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   The Man From Eagle Creek
   Chapter Eighteen
   Sally Mae got up from the porch and walked over to where Ol' Joe and Lou
sat on a bench in front of the barn.
   "Lou I got some things I need to ask you, if you got some time."
   "Shore girl, what things you need to know."
   "Well Lou, you see they is kinda private between me and you."
   Lou looked over at Ol' Joe and gave him a nod that meant get away.
   When Ol' Joe had gone in the barn Sally Mae sat down with her on the
bench.
   "Lou, I saw you and Ol' Joe in the barn awhile ago and I was looking
good to learn all I could.  Injun Tom came over and looked too, then he
drug me away and told me that what y'all was doin' was private between a
man and a woman.  He won't tell me what I need to know and I need to know
how to be a woman."
   "Sally Mae, you mean to tell me you ain't ever been had by a man
before?"
   "If you mean has a man ever stuck his big peter meat in me, then no I
ain't ever been had."
   "Well girl you come to the right woman for that.  I can tell you right
now that once a man sticks his peter up in yore belly you won't be able to
think of nothin' else till you get some more of it."
   "Lou how do you know when Ol' Joe wants to stick his tool up in you?"
   "Girl, let me tell you some things about a man.  He always wants to be
stickin' that thing of his'n up in a woman's belly, all you got to do is
let him know you want it too.  He'll do the rest.  What you got to do Sally
Mae is make shore he don't just pop up in you and get his goody, then he's
done.  All that does to a woman is make her feel like she done missed
something.  A woman needs to get her goody too once in a while.  Ol' Joe
tells me all time that I got a `wild thang' up in my belly cause I
sometimes get a goody three or fo' times in a row."
   "How do you get a goody Lou and how do you know when you got one?"
   "Girl when you ever get you one, believe me you'll know it.  When I gets
mine, all my innards commence to grabbin and twistin' and jerkin inside my
belly.  My legs go to twitchin' and I feel like Ol' Joe done built a fire
up in my belly that needs to be put out."
   "Does it hurt when all that happens in your belly at one time?"
   "Girl, it hurts so good up in yore belly that y'all gonna feel like
y'all gonna pass plum out, but they ain't no pain.  That is `cept the first
time a man sticks you, then they is gonna be some pain of sorts."
   "Lou when we breed them horses, they make a baby horse, how do you keep
from havin' babies if you like to be stuck so many times?"
   "Well I gets my potion stuff from my Auntie up the road a ways that
won't let my belly get a baby.  I just swipe some across my hole and push a
little inside, then when Ol' Joe wants to throw my dress tail up and mount
me like he did in yonder, I know my baby maker done been turned off."
   "Could I get some of that stuff you talkin' about and carry with me,
just in case I get a feelin' some time.  Since I'm a woman now and I got
them feelins' already, I just didn't know what to do with them."
   "If y'all gonna be here til tomorrow, I'll let y'all have some of what I
got, then we'll both go down to Auntie's and get some mo'."
   "Well, I don't know if I would need some that soon, but tomorrow I'll go
to your Aunties with you and get me some."
   "Girl, y'all gonna come with me right now and swipe some of my potion
cross yo' hole.  I saw how y'all was lookin' at Injun Tom and I saw how he
was lookin' at you.  Y'all close to getting' stuck gurl.  I'm talkin' bout
y'all real close."
   "You mean to tell me that Injun Tom wants to stick me?  You can see that
just by lookin' at him?"
   "I shore can, and I'd say that when the sun comes up tomorrow, y'all
gonna be walkin' round here bow-legged girl."
   "Then I better swipe my hole with that stuff you got, my mammy would
skin my ass alive if I got a baby in my belly."
   "Come with me gurl, and y'all better be glad y'all come here to see me
too, ain't no tellin' what woulda happen't if'n y'all didn't know all this
stuff about bein a woman."
   Sally Mae followed Lou into the barn and over to a small living quarters
built inside.  Lou took a tin can down from the top shelf over her stove
and pulled the lid off.  "Here girl, get you a good dab on two of yo'
fingers and just swipe across yo'self down there, then push some extra up
inside."
