Western AU: Lexa is a half-Pawnee on the plains of Nebraska. Clarke is a homesteader who has taken up a farm under the Homestead Act of 1862. She, accompanied by Raven, and plans to start up a farm. She is faced with obstacles, hardships and being a woman attempting to make her own way in the west. Can Lexa give her a hand? Or will Clarke's pride cause her to stubbornly refuse her?
Author's Note: The use of the word Indian is in the historical sense in that settlers called them that. (The author is also a Native American of Pawnee descent visit me at .com I speak on Native Culture quite often.)
APRIL 1863
One cow. One cow is all she had been able to afford and only enough seeds for a month's crops for two after she had made her way west. She and Raven had one horse which pulled a wagon that held wood, and some of their belongings. They had made their way west after applying for land under the Homestead Act and being granted their 160 acres of land to settle on. After her mother had disowned her a few years ago, Clarke had been left with very little. She had been very vocal about slavery. Something her Southern-plantation-owning mother had not approved of.
She had saved up as much as she could when the Homestead Act had been announced. She knew some about farming. She hadn't spent all the time on the plantation being ignorant like her mother. Clarke knew about the different crops, their cycles, soil and watering, mostly from her father and from playing with the children around the plantation. Something she would often get into trouble for. She had a curious mind. Her father, rather than scold her for it, would encourage her. He had died in a disagreement when he had planned to free his slaves.
Clarke had been disowned when she fought her mother over doing what her father wanted. His last wish.
Now America was in Civil War over Slavery and the Succession. Clarke decided to get out while she could. Going west was her exodus.
Raven was her only company. The daughter of an Irish man fresh from overseas and Spanish woman he married as he landed, she was an adventurous type and the best person Clarke could hope to bring along with her. When Clarke had told her of her plans, Raven had hopped right on and helped her to save up for the trip west.
It had been a long year of working odd jobs and saving every bit of coin for a horse, wagon, and wood, and even thinking of applying but they made it. The trip had been long and hard and fraught with wild animals, bandits and the possibility of attacks by Indians but they had stuck with other settlers moving west and Clarke, equipped with the rifle her father had left her with, the only piece of him she had taken with her when she had left home, had been able to fend off any opposing contenders.
Landing at their first stop in Nebraska, a fort where most of the settlers could buy whatever they needed from other settlers and fort supplies, Clarke and Raven browsed and settled on a cow and some seeds to get themselves started. They spent the night outside of the fort.
Raven of course, quickly managed to get her hands on some whiskey from one of the soldiers in the fort. She easily charmed the men on the road and could get favors from them, even without returning anything. Although a young man, Finn, the son of a settler heading the same direction as they were had caught her eye on the road. Clarke rolled her eyes at that. The boy had tried to flirt with her a time or two but she had shot him down before he tried his luck on Raven.
Clarke took a swig of the bottle from Raven as she settled across from her in front of their fire.
"The soldier boys inside the fort say we should be careful out on the homestead." Raven remarked as she took the bottle back from Clarke.
Clarke glanced around their camp. Other wagons, horses and settlers were scattered around outside of the fort. Buildings, trading posts were built around it.
"We knew this would be risky Raven. You getting scared now?" Clarke turned her gaze to Raven.
Raven grinned.
"You know I wouldn't be here if there wasn't some risk." She joked.
Clarke laughed. She took another sip of the whiskey when she noticed a pair of green eyes watching her in the distance. She handed the bottle off to Raven. She looked for the owner of the eyes curiously only they were nowhere to be found.
Odd. She thought to herself. She shook her head.
"I'm going to turn in Raven. Get some sleep soon. We head out first thing." Clarke told the other woman.
Raven nodded to her silently as she gazed into the fire thoughtfully. Clarke smiled to herself. This was the start to their new life. She would fight every step of the way for it if she had to.
Finding their plot of land took some mapping. Clarke was the better navigator. Raven was more into building things. When they finally found it, a few trees dotted the landscape. A small stream ran nearby. An easy water source, as long as they boiled it before drinking. Clarke hopped down from the wagon and dug her hand into the soil, getting a feel for the land. It felt… right. She smiled.
Raved whooped and took off her hat. She ran over to Clarke and threw her arms around her.
"We're here Clarke!" She yelled excitedly as she bear hugged the blonde.
"Home at last!" She jumped, cheering.
Clarke watched and shook her head at Raven.
"Yes. Now we get to work." She stated laughing. Raven deflated grumbling.
"You're no fun." She growled as she stalked off toward their wagon. She began to unpack, pulling out cloth and calling Clarke over when she needed her help with the heavier stuff.
They stacked wood against a tree and covered it with wood that night. They took apart the wagon and made it into a temporary shelter until they could build themselves a more permanent one. Raven took the axe and began to chop at branches for a fire and to ready the shorter trees for wood.
Clarke got to work fencing in an area for the cow and horse to graze. She dug and planted a couple of posts to latch them to until then. She wiped sweat from her face as she worked.
The two women stopped midafternoon for a meal of jerky and dried fruit. They had enough food packed away to serve them for a month if they were careful. Clarke hoped they could work some crops and maybe milk to get more of whatever they needed.
"Maybe we should get a chicken next." Raven remarked.
Clarke nodded. "Chickens aren't too bad. We'll need to build a coop unless you want to sleep in the wagon with them. Probably get the corn going too."
Raven laughed.
"Imagine waking up with a cock in your face!"
