Finish the Western II, or Return to Anderson's Gulch

It was still snowing a bit when Sunday dawned. The Hastings house was a bustle of activity, as Caroline nursed the baby and Sally and Belle helped the Hastings make breakfast and get ready for church. Jesse helped Mr. Hastings hook up the two wagons, since there was quite a brood to go to church.

Caroline smiled in relief as she stepped into the wagon. Charley hurried up, kissed the baby, then his wife, and smiled at Sally, chattering away with her friend. “I was worried about you,” Caroline whispered. “What happened last night?”

“I’ll let you later, after I see the sheriff. Let’s just say I think we’re shut of the Connell gang, once and for all.”

“Geeup!” Mr. Hastings yelled, and the little caravan made their way to church.

I hope any folks who’ve been reading this tale will bear with me here, as this post will be somewhat longer than average. We’re winding the story up and I’m going to tie up a few loose ends.


Church was pretty crowded that morning, with many extra guests and friends in attendance. There were two new babies to ooh and ahh over, and after church a box lunch had already been scheduled, as a fund-raiser for the school. Sally and Jenny were both looking forward to that, hoping that when the men and boys bid on the (supposedly) anonymous lunch boxes, that theirs would be purchased by Mr. Santini.

The families of the two infants sat together. Charley was a little edgy, as he was uncomfortable in church, but Caroline and his new son were worth it. At his side sat Mose, whose presence Caroline had earlier requested, and who’d spoken to him, in low tones, before entering.

The service proceeded normally, hymns, prayers, and the sermon. Then the Reverend Gray stepped forward and beckoned to both sets of parents to bring their children forward.

“Folks, we are privileged today to welcome into our church family this son and this daughter of God.” Then he began the Order of Baptism, and familiar phrases rolled out. “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit…I beseech you to call upon God the Father…may they be recieved into Christ’s holy church” There was a faily long prayer, with several petitions, and admonishments to the parents about the upbringing of their children, with the parents responding affirmatively when charged with their nurture in the faith. Reverend Gray quoted Mark 10:15 and then it was time. Taking first the Hastings grandchild he looked at the parents and said “Name this child” and the response was “Alice Elaine Norman”
Pouring a little water on her head he pronounced the words of baptism. Alice was handed back to her folks, and Caroline handed over her son. “Name this child”
Caroline took a fleeting glance at Charley, as she had changed her mind about one of the boy’s names, and had decided to surprise her husband. Then, in a firm voice she responded “Moses Chaska Charles Charging Bear” The length of the name surprised a few folks, but not the reverend, who’d had it explained to him earlier, right before the service. “Moses, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

There was a long closing prayer, and, being Methodist, a few more hymns, then the benediction was pronounced and the service was over.

Due to the weather the box lunch couldn’t be held outdoors, so the crowd made it’s way to the Silverlode Hotel and it’s assembly room. By now folks were hungry so bidding was fast and furious on the box lunches. To the chagrin of Jenny and Sally Mr. Santini ended up purchasing a box that had been put together by Belle, from food prepared earlier by Mrs. Hastings. But their feelings of jealousy were allayed when their boxes were purchased by the Dusierre brothers. Although maybe not as gorgeous as Mr. Santini, they were pretty cute! And brave too.

Caroline sat with Charley and Mose, and Moses Chaska. “Caroline, I thought you weren’t going to name him for me” said her husband, “but I like the Chaska. Eldest Son, it fits him, doesn’t it?” and he proceeded to make silly faces at his boy.

“But speaking of names,” said Mose “I’m glad to give him one of mine, but you didn’t have to do it you know” Caroline looked him right in the eyes. "Yes I did. He might not be here if it wasn’t for you. Oh, and thank you for the other name as well. I wanted Charley to have something from his background too. He told me once he didn’t even have a surname till he went to scout for the Army and he had to give them one, for the papers. So he used his maternal grandfather’s name. "

“I remember him” said Mose. “Anyway, you still up for the naming?”

“Yes I am. Tonight?” “That would be good, it won’t take long, and it’s not all that formal, not like the service.”

As Belle sat with Mr. Santini, eating fried chicken(Belle was just picking at hers), they made plans for another union. Later, in the spring, Belle’s Diablo would service Will’s Daisy. If a really fine part Arab foal resulted, she might see about obtaining a couple more mares, difficult as that might be. She though regretfully it was too bad Daisy wasn’t a stallion instead.

