Chapter 17

The night came and went without incident. No one slept, although they all pretended to. Dawn came as usual, with the rooster crowing out in the coop. Beaver rose to dress for the day's chores.
      "I'll milk the cow and feed the chickens. Ya won't have ta this mornin."
      Keziah was up and sitting on the side of the bed. "Why? I've always helped ya with the mornin chores before."
      "I know, but yer gettin big thar," pointing to her swollen belly. "I can do it. Won't take long."
      She didn't have the energy to argue. Yesterday had taken the fight out of her. She only hoped for some answers to their situation.
      Later in the day Beaver stormed in the back door. "A rider is comin up the ridge. Don't recognize the horse. He seems ta know whar he's goin. Yall stay in here and bolt the door till I see who it is."
      He stood on the porch in front of the door, posed with his rifle in hand and waited for the rider. If someone were going to harm them, they would have to go through him first.
      "Howdy!" The stranger approached the porch.
      Beaver recognized the sheriff from Red Oak Flats as soon as he rode in close. "Well, howdy, Sheriff." He lowered his rifle. "What brings ya ta these parts? Kinda far from home, ain't ya?"
      "Yep, I am, but I had business ta attend ta and that's what the county pays me ta do."
      Beaver knocked on the heavy wooden door. "Keziah, open up. It's the sheriff from Red Oak Flats."
      Beaver and the sheriff stepped inside. "Yall having trouble up here?" asked the sheriff.
      "No, don't reckon." Beaver hung the rifle back on its pegs over the fireplace. "What makes ya ask that?"
      "Now son, ya meet me on the porch with yer gun in hand and then yer wife has ta unbolt the door ta let us in. Kinda looks strange ta me."
      "Well, yeah, we've had some pranksters up here. Been messin around and paintin pictures on things." Beaver didn't want the sheriff to know just yet about the trouble they were having. It was all so strange he couldn't think how to explain it all to him.
      "I noticed," replied the sheriff, referring to the painted pictures on the front of the cabin.
      Amelia seemed not to notice much that morning. Her world must have felt safe to her once again. She sat in her rocker, singing to herself and fingering the scraps of cloth Keziah had given her for the quilt. Memories of a different life beamed from her mind through her eyes. What she saw made her happy.
      "Keziah, why not get us some coffee?" Beaver said. "The sheriff might appreciate a cup."
      "Thanks, if ya don't mind ma'am. A cup of coffee and a good chair would feel mighty good."
      Silently, she poured the coffee and set it down in front of the sheriff.
      "What business ya got up here?" Beaver was anxious to hear what the sheriff had to say.
      "Well, Mr Mosely, it's with you." He tipped his hat back and sipped on the hot coffee before going on. "Ya remember that widow Pickett ya bought this land from?"
      "Yeah. What about her?"
      "Well, she died. Lawyer Wallace has been seein after her estate. Didn't have much ta watch over. She didn't leave a will or anythin, so he gave Billy Bob Logan the old cabin and what land it sat on. He knew from the past talkin ta her that she wanted him ta have it."
      "She did seem kinda dependent on him, what I saw anyway," Beaver interjected.
      "Well, son, thar was a small sum of the money left that ya paid her. We used some of it ta bury her with, but it didn't take much fer that. We didn't know what ta do with what was left. Old Billy Bob thought he should have it. I reckon he had some right ta it, but after what we found out we took it ta the judge and let him decide."
      "What do ya mean, after what ya found out?" Beaver leaned forward.
      "I'll get ta that in a minute. She didn't have any kin that we knew of. Lawyer Wallace talked ta the judge and they decided ta return the balance ta ya. He took a real shine ta ya, young man. He said ya had the determination it takes ta settle these mountains."
      Beaver didn't know what to say. He felt the sheriff had reasons to be there other than the money.
      "Now, getting back ta what we found. This, I'm afraid, is goin ta upset the apple cart so ta speak."
      Keziah poured more coffee into the sheriff's cup. She had a feeling things were fixing to change for all of them.
      "We had ta go through all her stuff and the cabin ta make sure thar wasn't a will before we could go ta the judge. We found a binder with some papers in it. She had it hidden under a drawer in a chest she kept by her bed."
      Amelia was getting out of her rocker. "Keziah, who's that?"
      "Maw, it's the sheriff from Red Oak Flats. He's come ta talk ta Beaver. Ya can go back and sit down if'n ya want. I'll fix ya some tea. How would ya like that?"
      Amelia paid no attention to Keziah. Something the sheriff said brought her back to her senses.
      "Did ya say Widder Pickett?" Maw made her way over to the table and leaned in toward the sheriff to ask her question.