"Raven!" Clarke admonished the other woman for her crudity.
Raven laughed even harder. She, like her father, had never been great with appropriateness. Clarke had met him a few times, even working in the tavern he owned, serving drinks. Clarke, a Southern Belle born on a plantation, had taken some time to get used to his mischief and crude jokes.
They continued to work well into the evening, Clark making good progress on digging and planting posts. Raven piled branches and took down two of the smaller trees.
As they settled around the fire Raven built, Raven turned to her friend, "I'll take first watch."
Clarke nodded. She went into the wagon and changed into her nightwear. Her day clothes were sweaty and smelled of it and it was a relief to finally get out of them.
Raven woke her up hours later to take her turn at watch. They slept like this on the road and would probably sleep like this until they had a proper shelter.
Clarke changed sleepily as Raven slipped into her bedroll. Clarke slid out of the wagon. She smiled at finding that Raven had rebuilt the fire before trading off their post. Clarke wouldn't freeze at least.
She settled near the fire with her rifle. She watched the night around her. It was dark beyond her fire. The stars that littered the sky lit up the night as the moon served as a lantern. Clarke smiled. She looked for constellations. Her father had taught her many of them when she was a child. She missed him.
A soft crunch in the night drew her attention towards the trees on her land. Clarke squinted, attempting to see into the darkness. It was too shadowed for her too catch anything.
Clarke shook her head. She hoped it was just a small animal. Nothing big. Or… an Indian. She did not need an attack this early in her settlement.
She stayed alert throughout the rest of her watch until morning came. As the sun rose and light touched the trees, Clarke turned her eyes toward the trees. Seeing nothing, she decided it had to be a raccoon or an owl. She stood and stretched then grabbed a bucket to fetch water from the stream.
Raven stepped out of the wagon looking like she had been hit with a tree.
"Another day and more work." She grumbled.
"Good morning, beautiful." Clarke laughed. Raven was not a morning person.
Clarke moved around and pulled out their breakfast. Salted pork from a pack. She grabbed the cast iron pan inside of a box and began the process of cooking the meat for her and Raven to eat.
The two women ate in silence as they contemplated the day's work: Building the fence around their land.
Raven grunted as she stood. She stumbled sleepily over to logs she had chopped up the day before while Clarke made up a pot of coffee. Raven would get bright and chipper once she had some of the dark roasty liquid in her system.
She poured the liquid into two mugs and walked over and handed one off to the other woman. Raven sighed as she took a sip from the mug. She drained the entire mug and handed it off to Clarke. Clarke took her time with the coffee and placed the dishes in the wooden crate they kept their dishes in.
They got to work carrying wood over to the posts Clarke had planted the day before and measuring out where to cut the wood. Raven chopped at the wood and worked to split them then placed them in the holes cut into the posts that Clarke and Raven had pre made into them before moving west.
By the end of the day they had a fence.
Clarke took the first watch that night. It would continue like this. Work, trading watches, work. The two women finding laughter wherever they could.
Then he came.
They were a week into their settlement. They had planted their seeds and begun the foundations on a cabin. Raven made progress on chopping the trees on their plot.
He and his sister were dark-haired and dark-eyed. They were in the plot next to their own. They had apparently been abandoned by their own parents. The girl was more sociable but the young man was surly and protective of his sister.
"Who done stuck a gun up his butt?" Raven grumbled 3 days after Bellamy and his sister, Octavia showed up.
Bellamy had glared at Raven after he had come over to fetch Octavia. The girl had stopped to chat as she crossed their plot to gather water from the stream in a bucket. She had been shy the first time she had chatted with Clarke and Raven but as the days progressed she opened up more and more, telling the two women her story and why she and her brother were homesteading together.
They liked her and hoped they could help each other out. If only her brother weren't so darn rude.
"That sounds really uncomfortable." Clarke muttered. She went back to milking their cow. She smiled. They had gotten lucky. The animal was a good producer.
Clarke thought about maybe churning butter, but they would have to buy the means to do so. She would look into prices the next they were in town. She looked at the bucket below the animal in front of her thoughtfully.
"Raven, bring me a spare mug." She ordered.
Raven brought her a mug and Clarke ladled out some milk into the mug. She finished milking the cow then set the bucket off.
She and Raven would drink it later.
Clarke crossed over to the other plot of land and made her way towards the tent Bellamy shared with Octavia.
Bellamy stepped out of the tent as she approached, he dusted his hands off on a cloth. It seemed he had just finished eating.
"Hello." Clarke gave him a stiff smile.
"Hello." He was gruff in return.
"I thought you might like a glass of milk." Clarke offered.
Bellamy eyed her warily.
"I don't need your handouts." He replied gruffly.
Clarke frowned.
"It's more of a peace offering. I would like us to at least get along. We are neighbors, you know?" She told him.
Bellamy looked back into the tent. He seemed to be thinking about it. Then he eyed Clarke.
"Alright. Fine." He agreed. He then took the milk from Clarke. He drained it right in front of her.
He wiped the milk mustache from his upper lip then handed the mug back to the woman.
"Thanks." He nodded gratefully and stepped back into the tent.
Octavia came out as Clarke stepped away happy with her success.
"Clarke!" She called.
"Octavia?" Clarke answered.
"Thank you." The dark-haired girl told her shyly before darting back into the tent.
The next day Raven and Clarke found a basket of eggs outside of their wagon.
