This Kimmy Thomas
                                                                         This Young Man Thomas

    A man about 45 rides up quickly to the Smith’s farm. His face is dirty from the road and red from the ride. He has a message and it seemed to be urgent. You could tell from his demeanor and speech that he was a bit *chuckish (mentally slow). Most of the farm hands run to see what he’s there for. He starts shouting at the men. Bayless greets him.

        “Melvin, what’s all the shouting about?”

        “The wolves *strung (killed) over 50 *croppy (sheep) over at the Lawson’s *region (area) last *neilch (night).”

               
    Bayless tips back his hat and scratches his head.

        “Why, that’s *nonch (no good) nearly 200 croppy in three weeks!”

    The rider doesn’t have any time to spare.

        “You want to join up with us at Lawson’s and hunt these varmints down before they *string (kill) all the *croppies?”

    Bayless turns to his men without hesitation.

        “We gonna get us some wolf, men. I hear tell that several *croppy (sheep) have gone missing at the northern end of the valley region too. Everyone’s *harpin’ (talking) about the dead white spots up on the hills. So we’re going hunting, get yer gear  and your *sikes (horses) ready. We’re leavin’ in about 20 minutes.”

    Thomas is excited to have this chance. He’d never been hunting in his life, he didn’t even own a gun.”

        “Sir, I’d really like to go but I don’t know… I mean I don’t…”

        “What are you worried about boy?”

        “I’ve never shot a gun and I’ve never owned one.”

        “Well, it’s time you learned how to *barl (shoot a gun), don’t you think?”

        “Yes, sir.”

    Bayless pulls one of his best rifles from a sheath on the horse and hands it to Thomas.

        “I can only shoot one at a time. You take this one.”

    Thomas held the beautifully cleaned and well shined rifle in his hands. He couldn’t believe he’d been entrusted with such a fine piece of weaponry.

        “How do I…”

        “Rule #1. Don’t point it at yourself.”

        “Thank you, sir. I’ll take real good care of it.”

        “You just aim that gun at those dang wolves and *barl , barl’em to the *dusties (shoot’em dead). Don’t worry about gettin’ the gun messed up. I’ll teach you how to clean it later. Now go get ready. There’s a *trashmover (rain storm)  coming in and we want to get back home before that happens.”

    Thomas wondered if this was the feeling that he would have had if his own father had taught him to shoot. The past didn’t matter, he was going to have the benefit of this moment because the other moment never happened and it never will.

    Thomas had come from farm people but with his parents dying and leaving him in poverty at such a young age he never experienced the farm life. The young Briggs family had come out west seeking open fields, lots of places to spread out, have a farm, cattle, crops and a nice big family. Ben Briggs had been a farmer all his life but on one visit to the big city for supplies, he met Mable and she stole his heart. It wasn’t long before they married and she gave birth to their son Thomas.

    Mable was petite and very much a city girl. She’d never been known to get a blister even from a new pair of shoes. Her family didn’t want her to go. They wanted her and their only grand-child with them. They’d heard stories of the hardships and the wild Indians that scalped people. They didn’t want any of them to end up like that. They wanted them home, safe and warm in the civilized city. The thought of their daughter ending up as a trophy at the end of a stick belonging to some Indian, was more than they could bear.

    This western life would be completely new to Mabel, but she was in love, the new adventure excited her and she was ready to spread her wings from the city. The romance of it all overcame any reasoning her parents tried to use.

    Mable was in her early 20s when they set out to traveled across the country to Boonville with her husband Ben and their young son Thomas. They’d heard about this land of Eden from letters. Mable was a little nervous when she left because she was 3 months pregnant with their second child, but she loved her husband Ben and believed they’d be in their new home in time for the birth.

