Chapter 4
The troop arrived in Boonesborough three days later. Mingo was limping from a sprained right ankle he'd injured trying to keep blanket-wrapped Rocky from being mauled by an enraged raccoon. Daniel was nursing several cracked ribs received after he'd fallen out of a tree trying to escape a charging bear. Yad's left arm was in a sling from a wound he'd sustained after his own gun slipped from his hand and fired.
Milly's skin was on fire from hundreds of chigger bites gotten after she ran into a meadow of wildflowers trying to evade a swarm of yellowjackets. And Rocky's head, shoulders and arms were bandaged from the raccoon mauling. Ivy remained completely uninjured. By mutual consent the miserable girl walked several feet behind the rest of her companions.
Cincinnatus provided a supper and clean room for the weary family. Daniel, Mingo and Yadkin limped on to Daniel's house where Becky spent more than an hour doctoring the grumpy trio. Israel stood beside her, watching her careful ministrations and listening to the three men exchange observations about the Moss family. Finally Becky rose and defended them. All three men turned on her and made her understand in no uncertain terms that she was wrong. And if she doubted them, she could go to Cincinnatus' tavern and find out for herself. That is, if Cincinnatus' tavern was still there in the morning.
Groaning, Daniel lay down on his bed and relaxed. Mingo limped out to his lean-to near the house. Yad stretched out on the porch, his wounded arm propped on one of Becky's sacks of meal. The pretty woman nursed her hurt feelings alone by the fire. The three men's vehemence had surprised and overwhelmed her. She had never known Daniel, or Mingo either, to speak so harshly about a helpless family. In the loft Israel pondered the same observation. Before the next evening the two Boone's would have their answer.
Early the next morning after fixing breakfast for the three silent men Becky walked the short distance to Cincinnatus' tavern. Israel had begged to come along and ambled beside her, switching the heads off the flowering daisies. As she entered the stockade she heard a loud rumbling crash and a voice raised in anger. Hurrying to the large log tavern she opened the door to a scene of carnage. The stairs to Cincinnatus' upstairs room had collapsed and taken most of his stock of jugs and glassware with it. In the open doorway of the upstairs room Becky could see three white faces. Cincinnatus was standing beside his bar, the words pouring forth in a torrent. Becky clapped her hands over Israel's ears and pulled the grinning boy out of the ruined taproom.
A crowd gathered beside her and several men pushed their way into the taproom. The dust was settling as the entire company stood open-mouthed at the spectacle. Finally Cinncinatus pushed his way through the crowd and out the door. Two men left the room to grab one of the stockade's ladders. After several minutes they were back and a dozen men helped hold the ladder steady as Rocky, Milly and Ivy climbed carefully down. Just as Ivy's foot touched the floor the door burst inward and Cincinnatus came in followed by Dan, Yad and Mingo. The three battered men took in the entire scene, then turned to look at each other in disbelief. Becky silently stood beside Dan, Israel's arm held firmly in her left hand.
Daniel bent to his wife and whispered in her ear, "Now see what we've been tellin' you? The whole trip here was like this. There's no explain' it, Becky. There just isn't."
Becky pursed her lips in disagreement. "Dan, one little girl can't be the cause of such things. It just isn't reasonable." Dropping Israel's arm she walked to Ivy's side, her head high and her red hair shining in the morning light. "Come on out and stay at our place. You are welcome until we can get a cabin built for you."
Becky did not even look at Daniel as she pulled Ivy past him out the door. Milly followed. Rocky stood inside the wrecked tavern for several seconds, looking into Daniel's eyes with a look of sympathy. Then he hitched his borrowed trousers and limped out the door to follow his family. Daniel turned to the two friends at his side.
"Boys, just how fast do you think we can build a cabin?"
Mingo's eyes followed the Moss family as they passed through the stockade walls. Beside him Yad answered his friend. "Dan'l, if'n we get started now and don't stop for nothin' but dark I reckon we could get one built in about five days. Less if'n we get some of these folks to help." He turned to the company standing before him, the shock still evident on their faces. "What do you say, fellas? The sooner we get them out of Dan'l's cabin, the sooner the poor man can be at peace."
Phillip Hamblin spoke for the assembly. "Let's get crackin' then. And let's build it as far away as possible from the rest of us!" The Boonesborough men scattered to grab as many tools as they could lay their hands on and were already cutting trees before another hour was past.
The Moss cabin was built in less than three days. Everyone in the settlement worked on the project. The women cooked for their men and Mingo kept a steady supply of meat ready for them. Daniel's cabin had sustained a broken shutter, a sagging porch, and a fire-blackened chimney but it was still inhabitable. Two of Becky's treasured blue plates had broken and one sack of sugar had split open for no obvious reason, but the frontier woman refused to admit anything unusual was happening. She maintained that position until the afternoon of the third day when the spindle on her spinning wheel flew off and shattered the little china figure setting on the corner shelf. Milly turned from the bubbling kettle she was tending and shook her head. Ivy sat quietly in the settee with her small hands in her lap. Becky's bright blue eyes filled with tears as she gathered the pieces of the treasured china figure.
"Sure am sorry, Mrs. Boone. Freaky thing that was. Never seen nothin' like it afore." Milly patted Becky's shoulder in sympathy. Becky walked out onto her sagging porch and dabbed her eyes with the hem of her apron. She saw Dan approaching from the west and ran to meet him.
"Dan, you're right and I don't understand how. But I don't know how much longer I can stand having that girl around me. We won't have anything left in a few days!"
Dan patted Becky's shoulder and pulled her to walk beside him. He looked down and saw the tears sparkling in her blue Irish eyes. Sympathy coursed through him and he spoke the words she most wanted to hear. "Becky, they'll be gone tomorrow. We finished the cabin and we'll move 'em in the mornin'."
Becky stopped walking and buried her head against Dan's chest. She sniffed and wiped her nose with her apron hem. He patted her back affectionately and together they stepped onto the leaning porch and walked into their embattled cabin.
Up before dawn, Becky made a hearty breakfast and hovered over her guests impatiently. Dan, Yad and Mingo all ate quickly, their eyes darting to Ivy's face every few seconds as they clutched their forks tightly. They sat and drank their tea as they waited for Milly, Rocky and Ivy to finish their meal. As soon as Milly laid down her fork all three sprang up from the table and began gathering the Moss's belongings.
Becky stood in her doorway waving goodbye with more gusto than Dan had ever seen. He smiled to himself, turned and waved at his weary wife. She blew him a kiss and disappeared back into her quiet cabin. In his mind Dan could see her sitting beside the fire, enjoying the quiet and eating the last sausage patty in peace. She deserved it.
The Mosses expressed their delight in their new cabin and invited the three men to stay and have a cup of coffee. But the three declined as politely as possible and all but ran the thirty yards back to the sheltering forest. Safely out of disaster range the three friends stopped to discuss their recent experiences in the company of the Moss family.
"Daniel, I like to think that I am a reasonable man and somewhat educated. But never in my life have I experienced anything like these past two weeks. And I hope that I never do again!"
"You're sure right about that, Mingo. I never would have believed it if I hadn't aseen it with my own two eyes."
"Your good eye, you mean. But Ivy's sure a pretty little gal."
"Dan'l, that little gal is easy on the eyes but a blight on the rest of a man!"
Daniel laughed and turned back toward his own home. Mingo limped on his left side and Yad's wounded arm brushed his right. The three bewildered men slowly tracked through the dense Kentucky forest toward the Boone cabin. Behind them inside the new cabin they heard a crash. Exchanging a quick look, all three men moved as fast as it was possible to do, their bravery sacrificed to the little slip of a girl named Ivy.