Walking to the Valley in the Sky

Walking to the Valley in the Sky Chapter I Mules shake their heads and jerk on the reins as a dust devil crosses the Trail. It is most unwelcome to the settlers after a long and stressful day on a hot and dusty trail. Women handle the reins as the men plod the ground, rifles in hand, and children wander to and fro to feed their curiosity and fend off boredom. All are tired and hope to make camp soon. "There's Bendix!!" someone shouts seeing their escort on a rise just ahead. "There goes Brownie, mommy!" Becky Leland says, pointing at the Webers' dog, barking, as it races ahead to greet Bendix. "Shut up!!" Bendix shouts at Brownie as his horse steps back shaking its head, pulling hard on the reins. Bendix rides down the shallow and rutted slope to the lead wagon, a defiant Brownie still barking as he runs and jumps at Bendix's side. "We'll camp just passed that rise!!" Bendix shouts as he rides passed. "See any sign of strangers or Indians, Mr. Bendix?" Alan Hatfield asks as Bendix nears. "No!" Bendix answers riding passed. Hatfield stumbles on a rock as he looks at the expression on Bendix face. "Here comes Mr. Bendix, mommy!" Becky says. "Yes baby, I see'em" her tired mother, Jenny, says as Bendix pulls his horse to a stop next to her husband. "What's Mr. Bendix sayin' to daddy, mommy?" Becky asks. "I don't know, baby" Jenny says, trying to keep her eyes open. "I can't hear'em". Becky and her mother watch Nathan grab his rifle more tightly as his eyes open wider. Nathan?" Jenny calls as Bendix turns and rides back to the lead wagon. "Is anything wrong?" "Everything's fine" Nathan answers, looking over his shoulder. "What did Mr. Bendix say, daddy?" Becky asks. "Don't bother daddy, Becky" Jenny says, bumping her knee against Becky's. Jenny looks about as her stomach knots up. The stories she heard at Fort Laramie of the massacre at the Little Big Horn fill her heart with terror again. The decision to hire Alexander Bendix at Fort Laramie is some comfort to Jenny as she watches the wagons come to a stop one at a time, yet still keeping a watchful eye on every bush, every rock. "Hold up there, Mrs. Leland!!" Bendix calls out to Jenny. Whoa" Bendix says calmly as he walks his horse in front of her team of mules. Becky jumps to the ground anxious to join her father. Arching her back, Jenny too, is anxious to feel the ground under her feet again. "Is it safe to make a fire, Mr. Bendix?" Nathan asks. "Don't matter" Bendix says dismounting. "It's no secret we're here" "Just keep a sharp eye". "Mr. Bendix?" William Woodard calls out walking up. "Did ya' see anything up ahead?" "Nope" Bendix answers adjusting his hat. "It's what ya' can't see that'll kill ya'!" Arthur Weber says walking up, tightly gripping his Spencer repeating rifle. "Is there trouble ahead, Arthur?" his nervous wife, Eloise, asks, their two small daughters holding her hands. Bendix eyes glare at Weber as he says "You talk too much". "I can say any damn thang I want!!" Weber shouts. "We hired ya' to get us to Oregon!!" "We din't hire ya'to git us scalped!!" "Mama!" the Weber's daughter, Louisa, cries pressing her face against her mother's crotch. "Calm down, Mr. Weber" Nathan says. "Gettin' the children upset ain't gonna help things any". "Mommy?" Becky moans, pulling on her mother's hand. "It's alright, Becky" Jenny whispers sliding her fingers over Becky's neck. "You know how Mr. Weber is". "I won't calm down!!" Weber shouts, twisting his hand around his rifle barrel. His face red, Weber shouts "I don't intend to end up like, Custer!!" "I say we go back to Fort Laramie!!" "At least there's soldiers there!!" "You're a damn fool, Weber" Bendix says. "The farther West we go the farther we get from the Little Big Horn" Bendix adds as he notices Weber twisting his hand even more tightly around his rifle barrel. His face growing redder, Weber shouts "How do ya' know there ain't a couple'a thousand'a them red bastards up ahead'a us!!" "Not to mention the thieves an' murderers sellin' guns an' whiskey to'em!!!" Sheldon Ainsworth, an old friend of the Webers, says calmly "Arthur, we realized the dangers before we left Knoxville" "We discussed it at length before we began our journey". Weber snaps back "I don't care!!!" "I din't come all this way to get murdered like them Yankee soldier boys!!" "Mommy" Becky sobs as do other children. As Nathan begins to speak Bendix fist blurs passed his face and crashes into Weber's. "Oh no" a woman murmurs as Weber falls to the ground, his rifle lying across his chest.