Yankton

Chapter 20

Chapter 20 Getting Up To Speed

While Mark and Melonie were busy with the girls, I decided to take a stroll further into town, as I was leaving, Melinda came up to me and said, "Where ya going?" "Into town but you can't come it's still too dangerous," I replied. "Screw that, I'm a big girl, stop treating me like I'm a kid, besides it may be the only chance I get to see old Deadwood." She had a point. Sighing, I said, "All right, but stay close, trouble could come from anywhere." We started walking towards town, and thankfully the Gem was at the other end, which I had no intention of going near. One of the places I wanted to check out was the gun shop I had visited earlier. Before we entered, I said to Melinda, "There could very well be some guns in here that could bring us some tidy returns, I know you're not "into" guns, but look everything over familiarize yourself with the various makes and models, it never hurts to get an idea of what we'll be dealing with."

As we entered, I greeted the proprietor, and asked him if he had anything new in stock. He pointed out what he had, a practically brand new Colt Army, which he wanted too much for.

However I spotted a pistol which resembled a Colt, but was actually a Spiller & Burr revolver, Looking it over, I spotted "C.S." for Confederate States, knowing there was a big demand for anything Confederate, I got him down to eight dollars, when he said, "Perhaps you might be interested in this rifle as well, the gentleman who sold them to me said he had used them in the war." What he showed me was a Robinson Sharps Carbine made in Richmond Virginia during the war by the Confederacy. This particular rifle even had "James Little" C.S.A. carved on the stock. Both pieces were in excellent shape, I pointed out to Melinda things to look for, "These are the sort of things that end up on "Antiques Roadshow." the pistol even came with a brown leather military style holster with a CSA belt buckle. I paid fifty dollars for both, all I had, but as I told Melinda, "Basically I'm cutting off one hundred and thirty-seven years of additional wear and tear, on these guns, the set should bring quite a price." I even had the guy write me out how much they were sold for on a piece of paper with his shop name on it and date it as well.

We continued our walk, with Melinda gasping under her breath at the things she was seeing, "I'll never be able to watch a western again without thinking of the s**t in the street, the stink and the general Sloveness of everything ," she said. As we walked along, people started noticing her, no doubt the dark eye make-up and body jewelry was the cause. Melinda kept commenting under her breath about how so many westerns had got it all wrong about how people dressed and looked. We witnessed another fight, but didn't stick around long enough to view the outcome. As we were starting to cross the street, a voice called out, "Hey you…You with the w***e, you killed my friend, now I'm a gonna kill you." Standing in the street about fifteen feet away was a filthy looking man pointing at me. When the crowds realized what was about to happen, they quickly moved away from behind him. I told Melinda to move aside without arguing as I slowly turned to face the man. The way he laughed it was clear he had been drinking, "I'm sorry," I said, "I didn't kill anybody, I think you've got me mixed up with somebody else." This only made things worse, he started calling me all sorts of names, just as sheriff Bullock showed up.

"I thought I told you to stay out of town Yankton." I shrugged, "Sorry sheriff, it's a free country, just showing my sister beautiful downtown Deadwood." Bullock then turned to the other man and said, "Jacob, back off, or I'm going to arrest you." Go to hell sheriff!" he replied, "I'm gonna kill him, for killin' my friend Charlie." "You ain't gonna kill anybody, Jake, now just back off." This was a really f****d-up situation, I had no idea how fast this guy could draw, I knew I certainly couldn't, suddenly I had an idea, "Hey Jake!" I shouted, I'm not very good with a gun, and if we're going to have a fight let's at least make it reasonably fair, how about just a plain fist fight, right here right now, you and me?" This caused the sheriff to look at me and say, "What are you trying to do Yankton, he's one of Swearingen's bouncers, he'll beat the tar out of you." "I don't think so sheriff," I replied, "Just watch."

"Here's the deal, Jake," I shouted, "I win you leave me alone, deal?" "What if I win?" Shouted Jake. I shrugged, "Beats me, what do you want?" Jake's eyes turned to Melinda as he shouted back, "How 'bout I just take that little lady on your arm there." I looked at Melinda who was recoiling in horror, and replied, "Deal!"

I approached Jake as he suddenly launched himself at me, I stood my ground and let him come at me. With a grin on my face, I jumped up and caught Jake in the side of his face with a karate kick from my boot. I felt his cheek bone crunch under the impact, and as he started to fall, I grabbed his ears and brought my knee right up into his face smashing his nose, and for the coup de grace drove my fist right up under his jaw. He collapsed into the muddy street down for the long count.

