Reiner rode into camp a veritable harvest of meat with him, two turkey's, two rabbits, two Pheasants, and a large twelve point White-Tailed Buck. He'd also acquired some pork from hunting boars. And after dropping them off at Pearsons, he went straight to Arthur.
''Arthur, where's Charles?'' He asked.
''Out hunting, why?'' Arthur asked.
''We might have a problem. Not too far from here, on my return trip, I saw nearly a hundred Bison.'' He said.
''So?''
''They were dead, shot and left to rot. That kind of thing isn't accidental. And it could draw the kind of attention that we don't need. Besides, Bison are sacred to the Indians, Charles will want blood. I say we round up a few boys and go hunting. We'll bring back some bison meat and hides and we'll avenge the ones left to rot.'' Reiner said.
''Who were you thinking?'' Arthur asked.
''You, me, Charles, Javier, and Bill. No telling how many poachers we're dealing with. And it's not too far from the Camp, so if something happens here we can return swiftly.'' Reiner said.
''Alright, you've convinced me. Go tell Bill and Javier to prepare, soon as Charles comes back, we'll ride out. See if we can find these pricks.'' Arthur said.
''On it.'' Says Reiner.
''And check in on Tilly while you're at it.'' Arthur says.
''I know.'' Reiner called over his shoulder.
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Reiner had returned to camp, and it felt good having her man back. What felt better was the feeling of him inside her. Tilly did her best to keep her moans quiet as Reiner pounded her from behind.
Reiner groaned as he finally spent himself inside her. Tilly rolled onto her back and idly spread her lower lips. Feeling Reiner's seed spill out.
''At this rate, Jack won't be the only kid in camp.'' Tilly said as Reiner pulled her on top of him and started playoffs with her breasts.
''Don't tempt me. I'll absolutely do it.'' Says Reiner, as she straddles him.
''Then maybe we should go again.'' Tilly smirked.
''Can't. Maybe tonight. I have to go with Arthur, Charles, Javier, and Bill to deal with some poachers making trouble too close to camp. We'll bring back some Bison meat for a grand old meal, and afterwards I'm claiming this ass.'' Tilly took in a sharp breath as Reiner grabbed a fistful of her ass and inserted a finger into her back door.
Reiner pulled her close, pressing her against him and rolling over on top of her, she wrapped her legs around his waist.
He held her head in his hands as his thumb stroked her cheek.
''Tilly, I love you. If you want a child, I'll give you one. My heart is yours always.'' She felt her heart ache. A child with Reiner? She wanted that. She wanted it so bad.
''Then fuck me some more.'' She demanded.
''Yes mam.'' Reiner said obediently.
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After fucking Tilly some more and suggesting Mary-Beth visit Tilly after leaving their tent, Reiner, Bill, Javier, Arthur were saddled up and leaving camp. Charles was not happy after Arthur said poachers were slaughtering Bison a stones throw or two from camp. He was very to deal with these poachers, and also bringing back Bison meat.
Reiner and Charles often hunted big game and would place the meat in special barrels to make sure the meat lasted upwards of several months to a year through salt packing and brine. Deer and rabbits and other small to medium sized game animals were good in the short term, but a big game animal like a Bison times five amounted to around at least two thousand to twenty five hundred pounds of meat.
Salt packing it and soaking in Brine gave them a great backup supply when sources of food got scarce or when times were tough. The Bison meat was also amongst Reiner's favorites, though it was second to Pork, and third to Venison.
You just couldn't beat a slow cooked Venison Stew with gravy, potatoes, carrots, onions, Chili's and spices, and mushrooms. Reiner often helped Pearson prepare such a stew. The meat was coated in flour, chili powder, salt and pepper, and Paprika. Not quite hot enough for Reiner's taste, but the last time he made some hot sauce up and poured it into the stew - at Sean's insistence - the Gang was laid up for days with the runs. It was very amusing watching Uncle, Sean, Dutch, Hosea, and everyone except him and Javier running for the bathroom and complaining of their arses being on fire.
Well, with luck they'd build a tolerance to it over time. He liked things hot. And he planned to have regularly spiced up meals.
He enjoyed a good bit of heat, but he loved honey more. Both were actually going to be quite crucial in the economies of New Hanover, Lemoyne, and West Elizabeth in the future. It would be a pain buying all the seeds he needed, but the upside was he could guarantee that they'd not fail. So ordering nearly a million plants worth of seeds would cost him around sixteen dollars.
Whiskey was but one path to the wealth Reiner planned to acquire, because as the saying went, never put all your eggs in one basket…
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They rode out onto the plains, five hardened outlaws intent on dealing with the poaching because of the threat it posed to them. Charles of course wanted to protect the Bison, while Reiner and the others were doing it because nearly a hundred murdered bison that were left to rot and attract predators, which in turn would attract hunters and ranchers and could lead to the law getting close to the camp. Dutch would likely be alright with what they were doing, they'd only just settled in at Horseshoe Overlook, so nipping this poaching in the bud would only prolong that instead of cutting their period of rest short in New Hanover.
They rode out to the plains in force, armed to the teeth. Reiner and Arthur would take down five Bison, one for each man. Before that they would deal with the poachers near Larnod Sod.
''Alright lads, we're close to Larnod Sod. We follow through Twin Stack Pass and just as we leave the Pass you'll start to see the Bison. But beyond it is where the Bison have been culled.'' Reiner said.
