Come the Quiet by Ray Morgan

Author:Ray Morgan [Morgan, Ray]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: X14
Published: 2021-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

11

More, More

Day Two A.Q.

Captain John got up early and went to the narrow green meadow that was the old rail line to check his men and horses. The boys had tethered them in a rope corral and slept in their bags close by. All was well. He gave each of the easy-riding old horses half an apple and kicked at the feet of his sleeping men.

Teenaged Dave and young squire Bill awoke amongst horses hooves and fresh manure as Captain John stood over them. They were sticky-mouthed and mosquito-bitten.

After a brisk face rinse and some of Mark’s pancakes the men spent the early morning taking stock and tending their mounts. Mark inventoried the tack piled on the trailer as they sorted through the loot from their raid.

At mid-morn, John and his squires, Dave and Bill, hiked down to the ‘creek house,’ John’s place. The dogs had guarded the place well and sat at the bottom of the trailhead waiting. The big hounds padded after the men to be fed. The three men armed themselves from the safe in the upstairs bedroom.

The dogs stopped dutifully at the front gate when the men walked across the street to Dave’s house. They checked for Dave’s mother, or anyone else for that matter, and he wrote another note to his father and dated it.

“Day two, we missed you. Hope to see you soon. Dave and John.”

Then they went to find the two Carpenter kids down the road.

Jimmy and his brother, Phillip, came to the door readily. The boys were eager for an adult presence after being alone all night. John explained they had to come away with him until their folks came back. They couldn’t stay alone anymore. He made them pack their sleeping bags and assembled rucksacks.

When they were ready to go, John sat the two young boys down to write notes for their mom and dad.

John made it clear that seventeen-year-old Dave was the next in command. It was their job to come home every day and write a new note. The kids understood.

John sat them down with teenaged Dave on their front porch. “OK fellas’ listen up. Dave is your sergeant. I tell him what you need to do and he tells you what to do. Got it?” John stared into the young unwashed faces of the young boys.

“Yeah, I get it,” said the older Jimmy.

“You understand Phillip?” John queried the younger teen.

“Come on. You’re supposed to say yessir,” Dave prompted.

The boy, Phillip, looked back and forth between all of them and saw how much they were interested in his response. He finally said, “OK,” a little disconsolately.

“Geez, you’d think we wanted to hurt you or something,” his older brother chastised him.

“Yeah, well I am always the bottom one and the last. You guys are all gonna’ be pushing me around.”

“Now hold on there podner’,” John interjected. “No one gets mistreated in my outfit. You have any complaints and you can come right to me and tell me. OK? ... OK?”

The ‘tween boy dug his toe in the dirt and nodded.

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