The Trip

Will reminisces about the ride by stagecoach to Toole City, as he continues to settle in to his new surroundings

Andy’s warmth and jovial attitude had brightened Will’s own, just as it had the first day they met.  Will thought back to that day.  It was bright and warm that morning in Laramie Wyoming.  Will was far too excited to eat breakfast.  He walked out of the hotel and headed directly for the stage stop carrying a wooden box.  The man in the driver’s seat looked down at him and smiled.

“Howdy, young feller.” the man exclaimed.  “Where ya headed?”

“Toole City.” Will beamed with excitement

“Well now what do you know about that” the man chuckled...  He wrapped a bright red bandanna around his extra-large neck, then said, “The name’s Andy, and that so happens to be where I’m a-taking this here stagecoach."

Andy’s smile was infectious.  It went from ear to ear across Andy’s broad face.  The ends of Andy’s handlebar mustache quivered as he talked.  Father used to smile like that, Will remembered thinking to himself.

Will remembered Andy nodding at someone behind him, and he turned to see his father approaching with a suitcase in each hand. His father smiled, but with a smile nowhere matching Andy’s.

“Good Morning,” he said, directing his gaze at Andy

“How do” came the quick reply

He handed the suitcases up to Andy, who placed them on the top of the stage, then turned to Will.

“Thought I’d have to come back up and throw you out the window to wake you up, son.”

“Nope!, not me, I’m ready for Colorado!" Will said not realizing he was shouting.

Will’s shout brought another smile to Andy’s face as he watched the exchange. When he saw Will’s father grabbing the handle to the stage door with one hand and Will with the other, he chuckled to himself.

“Sir, I gots a full load today, I’m not sure where we’re a-gonna put that boy of yers.”

Will’s father peered into what looked like an empty stage, but when he looked back and caught Andy’s grin, he understood.

“Hmm...” he pondered, stroking his chin.  “I don’t really want to leave him here.  Do you have room for him up there?”

“Only if he minds his manners, and talks my leg off.  It’s a mighty long trip to Toole City, and I might fall asleep, ya know.”

Will did not wait for his father’s response, he lept for Andy’s outstretched hand and climbed up onto the stage.  Then he turned to his father.

“Can you hand me my box, Pa?”

Andy watched quizzically, as Will’s father tenderly and carefully handed up the wooden box and Will placed it on the floorboards under his feet.

Then Will’s father said with soft, deep voice said: “well son, here we go.”

The words delighted Will as he tried to frown while he uttered, “yeah finally.”  However, the frown never appeared.  Instead, he brightly smiled as he realized the months and months of planning that they had done finally came to fruition.

William sat down next to Andy, and let his feet rest on the box

Suddenly, as the coach shook, the door opened, and a large heavy-set man in a fancy vest ambled in.  Behind him, a smaller but broad shouldered man in a black cowboy hat and a woman, a brightly dressed woman with a hat nearly as big Will’s box.  Then Andy pulled down his wide-brimmed hat and shouted.

“And we’re ready; Fifteen hours to Toole City, better get comfortable," he said to no one in particular.  “Gid up” Andy then shouted to the horses, and the coach lurched forward.

 

***

A sheepish grin scrunched up Will's face as he felt something brush against his leg. Looking down, there stood Hermit Jack, the little black and white border collie. The dog just stood there, eyes of wonderment staring up at Will. Next to Jack, the same look was on the little girl, Sally's face.

"Ahem," Will cleared his throat and looked away, hoping they had not noticed he was daydreaming, but still sure that they did. Sally just smiled, hooked her arm in his, and started walking on down the wooden boardwalk. Jack was right on Will's heels, as both tried unsuccessfully to match the exuberance of Sally's stride.

"You keep an eye on those two, Jack," Andy hollered behind them, "Don't be a-leadin' them to no trouble."

Jack barked and bolted ahead of the two children, as the three of them headed toward the center of town.

Sally turned abruptly into the General store, while Jack and Will obediently followed.

***

"Out!" shouted a voice from the back of the store. Will and Jack instantly froze.

