Tecumseh Valley

Author's note:

This story is based on the song 'Tecumseh Valley' written by the late Townes Van Zandt. As far as I can tell, the song itself is fiction; this story certainly is. No characters in the story are based on any living or deceased person.

It is set during a major recession in the US in 1880. Conditions portrayed in the story are as I imagine them to have been at that time and once again are fictional, as are the locations mentioned in the story, and probably in the song.

Enjoy.

* * * * *

Jed slumped at the rough wooden table on which Caroline had placed two bowls of watery soup. He looked at the soup, then at his beloved daughter, and tears welled in his eyes.

"Ah'm sorry, darlin'," he said with a sigh, "This ain't how Ah 'magined it'd be. Ah had no right bringing you and yer Ma out here to struggle and suffer like this."

Caroline placed her hand on his arm.

"Pa," she replied, "We're together. I'm your daughter so I need to look after you now Ma's gone. I'm sorry I can't do much to help you. There's just no work here; the mine's closed because it's not worth digging the gold out. It isn't your fault."

"Yeah, 'tis," he replied, "Shoulda never brung yer out here. Goddammed cold place. Be snowin' afore ya know it." He sampled the soup, pulling a face as he tasted the foul meat and weeds that was all they had for food. "Best ya go ter town ter get yerself a job. Leastways yer'll have sumpin' to eat then."

"Are you sending me away?" asked Caroline, looking aghast at him. "I could never leave you here like this."

"Well, if'n yer don't, then we'll both die here. Best yer save yerself. Yer young and healthy, nearly 20. Me, ah'm old an' grey an' tared an' past it. No great loss if ah cark it, but you've gotten yer life ahead of yer. Get out now an' make sumpin' of it."

Caroline was quiet for a few moments while they both drank their soup, which did little to quell the ravenous hunger eating away their strength, health and good humor. When they had both finished, Caroline replied.

"Guess there's not many other options. I could get a job and send the money back to you so you could at least eat. Then I could return in spring and help you with your prospecting if you like."

"Nah, best if we part ways fer good," he replied.

"Pa, I couldn't," she says, tears coming to her eyes as she puts her arm around his sagging shoulders and buries her face in his neck, sobbing. They stayed like this for a few minutes. Jed gently stroked her long blonde hair, thinking how much she was like her mother. Oh how he missed Mary. If only he'd got to her sooner she mightn't have drowned in the river when she slipped and hit her head. No sense thinking about that now. Enough problems here now without delving into the past.

"Well, it's 'bout the only thing we can do," he replied resignedly. "Yer got a better idea?"

Again there was silence for a long time and they both considered the enormity of what Jed was suggesting. At last Caroline replied.

"I guess it's our only hope. But I'll send money when I can and I'll be back in spring. That's final. You look after yourself till then, y'hear?"

"Don't yer go and worry yer pretty little head 'bout me. Ah'll survive just fine on me own. Now, there's a wagon headin' over the hill to Tecumseh Valley town this afternoon. Ah'll talk to Hank an' see if ah can get yer on it. So yer'll need to be packed by then. Go an' start now; ah'll clear away."

Caroline went to her small cold room and looked at her few belongings. She had nothing really to pack. She found a small case that used to be her mother's and carefully folded her clothes and placed them inside. She looked about her and added a book of wise sayings, some paper and a pencil, and her Bible which had all been given to her by a travelling priest. She closed the case and took it into the kitchen.

"I'm packed," she told her father, tearfully, still not believing that she was going.

"Good," was his gruff reply, hiding the devastating emotions he was feeling. "Come with me an' we'll find Hank."

They found Hank at the livery stable, stacking his loaded wagon with hay for the horses. Jed persuaded him to take Caroline as a passenger without payment, promising him an ounce of gold from the mine he was convinced he would find very soon. Hank felt sorry for the old prospector and miner so agreed, with no expectations of ever receiving his payment. However, if he played his cards right, he thought sizing Caroline up, who knows what could happen.

It was a very emotional farewell, Caroline and Jed clinging to one another, both weeping openly in spite of it being in public.

"I'll write when I can and be home in spring, promise, Pa," sobbed Caroline.

"Thank yer, sweetheart," replied Jed, holding Caroline away from him so he could get a last look at her. "Ah'll write yer too."

