3.1 ARJ’s stomach did a flip...

Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas February 1874

The next trip into Wichita allowed ARJ another game of ‘find the differences,’ as they rolled through town. He looked over the side of the wagon at the land around him. They passed mile after mile of flat brown fields that stretched as far as he could see. The only thing that stretched that far, back at home, was the ocean. He missed the harbor, walking the long pier on Sunday afternoons with his family, and the ships that docked all along the quay. He continued his game. More people rode their horses in Wichita than in Ryde, where there were more horses pulling buggies and carts. The wagon wheels sounded different in Wichita because the streets were all dirt. Dirt with deep ruts. There were no cobblestones. He used to think the cobblestones were loud and bumpy. Now, he missed them.

They arrived at the law offices in the middle of the row of buildings on main street and, as Dad secured the wagon and calmed the horse team, he reminded the boys to sit quietly while he and Mum talked to the lawyer. Dad opened the office door and ushered the family into the long building. There were three desks in the big office area behind a little wooden fence with a swinging gate. ARJ didn’t remember ever seeing a fence inside a building.

A tall man in a dark gray suit pushed through the
little gate. He greeted them at the door and shook Dad’s hand. The man nodded at Mum who returned the nod with a nervous smile.  “George Salisbury, Ma’am,” he said, and then looked down at ARJ and JW standing silently behind their parents.

“Why don’t we go back to my desk and talk? The children will be just fine on these chairs near the window.” Mum motioned with her head toward the chairs and the boys walked to them and climbed up. They each sat up straight in the smooth, varnished chairs with the big armrests, and green leather seats. Mr. Salisbury opened the little gate, gestured widely to them, and Dad, Mum, and Eva Anna went through before him. He followed and let the gate go behind him. It rocked on its hinges back and forth several times before catching in the closed position.

ARJ watched until his parents had walked to the back of the long room to a desk near the back where a second man sat. The man stood and shook hands with Dad and Mum. “Howitt,” he said, “E L Howitt. Please have a seat.”

JW nudged him and whispered. “They’re so far back there that I can hardly see them.”

ARJ nodded. “It’s not that far. They’ll come back this way to leave.”

Now that they were the only ones at the front of the office, it was very quiet.

A large wall clock on the opposite wall bonged, making JW jump. They watched the pendulum swing back and forth as the clock announced the hour.

Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong… ARJ counted the bongs. “Ten o’clock.” He whispered to his brother. He looked back toward his parents. They were in deep discussion with Mr. Salisbury.

They turned their heads and watched the busy scene out the big window.

Clomp, clomp, clomp. Footsteps sounded on the wooden boards outside. A man in a black suit and round felt hat, with a gray band around it, stopped in front of the office door. He gazed at a pocket watch he held in his hand before stuffing it back in a vest pocket. The man pulled on the office door handle and walked in, letting the door close loudly behind him.

The man turned to the right and hung his hat on a hook on the opposite wall. He pivoted on his heal and stopped sharply to look at ARJ and JW. “Do you have an appointment, gentlemen?” he asked, walking toward them. The boys looked at each other, then ARJ stood and spoke in his best grown up voice. “No sir, we’re waiting for our parents.”

“Very well, sir.” He held his right hand out to ARJ. “My name is Mr. Brewer.”

“My name is Arthur Robert Jarman Dibbens, but everyone calls me ARJ.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea, with such a long name, Mr. Dibbens.” The man remarked. “And what is your name, good sir?” He asked JW, extending his hand again.

“I’m John William, but they call me JW.” John William said quietly.

“Aahh! Another good idea.” Mr. Brewer exclaimed. He reached his hand into his jacket pocket and produced a small paper sack.

“Would you boys like a piece of candy while you wait?” He unfolded the top and held the sack out in front of them.

“Thank you, sir.” They said, to which he nodded and smiled.

“You are very welcome. Now, I must get on with my work.” He said.

ARJ and JW put the licorice into their mouths as Mr. Brewer took quick steps through the swinging gate and sat down behind a desk on the right. The boys watched as he moved a stack of papers aside and pulled an ink pen from a drawer.

A few minutes later, they heard Mr. Salisbury’s quick footsteps as he walked toward the front desk and leaned over it, as he spoke quietly with Mr. Brewer. ARJ heard only a few words of their conversation but the words, ‘big case’ and ‘might keep him out of prison’ was all ARJ needed to hear to make him begin to worry again. He rotated in the chair until he was looking through the window to the street outside. He watched as teams of horses pulled wagons on the dirt street.

Across the way, ARJ saw the Sheriff’s office where they’d been last week. The door opened and a man stepped out onto the boardwalk. ARJ’s stomach did a flip as he recognized Robert Williams, the leader of the mob that had invaded their farm.