Turnabout

By Carole A. Powell

It is a story about life with pictures by her daughter Tammy. The second one is about a man who raises 7 children himself. The third is about the Indians and Calvary and 2 forts. The fourth one is about 4 generations and the 5th one is about a teenage boy who experiences life. All of these books were written in a 2 month time frame. Enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479793563

Carole A. Powell

Author born in Indiana and has lived all over the U.S. Cancer and other diseases has kept her homebound and she decided to write books. The first book was published by a small company and cannot be bought at the present time. It is a story about life with pictures by her daughter Tammy. The second one is about a man who raises 7 children himself. The third is about the Indians and Calvary and 2 forts. The fourth one is about 4 generations and the 5th one is about a teenage boy who experiences life. All of these books were written in a 2 month time frame. Enjoy.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Carole A. Powell.

ISBN: Softcover 978-1-4797-9355-6

Ebook 978-1-4797-9356-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

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Contents

In the Beginning

In the Middle

In the End

In the Beginning

The Flathead crept up silently to peer out of the thorn bush. He made sure he left no tracks. This was not a time for a kill but a time to observe. He peered down into the old washout and watched the soldiers from Fort Conway. He let out a chirp like a cricket and two more braves joined him. Painted Rock was motioning with excitement as his wide eyes spotted 3 women under the overhang. They wore the full uniform of Co. B., and also carried revolvers. One of them had removed her boots and was rubbing her feet. She was pretty, according to the indian, especially since she had long red hair. He was amazed that all that hair could fit under an Army hat. The other two were ordinary and nothing stood out. The Scout counted 18 soldiers assuming the women of the white eyes were fighting warriors also. On command, the band crawled backwards and kept out of range from the soldiers. Black Dirt cautiously removed himself and his horse away from the scene. No Name stayed at his side and the three were gone as quietly as they entered. Black Dirt knew the day would bring blood.

Master Sargent William Stevens, the commander of Co. B, was about 35 years of age and considered quite handsome by the ladies. Many had tried to sway his bachelor ways but to no avail. But make no mind, for you would have to look long and far before you found a more fierce fighter and soldier. He was as they say married to the Corps.

They had been travelling for 3 days and today they were resting earlier than usual. M. Sgt. Stevens ordered extra bread and beans for the troop and maybe some kind of sweet dessert. Sgt. Roger Johnson, the cook, needed some time to come up with a special meal but knew it would get done. He was 46 years old and had been with the Corps. for 26 years. The troop was really grateful for his food. When not on patrol, he cooked for about 80 men at Fort Conway in Northern Arizona.

Three women arrived by guarded stage coach to Fort Conway last month and it was decided to dress them in military attire for their safety. All three of them had different destinations and this was the purpose of the patrol. Sarah Billlingsly, the red head, was the daughter of Master Sargent Billingsly at Fort Wilson which was about 100 miles from Flagstaff. Lucy Travers, a school marm headed for Lone Bluff, a small silver mining town. Connie Roberts, an opera singer, headed for Flagstaff and beyond. She took her voice where the money was and this was mostly big cities. Connie was not married and said she had no desire to, although she had many beaus and sweeties. This always seemed like a puzzle. Half of the worlds women cannot wait to have a man and start reproducing while the other half have no desire to mingle and multiply. As Miss Connie said, "I am like a Black Widow Spider. I chew men up and abuse them and spit them out. If it was’t for her beautiful voice I do belive she would have been found dead in an alley years ago.

M. Sgt. Stevens knew his main delivery was Sarah to Fort Wilson. The other 2 ladies were just baggage to him but he had to deliver them to their destinations to be rid of them. Sgt. Idol Parker also was accompaning them on this patrol. Idol was a family name his mother had given him. but the rest of the men simply called him SIP for his initials. Cpl. Peter Kelley. a lad from Pennsylvania, still had a lot of the brogue when he talked. Both parents had come to the United States from Ireland, so it took awhile for his speech to get Americanized. I wondered how this young lad got to the Arizona Territory and later, Peter told me he always wanted to be a cowboy so he joined the Army to get out West. Made sense to me. He would ride a horse and shoot a gun, kill the enemy, have a place to sleep and free meals cooked for him daily. Of course we called him Kelley and sometimes Petey Boy. In fact, Sgt. Downey liked to sing the song Danny Boy only he would substitute the name Petey for Danny.

All of the men were grateful for the reprieve of the patrol. Extra time out of the saddle was a good thing. Sgt. Parker or SIP, wondered how the ladies were getting along. Sarah lucked out as she had riden before and could handle it. The opera singer, Connie and Lucy, the teacher, were rubbing their behinds. I do believe Connie was moaning too. SIP tried to console them and in a small way told them how pleased he was to accompany them and they were doing great on the horses. Connie just stared at him and Lucy and Sarah thanked him. Private First Class(PFC) Billy Barnes, from Oklahoma, had some Indian blood in his veins, or so he claimed. Seems his grandfather’s first wife was half Cherokee Indian. She dilevered 6 children for the gentleman before she succomed to the Vapors. In later years, Billie said his grandfather married an Irish lass who was 24 years younger than he. He never said if the new wife had any babies by him. Anyway, Billlie made it his personal duty to safeguard the ladies. He was an orphan at the age of 17 and managed to live on his own till he reached the age of 18 so he could join the Army. Billy had a little sister but has no idea where she was.

M. Sgt. Stevens called the troop to gather round for instructions. Now listen up, so far all has been quiet and I have not seen any Indians or signs on the path of any. Keep your eyes open. Sgt. Johnson is going to fix us a great dinner with real coffee and biscuits. A huge roar went up from the troop. Sgt. Downey commented that he was going to drain the water in his canteen and fill it with coffee and hoped it would stay luke warm so he could have some on the ride tomorrow.

Private (Pvt)Donny Benson was very quiet. His answers to the guys were mostly yes or no. When the troop was called at ease in the evening, Pvt. Benson had nothing to talk about. No parents, no homestead, no siblings that he remembed and no thoughts or memories of a childhood. The Army was going to give him a new life and each day was a rememberance of old yesterdays.

Sgt, Johnson was finishing up more biscuits and had a beef stew cooking in the big iron pots hanging over the fire. A small calf was born dead from and old cow they spotted this morning on the trail. Even though the event was sad, all the men were excited to have some real beef for dinner.

Up on the hills even Painted Rock favored the smells wafting up from the White Eyes camp. They better eat soon or the dinner will be wasted he thought.

PFC Billy Barnes asked Connie if she could sing in the Alto key and she was shocked that he knew any thing about music. Of course I can but I prefer opera. Will you sing a small auria for me? For you and only you Billy Boy. The words lightly formed but got louder as she