-An unexpected Visit-
-Outside of Fort Gibson - Shepard farm- 5/19/1878
James awoke to the sound of a horse pulling a wagon in the distant, James quickly got out of bed and looked out the window, there he could see a horse drawn wagon approaching the house, and he had no idea who it was. James quickly reached under his bed and dragged out a long wooden box, it was five feet wide and a foot and half tall.
James quickly opened the box and lying inside of it was guns, many guns. Revolvers, rifles, shotgun, even a musket. James pulled out one of the revolvers and loaded it, he then grabbed a Winchester repeating rifle and loaded it. He looked over at his wife who had awoken when he pulled the box out.
"Stay here." He said and walked out of the room, James quickly made his way out of the house, his heart was beating incredibly fast, the adrenalin was forcing him to remember his training, he stood outside, the morning sun had barely shown giving the land a blue hue to it.
James held the rifle tightly as the horse drawn wagon came to full view, he could see the driver, it was a man dressed in a black trench coat with a black cowboy hat on. The wagon was now at the front of the house, James held the rifle with both hands pointing the barrel at the ground, if whoever was driving the wagon was here to hurt his family, the man would be dead before he dropped to the ground. The wagon stopped and the driver turned to look at James, his hat cast a shadow over his face so James could not see it.
"Who are you? What do you want?" James said holding the barrel of the rifle up a little bit more to the driver.
"You dare point a gun at me boy?" The driver said with an old husky voice, James raised an eyebrow and lowered his gun, he knew that voice. How could he not? He had heard that voice his whole life.
"Father?" He asked, the driver raised his head and the shadow went away, and reviled a man who looked similar to James, the old man had green eyes and a mustache, his light brown hair was parted to the right. The man got off the wagon and approached James.
"Well?" He asked, James didn't know what to say.
"Well what?" He asked, the man laughed.
"Are you going to shoot me or give me a hug?" He asked and pulled James into a big hug, "Oh my boy it's so good to see you." He said.
"Father why didn't you send word you were coming?" James asked.
"Oh because I didn't want you to cause such a fuss on my account." He said, suddenly he turned his head a little.
"My, my." He said and used his hand to tilt his hat in a greeting gesture, *greetings Amadahy.* He said in Cherokee , James turned around to find Maria standing by the doorway, she was caught off guard being called by her native name.
*Greetings Christopher* she replied.
"Still as beautiful as ever." He said, Maria blushed.
"Thank you, I did not know you were coming." She said.
"Yes, well I sent no word, consider it a surprise visit." He said and turned to James, "Well are you going to help your father with his bags?" He asked, James handed Maria his rifle and pistol.
"Please put these up for me darling?" He asked, Maria nodded and walked off. James turned back to look at his father.
"What do you want?" He asked, Christopher raised his eyebrow.
"What? I can't visit my only remaining family?" He asked, James stared him down. "All right fine." He said and pulled out an opened letter and handed it to James.
"What is it?" He asked.
"A contact of mine handed this to me...Seems there will be a Templar meeting later tomorrow night in the city." He said.
"And? Surely you don't expect me to go?" James asked crossing his arms, Christopher sighed.
"Me and you are the only members of the brotherhood in this state, I'm too old now, I had trouble just trying to put a hat on, you're the only one who can find out what's going on." He said.
"No." James said, "I have a wife, and children and someday I will have grandchildren, I'm done with that part of my life father." James said, Christopher had a look of disappointment on his face.
"What of William?" He asked.
"Do not bring my children into this." James snapped back, Christopher looked up into James' eyes.
"You haven't train any of them James?" He asked, "Son who will continue our work?" He asked.
"Someone else, you and I will be the last Shepard's to be a part of the brotherhood." He said, Christopher lowered his head and nodded.
"As you wish." He said. Suddenly.
"Grandfather!" A voice called out, Christopher and James turned around to find Martha.
"Goodness look at you." Christopher said and walked up to Martha, he gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead, "My, my have you grown." He said. James stayed outside and looked at the letter, ever nerve in his body told him to forget about it, however a part of him was also telling him to read it and go out, one last time.
Christopher took a bite out of his breakfast meal and nodded.
"Indeed this is very delicious, thank you Martha, Mia and Amadahy." He said.
"Christopher please just call me Maria." She asked, she hadn't gone by her native name since she and James were married.
"Your true name is Amadahy and being so I will continue to call you by your true name." He said, Christopher was a sweet old man, but he was stubborn as hell. James came walking into the kitchen with his sons.
"Going to work on the farm chores are we?" He asked, James looked at his father before walking out.
"Yes we are, now Thomas, William remember what I said, if you want to go to the fair in a few days you have to work for it, after last night's bullshit." He said, both boys nodded and walked outside. Christopher turned around.
"Hold on you two." He called out, Thomas and William came walking back in.
