Howdy Do, Kinfolk: Chapter 1
by Tami B.
Disclaimer: The following work has been written solely for the enjoyment of fans and not for monetary profit. The rights to the characters initially created for the Daniel Boone series belong to 20th Century Fox and Fess Parker. All other characters are of the author's own creation. No copyright violation is intended.
The sunny day did little to ease Yadkin's troubled mind. What did bring him relief was sitting alone in the plush green grass beneath a giant willow tree. He leaned his back against the tree and looked up past the leaves into the clear blue Kentucky sky above. Here no demands would be made on his time or his person. He was at peace with himself, as well as his world. Or he would have been, if it hadn't been for one plaguing circumstance in his life; his sister, Virginia's, prolonged visit. She had spent the last five weeks with him and showed no signs of leaving. His repeated questions concerning her departure always went unanswered. Yadkin was beginning to believe she would never go home. It wasn't that he minded being with his sister; he simply preferred his 'come-and-go-as-you-please' lifestyle. He had thought of insisting Virginia leave and offering to personally escort her down the Wilderness Trail, but he didn't have the heart for it. She was, after all, family, and that was something to be abided. Fortunately for him, Virginia had chosen to spend considerable time with Rebecca. When she did, it gave him a welcomed opportunity to seek tranquility and solitude in the woods as was the case this day.
"Yad!"
Yadkin flinched as his name was called. At first, he thought Virginia had hollered out, but then he quickly realized it was a man's voice, and one he had heard many times before. He came to his feet and approached his friend and those with him. "Howdy, Dan'l. What are you doin' out this way?"
"We're huntin'," Israel answered for his father as he, Jemima, and Daniel came to stand before Yadkin.
"Judgin' by your empty hands, you're mighty poor hunters," Yadkin said. "Maybe you need a keen eye, and one skilled in stealth and cunning to help you out."
"What I need is one with a strong back and a set of equally strong arms," Daniel said, leaning on his rifle. The fringe on his leather shirt blew in the light breeze. "Stealth and cunning aren't necessary."
"You're describin' work, Dan'l; not huntin'," Yadkin pointed out.
"He sure is," Jemima agreed. "A big oak tree is blocking the trail. It must have fallen after the last storm. We tried to move it, but Israel and I weren't strong enough to be much help."
"Why didn't you just take your ax, Dan'l, and chop it down into chunks small enough for the young 'uns to handle?" Yadkin asked.
"And have you miss all the fun of strainin' your back?" Daniel said, slapping his friend's arm. "Just think of the good feelin' you'll have after you've shown yourself to be neighborly."
"Is that your way of talkin' me into helpin' you? Mighty pitiful. Real mighty pitiful," Yadkin observed. "The least you could do is offer me a drink. But I'll lend you a back just the same. Well, let's get done what needs to get done, so I can go back to doin' what I was doin'."
"But, Yad, you weren't doin' nothin'," Israel stated.
"That's right, and I hope I don't forget where I left off," Yadkin said as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and whirled him around in the direction he had come.
They proceeded immediately to the precise location where the oak tree lay across the trail . Yadkin pushed his tricorn hat to the back of his head as he evaluated the problem that lay at his feet. The tree was huge. He wondered what had made Daniel think that the two of them could move it. "You reckon only you and I can drag this tree out off the road, Dan'l? I think it's too big even for the likes of us."
"We'll know soon enough," Daniel replied. "Let's get started." He took a hold of a branch a little ways from the top of the tree, while Yadkin did the same at the trunk end. Jemima and Israel got in the middle, in the midst of numerous branches, intending to lend their power as well. "On the count of three, we'll all pull towards me. Understand?" Daniel waited until every head nodded in agreement and then he counted. "One. Two," he paused to grip the branch tighter and prepared to pull with all his might, "three!"
Everyone pulled or pushed, - depending on their position - with every ounce of their strength. The tree moved a few inches. "Keep pulling!" Daniel ordered. Another few inches were gained.
Sweat beaded across Jemima's forehead as she struggled to help. She was using every ounce of strength she had, and yet the tree wasn't moving much at all. Suddenly, the branch she was pulling on broke away and she fell back into the tree.
Daniel saw what had happened and was alarmed. "Stop!" he ordered. Then he stepped inside the branches to help his daughter. He assisted her to her feet, carefully holding her arms as if she was made of glass. "Mima, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Pa. " Jemima showed him her arms and he examined them. "Just a little scratched up."
"Your ma's goin' to have my hide for this," Daniel observed, thankful that there were indeed only scratches on her arms.
"Again?" Yadkin said wryly. "By my reckonin', you oughtn't to have any hide left at all for all the times you've gotten on her wrong side."
