Warrior Woman

By Gerald Goble

In 1890 David Gregg a hard nosed railroad man was pulled from the Kansas and Pacific railroad to go to Texas and oversee the construction of the Texas Western Railroad a project from Austin across Texas through Pecos and on to connect with Pacific Rail in Van Horn. The area was filled with Comanche, outlaws, and men in search of power like Judge Roy Bean. Here David meets Mosi the Warrior Woman. Mosi is the daughter of a Comanche Chief and Mr. Knight the President of the Railroad. It is said a Chief called her a Warrior Woman because she rode around like a warrior and did not behave like the normal squaws. David and Mosi find love and a new life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gerald Goble
• Release date: Jul 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370345991

Gerald Goble

Gerald Goble has PhD in Theoretical Physics and has been a research scientist, teacher, federal employee, businessman, manager, and martial arts instructor. He is author of several scientific publications, U.S. Army Publications on Ammunition and Explosives, non fiction books "The Way of Two as One“, "The Bear Slayer – Women’s Self-Defense“; the fiction books, the Bunko Club Murder series, and the Jack Wellington UN Attaché Series, Westerns “Jacob’s Coat”, "Strays" and "Warrior Woman" and Science Fiction, "The Majestic Committee."

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Warrior Woman

By

Gerald Goble

Warrior Woman

By

Gerald Goble

Warrior Woman

By

Gerald Goble

Copyright © 2016 Gerald Goble

All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping by or by information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author with exception of brief quotations. This is a work of fiction. Some characters may have a historical counterpart, but their actions and dialogue are fictional. Some names, incidents, organizations, may have a historical counterpart but their use in this novel are either, the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

For Joan my friend my love.

Chapter 1

The locomotive with a sign that read Baldwin Locomotive Works whistled and steam shot out horizontally along the station platform as the train stopped at the Kansas City Station. A man with a black suit jacket and gray work pants stood at the forward door to the second passenger car as the train pulled to a stop with a bag in his right hand and a slicker over his left arm. He scanned the people on the station platform as the train stopped. There were several women wore dresses in the latest style trends with gathered necklines with a tight bodice, leg o'mutton sleeves a gathered waist and shoes that barely showed at the bottom. There were no women in sight with older style of obvious corseting or bustles. He looked about past the station there was an area open to the southwest. The land was mostly flat with slight rolling hill that went as far as one could see till it met the light blue of the sky at the horizon. The man on the train thought, If not for the skyline and the men with cowboy hats this could be Philadelphia.

A man in the crowd with a white cowboy hat, a leather vest, and corduroy work pants waved and called out, Mr. Gregg, David Gregg?

David turned and looked in his direction, nodded, and raised his left hand with the slicker and grabbing the iron vertical handle on the train stepped off of the car on to the platform. The man stepped forward and extended his hand. The man said, I’m Frank Dodd from the K. and S. office. I’ve been sent to bring you to the office.

David frowned, switched his slicker to his left hand with the suitcase and shook the man’s hand. I understood your office wanted me to get me quickly to the end of track at El Dorado. The western end of the line from Wichita on is going well. I could have gone directly there instead of this roundabout way.

Well the President of the K. and S, Cyrus K. Holliday wanted to talk to you first, Frank said with a glance downward to his feet.

David rolled his eyes and said, Oh God, what does, he, want? Frank just shook his head from side to side. David looked at Frank and said, I have a horse and gear in a car in the rear.

Frank went into the Station Office and came back, Someone will get your horse and gear off and take it over to the stable.

The walk to the Offices of the K and S was about a quarter of a mile ending at a two-story brick building and up the stairs to the second floor. An older woman sat a desk at the back wall of the reception room. There were wooden chairs against the wall. David dropped his bag on one of the chairs and said, Cyrus wants to see me.

The woman started to get up but David motioned her back down and walked through the door in the back before the woman could protest. David walked into the office alone closing the door behind him as he did. Cyrus Holliday looked up from his desk and slid his chair backward about a foot and placed his hands with interlaced fingers across his waist. The room was dark except for two windows behind Holliday. The walls were vertical wooden boards varnished with a dark stain. There was a couch against the right wall, a small table with four chairs to the right and a chair directly in front of the desk, David guessed to make the person that sat there have a small feeling.

