As the girls neared the cow pen a wagon pulled up to it. There were two men in the buggy. One was an older gentleman and the other was quite younger than the first. Possibly in his early twenties. The young man hiding in the cow pen climbed out and into the buggy. As it started to pull away the young man with the shotgun turned back to see Ann and Kelsey standing there. As he went to smile Kelsey gripped Ann's arm before she fell to the ground.
"John, stop the buggy," said Doc as he jumped from the wagon.
He tossed the gun to the old man as he made his way to the women.
"Is...Is she okay?" he asked Ann.
"I…I don't know," said Ann fanning Kelsey's face. "She was fine a minute ago."
"Why don't you help the young miss into the wagon, Mr. Scurlock," said the old man. "And then we will attend to her friend at the house, hmm?"
Doc nodded. He picked up Kelsey and laid her on the floor of the wagon. Ann was only a few feet behind him. She'd already had her foot up on the small step when Doc turned to help her. She smiled meekly at him and accepted his hand. The other young man, from the cow pen, moved away from the women as Ann sat down to cradle Kelsey's head in her lap.
The ride was a long one and Kelsey still hadn't woken up. As they made their way down a hill a group of people came into view. Ann kept her mouth shut as they neared the house.
"Who are them?" asked the boy.
"They, William," said the older gentleman. "Who are they. They are the boys of the dregs. The flotsam and jetsam of frontier society, if you will. We've got room in the bunk house, my young man. If you don't want to stay, the Santa Fe runs out of Albuquerque in the morning," he said as he pulled the buggy up to the bunk house. "If you do wish to stay, well, we have just the job for you."
John stepped down from the buggy and walked to the back end. He held out his hand and helped Ann from the buggy. He grabbed Kelsey and picked her up and made his way towards the main house with Ann in tow. She tried to keep her eyes on his back and not stare at the men who were staring at her.
"Your friend should be just fine," said John after he laid Kelsey on the bed. "She just need to be in, *ahem*, more comfortable clothing."
Ann blushed at his meaning and nodded her head. A few moments later the man that had been with him in the buggy walked in with a trunk. He set it at the foot of the bed before he quickly walked out. John shut the door behind him as he left. Ann turned to her friend and practically ripped the dress from her. She grabbed the pitcher of water on the stand next to the window and poured it on her face. She would have to remember to change the linens before everyone went to be that night.
'HOLY SHIT THAT'S COLD!" shouted Kelsey as she came too, sitting up on the bed.
"I think they heard you," said Ann.
"Who? What?" said Kelsey wiping the water from her face.
It was then that she got a good look at her surroundings.
"So, we're not in Kansas anymore?" said Kelsey.
"Pretty much," said Ann sitting down next to her.
"Clothes?" asked Kelsey.
Ann nodded to the trunk. Kelsey stood up and started to rummage through the dresses. She finally pulled one out and started to redress.
"Why does a man, who lives with men, have women's clothes?" asked Kelsey as Ann buttoned the dress.
"I'm sure he had a wife," said Ann. "Or they were his mothers. Who knows, and don't ask him. It's rude."
Kelsey rolled her eyes as she fixed her hair. "So what do we do now? We're probably miles from town and hundreds of years from a cell phone."
"We're just going to have to stick it out until we can figure out how we got here. Now, I don't know about, but I'm hungry."
Kelsey nodded and followed Ann from the bedroom. The men had cleared out except for Mr. Tunstall. He was sitting in a rocking chair looking at the fire.
"I see you are a wake," he said. "Feeling better, yes?"
"Um, yes. I am, thank you," said Kelsey. "Thank you for the dress."
"You're very welcome. It belonged to my late wife," he said. "I'm glad to see it is getting some use."
Kelsey smiled sheepishly at him.
"Now, the boys are out working and I have some things to see to as well," he said standing up. "Please make yourself at home. Supper will be at seven o'clock."
He nodded to them before he left the building.
"Now what? We've got three hours until dinner," said Ann.
"Cook," she said nodding to the kitchen.
"I barely know how to cook in our own time, let alone in this one!" said Ann following her friend into the kitchen.
"I do," she said grabbing a few pots. "Go get some water. Or see if you can get one of them boys to do it for you."
"How am I supposed to do that?" she asked looking at the buckets.
"Bat your eyelashes, shake your chest," said Kelsey. "I don't care, just do it."
Ann groaned as she grabbed the bucket and made her way out the back door.
Kelsey was hallway through chopping vegetables when the door opened again. Ann walked in with a smile on her face but no buckets. Kelsey was about to protest when she saw one of the boys walking in behind her with the buckets. He set them down on the counter next to the vegetables pot before he took his hat off and smiled at the girls before he left.