"Father the boys need to..." Christopher held his hand out silencing James, "What bullshit?" He asked, no one answered.
"I'm sorry I didn't hear that, speak up!" Christopher said with a loud intimidating voice. Christopher was a sweat man, but he could be a hard ass when he needed to be.
"Me and Thomas got into a fight last night." William said. Christopher nodded.
"Why?" He asked.
"We disagreed on something." William replied. If there was one thing Christopher Shepard was not, that would be a fool. He stared at William.
"Really...Want to try that again without spewing shit from your mouth boy?" He said.
"Father." James cut in, "They are already being punished." He said, Christopher stood from his seat and placed his black hat on.
"I'm heading into town, I want you two to come with me." He said and pointed to William and Thomas.
"Father the boys need to do their chores." He said, Christopher looked at his son.
"And you expect me to carry what I get from town?" He asked, James started to grind his teeth together.
"Fine." He said, "Boys go with your grandfather." He said and walked out of the house. Christopher turned to his grandsons.
"Well...lets go." He said and lead them out of the house.
"William I'm sure you know how to drive a carriage?" Christopher asked.
"Yes sir." William replied.
"Good, you drive us into town." He said and started to get on the wagon, "Thomas, you will be the look out, you will inform us if anyone tries to attack us." He said as he sat down.
"What? Are we going to get attacked?" Thomas asked nervously.
"Possibly, you never know what can happen." Christopher said, "Now come on." He said, Thomas lowered his head and got into the back of the carriage, he then noticed a rifle strapped to the wall of the carriage, it had a hammer and lever, Christopher turned around to look at Thomas.
"See the gun Thomas? That's a Spencer repeating rifle, go ahead pick it up." He said, Thomas made his way to the front driver side of the wagon and unstrapped the gun. "I'm sure your father taught you all how to shoot right?" He asked.
"A little bit." Thomas replied, Christopher nodded.
"Alright do you know how to load a spencer repeating rifle?" He asked, Thomas shook his head.
"No sir." He said.
"Alright well here's how, this gun is loaded in the butt, now if you look you'll see a tube, turn it to the right and pull it out." He said, Thomas looked at the butt of the gun and found the tube, he turned it to the right and pulled it out.
"Alright now." Christopher said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a box of ammo and handed it to Thomas, "Drop seven bullets into the hole." He said, Thomas did as he was told, he opened the ammo box and pulled out a bullet and dropped it into the hole, after he dropped seven he looked up at Christopher.
"Now you slide the tube back in and lock it in place." He said, Thomas reached for the tube and slid it back into the hole, he turned it to the left and heard a click sound. "Next, you pull the hammer all the way back." He said, Thomas placed his thumb on the hammer and pulled it all the way back and heard a click. "Now for this part, you use the lever like you would a leaver action rifle, but don't do it now. Then you aim and shoot then repeat, hammer, lever, fire, now how do you load and fire?" Christopher asked.
"Pull tube out, put seven bullets into the hole of the butt, put tube back in and lock in place, pull hammer back all the way then use the lever action, then fire." Thomas said, Christopher nodded.
"Good boy, did you hear that William?" He asked, William nodded.
"Yes sir." He said.
"Good, now let's go." He said, William pulled the breaking lever on the wagon and whipped the reigns. The horses then started to move.
-Outside of Fort Gibson- -Willow cuff- 5/19/1878
About thirty minutes later they arrived at the small town of Willow cuff, Christopher got out of the wagon and looked around, it was a small town made out of wood surrounded by trees.
"Any of you boys been to New York before?" He asked.
"No sir." William said as he walked next to Christopher," After the harvest I plan on looking for a job there though." He said, Christopher nodded.
"Like what?" He asked, William shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess whatever I can find." He said, Thomas came walking up to his brother and grandfather.
"So what are we getting?" Thomas asked, Christopher looked at Thomas and pulled out a list.
"Just a few things, Flour, wheat, sugar, salt. That's about it, now I want you two to stay close to me, you never know how badly things can turn." He said and started to walk off.
Thomas was walking when he noticed a saloon, he had never had any alcohol before, his father wouldn't allow it in the house, he was very curious about it and wanted to try it, Thomas reached into his pocket, he had a few coins that might get him a little glass of whiskey. He turned around to find his brother and grandfather walking into a general store. Thomas then walked into the saloon.
As he walked in the smell of alcohol hit him hard along with the smell of cigars, Thomas made his way up to the counter. The bartender looked old a dirty, he stared at Thomas with one blue eye and the other was a milky white color.
"What you want?" He asked clearly missing some teeth, Thomas pulled out his money and placed it on the bar.
"Shot of whiskey please." He said, the bartender looked at the money and scooped it into his hand, he pulled out a shot glass from under the counter and placed it on the counter, he then grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured it in the shot.