   Sally Mae did as she was told and raked her fingers through the potion
that looked like chicken fat to her and smelled worse.  She hiked her dress
tail up and swiped her fingers across her woman hole, then she poked her
finger up inside to make sure she did it right.  Sally Mae felt like she
was on fire where the greasy potion was on her skin and up inside her
privates.
   "Lou, that potion must be some kinda powerful stuff the way its burning
my privates."
   "It does that, and soon y'all will start to get a good pleasurable
feeling all over yo'self down there."
   Sally Mae already felt like she was on her way to makin' a woman of
herself.  She had all the right schoolin' from Lou and now her baby maker
was turned off.  Sally Mae was proud that she took all of this upon herself
to get Lou to 'splain the ways of bein' a woman to her.  Lou was sure a
smart woman.  Sally Mae could hardly wait to try out the things she had
learned, and feel the feelins' that Lou told her about.  Her belly felt
like smoke was already coming out of it now.
   Tom already had his bedroll spread out when the sun began to go down. 
Sally Mae came in from talkin to Lou and saw Tom's bedroll on the floor.
   "Injun Tom, ain't you gonna sleep on the bed?"
   "I'll sleep in my bedroll, you can sleep on the bed.  I haven't slept in
a bed since I left The Dakotas.
   "I'll sleep on the floor with you then and keep you warm."
   "I'll be plenty warm Sally Mae, you can have the bed."
   Sally Mae said no more, she slipped out of her clothes and lay on the
bed naked.  Tom watched as she did this, then as the room darkened, he
slipped off his buckskins and lay his Colt on the floor next to his
bedroll.
   Tom was dreaming of home in the Dakotas, Indian sisters and Beth Canady.
They were all mixed up in his dreams and he was restless.
   He dreamed he was with Beth and they lay in the sand together, she lay
her head on his shoulder and he held her tight.  Then she lay her naked leg
across his.
   Tom woke with a start, Beth was here with him, she was warm and she was
touching him.
   Beth couldn't be here, she was at the Canady ranch.  This was Sally Mae
and she was holding him tight to her naked body.  Tom couldn't make her
stop.  Sally Mae touched Tom's body and took his hand to lay against her
body.
   Sally Mae rolled over on top of Tom and he didn't want her to stop now,
he could feel her heat and he could feel his heart racing to pump blood
through his veins.
   Sally Mae sat up and he could feel the heat of her womanhood as she
pressed against him.  She was on him and he knew he couldn't stop her even
if he wanted to.
   She raised up and settled back down, he felt the heat inside her, and
she felt herself become a woman.  Sally Mae rocked and moved her body as
she felt the things that Lou had told her about, she felt her body go into
fits of feelings she had never imagined.
   Tom felt as if he were being lifted up.  He felt like he and Sally Mae
were floating as the feelings swirled through their bodies while they lay
on his bedroll as one.
   Sally Mae now felt as if she was flying, she could feel the wind beneath
her and Tom, as they swirled up through the air and rode the winds.
   They flew high across the prairie and soared over the rivers and rolling
plains, they moved as one and felt the winds caress them with feelings in
places they had never been touched before.
   They flew high above the lands below, joined as one in the flight of
passion.  Sally Mae felt her body again and again soar through the
pleasures that this Injun was spreading through he belly.
   They flew over the hills and the valleys, they flew over the lakes and
streams, joined together in their mating.  Sally Mae sat straight up with
her arms out from her side as she soared from one peak to another, riding
the air currents and swooping down hard to feel the strength of Injun Tom
as he soared up under her.
   They both felt the explosion of the sunrise in the east as it brought
light to the room and lit the dark corners.  They felt the heat of the red
sun as it rose above the horizons once more to spread its warmth and
comfort through their bodies and all the lands.
   Sally Mae fell forward on top of Injun Tom as she felt the last of her
strength drain from her body to well up inside him then surge back into her
with such a force that made her swoon and sink to the floor beside him.
   `If this is what Lou was trying to tell me, then she left out most of it
out.  I feel as if I left this earth and soared with the eagles above the
plains.  I felt that I had feathers of my own as I flew across the prairie
from high above.' Sally Mae thought as they both lay on the floor in a
tangle.