Zeke and the former sheriff Wilson, along with Bertha and an older widow, Hannah Jenkins, and their boxes, joined Belle and Will. Zeke had taken the oath as sheriff shortly after breakfast that morning, when the two new deputies from Denver had arrived late, on the stage. Since someone needed to, they had both stayed to tend the jail, freeing the current and former law officers to attend the festivities. “Belle!” laughed Zeke “you get you boxes mixed up? I saw poor Jesse getting his ear talked off by Mrs. Tuttle. She’s in town with Will Anderson for the will reading later on.”

“Best laid plans” chortled Belle. “but speaking of business, Bertha, I heard you might be selling your place?”

“I’m thinking about it"Bertha replied. " Slim McLeod will be buying the Blackhorse and fixing it up special. Turns out he and his dad, that Ian I just met, have quite a little money socked away. And I think Hank Poole will be going in with them. Seems he and Ian patched up some old feud about a homestead. They all want to have a new kind of place for this town, something fancy, for “special” occasions. Now, folks may not know it, but a long time back I worked in a couple of nice places back East. So I have experience. Besides, it would be easier to let someone else do most of the bookwork.”

“My goodness, it looks like Hank will own a lot of the entertainment in the Gulch” mused Belle."

“No problem” said Hank, as he joined the three couples. “But the Tumbleweed, and the new place, won’t really compete, they’re going to be for different kinds of people.”

At that moment Bill Tidd and Jake Anderson entered the room, looking for the folks who would need to hear the will.

The beneficiaries of Gus’s will joined Bill and Jake in the Silverlode dining room, where the doors were thoughtfully closed behind them. Bill waited until everyone was settled, then he began.

“I know everyone wants to get back to the lunch, so this won’t take long,” Bill said. “I’m going to skip the legal stuff and get straight to the bequests. There have been a few modifications due to forfeiture of bequests.” Everyone shifted, noting the conspicuous absence of Paul Anderson.

"Will Anderson gets one half of the share of Triple A that was formally Gus’s.

"Jesse and Belle Parker, you get the contents of Gus’s stable, including his stallion Goliath and the five mares. I believe one of them, Damsel, is in foal.

“Charley and Caroline Charging Bear, Gus has left you 15 acres of land that he bought adjacent to your ranch.” Bill paused as the beneficiaries excitedly muttered amongst themselves. Belle was beside herself. She wouldn’t have to wait years to begin her stable! Charley and Caroline put their heads together, debating whether to expand the cattle field or plant a crop in their new land. Will smiled, knowing who was going to get the other half of the ranch.

“Folks, we’re almost done,” Bill interjected. “To my grandson Ezekial Clayton, I leave 5% of my share in the Excelsior mine. The rest of my share, 20%, will be deposited into a fund to benefit Anderson’s Gulch. Ezekial Clayton will be in charge of the Gulch’s Trust, and expenses must be approved unanimously by the other partners.”

“Now, finally, to the remaining half of the Anderson ranch, that was to be Paul’s bequest. I offered it first to Will Anderson, but he declined in favor of his brother, Jacob. But Jake has also declined, expressing a wish to get back to Pennsylvania. Jake has instead requested that his share of the ranch go to…” here Bill paused mischievously. “Miss Martha Tuttle.”

A gasp went through the crowd, then a thump, as the Triple A Ranch housekeeper fainted dead away.

Housekeepers weren’t the only things that fell. Another was Will Anderson’s face.
Martha? Martha was going to get the rest of the AAA? He’d thought it was going to be Jake, and had already been planning how to buy it off his brother. That fool brother of his, brothers actually. If Gus hadn’t hadn’t been so cagy about his estate, this might not have happened! Well, maybe he could work something out with her, it shouldn’t be too hard to persuade a middle-aged woman that helping to manage a spread like the AAA could be too complicated.

Meanwhile, Martha had been revived by burning a feather under her nose. Belle and Caroline had helped her to sit up. “Oh dear, oh my” she worried “why did Mr. Jake do that? I can manage a house, but a ranch?”

“Well” Caroline pointed out "if you really don’t want it, you could sell it to Will. Bet he’s already thinkin’ about that.

Belle put in “But if you wanted to keep it, I’ll bet the worth is going to go way up in the future. You could make even more in the long run that way. Don’t let Will sweet-talk you out of a small fortune”

While Martha was considering her options Jake walked over and slapped his brother on the back, laughing all the while. “What are you figuring to do now old hoss? I see those two women with her must already be telling her to watch out for you. Now how are you going to keep it in the family?” and he walked away, still laughing, figuring he already knew the answer.