"Well?" asked Kelsey.
"I didn't do anything. He just came over and insisted that he do it for me," said Ann with a smile.
Kelsey rolled her eyes as she went back to working on supper.
"Well, look at those appetites," said John as everyone ate.
Sitting at the head of the table was John. To his right was Richard (Dick), then Josiah (Doc), then Billy. On John's left were Steve, Charlie, and then Chavez. The girls were sitting at the other end of the table squished in close so they could all fit. At one point Steve went to grab a piece of bread and Charlie smacked his hand. The girls were a little shocked at the manners that some of the men possessed.
"William" said John. "Have some more."
Billy nodded and dished more food on his plate.
"Ladies, this is a very good meal," said John. "Thank you, but you did not have to cook. You are guests in this house."
Kelsey smiled. She was sitting next to Chavez. "It was our pleasure. You didn't have to help us, and it gave us something to do in the meantime."
John nodded with a smile and the meal progressed. The boys started talking about work and the girls started to tune them out when Steve and Charlie started laughing.
"What's so jolly funny, Master Stephen?" asked John. "That's not proper table manners."
"Got away with hogs," whispered Charlie which sent them both into another round of laughter.
"Congratulations Charles. You and Stephen will be doing the dirty crockery alone this evening," said John.
"Sorry John, stuck me funny," said Charlie.
"And to William, both of you," said John.
"Apologies William, just hacking on ya. That's all," said Charlie.
"Yeah, we's just hacking on ya," said Steve.
The girls shared a small smile as they continued to eat.
"Rumor has it that you killed a man, Billy," said Dick. "You don't seem like the killings sort."
"Yeah, Billy. What'd you kill him for?" asked Steve around a mouth full of food.
Billy sat there a moment before he answered. "He was hacking on me."
Steven swallowed his food and looked warily at Charlie who had done the same thing. Chavez had a smug look on his face at the comment and Ann could see the small smile on John's face.
Dinner was over and the girls offered to help with clean up but John sent them off into the living room. Ann took a seat in one of the chairs while Kelsey sat down on the edge of the hearth next to the fire. Slowly the men came into join them. The only ones to stay behind were Doc and Dick. They sat at the table. Doc had a book in his hand while Dick looked on at the group by the fire.
Billy was sitting cross legged on a trunk. Steve was sitting at the far end of the heart while Charlie was sitting on the bench in front of the fire. John had taken up his spot in the rocking chair again while Chavez had sat down on the other end of the fireplace. John handed a newspaper to Steven and told him to read.
"There are…plenty of men…who will never…susseed…" read Steve
"Succeed," corrected John.
"Who will never succeed…anywhere…" continued Steve.
"Got a whole room full of them here," said Dick from the dining table.
There was a chuckled from a few of the men.
"Well done," said John with a smile on his face. "William."
Steven tried to hand the paper off to Billy but he refused.
"Well, excuse me Billy," said John. "Very sorry to offend you. But we congregate in here to learn to read and write. You need more than skill with a firearm to succeed in the New World, Billy. So take up the Journal and start where the other boy left off. Or you can go back to your home on the streets."
Billy took the paper from Steve and started to read, "Young men who don't know how to do any kind of business and have no energy or application had better stay at home near their relatives so they can be taken care of."
Doc and Richard looked surprised at how well Billy could read.
Billy continued, "They are not wanted here and will only come to grief. But men of enterprise are practically sure of success."
Billy folded the paper and tossed it down.
"Splendid," said John. "A splendid reading, William. Thank you. Good night, gentlemen."
John walked from the room. A moment later he returned, "Ladies, there is an empty bunk house if you wish to sleep there tonight."
"Thank you," said Ann.
John nodded his head as he left the room. Ann stood up and straightened her skirts before she turned towards the door. Kelsey reluctantly stood up to follow.
"Allow me to escort you to your bunkhouse," said Charlie practically tripping over himself to open the door for them.
"Thank you," said Ann as she walked through the door.
Once the girls were settled and sure that the boys had gone to bed they undressed and climbed into bed.
"So what are we going to do?" asked Kelsey.
"Try not to get wrapped up in this," said Ann. "You know as well as I do how it ends."
Kelsey let out a sigh, "Yeah.
After a moment Kelsey chuckled. "Charlie seems to like you."
"Don't get involved!" said Ann as she rolled over and closed her eyes.
A/N: I', so sorry for taking this long to post! Everything got a way from me. Its not easy to find time to write with a new baby! Anyway, here is chapter two, i'm writting chapter 3, but my disc is messing up so it may be a while before i'm able to get that one posted. But until then, enjoy!