired the guns high in the air, "let's get this party started." It was a madhouse.
Drinking and brawling, the chores did not get done, so the poor women folk went on a rampage right back to the farm. Loading all the children in the wagons, took all the vittles and left them all. "See ya, tell you can behave yourselves."
They closed all the shops, leaving them stranded with nothing so much as a scrape. The men just laughed at them. "You can't survive more than a day without us," as they watched them pick up and ride off. The men and young lads with a jug in their hands, laughing with proud arms around their Pa, brother, and friends. "Ha, they'll be back; they need us," they laughed at the women swinging the jug. Then men danced all day and into the night among themselves; what a party.
The woman arrived at the farm, finding the Sheriff and the boys sound asleep in the barn after playing all day in the sun and working so hard without help. The women were not too mad at them. They figured they earned a little rest; it was them down there they were angry at. So they just closed the barn door for now but will give them a piece of their mind. "Oh, yes," but we'll let them rest for now. They earned it for now as they slam the barn door; how dare they think their job was done.
Martha stood up on the wagon with Aunty M. with her shrill whistle. "Ladies," she said as she looked towards the Villa, "they want war, then let's show them what we are good for," laughing, slapping her knee. Aunty M. helps them organize them by setting up team captains, grabbing the rosters, and making plans in the dirt with a quick little map as she turns Martha's house into base camp headquarters.
The women folk had the cook tent set up in nothing flat and were working on raids for sleeping quarters. They sent a group of young lasses, a couple of grandmas, and some small boys into the Villa for extra tents and cots and another group with a list of things to get from Stringham's Hardware and Goods right under the men's noses. When Sheriff and the boys woke up from their long afternoon nap, women and children were everywhere on the farm. Robert and the boys were shocked.
Wayne knew he needed to find Martha immediately before things could get any worse. "Did you have a good sleep, boys?" Martha said as she walked by them. Wayne ran his fingers through his hair before he stepped in front of his wife.
"Martha, dear," he said as he looked around. "Did I miss something?" He pointed to all the women and children on the farm.
"Yes, dear," she said, giving him a hard-cold stare. "Wayne, I think you forgot to tell me about a few things. Age, you know, must have slipped your mind. What happens to all of us when we get old?" she laughed and then walked away.
Wayne watched her, not having the slightest idea what that was supposed to mean. He shrugged his shoulders and yelled for his boys and Deputies. "Looks like we're headed back to town, boys," he said.
"Yes, Pa, yes, sir," the boys reply. The boys hopped back on their horses and headed down the road. They could see Martha's scouting parties arriving back with the goods. The boys laughed, watching them slide through the thickest with their stolen goods, smiling. They waved, "Hi, Sheriff, nice evening," as they returned to the farm.
The Sheriff and the boys decide it would be best if they took an alternate route. You never know what could be lurking on this strange night. Tying their horse up nearby, they do a little sneaking around to hear what's going on around them to cause such a fuss.
The closer they crawled to the tents, the more voices they heard ahead; some of the menfolk were talking. "I just can't believe my wife would do such a thing, take the kids, and run off with no sup," the man replies.
"Me, too, just because I wanted a little fun, gives her no right; she me wife, isn't right," the other man said as he emptied his jug. Wayne and the boys covered their mouths and backed out of the thickets.
"Bart, did ya hear that?" The other man said.
"Nah, just those snakes again all over I hear. Let's go back and see what the rest are dooen,' I dry," Bart replies.
The Sheriff and the boys laughed, covering their mouths, and headed towards Villa Square. Following the shadows and dark corners, they saw Doc Hatfield standing in a corner. "Pssst, Doc," Wayne whispers and gets no answer.
Richard slips over stealth-like right behind him and quickly covers his mouth as the boys drag him off into a corner somewhere. "What in tarnation cat's cradle?" Doc said, madder than a hog on fire. "OH! It's you, boys," he said, slapping his knee. "You nearly gave me a heart attack back there. This place has gone loopier than sidewinder on a hot skillet," Doc replies.
"Doc, I did exactly what you told me to do. What went wrong?" Wayne asked.
"What went wrong?" Doc said, looked around the room, rolled his eyes, ran his fingers through his hair, and tightened his mustache.