The sheriff just looked at me then at the unconscious Jake lying in the mud, the blood and the beer. "I think I'm done here sheriff," and turned to collect Melinda. "Would you have let him have me?" Patting her on the shoulder, I shook my head, "Naw, there was never a chance, he was drunk, his reaction time was slowed way down, besides I know where to hit 'em that'll do the most damage." We finished our stroll and returned to Dora's where Mark and Melonie were just finishing up. We made our goodbye's, and all returned to the cabin.

Melinda told Mark and Melonie about the fight, and what a "Goddamed pigsty!" the town was, then went in search of some decent booze. I asked Mark and Melonie how things went, "Not too bad," replied Mark, "Mel was a little reluctant at first, more embarrassment than anything else, but she really came through," He then addressed her, "Like I told you Melonie, being a female doctor, that's the sort of patients you'll get at first, women will feel more comfortable coming to you, but don't worry, you'll get used to it, no different than me asking a guy to bend over and cough as I hold his balls." I could tell Mark made this remark to tease Melonie, she blushed, but Mark put his arm around her, "Your doin' great, I'm really proud of you. Say! Brian, it's too bad you couldn't have dragged that guy back here, Mel and I could have done a little reconstructive surgery of his face." By this time Melinda had found where I kept the liquor, and had fixed herself a drink, "You two stop picking on Melonie, don't pay them any attention Mel, men are such pigs." Melonie chuckled, "Oh I don't mind, Mark's right though, If I'm going to get into this profession I've got to stop letting things bother me."

That evening while Mark and Melonie worked on her studies, Melinda tried to read the Deadwood newspaper, "Why do they print so tiny," she complained, "And the way they write, it's like another language almost." "Haven't you noticed that people speak differently than we do in 2013, Melinda, language changes, we speak in a more abbreviated and clipped way, more slang, fewer "fifty cent" words, it takes some getting used to."

The next morning Mark and I headed for the property we now owned where Sara and Josephine were waiting patiently. "Sorry Ladies," I announced, "Stuff happens." While Mark rode his horse, I drove the buckboard, although it doesn't take long to drive from Deadwood to Custer in a car, we only got as far as Hill City, a collection of tents and buildings under construction. Needless to say, the quality of accommodations left a lot to be desired especially since they were asking too much as it was. We ended traveling a little farther south and pitching camp near a small creek. We had brought a small pop-up tent as well as a couple sleeping bags with pads. We put the two women in the tent, while Mark and I took turns at guard duty using a piece of canvas as a lean-to and our bedrolls. Sara and Jo were quite intrigued by the domed shaped tent, as well as the sleeping bags but we kept deferring their questions with vague answers , finally admitting that these were very popular in Switzerland, figuring correctly that no one knew much about what the Swiss were up to and that tiny country was so far away they let it pass. The night passed quietly enough, although we thought we heard distant gunfire from the direction of Hill City. After coffee and a quick breakfast, we resumed our journey. By now, I was starting to get the hang of driving the wagon, so we were able to pick up the pace a little.

From time to time we would pass travelers, mostly men who looked like they were prospectors, or freight wagons wending their way along the trail. As we moved along the trail, I tried to envision the old and the new, "Where would highway 395 run, were we on the original trail, or was it off to our right?" One thing that immediately caught our eye was the absence of telephone and power poles as well as lines. Few buildings, no fences or signs of any kind. This all took some getting used to, however, when we returned to our time and drove this way the opposite effect took place, the clutter of modern life stuck out like a sore thumb, Sara and Jo had made up their minds to seek their fortunes out here in the west, a fact that prompted me to think about working on a historical documentation dealing with my experiences here in 1876, I could title it,

"Once Upon A Time In The West!"

Although Mark and I spent a rather crappy night, the girls enjoyed the tent and the privacy it afforded, a nice campfire breakfast, and we were on our way. As we rolled along, Jo Commented on our behavior and the passing scene.

"You and Mark certainly have been especially considerate of us, we are truly in your debt."

Mark replied,

"Well ladies, if you can't find anything to your liking in Custer, feel free to come by our place, we might be able to find something for you to do." Sara gave him a funny look at which point Mark realized his faux pas.

"On I didn't didn't mean that, but I'm sure our little settlement will grow, and we'll have need of a teacher, as well as someone to oversee our store."

We rolled into Custer City later that day, making some inquiries. We located the school but there was nobody there, so we found the sheriff's office and talked to him. He told us the previous "school marm" had run off and got married, leaving the school "teacher less." While we waited for the sheriff to round up a couple gentlemen who were supposedly the local "school board" Sara went off on her own in search of a job. Pretty soon the men in question arrived with the sheriff, and proceeded to interview Jo in regards to her qualifications to becoming their teacher. They seemed to ask her a lot of questions regarding her personal life, and wanted to know who Mark and I were. Once we explained the situation they became friendlier and seemed interested in hiring Jo.