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Bam!Bam!Bam!


Three shots just ranged out coming through the side of the cabin.Rolling out of my bunk hitting the floor hard I grabbed my rifle.

What was that all about raced through my head.Only the light from the dying fireplace lit the room and I could hear Buddy and Freda barking and growling but could only see outlines of them in the dim light.Hope they are ok,sounds like it though.

It had to be middle of the night my guess would be around 3 am.Laying still I could hear nothing outside the only sound heard was the beating of my racing heart and the hounds with their muffled growls.

No way I'm opening the door this time of night not being able to see who is out there.Someone was trying to kill me and by the grace of God they missed.

I am just fine here on the floor till morning.Then I would do some investigating.

Sunrise sure is taking it's time today.

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Good to be back at the cabin.Put on a big pot of soup in the old black pot.It's simmering and will be ready soon.Cornbread flitters will finish out supper.Nothing better than food cooked in a fireplace is there.

It's cold tonight outside but toasty in here.Sun is setting,a brilliant orange fills the twilight sky.Buddy and Freda are at their post in front of the fire waiting on their supper.

As said earlier my name is Pete.Just Pete.Never knew my folks I  was raised by strangers who would just take me in cause there was no where else for a boy to go.Guess if a last name was needed I would just pick the name of one of the families who raised me.So just call me Pete.

Rocking in my chair with my pipe in front of the fire sipping on a jug of that sour mash.Good to be alive in this winter of 1860.

You may wonder if I get lonely with no human contact.I can answer honestly no.Get all I need when trading with the flatlanders in town.I see them rush around from hither to yonder worrying about this and that.No way for a man to live in my book.

This war thing going on.I must read my Bible and see what Jesus said about wars and such.Yep that what I will do while soup simmering.

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After my encounter with the Jones boys I'm just glad to be sitting here under a pine tree smoking my pipe.Buddy and Freda must sense something had been going on cause they are sticking close to me.The Jones boys are no big concern.If push comes to shove I'll do whats necessary with them varmints.

God sure knew what he was doing when He made this old pitiful world.A more beautiful day could not be had.Not a cloud in the deep blue sky,no snow falling,just the wind gently whispering through the pine trees the only sound heard.

Leaning back against the tree smoking my pipe with hounds by my side I think what else does a man need in this world.Least of things I need is to go fight in a war which is no concern of mine.No one has done anything to me except maybe those fool Jones brothers but they are just a pest that all.

I have a rule to live by.Don't mess with me,I won't mess with you.

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Well the tracks where easy to follow.It's the Jones brothers on horseback.Three of the sorriest low down thieving not fit to kill rats the world has ever known.Their Momma should have done the world a favor and pinched the heads off them boys when they where youngins.

What do they want I ponder.Pete they said(that's my name)we come to inform you that the war has started.Seems shots have been fired at Fort Sumter in South Carolina and the war is on.

We are the homeguard of this county and you have been inducted into the army of the Confederacy.If you don't come along peacefully ,well we gonna take ya.

For a second those words rung in my ears.GONNA TAKE YOU!That was all it took.I raised my Winchester and pulled on the trigger stopping just in time.

Now I'm a lot of things.Some bad some good but of all the animals I hunted and killed never had I took the life of another human.Even these Jones brothers didn't deserve to die today even though killing them would have been better for us all.

With my rifle point blank pointed at them I convinced them it be best to mozzie on back to town and leave me be.

They where persuaded but I knew that wasn't going to be the end of the matter.

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Mountain man is what I am.That is my choice.Just me my hounds and nature is all I want.Living on this mountain gives me the freedom those flatlanders can only dream about.

Hunting and trapping is how I make my living.Selling what skins not used for my self to those in the town.Self reliant is the only way to live.Not needing anyone except my common sense and the help and blessing from the almighty God above.

The flatlanders are going to start them self a war.As mentioned before there is talk of succeeding from the Union.North against South.I'm Georgian born and bred but I will chose not to partake in their war.This mountain is where I will fight my war just surviving.

Let the flatlanders and their own figure out this war that coming.

My biggest problem of the moment is getting the door of the cabin open.It snowed hard and deep last night and it's blocked by drifting snow.

Time for Buddy,Freda and me to get going.I seen tracks while out hunting yesterday.The most dangerous type of animal.Human.