"Man, you have a lot to learn about delegation, son. You left nobody in charge here; you had all your people with nowhere to go and no one to lead them. No captains to seconds; all you had were workers, no chiefs. What did ya think was going to happen? The chief left with all his aids for the day, and so what do you get?" Doc said as he pointed to the mess and nodded. "Now the women are on the warpath because of you, or they think or should say those men think they're fine without them, serves them right," Doc replies.
"You got to be joking?" Wayne replies.
"Nope," he said as they watched a couple of grandmas taking a couple of large tents and smaller boys shuffling cots into the shadows in the distance from the tents. Doc chuckled as he watched. "Resourceful little buggers, aren't they?" Doc said, poking Wayne.
"Do you have any ideas about how to get things back on track?" Wayne asked as he looked at this ragged group.
"Yep, let them sleep it off and suffer it out for a couple of days, then work, work, and more work that should do it," Doc replies.
"Doc, that wasn't what I asked you?" Wayne said.
"I know you'll have to figure that one out on your own," Doc said, slapping Wayne hard on the back, knocking the wind right out of him. Doc turned and walked back into the crowd, watching him picking up another jug, laughing.
The Sheriff turned to his boys. "Boys, we are in trouble," as watching the group of men having one heck of a good time. Robert, Richard, and his three Deputies removed their hats and hit him with them. "Yes, sir, certainly looks like it." And they hit him one more time, headed back to their horses, rode to the office, picked up the charts and the rosters, and headed on back to the farm, stopping by the perfume, flower, candy, and toy shops on the way back to the farm; after all, they weren't idiots.
When they returned to the farm, a barricade was already placed in front of the farm. Two grannies and two lasses paced as guards, holding shotgun barrels pointed right at them. "Who goes there? What's the password? Sony or I'll start shootin' you full of lead, dear. Oh, it's you, Sheriff, you come on in for a kiss," as Granny winked. "Martha's waiten' for ya at the house," pointing the shotgun in that direction. "Don't worry, dear," Granny said, looking disappointed. "Isn't loaded, hasn't been for a while, you see, ever since I shot Ned in the foot last year for tastin' my moonshine too early, it's his own fault really, go on, dear, she a-waiten'."
Deloris Ellsworth, known as (Granny) to all her friends, was an odd duck, to say the least. She was born and raised in the Black Mountains near a small town called Eureka, just west of Santaquin, about three hundred miles or so in that direction known as the Titanic Mountains. Some called it the Black Mountains because it was a coal mining town back in the day, and many hillbillies like herself lived there in a small little shanty town, so small, you would have to look for it on a map. It was hard to tell her age because she looked older than she actually was, with skin and bones gray-white hair. It had been said she was about the age of seventy, but in truth, she was in her late fifties.
She was short compared to most women, but just because she was skin and bones, didn't mean she couldn't whip the tar out of you or outwork you. Light blue eyes that twinkled when she looked at you and a straight, curved nose that always could smell a rat or a liar. Yet she had a heart of gold. She had one grandson named Ned, who she had raised on her own since before he could walk. Just after, his mother died of a coal mine sickness that was called black lung, and soon after, his father, her only son, was killed in a coal mine accident. Ned Ellsworth took after his father more than his mother at six-foot-nine-and-a-half height, strong jawline, and full cheeks. But he also got his red hair from his mother and his green eyes.
Robert, Richard, and the boys snicker. "Poor Ned." Pa smiled at Granny and glanced at the gun, hoping they checked it and made sure it wasn't loaded. He didn't want to become the next Ned. The boys put the horses away for the night, carrying their packs of loot from town into the house. Wayne first gives Martha a bouquet of flowers and a kiss as he walks in the door, never minding all the ladies in the room going, "Ah," as he swings her into his arms. The boys passed around candy and toys for the children on the farm, and the remaining flowers and scented soap packages were given to the women. Women and lasses smothered them with kisses until they couldn't breathe.
Martha had to clear the way so they could come up for air. She told them. "Dinner will be ready soon; go wash up, and don't you dare track any more mud on my floor, boys," and shoved them all back outside. She showed them the brushes for their shoes and the box for their socks as they all sat happily on the porch, tossing their socks in the box.
