Chapter 8

Coop suddenly appeared. "We might have a problem," he said to Hannibal.

"What's wrong?"

"Indians...and from their markings, I think this is the tribe that had Dandy."

"What do they want?"

"I don't know until I talk with them; I just wanted to warn you," replied Coop as he turned to go.

"Just give them the horse!" Shouted Robert Stevenson, who had followed Coop to the Smith wagons along with others from the train.

"NO!" cried Face, who moved to stand by Dandy. "I'm not going to give him back!"

Fear on the faces of the men who followed Stevenson caused them to surge forth and temporarily overpower Face's brothers and father. Roberts knocked Face down and took Dandy's reins, and ran to the front of the wagon train pulling the horse behind him.

"What do you think you are doing?" Shouted Chris as he tried to stop the mob.

"Saving our lives...I'm giving the horseback, and they will leave us alone!" snarled Stevenson as he walked toward the Indians.

"This horse is yours," he said as he stopped a few yards away. "Take him and leave us in peace."

"DANDY!" Screamed Face as he ran towards his horse.

Dandy jerked away from Stevenson and galloped back to Face.

"You little brat," snarled Stevenson as he walked to the boy, but before he could do anything, an Indian boy rode up, putting himself between the angry man and the boy. The meaning was quite clear.

"Stevenson!" Shouted Coop. "Walk away; there won't be any trouble here unless you start it! They aren't angry that Face took his horse back. They consider it a brave act and want to meet him. They consider horse theft a great skill. The boy on the pony is the one who took him in the first place," Coop continued to explain.

By this time, Hannibal, BA, and Murdock had ridden up to join Face.

Once Stevenson had left the Indian boy rode to Face and smiled making a hand sign that Coop translated as "friend".

Face instantly made the same sign back and the boy jumped from his pony to place a beaded necklace around Face's neck. Coop explained, "he's given you a necklace that identifies you as a friend to his tribe and it will protect you and any with you from any attack that might come from his tribe."

"Wow! But I have nothing to give him in return," exclaimed Face as he searched his pockets for anything to give in return. He pulled out a pocket knife. "Do you think this will be enough?" He asked Coop.

"Yes, but be sure to show him how to open it, the only knife he has ever seen is like the one he wears now."

Face held up his knife and showed the boy how it opened and closed before handing it to him and repeating the friend sign.

The Indian boy smiled as he accepted the knife and remounted and rode away.

XXXXXXX

It was not surprising to any of the family when Stevenson strode up demanding that Face be punished for bringing Indians to them. "They know we are here, now thanks to your boy and they will be back to attack us!"

"No, they won't," protested Murdock. "They consider Face to be a friend and have promised not to attack any with him, so as long as Face is on this train the Sioux will not attack!"

"So you are going to do nothing about him delaying our journey or this last incident he's caused!" snarled Stevenson.

"We are celebrating the return of our lost lamb. He was gone but now has returned, there will be plenty of time later to talk about why he left and how he will be punished!" Mrs. B replied angrily. "And what business is it of yours how we discipline our child, you haven't punished yours for all of the crimes he has committed against my grandchild!" Mrs. B added.

Stevenson left with a huff.

XXXXXXX

It was two days later that Hannibal decided to talk to his son about his actions in recovering his horse. Since Face's actions scared the whole family, Hannibal chose to address him during the supper meal so everyone would have a voice in it.

"Son, it's time to talk about your decision to take off after Dandy," began Hannibal.

Face looked up from his meal. "What do you want to talk about?"

Hannibal stared sternly at him. "You scared us nearly to death, kid when you went after Dandy!"

"But I had to rescue him, Hannibal. He's my best friend!"

"Face when we woke and couldn't find you, do you know what that did to

us?" asked Mrs. B.

Face shook his head.

"That one act aged us, Facey. You were out there where we couldn't protect you. You could have been captured by the tribe who had Dandy, attacked by a wild animal, or fallen and hurt yourself and unable to get help. I know how much you love Dandy, but we love you more," explained Murdock.

"You did wrong, little brother. Your mamas were terrified to find you missing that morning until Murdock discovered his horse was missing. It was only then that we realized that you had gone off after Dandy. Mama found the missing bag of jerky and the missing canteen, and we knew for sure. The train was delayed for hours while we searched for you, and then Cooper Smith volunteered to go with your father, and that took him away from his job on the train!" BA growled.

"I just got you as a son, and then you were gone, and I was blaming myself for not checking to make sure you were sleeping as I thought," added Maggie.

As each member of his extended family talked, Face felt his tears slowly roll down his face. "I didn't realize that you felt that way, but I couldn't leave Dandy in the hands of that horse thief, " Face continued to argue.

"He doesn't understand, Colonel!"

"I know, Captain."

"Face if you ever pull a stunt like that again and I will guarantee that you will not be sitting comfortably for weeks, but for now, I want you to drop and give me twenty-five push-ups, and you will be giving me twenty-five each night after supper for the rest of the week!" ordered Hannibal,

Face's expression turned to one of horror at Hannibal's proclamation of his punishment. "Awww, Hannibal. I hate doing push-ups!" Whined Face.

"I'll be happy to extend your punishment for seven days instead of three, kid!" Ordered Hannibal sternly.

Face looked around the table in hopes of finding someone to talk Hannibal out of this punishment, but when he found none, he reluctantly left the table and got in position on the ground, and began to do his push-ups.

Hannibal waited until Face had done five before remarking. "Aren't you forgetting something, kid?"

Face looked up and shook his head.

"Count each one after you do one," replied Hannibal.

"You could have told me sooner," he grumbled before continuing,

"six...seven...eight," only to be interrupted again.

"You have to start from one, kid!"

"But I have already done seven!"

"Start at the beginning, kid!"

Face glared at his father before starting again. "One...two...three...four," only to be interrupted again.

"That is sir, one, sir...sir, two, sir, kid!"

"Sir, three, sir...sir. four, sir"

"Start at the beginning, kid!"

Holding his temper in as best he could, Face began again. "Sir, one, sir...sir, two, sir...sir, three, sir..." Face continued to count until he came to "sir, twenty-five, sir," and collapsed on the ground breathing hard.

"When you do your push-ups tomorrow, I want you to count them like you did tonight. If you try to do them in any other manner, I will add another day to your punishment!"

Face nodded his understanding as he tried to get to his feet. They felt like jelly and would have fallen if Hannibal hadn't been there to catch him. "Come on, son, let's get you ready for bed," Hannibal said tenderly as he helped him to his bedroll under their wagon. Face was asleep minutes after he laid his head down.

"John, weren't you too hard on him?" Asked Maggie.

"I want him to know that what he did was dangerous, and with dangerous decisions comes harsh punishments," replied Hannibal. "We could have lost him, Maggie. I just found him. I don't know if I could bare losing him. I know that BA and Murdock feel the same."

"Isn't twenty-five push-ups too much for a boy his age and size?"

"Maybe, but one thing we can be sure of is that he will be too tired to try anything after he finishes. He'll be okay, dear."