Chapter 17
Travis went to see Cal Long to see if he could make a wooden leg for Abe.
Cal was so good at making everything else, why couldn’t he make a wooden leg?
He also went to see Amos Carlson about making a leather strap to connect it to his upper leg.
Amos was a leather artisan. He was so skilled at taking the hides of animals and making them into leather vests, saddle bags, reins, whips, and harnesses.
He hoped he could make a strap to connect the wooden leg to what was left of his leg, so that he could walk as well as he used to walk.
Cal took it as a challenge to take a four-by-four wood corner piece and convert it to a man’s wooden leg.
Amos had actually made a leather strap for a man’s wooden leg before, so he was more than willing to make another one for Abe Harrison.
Anything he could do to make one of their soldiers feel more at home when he arrived, he’d be glad to do.
His wife, Shirley, volunteered to make some soft ‘mattresses’ for his leg to rest on the wooden leg.
It was a small pad filled with soft grass and fit under his leg or what was left of his leg before he put it on the wooden part of the leg.
It helped lesson the rubbing the stump created between the wood and the stump.
Travis was thrilled at the reaction his friends were giving to help Abe feel more welcome in Angel Falls when he arrived.
He, Angie, Sam, Tate, Chris, and Cam headed out to the cabin to start cleaning and putting in a pump in the cabin and the barn.
They had all the parts they needed. Everyone else was joining them at about noon with animals, supplies, and the resale things they needed to make his cabin into a home.
Mavis, Martha, and Henry were driving out with wagons then.
The cabin looked just like Travis remembered it, only a little more forlorn.
Everyone jumped out to start working. The first thing that Travis did was to make sure that the flues were free of bird nests in the fireplace and cookstove.
But in doing so, he created all sorts of soot to fall into the kitchen of the cabin making it even more dirty.
“Travis, this kitchen was dirty enough without all the soot. But at least we can heat up hot water now and get it really clean without starting a fire.” Sam told him. Tate brought them two buckets of water from a small stream to heat up to begin. He started on putting in a pump right away.
Travis next went to check out the outhouse.
He was shocked to see that it had been taken over by rattlers.
He shot six before he could even step into the small building.
He took a shovel and got rid of them. Put a small board over the threshold to stop them from getting into the outhouse again.
Put two bags of lime down into it. Cut a hole in the front door and back wall and covered them both with fine mesh.
He also put a small box of paper on the seat that Cassie had cut for them before they left.
At least if someone had to use it, they could.
It already started smelling better. He swept it out to make sure that it didn’t have anymore unwanted visitors in it, including spiders and their webs in corners.
It did need to be scrubbed down, but he’d get to that after they put in some pumps.
He went in to join Tate with the pump in the kitchen.
It was a bitch to put in. He was glad that Tate had put one in before and knew what he was doing.
Chris was bringing in some smaller branches and chopping them up for firewood, and Cam was collecting kindling.
Already Sam had the cookstove making them some hot water to be able to scrub down the dirty floors.
Angie was sweeping the loft and both floors, although she doubted if it was a good idea to scrub the kitchen floor before they were finished with the pump.
They’d only make a muddy mess all over again.
Sam tended to agree with her. But they would scrub down the loft and bedroom while they worked on the pump.
It took them over two hours to get the pump installed.
By then, the two ladies had the loft scrubbed and the bedroom, too.
Travis used a shovel to try and get the mud out of the kitchen to make it easier to clean the muddy kitchen.
It was greatly appreciated by Sam and Angie.
Tate went to start on the pump in the barn.
Travis rolled a tub into a corner of the kitchen and then put a piece of tin in the counter and created a sink for Abe.
Then he went about making it possible for him to just pull a plug for them to drain into what could be his garden.
While Tate worked on the second pump, and the girls started scrubbing the kitchen, Travis started making a bed large enough for Abe.
Abe was very tall and also very wide. He wasn’t fat, but sheer muscle, or at least the Abe he remembered was.
So, he made it eight feet long and eight feet wide.
He made it able to hold his weight easily, and also criss/crossed ropes to also give him some softness in the bed.
Mavis and her girls had already sewn up a mattress for the bed he told them he was going to make.
He had told them how big it was going to be.
They had sewn it up with three sheets and had asked Henry to fill it with the grass he had stored in his loft at the livery.
They had also sewn two blankets together to be large enough to cover the bed, and two quilts together too.
Travis was looking forward to seeing it when it was all put together with the mattress on it.
Travis also made sure there were shelves in the room for his clothes.
In the kitchen he made sure the table and benches were sturdy enough and long enough for his heavy frame.
He also put a rocker; he had made in front of the fireplace.
He remembered how Abe liked to smoke his pipe in front of the fire at night before he went to bed.
He thought that Zeus would like sitting by Abe each night.
His boys would sure miss having Zeus in the house, but they would understand that Abe needed him more.
He looked around and made sure that the kitchen had enough shelves as the women were washing the windows inside and outside.
He saw Sam head to the outhouse and was glad he had cleaned it of rattlers and put down some lime before she went out there to clean it.
Travis even built a bench outside in front of the cabin on the porch for Abe to sit on while he rested and watched for visitors to come and see him or just sat and watched the sunset.
Then, he want to start on cleaning the barn.