Caroline climbed onto the hard seat next to Hank and wrapped herself up in her warmest shawl. Hank whistled the horses and they started off at a slow pace out of the settlement next to the Spencer mine. With tears in her eyes and grief in her heart, Caroline looked behind at her father until he had disappeared behind a rocky outcrop. Only then did she look where they were heading.

The road, more like a track with two wheel ruts, was rough and at times sidled around bluffs with a sheer drop on the other side. At such times Caroline held on in terror, as though the act of holding on would keep the wagon from tumbling down the cliff. Hank watched her surreptitiously, noticing her stiffen in fear and relax when the going became smoother and the track wider.

"Y'enjoyin' yer ride?" he asked.

"N-n-not really," replied Caroline hesitantly. "Is this the worst part?"

"Just about, though there's a few steep bits up ahead a mile or so. That really tests the horses. Not too bad with a near empty wagon, but when she's full takin' food to the camp it's real hard. 'Specially if there's still snow onna ground."

They rode in silence for a while, Caroline lost in her thoughts of her father and mother from what she could remember of her, and Spencer, the village near the mine which was the only home she had ever known. The enormity of leaving her only home and her loving father and setting out alone into the world was almost overwhelming. However, she had come from strong stock so she was determined to make the best of it.

"How long's it take to Tecumseh Valley?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Ahhh, we should get there about this time termorrer if the weather holds," replied Hank.

"So where do we stay tonight?" asked a now seriously concerned Caroline.

"There's a hut about another two hours travel from here. We'll stay there the night, then push on at first light."

Caroline envisaged a rustic house of several rooms, a warm cosy fire and soft beds to sleep on. It really could be quite romantic, she thought, wondering if she would have a view of the snow-capped mountains from her window.

Reality hit home a couple of hours later when Hank pulled the horses to a halt in front of a tumbledown shed amongst the pines made of rough timber and covered with a rusty iron roof.

"Here's home fer the night," he announced.

"What, is this where the horses stay?" asked Caroline.

Hank hooted with laughter. "Nah, this is where we sleep the night. It's quite cosy. Ah stopped the cracks in the wall with moss a while ago so it ain't too drafty, it has a fireplace for cookin' and heatin' and the bed's comfortable. Can yer take our stuff inside while I tend the horses, then ah'll get a fire goin'."

With her case and Hank's bedroll in her arms, she pushed the door with her foot. It gave with a creak of its rusty hinges and Caroline entered the single room, if it could be called that. It looked more like a stable. A fireplace, simply a grate with a tin chimney, sat in the middle of one wall, there was a bench at one end and an area that looked like a sleeping space at the other. She put their belongings on the bedspace. After her ride she really needed a bathroom so went outside to ask Hank where that was located.

"Any tree yer like," he replied with a wave of his hand, "Just help yerself. Washin's done in the stream over there," he added pointing to a narrow track leading downhill to where Caroline could hear running water.

Caroline went into the trees a way, out of sight of Hank, and did her business, then walked down the track and tried her best to wash her face and freshen up in the almost freezing water. Once she returned to the wagon she noticed that Hank had split a hay bale to feed the now hobbled horses and given them a bucket of water. They both arrived at the hut at the same time.

"There's stew inna pot an' a few carrots yer can add if yer like while ah get the fire goin'," he told her, pointing to the pot and vegetables and collecting an armful of dry wood from a lean to outside.

Caroline tended to the stewpot and by the time it was ready for cooking Hank had the fire blazing. It was almost dark outside, the inside of the hut being lit by the flickering light of the fire. They both sat on their packs of clothing and bedroll.

"So where do you sleep," asked Caroline pointedly looking at the bed.

"Ah usually sleep this side so yer'll be on t'other side. That suit yer OK?" he asked.

"We're not sleeping in the same bed!" she exclaimed horrified.

Hank guffawed with laughter. "OK, have it yer own way," he replied, "Ah'm sleepin' there; yer can sleep wherever yer want. Wassa matter, yer never slept with a man afore now?"

"No, I've never slept with a man and I don't intend to start now," replied Caroline aloofly, concerned now.

"Waal," began Hank, "Ah guess there be a firs' time fer everthin'. But suit yerself."

