Rum.

Damn it I know better than to get drunk on rum.

Too damn much sugar, you mix that with alcohol and good luck the next morning; pain is definitely in your future.

I rolled out of bed seeking water, coffee and anything else that would kill this hangover. For the first time in a very long time I fired up the camper stove and got my coffee and some sausage links going. I did have a very small and private stash of food just for myself, it wasn’t much but it’s what I needed at the moment. The sausage was frozen but I solved that quickly with a hot water bath while I showered; by the time I was out of the shower the links were defrosted and ready to cook.

I did venture out into the sunlight long enough to grab some bread and a few eggs, I was sure I’d catch hell about the eggs later but for now I didn’t care. Truth be told, those were the hens I brought here anyway so those were my eggs. Hangovers like this allowed for a little selfishness; it wasn’t optimal behavior but I did get to take advantage once in a while.

I also dosed myself with a couple of pain pills, they were just acetaminophen but even that was in short supply until we had more willow trees. Basically I was flat out selfish and long term inconsiderate. At the same time I was getting to be myself and be by myself.

So I made myself a breakfast and browsed the archive; the coffee was nice and the peace and quiet even better. I still felt like shit from the hangover but all things considered it could have been worse; I did get to be alone for a while.

The door did try to open once and I merely stated in a very loud voice, “It’d better be an emergency!” The door closed right up at that and I was left alone to relax and enjoy my messy breakfast glory. I also had a chance to reflect on the fact that I’d only been here for about four months and on all the events that had occurred during that time. Four months seemed like a lifetime at this juncture yet I also knew that this would eventually all fade into memory, yet at this moment everything remained immediate.

Immediately in my focus of attention was still a hang-over of my own creation and the obvious solution was simple sleep. A savory and filling breakfast was enough to bring on the lulls and I was curled up on the bed shortly thereafter. Nothing ever truly cured a hangover like a full belly and a good nap.

**** ****

It wasn’t the dreamless sleep of drunkenness though, colorful dreams of many sorts ran through my mind during my mid-morning slumber. The last and best dream was beautiful Mouse slipping into my bed and into my arms. The joyful part was slowly waking up to find that wasn’t merely a dream, my beautiful maiden had joined me in my late morning nap and I woke up to find a bit of my delight in my arms.

Sadly, she didn’t stay long. But I did get to hold her for a moment and was the recipient of a sweet kiss. She was gone again shortly after that, it appears she had simply shown up just to check on me. I was alone again quickly which was probably for the best.

I needed to get out and have personal conversations with quite a few people, I’d been gone for a while and needed to strengthen those relationships again. I decided to start with Lunch, a nice ride about to look at everything and talk to people was a good way to use this Sunday afternoon. So I whistled up Brin, saddled up Lunch and then set off on my lazy afternoon ride. Michelle saw me saddling up and decided she’d ride with me and soon we were headed down the road taking it easy and casually chatting if talking at all.

I still liked hanging out with Michelle; we seemed to agree on so many important topics, particularly when it came what we were doing here. I wasn’t afraid to hand most of the management responsibilities to her and not only was she comfortable with them, she was adept at the task. On the other hand, she wasn’t interested in the RT&T business in the least bit.

We rode slowly in the afternoon heat and spent a lot of time comparing notes about the last few weeks. A lot had happened to each of us and most of it was important. Rulo was growing fast and the council was extremely busy; however one of the biggest holdups now was them waiting for me to start parceling out land.

On my part I gave her a rundown on the trip and highlighted our new business interests down south. She was a regular at the auction barns back in modern times and found my attempts at auctioneering to be flat out hilarious. I gave her a tiny little show of my skill and was quickly reminded to not quit my day job. That was fair; basically the audience had been desperate for any entertainment so if I had simply hopped on one foot I probably would have gotten applause.

I wasn’t ready to discuss my ‘Cult of Personality’ speeches yet but I’d need to go over those with her eventually. Instead I focused on the tradesmen I had recruited and the tools that we had bought. We had spent hours discussing the slave problem when we first twitched into this time and were in complete agreement on plan and approach. We actually had very few choices and were doing the best we could.

She did ask when she could go to St. Louis and the answer was easy: whenever she felt comfortable leaving Rulo in someone else’s hands. That brought a look of concern to her face but I decided she needed to know a few things and then think about it all for a while.

So I told her about my patents idea.