We gave everyone the next day as a holiday. We had a stressful little bit there and with the fighting, hiding, worrying and hangovers it was best just to let everyone who didn’t have to go to meetings to have a day to relax. I even got to play with the puppies for a little while and I got to play with Mouse too.

But even as a declared holiday chores still had to be done, animals and children fed and wood brought in. Wood burning season was back, adding an extra chore to everyone’s day. You could hear the song of the saw all day, every day. Modern movies and television always showed people splitting wood like it was a big deal. Splitting wood was simple and kind of fun, manually cutting the logs to be split was where the real work was. Hopefully you had a friend to help you in the task as using a two man saw was much faster; but either way it was back breaking, muscle building work.

I spent a big part of the day poring over numbers, with Sonja’s guidance of course, and talking to people who needed my approval or input on a project. One of those projects was Doc Browne’s house and office; there was a dispute on how we wanted the downtown to look and shop. That kind of crap drove me crazy so I just made a command decision; there would be a café between the doctor’s office and the bank and a dedicated clothing store between the bank and the law offices. We still had to add the cobbler, the green grocer and the butcher to the mix, probably on the other side of the street. I pointed out that I wanted to build a small hospital in the next year or two. We’d build him a temporary clinic for now.

They countered by arguing that we were too small to support that sort of economy, which was a valid argument. But it was also dinner time and I had been missing Matilda’s cooking for far too long. So we broke for dinner and I asked my fellow twitchers to stay and dine with me. Once we were alone I revealed my trump cards – all three of them. A soon to be founded town called Independence which would be the trail head for both the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon/Mormon Trail. That brought the conversation to a stuttering halt.

I pointed out that we could try to divert those trails through Rulo but we would be far better off to take advantage of historical facts and be the first in to Independence with our trade company and our stores. Independence also turned out to be a location where many people realized they had overloaded their wagons, we should be prepared to purchase and warehouse heavy household items in Independence and other spots on the trails. We needed to also set up the first river ferry at Independence to solidify our control over the trails flows. I was very adamant about the fact that we didn’t want to be Independence but we wanted to be the primary merchants in Independence. We could then funnel the money back to Rulo to strengthen our little city. We would also use that money to build a rail ready bridge across the river near Rulo to insure the trains ran near but not directly through our town. Light rail and trolleys would do the rest.

Finally I told them I knew where we could find coal and oil nearby, while not enough to build a commercial enterprise there was enough to support our needs over the medium term. Rulo would become a small city, but it would be a green and beautiful small city; if we did this correctly it would become known as the Pearl of the Plains.

Well there it was, hanging in the air between us. My great vision and the goals that went with it. We all knew it could be done but the question became did we truly want that goal and were we willing to risk enough to reach for that golden ring.

With that, I grabbed a cold beer and lit a cigarette. I was done working for the day. I needed to see my wife, play with the puppies and generally goof off before the work day came again. There was much to be done and everyone would be busy. I had several ideas for products which would put Rulo on the map and drive tourism to us over the next couple of centuries.

After supper I took Mouse on a romantic walk down by the creek and over into our small orchard. I stole one of my apples as a gift to her, making her giggle and blush with girlish delight. In the fading light we raced dead leaves down the stream and when we got back to the bridge I taught her how to play Poohsticks. When it became too dark to play any longer we retreated to the trailer and I put the famous pooh movie on for her; it thrilled and delighted her to no end and she fell asleep in my arms before the movie ended. I used the remote to dampen the lights and we slept there in peace and harmony. Love makes life so much better.

I dreamed of raising children and building great things, changing at least one tiny little corner of the world. I had visions of beautiful museums snuggled into the ancient hardwood forest. Of flocks of passenger pigeons passing overhead and herds of buffalo ranging on my plains, I fished in clean waters with my Pawnee brothers and we created something wonderful for all to come and see.

I awoke early in the morning to a series of light taps on my lower back, we had rolled over and Mouse was clinging to my back in her sleep. The taps resumed and I realized what I was feeling was my baby kicking me.

I delicately slipped out of bed and started the wood fire. My mind was filled with wonder at the small thing coming to life inside of my wife.