They sat, gazing into the flames as the stew boiled and the carrots cooked. Caroline thought hard. She had never been with a man but had heard some of her friends talk about it. She remembered her mother telling her it was something special and should be saved for marriage, but her friends had told her, with hushed giggles, how much fun it was, how great it felt, and part of her wanted to get rid of this thing called virginity; the other half wanted to keep it as a treasure for her future husband. And anyway, she thought, was Hank the right person for her first?

Hank interrupted her reverie by taking two tin plates and a couple of spoons from a shelf and ladling generous portions of stew and carrots onto the plates, handing a plateful and a spoon to Caroline.

"Here, get some food inter yer and yer might see things different," he grunted.

They sat and ate silently while the fire heated a pot of water for some tea. Caroline came to a conclusion. Hank seemed a good-hearted man so while she wasn't ecstatic about the possibility of him being the one to take her virginity, at least it didn't seem like he'd be rough and he seemed to be caring. So she came to accept that if it happened tonight, then it happened.

After they'd emptied their plates, washed these with some of the hot water, and had the tea brewing in the pot, Hank asked:

"So, have you decided where yer goin' sleep tonight?"

Caroline nodded towards the bed, "Yep, right there."

"Nexta me?"

"Yep, sure am."

"So yer not concerned 'bout sleeping with a man for the first time?"

"Nope, just keep your hands to yourself and we'll both sleep well."

Hank sipped his tea in silence for a few moments.

"How old're yer?"

"Nineteen, nearly twenty."

"An' yer ain't never slept with a man. Amazin'. So yer never had sex either ah guess?"

Caroline blushed furiously, the colour hidden from Hank by the orange glow of the firelight.

"Never. My Ma told me to keep it for my husband on our wedding night." She decided to open up a little to Hank. "But some of my friends have been having sex. They think I'm stupid to keep it for my husband. They say I'm missing out on lots of fun and they also say what would happen if I don't marry or if I die before I marry; I'll have completely missed out."

"Well, ah guess it's somethin' yer'll just havta work out for yerself. We could do somethin' 'bout it tonight ifn yer like."

Caroline blushed furiously again, part of her aghast at the thought of having sex with this rough outback wagoner. But then, she thought, was she so much better? She was the daughter of a failed miner and prospector; not exactly the highest recommendation in the wife stakes for an eligible husband. Maybe she should just take what she can get, when she can get it. Her friends had said that sex was fun, why was she so concerned about keeping it for a husband who may never happen?

"Guess you'd like that, eh," she replied, grateful of the fireglow to hide her blushes.

"Well, yer could be right there too, li'l lady. If yer want to, ah'm sure ready. Anyways, we gotta big day termorra so ah'm goin' to bed. If yer wanta join me yer can otherwise suit yerself."

Having said that he tossed the dregs of his tea into the fire, pulled off his outer clothing and lay down on the bed, pulling a couple of blankets over him.

It was now or never, thought Caroline. Following suit she tossed the dregs from her cup into the fire, turned her back to Hank, wishing it was darker. Then removed her dress and petticoats, leaving her blouse, slip and bloomers in place. She lay on the side of the bed as far away from Hank as she could and gave the blankets a tug, hoping to retrieve enough to cover herself.

She couldn't budge the blankets; Hank was lying on the far side, so she had the option of either freezing or moving closer. She chose the latter, moving just close enough so that she could draw the blankets over her. She heard her heart beating fast, a frantic response to being in bed with a man for the first time.

Hank lay still, eyes closed. He sensed that she was lying next to him, and sensed she had moved closer than she really wanted. Tentatively he reached towards her, touching fabric gently and continuing until he felt Caroline's body beneath his hand. He gently rested it on her shoulder.

Caroline felt the pressure on her shoulder. Was he awake or asleep, she wondered. Had he just moved in his sleep or was this the start of something more? She didn't know what she hoped for. She left his hand where it was, neither encouraging nor rejecting his touch. His hand started gently moving, caressing her shoulder lightly. He was awake.

How to respond? She could just move his hand off her, or she could move away. She did neither and instead reached her hand towards him, resting it on the singlet covering his ribs. She also began a gentle caressing motion in time with his own.

