A/N
Hey everyone, just remember this story is taking place in 1870.
Thanks for reading everyone.
Brantley's Pov
I don't know why I even leave this mountain. This mountain gives me everything I could ever need. More then enough wild game for the few people that live up here. When I moved up here about 5 years ago, it was just right after the war. Maybe that why I'm up here. I've seen so much bad things I just want too see nature the way God made her. I just got my wagon all ready to go. I'm leaving this mountain for one day and one day only. Got to pay few of my debts off and I need to see Doc Jackson. I walked back into my small cabin, that I've built to grab my money. Ever since the war, you could say I've been up here hiding, but it's not like that at all. I love it up here. I like being alone for the most part, but there is still some cold nights where I could have someone to be with me.
I was looking around the small cabin. It's only a two room cabin. My room and the kitchen/living room. The out house is around back. I need to clean this place up, but I don't have a lot of time to keep this place as clean as I should've been, but I might be able to keep up with it. No I won't. I grabbed my money and walked out of the cabin. I jumped up on the wagon and left my cabin for a 3 hour journey down the mountain.
I live the closest to the town of 'Spring Hill's, Georgia'. My closest neighbors that I have is that McRoy family. They live an hour away from me. You could say that I live being alone for the most part, but I have this crazy, wild feeling that something big is going to happen today. God, I hope not. I don't need nothing at all.
After 3 hours of coming down the mountain I looked at my watch and saw it was only 8 in the morning. I did great timing today. You could say that people of Spring Hill's look at me like I'm the missing link or something bad. Well, I've seen a lot of bad things in this world, but I'm not one of them. I just live up on a mountain and I look like I could kill you, but I won't. Unless I need too.
I pulled over to the store here in Spring Hill's. I do business with the store owner Mr. Nels Olsen. I sell him my furs and he pays a buck more then anyone else. I got off the wagon and saw a few kids looking at me. I shook my head and walked into the store. Mrs. Harriett Olsen looked at me. I knew she didn't like me at all.
"Mr. Gilbert, I'll tell Nels you are here. Wait here." She told me. I thanked her and I was looking around the store. Nels got him new women things for the store. I bet that was Harriett's doings. Poor Nels.
"Brantley my boy. Come on in." Nels said to me. I walked over to him.
"How are you doing Nels?" I asked him. Nels was the first person that I met when I first got off the mountain.
"I'm good son. How's life up there treating you?" Nels asked me.
"Good sir." I said to him.
"Good. What did you bring me today?" Nels asked me.
"I got 75 furs for you. Listen you do what you want with all of this, I still have a few places to go. I need to shave." I said to Nels.
"Lars is open. He can you shave you up and the boy and I will have this unloaded for you." Nels told me.
"Thank you Nels. I need 100 pounds of corn and 100 pounds of yeast." I told Nels.
"It will be here in the wagon when you return." Nels told me.
"Thank you Nels. I'll see you soon." I said to him. I walked over to Lars shop. As I was walking up there a lot of the town's women were looking at me. I didn't pay them no mind at all. I opened up the door and walked in.
"Mr. Gilbert, what can I do for you." Lars asked me.
"I need a shave." I said to him.
"Yes you do. When was the last time you shaved." Lars asked me.
"When you did it last." I said to him.
"8 months back. Well, get up here boy." Lars told me. I sat down so the man can do what he needs too.
"So tell me boy, how's life up there?" Lars asked me.
"Good. I love it up there." I told him.
"Well, you know if you want to move down here I'll sell you my old farm." Lars told me. Funny thing is he's been trying to sell me his farm for the past few years.
"No thank you. I like it up there. I'm closer to God and away from people." I told him.
"Well, if you had a wife up there she could be cutting this off for you." Lars said to me.
"I'm never getting married." I said to him.
"Come on Brantley. Married life isn't that bad. Plus you can get your wonky wet anytime if you had a fat wife up there. Hell, get an ugly fat wife. No one would look at her and you know if she is fat she can cook good." Lars said to me. I was trying not to laugh.