   Tom drifted off to sleep as he lay there on his back with Sally Mae's
body lying across his.  He wakened to feel her washing his manhood as if
she were washing the tool of his stud.  Sally Mae had a smile on her face
as she looked down at him.
   They were at Mr.  Lydell Truman's place for another day and night. 
Sally Mae and Lou walked across a big pasture to a small clump of trees. 
There Lou took her into a small cave in the side of a hill.
   "Auntie, I've brought this young girl to git some o' yer special potion
an' git me another dose of it too," Lou told the old woman that sat by a
fire and smiled up at them.  She was wrinkled and her hair was thin and
tangled.  She had three teeth, two on top and one on bottom.
   Auntie was stirring a pot of boiling concoction that had bones floating
to the top as she stirred.  The boiling, gurgling potion smelled worse than
a outdoor toilet.  The steam that rose from it had a faint glow from the
light of the fire.
   "Y'all gonna need mo' of my cookin' air ya?"
   "Yes'sum," said Lou.
   "I gots two lil' buckets cooked up over dere, git dem and gimme one
dollar."
   "Here ya' go Auntie," Lou said as she handed her dollar to the old
woman.
   Lou grabbed Sally Mae by the arm and snatched her hard toward the
opening of the cave.
   When they were away from the trees a ways, Lou looked at Sally Mae.
   "I been in her cave lots of times to git her potions and I aw'ways gets
the heebie jeebies e'ry time."
   "I know what you mean, the smell was awful and I had the feeling she
could see right through me," Sally Mae said.
   "Well, we gots a good supply now, it don't take no mo' than I showed you
yestiddy.  Tell me gurl did y'all git yo belly poked lass night?"
   "Yes I did Lou and it was good just like you said, maybe even more."
   "I thought y'all looked like maybe y'all wuz walking spraddle legged dis
moanin'."
   "I'm already wanting more and Injun Tom was like that big stud hoss of
his.  I rode him out though." Sally Mae said and giggled.
   "I'm glad dat y'all `cided to git it on wid that Injun Tom, I reckon he
liked whut y'all did to him?"
   "Yes he did," Sally Mae giggled again.
   The two talked of men and the different ways of ridin'em and bein' rode
by'em, as they made their way back to the stables.
   Tom bred his stud to the two remaining mares late that day and at
daylight the next morning they were at the train station waiting to board
for Kansas City.  Their schedule didn't leave much time for laggin' around,
the mares had all dropped foals this spring and were being bred back as
soon as the heat hit them.
   Tom rode right up to the train man in the blue suit and showed him the
paper.
   "Where is our wagon we will ride to Kansas City?" Tom asked.
   "Injun that is called a `car'," he pointed to the other `cars'.
   "That one is a mail car, the next one is a passenger car, and the others
are freight cars.  The one you will ride is a cattle car, it's the last car
before the red caboose back there."
   Tom thanked him and rode his horse right up the ramp with Sally Mae
hanging on to his buckskins as the horse leaped the gap between the car and
the ramp.
   Soon the train pulled out of the station with a slow lurching start and
they were once again on their way.  For a while they both stood and looked
out the side boards at the countryside as they sped through the trees and
then the open pastures and farms along the way.
   "Injun Tom, how long will it take to get over to Kansas City?"
   "The man told me at the station it would be almost three hours."
   Sally Mae started pulling her clothes off, when she was naked, she
squatted and peed a stream of hot piss into the hay.
   "Injun Tom, I want some more," She said boldly, looking him in the eye.
   Tom never said a word, he shucked down his buckskin breeches and stood
next the sideboards to piss.  When he turned back to Sally Mae, she was
bent over at the waist with her hands holding the sideboards and her bottom
stuck out behind.  Just like Lou had been the other day in the barn.
   Tom and Sally Mae rode like that for a long time, the swaying and
rocking of the cattle car, and the clickety, clacking of the wheels against
the joints of the rails just added to the ride.  Sally Mae turned to pull
him down in the hay, she wanted to ride him some more like the other night.
She threw up her arms as she rode him, closed her eyes and felt as if she
was flying again as the wind whipped her hair and caught her arms
   When the two had all but gave out, they got up and Sally Mae took a
smooth cloth out of her bag and cleaned Tom's manhood.  Then she swiped the
cloth between her legs to get the soapy looking potion out of her privates.