Daniel smiled and decided not to comment on what Yadkin had said. "Well, we tried and failed. We've managed to make a way for a rabbit to pass, but nothing larger. 'Pears like it's up to an animal bigger than us to move this tree. Virginia and her horse are at my place and we're not too far from home, so I reckon me and the young 'uns will head that way."
"Pa, look!" Israel pointed down the road.
Coming towards them was a group of people in a wagon. As they stopped in front of them a broad shouldered young man, who couldn't have been more than twenty years old, jumped down. "Howdy," he called. "Need a hand?"
"We could use two," Daniel replied, "or maybe just one of your horses to pull this tree off the road."
"I don't see why us three men can't haul this tree out of the way," the young man answered . "And it'll save me from unhitching the team."
"Boy," Yadkin said, "we done already tried, and we could hardly budge it."
"Mister, back home I once chopped down a few hundred trees before breakfast and had them notched and made into a cabin before lunch," the young man boasted. "This here little ol' tree is a twig compared to that."
"Is that right?" Yadkin asked doubtfully. "Well, boy, if we move this tree off the road with only the three of us menfolk, I'll buy a round of drinks at the tavern."
"Mister, you have a deal," the young man said excitedly.
Jemima and Israel moved to stand near the new arrival's wagon to watch. As strong as the young man appeared to be, Jemima was as doubtful as Yadkin that the three of them could move the tree off the road.
The young man climbed into the middle of the tree and firmly gripped a stout branch. He nodded his head at Daniel to indicate he was ready.
"All right, boys," Daniel said from near the top of the tree. He saw Yadkin was standing at his position at the bottom. "Pull!"
In unison, the men pulled the tree and it steadily moved across the road.
"Yehaw!" Israel cheered and waved his tricorn hat in the air.
"Yehaw!" a boy in the wagon echoed.
As the men continued clearing the road, they were encouraged in their efforts by their many overseers. The boys cheered and the girls clapped their hands. Their noise drowned out the mens' grunts as they continued to strain and moved the fallen tree.
"We're almost there, boys. Keep pulling!" Daniel said between clenched teeth.
After what seemed like an eternity to Yadkin, but was in reality less than a minute, the tree came to rest beside the road. The men walked slowly back to the wagon to the joyous celebration that ensued. They would have liked to join in, but they were too busy engaging in another activity - catching their breath.
Once Yadkin could breathe normally, he wiped his brow with his sleeve and looked in the young man's direction. "Boy, just let me know when you want that drink," Yadkin told him and then held out his hand. "The name's Yadkin."
"Uncle Carolina!" a young woman screeched from the wagon just as the young man shook Yadkin's hand. "We're your sister, Virginia's young 'uns; your kinfolk."
The young man enthusiastically pumped Yadkin's hand. Yadkin paid him no mind as he counted the number of persons in the wagon. Bewilderment crossed hiss face. There were five in all; the young man, the young woman, two teenage girls, and a small boy. These five - who claimed to be his kin - were most likely seeking Virginia who was presently visiting with Rebecca at her cabin, but residing at his. There was hardly room for himself and his sister there. Contemplating the overcrowded conditions, he began to despair.
"Well, Yad," Daniel said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, "aren't you going to say 'howdy' to your kinfolk? They've come a far piece."
After a moment's pause, Yadkin said haltingly, "Howdy...do...kinfolk."
Rebecca and Virginia sat on chairs on the porch conversing about anything and everything. There were chores to do, but since Virginia's arrival Rebecca had become lax about doing them. She hadn't demanded that Jemima and Israel stick to their regimen of tasks either. All of that would change when Virginia went back home and life resumed to normal.
After a short pause in the conversation, Virginia stood and went to a porch column. She leaned her shoulder against it and crossed her arms. "Oh, I have so enjoyed my visit with you and my brother," she said. "The time's coming though when I must go home. Please tell me, Becky, that it won't be another eleven years before I see you again."
Rebecca shook her head. "It won't. We'll make it twelve." She giggled.
Virginia laughed as well. "You still have time to make that trade. Jemima and Israel for two of mine. I'll even take the goose, Hannibal."
"On one of those most exasperating days, I'd make that trade in an instant," Rebecca said. ". But they've been behaving like they should of late, so I think I'll keep them."
Virginia watched as Rebecca's expression became a bit sorrowful. She knew just what the redhead was thinking. "Now, Becky, I know you'll miss me when I leave, but you'll still have Dan'l and the young 'uns. I promise not to snatch them away. So, stuff that sad face into your petticoat, and put that lovely Irish smile back in its place where it belongs."
Rebecca smiled. "It's true I'll miss you, but that's not the reason for my turning wistful. I was thinking about what happened to Israel a month or so ago." She clasped her hands together and then began to wring them. There was anger in her voice as she spoke. "I shudder at the thought of what that man did to my child. Cutting him with that knife. You know it terrorized my boy so that he either couldn't, or wouldn't speak. I can only imagine the horrors Israel experienced that day. I wish it had been me and not him who had to go through that. Thanks to Yad, though, that man won't be hurting anyone else."
