I get up at seven, yeah,

and I go to work at nine.

I got no time for livin’.

Yes, I’m workin’ all the time. – Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

Ahh, the work week. A good old, stick to schedule and get things done without the drama, life. Sore muscles and chafed hands, boring repetitive meals, and half-funny jokes from the guys you’re working with. Swing the axe, dig the dirt, and drag the log. It was all a very nice change from the constant drama and stress of the management life. I knew this would be short-lived for me, but I tried to take advantage of it while I could.

I still had to attend afternoon meetings and we needed to see Thomas about his claim. So, today I’d head up there, to invite the family down for dinner on Saturday. I also wanted to time the travel each way, at both a walk and a slow gallop. I knew Lunch was wanting a good run, anyway. That meant it was a shortened work day for me; I still had mayoral duties calling my name.

I started out by pulling a stump down to the beach. I merely wrapped a length of rope around it and secured the rope to the pommel. I walked Lunch down to the beach and he didn’t seem to mind in the least bit. Morgans were well known to be good light draft horses. Timmons and I talked boats for a while and the shipwright explained to me what he was doing, I wasn’t much use down in that specialty area, so I moved on again.

An hour spent digging out stumps is a miserable hour. Thankfully, the larger ones were few and far between, but all of the little stumps, even from saplings, had to be removed. I would swear that those were the worst. Both Brin and Lunch watched my labors with sort of an amused contempt. When I asked Lunch just to kick out one particularly stubborn sapling stump, he simply ignored me. So much for the ‘Trusty Steed’ title. He was back to being a flea-bitten nag in my book.

I knew lunch was on its way, so I took my leave to head up to the wood shop. Over the lunch break, we discussed progress and plans. I let them know we needed a prioritized shopping list from them, soon. I’d still have trouble getting decent deals on the proper equipment, but at least I’d know what to shop for. At the end of it all, Jeb offered to go with me. He’d know what they needed and be able to ensure I was getting the right tools, as well as help me argue price. He would also get everyone off my back about traveling alone; I had a companion now. On the down side, I’d need to properly arm him. We’d already seen the advantages of carrying modern weapons in dangerous times. I thought the Sharps might do him well, plus he could have a revolver for when we were on the road. Now I just had to train him on those.

After an hour or so clearing with this crew, I headed out to the homestead. Esther wanted to go up to visit Daisy. Mouse offered to ride along with her. I didn’t mind having either along. Esther was always funny with her little girl ways and Mouse was just comforting to be with. The girls each had their own mount and we meandered on down to where the road crew was working.

The crew greeted Mouse and me like normal arrivals. Once they saw Esther, they all broke into big smiles and were cracking jokes with her. She was apparently hugely popular throughout the camp; her attitude just seemed to breed happiness. Any plans to hang out with the guys and clear wood ended right there. We just chatted for a while and then headed out down to the prairie.

I stayed out of the tree line this and we simply rode out to the grass to make our way down. I decided to take the trip up at a nice canter, to work on Esther’s riding skill a little and get a better judge of travel time. She was a bit nervous at first, but quickly settled into the rhythm of the gait and we moved along nicely. The miles quickly fell away. As we rode, I kept an eye on the surrounding grassland, observing the terrain and conditions. The good news was that it was ready for haying and we’d probably be out here in July for the first cutting. Before I knew it, we were turning up to Thomas’s homestead and the first leg of the trip was over. It was just a hair over fifteen minutes at a canter out on the prairie and would be faster once we got a road worn in.

The horses were blowing gently when we rode up and hailed the farm. We walked them the rest of the way and, by time we reached the barn, they were breathing easy again. Thomas was just coming down from the field as we turned the horses in to his small corral. We’d had a couple of minutes to remove the tack and let them water.

Esther was already chatting away with Daisy and getting a personalized tour of the house. It was cute to watch because Daisy was barely half her age and apparently already idolized our little Esther. Esther was a pre-teen superstar who just happened to live with us. I suppose that even the worst of us get a gift in life, sometimes.

I spent the next few hours chatting with Thomas and discussing our individual spreads…just neighborly talk, if you will. I invited the family up for dinner on Saturday and told him to bring me a shopping list for St. Louis. I also told him that Michelle could take their measurements and I could pick up a nice dress for each of his womenfolk while we were down there. Anything to help a buddy, after all. He fussed a little about money, but I told him to let it go. It would all work out between us over time; we were neighbors, don't you know.

I chose that point to start the claims discussion. The topic obviously made him a bit uncomfortable. I reassured him that he was at the head of the line. As part of our township, he had the right to use our equipment and even draft stock, if need be. I also pointed out that I was asking how much he claimed so that we didn’t infringe.

He seemed to calm down a little and said he’d talk it over with Martha and let me know when they came up this weekend. That worked just fine with me. I also told him about the upcoming buffalo hunt and that we’d help him put his meat up. I explained we had a butcher and the Pawnee, so a couple of more buffalo wouldn’t trouble us. Well, that, in itself, cheered him. They were rationing their meat right now and he was getting tired of it. I laughed and told him I’d have a fat juicy steak waiting for him on Saturday. With that, we went into the cabin to chat with the girls.

We left about a half-hour later. We had Daisy with us for a ‘stay-over.’ I didn’t mind. On the way back, she rode double with Esther and we kept things to a slow walk. I chatted with Mouse as we went along, while keeping an eye out for trouble. I knew we had at least one scout trailing us, so I wasn’t too worried. Pete, on the other hand, was a worry-wart. It took us an hour to get all the way to camp. It was a pleasant hour in the afternoon heat, but far from idyllic. On the plus side, Mouse was sweating and she allowed me to cool her down with some water from my water bag. It was a beautiful sight and cheered me the rest of the way home.