"No thanks sir. I like it up there alone. Plus I did all that sleeping with different saloon girls when I was in the army. I'm too old for it now." I said to Lars. He just laughed at me. After Lars was done with me I felt so much better. But once winter get's here, I'll be wearing that beard again.
"Are you about to leave us again Brantley." Lars asked me.
"Not yet. I still need to see Doc Jackson." I told Lars.
"He might be back at his office. Hank Williams died last night. 97 years old and he told Doc that he wanted to see a naked saloon girl one more time." Lars told me.
"Did the old man get his wish." I asked him.
"Yes he did." Lars said to me laughing. I smiled at him.
"Good for him. Thanks for the shave Lars. See you the next time I'm down." I said to him walking away from him.
"Have a good one boy. And hey if you change your mind on buying my farm you know where to find me." Lars said to me. I just shook my head and kept on walking to Doc's office.
I just got to the door when I heard Doc Jackson talking to someone.
"I'm sorry Ms. James." Doc Jackson said.
"It's okay Dr. Jackson. How much do I owe you." It was a woman. I just sat down and waited until they was done talking. I took out my pipe
"It's on the house." Doc Jackson said. The door opened up. I wasn't looking at whoever was talking to doc Jackson.
"I'll find a way to pay you back. I just don't know what to do." I looked over and saw it was a small young woman. Her long blond hair was tied up in a nice bun. I stood up.
"Just have faith." Doc Jackson said to the woman.
"Thank you again Dr. Jackson. I better get back to work." The woman said to Doc. I moved out of her way as she walked by me. It was like she didn't even see me.
"Poor girl." Doc said to himself. I looked at him and gave him a wave.
"Brantley Gilbert as I live and breath. Come here son." Doc Jackson said to me. I walked over to him and gave him a hug. I first met Doc when I was in the army. I was a solider and he was the doctor. We spent a lot of night talking about our lives and our futures.
"How are you doing?" Doc asked me. We walked into his office.
"I'm good sir thank you. How are you?" I asked him. Doc looked at me.
"I'm old Brantley." Doc said to me. Crazy fucker is only 55 years old. He's still young.
"Nah, you still have a good 30 more years to go. Who was that?" I asked him.
"Luci James. Poor thing is only 18 years old and been down a long road." Doc told me. I don't like to gossip of nothing, but I only come down about twice a year and people come and people go, so I don't like getting to know a lot of them.
"Really." I asked him. Doc handed me a cup of coffee.
"Yeah. Her parents died about 2 years ago and lost there home and now she's in trouble." Doc said to me.
"Trouble." I asked him.
"She's having a child out of wedlock." Doc said to me.
"Why don't see marry the father?" I asked him.
"She can't. He was a drifter and have no idea where he is. She works at the saloon. She cleans it up but Amos only pays her $10 a month." Doc told me.
"Wow. So how much do I owe you." I asked him. The last time I was here I got sick and doc gave me some meds.
"2.25" Doc told me.
"And how much was the girl." I asked him.
"Luci's." Doc asked me.
"Yes." I said to him.
"2.00 even." Doc said to me. I gave him 5 bucks.
"Thanks Brantley." Doc said to me.
"Your welcome. Listen I better get back to Nels. I'll stop by again the next time I'm down." I said to Doc.
"Okay. Have yourself a good trip and hey when you come back down you think you can get me a bear sink blanket. I'll pay you for it." Doc said to me.
"I sure can. Just one." I asked him.
"Yes sir." Doc said to me.
"Okay. I'll see you in a few months." I said to doc leaving his office.
"Okay. Thanks son." Doc yelled at me. I waved goodbye to him. I just got back to the store when I heard Mrs. Olsen and a few other women talking.
"I can't believe that she is going to have a bastard at her age." I heard one of the women say.
"You had 2 kids by that age." The other woman said.
"True. But I was married. Look at her, who would ever marry her now. She threw her life away." She said.
"I would kill it. I mean look at her she did this to herself. I don't feel sorry for her. So glad her parents are dead. What would they think of this?" One woman said
"Please that family is messed up. Look what her father did." One woman said.
" True. So glad all I had was sons." The older woman said.