Virginia moved from the porch column and went back to sit in her chair next to Rebecca's. She laid a hand on her friend's forearm. "God's Light shines in your son's eyes, Becky. Haven't you seen it? I imagine our Lord had that same sparkle in his eyes when He walked on this earth. God has healed Israel. He doesn't remember what happened to him that day, and that's all for the better. He is a happy and mischievous little boy again. He reminds me very much of my own Gillam. I hope Israel realizes how blessed he is to have a ma like you who loves him so very much."
After patting Virginia's hand where it rested on her forearm, Rebecca said, "It is I who is blessed to have him and Jemima, and Dan, and...you." She lifted her blue eyes to meet Virginia's. "I am going to miss you when you leave, and it won't be twelve years until we see each other again. I'll make Dan take me to visit you long before that. That is, if you'll have us."
"If I'll have you?" Virginia asked astonished. She came out of the chair and stood with her hands on her hips. "Just be sure and let me know you're there. With all my young 'uns around, I may not notice you." Placing her hands behind her back, she moved to the porch column and leaned against it again. "Eleven years have passed so quickly. I was practically an old maid at twenty-six when I married the widower, Paul Garner, and became a wife and a mother to his three little girls. Then our newly formed family left North Carolina for the backwoods of Virginia. I wondered how you'd get along without me. Jemima gave you fits in those days and you always needed my expert advice on how to raise her."
"Virginia, have you lost your senses? I was and am quite capable of raising my daughter without your expert advice to guide me," Rebecca countered.
"Is that so?" Virginia questioned. "What about the time she wanted to live with Dan'l's folks?. She kept runnin' away to their cabin. Dan'l's Pa would tote her back home, but a few hours later, she'd up and do the same thing. You were at your wit's end with her." Pointing her finger at Rebecca, she continued, "And you came to me like this..."
She began to pace the porch back and forth in an agitated state. Her hands were on her hips. "Virginia, I don't know what I'm going to do with that girl. At three-years old she thinks she gets to decide where to call home. Well, I won't have it. She's my child and she'll live under my roof. Dan says to let her stay with his folks awhile and she'll want to come home on her own. But, Jemima isn't their responsibility. I'm her mother and I won't burden them with raising her." She became very dramatic and clasped her hands in front of her as she continued at an exaggerated frantic pace. "Oh, Virginia, what am I going to do? All of North Carolina will think me a terrible mother because my child hates it at home and keeps running away to her grandparents. What have I done that my daughter doesn't want to be with me? Am I unfit to be her mother? Have I made life so unbearable for-" She came to a sudden halt as Rebecca stepped into her path.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Rebecca leveled an icy stare at her friend. "Virginia, you've missed your calling. You should have been an actress. The only truth you have spoken was that Jemima did want to live with Dan's parents at one time. As to the rest of your greatly exaggerated tale, it was quite entertainingÉup to a point."
Rebecca turned her back on Virginia and walked a few steps away from her before whirling to face her again. "Perhaps, you have forgotten the time when you had had an argument with Paul and it appeared that the two of you would not marry after all. You came to me in tears, remember?." Fake tears welled in her eyes and her voice became overly-dramatic as she went on, "'Oh Becky,' you cried, 'I'm goin' to die an old maid! Paul doesn't want me for his wife now. The lovely weddin' I had planned will never be. I'll be stuck raisin' my brothers and sisters, bein' like a ma to them and not one to my own. Who else but Paul would have me at an ancient twenty-six-years old? I ain't much to look at and my figure isn't flatterin'.'"
Becky brushed aside the conjured up tears and began to pace madly. She pointed a finger towards the heavens as she resumed her mock tirade. "'I shoulda married that no-account wanderer when I was a youthful sixteen, but Ma was against it, and Pa didn't like him in the least. So, I waited for the next man to have me, and now he's decided that I cain't make a home in the wilds of Virginia for him and his young 'uns, so's I reckon I ain't good for nothin'; so's I reckon I should jest die.'"
Rebecca ceased pacing and leaned her shoulder against the porch column. She placed a hand over her eyes and began to pretend to sob uncontrollably. "'Oh, Becky, I love him so and he won't have me. I can't live without him. What am I gonna do?'" Wiping the fake tears from her eyes, Rebecca sniffed and then continued. "'I reckon I could beg him to take me back, but that's so unseemly. Maybe if I purty myself up and wear some of that French perfume of yours, he'll take me back.'" She reached for Virginia's hands and held them in hers. "'You'll loan me some, won't you, Becky? You gotta help me win my intended back or I'll die. I'll jest die!'" She released the other woman and then grinned broadly, satisfied that her performance was equal to, if not better than Virginia's.