Tate was just about done with the pump. He told Travis to start on the loft and the stalls. Travis had no problem with that.
Sam was pleasantly surprised with the outhouse.
It didn’t take her long to get it scrubbed to her satisfaction.
She was glad that Travis had already put the lime down it and got rid of the rattlers.
She also approved of the mesh holes in the front and back of the building.
It didn’t smell so bad with his improvements. It was in fact usable.
She and Angie were ready for them to arrive to put all the supplies away and make this cabin into a home.
The one thing they hadn’t cleaned was the cellar.
She and Angie headed down there to get it done.
It was empty, but as dirty as the rest of the house.
The first thing that Sam noticed was that they needed to bring a cat to Abe.
She saw mouse droppings everywhere in the cellar.
She hated mice. Angie agreed. “Are you bringing the supplies in metal containers, so that they won’t be gotten into by mice as soon as we bring them down here? ”
“We thought of that and yes, they are. Tate had Mike put all the flour, sugar, rice, beans, corn flour, and anything else he thought that mice might get into metal containers that could be sealed as we loaded it all up into the wagon. It’ll be harder to carry them into the cellar, but in the long run, it’ll be worth it.
” Sam told her and nodded at her thoughts.
“I can’t wait to meet this icon that was in the war with Travis.
We owe him so much for saving Travis’s life so many times, and according to Travis, he also saved his leg from being amputated when he was injured.
It’s rather ironic that he saved Travis’s leg and then his own leg was lost.”
“I feel the same way, Sam. I feel so grateful to him for saving Travis for us…for me. I’m glad that we can do this for him.
It’s so little to do for all he did for Travis in the war, but according to Travis, he won’t feel we owe him anything at all.
He just wants our friendship. Evidently because he’s so big, people made fun of him as he was growing up…
he didn’t have a good childhood, and he hasn’t had a good life or that many friends until he met Travis and Logan Callihan.
I can’t wait to meet him either. They are very special to Travis, and to me, too.
I hope that he comes to Angel Falls after the war ends, too.
It would make Travis very happy to have him here where they can all be together again.
I’m not sure what Logan does or did before the war.
I’ll have to ask Travis. I do know that Abe worked with wood and Travis hopes that he’ll start making furniture again and selling it.
According to him, he’s very gifted with his hands.
” Angie told her as they cleaned out the cellar to be able to house all the supplies they had coming from the mercantile.
They had just climbed back up the stairs when they heard wagons approaching.
They were ready for the break. It was good to see Mavis, Martha, and Henry driving the three wagons toward the cabin.
Chris and Cam were waving at them as they came near them.
Travis and Tate came out of the barn. Tate was finished with the second pump, and Travis had cleaned up the stalls and the loft.
The barn was clean and ready for the animals Henry was bringing with him.
Before they even started unloading, Mavis insisted that they eat the sandwiches she had made for all of them.
They didn’t argue with her. They were too hungry!
Chris and Cam almost inhaled them and went back for seconds.
Sam laughed and said they were bottomless pits when it came to food.
She ruffled their hair and they all joined in their laughter.
When they were finished with the sandwiches, Mavis and Martha walked through the little cabin to see where everything would go.
Then, they all got busy. Travis and Tate helped carry in the huge mattress that was to go on the bed.
It was just too big for the ladies to carry.
Then, they carried down all the one hundred-pound bags that were in metal containers to the cellar for them.
They managed everything else. They hung curtains, put on a tablecloth, made up the bed with the extra-large sheets, blankets, and quilts.
They hadn’t forgotten pillows either, they had filled three pillows for the bed…
all filled and sewn shut. The bed looked awesome!
They had his new clothes folded and put on the shelves in his bedroom and his shirts hung on the nails in his room.
Mavis had even found a heavy coat for him to wear.
Dishes went on his shelves in the kitchen, pots, pans, silverware, spices, smaller containers for his flour, sugar, rice, beans, corn flour, potatoes, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, a few cans of corn, green beans, tomatoes, tomato juice, cherries, peaches, applesauce, sauerkraut, and beets.
Baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, yeast, garlic powder, cinnamon, Italian seasonings, oregano, sweet basil, sage, powered milk, and several others.
Abe could cook up a storm before he had to go downstairs to the cellar.
They also made sure that he had some lye soap by the sink and by the tub along with some towels to take a bath.
Travis hadn’t forgotten to fix the wall of his smoke house and Tate had brought out some beef, pork, some hens, and two turkeys…
everything had been cut up and ready to be smoked.
Chris and Cam got a fire going and started it all smoking for Abe.
They closed the door and it would be just fine for several days.
Travis would check on it as he did his rounds every other day.
Henry was taking the steer and turning it loose in the corral. He made sure that it had a way to get water and shelter if it needed it. He had two small piglets to put into a small pen. He made sure they had a trough for food and water. He gave them water and food. They’d be fine for several days.
Then, he turned to the half dozen chickens he had brought.
He turned them loose and made sure that no animals would get into the chicken coop to eat them.
They were able to get outside and search for bugs and such and also get into the barn for shelter should it rain.
They had a place to lay eggs, a watering plate, and place to put grain.
He took care of them all before he was set to go back home.
Travis looked at the cabin, the barn, the outhouse, and even the chopped wood. He was proud of all he and his friends had done for Abe. It was ready for him when he came in the next day or so.