   `Its almost like cooking lard, but it shore smells bad.' Sally Mae
thought.
   Sally Mae put a dress on and they were sitting with their backs to the
sideboards when she turned to look at Tom.
   "Tom you ever kissed a girl before?"
   "Yes I have, a couple of times."
   "Would you show me how to do it so I'll know how it feels."
   "Well it's not like I'm a teacher, I've only kissed one girl."
   "Injun Tom, I ain't never been kissed, so you know more'n I do about
it."
   "Well, we still got a ways yet to go so I reckon we can kiss some while
we got time."
   "Tell me what do I need to do first?" Sally Mae asked.
   "Well, we need to be where we are face to face so we can put our lips
together."
   Sally Mae jumped and straddled Tom's legs and sat down with her face
just inches from his.
   "I'm gonna lean over to you and put my lips to yours, you make yours
soft as you can and kinda open your mouth a little, that's the way I
remember it."
   Tom leaned in and put his lips to Sally Mae's, as soon as they touched
she moaned into his mouth and blew his cheeks full of air.
   "You got to hold your breath and breath through your nose," Tom pulled
back and said.
   "It felt so good, I couldn't help my self, I almost peed."
   "Well get up now and piss over there somewhere, I don't want you
sprayin' your piss all over me."
   Sally Mae jumped up and hiked her dress, letting go another stream, then
she swiped her hand across her privates and smiled as she sat back down on
Tom's legs again.
   Sally Mae didn't wait on Tom this time, she leaned in and put her lips
to his, she opened her mouth just a little and felt Tom suck on her open
mouth.  It made her want more and she sucked back on his mouth.  Soon they
were sucking and kissing each other and swapping tongues too, this just
made them all hot and bothered again.
   "Shit Tom that makes me hot all over my body, my privates is dripping
and my little titties feel like they're gonna swell up and bust wide open,"
She said as she unbuttoned her dress to look down at them.
   Her teats were all swollen and puffed up.  Tom leaned over and sucked
nearly all of one into his mouth and Sally Mae screamed so loud that the
big stud horse jumped.
   Tom backed up to see if he had hurt her but she grabbed his head and
pulled him back down to her teat.  Sally Mae was hot, she was smokin' hot
and she wanted what she knew would cool her off again.  She pushed back
from Tom and jerked the laces from his buckskins, she grabbed his breeches
on each hip and skinned them down to his knees, then she sat back down on
him.  Without even looking she hit her mark and settled down slowly.
   "Suck my teats again now Injun Tom.  I got to know all about this and
this is just the third time I ever been had, but I'm liking it more and
more."
   "OH LAWDY, LAWDY suck my little teats Injun Tom," Sally Mae screamed
into the air just as the train whistle blew at a railroad crossing.
   Sally Mae grabbed Tom by his long braids and pulled him to her teats
hard, then she pushed him back and kissed him on the mouth.
   Sally Mae rode him for all she was worth and as hard as she could.  When
she got her goody, it hit her hard this time.  She was high in the sky with
her wings spread and she went into a dive that took the breath from her
lungs.  Deep in her belly she had a death grip on Injun Tom.  Just as he
thought it was over, she passed out and fell over backwards.
   Tom shook her, he thought he had killed her, then he saw her chest
rising and falling.
   `She must have passed plumb out' he thought.
   As Sally Mae slept next to him, Tom pulled his flute out and blew his
breath along the length of it.  He put his lips to the mouth piece and made
sweet beautiful sounds as the train rattled and rocked along the tracks. 
The music of the flute drifted across the countryside as they rolled along,
the cars swaying slowly in time with the lonesome sounds.
   The train made two more short stops and before long they started seeing
many buildings and houses as they rolled into downtown Kansas City,
Missouri.  Tom knew by the schedule, that they were to change trains here
and cross over the Missouri River and then back up to Atchison, Kansas.
   When they had saddled up and rode Tom's horse off the train, he asked
the first person he saw with a blue suit if he knew when the train to
Atchison would leave.
   "Tomorrow morning at nine," he was told.
   Tom pulled the map and schedule out of his saddle bags and looked again.
