"So… Where are we going?" Deacon asked, impatiently.
Isi just ignored him. There was a large number of horseshoe prints on the dusty ground underneath them. She was sure they lead to a town. Deacon and Terry, weren't so sure. The area around them looked like the middle of nowhere. Dust covered the area like fog, there was no sign of life, or even vegetation. The heat wasn't helping either. It was blistering and it was starting to take their toll and all three of them were out of water. Finally, they came across a well that was oddly in the middle of nowhere.
"Finally." Deacon and Terry said in unison, the two raced to the well and started pulling the rope attached to a pail. The pail felt heavier than it should have, when they finally got it up, they saw why. The rusty metal bucket was full of dirt.
"T'sa shame huh?" a depressed voice said, out of nowhere.
The three of them looked around and found an old man. His clothes were as dirty as the ground. On his face, he had what Deacon thought was a beard. Upon further investigation, Deacon realized that it wasn’t a beard, but dirt covering his face. When Deacon and Terry saw this, they both backed up in disgust.
"Excuse me." Isi said. "We are looking for a town to spend the night."
The old man snorted. Deacon could see dust shooting out from the inside of his nostrils.
"You're already in one." He said.
The three of them were confused. They were sure they were in the middle of nowhere. Soon the dust subsided just enough for them to make out buildings. Some people were huddled up in a corner, others just walked through the dust like it wasn't even there. The entire town just threw off a depressing vibe.
"Welcome to Rustown." The old man said sarcastically.
That name sounded familiar to Terry. He went to his bag and started rummaging through it.
"Well guys." Deacon said to his companions. "I guess we are spending the night here."
"Oh… Well… You can." The old man said. "Those two animals you brought with you, they'll have to find somewhere else to sleep."
Deacon just looked at Ginny and the horse Terry took from the Union during their last adventure. "You don’t have any stables for the horses?" Deacon asked. "What kind of crappy town is this?"
"I wasn't referring to the horses." The old man said.
It took Deacon a while to get it, but the old man was referring to Isi and Terry.
"What makes you think you can just prevent us from entering this town?" Isi asked. She had her hand resting on her weapons that were strapped to her side.
The old man just smiled and pointed out a rusty, star shaped badge attached to his dirty vest.
"As sheriff of Rustown, I refuse to let any Ruff-heads or Rosies into my town."
Isi looked at Deacon to see what he was going to decide. Would he just leave them out here while he stood in the town. Deacon was about to open his mouth, when Terry interrupted him.
"I knew the name of this town sounded familiar." Terry rushed over to the two and revealed to them a piece of paper he had in his bag. "My mother always writes to me. She told me she lives in a town called Colfox. It's only a few miles west of here."
When the sheriff heard that name, his face turned sour.
"Well… What are we still doing in Shitbucket, or whatever this town is called. Let's get out of here." Terry said, excited to see his mother again.
The three of them rushed to their horses and headed westward.
The dusty plains were soon replaced by a lush field. They easily saw a homely sign that read: Welcome to Colfox. It was a lively town. There were women shopping at a market place with fresh fruit and meat. Children were playing in the sidewalks as their elders watched them from a rocking chair on the balconies of their house. Some men were constructing houses, others were farming potatoes, and others were bringing fresh meat they had recently hunted. All of these citizens were colored.
Deacon never saw a happier or lively town. He easily preferred this town over Rustown. The first thing he did after settling the horses in a stable, was head to a saloon.
"Dammit." Terry thought to himself. "He is gonna get himself into trouble." He started to head after him when someone hugged him from behind.
"Is this my little boy?" a familiar and loving voice said. Terry turned around and saw his mother.
She was a short woman. Her hair was black with hints of grey. She had on a clean pink dress and a dirty apron over it.
"Ma. It's been so long." Terry said, with tears in his eyes. He then hugged her tight.
"Welcome home son." She said with a shaky voice.
Isi watched from afar and smiled. While she was happy for Terry, she felt sorrow. The reunion reminded her of her father, and how much she missed him.
