Frontier General Store

 

 

 

Jerry and John Jacks ford the river to the other side of the valley. This is the flatter side, the side more prone to run off and flooding. They'd examined every piece from across from the Hardy's all the way up to across from the Cassadines. It's across from the Cassadines that has their interest. The river is narrower there with a bit of a fall to it and also a bit higher off of the river. The best selection on the other side when eyeing it considering spring.

Jerry bends over and cups a bit of earth in his hand and presses it together observing how it sticks together. "Good enough." He casts it aside. "But Da, there is nothing we can really do until spring. Or until Lady Jane takes a look. If she hates it, then it'll all be for nothing."

"Easy enough to cut along the back of the properties to our other business." John counters. "And your mother has been wanting her own place for a piece. Figure either get her something here or she'll be heading up to Alaska. The only condition she put on us was no desert. She'd had enough of heat and grubbing in the dust back in Australia."

Jerry sighs. "What then?"

"Cut some timber to let it season over the winter. And see if there is a proper spot for a well back up a bit. Figure where we'll start in the spring. We'll do all we can do and then head back to town to spend the winter, see what Jasper has gotten done."

"Lets find the home site then and work from there." Jerry stands up and starts looking around. "Needs to be far enough back that it doesn't draw notice if we're not around."

"Exactly." John leads his horse back toward the woods at the top of the property.

 

 

 

 

Three days away in Charlestown, Jason is doing his own investigation into the newcomers. Carly is the excitable sort, prone to going to the worst case scenario but damn if she wasn't on the money too damn often. There is a missus. Jane Jacks had made herself at home in the Scott rooming house. And the boy John Jacks had referred to was a man grown who'd taken to leasing some space in the rail station where he conducted business not too far away from the telegraph station. A man fancy in his dress and fancy in his manners. They'd made a dent in the small town. Everyone just loved them. Which makes Jason doubly suspicious.

Dara comes over to Jason's table in the saloon and leaves him a bottle. "I'm not complaining about you being here but isn't it a little early in the season for you to be settling in for winter?"

"Not settling in." Jason looks up at the singer. "I want information and I want it fast. The new people in town-- Jacks. What do you know?"

Dara frowns. "Me? Nothing really. He comes in for a drink now and then plays a few hands of cards, doesn't seem to care if he wins or loses. Seen his mother across the street but I'm not exactly her... sort. You'd probably have better luck talking to the Scott's."

Jason makes a face at that. "Heard anything about the brother or husband?"

"Is there one?" Dara shrugs answering Jason's question.

"Find out. I'm looking for information. And there will be a reward for the person who gets me the plum piece."

"A reward?" Miss Kitty pushes Dara aside. She is dressed in nuthin much with a silk kimono carelessly belted over her unmentionables.

Dara rolls her eyes but retreats. "I'll put the word out, Jason."

" 'Preciate it, Dara."

Jake comes over to the table. "Move your ass, Kitty."

"You aren't the boss of me, Jake." Kitty tosses her hair defiantly but moves off.

"I swear that one is more trouble then she's worth. She does nuthing but cause trouble between all the girls and then sits back and watches the show. Dara gets by with her 'cause Kitty doesn't think of her as competition."

"Her mistake. Dara adds some class to the joint. You got the books?"

"Yeah, they're in back ready for you to look them over. Hear you were down in the valley." Jason nods. "Been awhile since any of them stopped by here. Heard they've taken to dealing with the miners rather than bringing their produce to town. Damn shame."

"It's getting a little late in the year. I'm sure you'll see them come spring." Jason shrugs.

"Figured you for here or the range. There must be a powerful attraction out there in the valley."

As is Jason's custom he doesn't answer questions asked or implied. Instead he picks up the bottle and heads to the back room to look over the books of the saloon.

 

 

 

"Would you like a fresh pot of tea, Mrs. Jacks?" Hannah asks. The Jacks had practically moved into the rooming house and she expected to have them as guests for the winter unless they found a place to rent until spring.

