As promised not too long ago.... here is a sampling for you from
the new book which is about 70% complete. This is the rough
draft....it has not been corrected for ...well anything...so please
remember that as you take a quick read. This has been and continues
to be one of the biggest projects I've ever attempted...and I hope
to have it completed in the next few months... so stay tuned.
The name of the book will remain 'under wraps' until it's
ready to be released; that from the publisher. So...
please have your friends drop into the site here and look around
as well. At the end... you may leave a comment if you like;
good, bad or ugly.. kind of like the song from the sixties
remember? Have a great week... and stay safe. SS
The wind had been fierce all
night. Travis was awake
most of it as the wind challenged a couple of
the
seasoned and loose shutters
which smacked against
cracked shingles. The house must have been magnificent
when grand dad had first built it…a castle if
you will in
the middle of nowhere it seemed, surrounded by
desert,
rocks, cactus and a few spruce trees. The
small stream
which came from the nearby foothills was most
of the
time only a trickle, not even
recognizable as such in
summer. It was home though
and it was good just
to be home.
Soon after dawn had arrived
Travis and Caleb, after
woofing down a quick breakfast, headed out the
front door to the barn less than thirty yards
away.
They quickly noticed one
piece of roofing lying nearby,
a result no doubt of the tearing wind from the
night before.
“We’ll have to get that back up later” said
Travis. “I’ll
send you up to do the job…I
hate being off the
ground….. even if it is only
twenty feet.”
Caleb laughed out loud. “Yeah, go ahead and sacrifice
the little brother, he won’t
mind.” They both laughed
gingerly as Caleb gave a
quick poke to his brother’s left
shoulder.
Travis had fallen from the back porch
several years earlier
resulting in just scrapes and bruises,
but the experience left him a
bit shy of anything
involving height. It had taken him some time and patience
by his father to get him to mount a horse….but
if you can’t ride a horse on
a ranch, you’re pretty
much useless, so Travis took the challenge and
finally
relinquished his fears. Just as Caleb
unlatched the
barn door, Travis’ right hand came up with
the ‘stop what you’re doing
gesture’. “What?” said
Caleb “What is it?”
“I hear a wagon coming up the
road” replied Travis.
“It’s just coming up the gully now… can’t you
hear it?”
Caleb turned his head to the left, leaning in
the direction
Travis indicated. “Nothin” said Caleb.
“Well somebody’s comin” said
Travis. “Go get the
Winchester just in
case.” The Winchester .44 repeating
rifle with 16 bullets in it was tucked just
behind the front
door, always ready for a quick defense if
someone looked
threatening or worse. Caleb
had the gun in his hand and
Travis had bounded up the two steps just as
the covered
buckboard rounded the corner of the barn and
headed
for the house.
The Appaloosa horse pulling the wagon
was pretty rough looking, almost like it had
mange, it
appeared tired and worn with
tuffs of hair missing from
it’s front right quarter. The
wagon it pulled was a buckboard
much like the one on the
ranch but slightly longer with
a strange looking cover.. not
like a covered wagon, but
more of a tent cover with a peak in the middle
with
sides pulled down and nailed to the wagon’s
sides.
As Caleb lowered the rifle in
the direction of the
oncoming stranger…a yell came out;
“Hold on their partner I’m a
friendly”, the driver had
one hand on the reins, the
other raised in a ‘I surrender gesture.’
The driver pulled the rig
another ten feet and stopped sideways
to the front porch, giving
the Dawson brothers full view of it.
The side of the wagon read
‘William Bailey’s Traveling Hardware and
Sundries, and was done in
faded red barn paint on a tattered sign
that looked like it had
survived at least a dozen Indian attacks.
Hung on the side of the wagon
were at least a dozen burlap bags with
wares poking their way out of the not quite secured
openings.
As the large man jumped from
the wagon to the ground, the wagon
squeaking loudly as if giving a sigh of relief from the weight.
The big man had on grey wide striped
pants, a yellowed long sleeve shirt
missing two top buttons, and
a dark brown business coat
tailed at the back and
sporting a gold chain that looped from a left
side watch pocket. His hat, a
black derby with blue band held one
distinctive crow’s feather
swooping towards the back.
“William Bailey at your
service” the short, pudgy man blurted, as he
tipped his hat in their
direction, almost looking for a donation.
“If Bill Bailey doesn’t have
it…you don’t need it” followed by a belly
laugh that had Travis and
Caleb in a quandary as to what they were witnessing.
Caleb lowered the rifle, feeling a more secure
now that the stranger had
identified himself. Even
without the Winchester, Caleb thought it wouldn’t
be hard to take this fella
down… he looked overweight and pretty soft.
Bailey walked up to the pair,
extended his hand and said “Haven’t been out
to this part of Arizona
before but thought I’d scout it out and maybe
make it part of my route...
try to see most of my customers about twice a
year.”
