Tex never did like his first name Eugene, nor did he feel like a Joseph, which is this body name that he inhabits. Eugene was born and raised in Missouri to two wonderful parents Arthur and Edith Jones that died when he was in his early teens. He had family ties in both Oklahoma and Kansas. Yet his heart was always in Montana, Wyoming, and Utah area. It was his buddies in the army that started to call him Tex after he got his Stenton hat for becoming a scout in the Army. Yes, even in this age of planes and tanks, there are still Scouts in the army. He always loves the wild west stories he read about and was told by his grandfathers, and the stories passed down to them.

When he was little, he uses to spend weekends and holidays with both grandfathers. It felt like being in heaven during his summer vacations learning to hunt, trapping, ride horses, leatherworking, and roping cows. It was after high school that he went to college, but after one year, he quit to work at a ranch in Texas, where he fell in love with ranching. A year later, his grandfather that raise him, was in the hospital dying from cancer. It was then that he promises to join the army to become a scout just like his two grandfathers. It was while he was in a jungle of Central America searching for drug lords. He found out that his adopted grandfather past away, ten years from the day that his first grandfather had died. He was able to come back and attend his grandfather's funeral. It was there that he saw a coyote sitting by his grandfather's open casket that no one else saw. He ended up seeing that coyote many times in the next fifteen years while in the army. It was not the only time the coyote appears to him in the past. Each time the coyote appears, it was when something big happens or when family or friends died, or danger was nearby. The coyote saves his life many times in his career as a Scout, and later, as a ranch hand. It was when he died that the coyote did not appear until the moment of his death. The coyote was not there to warn him but guide him to this place. After Tex arrives in this world and seeing the violent and the darkness in the human heart, it did not surprise Tex in the least. The stories of the ancients times that show humanity at its very worse. Life meant very little to those that are stronger. The weak always were the ones that suffered.

The sound of horses brought Tex out of his thoughts. It was at this time that he notices two coyotes sitting nearby one watching towards the road as he lay in the tall grass the other to the west. Peering up the pathway toward the road, he zoomed in on Baron Rathe's fourth son. Roger Theodore Rathe, a prick if there ever was one, the boy is at least as worse or more so than his older brothers. Because of the fact he learns that no matter what he does, he can either blame it on others or plead with his mother to get out of it. Baron Rathe has one wife and a dozen concubines and between twenty to thirty children. He would have more, but deaths in the Baron's family frequently happen with his women and children.

The young Lord Rathe was riding a small size horse reminding Tex of the Mongolian horses in Asia. Zooming his eyesight on the saddle, he is surprised that there were no stirrups and two horns instead of the one on the saddle that he was accustomed to. The young man looks to be about fourteen to fifteen years of age. Wearing boil leather with bronze plates riveted onto the outside of the leather and polish so much that it reflects the sunlight. Upon his head is a bronze helmet with a blue feather on top. Not sure how the enemy could not have spotted him by now. Tex turns his attention to the twenty men with detail carving on their leather armor from head to toe that surround the Baron's son. Each piece of leather armor was carved in detail of flying eagles. Each of the men was on horseback, and all of them holding bronze tip spears, checking their surroundings for danger. These men have the look of battle harden soldiers most likely assign by the boy father to guard him. One of the men stiffened and pointed to the west about the same time as one of the coyotes growled a warning as it looks westward. Panic ensued for a moment until the men turned eastward and fled with the baron's son. Not more than five minutes later, forty or more men on horses appear riding up fast and coming to a stop as they watch the Baron's son and his men pass over the distance rise. The group of men stops in the same area for a moment stirring up the ground with their horses and cursing as they stare to the east. It was the yellow flag with a bear standing fluttering in the breeze that caught his attention, Baron Scoon, is baron that was invading this barony. Looking at the officer and not recognizing the man at all. This is of no surprise to Tex considering Joseph only explored the land up to here and to the north of his village in his lifetime. Most villagers never travel more than a few thousand feet from their homes. Two men broke off from the group and headed east as the rest of the men turn and headed west toward the battlefield and the camp just beyond. It might be a good idea to see if any of the villagers were captured when he looks for the women tonight. Glancing up at the sun and seeing that it was about mid-morning, he decided to take a nap and move out after sunset.

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It was sometime early afternoon, when he awoke, wide eye and definitely not bushy tail but was hungry. After drinking more water and ate another biscuit, he washes out two waterskins he found in the cart and fills both of them up. Staking the mules to another spot where they can drink and eat. He went to the cart and cleaned up his father and uncles' bodies before wrapping them up in blankets and spent the next few hours using a short sword to dig three shallow graves and bury his father and two uncles. It took another two hours to pile rocks on top of the three graves, which were to the far side of the area so as not to contaminate the springs. He figures he could come back in a year or so and move the bones to the family plot if they so wish it. Saying a prayer over the graves, not knowing who to ask to watch over them, he calls upon his grandfather stories of the great spirit. He asks for it to guide them peacefully on to their next life.

Sitting down tiredly, he pulls out the two daggers, one bronze and the other one of iron to look them over. The craftsmanship of the iron dagger was excellent. The blades were dull, yet it would not take much to sharpen them. Some oiling and polishing would clean them back to almost new. The iron blade was slim and about twelve inches in length. However, the handles on both would need to be redone sometime in the future, and it would not be too hard to do. Carving a new handle and wrapping it with leather would take more than a few hours. The handle on it now was falling apart, but for killing someone, it still can do that.

Digging through the cart, he found a whetstone. After walking around the area, checking to see if anyone or thing was nearby, he proceeded to sit down and sharpen both blades. The cold hard biscuit and moldy cheese went down hard and tasteless. After taking care of business using the latrine. A hole that he dug and covered it up after he was done. It seems the food was as hard going in as it was going out. At this time, toilet paper would seem like a gift from the gods. Seein has an hour or so before sunset. Tex crawls up to a path toward the road to get a better lay of the land. Thirty minutes of crawling, he found a spot to check out east and west of the road.

The thoughts of several of the women from his village being used as camp whores against their will. It made it hard to fall asleep, upon waking, he decided he was going to find and rescue them. This world may condone slavery, but he doesn’t have that mindset. He knows he can’t save everyone, but Tex can help those that he can do something about. He feels that he owe Joseph for using his body. The more he got to know Joseph, the more he realized he was a kind soul, always treating everyone as a friend without doubting their character. He is still giving them a chance to change. He became bullied because of his kind nature. His Adopted parents were either they are not perceptive to this, or they did not care. The memories of his adopted father are mix with kindness and bitterness. His adopted mother shows no care other than acknowledging him as her sister's child. They may not be kind to him, but they are Joseph's family, and he will treat them as a family until they try to kill him, then the gloves are off. Everyone else beware he will not be bullied.

Finally, making his way out of the thicket at sunset, he notices someone that Joseph knew from his village. The man by the name of Holden shows up with his brother Jack about six months ago. Both brothers were not married and didn’t seem to be interested in any of the women in the village. Both brothers were in their early twenty and tended to bully the younger villagers when the elders were not looking. He believes one or both of them had destroyed several of his traps and snares. The only reason Joseph figure it was the two brothers was destroying his traps was because he spotted them walking the woods near where he place traps and snares. They were writing something on a tanned leather a few months back using charcoal, and both had foxes and weasels hanging on their hips.