As the redhead's dissertation ended, the other woman gazed into Rebecca's blue eyes ; her expression neutral. "That was a right fair imitation of me. I'm only sorry that the story was true and that you didn't make one up like I just did. Everything you said and did, I said and did. You're right. I should have been an actress." She began to chuckle.
Rebecca chortled as well. "Perhaps you would have been if Paul hadn't decided in the end that you were the right woman for him."
"Yes, but it was that French perfume of yours changed his mind." Virginia quickly reviewed everything in her mind about the time that she and Paul had ended their engagement; the very incident that Rebecca had just re-enacted. "I remember that day very well. I thought my world had ended. Little did I know back then that I would be a ma to seven, the wife to a very good man, and livin' the good life in the backwoods of Virginia."
Rebecca chortled again. "I'm pleased everything has worked out so well for you. We're both blessed by the families the good Lord gave us, although - quite frankly - there are times I'd trade my wandering Dan for your stay-at-home Paul."
"Sorry, my dear, he's taken and I won't give him up," Virginia said, "but you can still have two or more of my young 'uns."
The women were laughing so hard they failed to see the approach of Daniel and company as they made their way towards the cabin.
"Ma!"
Rebecca looked in the direction of the call, thinking it was Israel, but another boy came running towards them. She saw that behind him was a whole wagonload of people. Daniel and Yadkin were walking beside it.
"Gilly?" Virginia said in disbelief. Then, reality struck and she knew the little seven-year-old boy hastening to her was, in fact, her son. "Gillam!" She ran to meet him. He jumped into her arms. She hugged him tightly and twirled the both of them around. "Gilly, my boy." She kissed his cheek several times and then set him on the ground.
As the rest of the entourage arrived Virginia embraced each member of her family. There were shouts of joy and laughter on their lips. Then she lined them all up in birth order; their smiling faces turned towards the Boones and Yadkin who were standing on the porch. "Name 'em, Becky. Start with the big 'un and move on down. And Gilly doesn't count since you done already heard me call his name," Virginia ordered. "I'm figurin' you'll get at least two of 'em wrong."
Rebecca crossed her arms and narrowed her eyebrows. "Virginia, haven't you learned yet that you should never spark an Irishwoman's compulsion to meet a challenge? You will be sadly disappointed as she accomplishes the deed out of pure spite."
"You're wastin' precious time," Virginia said as she stood at the head of the line; her hands on her hips. "It's gettin' on close to eatin' time and the big 'un here," she elbowed the tall young man, "gets mighty cranky if'n he has to wait long."
Showing a lopsided grin, Rebecca pointed to the young man. "He's your son-in-law, Alvin. Next to him is your oldest daughter, and Alvin's wife, Lydia." She stopped a moment to look at the girls closest to Lydia and tried to remember who came after their oldest sister. Both girls' names started with the letter "D". Then she recalled what Virginia had said about the two of them that clued her in to their identity. Pointing to the girl standing next to Lydia, she said, "She's Darla. The one who likes to wear a feather in her hair." She recalled that Virginia had reminded her that Darla was the same age as Jemima.
The girl smiled and fingered the feather that sat at the back of her head. "That is correct, Mrs. Boone," Darla said in proper English. "It is a pleasure to meet you again. I was only four years old when we left North Carolina, but I could never forget your lovely red hair."
"Thank you, Darla," Rebecca replied before turning her attention to her younger sister, who was thirteen. She remembered Virginia mentioning that fact to her some time before . "And you must be Dineen, who prefers to be called "Princess Dino", and is partial to wearing the color purple."
"It's the color of royalty, you know," Dineen explained with a giggle as she straightened her purple skirt. "Someday I'm goin' to be a real princess."
"No, you're not," Gillam chided. "You gotta talk like Darla and read Shakespaw like she does. And be all proper with fancy manners. Princesses don't lick maple syrup from their plate like you do, or stick their fingers in the jam jar."
Horrified by Gillam's revelation, Dineen turned red. It was true what he said, but he didn't have to mention it in front of these people who were practically strangers. "Gillam, you're a toad, and Ma should have left you in the pond where you were spawned."
"Oh, yeah? Well..." Gilliam paused as it occurred to him that he didn't have any idea what Dineen was talking about, but he did know she had called him a name, and that had to be returned in kind. "I ain't no toad. And you're a-"
"Dineen! Gillam!" Virginia shouted. "That's enough out of the both of you. You apologize to the Boones, and your Uncle Carolina, for your rude behavior."
In unison, the two mumbled their apologies.
"Dan'l," Yadkin said quietly from his place beside the tall frontiersman, "Ken-tuck has just gotten darker and may end up a whole lot bloodier with the arrival of my kinfolk. And you made me tell 'em "howdy do".
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