The schedule Mr.  Hollister had given him had the train leaving this
afternoon, and arriving in Atchison before midnight.
   Tom walked with his schedule to the train station and handed it to the
man in the window along with his paper showing his pass on all the trains.
   "Injun, looks like you gonna be here in Kansas City with us one night,
we got a big problem on the track between here and Atchison and it'll take
until way in the night to repair it."
   "Can you tell me where I can find a stable for my horse?" Tom asked.
   "Well Injun, the only one I know of close by, is three streets over that
way," he pointed.
   "You'll have to go two more streets to your right at Front Street, to
get there, then it is down on the right.  That's a bad part of town though,
its not safe after dark down there."
   Tom was worried now, he'd never been to a big city before, he had meant
to be in Atchison by morning, and he had over six thousand dollars on him
tied to his waist in his leather pouch.  He didn't even know there was such
a thing as paper money, he wanted gold coins but in the end Mr.  Lydell had
convinced him that he was better off with paper money, it was easier to
hide on his person.
   Now he was stuck here in Kansas City for the night.
   Tom mounted up again and told Sally Mae what had happened.  She thought
for a minute and decided she liked the idea.
   Tom started out the way the man at the station had told him, then he was
lost and Tom didn't like the feeling.  He rode up beside a black man on a
wagon and asked if he knew where the stable was.
   "You Injun ain'tcha?"
   "Yep"
   "Well follow me Injun, I'm goin' there too, I board my hosses there all
the time."
   "See Injun Tom, its not as bad as you thought, and just think, I want
some more tonight too," Sally Mae smiled.
   Tom followed the black man to the stables, he was right they'd never
have found them.  He told the rough looking man at the stables that he
wanted to sleep close to his horse.
   The man sneered and looked at Sally Mae, "You gonna poke that little
high yeller girl here too, I'd pay to see that."
   Tom grabbed him by the neck and the man started hollering, "Hey Injun I
was just funnin'."
   Tom paid him for the stable and the man left.  They were on the very end
of the barn next to the street, and the noise was bad.
   `Maybe it will settle down soon', Tom thought.
   The black man that had shown them to the stable came by on his way out.
   "I know a place you can get some food if you got the money."
   "I can pay you," Tom said.
   "No, I mean if you got money to buy food."
   "We have some money," Tom said.
   "Come with me, I'll stay with you until you get your food and then make
sure you get back here.  After that you'll be on your own tonight.  Sleep
with that Colt in your hand Injun."
   Tom and Sally Mae walked with the black man down the street and into the
back of a café where they cooked meals.  They didn't serve blacks and
Indians up front.
   Neither Tom or Sally Mae knew what to order or even how to order, so the
black man ordered them some roast beef and gravy with bread.
   They had a tin plate full of food each, and Tom had to buy the plates
but that wasn't but fifty cents more.  The black man walked with them to
the stable, said good night and left.
   Tom and Sally Mae ate in silence, the food was good and they ate all on
their plates, glancing up now and then to smile at each other.
   Tom walked over to his horse and whispered to him, then came to the back
of the stall where he laid out his bedroll.  The big horse was standing
across the front of the stall.  Anyone coming in would have to walk by him.
   Sally Mae made true on her statement earlier, she wanted Tom again. 
This time she wanted him hard and fast so she straddled him and rode him
like he was her horse.  She started to scream out and Tom reached up and
held her mouth closed.
   Sometime during the night Tom woke to yelling in the street outside the
barn, he heard someone yell, "Stop or I'll shoot."
   In an instant Tom had his Colt on and tied to his leg.  The only thing
he was wearing besides his Colt was his buckskin breeches and his
moccasins.
   Tom walked next to his horse and stood still.  He saw three men run into
the barn in the dim light of the lantern by the door.
   The three men slipped into a stall across the bay from him and crouched
down.  Two lawmen came in slowly, looking around as they eased deeper into
the barn.
   "I know I saw them come in here, they may have ran out the other end,
but we have to be sure," one said.
   Just as they walked by the stable on the other side, the three men
jumped them and knocked them to the dirt floor, their guns flying from
their hands.
   "You dumb sonsabitches, you ain't got sense enough to be policemen," one
of the men said as they stood over them with guns drawn.
