Chapter 2
December 25, 1849
I woke up to the feeling of someone's mouth caressing my cock. I just lay there enjoying the sensation until with a shuddering release I came. With a last slurp and a lick at my purple head the mouth was removed. When I opened my eyes I saw a tub filled with hot water and three new outfits on the chairs near the bed. Elizabeth was the one doing the caressing while Claire was at the desk writing something. I kissed Elizabeth and pointed with my chin toward the new clothes, "Where did you find anything open on Christmas?"
She looked at the clothes, "I didn't. The 'group' wants to let the governor know what we see as the future of Oregon. They made or loaned us outfits for the governor's dinner today."
"Does that mean I have to be nice to the governor?", I asked in an innocent tone.
Elizabeth glared at me, "Alex xxxxxx, you behave!" Claire laughed at our conversation as she continued to write.
I got out of the bed and trotted over to Claire and gave her a kiss too. "What are you writing so industriously?"
"Your report on the Huntly and our rescue." This wasn't the first report Claire had written for me. I usually just looked it over and signed at the bottom. I certainly wasn't going to object this time either! I hated writing reports, especially as the judge and sheriff seemed to want them written like a political speech.
I headed toward the bathtub where Elizabeth handed me a packet full of some sort of an herb mixture, "Sun Lee said to use this to get rid of any body parasites". I tried it out and it left a slight track of slipperiness behind it when I used it like a bar of soap. Elizabeth got behind me with a bucket of warm water containing some of the herbal mix in it and washed my hair. I don't know what was in the packet but it worked. I could see the fleas and body lice I had picked up from the trail and the sailors' clothes floating in the water when I got out of the tub. I offered the left over water to Elizabeth or Claire for their bath, but both looked at the dead bugs and turned me down. I went to the window and with a "Ware below!" dumped it out the window.
I enjoyed the feeling of not having any bugs on me and got dressed for the Governor's dinner. I had no idea who would be there, but I assumed that it would be more of the Governors Democratic Party faithful. I admit that I was not a fan of the Democratic Party here and now. They were too pro-slavery and states' rights for me. I wasn't much more impressed with the Whig party either as they were dedicated to protecting business with an evangelical Christian view of social virtues and vices and almost evenly split between the pro- and anti-slavery groups.
When I got a chance to see my wives I was astonished the difference the dresses made. They wouldn't have been out of place in a palace, let alone in the governors mansion in Oregon. "Where did these beautiful ladies appear from?", I asked. Claire and Elizabeth giggled.
"You can thank Sun Lee for the makeup and hair", Claire told me.
I stood there and admired my wives for a while. There was no way they could ride a horse to the Governor's dinner dressed like that. I wasn't too sure that there was a vehicle fancy enough in the entire state! I looked outside the room and spotted Josh standing there talking to Sun Lee. "Josh, could you make sure we get the best buggy the livery stable has?"
Josh looked up and his eyes widened when he saw his stepmothers. They weren't the only thing that grew I noticed. I could see that Josh wouldn't have a disappointed wife on his wedding day. "Dad, I already got the best one they had, but I better make sure everything is ready", he said as he fled followed by Sun Lee. Elizabeth and Claire snickered.
I turned to them and said, "Women, behave!" and then broke out laughing. It was getting to be past time that Josh got married. I turned to my wives, "What do you think about Sun Lee and Josh? Will it be all right with Frieda?"
Elizabeth became serious, "Alex, I think it will be fine, but we have to let the youngsters meet each other and decide between themselves. Josh and Sun Lee have no problem with a polygamous marriage, and I think our example is enough to convince Frieda."
Claire added, "I think that anyone who wants to make a polygamous marriage around Cincinnati won't have the problems we had. You've become fairly well respected and every woman who has gone through the Krav Magen training with us has heard how well we like it."
We waited until around 6 o'clock when one of the deputies from the posse came up and told us that they were ready to start off to the dinner. We went down and you could almost hear the jaws hitting the floor when they saw Elizabeth and Claire. I felt like I was the cock of the walk between my beautiful wives. We went outside and I saw the buggy was ready for us. Josh was going to be our driver and I saw Sun Lee waiting for us inside to repair any damage to the makeup.
When we got in the buggy I was surprised but not upset to find that Josh had made sure we had a rifle for each of us and my gun belt was under the seat. Josh had a sawed off shotgun under the drivers seat and a rifle next to it. I kind of hoped someone would attack tonight if we had all this firepower available. Nothing happened during the trip to the governor's mansion and we arrived around 7 o'clock. I handed down my wives and we presented our invitation to the doorman.