Which he did. It didn’t take Will long to deduce the best way to keep property “in the family” so to speak. Damn that Gus! At least Martha wasn’t some giddy young thing that didn’t even know how to cook properly, he thought glumly, as he strode over to Martha to offer her his politest congratulations. Darn that Caroline and that Belle. He could already feel the schemes they must be hatching.

He was stopped though by Bill Tidd and Sheriff Zeke. The latter spoke up "Tidd and I are going to the judge about the charges against Paul and Sam. And I have to figure out what to do about trying Fred Johnson. Shoot, I don’t wan’t another big trial for him.

“Zeke, seeing how you’re in the family now, I don’t mind telling you that I’d support dropping charges against Sam and Paul, if they’ll just leave the Gulch for good. I can give them enough for a year or so, then they’d be on their own.”

The lawyer looked at Will “If they would go for that it would make the probate work easier, with no possibility of lawsuits alleging more fraud issues.”

"But what about Fred?"asked Zeke. He thought it would take a while to get the hang of this law-enforcing thing.

“If Fred Johnson entered a plea of guilty before Judge Cotton, we could avoit a trial. Say we offered him a shorter sentence in the state prison, he’d probably bite.” The three men walked out of the room to find the judge and get the ball rolling. Will didn’t see Martha’s eyes following him narrowly.

The rest of the little group rejoined the party. Belle wanted to find Will Santini again, to fill him in on her new horses. If he really knew horseflesh, it might be to everyone’s advantage, hers and Jesse’s and Will’s, to form a partnership. Pretty soon she wouldn’t be able to do as much hard work as she might want, and a second man would come in handy. Maybe those nephew’s of Mose might want to stick around in the Gulch, instead of Solace, and lend a hand. She was going to need a bigger barn, for the new animal, and she would have to start planning a breeding schedule, and…oh, forget about it for today, and just take in the good news without fretting. It might be the last chance for quite a while to just relax and enjoy herself.

Later that night the Charging Bear family, along with Mose, the Parkers, and even the parson, gathered at the schoolhouse. The reverend having been a missionary, was was broad minded for the times, and he never passed on a chance to learn more about the world of the spiritual, even if it wasn’t his own Spirit. The school was private, and warm enough for the baby. If it had been warmer they might have been outside, under the stars.

Mose proceeded to speak something almost like a homily, in chanting tones, explaining how the Oyate, the People, might have more than one name, in their lifetime, based on family gender, birth order, deeds, and so on. He mourned that many children of his People were in danger of losing their past on reservation schools, and said how everyone “is supposed to know where they came from” “There are four main values of the Oyate, respect generosity, wisdom and courage, and we woild here invoke the Wakan, the sacred, to give this child those values in full measure.” Holding the child he presented it to the spirits of the four directions, four being an important number to the people. Finally he gave the child it’s name of Chaska, Eldest Son.

Sally was rather bemused by all this. So far in her life she had rarely considered where her parents came from. Parents just are. She wasn’t jealous that her little brother was getting something she hadn’t, they were too far apart in age for that to be a factor. But as the families left the school, she whispered shyly to Mose “What would my name be?” With an understanding smile in his eyes he said “I think you would be Winona, Eldest Daughter.”

It had been decided that it was too late to return to their own homes, that night, so the little group, except for Rev. Gray, returned to the Hastings for a final evening. Sally would stay with Jenny until Monday afternoon, for the first weekday of school, but the rest would make the drive home the next morning. So heads and hearts were full of plans that the near future would bring, with more babies, new land, and a town to grow with.

You know, Baker, I think we can end it here. That was a beautiful wrap up. I want to thank you and Jeff for contributing. I hope Will likes it. Please send him our best when you send him the thread.

I think we’ve left enough open for an AG III sometime in the future. After all, do we know that Lucy really drowned? :wink:

You guys are great. Thanks again.

Glad you liked it. If there is an AGIII in the future, maybe this time it could start several years down the road, when the current babies are old enough to talk, and Sally is at the courting stage. It’s been a good time, and I printed up most of it yesterday, save for the last page or too, not knowing exactly where or when it would end. Like you, I hope Will Santini likes it.

I’m going to miss checking for new episodes each day, snif! :stuck_out_tongue:

Not to mention that Zeke’s father might not really be dead. :slight_smile:

This was a good story. I took a cue from Baker in the first one regarding a name or two. Bill Tidd was the name of one of my grandfathers, not sure of how many greats.

Ooh, now that would bring some complications, woulddn’t it? Was Zeke ever actually acquainted with his father?(Starts making notes)

But thinking of AGIII made me wonder. What ever happened to Tobermory, Kathy Swanson, and the rest of the gang on Valis 5?