   One man held a gun on them while the other two tied them up.  When they
were all tied up nice and tight, the man put his gun in a holster under his
jacket.
   Tom was still a lawman in his mind and while they argued over what they
were gonna do with the policemen, Tom stepped out.
   "Drop your guns and step back," Tom said in a loud voice.
   The three men started to go for their guns but Tom hollered again.
   "Don't make that mistake, you could die."
   "Looks like you got the drop on us injun, what are you doing here any
way, stealing horses?" one man sneered.
   "You put that gun down and we'll leave, no harm done to you or the law
here," he said as he kicked straw on the lawmen.
   "Drop your guns and step back," Tom said again.
   "Kiss my ass, I don't take orders from no fuckin' injun.  You gonna have
to face all three of us down now."
   The two lawmen were watching as the three men faced Tom.  They didn't
know who he was or what he was doing here, but he was gonna die trying to
help them.
   "One last time, then you either need to pull those little pistols you
carry or drop them in that water trough over there," Tom said, his voice
hard and cold now.
   Sally Mae shivered like she was cold, as she heard Tom talk this time,
she didn't know this side of Injun Tom.  Here he was standing in front of
three men with guns and talking to them like they were young kids.
   Sally Mae crouched into her corner so she could see good, the two lawmen
turned their heads and upper body so they could see what happened, they
just knew the injun was gonna die right here and them too maybe.
   Two of the men had guns on their hips, small guns.  He knew the one man
had one under his coat and Tom thought that one or both of the others did
too.  He looked into the eyes of the three as they stood there in the dim
light.
   One man pulled his coat back out of the way, Tom knew they were gonna
draw.  Tom dropped his Colt in its holster.
   The three men laughed and started to pull their guns.  The first to
touch his hand to his gun felt the .44 slug tear through his upper hand.
   The second one to draw felt the slug hit his right leg just above the
knee, he never got his gun out.  The third one was pulling his gun up to
fire when the slug hit his left eye, his head exploding all over the wall
behind him as he fell forward.
   Tom dropped the Colt back in its holster and walked over to the lawmen.
He bent down and with his long knife, cut the ropes from their hands.
   Tom stood up and one lawman yelled, "Look Out."
   Tom whirled and shot the man between the eyes as he pulled a gun from
the back of his belt.  It was the man that had his knee shot up.  Now he
was dead.
   By now there were people standing in the door of the barn as the lawmen
untied their legs and stood up.  Three more lawmen ran into the barn with
guns drawn
   "Drop that gun Injun," one yelled as he dropped to one knee, holding his
gun with both hands, pointed at Tom.
   "Hold it Sergeant, this injun just saved our lives here, get that gun
outta his face."
   The Sergeant put his gun away and the two officers told the story of how
Tom stepped in to help them after they had been jumped.
   "Well Injun, you gonna have to come down to the station with us while we
fill out the report."
   Tom went back to the stall and got his shirt and brought out Sally Mae
after she pulled on her dress.
   "Is that yeller girl with you Injun?"
   "Yes Sir she is."
   "Did you see any of this?" The Sergeant asked Sally Mae.
   She was just about to tell them the story of how Tom shot all three of
their sorry asses when Tom shook his head with a little `no'.
   "Naw Suh, Mistuh PO'liceman, I ain't seed nuthin back where I was hiding
my black ass."
   "Well we can't leave you here, come on with the Injun, I guess you're
with him for the night ain't ya?"
   "Yas'suh"
   Tom and Sally Mae went with them and Tom gave his story which was
exactly the same as the two officer's story.  They were back at the stable
around three in the morning and didn't have to leave until nine.
   Sally Mae wanted some more.
   Tom and Sally Mae went at each other fast and furious, they were all
over the stable and twice Tom's horse had to move to keep from stepping on
them.
   The next morning early they were at the train station.  Tom was sitting
on a bench leaned back against the wall, Sally Mae had her head on his lap,
sound asleep.
   Tom heard a boy yelling about the newspaper he was selling.
   "Read all about it, Sioux Injun from Dakota Territory kills three men in
gun fight at Lowery's Corral last night, read all about it."
   "I want a paper, boy," Tom said as he reached into his pouch to get the
money.
