Chapter 13
Grady and Tim decided that they hated train rides.
To date, they hadn’t caught the nefarious crooks they were after.
They rode in the baggage car with the money over and over again.
They weren’t alone. They had four other marshals riding with them.
Grady liked the other men well enough; he just didn’t want to be there.
He much preferred riding his horse over the prairies than sitting and watching a bunch of money in a boxed-up baggage car.
He hated closed in spaces. He was beginning to think he had claustrophobia when one of the gangs hit the rail car.
They had a man in the engine with the conductor and one with the engineer.
They could feel the train slowing down and they knew they were in the middle of Nebraska and not at the end of the journey in Denver.
Tim, Grady, and a third marshal named Edward pulled their guns and took aim at the doors of the car even as the train pulled to a stop.
They knew that the men in the cars before and after the money car would be taking aim at anyone coming toward them.
That was six guns to take down these felons and to put an end to their tyranny once and for all.
The baggage car opened up with a bang, and they pushed one of the railroad workers into open the safe holding the money.
Five armed men stood behind him to carry out whatever was in that safe.
Grady caught Tim’s eye, he held up three fingers showing that he was going to count to three, Edward saw him counting down, too.
One…two…three! They let loose on the men firing to kill and not wound on every single one of them.
The men were taken off guard. They had no idea that anyone was in the baggage car with the safe.
The railroad man lept for safety as soon as the shooting started…
he didn’t get a scratch on him except for when he landed on his knee, and there he got quite a lump.
The robbers were shooting back, but not knowing where Tim, Grady, and Edward were hiding didn’t help them know where to fire, and then the two marshals that were hiding in the cars before and after the money was being carried jumped out and started firing, too.
It was too much for the robbers…three of them were already dead, the last two threw down their guns.
The fight was over. The last marshal carried the one who had jumped into the engine room to take over the engineer and hit him over the head and slowed down the train.
Darryl had then hit him over the head. His robber was knocked unconscious, but still alive.
Six robbers, three dead, three alive. Not bad, but in Grady’s mind…
it had taken way too long to get it done.
The engineer was awakened by throwing cold water on him and revived.
The train was started back up again after they took the six extra horses of the robbers on as extra freight.
They would sell them and split the extra money between the six marshals.
They’d also split the reward money they had earned by bringing in the six robbers.
It amounted to a hefty amount and the money was nice, but it also took them over three months to get it done.
The men were turned into the Denver office as the train pulled into the depot.
It was a very satisfied Marshal Service to get all six robbers and to get the money delivered safe and sound.
Grady hoped to get a short time off to get home to see Marta, but it didn’t happen.
Instead, they already had another mission to go to Idaho to pick up some felons from a sheriff’s office and to bring them to the territorial prison in Boise.
To top it off, he had a letter from his mother telling him that she was pregnant with twins.
All her dreams of having babies was coming true at last. How did he feel about getting some little brothers or sisters when he was twenty-two years old?
He was stunned. He didn’t know that women Kyra’s age still had babies…
didn’t they go through menopause or something and stopped being able to have kids?
He was thrilled that Kyra was having the babies she always wanted but felt strange that there would be such a bridge of years between their ages.
He did write back and told her he would love them because they were Nimrod and hers.
He also told her that he could never have enough brothers and sisters.
Then, he read Marta’s letter. She asked him how he felt about becoming a big brother at his age.
She was happy helping Kyra taking it easy with her pregnancy.
She was sure glad to get the garden done.
The cellar was filled to overflowing, and they were working on filling up the smoke house.
Marta liked helping filling it up. She was getting better at shooting a deer and a lot of hens, turkeys, and even a few ducks and geese.
They were also easier to clean and put in the smoke house.
The deer took her a lot longer to skin and cut up, besides jumping into the stream to get all the blood off was freezing at this point and it almost made her heart stop when she jumped in.
She sure didn’t stay very long! I am learning how to make deerskins into buckskins.
Kyra and I are wearing tunics out of deerskins.
I may never wear anything else. They are so comfortable and warm.
Of course, I do wear my own underclothes beneath them, but on top…
it’s the best! I miss you a lot. Stay safe, Marta.
Grady lived for her letters and couldn’t get the feeling of holding her in his arms and kissing her. He didn’t go to the saloons and drink or look at any other women. Tim teased him about it, but other women didn’t interest him…they just didn’t stack up to Marta.
Winter came and the snows that were heavy in the territories in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Traveling by horse was miserable, but the marshals still required it of them.
It just took them longer. Grady was sure glad that he knew how to survive in the west and especially in the winter by finding shelter under a ledge or in a cave not being used by another animal.
He would get cedar boughs to lie on, and he always traveled with grain for his horse to eat.
He would be able to catch a rabbit to eat with making pemican bread.
He could survive on eating very little. Tim was always surprised on how well they would eat in the middle of a snowstorm with Grady’s cooking.
October turned into November…then December.