"My father," Sally whispered. "It's okay,he just doesn't like Jack." He's afraid he'll knock something over, I guess." She reached down and gently put her arm around the dog and pulled him toward the door. Jack's tail stopped wagging, and drooped to the wood floor, as he tried to shake loose from Sally's grip. When she finally released him, he saw he was again outside, and again alone. However, he could still hear the children's voices, so he turned, and cautiously put one foot inside the doorway. Nobody shouted and nobody called his name; nobody turned to look, so he put another foot inside. Then he lay down, with eyes peeled for anything of interest.

Sally's diminutive bearded father came out from behind a table piled with linens. "Sally, I need you to re-fold and stack all these linens on this table", he said.

"Why," Sally stammered, nobody ever buys them. "Heck, none of these miners even know what linens are for."

"Watch your words, lass," he snapped, as he walked closer to her. Then turning to Will, "Who are you, boy?"

"My name's Will" he said hesitantly

"He just came here from Wisconsin, with his father," Sally interrupted before Will could say anymore.

The older man paused, eyes burning into Will as he looked over him from head to toe. "hmmph!" was all he said.

Then while walking over and grabbing a broom from the wall, he continued. "I got some sweepin' you can do. I will give you a nickel, if you do it right."

Will reached for the broom, and then stopped. He turned to look at Jack, then back to Sally. "No thank you, Sir," he finally uttered. "I need to go up to our room, and wait for my father"

Will turned and walked out, Sally stared at her father, who stared at Will. "Never heard of a boy turning down honest work," He said to Sally. "I'm not sure I like that boy." Sally's usual smile disappeared, as she made her way to the stack of linens.

Will gingerly stepped over the sleeping dog in the doorway. Then shouts from up the street diverted his attention.

***

Jack watched as Will worked his way around the crowd of people that was already on the street. When Will disappeared into the crowd, Jack got up and followed his steps. Will slowly made his way toward the noise. He stopped outside the saloon and peeked inside.

"It's another drunken miner fight," he whispered down to Jack, who was now huddled between his legs.

Will had never seen so many fights. Their home in Wisconsin was about three miles out of town in the rolling hills. He had walked the three miles every day to school, but had strict instructions not to go past the first street in town, the one which led down toward the river and the old red schoolhouse.

On their way to Laramie, father had warned him that life in Toole City would present him with many differences. Today, he had concluded that saloon fights were one of them.

His eyes grew wide with curiosity as he watched the two men kicking up dust as they rolled back and forth at the feet of the onlookers. Both were furiously throwing punches but neither connected with the other. It seemed like nothing more than the on-stage entertainment Will had heard about with the theaters back east.

He had asked his father once, to teach him how to fight. However, his father's curt answer was "you're not old enough to worry about such things." Will's lip curled upward as he relived the memory. To Will, it seemed like he would never be old enough for anything.

Jack barked at the sheriff as the man pushed and shoved his way through the bustling crowd. However, the crowd only parted when one of the two fighters flew out into the street. The doors of the saloon began swinging furiously in his wake. The other fighter lumbered behind the first, glancing only briefly at the crowd before grabbing a huge handful of the first one's shirt. He pulled the other man to his feet, despite the sheriff's firm warning otherwise. The sheriff pulled his gun from its holster and pointed it into the air. He squeezed off a shot, but it seemed that the noise startled no one other than Jack. Instead the fight was quickly stopped by the mine superintendent who inserted a shot glass of whiskey into each outstretched fist and pushed the fighters back inside.

As the crowd dispersed all that was left was the sheriff, gun in hand, telling everyone to go home. Will decided to heed the suggestion, knelt down, and gave Jack a rub on his belly, then walked on toward the boarding house.

Jack started to follow, but stern words from Will redirected him to the hole underneath the boardwalk, in front of the general store, where he spent most of his hours.

Reviews

[Starmountainkid]

Great. Very well written, the narrative flows smoothly so it's easy to read with no effort. There's a typo I think where you first spelled linen as lines, unless you mean lines. The only fault I can see in this chapter. :)

[Dale]

lines is now linens - thanks for catching that and thanks for the review