1.2 “You have no business with my children and I!” Mum yelled through the door.

 Payne Township, Sedgwick County, Kansas - February 1874

“My husband isn’t home! What do you want?” She yelled through the door.

ARJ looked over at her. She had her face pushed against the door. Her voice sounded angry and frightened at the same time.  

“You have no business with my children and I!” Mum yelled through the door.

 

ARJ could see her silhouette against the far wall which now glowed with the dancing flames in the fireplace. He saw her brace herself as she held the rifle.

 

“Shhh… John William. It’ll be okay.” she said gently, as her younger son’s shrieks rose to match those of the baby’s.

 

ARJ lay still with his face against the cold wood. He could hear some of the men talking on the other side of the wall.

 

“It’s her husband we want.” One man said.

 

“I just checked the shed.” Said another. “No wagon or horse inside. She’s probably telling the truth.”

 

“He’s got to come back some time.”

 

“You men stay here, and we’ll start for town. Maybe we’ll meet him on the way.” He heard a man, maybe the leader, tell some of the others. ARJ watched as some of the torches moved off toward the road.

 

ARJ felt his heart racing. He crawled back to JW. “Don’t cry! Dad will be home soon.” He slipped between his brother and the edge of the bed so he could pat Eva Anna who was in full wail.

 

“Dad will come home and make them leave.” He said to reassure himself, as much as his siblings.

The waiting mob seemed to cool their fervor as the group split, but they remained.

 

Mum was now pacing from the door to the bed and back again. Her slender back stiff and straight as she paced, listening for danger, and protecting her children. Once or twice, ARJ saw her hands shake as they gripped the rifle. He had never seen her hold the gun, let alone shoot it, but he knew she would do whatever she needed to do.

 

It seemed like hours before they heard the wagon. At once, ARJ was relieved Dad was home, and terrified for what the mob would do now.

 

Shouting filled the air as the wagon wheels rumbled to a stop.

ARJ told his brother. “I’ll be right back. Pat the baby so she doesn’t start crying again.”

 

JW scooted over and ARJ crawled back to peek through the crack. He saw Dad jump from the wagon and slowly walk the reins around to tie the team to a fence post. He calmly patted the horses the way he used to calm the horse that pulled his cart through the streets of Ryde on the Isle of Wight, just a year ago.

 

Dad attempted to walk toward the house but the men shifted to block his way. Dad looked toward the cabin and then raised his voice.

 

“Anna? Are you safe?”

 

Mum let herself lean her back against the wall when she heard Dad’s voice. Then she turned and pressed her face against the door. “We’re unharmed, Arthur!” She called back.

 

The man who seemed to be leading the mob stepped in front of Dad. “Dibbens, no one has hurt your family. You’ll stay here and answer us.”

The other men expressed their agreement and anger filled their voices. A man near the back of the crowd held a rope in the air. ARJ wasn’t sure he understood what the rope was for, but it frightened him just the same.

 

“You Arthur Dibbens?” The first man asked impatiently.

 

Dad smiled, but it didn’t look like a real smile. “I am. What can I do for you?”

 

“The name’s Williams, Robert Williams. This land belongs to me! I get back here from a job only to find you filed papers on land that belongs to me!” The mob nodded and agreed forcefully again, a few stepping closer to Dad. ARJ held his breath.

 

“We don’t take well to claim jumpers around here!” The man with the rope yelled. ARJ shivered and looked toward Mum. She was still leaning against the wall; the rifle stood next to her, but she no longer gripped it like before.

 

ARJ looked back through the crack. Dad stood still, separated from the rest of the family by a sea of angry faces, lit by torch and lantern light. A strong gust of wind suddenly swept the farmyard causing some men to extinguish their torches. Controlling the riotous flames in a crowd suddenly became worrisome.

 

ARJ lost his dad's face in the commotion. He searched frantically with his eyes in the much dimmer light until he spotted him. Dad pulled his coat collar up over his neck and pushed his captain’s cap tighter on his head. The wind picked up again and ARJ found it difficult to hear what the men were saying. Partial sentences swirled on the gusts.

 

His dad’s voice, “The clerk in the land office…” The wind whistled through the crack and drowned out the words. He heard him speak again. “I have the papers …” eeeeeeeeeoooow… Perhaps …wwwwhhhhooooo… let the claim expire?”

 

Angry voices answered him, but the wind carried them off with Dad’s voice but ARJ heard only pieces. “Should string you up!” “…cabin down around you!”