“What do you got in that
wagon?” inquired Caleb.
“Well, what do you need young
man? I have a little of everything but if
you’re in the market for a
young woman…ha…that’s one thing I don’t have…it’s bad luck travelin’ around
these parts with a woman.” He laughed
again,
striking the side of his
black and grey striped pants, sending a wisp of dust
into the air. “Sure is dry already out here” quipped
Bailey. “Is it always this
dry this early?”
“Afraid it’s going to be a
long summer” replied Travis. “Let me
find my father
and you can do your sales
talkin’ to him…Caleb and I have work to do.”
“Suit yourself” replied
Bailey. “I’ve no schedule to keep… it’s
early in the
day and I just want to head towards Tucson by mid day
if I can.”
Bailey returned to the rear
of his wagon, pulled up and tied the canvass
that was pulled over the
back, revealing the contents which he hoped would
soon be inspected by the
boy’s father. But were they boys thought
Bailey?
The older Travis looked at
least twenty five, slim in build, wiry and looking
the part of someone who could
easily take care of himself. The younger
one
Caleb appeared the younger, a
little heavier, long auburn hair streaming to
his shoulders but neatly
kept. Each wore a cowboy hat that showed evidence
of many months being out in
the elements. Bailey presumed that
Travis was the
‘boss’ of the two, just by the demeanor and
positioning of the two as he had
approached the property.
“My Pa will be out directly
to talk with you” barked Travis as he motioned for
Caleb to head back to their
duties in the barn. Bailey gave a wave
of his hand
as he started to pull items
from the back of the buckboard.
“Travis…I’d really like to
take a gander at what that guy’s got” said Caleb.
“Probably just a bunch of
high price junk” returned Travis as he handed
a hammer to Caleb. “Let’s get that ladder up
and that shingle put back on
the roof….we don’t need Pa
giving us directions for something we know needs
being done…and when we finish
that you can go replace that board on the
porch that you’ve been
putting off.”
Caleb grabbed the tool and
made his way to the barn wall where the ladder
was secured, covered with
dirt and debris, evidence that it had been some time
before it had been used.
“What can I help you with
today?” came the question from Richard Dawson
who had made his way to the
back of the wagon. Bailey turned around quickly
and responded with “No no
good man… it’s what can I help YOU with today
kind sir?” as he extended his
hand to shake the senior Dawson’s right hand.
“William Bailey is the name,
and if you are in need of almost anything in
hardware or other sundries… I
probably have it stowed in the back of this
traveling crate of mine.”
“Can’t say I’ve seen a rig
like this before” said Richard, “Of your creation?”
“Well actually” said Bailey,
“a Shoshone chief up in Utah gave it to me
many years ago in trade for a
few cases of pretty good fire water!”
Bailey broke out again in a
hardy laugh, watching for Richards’ reaction
which was indeed a good
chuckle as well. “I could use some six
penny nails
and maybe a new rat tail file
if you’ve got one hidden in there somewhere.”
Bailey replied, “Can do sir,
can do… just give me a few minutes to sort things
out and we’ll do some
business together.”
And so it was William Bailey
had made his first stop ever south of Tucson
on the Four Aces ranch. As Bailey bid the Dawsons goodbye, he gave a
yell at the old Appaloosa and
they were on their way back from which they
came. Looking back over his shoulder as they made
their way out
Bailey gave a shout, “Should
be back this way before winter God willing,
nice meetin’ you fellas… and
take care now.” Within a minute he was
gone, and Travis looked at
Caleb and Richard and uttered, “did you ever
see such a character as
that? How has he survived being by
himself out
there sellin’ pots and pans and stuff?”
Richard replied, “Son, some
people have more than just a good way
with folks… some have pure
pure luck, I’m thinkin’ that’s one of those
fellas right there… I doubt
we’ll ever see him again.”
And with that the Dawsons
went back to work. Richard headed back
into the house and Travis
gave Caleb a gentle push saying “get back to
work youngin’, you’ve got
things to do.” Three steps in front of
Travis,
Caleb gave a quick kick
backward sending the prairie dirt flying.
“Someday big brother, I’m
going to box your ears for good.”
Father Richard cracked a
smile as he watched the pair. How these
two ever got anything done
was a small miracle in itself. His wife,
God rest her soul, would be
so pleased to see these young men and
what they have become.
Richard looked skyward and said softly,
“Wish you could be here to
see them in the flesh love, they remind
me of you so much every
day.” Richard headed into the house, but
not before yelling out,
“Caleb… are you going to fix this porch board
today or not?” Richard shook his head side to side
thinking,
I’m going to have to watch
that young one…he might need a little
more direction than his
brother. Richard stepped over the fractured
porch step and headed in to
resume the morning routine at his
desk. Richard thought about their just departed
visitor Bailey.
He sure was an interesting
and colorful fellow…probably it was those attributes and his friendly spirit
that kept him alive this long.