When we got inside I felt somewhat overdressed for the surroundings, until I saw the other guests. I was the youngest man there and had the youngest wives as well. I felt that I needed every bit of an advantage I could get to deal with these people. I got a kick out of seeing the Governor's face when he saw my wives and he remembered the wording of his invitation. I saw his wife talking into his ear before he came to greet us. He was more gracious than I would have thought to someone who probably totally ruined his seating arrangements.
I could see the eyes of the men follow my wives as they went through the room toward the other wives. Some of them acted as if they weren't sure of how to react, while others acted like they recognized my wives from somewhere else. I was led to the men's group where I was greeted like a buyer on a used car lot. I don't think I've ever seen so many insincere smiles since I fell through. We made small talk about the weather and the towns we lived in until dinner was announced. The governor's wife paired couples as they went to the door of the dining room and I was introduced to an older lady as my dining partner. When we got into the dining room I saw that there had been quick changes in the layout of the tables. One side now had a different number of settings than the other side.
During the dinner I was separated from Elizabeth and Claire. They were between men who had to be at least 20 years older than them while I had as my seat mate a woman who was older than Corrie and a young lady about Josh's age. I actually enjoyed the older woman's conversation but the younger one reminded me of a valley girl. You know, a blond bubblehead. We talked to each other and to the person across the table, in my case a ship owner, who spent much of the night moaning about the lack of federal infrastructure in the western states.
We were served a first course of soup of which there were two kinds, followed by large platters of roast beef or chicken with smaller plates of several sweet or savory preparations. I had to attend several formal dinners when I was working on various projects in the future so I didn't make the mistake of filling myself up during the first course. The second course had the largest dishes of the meal, accompanied by vegetables, salads, and more sweet and savory preparations. The main course was brought in looking like it should be displayed as a work of art with the central roast surrounded with a large number of garnishes. Finally they brought out the dessert, consisting of cheeses, pastries, and fruit. The placement of the courses seemed almost as important as the preparation. I noticed that the main dish was placed in the center of the table and all the secondary dishes were placed around it.
I tried my best not to ignore the young lady on my right but it was hard. Elizabeth was about her age, but I could never believe that Elizabeth was ever so empty headed. Finally dinner was over and the men were invited into the library where the pretense of civility began wearing thin as we began to talk. We talked about the status of the Oregon harbors and roads and there began to be a vigorous dispute between those wanting money to upgrade the sea ports and those wanting to upgrade the river traffic. I wanted more traffic on the rivers and talked about railroads along the rivers to carry people and goods. The question that the governor had was who would pay for it. I suggested that the government might be able to interest private investment by giving grants of land for each portion of railroad that was finished. I saw several men nod as they thought about the implications of such grants.
We argued about what would be the best way to collect taxes for the new public schooling law that had been passed and here I was able to give the others my knowledge about the people in the areas away from the cities. Several of the men expressed contempt at the lack of education that many of the frontiersmen suffered. I asked what they would do if they were caught in a snowstorm away from their party. "Everyone has their own strengths", I told them. "One of the richest men in my town has a hard time reading a simple book, but he managed a defense of a position like a veteran. I go to him for advice about what to plant and when."
Finally the governor asked if we could send him our recommendations for the development of Oregon over the next four years. He was confident that he would have four more years to do anything he wanted. I wondered what my wives were up to. I had expected that they would have made some sort of comment during dinner or insisting on coming with me to the men's meeting. I was curious and after we thanked out hosts and left to go back to the hotel I asked about it. All the women, including Sun Lee, laughed at my assumption that the men's meeting was the important one. Elizabeth looked at me, "Alex, do you really think that women really have no influence on what their husbands do?" I had to agree that my wives ran my life fairly thoroughly. I might have been the public face of the family but I knew that my wives really controlled what I did to a great extent.
We had almost gotten back to the hotel when I heard a group of horses coming toward the buggy. Call me paranoid, but nobody rode in that big a group this late at night without a reason, and I could think of a lot of bad ones and very few good ones. Waving at the deputy next to the buggy, I told him to back off into the darkness with the other one until we found out what was going on. I took the shotgun from under Josh and cocked the hammers back. Elizabeth and Claire picked up their rifles and Sun Lee pulled out her shuriken and held them ready. I slipped out of the wagon and had Josh get ready to drop down behind the seat. I belted on my gun and we waited in the dark. The only light came from the lanterns on the buggy. If it was nothing we would continue our trip back to the hotel. If not, I wanted to be as ready for trouble as I could make myself.