"Yes, Ma, yes, ma'am," she said before going back down the hall to wash up for dinner, for they were the ones who would be eating well tonight.
Homemade bread, stuffed turkey with all the trimmings, corn apple cakes, and little meat pies with filled cherry tarts for desserts. Mumm, mm. I'd almost envy those poor men down in Downing Villa Square. Of course, they didn't go hungry; they had food. Canned pork and beans, fire potatoes, Mutton stew, grits, and yesterday's leftover bread and to wash it down with some corn husk whisky and pot of old Joe; they were happy as clams, sitten by the fire as they fire up the old banjo as they smelled the food coming down the hill from the farm. They just swallowed, wiping a tear, and sniffling and blowing. "Nah, who needs them? We are just fine."
Grab your partner. They slapped each other's knees as they swung each other around the waist, started to brawl, fell on the floor until they all fell asleep, or crawled away to their tents, where a picture hung of their family. "I do, that's who," they wept softly in their sleep.
Women's canopies filled with cots. Fillys on one side, all young lass in the other with the curtain drawn for privacy. The mothers would tuck the children into their cots before bed, kissing them each. Telling them. "Pa still loves them; he's just being stubborn and an old fool right now. But things will work out," as they looked towards the farmhouse, seeing the Sheriff and his boys at the table working on the charts and roster. "Yes, son, yes, daughter," pointing to Sheriff Downing and his Deputies. "You can trust them; they'll straighten your Pa out," giving them one last kiss, tucked them in, and whispering goodnight to them.
Pa and the boys went over the charts at the table and the rosters; Sheriff paced up and down the floor, looking at his boys. "Men, we got ourselves a heap of work to do, that's for sure," pointing to the list, "it's going to take every one of us to do it, too. We're going have'ta to get creative, boys," glancing over at Robert. "Got any ideas, son? They want us to build a barn down in the lower field on the map and start planting when you are in school," he said.
"Yes, sir," Richard replies. Is there any reason why we couldn't move the school? Say to the farm in the barn. It would be in the area and dry. There would be plenty of room in the loft. Set some benches up there," he said. Wayne rubbed his chin and paced for a couple of minutes.
"Not a bad idea, son. Get working on that. Boys, first thing in the morning, take a group of men. Here, I'll sign the order's password, chores. That should do it as the password. We'll start with that one since the children are already here. Now, let's go to bed."
"Yes, sir," the boys said.
"You three might as well bring in your cots and set them up inside, providing the women didn't steal them."
Robert looks out the window. "They already did, Pa," Robert said and laughed. Granny, gave it to Ned," he points over by the barn.
Pa laughed. "That's alright, boys," he slaps them on the back. "Of course, you don't mind the couch. I'll find the mattress," he said.
"Thanks, sir."
"Just stay out of my daughter's room; you'll be just fine," giving them a hard stare and firm handshake.
"Yes, sir, besides your wife would skin us live, you would kill us," they said.
Robert stares them down hard. "You got that right," with an extra nod.
Pa and the boys turned in, tucked the boys in for the night, and made the rounds tonight alone, stopping at the boys' room. Brushing the sides of EJ's hair. "Goodnight, my little deputy." He pulled out and put a small wooden star he made just for him and set it by his bed in the window with his name on it, leaving one for Will before he closed the door.
Walking down to the girl's room, he stopped and paused for just a moment. He thought he heard voices coming from Aunty M's room. "Alright, I agree; let's say you owe me an IOU," Aunty M. said. Wayne watched a shadow slip under the door as she turned off the light, and he felt a soft chill run up and down his spine, as he looked toward the door.
Pa opens Sam and Danny's room smiles and sees them both together. With another look, he finds another boy in it. "Where did he come from?" Pa leaned over, gave each boy a tuck, and closed the door as he turned around the corner to his girls, brushed their hair, and placed a rose by the bed, whispering. "Goodnight, my angels, please don't grow up too fast," closing the door behind him. Wayne walked down the hall to his room, crawled into bed with his wife, leaned over, gently kissed her, and whispered. "Do you know, dear, how much I need you?" He whispered. "My house needs you; my table needs you, and my heart needs you."
Then, he wraps his arms around her and falls asleep as she cries softly. "I already know that you silly fool."