    They arrived in the dead of winter to California. The wind was bone chilling and the rain was relentless. The people called a storm of this strength a *“log lifter” and that it was. One thing for sure, the elements were against this young couple. The cold and battered family found a place to stay at the edge of the valley. There was a farm there and the family had an extra room. The climate of the cold northern coast and the rough travel on the road proved to be too much for Mable. She was exhausted from the trip and went into early labor.  She died that first night in Boonville, along with their baby. 
 
    Ben notified Mable parents of her passing. Mable’s mother took sick to her bed and there she stayed until she passed away six months later. At the end of Mable’s small funeral, Ben took his wife’s carved wedding band off and gave it to Thomas to remember her by. Thomas threaded it on his scarf and hung it around his neck. Thomas felt as if his heart had been ripped from his body. He couldn’t catch his breath he was crying so deeply. He couldn’t imagine how life would be without her now.

    Thomas’ father, Ben never got over his guilt for bringing her and his young son across country and away from the security of her family and the city. He found his loss of her unbearable. Hard liquor became his best friend and he died of alcoholism at the age of 30. Thomas was only 11 at the time. He was now an orphan. There was no one to take care of him. The Sheriff took him to a Mormon family who agreed to take care of him. 

    The Mormon family decided that Thomas had been passed around too long and they needed help on their farm so they agreed to keep him. He was taught good work ethics but he was resistant to converting to their religion. They were worried that he might be a bad influence on their children so they informed him that he needed to go out on his own. Thomas was twelve at the time. There was no end of rejection that he’d suffered and yet he kept making a way for himself in the world that had been dealt him. He had mailed several letters to his grandparents but they were eventually returned and  stamped “Deceased.”

    What he didn’t have in money he made up for by being a kind and gentle person. Life had taken his youth, innocence, his family and any dowry that he might have ever received from his next of kin.  His focus had to be on hard work now and for many years to come. He wasn’t going to be afforded the luxuries that other young boys his age had.

    At twelve years of age, with all the belongs he had in the world wrapped up on a rag, he made his way to the Smith farm asking for a job.  Bayless liked the look of this young man. He said,

        “Where’s your parents young man?”

        “They died, sir.”

        “Do you have a place to stay?”

        “No, sir. But I’m willing to work for food and a bed to sleep in.”

    This broke Bayless’ heart. His daughter was only two years younger than this boy and she had all the comforts that their home could give her and this boy had none.

        “I do have room for another good worker. I’ll take you to the bunk house and let the men know that you’re working for me now.”

    Bayless took Thomas under his wing and gave him a place to live in the bunk house. Here on the Smith ranch, he would have shelter, food and once a month some money. A lot of the hired help gave him their tattered but welcomed hand-me-downs.

    He was never one to argue and he took people’s mood swings with a grain of salt. If things got too rough he would just growl and mock the person that was having the fit. That little trick usually got Mrs. Smith out of a bad mood.

    He was a painfully shy young man. He didn’t have much to say but he made up for it with his dependability.  Bayless admired that in this young boy.

        “He is a hard worker, never late to the job, doesn’t complain and never leaves his daily work unfinished.”

    Thomas didn’t escape the glances and interest from Alice. But his insecurities and shyness prevented him from ever starting a conversation with her. He would watch her from afar as she played with her friends. He would rehearse how to start a conversation with her by talking to the animals in the barn. But he didn’t get too far with those conversations either.

    He wondered at at how easy conversation came to other young boys when they  talked to her. He’d hope someday to have clever words to say so that she’d laugh at his witty banter like she did for others. But whenever he would start to talk to her he would be hampered by his inferiority complex and would tell himself, 

        “Why would she be interested in me?”

    His fear was only made larger in his mind when he reminded himself that,

        “She was the boss’s daughter and I’m just a hired hand.”

    Time passed. Thomas kept pretty much to himself and the work at hand. They would exchange a few smiles here and there when they would pass each other. But no deep conversations would ever ignite. 

    Bayless insisted that Thomas go to school and get an education.

        “Hard work is one kind of learnin’ but cracking school books that’s where education doesn’t cost you your back.”

