Miss Annie And The Chief (2 page)

Emmet adds.
 
“She lost her mister in the war.
 
The day ain't waiting fer us, you all
have your "good book" with ya and ready to go?”

“If, Mr. Howes,
you are referring to the words and wisdom of some of the great
transcendentalists, then yes, we have good books with us.” Peter retorts.

“Transendlists?’
I thought you was abolitionists.”
 
Emmet scratches his head.

Peter and Jenny
hop up into their wagon.
 
Jenny
peaks into the back of her wagon as if making sure all is okay.
 
The wagons proceed down the road -
heading west.

Several days
into the journey west the two wagons reach the mighty Mississippi River.
 
The wagons load onto a barge and begin
the river crossing.

Annie stands
near the edge of the boat, looking out at the river.
 
She holds the letter that Aunt Selma had written her about
the excitement she had felt in crossing the river.
 
She rereads the letter when Jenny joins her.
 

Jenny studies
Annie.
 
“It takes a special kind of
spirit to travel alone, Annie.”

Annie hands the
letter to Jenny for her to read.
 
“My Aunt Selma traveled alone.
 
She's very forthright, determined.
  
I have always admired her for that and for her
strength of character and her wisdom. She's my inspiration, my moral compass.”

“Watching how
well you have handled this vigorous trip has been my inspiration.
 
There have been times I wanted to turn
back, but watching you focused on the destination and handling everything we
have encountered with steadiness and conviction has been heartening.” Jenny
shares.

The ladies see
that they are now closer to the western bank of the river than to the eastern
bank.
 
“Once across this river I
know there is no going back for us now.” Jenny tells Annie.

“I will never go
back.” Annie responds.
 
“Pennsylvania holds more painful memories for me than pleasant ones.”

*****

The travelers
have made camp for the evening out on the plains.
 
The sun is just starting to set on the horizon and the sky
is aflame with color.
 
Annie and
Jenny marvel at the sight.
 
“’Nature always wears the color of the spirit.’"
 
Annie quotes.

"’It's not
what you look at that matters, it's what you see.’"
 
Jenny adds.

Emmet scratches
his head.
 
“What are those two
chickens squawking about?”

“The ladies are
quoting Emerson and Thoreau, respectively.” Peter elaborates.

“I ain't never
heard of no respectively brothers.”
 
Emmet declares.

Peter just
smiles, no use trying to explain things to Emmet.

A short time
later, now dark, the sky teems with millions of stars.
 
Emmet, Annie, Jenny and Peter sit
around a small campfire drinking coffee.

“If the weather
stays calm and we don't run into any savages, we should make it to the Colorado
Territory in a couple of weeks.”
 
Emmet offers.

“Not all Indians
are savages, Mr. Howes.”
 
Peter
corrects.

“All the ones I
know are.” Emmet retorts.

“How many do you
know?”
 
Jenny challenges.

“I know what
they do. They butcher people. In their sleep. Women.
 
Children. With hatchets. That ain't no quick way to die. No
siree.”
 
Emmet states firmly, not
backing down from his beliefs. “Hacking on a youngin's leg.
 
Then her stomach as she cried for her
mama, her mama who was being butchered by another savage.”

“That sounds so
unbelievable.”
 
Annie gasps.

“It's God's
truth. I seen it myself.
 
Not that
far from here. My first trip west.
 
We came upon the wagons.
 
Blood was everywhere.
 
Four
families dead.”
 
Emmet shares.

Emmet hears a
rustle.
 
He stands up, grabs his
gun.
 
“I ain't letting them butcher
me without a fight.”

Annie, Peter and
Jenny stand up, look around.
 
A man
on horseback bounds into the campfire area.
 
Jenny screams.
 

The man, a
bandit, with dark wavy hair and wearing all black, points his gun at Emmet,
cocking it.

“Drop it, por
favore,” the bandit drawls with an Italian accent.

Emmet drops the
gun.
 
He scowls at the bandit.
 
The bandit effortlessly hops off his
steed and looks at the foursome.

“Buona Sera,
ladies and gentlemen,” he says with gentlemanly politeness. “I am here for your
jewels and valuables.”

“Does it look
like we have jewels and valuables?
 
You're raiding transendlists.”
 
Emmet retorts.

“Hold your
tongue, vecchio,” the bandit barks at Emmet.

“What'd you call
me?”
 
Emmet demands.

“He called you
an old man.”
 
Annie shares.

The bandit's
eyes light up.
 
He looks at
Annie.
 
His eyes light up more
inspired by her grace, intelligence, confidence and beauty.

“You are
familiar with the language of romance?”
 
The bandit inquires with a bit of flirt.

“I'm familiar
with Italian,” she corrects him.

The bandit moves
close to Annie; he takes her hand and kisses it while locking eyes with
her.
 
“Bellissimo,” he tells her
before turning his attention to her wedding ring.
 
“That's quite an exquisite ring.”

Annie defiantly
pulls her hand away from the bandit and holds her hand as if protecting her
treasured wedding ring.

Emmet raises his
gun, pointing it at the bandit.
 
“Leave Miss Annie be, you garlic stinkin' grease ball.”

In a flash the
bandit has turned on Emmet, pointing his gun in Emmet's face.
 
Gun for gun, Emmet is no match.
 