"Me too. If my daughter slept with a man before marriage I would killed her" Mrs. Olsen said. I just looked at them.
"Can I help you Mr. Gilbert." Mrs. Olsen asked me. I was trying not to loose my temper.
"Not from you Mrs. Olsen." I said to her. I walked out of the store.
"Brantley we got your wagon done for you." Nels told me. I looked at him.
"Thanks. I'll be right back to pay you." I said to him, walking over to the saloon. I knew everyone was looking at me from the store.
I walked into the saloon and saw drunk men still sleeping the night before. I walked over to Amos who was sleeping on the bar. I was looking around when I heard something coming from the back. I walked out there and saw Luci putting the laundry out to dry.
"Ma'am." I said to her. I saw her look back and look at me.
"If you are looking for Amos he's sleeping on the bar." She told me.
"No I was looking for you." I said to her. I can't believe I'm doing this.
"Me. Do we know each other sir." She asked me.
"No ma'am. I'm Brantley Gilbert." I said to her walking closer to her. Wow, she is so tiny next to me. I mean I am 6'3, but she might just stand at 5'0. If that even.
"Luci James." She told me.
"I know. I was at Docs office when you and him walked out." I told her.
"I remember. If you are here to make fun of me just do it and get it over." Luci said to me.
"I'm not here to make fun of you. I have a problem and I know you have a problem." I said to her. She looked up at me.
"What are you trying to tell me?" Luci asked me.
"You are having a baby out of wedlock and I'm just a lonely mountain man." I told her. She just looked at me. Why did I just say that? Luci just looked up at me
"Okay, let me put it like this, you need a husband and I need a wife." I told her. I can't believe that I said that.
"You don't even know me Mr. Gilbert." Luci told me.
"That is true, but we could get to know each other. Unless you have another man that wants to marry you." I asked her. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
"No one wants me." Luci said to me. I wiped the tear that was falling from her face.
"I do." I said to her. She looked right at me.
"Plus after you have your baby, I'll pay for you and your baby to go back to your own place or--" Luci cut me off.
"You will pay for me to go west back to my mother's family." She asked me. I gave her a small smile.
"Yeah I will, if that's what you want to do after the baby is born." I said to her. Luci began to cry.
"Hey, hey, hey, if you don't want to do this we don't have too. I just at the store and I heard---" Luci cut me off again.
"They all hate me. Ever since my pa killed my mama. Then walked out to the barn and hang himself. I was only 16 years old when I was working for Amos. Then that one night he was there and even after the yelling and screaming for help no one was here to help me. I mean I get it Doc Jackson and Mr. Olsen couldn't help me, but all of them other men was right there in that room and I was out here yelling for help now here I am. 18 years old and having a baby out of wedlock." Luci said to me. I don't understand why she told me all of this, but I am so glad that I'm doing this now. Good thing I wasn't here, that night. I would have killed me that son of a bitch that touched Luci like that.
"Well now you don't have too worry about nothing." I said to her. Luci gave me smile.
"Okay Brantley, I will marry you, but once I have my baby I want to go back to my grandmothers." Luci told me. I looked down at her.
"And you will." I said to her. I still have enough time to work on her to keep her forever, but just one step at a time.
"When do we get married?" Luci asked me.
"I'm leaving to go back to my cabin with in the next hour, so why don't you get all of your things together and we will meet at the church. say 45 minutes from now." I asked her. Luci looked a little happy.
"Okay. I got to write Amos a letter." Luci told me.
"You do that and meet me at the church in 45 minutes." I told her.
"Okay. Thank you so much Mr. Gilbert--" I cut her off.
"Call me Brantley." I said to her. She looked up at me.
"Then call me Luci." Luci said to me.
"Okay Luci. See you soon." I said to her walking away from her.
"Bye Brantley." Luci called after me. I walked back over to the store to pay Nels, but I need a few more things for the cabin now that I'm getting married.
"Okay Brantley I own you---" I walked past Nels walking back into his store. I need new pans for cooking and new house things and a few things I need for building on another room on the cabin.
"Mr. Gilbert what do you think you are doing?" Mrs. Olsen asked me. I looked at her.