"That would be lovely, Mrs. Scott." Jane Jacks looks up from her needlepoint. The needlepoint gave her an excuse to take the chair closest to the front window where the light was better but where she could also examine the comings and goings of the town. "I believe Jax will be back for lunch from his office."

"I'll make sure something is ready, Ma'am." Hannah continues on with her endless list of chores wishing there was a chance in hell of hiring one of the girls from the valley to work at the rooming house for the winter.

 

 

 

 

He's become a familiar sight at the General Store. More often than not there was a telegraph waiting for him, information from San Francisco or from back east. He'd also been buying up mining claims below the Quartermaine mine. It had gotten so common that when a miner came down off the creek offering up his claim that the manager of the store would refer the miner to the tall blonde man. Course the small reward for every miner that was sent his way, had nothing to do with that.

Jasper Jacks, Jax to his friends, strolls over to the General Store from his office in the rail station. He has a smile and kind comment to everyone he sees, tipping his hat to the ladies and flirting with those old enough to be his mother and young enough to be his daughter. Jax plucks an apple from off of the Store's display and after polishing it on the lapel of his spotless suit beneath the heavy shearling coat takes a big bite. "Anything for me today?"

The manager looks at the wall of cubbyholes behind him and picks out the mail and telegrams for the Jacks and hands it over to Jax. Jax takes a minute to tear open the telegrams to see if there is anything he has to deal with immediately and hands over his morning correspondence to the manager. "I swear the only person who gets more mail than you do is The Old Man and that Cassadine fella out in the valley."

Jax frowns and looks up from his telegram. "Cassadine?"

"Another foreigner homesteading out in the valley. 'Cause of him alone we've started delivery out to the valley. He's always getting something on every train. All summer long there were packages and stuff coming in from the rails. And I'm not just talking an order from Montgomery Ward or something. I'm talking stuff coming all the way from Europe. Fact is he ordered a green house all the way from France!"

"Really." Jax says noncommittally just to prime the pump and get more information. "I didn't think that you delivered."

"Going to have to start." The manager sighs. "Between all the mail and freight going out to the valley... and well think there will be more profit for the store if I do. Got wind that the people out there are dealing direct with the miners. All I've been getting is their leftovers."

"Leftovers."

"There is a woman out there that makes sausage so good it would make you cry. I'd give you a sample but it sold out within days of it being brought in. I charge twice as much for it as what I do for the other cause even though she's only been here for less than a year, Miz Flo has built up a reputation. You could talk to Miz Hannah at the rooming house, she could tell you more. When Miz Flo is in town she gives Miz Hannah a break and makes dinner."

"Smart. She primed the market." Jax mutters to himself.

"And she's just one of the women out there." The manager comes out from behind the counter. "See this here... made in the valley. And this... made in the valley. I always like to stock, support, our local products." The manager says proudly.

"Saves money on shipping." Jax mutters again but takes the time to examine the goods that the man points out. The gloves catch his interest and he picks up a pair and one for his mother too. Lady Jane had several pairs of gloves already but they were all cloth gloves giving only a minimum of protection from the chill of the day. "I'll take these now and be back after lunch to send out any replies I might have to this." Jax holds up the mail. At the man's nod and quick total on the merchandise including apple, Jax is on his way back to the rooming house.

 

 

 

Unlike the other girls at Jakes and the other saloons on town, Dara isn't one to advertise her occupation thru her dress or manner. She didn't plan on doing this forever. Someday she'd be able to get her own place, not here of course, somewhere else a fresh start with plenty of money. Jake wasn't bad, didn't take as much as some of the others and could be counted to back ya up when things got rough. But the reward Jason Morgan was talking about would go a long way toward her nest egg and definitely not the worst thing she'd ever done to get by.