   "Sure Injun.  Hey are you the one in the paper?  Are you Tom Cooper? 
The man with the lightning fast draw the police told about?"
   "I'm Tom Cooper and I'm from South Dakota, but I think the lawmen may
have added to the story some."
   "Man, a real Injun gunfighter.  Wait til I tell my friends I met the man
that killed the bank robbers last night.  Man alive."
   "Will you take my pencil and sign your name on one of my papers, they
won't believe me."
   Tom was shocked by the boy asking that, but did as he asked.
   Tom got two newspapers and put them in his saddlebags, the train rolled
in on time and he woke Sally Mae.  They got their stuff and walked to the
cattle car they were going to ride up to Atchison.
   The train pulled out ten minutes late according to the man in the blue
suit but at least they were on their way.
   Sally Mae was wide awake now and she had to pee.
   When she came back and sat beside Tom, he pulled out the newspapers and
pointed the story out to her.
   Sally Mae read aloud all about the heroic deed her Injun Tom had done,
of course she had seen the whole thing and she could have written a better
story than this.
   "I am sitting here beside a real live hero right now," She said and
kissed his cheek.  There was even a mention of a high yellow girl in the
stable too, but the article didn't mention that she was with Tom Cooper.
   "You know what Injun Tom?"
   "What Sally Mae?"
   "I want some."
   "You always do girl, you always do."
   When the train pulled into Atchison, Tom already had the saddle on his
horse and their gear tied on as well.
   They left the station looking for Sunlight Stables.  The man at the
station didn't know the name, so Tom started through town and saw the post
office, he went in and got directions to the stables.  They were about ten
miles back the way they just came.
   Tom rode along the rutted dusty trail back south beside the railroad
tracks.  The telegraph lines were strung along side the tracks and they
hummed a haunting melody that no one would ever know.
   Tom saw the sign that had Sunlight Stables painted on it and an arrow
pointing west across the tracks.  They rode for another five miles and Tom
saw the sprawling, layout of the ranch headquarters.
   The buildings were all neatly in rows and all whitewashed with red trim
around the roof line, corners and windows.  The main house was a huge two
story with white columns in front.
   Tom and Sally Mae really looked it over as they rode up the neatly lined
dirt road that led back to the stables.
   Tom slid off his horse and Sally Mae bounced down beside him before he
could help her.
   Two women came from the stables and met them half way.
   "I am Valerie and this is my sister Maria, we own the Sunlight Stables,
how can we help you?
   "Oh My God, you're Tom Cooper aren't you, we were expecting you.  We had
you pictured as an old Sioux Medicine Man.  I'm so sorry."
   "Yes I am Tom Cooper and this is my helper Sally Mae from Omaha," Tom
said and shook the women's offered hands.
   All of a sudden Sally Mae was shy as she saw the fine clothes the two
sisters wore.  She held back and stood behind Tom.
   The sisters were not having any of this, Valerie walked behind Tom and
held out her hand to Sally Mae.
   Her hands were trembling as she shook hands with both sisters, she had
tears in her eyes.
   Tom, you can put your horse in the stable, we will take your clothes in
the house."
   "I'll be staying with my horse, he doesn't do good when he can't smell
me close by."
   "Well, we'll just have to work out other arrangements then.  Sally Mae
you come in the house with us and Tom can get his horse settled in and
fed."
   Sally Mae wasn't sure of this, but the sisters won out in the end.
   Tom was just about through with tending to his horse when he saw Sally
Mae running toward the barn, she ran to his saddlebags and got one of the
newspapers and ran back to the house, her dress flying up over her naked
butt as she ran.
   Tom went to the back door when neither Sally Mae nor the others came
back.  He knocked and Valerie let him in.  She was laughing so hard she had
tears in her eyes.
   "Tom, come in here, we're having a great time talking about you."
   Tom walked into the kitchen, Sally Mae was sitting beside Maria and they
were looking at the newspaper.
   "Sit down Tom, we aren't laughing about you but about Sally Mae telling
us the story of your gunfight and then she told us about her trip to see
`Auntie' to get the potion," Maria said.


   
  
The Man From Eagle Creek - Chapter - 18