    Thomas went faithfully. Thomas felt honored that Bayless and Mary had poured time and interest into him as a person. Bayless was as close to a father that Thomas was ever going to get. He kept his studies up and made Bayless and Mary proud that they’d invested in him.

    As the time passed he got more and more confident in himself, the skills that he had developed and socially. One day on the way home from school he saw that Mason Lawson was pestering Alice. Alice yelled.

        “Leave me alone, Mason, I’m not going to kiss you now or even if you were the last man on earth!”

        “I think you protest because you like me”

    Mason tries to take her books to carry them.

        “Let go! I can carry my own books,”

        “But I want to carry them for you.”

        “I didn’t ask you to and I don’t want you to!”

    Alice looks around and she sees Thomas.

        “Here comes my friend and he’s going to give you a whippin’ if you don’t leave me alone.”

    Thomas hears what she said. He looks around and but he was the only one standing there.

        “That’s your friend? Mason laughs, 

        “He’s the hired help. Actually, he’s that orphaned boy.”

        “You mind your manners, Mason Lawson. Thomas, come here!”

    Thomas hesitates. Alice pleads with her eyes. He can see she needs his help. He hurries over to her.

        “I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier, I, ah… ah…, Alice.”

    Mason shoves Thomas to the ground. Alice screams at Mason.

        “Get away, Mason. Leave us alone.”

    Thomas realizes that she said US!

    Mason leaves but not without issuing some rough words.
 
        “Someday you’ll be mine, Alice Smith, all mine. You’ll see.”

    Alice reaches down to Thomas to help him up. Her hand touches his. It was a moment frozen in time for Thomas.

        “I’m so sorry, Thomas, I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

    Thomas stands up and dusts himself off.

        “Aw, it’s alright.”

        “Will you walk with me the rest of the way?”

    Thomas started to hesitate but he quickly realized this is his chance.

        “Sure.”

    Alice willingly hands her books to him. Alice smiles sweetly at Thomas.

        “Thank you.”

    Thomas’ face turned a bright red and stayed that shade for the entire walk home. This was more than he’d hoped in a first time conversation. They developed a wonderful friendship.

    Thomas had always been sweet on Alice but Alice was a tease and very popular. He was content to be her friend and the one who walked her home. There wasn’t a boy in the town that didn’t want Alice to be their girl. But at the end of the day, she was satisfied to walk home with Thomas.

        “Thomas, Thomas.” Bayless call to him.

        “You going with us?”

    Thomas snaps out of his daydream and quickly jumps on one of the farm horses.

        “Yes, sir.”

        “Giddup.” Orders Bayless.

        “We’ve got some *croppy (sheep) to save.”

     Thomas smiled from the inside out. Bayless believed in him and that was the greatest feeling in the world. What Bayless saw in him was so much greater than what he saw in himself. But he was beginning to believe he could do something with his life. 

    Thomas runs quickly to his horse but stops for a moment next to Bayless.

         “Mr. Smith, I just want to say, thank you for all you’ve done for me.

    Thomas runs to his horse, mounts it and is ready to ride. Bayless, pulls his hat down a bit over his eyes and pretends to check the cinch on his horse. What Thomas said was so heartfelt that it brought a tear to his eye.

         “He’s a good boy, a real good boy.”

BOONTLING words used in this chapter:

Barl:                                                                Shoot a gun

Chuckish:                                                    Mentally slow or dull witted

Croppy, Croppie, Breggo:                 Sheep    

Dusties:                                                         Graveyard, Cemetery or people in the grave

Harpin:                                                          Talking

Log Lifter:                                                     Really bad storm

Neilch:                                                             Night

Nonch:                                                             Not good

Region:                                                             Area, Area of land

Trashmover:                                                A storm, bad but not as bad as a log lifter.

Sikes, Sykes, Fuzz Tail:                        Horse

Strung:                                                           Killed

String:                                                             Kill