She starts on the far end of the town and starts working her way back stopping to chat with everyone that will talk to her. The chinamen who do the laundry for the town, all the saloons... she'd get nothing from the people who run the rooming houses so she doesn't bother with them. The dressmaker, the hat maker, the General Store and then coming back the other direction the stockyards and railroad station.
At every stop she gathers a little piece of information to build on what Jason had given her. The stockyards had been the big bonus. Nobody had seen the mysterious John Jacks or the elder son. Nobody. But there had been some hires by the younger son of horses from the stockyards. The hires had never happened during the day but always as night was coming on, nights when there had been a full moon... and the horses had always been returned the next morning. If he followed his normal practice then Jasper Jacks would be renting a horse any day now.

 

 

 

Jax gives his mother a quick buss on the cheek. "Afternoon, Lady Jane."

"Jax, I see you brought work with you again." Jane Jacks lets her disapproval show thru.

"Plenty to do, Mum, and I just came from the General Store." Jax sets the packet of letters and telegrams on a side chair and sits down across from his mother. He leans in discreetly. "This should be the last trip I make out to Da and Jerry. They should be arriving into town soon."

"Good. I don't want to spend the holidays without your father. This month is the Americans' Thanksgiving; our first since arriving, and we should be spending it as a family."

"I'll let them know tonight when I see them." Jax nods his agreement.

 

 

 

 

That evening after Dara has gotten changed for the evening entertainment, she runs into Jason. "I put the word out with all my contacts around town." She tells Jason quietly. "I'll check back again to see if there is any information... or I told the ones that would to get in contact with you."

"Good. I had dinner over at the Scott's just to check them out too. Slick."

Dara nods understanding what Jason means. "I have to get ready for my first set."

Jason frowns. "I'll be sticking round. Somethin' feels off tonight."

"Oh wait... one thing. Mr. Jacks takes off about once a month when there is a full moon. Rents a horse from the stockyards. Is always back the next morning. Jason..."

Jason curses. "Right. I'm on it. You just be careful tonight and tell the others too. I'll let Jake know." Jason goes over to the bar to have a few words with Jake. Dara goes over to her piano player to make the final selections and order for the evening's entertainment.

 

 

 

 

Back in the valley...

Since Stefan had been the one to encourage the Jacks to stay where he could keep an eye on them, he has been extra vigilant keeping an eye on the newcomers. It had not been any inconvenience to him to have the Jacks borrow axes and saws to fell trees on the property across the river from him and in fact made it easier for him to track their progress as the sound of the trees falling echoes thru the valley. As soon as it was light, the Jacks forded the river on their horses directly across from the top of the Cassadine property where there is slight narrowing of the river and then they'd return every evening as it was coming on dark. Nikolas noting his Uncle's observations had also picked a time after the Jacks had returned to Zander's soddie to ford the river and examine the progress. When he returns to the house, he comes directly to the back door after taking care of Sheba.

"Master Nikolas! You are chilled to the bone!" Mrs. Lansbury protests as she looks at the young man. His face is ruddy from the wind.

"A cup of something hot wouldn't go amiss." Nikolas admits as he strips out of his heavy coat, gloves, scarf and hat and moves closer to the cook stove.

Mrs. Lansbury brings over a chair from the kitchen table and sets it by the stove. Nikolas sags into it. "I have a nice vegetable soup that's been simmering." She worriedly eyes him as she ladles the soup into a bowl. Nik wraps his hands around the bowl she offers him letting the heat sink in before reaching for the spoon. "I'm going to go get Master Stefan." Mrs. Lansbury bustles out before Nikolas can protest.

Even though Mrs. Lansbury quickly returns with Stefan, the bowl of soup is almost empty. Stefan takes a seat at the kitchen table. Mrs. Lansbury takes the bowl back from Nikolas. Nikolas moves his chair over across from Stefan. As soon as the refilled bowl is in front of Nikolas, Mrs. Lansbury looks from one to the other. "I think I hear Miss Natasha calling me, Please excuse me sirs." She leaves the kitchen shutting the door carefully behind her.