After several minutes of this, he moved a little closer. The blanket between them sagged slightly and Caroline relaxed. She started enjoying his caress on her shoulder and moved her hand slightly, slowly down his ribs to his abdomen, maintaining her slow caresses all the while.

Caroline felt his hand move gently to her neck, making skin contact before it very slowly, very tentatively slipped under the fabric of her blouse and down the side of her ribs, carefully avoiding her breast. She also felt him roll towards her slightly, allowing his other hand to rest on her blouse at her waist. The intimate touches she was receiving caused her to tense up and freeze, stopping her own caressing of Hank's abdomen through his singlet.

Hank felt her tense and maintained the motion of his hands, hoping she would relax. A flighty filly, he decided. She relaxed slowly and continued her caresses through his singlet before she moved her hand downwards, searching for the lower edge of the garment. Once she found it she carefully, slowly and tentatively eased her hand beneath it against the skin of his abdomen.

Caroline felt Hank's hand follow her lead, pulling her blouse up slightly so he could slip his hand under it and lightly, teasingly caress her lower ribs and abdomen. She felt a tremor pass through her body and, analysing it, noticed it was excitement and a previously unknown feeling which she guessed must be lust. She wanted him; no, she decided, she needed him, now, hard. She wanted him inside her!

A part of Caroline's mind examined her thoughts and feelings unemotionally. What are you thinking, woman? This is wrong; this is against everything you've been taught, everything you know. Get out of here now.

However, that part was quickly swamped by the overpowering lust she was feeling, the sensations of being a woman. Her lusty self won out; she rolled onto her side and moved closer to Hank, using her free hand to gently move Hank's hand over her breast, holding her breath as she waited to see what he would do.

Hank gently rested his hand on her soft breast, cupping it as he waited for her to release her breath and relax. Once she did, he started to slowly move his hand, kneading her breast ever so gently, lightly touching her engorged nipple while feeling her hand on has abdomen gradually moving downwards towards his hard and ready penis, which was tenting his pants and causing him pain from being constricted. He wriggled his hips, trying to make it more comfortable.

Caroline had seen her father's penis when he was washing, but it had always been small and floppy. She had never even known that a man's penis could grow hard and huge. She had never touched a penis either. She decided it was time to remedy that.

Slowly she continued her exploration, moving her hand down further beneath Hank's pants and underclothes as the tips of her fingers felt the space created by his hard penis tenting his clothing. Caroline gasped as her fingers found his rigid member. She followed it upwards towards the head, amazed at the size and hardness.

"Is it painful having this so constricted?" she whispered to him, the first words spoken since they lay together.

"Mmmm, yep, sure am," he replied, "Yer could pull it upward if yer like, that'd help."

She reached around his penis, noticing it was so thick her fingers didn't meet the palm of her hand, and carefully, slowly pulled it upwards until it lay on the lower part of his hairy abdomen, pointing towards his chin. She tentatively held it, noting that it was far longer than the width of her hand. She explored carefully, feeling the head, which was wet on the end, and giving it a small, tentative rub, causing Hank to groan.

"Did that hurt?" she asked.

"Nah, not hurt; jes' felt good," he told her.

Hank moved his other hand to cup her other breast and started a more serious massage of both breasts and nipples. Caroline lay still, enjoying what Hank was doing, holding his penis in her hand and making slow movements which Hank responded to by moving his hips.

"What do you call this?" she asked giving his penis a squeeze.

"It's me prick." He replied. "What d'yer call these?" he asked giving her nipples a squeeze.

"They're my titties," she giggled. "It feels lovely when you do what you're doing to them."

"Yeah, I like yer playin' with me prick too."

They continued playing with each other, Caroline becoming increasingly more at ease with Hank touching her intimate parts and giving her all the wonderful feelings that were coursing through her body. After a while Hank moved over towards her and she felt his warm breath on her cheek.

"Yer ever kissed a man?" he asked.

"Only my Pa," she replied.

"Well, here's 'nother first. Jes' relax."

She felt his lips meet hers, their breath mingling as his lips gently at first, then with more pressure, pressed down onto her mouth. She then felt his tongue lick her lips, then gently spread them apart and insinuate its way into her mouth. The feelings it gave her were very erotic; her lust was rapidly increasing. Ohhh, she needed him inside her, although she had no idea what that would feel like.