Lunch was served as a walking meal, allowing everyone to eat when, and as, they chose. We’d sort out the village pantry in the days to come. I knew we had a storekeeper now.

I sent a runner off to Thomas and Martha. We were having a get-together tomorrow and they were invited. Amos and Holder were the emissaries for that mission and they left out at a quick pace; they’d easily make the round trip in an afternoon. If the invitation were accepted, Amos was to stay the night and guide them the next day, while Holder would return with the news. They took along two extra mounts to insure an easy trip for the family tomorrow.

Esther, along with one of the older boys who could sit a horse, was sent to watch the livestock. Everyone else was called together for formal introductions and our first census. Most of the folk were still squaring away their summertime living quarters. We called the families one at a time up to the table to meet and greet with my new “council.”

The council consisted of Michelle, Petalesharo, Captain Timmons and Mouse; of course, I was the head of the council. Sonya was the official ‘Town Clerk’ even if this was a village, at best. Many titles had been suggested for me over the last few days, almost none of which were acceptable in respectable society. In the end, I just remained Mr. Narrater for official records. Sonya consistently listed me as ‘the Narrater’ in all of the initial records. I resolved to avenge this intentional slight by assigning her all of the most annoying responsibilities.

**** ****

The council all sat on one side of the table as each family in turn came up, introduced themselves and gave a brief background. We would then discuss their hopes and plans. We kept the time to less than thirty minutes per family but it still added up. We’d have to keep up the pace if we wanted to make it through the entire group by supper time.

Captain Timmons and his family went first. Sonya recorded the names, birth dates, and genders into her ledger. We’d pick up more detailed data points later, but time was important today. Each adult also discussed their intentions and their skills. Some wanted a homestead and others wanted a house and shop in the village. I let everyone know that there would be a village gathering tomorrow and that we would post the village rules and laws at that time. It was a long day.

The quick overview showed we had twelve families in our little village, plus two groups of men living as bachelors. The Pawnee scouts had two female slaves that had accompanied them to run those two tipis while the men hunted. That was going to cause a problem, but I felt confident that I’d be able to work a deal with Pete to emancipate them; somebody would get paid, but at least it wouldn’t be settled with blood. I'd aim for the British model, not the French/American disasters. Our other group of men were the boatmen, though that was a topic for another day.

All in all, it was a pretty sizeable population and rules needed to be laid out immediately. We’d work on the rules after supper. A general construction plan needed to be set also. We needed winter housing up by the end of October. The axes would start swinging tomorrow, at first light.

Introductions complete, we still had time for a tour of the temporary village before supper. It was surprise time for me. The first surprise was that I now lived in the camper, and I lived alone. I wasn’t sure what that meant and whether it was good or bad - most likely both. Sonya and Esther had moved into my tent, while Michelle had moved in with Matilda. Hmm, now that was food for fantasy. Holder and Moses had our second tipi, and Mary, Mouse, and Banshee had the other. Of course, those tipis were the first and closest to the homestead; it was about thirty yards from door to door.

After that, the temporary village was laid out according to Sonya’s plan with six tents or tipis on each side of the road. That gave us fourteen on the road outside of the palisade. When you added the three living quarters inside the palisade, we had a total of seventeen houses in our sudden village. Calling it a village was still a stretch, but I had the feeling it was going to grow quickly. I expected to pick up a couple more families just by announcing the land I was claiming.

My intent was to claim all of the land bordered by the Big Nemaha, Little Nemaha and Missouri rivers and I was prepared to defend that claim. Basically, I was claiming the entire Nemaha Basin as my own territory. I knew that 2,800 square miles was more than I could ever get away with, but overclaiming was basically just a negotiation tool. I’d be happy if I ended up with quarter of that in the end; it was still a lot of land. That would still be 450,000 acres of prime farmland. I could deal with that.

I also knew I’d be granting a lot of that land to others. Over the course of a couple of decades, I'd use it to encourage the development that I wanted. Amusingly enough, my plans for the land would make Little Miss Social Warrior Sonya very happy. Well, she’d be happy until we got to the part about the rigged elections.

**** ****

Supper time was upon us and I was surprised to find only our group at the table. Apparently, everyone else had taken their food ‘to go’ and were eating in individual family units on this evening of family reunification. I couldn’t blame any of them. Moving was a trying time even in the modern world, and this was a fairly drastic change for most of them. Our little meal was wonderful and everyone seemed to relax. The women had seemed to form a collective plan and my personal life was in others' hands again. I didn’t care. I relaxed in my comfortable chair and enjoyed the feeling of calm brought about by a full belly.

The trip had turned out well in many ways. I no longer needed to fuss over the minute details of daily life, since everyone else had that firmly in hand. I was served and fussed over. Sonya even climbed into my lap for a little bit. I reassured her that I would always take care of my ‘little sister’ and that she was doing a great job. She seemed happy and gave me a kiss on the cheek as she climbed off. I think I had found the definition that she wanted and needed. The table was cleared for one more council meeting before the night ended.

It was time to write the laws.