"I didn't hear Aunt call." Nik says wryly as he reapplies himself to the soup.

"Mrs. Lansbury's hearing is just one of the many things I have always appreciated about her." Stefan retorts. "Tell me."

"They've created a clearing in the woods and have already made a significant inroads in the timber. They aren't cutting it to firewood lengths but rather stacking the logs after trimming the branches."

Stefan hmms and strokes his beard. "Seasoning wood for a cabin."

Nikolas nods his agreement. "I think I discovered where they have marked off the planned homestead. It is nearly as big as our place."

One of Stefan's brows goes up at that. "Ambitious if they are planning on cutting all the necessary timber before heading back to Charlestown." He is momentarily distracted by something out the window a different shade of darkness in the night that is moving along the back of their property the size of a man on a horse. His eyes narrow. "I believe I will call on our new neighbors tomorrow."

 

 

 

At the Spencer's the evening meal is over and the dishes put away. Laura settles in next to Lulu to supervise the little girl's lessons. Now that the gardens are put up for the winter, the indoor tasks take precedence including schooling. Carly is working on a quilt block piecing together a top from what she'd only been able to to work on here and there. Bobbie is working on the mending basket promising herself that she's going to get it caught up to the point where a rip or tear would be dealt with immediately rather than added to the basket for the spare minute that hadn't come up frequently all summer long.

Luke and Lucky had headed out to the hunting camp as soon as dinner was over. This is Luke's time. They'd be making liquor all winter long or until the corn ran out. He checks all the connections and feeds the fire beneath the still before hunkering down on his bedroll and turning up the collar on his coat to block any draft. "Well?"

Lucky looks up from where he is carefully stringing horsehair on a bow. They'd found a fiddle in one of the abandoned cabins but the bow needed to be restrung. It would be a good present for Lulu for Christmas. He'd been about Lulu's age when Luke had given him the guitar. "They are only sleeping at Zander's. Every minute of daylight they spend on the other side of the river. Sounds like they are cutting some serious firewood over there, or maybe seasoning logs to build a cabin come spring."

Luke grunts at that one more as a reminder that they'd have some serious work to do on the house. They'd built the cabin with green lumber. It would settle and shrink as the logs dried. Laura would have more daubing to do to fill the cracks come spring. "Your cousin thinks it's a cover story. That they are actually the bandits that have been a pain in the miner's posteriors."

"Figure even bandits have to settle in for the winter." Lucky counters. "Morgan and Quartermaine are checking their story."

They look at each other grimly. Both of them are still pissed that the Jacks had shown up while they were out hunting and they'd missed the excitement. Carly had been hot and so had the two of them once they heard the whole story.

 

 

 

 

In the Taggart cabin, Marcus looks up with not a little satisfaction. They'd eat for the winter. Even if they couldn't get out to the root cellar or even the barn they wouldn't starve. They'd be mighty sick of pork by the time the spring rolled around but they'd make it .
One hog would feed the three of them easy all winter long. And even after giving everyone else in the valley some for helping out with the butchering there is way more than one hog suspended from hooks up in the rafters. That and smoked elk that Gia had dickered with the Cassadines for... smoking in exchange for a piece of the game.
The only part of the roof rafters that isn't hung with smoked meat or braids of produce is the loft where Gia and his mom sleep 'cause if it had been they'd have been bumping their heads on a nightly basis. And even up there the entire space under their bed was lined with the summer's canning.

Flo comes over drying her hands on her apron after finishing up with the dishes. "That is a pretty sight." She glances up as well.

"Yep." Marcus agrees with a nod. "Figure even worst case, we could send half back to town if one of Cassadine shipments come through and still be doing fine and have money at the store come spring." He frowns. "Has Gia come back from the barn yet?"

