Gedi Puniku- Cat Eyes Page 2

  "We supposed ourselves ready for the trip and did not wish to remain any longer than possible; we were in quite a hurry to get off. After casting about endeavoring to see what was best, by accident we came across a small flatboat which the owner was willing to hire, as he said, on reasonable terms. We got the boat, and now commenced the tug of war. 'Twas not Greek meets Greek, but the strife lay between the Saxon and the mule, for as fast as we got one devilish brute on board and our attention drawn towards another, the first would jump overboard and swim ashore, to the great delight of the many who were looking on. After several turns of the kind, and finding that we advanced but slowly in our endeavors to freight the boat by the single addition, we concluded to drive them all in together 'pell-mell.' In this we succeeded admirably, for in they went, and we put up the bars to keep them there. A shout of victory followed the putting up of the railing. A victory was gained over the stubborn mules, and the order given to cast off, but before the order could be executed, the fiends in mule shape took it into their beads to all look over the same side of the boat, and at the same time, and the result was the careening of the boat so much to one side that it scared the little devils themselves, and they all, as with a common consent, leaped overboard again. Three times three cheers were given by the crowd. So much fun could not pass unnoticed, or without applause. Finally, the mules were got on board and secured in proper places, the lines cast off, and the riffle made. That was just our first trip. The next, the oxen were to be ferried. We had had so much trouble with the mules that it was but reasonable to expect a quiet time with our cattle. In this, however, we were disappointed, for the oxen seemed to have caught the disaffection from the mule, and were, if possible, more stubborn than the sulkiest of them all. How, or what length of time it took us to get the horned tribe on board my memory does not now serve me. Suffice it to say that we got them all on board and landed them safely in the Indian territory of Nebraska. The balance of our party was soon got over and we encamped for the day to 'fix up things' -- for it was a general camping ground for emigrants and as it is upon the verge of civilization, anything forgotten can be obtained by re-crossing the river, which privilege we availed ourselves of until we supposed everything that was in anyway necessary to our journey was got.

  “Things have changed a bit since then, with settlers moving west, but most of the way is still prairie, and running into Indians can be a hazard too. So if you have far to go, I suggest you be careful.”

  I don’t know if he was referring to the men who were bothering me, or thinking about the journey I was taking? I merely shrugged. Bandit continued to growl from time to time at the two men, and I didn’t stop him.

  When we got to the other side of the river, I let the two men get off before me, along with all the other passengers. I didn’t want them or anyone else following me, so I waited until they were well out of sight, before I started along the banks of the river. I wondered how far away the Platte river was? On the map, it looked pretty far from where I was. I would have to work my way through the rest of Kansas and halfway through Nebraska before I came to it.

  It was already starting to get dark and I had been riding all day, so I decided I had better camp before I started the next part of my journey. I passed a farm along the way and watched as a woman came out and started hanging clothes on the line before it got too dark. They flapped in the breeze and almost looked like people dancing on the line. There was a wooded area, not far from the farm, so I decided I would camp there for the night.

  I headed Fire Cracker in that direction and found a clearing where I built a small fire. I didn’t have anything to cook, but I didn’t know if there were any wild animals in those woods and I figured the fire would keep them at bay. I ate dried meat and pickled hard-boiled eggs Mama had put up a few months earlier. We had several jars of them, so I figured they would last me for a good part of my journey. Sometimes people paid my mother with food when she did sewing, and that is how we got the eggs. She didn’t want them to go to waste so she pickled the lot.

  I had some dried beans and rice, along with a pot to put water in so I could cook things. I had cornmeal, which I could use to make cornmeal mush. Every time I ate cornmeal mush I would remember the story about how George Washington had stopped by a house on his travels, and there was only a little girl there. She didn’t know who he was and told him all she had to offer him was cornmeal mush. He accepted her offer, and later, sent her a letter written on official government paper, thanking her for the cornmeal mush, and said it was the best he had ever eaten. That was when she discovered she had fed the president of the United States!

  I had noticed some apple trees in a grove, not far from that farm I passed, and thought about going back and getting some apples before I left the area.

  I sat, watching the fire leap and fall, thinking of all the other times I had sat around a campfire when traveling with my parents. Now I was all alone. It seemed strange to be there all on my own. I was glad I had built the fire because I could hear wolves, at a far distance away, howling. I didn’t know how far away they were or if they were even thinking of coming in my direction but the fire made me feel a little safer. I laid my hand on the gun at my side. It was uncomfortable to sleep with that gun strapped to me, but I was afraid to take it off, in case I needed it.

  I had started to doze off when I was shaken awake by Bandit growling. He wasn’t barking, but I could tell that he was getting ready to if whatever he sensed came any closer. I thought of the wolves and sat up at attention, trying to glare through the darkness to see what it was. The fire had started to die, so it didn’t give off very much light. I threw a few more twigs on it to get it going again. I could hear the sound of snapping twigs and rustling in the leaves, that covered the ground under the trees. Other than that, there were no other sounds.

