Journal Entry 11

I went to the plaza this morning with Joshua. We went for a couple of reasons. One of the reasons was that I just needed to get away from the Spurs Fort for a while. I think Joshua needed a break from his chores too because he didn’t complain when I asked him to go. He usually gives me some excuse about having a ton of things to do and then gives me a list of other people to ask.

The second reason we went was for supplies. Luckily, Joshua knows exactly who to seek out when he is looking for something in particular. We don’t spend our time wondering aimlessly looking for a kiosk that might have what we need. The kiosk owner Joshua was looking for didn’t set up today. We asked around and no one had seen or heard from Rose in a couple of days.

On the way home, we ran into Tony and his gang. They had a Hyena pinned against a wall. The Hyena was a bloody mess. It must have been a challenge to catch this one because Tony and a couple of his people looked a bit tired and dirty. Things looked as if they were under control so we didn’t interrupt the process.

Journal Entry 10

Today has been a day full of chores and a day trying to keep Kate out of trouble. It all started at breakfast this morning. Hemy and I were making pancakes when Kate comes in, drunker than a skunk, and starts calling us names. Kate was stumbling all over the kitchen, knocking things off the table and counters. Who knows when or why she started drinking. I honestly don’t think she needs a reason to drink. I think she drinks out of habit. Hemy and I took Kate to her bed. She passed out the moment her head plopped on the pillow.

I was hoping Kate would sleep the day away. I would let Joshua take care of her the moment he returned from town. It didn’t happen. Kate was up again in two hours causing trouble again. Only this time she was harassing some of the people trying to put up walls on one of the new bunkhouses. She was stumbling around tossing things here and there being vulgar and rude. The people were doing their best to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else. I grabbed Kate’s bottle of Gin out of her hands and smashed it on the ground. I grabbed Kate’s arm and drug her back to her bed. I yelled at her to stay put. I threatened her with bodily harm if she came out again. I also said a few other things that I won’t repeat but the girl ticked me off. Kate crashed on her bed. I took the opportunity to look everywhere for a hidden stash of Gin. I didn’t find any. I was certain she didn’t have anymore.

I went back to my chores. I occasionally went to Kate’s room and listened at the door to make sure she was behaving. I never heard anything. I assumed she had been sleeping. I was wrong. Unexpectedly, Cecelia came running up to the house saying Kate was causing trouble. I don’t know when Kate got out of her room but she managed to make it all the way to the cattle.