Grady hated the snow, sleet, hail. He thought about his mother going through childbirth at her age.
He didn’t want anything to happen to her.
Christmas was fast approaching, but he was nowhere close to Sheridan to go home.
He did send a package of rattles, blocks, and stuffed animals for the babies she was having.
He also had a small package for Marta…it was a locket for her to wear to remember him by.
When the package arrived, Marta was in labor.
She couldn’t even open up the box from Grady.
Brody had skied to Sheridan to get Doctor Flynn and bring him back with him.
Thankfully, Flynn knew how to ski and the two had made good time back to the ranch.
By the time they arrived back home, Kyra had Marta bathed, the bed ready, and water had already been boiled to wash his instruments in. Marta was ready to have the twins.
Nimrod had made two cradles, two cribs, two highchairs, and a dresser low enough to change diapers on and hold all the baby clothes and diapers the two women had made in the last few months.
He and Brody had also made two rocking horses, a mound of blocks and two small wagons to hold them, a toy box to hold them all, and had whittled so many small animals to gnaw on when they were cutting teeth Kyra told them she’d have to have a dozen babies to use them all.
She and Marta had made several stuffed animals to put in the cribs.
Kyra was in seventh heaven at the thought of having babies to love at long last.
Marta was in hell. She loved feeling the babies move inside of her but hated the idea of deceiving everyone.
Nor did she want to raise the babies conceived through rape.
She knew that giving the babies to Kyra was the best thing she could do and loved the joy she saw on Kyra and Nimrod’s faces, she just hated being pregnant and hated the thought of going through labor.
The babies were tearing her apart to make their way into the world.
She couldn’t cry out or make a sound. It would upset Mattie, and he wouldn’t understand that she was having babies and not Kyra.
He had no clue that his sister was pregnant or had gotten fat with child.
He was so little just four almost five. He had a wonderful Christmas with more presents than he had ever received in his life.
Somehow Nimrod had gotten him a pony of his own that he was thrilled with.
He kept getting bundled up and going out to see her.
He spent countless hours brushing her, checking her hooves, feeding her carrots, and just watching her.
He was even cleaning up her stall each day.
He also received small soldiers, a small barn, enough animals to fill an ark, and he played all day with his animals inside with all the snow.
Kyra had also begun teaching him his alphabet and his numbers.
She was so patient with him. He was even in the first level reader already and she had only begun teaching him in August!
Doctor Flynn arrived and went immediately in to see how far along Marta was.
Kyra was already in the room and so was Nimrod.
When the babies were born, one of them was going to take one of the babies and the other was going to have to take the second one.
Marta didn’t care; she just wanted them out of her.
“Marta, when you get your next contraction…start pushing! Your labor is almost over…good news. Kyra I’ll give you the first baby, and Nimrod, I’ll give you the next one.
Wash them up quickly and get them clothes and dressed.
We don’t want them getting a chill. Here we go…
start pushing.” Flynn told her and things started going pretty fast.
The first baby crowned, the head appeared, Flynn cleared the mucus and cut the cord. He handed the baby to Kyra even as it was crying up a storm. Kyra had tears in her eyes as she took the tiny baby into her hands.
In minutes, baby number two appeared and was handed to Nimrod…it looked even smaller in his large hands. Nimrod had tears as he took the tiny baby in his hands and started washing it with his wife. They were both touched that they finally had babies to take care of.
“Well, Mrs. Harper…can you believe it…these little bundles of joy are ours.” Nimrod whispered to her as they washed and dressed them quickly to keep them from getting chilled.
“Oh, Nimrod, they are just beautiful…and can you believe that we have two little boys that will be able to keep each other company as they grow up. We are so blessed and I will always be thankful for Marta making our dreams come true.” Kyra told him and cuddled her baby in her arms. They had always felt so empty after her own babies had died.
Marta could finally rest. The labor had finished and Flynn had gone out with the afterbirth.
Marta was worn out; she just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep.
She had heard the babies crying. She knew they were born and had healthy lungs.
That was good, she didn’t want the babies, but she also didn’t want anything bad to happen to them either. She closed her eyes and slept.
When she woke up, Doctor Flynn had skied back to town to announce to everyone that Kyra Harper had delivered twin boys and that she and the boys were healthy.
They decided to name them Maxwell Nimrod Harper and Maclin Nimrod Harper.
Max and Mac Harper sounded really good for them as their new sons.
He said nothing about Marta at all. As a doctor, confidentiality was important.
The baby boys got Kyra and Nimrod up every three hours through the night. They didn’t care, they loved how much of an appetite they had and how quickly they went back to sleep after they were fed and changed. Marta slept through it all.
They told Mattie that Marta had a cold and that’s why she spent so much time in bed for the next few days…
Brody knew and helped take her meals up to her.
She appreciated it. She was so tired and hated hearing the babies crying through the day.
She slept a lot the first few days and recovered quicky from their birth.