It was time to learn some names and break the ice, having good relations with these folk was of high importance to me but this would be a delicate dance now that we had our initial meet-n-greet over the barrel of a gun.

Mrs. Gruff was a fine looking woman from what I could tell, it did not do to look a lady up and down like a possible conquest while she stood with her family on the threshold of the family home. I kept eyes off of everything but her face and focused on Mr. Gruff and the child between them, manners were of utmost importance in that moment.

I doffed my hat and made a proper introduction of myself including a slight bow, “Zachariah Ebenezer Narrater at your service my good neighbors. I am very pleased to meet my neighbors and do hope that we can ignore the unfortunate initial confusion and consider us ourselves well met.”

Well of course my statement was met with confused silence so after a few moments I stepped forward took a knee and offered my hand to their young daughter and told her, “You can call me Z and I’m very pleased to meet you, what might your name be?”

She looked up at her mother who simply nodded and then she reached out and took my proffered hand and sweetly said “I’m Daisy, Momma named me after her favorite flower.” I gently shook her tiny hand and offered, “I should have guessed that such a beautiful young lady would be the child of amazing people like your parents; you do them proud and you should be proud of them.” She gave me a quizzical look at that so I continued, “Your father found me while I was enjoying the view of your magnificent estate, he is building quite a castle for his queen and his princess, he must love you both very much to work so hard for you.”

I was rewarded with a huge smile so I stepped back to my feet and away, returning my focus to the adults. “I feel I’ve made one friend here and I’d like to make two more if I possibly can.

“I remain Zach Narrater you neighbor from half a day ride southwest and I’d very much like it if we could be on good terms.” I said as I offered my hand.

It was time for me to be done talking and time to listen and watch, I had a lot at risk as my people had no idea what was happening right now and if these folk were bad I was in trouble. I still didn’t know their names and that was a bad sign, folks don’t like to know the names of people they feel they have to kill; hell I didn’t like to. I had palmed the .22 with my left while down on my knee but even though it was hidden in my big left hand it was still fully safe and I would have to chamber and unsafe before I could fire. I was a bit tense.

The pause when your offered hand is left waiting seems like forever but it was actually just a moment before he reached out and took my hand into a firm but gentle handshake. “I’m Thomas”, he said, “and this here is my wife Martha.” I relaxed and put my hands into my coat pocket for a moment leaving the .22 behind when I pulled them back out

“Pleased to meet you Thomas, Martha and Daisy”, I replied “It’s so nice to know we have nice neighbors nearby and I’d love to invite you up to meet the rest of my folk.” There seemed to be a lot of trepidation on their part so I decided a temporary exit would be best.

“Thomas, I need to go set up camp somewhere, can you recommend a good spot nearby?” I asked. Well Daisy started going on about inviting me to supper and some such but I knew it would be best just to give them some time and when her mother shushed her I spoke directly to the little girl, “Daisy, I have to go make my camp and take care of my horses and dog. We can’t have them hungry, maybe I can come back after supper and we can chat for a little while then. But I have to be back on the trail again tomorrow morning so I won’t be able to visit for very long.”

Mom and Dad both agreed with that and Daisy was sent off to set the table for supper and I politely made my exit. Thomas walked me out to my horses giving me directions to a nice clearing about a half of a mile up-creek from his homestead. I shook Thomas’ hand again and called Brin over, “Brin, Friend” I commanded of course Brin instantly went nuts sniffing and smelling the new friend and I just gave Thomas a sheepish smile at the dogs antics. It was amazing how quickly Brin could go from “I’m going to eat your liver” to “Oh my gosh a new friend!”, dogs were amazing.

I mounted up and turned to Thomas before I left, “By any chance are you a drinking man, do you take a bit of whiskey now and again?”, he affirmed with a head nod and a big smile so I left out to set up camp.

It only took me about fifteen minutes headed up creek to find the clearing, there was a well-established trail from their cabin to here and I assumed this was where they had setup camp when they first came to the area. The clearing itself was a natural clearing with good top cover even if it was a bit rocky. The rocks explained why there was a clearing here, there was obviously a geological protrusion here preventing the trees from rooting deep. Regardless of the science behind it I could see it was a prime spot and settled in to make camp, picket and rub down the horses and have some supper.

The food my friends had sent along with me for my first meal was packed in tin foil and prepped to just toss on the fire, there was a package for Brin as well. I tossed Brin’s package on the fire also, I could tell that it was a rabbit but since it had been in the pack all day decided to cook it for a bit also. The horses I tethered out by the brook so they’d have plenty of water and they were happily grazing away on the sweet spring grass in the clearing.

By the time I washed up the food was ready and I pulled it out to cool while I arranged my bed roll. I took my time eating, savoring the flavors and enjoying the treat they had sent me. It was venison with potatoes, spring carrots and spring onions; possibly one of my favorite all time dishes. Matilda was an amazing cook, well she was amazing at a lot of things but she remained an enigma in my mind. Best not to worry about such things.

After dinner and cleanup Brin and I headed down to have our evening visit with Thomas and his family, I brought along a pint of bourbon as a gift for him and my bottle for us to share from tonight. I carried the shotgun and wore the M1911 under my jacket, I had a shoulder bag with the bourbon in it. The sun was just beginning to set and Brin and I had a nice evening stroll back down to their cabin.