"Enjoy." He said and walked over to another customer, Thomas picked up the shot glass and looked into the brown liquid, Thomas gulped and then poured the drink down his throat. Instantly his mouth started to burn and he coughed the whiskey up, which landed on a man's boots. Thomas continued to cough.
"Why you little Indian whore!" The man next to him shouted, Thomas looked over to find a man all dressed in black with a rough looking beard and a large scar down his face, "That was my boot you spat on injun." He said standing two ft. taller than Thomas.
"I apologies good sir." He said still coughing a little.
"These were good boots injun!" The man shouted, "Now lick them clean." He said, Thomas finally stopped coughing.
"I'm not going to lick you boots." Thomas said, suddenly the man pulled out a revolver and pointed in at Thomas' face, he pulled the hammer back.
"I said lick my boots!" He shouted again, Thomas could feel sweat coming down his face, his heart beat was beating faster, and faster. He couldn't help but think that this was the end for him.
"There won't be any need of that." A voice called out, Thomas quickly looked over and saw Christopher and William by the entrance. Christopher approached the man.
"This injun spat whiskey on my boots!" He shouted, "And the little bastard is going to lick it off." He said, Christopher then stood in between them.
"That little injun bastard you are referring to is my grandson, his name is Thomas, and he will not lick your boots." He said, suddenly the man placed the barrel of his gun at Christopher's head.
"Then maybe you will." He said, suddenly he heard the sound of revolver hammers being cocked. He looked down to find two revolvers being pressed against his gut, He looked up at Christopher who had not one speck of fear in his eyes.
"No...I will not lick your boots either, now unless you want to die over a pair of boots, I suggest you leave, because I am not going to die over it." He said, he then noticed the man's hand was twitching in fear. "Are you ready to die over a pair of boots boy? Are you ready for two holes blown inside of you that everyone here will be able to see what you ate for breakfast" He asked. The man gulped and slowly put his gun inside his holster.
"No." He said and walked out of the saloon, Christopher then holstered his revolvers and looked over to Thomas with a look and anger and worry.
"So do tell, what the hell were you thinking coming into a place like this?" He asked, Thomas didn't know what to say, any excuse he would try to give would only sound stupid.
"I'm sorry." He said feeling his grandfather's anger.
"Be thankful that I don't tell your father." He said and walked out of the Saloon, William waited by the door for Thomas to leave.
-Outside of Fort Gibson - Shepard farm- 5/19/1878
Ethan and Elijah started to sweat as they went around the ground with the hoe.
"It sucks doing William's and Thomas' chores." Ethan said as he stopped to get a drink from his canteen.
"But father says hard work makes us strong." Elijah said, Ethan scuffed.
"I'd rather get strong doing my chores and my chores only." He said as he started to tear up the ground with the hoe, Ethan looked up at the house to find his mother sewing, she loved to sew, when she had nothing else to do that's what she did, sit on the porch and sew.
When each of them had turned five she made each of them a deerskin outfit to wear, much like she says her people use to wear, although they had all grown out of them except for Mia, every once in a while she would wear hers around the house.
"Get back to work Ethan." Elijah said tapping his brother's shoulder, Ethan looked down at Elijah and rolled his eyes.
"Don't tell me what to do, I'm older than you." He said.
"Only by two years." Elijah shot back.
*Whore* Ethan said in Cherokee, Suddenly Elijah dropped his hoe and ran to his mother.
"Mother! Ethan called me a whore!" He shouted, Ethan then tossed his hoe down and chased after Elijah.
"I did not you little liar!" He shouted.
James looked up to find his sons complaining to their mother.
"What are those shit heads arguing about now?" He asked and he fixed a part of a fence that got torn down, as James started to tie rope around it to keep it in place his thumb rubbed across the wooden beam and caught a large splinter. James yanked his hand away.
"Damn it." He said and looked at the splinter that had dug into his flesh, James used his teeth to grab ahold of the splinter and pulled it out, as he did blood started to trickle down his thumb, he spat the splinter out and shoved his thumb in his mouth to lick the blood off. He then heard the sound of a horse drawn carriage and looked up, he saw his father and William as they pulled up close to the house.
"Bout damn time." He said taking his thumb out of his mouth and wiping it on his shirt, "I hate doing someone else's chores." He said and started to walk up to the carriage.
Thomas quickly walked out of the wagon and ran inside, ignoring his mother who tried to talk to him. William walked inside with a thing of flour over his shoulder.
"Thomas open the door." He heard his mother say, "Thomas please." She called out, William sat the flour down and walked over to his mother.
"Thomas just needs to be left alone for a little bit." He said, His mother looked at him with worry in her eyes.
"What happened?" She asked, William didn't want to tell his mother what happened, he didn't need her to get even more worried than what she was, however he knew if he didn't she would keep bothering Thomas, and he didn't want that either.