"Come, let's go to the Saloon so you can meet your uncle. All three of us can catch up and you can tell me about how the army was."
While he was happy to see her, he hadn't yet thought about telling his mother that he was almost executed for treason and is technically a wanted criminal. He decided to cross that bridge later, now he had to keep an eye on Deacon and prevent him from starting an angry mob.
When Terry got to the Saloon, he saw Deacon was sitting at the bar and had his arm over some guy. They were laughing and making jokes. Even the bartender, Terry's uncle, seemed to be enjoying his company.
"Woo, you are a funny one." The bartender said to Deacon. "Have another glass." He filled Deacon's glass with more whiskey.
"Why thank you Ruff-head." Deacon said.
Immediately the entire Saloon became silent. All the laughter in the room was replaced by an angry silence.
Deacon finished up his sip and then looked up. Oblivious to the angry faces beaming down on him.
"What?" Deacon asked, when he finally noticed their sour faces.
The next thing he knew, the entire town was chasing him. They were armed with axes, clubs, cooking pans, and even broomsticks.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap." Deacon said as he tried to stay ahead of the angry mob. He finally made it out of the town, but a few of them chased him farther.
Terry and Isi were both fully aware of Deacon's current predicament, but they just veered off out of his sight. They pretended they didn’t even know who he was.
"And stay out yah darn Keebler!" Terry's mother yelled, as she waved her frying pan in the air. She then turned around and resumed what she was doing, as did the rest of the angry mob.
"The nerve of that guy. Right?" She asked Terry and Isi.
"I know right?" Terry agreed. He then looked at Isi who was playing along. While they both felt bad for Deacon, they did just witnessed the town's bad side, and wanted to avoid it.
"So." Terry's mother said as all three of them walked back to the saloon. "Who's this lovely young lady? Is she your girlfriend?"
"Umm, well-" Terry stuttered. His face turning red.
"Yes I am." Isi answered, nonchalantly.
"Whaaat?!" Terry yelled.
"I am your friend, and I am a girl."
"No… She meant-"
"Oh, I'm just teasin' ya." His mother interrupted. "Julius, come and meet my son!"
The bartender came up to them. He was a big, muscly man. He had a clean shaven head. His intimidating physique was overshadowed by the jolly smile he had on his face.
"Hey, so this is the big-bad-buffalo soldier I've been hearin' about." Julius playfully punched Terry's shoulder.
"Yeah and he's gonna tell us all about his adventures." His mother said with a proud look on her face. She then looked at Isi. "See he was born when we was still slaves. I didn't want my baby to grow up to be another man's property. When he was five I gave him to a group of slaves that were escaping. They took him to the North, there he was raised by a nice white family who even payed for him to go to military school. Shortly after, we was freed. I learned how to write and eventually contacted him, and we would write each other once a week ever since." She told Isi this story with tears in her eyes.
This made Terry feel extremely guilty. She risked a lot for him to be free, and he felt that if he told her what happened during his time as a Buffalo soldier, and now he's an outlaw, she would be heartbroken. He had no choice, he was going to have to lie to her.
Meanwhile, Deacon ran so far that he ended up in the middle of a river.
"Is it just me?" He thought. "Or was all that rioting uncalled for?" he tried to wade out of the river, but he was kind of stuck in the mud. "Well this is just perfect."
"Hey you." someone behind Deacon said, frightening him. "Grab my hand."
Deacon turned around. "Huh, who are you?"
"Does it matter?" He asked. "I'm just trying to help a fellow white man out."
Deacon really didn't think much of it and grabbed the man's hand. He pulled himself out.
"Thanks." Deacon said.
"No problem." The red-headed man said. "I saw you getting chased by a group of Ruff-heads. The nerve them."
"I know right." Deacon said. "They have no sense of hospitality."
"Don't worry about it." The man said. "I'm Phil by the way."
"Deacon." The two shook hands.
"If you need someplace to stay, there is a perfect place for good folks like me and you." Phil said. He smelled the whiskey in Deacon's breath. "There will be plenty of alcohol."
"Any place with alcohol, I'm in."
Log in to comment