1.3 ARJ’s eyes opened suddenly at the cry and the sound of the crossbar dropping into place.

 Payne Township, Sedgwick County, Kansas - February 1874

Dad calmly responded saying that the horses were cold. “…a frosty night…might get sick…join me … shed … you wish.”

ARJ saw his dad slowly turn his back to the men and begin to unhitch Sugar and Spice. Most of the men followed him toward the shed, keeping him in sight but allowing him to lead the horses to shelter.

As the crowd moved, ARJ could no longer see Dad in the darkness. He held his ear against the crack but all he heard was the Kansas winter wind. Mum strode toward the bed and sat on the foot. She leaned the rifle against the wall next to her. ARJ crawled back toward John William and Eva Anna, who had fallen asleep in exhaustion. Suddenly he was sleepy, also. He slipped beneath the quilt and felt the warmth of his little brother next to him. The fire popped and crackled as it began to die down, in a steady rhythm that seemed to mark the seconds and minutes as they went by. All else was quiet in the cabin as the wind whistled around the corners.

‘I’ll just lay here for a minute and get warm, until we hear Dad’s voice again.’ He thought.

“Arthur!”

ARJ’s eyes opened suddenly at the cry and the sound of the crossbar dropping into place. Startled, he sat up and before he realized what he was doing, he had jumped over JW and the crate, and was on his feet.

His bleary eyes searched the dark room until he spotted the shadows of Mum and Dad, near the door, holding tight to each other.

“Arthur, you’re frozen!” Mum said, as she pulled him toward a chair by the fireplace. “That was the longest wait of my life!”

She began pulling logs from the pile and setting them in the embers, waking the flames.

“I thought they’d never leave!” She went on. “They ARE gone, Arthur, yes?”

Dad nodded his head. “I surely hope so!” His words shivered in the darkness.

ARJ came from behind and hugged his father’s neck. “Dad! I was so scared!” he admitted as he held on tight. “Are we going back to England?”  His father patted his arms and then reached for the cup of hot tea Mum held out for him.

Dad looked at him. “Go back to bed, son.” He patted him again. “Everything will be alright. We aren’t going anywhere. America is our home now.”

“It doesn’t feel like home.” ARJ whispered, but he didn’t argue further. The room was cold, and the bed invited him back. He lay quietly under the quilt and listened to his parents talk.

“What did those men want? They were sure angry! I had the gun down most of the time.”

“You had the gun? They MUST have scared you.”

“I was ready to use it. All I could think about was the children. I’ve watched you enough times. If they’d have gotten in…” Mum emptied her worries onto Dad before her voice trailed off.

“Their problem wasn’t with you, so they should never have threatened you like they did.”

“I heard something about the claim?”

Dad sighed. “They accused me of claim jumping. Supposedly, this Williams fellow owns the land but according to the clerk at the land office, the land was available. I have the papers!”

He shrugged his shoulder toward the door. “The men in the crowd tonight have a real loyalty to Williams, it would seem.” He paused, staring into the fire.

Then he added in a quieter voice, “I had to promise to relinquish my claim just to get in the cabin.”

The room was quiet for a while. ARJ lifted his head slightly, waiting for Dad to say more.

After a minute, Dad continued, “We may need to find another piece of land, for our own safety. If these neighbors will do what they did tonight, I hate to think what might happen in a REAL dispute.”

“I shudder to think.” Mum said quietly. Dad put his arm around her.

“They frightened you and the children and kept me away from my family for quite a long time.”

Mum nodded. “You were out there well over an hour before they let you by!”

“I’ll go talk to the law tomorrow to see if I should press charges.”

In the shadow of the room, ARJ’s eyes closed, and he was asleep.

~He was back on the Isle of Wight. ARJ stood at the crest of a tall white cliff, topped with grass and trees, overlooking the ocean. The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky and ARJ lifted his chin and felt the warmth wash over him. He looked toward the foot of the cliff and saw children splashing and laughing in the shallow waves that lapped the beach with a steady rhythm. A line of neat beach huts lined the narrow boardwalks built along the shore. The boardwalk branched out above the shallow waves. ARJ’s eyes swept across the horizon and he breathed in the island breeze feeling safe and revived. As he gazed at the comforting scene, a dark cloud appeared on the horizon. ARJ watched the billowing gray mist swell as it came closer and closer, finally engulfing the entire ocean before him in an angry storm. Waves rose and the winds began to howl. The people on the beach ran for cover, following the steps up the narrow chine. ARJ desperately wanted to run to meet them in a safe shelter on the high ground, but as he turned to go, a gust of strong wind picked him up with such force that he found himself in midair, falling off the chalk cliffs of home and into the ocean far below. ~