"Thomas got into a little bit of trouble, but Grandfather took care of it." He said not telling her the whole story, he could see she was still worried but not as much.
"He'll be fine, he just needs to calm down for a little bit." He said and placed his hand on her shoulder and lead her away from the door. Knowing Thomas, he'll be in there all day.
William came back to the kitchen and picked the flour up, he then walked over to a storage room and sat it down, he then made his way back to the wagon and helped with the other store bought items.
At dinner everyone ate in silence, Thomas had stayed in his room the whole day, James was starting to worry that he might be getting sick, but William knew that was not the case, he had a gun pointed at his head today, and if Christopher had not been there, he didn't even want to think about it.
Mia was starting to get worried about Thomas, she loved her brothers and sisters equally but she always had a better connection with Thomas, he wasn't mean like William, and Ethan. Martha was okay but she was never good with saying the right words, and Elijah was only a year older than her, and he acted too much like a kid. Thomas just had a caring personality, he would sit with her and they would talk about how their days went, what they dreamt about, they always were there for each other when the other was sad, and right now she wanted to be with her brother.
"May I be excused?" She asked and looked at her father, he looked down at his youngest child and nodded. Mia scooted her chair back and got up, she pushed her chair in and walked away, She made her way down the hall to her brothers rooms, she walked up to Thomas' closed door and knocked gently, there was no answer.
"Thomas?" She said quiet enough so only Thomas would hear, "Can I come in?" She asked, there was still no reply. Mia gently turned the doorknob and opened the door. She looked inside to find he wasn't in there.
"Thomas?" She called out a little louder, she then noticed his window was opened, she looked out his window into the darkness. There was only one place he would be and Mia knew where it was. She quickly ran out of the room and slowed down once she got into the kitchen to not raise suspicions, she made her way to the front door and opened it.
"Where are you going sweetheart?" Maria asked, Mia turned around and looked at her mother and everyone else who decided to look at her.
"I was just going out for a little bit." She said, James cleared his throat.
"Wait until William or Martha finish so they can go with you." He said, Martha turned around and could clearly see there was something wrong with her, Martha sat her knife and fork down.
"I'm finished, I'll go watch her." She said as she used her napkin to wipe her mouth, she stood up and opened the front door for Mia who quickly ran out.
"Alright Mia what's wrong?" Martha asked, Mia looked up at her older sister and grabbed her hand.
"I need to go find Thomas!" She cried and tried to drag Martha with her.
"What are you talking about? Thomas is in the house." She said.
"No he's not." She said and kept dragging Martha, Martha pulled her hand back away from Mia.
"What do you mean he's not?" She asked, Mia sighed.
"I went to check on him and he wasn't there...But I think I know where he is, please we need to go to him." She said, Martha rolled her eyes.
"Alright, lead the way." She said and followed Mia as she ran off.
Later they arrived at the pond, and sure enough Thomas was sitting by it, when Mia saw her brother she nearly cried.
"Thomas!" She cried and ran to him, Thomas was shocked when he heard his name being called out, it startled him so much he nearly fell off the rock he was sitting on. Thomas looked up to find Mia running to him, he quickly stood.
"Mia? What are you doing out here?" He asked as she jumped into his arms hugging him tightly.
"Could ask you the same thing." Martha said as she made her way closer, Martha and Thomas were not that close as he and Mia were, they got into fights as well sometimes, but never like him and William.
"I just wanted to be alone for a little bit." He said still holding onto Mia.
"But Thomas, you've been alone all day." Mia said with tears in her eyes, she must have been really worried about him. Thomas smiled a little and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I know...But you know that's how I am." He said and kissed her forehead.
"So why were you upset when you got home?" Martha asked and looked at her little brother a little worried, they might fight sometimes but he was still her brother and she would always love him.
"It's...Kind of hard to say." He said, Mia had finally let go of him and looked into his eyes.
"What happened?" She asked as she rubbed the remaining tears from her eyes. Thomas sighed, he knew they would never let it go, they were too much like their mother in that way.
"When I was in town...Some man pulled a gun to my head and threatened to kill me." He said, Martha gasped and placed her hands over her mouth, Mia grabbed Thomas and nearly started to cry again, "Luckily grandfather was there to get me out of the mess...But being so close to dying...It's just messed me up all day." Thomas took a long deep breath and looked back dawn to Mia, he smiled as he strangely started to feel better as she hugged him. "But I feel a lot better now, I'm sorry if I worried you Mia." He said using his hand to hold her chin up. Mia quickly wiped a few tears from her eyes and nodded.
"It's okay big brother...As long as you are okay." She said. Martha walked up to her brother, she stood on her tippy toes and hugged him.
"Please don't tell anyone about what I told you, Father and Mother can never find out...unless it's by me." Thomas said, he could feel both sister nod yes.