“I have never harmed a person I've
stolen from, but with you, vecchio, I could make an exception.”

For a tense
second it looks like the bandit's going to shoot Emmet when…the barrel of a
cocked gun jabs in the back of the bandit's neck.

Emmet’s eyes
widen at the sight of a black man jabbing a gun in the bandit’s back.
 
“Drop your gun,” the black man
commands.
 
The bandit drops his
gun. “You best be moving on now while no harm has been done.”
 
The black man continues.

“Where in
tarnation did the negra come from?”
 
Emmet gasps.

Peter addresses
the bandit.
 
“You better do what
this man tells you, he's the legendary Rapid Roy.”

The bandit turns
and tips his hat to Roy.
 
“Si, no
harm done,” the bandit states politely.
 
The bandit moves towards his horse, but then decides to give Annie's
hand another kiss.

“You're not
impressing me.”
 
Annie
deadpans.
 

The bandit
smiles, falsely believing that yes indeed he has made an impression.
 
“Bellissimo,” he says again before
hopping on his horse and galloping away.

Emmet and Annie
look at the black man.

“Again, where in
tarnation did he come from?”
 
Emmet
wants to know.

“This is Roy,
and he is with us.”
 
Peter states.

“I ain't never
heard of no Rapid Roy.
 
And whadya
mean he's with us, I ain't seen him before.”
 
Emmet says, frazzled.

“He's been
riding with us.”
 
Jenny
shares.
 
“We kept him hidden
because we knew you wouldn't let a runaway slave go with us.”

“Darn tootin. He
ain't riding with us no more. This is where we part ways. I ain't riding with
no negra.”
 
Emmet hollers.

“Roy just saved
your life, Mr. Howes.”
 
Annie
points out as she, Jenny and Peter stare down Emmet.

“Having an extra
gun around if there are savages nearby might be useful.”
 
Peter encourages.

Emmet thinks for
a moment.
 
He won't look at
Roy.
 
“As long as he stays hidden
like he has been. I want no trouble.”

*****

The next day the
two wagons continue west through the prairies.
 
The grassy plains seem to go on forever.
 
The wagons approach a small,
dilapidated tent set up by a lone tree.
 
There is no horse - and no signs of life.

The wagons come
to a stop by the campsite.
 
Emmet,
Annie, Jenny and Peter look around.
 
They hear a horrid cough coming from the tent.

Annie hops down
from the wagon and heads for the tent.
 
Jenny and Peter follow her.
 
They peek inside the tent.
  

Inside the tent
a pale, gaunt, ghastly looking man lays on the ground coughing blood.
 
He's days, even hours, from death.
 
“Dear Lord.”
 
Jenny gasps under her breath at the sight of the man.
 

Annie enters the
tent and approaches the man with the hope of helping him.
 
“Hello, I'm Mrs. Annie Landon,” she
says with warmth and welcoming.

“I'm Klaus
Kretchman,” the sickly man coughs out.

Annie notices
empty bottles of a tincture that claims to cure consumption.
 
Klaus coughs up more blood.
 
“They said the clean air would cure
me.” Klaus relates with disappointment.

Emmet peeks
inside the tent and sees Annie cleaning the blood off of the man.
 
“What's going on?” he gasps.

Jenny responds
quietly to Emmet.
 
“This man is
dying from consumption.”
 

“Ain't much we
can do fer him then, so let's get a move on.”

“We're not
leaving him here.” Annie states with conviction.

“He ain't coming
with us. That cough is catchy.”
 
Emmet responds.

Annie approaches
Emmet, pulling him aside out of earshot from Klaus.
 
“We're not letting this man die alone.”

“We're nearing
the end of the trip, no need for any of us getting sick at this point.”
 
Emmet points out.

“I will not let
this man die alone.”
 
Annie declares
her eyes filled with empathy.

Emmet kicks the
ground, grumbling. “Ya know you're more like yer aunt than you should be.”

Annie holds her
ground.
 
Emmet's soft spot for
Annie gets the best of him.
 
“I'll
give ya the day.”

“We probably
won't need that long.” Peter adds.

A short time
later Annie spoon feeds some stew to Klaus.
 
“My mama used to make a cabbage stew. We grew cabbage in our
garden. They were so big, when I was a boy, I could barely lift them with both
my hands,” Klaus shares with Annie.

Annie feeds
Klaus another bite.
 
She tenderly
wipes his chin as he coughs.
 
“There's going to be a handsome sunset tonight, Mr. Kretchman. Would you
like to see it?”
 
She asks.

“It will be my
last, won't it?”
 
Klaus sighs.
 
Annie answers with a kind, compassionate
smile as she gently touches his cheek.

Outside of the
tent Annie, Jenny and Peter sit Klaus in a comfortable position, facing due
west.
  
Emmet stands a short
distance away, uncomfortable.
  
He doesn't want to catch the disease.

The sun begins
to set beyond the horizon.
 
Klaus
musters a bittersweet smile as he watches the sunset.

“I will miss
singing "Silent Night" in church on Christmas Eve.”
 
Klaus shares, trying to sound like he
isn’t scared.

“I know that
song.”
 
Annie declares.
 
“A German family my aunt befriended
taught her that song. She taught it to me the Christmas before she went west.”