I continued hearing the horses come toward us until the sounds stopped not too far away in the dark. I didn't expect to hear someone speak so I was surprised to hear a voice come out of the darkness, "Are you Alex xxxxx? I have a message for you."
I moved away from the buggy and answered, "I'm Alex. What message do you have for me?"
I startled him because he looked wildly around before facing the direction of my voice. I had moved by then to the right side of where I had been. I could tell that he didn't like the way things were going but he continued his speech, "We have a bargain for you. You stop interfering with our operations and we will let you and your town live."
I laughed out loud, "If you ever tried to attack my town you better bring the US army, because nothing else would ever get out alive." I moved after that to the other side of where I had spoken.
I was trying to spot all of his men and saw a movement to my right, When I went over there to take care of him, I found he was already down with a slit throat. "Sun Lee", I thought. By this time the leader was getting more upset.
"Stand still and talk to me!", he shouted as he faced the last position I had spoken from.
"I prefer to let you stand still", I answered as I was moving to the left again.
He drew his pistol and pointed it toward the buggy, "If you don't come out where I can see you I'll order my men to fire at the buggy." I felt something to my left side and turned to see Sun Lee holding up five fingers. I wasn't sure if she meant 5 men up or she had taken out 5 men, so I pointed up and she nodded yes. She pointed to my right and showed two finders and two to the left of my position. With the leader in front that made 5 men still remaining. Sun Lee pointed at herself and then to the right. She then pointed at the buggy and showed 2 fingers then pointed to my left. By this I took it to mean that Claire, Elizabeth or Josh were going to take out the two on the left.
Taking a chance, I motioned her into action and walked out toward the leader. I figured that this would focus their attention on me, making it a lot easier to take out the remaining men. "I'm coming out", I shouted out, letting my family know what was going on.
I startled the leader as I was behind him and he was in between me and the buggy. He pulled his horse roughly around and saw me with the shotgun pointed at him. "Let's talk like reasonable men", he told me. "We just want you to stop interfering with our business."
"Who's we?", I asked trying to place the accent he had. It wasn't British or Mexican. I felt that I should be able to identify it though.
"You don't need to know", he replied. "We are prepared to allow you to rule your area without interference from us and we will make sure that no one else interferes with your rule."
I kept thinking about what sort of accent he had, when I finally realized what sort of an accent I was hearing, a Russian accent! I saw Elizabeth behind him waving at me. The men on the left had been taken care of. I didn't even worry about the men on my right. I looked at the man in front of me and grinned at him. He relaxed, convinced that I was going to take him up on his offer. "I'd have to be a total idiot to want to rule over so many ornery people. I have a counter offer. Get off the horse and drop your weapon before you die."
He actually sputtered. I had never thought that was real but he actually sputtered when he answered, "Kill him!". I stood still and nothing happened.
"Looks like your men aren't around right now", I commented. A gun came out of the dark and landed in front of the leader's horse. Another came from a different direction and clattered as it hit the ground to his right. He sat very still and then began to get down on the side of the horse away from me. He put his hand near the rifle in the saddle holster when a shuriken flew out of the darkness and stuck in his saddle. He looked at the shuriken and moved his hand away from the rifle.
He raised his hands above his head and the deputies and my family began to gather around him. He started to move too fast around Elizabeth, so she took his arm in a hold and lowered him to the ground. He gaped at her in astonishment and got an even bigger surprise when he tried to stand and couldn't. One of the deputies pulled out his hand irons and put them on him. I got back into the buggy and we resumed our journey toward the hotel. We had just gotten into the light from the lanterns in front of the hotel when we heard a shot ring out and the prisoner fell out of his saddle. We scattered and looked around but couldn't find the shooter. Claire looked at me from the side of the prisoner and shook her head. Dead.
We went into the hotel and one of the deputies went to fetch the sheriff. I cussed myself for not questioning him when we first arrested him. I still had no idea who was after me or why. When the sheriff arrived he looked at me with disgust, "Damn it! Can't a man even enjoy Christmas without you making more work for him?"
I shrugged my shoulders. The other deputies had been there too, so he could get his report from them. I was off to bed. My family went with me and we separated at the doors. I was about to open our door when Sun Lee grabbed the doorknob pointing at the door bottom. I saw there was some light coming from underneath the door. Moving Claire and Elizabeth back to act as support if there was anyone else around, I had Josh go to the other door of the connecting suite and we prepared to enter with our guns drawn. Sun Lee was at his elbow holding one of her knives ready to throw. We nodded at each other and on the count of three threw open the doors.