      "Yessum, Mrs Sara Pickett. As y'all knew, she was the legal owner of this property that ya bought. Seems like it has quite a history."
      "We don't want ta know what she had. It ain't important." Maw trembled at what the sheriff might be about to tell.
      "Now hold on thar, Maw," Beaver said. "We might want ta know. Maybe it can settle some questions bout what's been goin on here." Beaver took her by the arm and seated her back in her rocker.
      "Go ahead, Sheriff. Tell us." He returned to the table and sat down across from the lawman.
      "Well, like I said, this land has a history ta it. According to those papers in that binder, Matthew Pickett didn't quite acquire this land legal like. Seems he run the real owners off and then filed a claim on the land. Those papers were letters he had written ta his wife before she came here ta join him. He told her about Indians who lived here and he figured it was a matter of time before the government would round them up and move them ta Oklahoma. He said he just beat em ta it. He moved them off himself and built a cabin whar their lodges had been."
      "Sheriff, did he say whar the Injuns went?" Beaver anticipated the answer to his question. "Or did he say what happened to em?"
      "No, he didn't say. He just said he run em off. The rest of the letters just told her how ta get ta the mountain. She came here from Missouri. They had two boys, but according ta what we know about her, she claimed they both died. Whar and when I don't know."
      Amelia was silent while she listened to the sheriff tell Beaver about the land. Thank ya, Lord, she silently prayed. Her fears had almost became a reality. She did not want her granddaughter to learn the truth from a stranger.
      "Sheriff," Beaver said, "if he didn't get this land quite legal like, is it still mine ta own?"
      "Mr Wallace needs ya ta come ta Red Oaks and sign some papers. He said that would make the land legally yers. When do ya think ya might be able ta ride over?"
      Beaver knew he couldn't leave his wife and her grandmother. Keziah was too close to having the baby and things were still unsettled around the cabin. "I don't know," he looked at Keziah and then back at the sheriff. "How long do I have?"
      "Lawyer says thirty days. That's the best I can do fer ya, young man. I'm sorry ta bring this ta ya, but ya had ta know."
      "I'll make it. Maybe in a couple of weeks. Tell him I'll be thar. I thank ya, Sheriff, fer makin the trip all the way over here. Yer welcome ta spend the night. It's a long trip back ta Red Oaks."
      "No, I'll not stay, but I thank ya anyway. Oh! Here's the money." The sheriff reached deep in his shirt and pulled out a brown leather wallet.
      "I shor weren't expectin that," Beaver said. "I'm beholden ta ya, Sheriff. Are ya shor?"
      "I'm sure. The money is yers."
      Beaver didn't bother to count it. However much it was, it was more than he had a few seconds ago.
      The sheriff said: "I got an old huntin buddy just over that next ridge and I'm goin ta stop in and say howdy ta him. Probably stay the night there. I best go before it gets real dark. Thanks fer the coffee, ma'am. It sure hit the spot."
      Beaver walked to the porch with the sheriff. "That's some queer-lookin things ya got painted on the cabin."
      "Yeah." Beaver grinned. "Some neighbors tryin ta play a trick on us. Being new ta this side of the mountain, they probably thought it would be funny. Nearly scared Keziah and her grandma plumb out a their wits."
      "Some folk just don't think with a full deck sometimes. Yall take care and I'll be seein ya." The sheriff mounted his horse and turned him back down the road. Beaver watched as he disappeared below the hill.
      Amelia was sitting in her rocker when Beaver returned to sit at the table with Keziah. "Now we have a idey what happened here," he said. "I bet some of those Injuns are still hid up thar on that mountain somewhar and they don't want nobody here. That's what's been goin on. Well, I'm sorry for um, but this place is mine now. I'm settled and I ain't movin. I'll go and sign those papers as soon as I know things have settled down here. I think I'll go check my traps tomorra and look around a bit. I got a feelin we won't be bothered anymore."
      "What makes ya think that?" Amelia said from her rocker. "If them Injuns want ya off their land, what makes ya think they won't do somethin else?"
      "Cause I figured if'n they were goin ta harm us, they would've done by now. The weather is warmin a mite and in a couple of weeks it'll be right fer me ta take the pelts ta Red Oaks. I'll go and see Mr Hawks down the road and see if'n he'll keep an eye on yall while I'm gone. He's seems ta be a purty good man and dependable. I've talked ta him some when we'd meet checkin our traps."
      Keziah was tired. She left Beaver to finish his coffee and helped Maw to her bed before going to her own. Maybe tonight she would be able to sleep.