"What does it look like Harriet" I asked her. She just gave me a look.
"Nels!" Harriet yelled for her husband.
"What is it now Harriett? I'm helping Brantley." Nels said to his wife. She just walked out of the store. I looked at him.
"Your in trouble now." I said to him.
"God help me." Nels said to me. I laugh at him.
"Okay, well I owned you $50 for the fur, but with all of this, this will cost you $27." Nels told me. I paid him and picked up everything.
"You are doing a good thing here Brantley." Nels told me. I looked at him.
"Thanks Mr. Olsen. I'll see you the next time I'm down." I shook his hand and walked out of the store. I put everything in the wagon and saw Luci walking over to the church with one bag. After we get married I need to make sure Luci has everything that she needs. We won't be coming back down here for another 6 or 8 months from now.
"Whoa!" I said to the team of horses I'm using.
"I see you are here?" I said to Luci. She looked at me.
"You didn't change your mind did you." She asked me. I jumped off the wagon and walked over to her.
"Not at all. Have you." I asked her.
"I'm here." She told me. I took her bag out of her hand, but I rubbed my big hand over her small hand.
"Good. You look beautiful by the way." I told her. Luci put her face down.
"Thank you." She told me.
"Come on. Let's get married. We have a long ride home." I told her. Good thing it's only 10 in the morning. We should be back at the cabin no later then 2. I can still get some work done.
"Okay." Luci said to me. We walked into the church and the whole time we was walking next to each other, I put my hand on her lower back. I don't know why, I did it I just did. I don't want her to trip or fall. When we walked into the church we saw the Rev and Mrs. White.
"Can I help you?" The Rev asked us.
"Luci, sweetheart how are you?" Mrs. White asked her.
"I'm good Mrs. White how are you?" Luci is so sweet to other people.
"I'm good. Why are you both here?" Mrs. White asked us. Luci looked up at me.
"We want to get married." I told them. Rev White and his wife looked at each other.
"I'll be more then happy to do it." Rev White said to us.
"How much sir?" I asked him.
"Wedding are $10, but for you both it will be on the house. Molly get the wedding paper ready for all of us." Rev White said to his wife.
"Yes dear." Mrs. White got up and did what she need to do.
The rev said a few worlds and Luci and I both said our do's.
"Do you have a ring?" Rev asked me.
"I do, but it's back at my cabin. I'm sorry." I said to Luci.
"It's fine." She told me. I looked down at her.
"Once we get back to the cabin I'll put it on you." I told her. Luci smiled at me.
"Sign here and y'all are married." Rev said to us. Luci and I sign our names. Date of marriage March 2nd, 1870.
"Congratulations to the both of you." Mrs. White said to us, giving Luci a hug.
"Thank you so much." Luci said to her. I shook the rev's hands. Luci and I walked out of the church and most of the town was there. I looked down at Luci, who was shaking next to me.
"Don't be scared. No one will hurt you with me around." I told her. I helped Luci up into the wagon. I looked at Rev and Mrs. White who was smiling at me. I waved bye to them and got on the wagon. I looked at Luci.
"You ready to go home." I asked her. She looked at me.
"Yes." She said to me.
"Giddy up boys!" I called for the horses. They pulled the wagon out of the small town that we won't be seeing for the next few months.
After about 20 minutes of riding in silences Luci looked at me.
"What?" I asked her.
"Nothing." She said to me. I looked at her.
"What's going on in your mind?" I asked her.
"How much longer?" Luci asked me.
"I live 3 hours away from town." I told her. She just looked at me.
"You're going to like it. Well, I hope you do." I said to her. Luci looked at me.
"Thank you again for saving me." Luci said to me. I looked down at her.
"You don't have to thank me." I told her.
"Yes I do. Without you my baby and I will be dead. So I thank you Brantley." Luci said to me. I looked at her.
"Just make a good wife and we won't have any trouble." I told her.
"I'll be the best wife you ever had? Have you ever been married before?" Luci asked me.
"Nope. Your my first." I told her.
"Oh. How old are you?" Luci asked me.