  “Well hello, missy,” a voice said, not too far from where I was. “Didn’t realize it was you. What are you doing out here all by your lonesome?”

  The person came closer, and I saw it was one of the men from the ferry. His friend was next to him. They were leading their mules. I was pretty sure they knew it was me camping there and they had come there on purpose.

  “You should probably have someone traveling with you to keep you safe,” the other one said. “We’d gladly offer you our company.”

  “I am safe enough,” I told him as I fingered my gun.

  Bandit started barking and lunged forward, and began snapping at their feet.

  “If you want to keep your dog, there, you better call him off, or I’m fixing to shoot him,” the taller man said, putting his hand on his gun.

  “My dog will take good care of me, so you two can go on your way,” I said boldly, while I shivered inside. “Once you start leaving, I’ll call him off.”

  Fire Cracker, who had been grazing nearby, started tossing his head. I never tied him cause I didn’t need to. He always stayed right near wherever I was.

  “No need to be shooting my dog. Cause if you shoot my dog, I will have to shoot you,” I told him, raising my gun to show him I meant business.

  “Now we don’t want anyone to get hurt none. Only you must know, a young lady traveling on her own is just asking for trouble. If you had a man with you, it would be safer.”

  “My dog don’t like you,” I said flatly. “That tells me you are not the kind of men I would want traveling with me. If you don’t turn around and leave here, I’m going to have to sick my dog on you, and while you are trying to shoot him, I’ll be shooting you!”

  “That little mutt isn’t worth shooting, considering I doubt he could cause much damage.”

  I let out a sigh. These men were going to be stubborn, so I just clicked my tongue, and before they knew it, Fire Cracker had lunged forward, rearing up and kicking out at their mules, causing them to jerk away and start running.

  “If you want your mules, I suggest you go get them before my horse chases them farther away,” I told them.

  “Wh
y, you little brat! You are going to be sorry for this!”

  “Seems you are the ones who are going to be sorry if you don’t leave me be,” I warned.

  Fire Cracker was returning and heading straight for them. One of them lifted his gun out of his holster, but Bandit jumped up and grabbed his hand in his teeth, causing him to miss his target and drop his gun. By that time, Firecracker was right on top of both of them, rearing up and threatening them with his front hooves, stretching his neck, in the attempt to bite, while Bandit took hold of the other one’s leg.

  They started yelling and telling me to call my horse and dog off, which I did.

  “Let that be a lesson to you, not to underestimate a pretty little thing like me,” I said, pointing my gun at them as I stood up. “Now get after your mules, or you will end up walking to wherever you are heading,” I told them.

  “They grumbled, and one of them started to bend over to pick up his gun, but Bandit growled at him, as he lunged and stood over the gun.”

  ‘You can’t leave me without my gun, he complained, as he kicked out at Bandit.

  “Well, I’m doing it, cause I don’t trust you will leave well enough alone. I can always use an extra gun.”

  “That’s thieving,” he bawled.

  “Probably not half as bad as what you were planning to do,” I said. “You had no reason following me here unless you planned to take advantage of me. I was doing just fine when you came along, and I can continue to look out for myself!”

  “You better watch your back,” he warned. “Cause we ain’t forgetting this!”

  “Problem is, my dog will smell you long before you can get within shooting distance. He now knows you are not polite company. So he will be warning me a lot earlier next time.”

  I sat and watched as they headed out after their mules. I had been lucky, I thought. They were right. A young woman traveling alone was asking for trouble. I thought about the clothes that were flapping on that line back at the farm. I hoped there were some boy’s clothes among them because I decided I needed to change my identity.

  I put my fire out, packed everything up, and swung up on Fire Cracker’s back. I was proud of my dog and horse protecting me like they did, but there might be a time when they couldn’t protect me, so the less attention I drew to myself, the better.

  I guided Fire Cracker back to the farm. I would get some of those apples, and then I would find out if there were any clothes on that line I could use to disguise myself as a boy. After all, the Pawn shop owner claimed I looked more like a boy than a girl, so I figured I could get away with it.

  There was enough moon to help light the way, as I approached the farmhouse. All the windows were dark. The dog started to bark, but Bandit went over and started making friends with it, so it hushed up soon enough. I climbed down from Fire Cracker’s back and walked over to the line. There were dresses and overalls. One pair was way too big for me, but the other pair must have been for a boy, cause they looked like they might fit me. I pulled them off the line, along with a shirt, and went over to the barn to change my clothes.

  I found a lantern and used one of my matches to light it, and then I started shedding my girl clothes. After I had wriggled into the overalls and shirt, I noticed an old battered hat hanging on a hook. My long red hair was in a single braid down my back, and I contemplated just pinning it up on my head and putting the hat over my hair. Trouble was, I didn’t think that would be enough. I had to get rid of my hair. I finally mustered the courage to take my knife, I kept in a sheath in my skirt pocket, and cut the braid off, feeling the shock of my curly hair spring up around my face.