Well I’m here Cyrus. What do you want? David asked? He remained standing behind the chair still holding the slicker over one arm.

Cyrus said, Well I have some ranchers holding things up at El Dorado. I expect you know that. I need someone to resolve the problems. If you can I would prefer for you to find a way around them.

David sighed, I assumed that is why you wanted to move me there. What is the actual reason I am here?

Cyrus said, The Kansas City Paper had an account of the incident at the end of track with the sledge hammer handle and the four men you sent to the hospital tent. The line is getting a reputation as a bunch of rowdy ruffians. Which may affect our stock funding calls.

David sighed again, Cyrus do you want to lay track or not. Crew laying track was placing the sleepers at more than the sledge hammer length and the follow-up team was only putting ballast half as high as the ties. The four men that I had the argument with, had an arrangement with the suppliers of the sleepers and ballast and K. and S. was paying for the normal prices for the sleepers and ballast. If I’d let that go some time later a train going over that section would have derailed, then what your funding people have said?

Cyrus smiled, Well David. I just wanted to hear it from you. Go on and take care of the El Dorado business, but try not to do it again. I had a man here from Texas and Pacific Railway that is looking for someone to butt heads. I guess they don’t have stock holders from the east watching them.

David said, Well you know I’ll do what I have to do, and you will get a good line. If I wind up in Texas so be it then. He bent down, picked up his suitcase, slicker and turned toward the door. He stopped then asked, Is Barry Donovan still the surveyor you’ve got at El Dorado? Cyrus nodded and David said, Well he is someone I can work with at least. He went out of the door and passed Frank sitting in a chair in the outer office.

The work train from Kansas City to El Dorado consisted of an engine, water car, coal car, two flat beds full of ties and rails, two boxcars with horses and mules, and a caboose car with the conductor, three men and David. David spent his time looking over surveyor maps of the area between the end of track, and the towns of El Dorado, Newton and Wichita. He would periodically look out the window at the rolling flint hills of eastern Kansas covered with high grass and wild flowers. When the train was nearing the end of track, he removed his colt from his suitcase and strapped it on.

At the end of the line was a work train and rows of tents. When the train was stopped the men in the caboose car got out. David and several others went to the car with their horses and began unloading them. A ramp was pulled out of the car, and the horses and gear were removed.

When David finished a thin blonde man walked up, with a Bushwalker hat, tan corduroy pants and a plaid shirt. David? Well, they finally got you here, he said.

David turned around, Barry, Barry Donovan, good. Can you fill me in on what’s going on here?

Yeah, but let's get your horse in the corral and your goods in the tent first. After that I have a bottle of Tennessee Whiskey and we can each have a pull while I tell you bout the troubles here.

A few minutes later, they were in front of a tent near the western edge of the camp. There were two wooden shipping boxes with a K and S label on the outside of the tent that the two men had a seat upon. Barry pulled the cork and handed David the bottle. After a quick pull, he handed the bottle back to Barry for a pull.

Well, here’s what we got. There are three ranches in the way of the proposed line, the Klaus ranch, the Mason ranch, and the Smith ranch. They are all along west side of Walnut River, and the proposed route is on land above the river. They want us to lay the track along the east side of the river, but the land is not as level and the trestles and bridging will cost much more than old Cyrus will go for. Now Lyman Humphrey the Governor of Kansas gave Cyrus and the K and S Railway a 25-foot right of way through their ranch land.

David said, Well K and S has the legal rights here, but I understand the rancher's complaint.

Well you know Cyrus. He don’t care bout their complaints only gettin the job done. He pulled you down here hopin you’ll knock heads, but the ranchers been here since before the war and all the ‘Bloody Kansas’ business, and they ain’t afraid of fightin over their land. Now I tried to explain it was only twenty-five feet wide and there wouldn’t be a train on either track more than once a day. But they complained that they’d have to fence off more than that, and their cattle wouldn’t have access to the river, Barry said then took another pull off the bottle.

David asked, Is there any place that’s neutral ground that I could talk to them without either side shootin at each other?

Barry said, "Well there’s the pub er de saloon in El Dorado. The bartender’s got a twelve gauge with in reach under the bar and don’t allow no gun play as it’s bad for business. If you can wee labhairt er talk to em in there, then there’s a chance you can get out what ya fuair a rá