Front Porch Tales

Winter has finally decided to grace us with it's presence and so I have retreated to the warmth of my room ,with some cappuccino, to write. Upon request I will be sharing some of my stories with y'all! Please do forgive my blundering writing skills! I love the challenge of taking a story idea and winding it into an exciting story. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Of course this is only the first couple pages of the story but I will post them randomly on here.. so keep an eye out :)

Victory Clement bounced up and down in the jolting buggy. She watched as leaves fell from the nearby trees and came to rest on the chilly ground. The sight only reminded her of the coming life she would have to endure now that summer had past and winter was settling in. It did not help that her entire summer was spent by the consuming project of moving from her hometown in Massachusetts to the small dwellings of Buffalo Kansas. The finer life that she had grown accustomed to seemed to be lost to her forever; that is, until her father announced that she would be attending a private school for girls which was located one hundred miles from the ranch. Victoria suddenly sighed and looked at the back of her father’s head.

“Pa, do I absolutely have to go to the school?”  Her voice was close enough to a whine that she sounded like a two year old. Victor hated when his daughter tried to talk her way out of something. She did it all the time and he was very good at letting her get her way, but to consent to her pleadings this time would only risk his wife, Virginia’s anger. The only way his wife had agreed to move to Kansas was if Victoria received a good education, but finding a qualified facility had been a difficult task.  It was hard to allow his little girl to go so far from home but he consoled himself with the fact that she would return on the holidays. Their home was a prosperous horse ranch; much of their profit came from selling their stock to the government. The “Triple V” had a great reputation far and near which was enough to make Victor proud.

“I don’t want to hear another complaint young lady. You are to get on the stage and go to that school.” The silence that fell after his outburst seemed to increase the intensity of his last statement.

“I don’t mean to sound so harsh. I would rather have you on the ranch by my side but you must get a good education while you still can.”

By this time, they had reached town and Victor pulled the buggy to a stop in front of the post office. He turned around and saw that his daughter was still unhappy but that her face was relaxed and he decided not to continue the conversation further. “Do you remember everything I told you about this trip?”

“Yes pa, don’t talk to strangers unless it is necessary, keep my purse with me at all times, and don’t wonder the streets alone”

Victor could hear the sarcasm in her voice but decided to ignore it for they only had a few moments left with each other. He lifted her trunk out of the wagon and heaved it onto his shoulder; with his free arm, he gave Victoria a hand down. She had wanted to wear her riding clothes which consisted of a brown riding skirt, a tan shirt, and her black hat but her mother had insisted that the green cotton dress would make a fine impression to anyone who would see her and it was readily evident that her prediction was very accurate. As Victoria walked up the steps, she could see that many eyes were watching her and she gracefully lifted her chin a little higher after realizing that most of the eyes belonged to men.

Victor set the heavy load down and then came closer to his daughter. “I wish that I could stay until the stage comes but I have to get back to the ranch. You sure you’ll be fine?”

Victoria hugged her father and whispered tenderly into his ear. “I love you Pa, and I will be fine.”

Victor may have been naive about book learning but he was not born yesterday and he felt unnerved about leaving his little girl in this town with so many wondering eyes. He consoled himself with the thought that she was sixteen and would have to learn to handle the world someday. As he rode out of town, Victoria felt a loneliness creep up into her heart which sent a shiver down her spine. It was going to be a long time before Christmas break.

                                                     ~         ~          ~

The stage halted to an abrupt stop and from where she sat, Victoria could only see a gun held firmly in a masked man’s hand.

“Now y’all get yourselves out here and don’t make any fancy moves… or it will be your last.” Victoria followed the elderly couple out of the stage. Jim and Rose Wheeler had been wonderful traveling companions and they had quickly become friends. Rose put a protective arm around the girl beside her. Victoria looked up and saw another man mounted on his horse and holding the reigns of his partner’s horse. Victoria flinched as the younger robber on the ground moved closer; he was watching Mr. Wheeler very closely.

“Hurry it up boy!” the mounted robber hissed. The younger man did not hesitate to comply by pulling his hat and revealing a mop of yellow hair.

“Take all your money and an’ thing worth something and throw ‘em in that there hat” At this he tossed the hat on the ground and eyed the passengers with great intensity. “If we don’t get what we want, we’ll just shoot y’all and then gather the value-b-les ourselves” He pronounced that last word as if he had heard it the morning before and had been practicing to impress someone. Mr. Wheeler was not anxious to do the bidding of the robber and the delay was enough to make the robber nervous. He quickly placed his aim upon the three travelers. It was obvious that both men were nervous enough to pull the trigger, so Mr. Wheeler relented and began to remove all of his worldly possession. He figured that no money was worth their lives.  Mr. Wheeler dropped his belongings into the designated offering plate and then focused his gaze upon the young man in front of him. “One of these days, you will be rewarded for your wrong doing.”

The young bandit was more than rattled at the statement but he quickly defended himself by pointing the gun directly at Mr. Wheeler’s head. “You just get back in line there and keep your mouth shut”

Victoria watched as her traveling companion stepped back. She had been pondering their predicament but could not think of a logical solution to the mess they were in.  Absent mindedly, Victoria reached up to fiddle with her necklace, a habit she had gained when trying to concentrate on something very puzzling.

“Off with the necklace, lady!” The young robber’s voice startled Victoria and she stepped back a step as if to sidestep a blow. The necklace was not just an expensive pearl but was also a heirloom from her grandmother. As she slowly unlatched the hook and slipped the precious necklace into the hat, something suddenly came to life inside of her and she looked directly into the robber’s eyes.

“Do you have some water with you; I am not feeling so well.” She forced herself to look as pitiful as she could manage and then made a gasping sound that would have startled any person standing there. The young man began to move toward his horse to fetch his water when the older man stopped him. “Leave her be boy, she just putting on a show, she ain’t had a thing wrong with her until we took that necklace. Victoria silently congratulated the man for at least sounding more intelligent than he looked, but she hoped the younger man would not be so quick to comply.  

Now get the hat and let’s get out of here.”

The younger rider decided to follow the orders but not before glancing with concern into the girl’s pleading green eyes. He grabbed hold of his saddle and put his foot into the stirrup to swing up on the horse, but stopped in the middle of this action when he saw the girl fall to the ground. He whipped his head around to look at his partner.

“What’s wrong with her Tom? We got ‘a do something” His voice squeaked with concern.

“We don’t do a thing but get outa here. Now get on the horse boy and let’s go” His partner was noticeably frustrated at the younger robber’s behavior and began to prod his horse forward.

“We can’t just leave her like this!” This desperate cry was enough to get the man to stop his retreat.

“Fine!” He growled and directed his squinted eyes at Rose Wheeler. “You! What’s wrong with her?”

Immediately after Victoria had fallen to the ground, Rose had bent to her side. She was under the impression that Victoria had fainted but was greatly surprised and relieved when Victoria peeked one of her eyes open. Rose did not have to have anything spelled out to realize that the whole thing was an act and she was determined to do her best to play along. Taking precaution to put her back to the outlaws, she leaned closer to appear to be listening to the girl’s breathing so that the plan could be explained. “Tell them I have a terrible illness and need water immediately” Victoria whispered quietly.

“I asked you what is wrong with her!” The older outlaw sounded nervous.

“She must have some water; it’s her illness. I am afraid that it may be too late but there may still be time” Victoria soundlessly congratulated Rose for her quick thinking and was glad to hear that it had the desired effect on the outlaws.

“Tom, we can’t let her just die; let me get some water for…” The young outlaw was unable to finish his thought because his partner interrupted him. “Someone’s coming; let’s get out of here!”