  It was still too long. I tied the loose end of my braid with a piece of lace I ripped from the collar of my blouse and stuffed it in the pocket of the overalls. Then I started whacking away at my hair until I felt it was short enough to pass as boy’s hair. I covered the pieces of hair that fell around my feet with loose straw on the barn floor. I removed the small gold earrings I had in my ears. I don’t know how my parents ever afforded them? Maybe they weren’t real gold, I thought. I would keep them save by putting them in a small pouch that I kept inside my gunny sack.

  I crammed the hat down over my docked curls and vowed not to look at myself in a mirror if I ever happened by one. I didn’t want to see a boy’s face staring back at me. The man on the ferry had called me a pretty little thing, but I knew he just said that because I was a girl. I had never thought of myself as pretty.

  Besides my flyaway curly hair that I had to keep plaited just to keep it out of my face, I had freckles scattered across my face. Light green eyes, in a shade I had never seen any other eyes being. Papa called them cat eyes. He said they gave me an exotic look. I didn’t believe him. I think he said that because he knew I wasn’t very pretty and thought me thinking my eyes were unique, would make me feel better about myself. Besides my eyes being too big and sort of slanted, my lower lip seemed too large, and my smile was crooked. I had a long neck, Mama said was graceful, but I never saw any grace about my appearance. Now that my hair was cut, my neck felt so much longer. My breasts weren’t small, but they weren’t large either. They had sized down when I started losing weight, so I figured I could pass easily enough as a boy, with my thin body, and what little breasts I had, hidden behind the bib of the overalls.

  I stuffed my old clothes in a corner of the barn behind a wooden barrel, buckled my gun belt around my hips, placed my knife back in its sheath, and stuck it in my pocket along with my braid, then blew out the lantern. I opened the door of the barn to find Bandit and Fire Cracker waiting patiently for me. The farm dog was nowhere in sight. I swung up on Fire Cracker’s back and discovered it was a lot easier to do wearing the overalls, and now my legs were protected from the sweat of Fire Cracker’s back. I was beginning to like the new kind of freedom it gave me. Maybe I was just comforting myself for having to cut off the only feminine feature about me. I don’t know why I wanted to keep that braid. Maybe to remind me I really was a girl despite all other appearances.

  CHAPTER TWO

  It took awhile for me to get used to my short hair. I could feel the cool breeze blowing on my neck and realized it was a lot cooler without my heavy mane hanging down my back. Mama said I got my red hair from her Irish ancestors and Papa said I got it from his Scottish ancestors. Our Sir-name was Macalister so it could be my Papa was right, only neither of them had red hair, so it made me wonder where I really got my hair color? I was just a misfit, I supposed. For all I knew, they found me under a rock, like Papa used to tease me they did. It made me wonder about my past? I never met any uncles or aunts or grandparents or anyone other than Mama and Papa.

  I had a lot of time to think as I rode on my own, following the river. I had heard about baby farms where women would bring unwed mothers to have their babies and then sell those babies to wealthy people who couldn’t have children. Only I knew my mama and papa were not wealthy enough to buy a baby from someone. The problem with those baby farms was that if any of the babies were not healthy enough to be sold, or there was something else wrong with them, or even for no reason at all, the people running the place would just stop feeding them, wrap them in newspaper, and let them die. Sometimes they out and out killed them, or put them in the basement furnace, sometimes burning them alive! Nothing was ever done about it because there were no laws against killing unwanted infants.

  Some of the mothers of those poor misfortunate babies were taken and forced into brothels, seeing as how they lost their virginity and weren’t considered worthy ‘wife material’ any longer. Because the young women came from all over the States to the baby farms, it was almost impossible to discover what happened to them, once they left the baby farm. Some went there in secret to hide their shame, so their parents didn’t know what had happened to their daughters. They just strangely disappeared never to be seen or heard from again.

  I didn’t pass many people on the bank along the river, even though I did watch all the boats that traveled u
p and down the river. It was the main highway for produce, but the trains were slowly choking out the old way of transporting goods. I was thinking about my roots and where I actually did come from? If I couldn’t find Papa, I didn’t have any other relatives that I knew of to look for. Mama and Papa must have come from somewhere. They must have had someone related to them, yet they never spoke about it. Then I started wondering why Papa never settled down in one place? Why did he always want to be on the move? Maybe he didn’t like his kin and didn’t want them to know where he was at, I thought. But what about Mama? She seldom talked about her life before marrying Papa, and when I asked her, she said she was orphaned when she was little, so she didn’t know her mama and papa. She claimed she was raised in a home for girls and that is where she was taught to be a school teacher so she could get employment when she left there.

  Before she died, though, she had said something very strange. She started talking about my older brother and how he doted on me when I was little. I didn’t know I had an older brother. When I asked her about him, she looked a little nervous and said she was just rambling on and she didn’t know where my brother was. I decided when I found Papa, I would ask him about it. Neither of them had ever mentioned a brother to me before. I tried to get my mother to tell me his name, but she pretended like she hadn’t even mentioned him to me, and then a few days later, she died.