''And you're absolutely sure?'' Charles asked.
''Yeah, the Cornwall Oil fields aren't far, my money's on the fact it's Cornwall who probably had them hired to make it look like it was indians, According to rumors, the old bastard's been trying to acquire the Wapiti Indian reserve under the belief there's oil there. I think we need to take a more proactive role in dealing with him. How many of you boys have rode past that burned down town to the camp's southwest near the river? Well, that's the town I mentioned in the mountains. Cornwall had the women, children, and everyone else who could breath doused in oil and burned alive. Then burned down the town to make it look like they died trying to save the town. The man in charge of the active military fort nearest the Reserve is someone I served with, a real piece of work called Favours.'' Says Reiner.
''What's the plan, when we find these guys?'' Javier asks.
''Well, we'll have them hogtied and transport them to the plains. We give them the choice of digging or truth.'' Says Reiner.
''What, like back in Nuevo Paraíso? With the buffalo?'' Javier asked.
''Exactly.'' Reiner smirked beneath his mask.
''Nothing less than they deserve.'' Charles grunted.
''Agreed.'' Javier said.
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''Dig!'' Reiner dropped two shovels in front of the poachers, Javier and Bill kept their rifles trained on the two poachers as they dug. Reiner stood between Charles and Arthur.
''I received word from my banker, someone has been slowly icing me out. White Oak is rotting from the inside. I'm calling a meeting, seeing if we can find out what the fuck is going on. If someone is icing me out, then at least one person in the inner circle is backing them. Out of everyone in the inner circle, there's only one who would have the balls to challenge me like this, I'll see if I can appear to his underbosses. There's at least one who'll talk to me. I'll need Dutch to make an appearance as a show of strength and support. They'll respect it more if he's with me, fucking gang politics. I'm also buying some land out in Lemoyne. See if that kicks the proverbial hornet's nest.''
''How much is that land going to cost?'' Arthur asks.
''A little bit over twenty one thousand dollars.'' He said idly.
''What?'' Charles asked.
''WHAT?!?!'' Arthur asked. ''You have that kind of money in a bank?'' Arthur demanded.
''Uh, a lot more than that.'' Reiner said.
''How much more?'' Arthur asked, patience thin.
''A Couple million.'' Everyone looked at him, from the boys to the poachers.
''So you mean to tell me… all this time we've been robbing and killing folk you've had millions in a bank gathering dust?''
''That's just from the Moonshine. I tax it at forty-five percent at the end of each month. I don't end up using much of it.''
''And that's just from a forty-five percent tax?'' Charles asked.
''Yeah, a hundred and ten bottles a shipment, six shipments a day, at a price tag of a dollar fifty a bottle. Plus a ten percent fee from the monthly sale of the bottles. Trust me you drink my shine, and you won't be so shocked.''
''How can you possibly produce over six hundred bottles of shine a day?'' Javier asks.
''Wrong question, from 1893 until the start of 1897 we had a shipment size of a hundred and ten bottles and sold it at a dollar fifty and produced six hundred and sixty bottles a day, which means that we produced four thousand and six hundred and twenty a week, for a grand total of eighteen thousand and four hundred and eighty bottles in a month. And I taxed forty-five percent of the profits at the end of each month with a ten percent return to every person we sold in bulk. That's around twenty seven thousand and seven hundred and twenty total profit. But start of 1897 we began producing a hundred fifty bottles per shipment for twelve shipments a day, which made a eighteen hundred bottles a day, for twelve thousand and six hundred bottles a week, which in turn meant fifty thousand and four hundred bottles a month for a personal profit over those thirty six months of two million two hundred and twenty eight thousand six hundred and eighty eight dollars.'' He looked at everyone. ''What?''
''My god.'' Arthur pinches the bridge of his nose,
''We can discuss this later. They've dug deep enough.'' Charles said, and only the poachers' heads were visible.
''Now the fun begins.'' Reiner said, smirking beneath his mask.
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''You can't leave me here!'' One of the poachers screamed.
''Oh, we're not. See, you're a sacrifice. You've been butchering the Bison, so we had you dig and buried you up to your head because we're going to herd the bison at you. If you're lucky you'll be dead by the first trampling. If you survive we'll dig you free.'' Reiner said, signalling Charles, Bill, and Javier to begin herding the bison. The other poacher was hogtied again and made to watch from afar as they herded the Bison towards the man.
To Reiner's immense annoyance, the Bison didn't touch the poor bastard. He was still alive.
''Plan B it is then.'' Reiner nodded to Arthur.
''Plan b.'' Arthur agreed.
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(Author's Note:)
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This might have the current distinction of the highest content word count for a chapter in Artificer of the West at 1,965. So a couple of things occurred in this chapter, we caught a glimpse at Reiner's true wealth just from Moonshine. That figure was just from bulk sales. Reiner actually has a lot more since he's quite the train and bank robber. He's actually robbed himself three times and after the third time he moved his funds to Saint Denis and hired Pinkerton to protect his banker and encouraged the bank to hire them. Captain Edward Reiner has actually shared a meal with both Robert and William Pinkerton.
Makes the transition period a lot more interesting.
We'll skimp over plan b because I'll get more content describing it than actually writing it. See you guys next chapter….
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