"No. I think she is out there plotting." Flo informs her son.

Marcus sighs. "I'll go out there and check on her." Going over to the pegs by the door he grabs the coat that his mother had fashioned out of an old wool blanket and his hat. As soon as he steps out onto the porch he reaches in his pocket and quickly rolls a cigarette, lighting it and taking a deep drag. He'd take his time and have a smoke before getting to the barn even if he had to walk around the barn checking the corral for any weak spots while he did so. Smoking in the barn isn't smart and not a habit he'd ever gotten into. The lantern is bad enough but necessary if you had to get some work done after dark. And this time of year... milking ended up being a chore done before light and after dark.

Gia looks up when she hears her brother enter the barn. "Mama send you out?"

"No, but she knows you're out here plotting." Marcus sighs. "What is it this time, sugar plum?"

"Just an idea. It's not really ready yet." Gia temporizes biting her lip.

"You're already planning on having me put in twice as much tobacco next year. The wagon had already been converted to a tinker's wagon for trips up to the mining camps. They are suppose to be bringing out a boar next time the General Store brings something out to the Cassadines. I know I have to get a well dug come spring. What else is there? Let me see." Marcus comes up behind his sister and looks over her shoulder at what she is drawing on a large piece of paper. He slowly whistles.

"Like you said... twice as much tobacco." Gia looks up at the crowded rafters. The tobacco there is about half way cured and will be ready to put in barrels soon for the final aging. "It would be easier if we had a barn that we could just have the team pull the schooner in rather than having to use the cart. It would save time. And we had to leave the hay stacked up and covered outside cause there was no room in the barn for anything much over what is in the animals' feed troughs."

"Should have known." Marcus shakes his head. "No way you'd have been designing a new house... maybe adding on a bit to give Mama a bigger kitchen. Nope, you're going straight for the business end of the homestead."

"A bigger kitchen would be the business end of the homestead too the way Mama cooks." Gia counters.

Marcus groans. "Me and my big mouth." He mutters. He takes the pencil from Gia and moves her aside so he can examine the drawings more closely. "Well looks like you've got a project for the winter." Marcus finally says with a nod. Gia lets out the breath she'd been holding. "You've got the start here. But just that. Like you said it's an idea on paper. It ain't a plan yet. You're gonna have to give me a lot more than this and you're going to have to break it down into manageable chunks cause you know come spring the crops are going to come first. And you have to figure that everyone else in the valley is gonna be planning on doing the same."

 

 

 

"What are you doing?" Sarah looks over Zander's shoulder. Like her grandmother, Zander is a journal keeper. Gram's is mostly about the garden and what had done well and an inventory of everything they'd harvested and where it had ended up. Gram's journal already had drawings of the layout of the next year's garden and where she planned to expand.

"Trying to figure how I'm going to expand the barn next spring in the middle of doing everything else." Zander muses. "The Cassadines when they built their greenhouse made the north wall out of sod bricks with supports. I suppose I could do the same then I'd just need the frame of the building and build it up out of sod. I don't like doing that though. I already got a heck of a bald spot where I tore up the sod to build the cabin."

"If you can't go up what about down?" Sarah inquires.

"Down?"

"I don't know." Sarah frowns. "You couldn't use it for the animals but you could use it for storing your tools, and probably grain too if you finished it right, sealed it right. It couldn't be under where you have the animal stalls no matter what flooring you put down you'd probably end up with a disgusting mess." She shrugs. "Just an idea." She pats Zander on the shoulder and then moves off to get the mending basket. As soon as she is done with it she could get back to embroidering a pillow case she is working on.

"Down." Zander hmms. That hadn't even occurred to him. Down in Florida digging down a few feet normally ended up with brackish water and a mosquito breeding ground. The root cellars had been his first real digging project and even then with each shovelful he was wondering when he'd hit water. "Down. That could work." He starts revising his plans.

 

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