"I'm 33 years old." I told her. Luci looked at me.
"You do know I'm only 18 years old." Luci told me. I just kept my eyes on the path.
"Yes I do. But age is just a number." I told her. My ma was 13 when she married my pa and pa was 34 years old with 4 small children all under the age of 6 that my ma raised.
"Your right. I mean we are grown adults here. We are married and I'm going to be a mama." Luci said to me rubbing her small belly. I looked down at her
"Your going to be a good mama." I told her.
"Thank you Brantley." Luci said to me. I didn't say nothing else to her.
As we was making our way up the mountain we talked a little bit but not that much about anything important. All I was thinking was how to keep Luci on this mountain forever and if I should just add on a room or should I make us a new house.
By the time we got to the cabin I knew Luci wan't feeling so good. I helped her out of the wagon.
"This is home." I told her. Luci looked around the small farm I had.
"All it needs is a woman touch." Luci said to me walking right into the cabin.
"Lord help me." I said to the heavens. I was about to start unloading the wagon when I heard Luci yelling.
"Luci!" I ran to the cabin and caught Luci running out.
"What's wrong?" I asked her
"There's a snake in the cabin." Luci said to me.
"Go by the wagon." I told her I walked into my cabin and saw a rattle snake sitting on the floor in the living room. I got my shot gun and shot the son of bitch. Now that I have a woman living here with me I need to keep her safe.
"Brantley did you kill it!" Luci yelled from outside. I picked up the dead snake and walked outside.
"It's all good now." I told her.
"Good. Thank you." Luci said to me.
"Your welcome Darlin." I said to her.
"Darlin. I like that." Luci said to me. I smiled at her.
"Well, I'll start calling you that." I said to her.
"Okay. But I'm not eating that." Luci said to me, walking back into the cabin.
"Why not? It's good eatin." I told her. Luci looked up at me.
"If I'm doing the cooking around here, we eat what I'm cooking. If you want to eat that you can cook it yourself." Luci said to me.
"What are you going to cook tonight?" I asked her.
"Well, I was hoping my husband would butcher us a chicken so I can make fried chicken." Luci said to me. I had a big smile on my face.
"One chicken coming on up." I said to her. I walked out of the cabin to finished up unloading the wagon and butcher a chicken. Good thing I have another 30 baby chicks born in the past few weeks. But that is one thing Luci should never worry about. I will make sure we have enough food to last us all year around.
After everything was put away and after I got the chicken all cleaned up for Luci I walked back inside the cabin to see Luci cleaning the cabin up. It really needed a woman's touch. I walked into the bedroom and got out my mother's wedding ring. I hope Luci likes this.
"Hey Luci." I called for her. I looked out back and saw she was getting fire wood.
"What do you think you are doing?" I asked her. I walked over to her, and took the wood out of her small hands.
"I need the wood so I could start supper." Luci told me.
"You should've told me. I can get this for you. You don't need to pick up heavy things." I told her.
"I can get fire wood Brantley." Luci told me. I looked down at her.
"Not my wife. She's going to be the queen of this cabin." I told her. Luci looked up at me.
"You are so different from what I first saw." Luci said to me. I smiled at her.
"Your my wife my job is to keep you safe and to take care of you." I told her. Luci smiled at me.
"And my job is to make you happy." Luci said to me. I smiled at her.
"Come on I got something for you." I told her. We walked back inside the cabin. I made sure there was enough fire wood for the rest of the night. Tomorrow morning I'll be cutting down a few more trees to make sure I got enough fire wood for this winter.
"This ring was my ma's. She died when I was in the army. This is all I got left of her." I told Luci. I showed her the ring.
"Oh my! Brantley, this is the prettiest ring I've ever seen." Luci said to me. I smiled at her.
"Well, my ma would want you to have this." I told her.
"I love this? I'm never going to take it off. Thank you." Luci said to me giving me a hug. The second she wrapped her arms around my waist I wrapped my arms around her small body.
"I'm glad you like it. I'm going to get s'more work done." I told her. I walked out of the cabin trying to catch my breath. For some reason I want to kiss her. I mean when we said 'I Do' I gave her a small peck on her lips, but nothing like what I wanted to do to her just now. I walked out to the barn to feed the horses and the pigs.
I was almost done with my chores when I heard the door opening up.
"Brantley time to eat." Luci called for me.
"Okay Darlin. I'll be right in." I said to her. I walked over to the well and got me a bucket of water to wash off. After I was done cleaning off I saw Luci at the picnic table with all of our food.
"What are we doing? Eatin' outside." I asked her. Luci looked up at me.
"Yeah. The cabin is way to hot and there is a nice breeze out here. Unless you want to eat--" I cut her off by giving her a kiss on her lips.
"Sorry Darlin I think that is a great---" Luci pulled me down to her level. I was surprised by this.
"I'm sorry now." Luci said to me. I smiled at her.
"You don't ever have to be sorry for kissin me Darlin." I told her.
"And I think this is a great idea." I told her. We both sat down at the picnic table. Luci made my plate for me. I had 2 big pieces of chicken breast, mashed taters and green beans with gravy on the taters.
"I hope you like it." Luci said to me.
"Oh I know I will." I said to her. I was about to eat when Luci looked at me.
"Now what?" I asked her.
"We aren't going to pray." Luci asked me.
"Yeah. Go ahead." I said to her.
"Dear God, thank you for this food we are about to eat. Thank you for bringing Brantley in my life to save my baby and me. Watch over us and everyone in this world. All this and a lot more Amen." Luci said.
"Amen." I said to her. I took a bite of the chicken and it was the best fried chicken I've ever had.
"This is really good. So glad you can cook." I said to Luci.
"I'm glad you like it." Luci said to me. I looked at her plate and saw she only has one pieces of chicken.
"Darlin, get more food." I told her.
"Are you sure." Luci said to me. I looked at her.
"Yes. You are feeding for 2. Not just you." I told her. I gave her one of my chicken breast.
"Eat that too." I told her.
"I made it for you Brantley." Luci said to me. I smiled at her.
"Thank you Darlin, but I need to make sure your eatin right." I told her. She is way to small for my liking. I need to put more fat on this woman. Goats milk. I need to see McRoy's soon so I can buy a goat off of them.
"I will be eating you out of house and home soon." Luci told me. I smiled at her. I don't know what will come from all of this but I'm glad I did this.
After dinner was over and after I made sure the animals were all locked up I was ready for bed. I looked at my watch and saw it was already 9 at night. I was sitting in the living room reading the bible. Luci walked into the bedroom to get ready for the night. I don't know if I should go to my bedroom or if I should stay out here in the living room tonight. I was about to get me something to drink when the bedroom door opened up.
"Brantley are you coming to bed." Luci asked me. I looked at her.
"I can sleep on the couch." I told her. Luci walked over to me
"No. You work hard. You need a bed. Come on. It's late." Luci said to me, taking her small hand in my big hand.
"I like to cuddle." Luci told me. I looked down at her.
"I do too." I told her that. She is the only person to know that. And I've slept with a lot of women before the army and after the army, but I wasn't married to none of them.
"Good. We can cuddle together." Luci said to me, walking us back to the bedroom. I looked at the front door before I walked into the room to make sure we are locked in here safely. Luci got into bed. I took my booths off and I pulled my pants down. I usually sleep naked, but tonight I'll keep my long John's on. Luci and I didn't brake eye contact from each other. I slid in next to her, and pulled Luci close to me.
"Were safe in here right Brantley." Luci asked me.
"Yes Darlin. Plus I like to see the person who would try to brake in my cabin. I'll kill them." I told her. And I would. Try to get in here with my wife here. I'll kill you.
"Night Brantley." Luci said to me giving me one more kiss on my lips. Yep I did the right thing. I just got to try to keep her here forever.
"Night Darlin." I said to her. Darlin was laying on my chest. I was playing with her hair. Here I am 33 years old, Civil War vet and falling for a 18 year old girl who is having another mans baby. But I'm going to make sure Luci is happy here with me, so she don't leave and so I won't be lonely anymore.
A/N
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