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"Stop" said a boy who stood in front of the others. He wore old dirty jeans and an old checkered work shirt, he was about six feet tall and unshaven, he had some small stubble growing on his chin and the faint hint of a moustache, his hair was a reddish colour.

"Got any money old man"? he demanded.

Dr Jones was surprised by the boys jumping out from behind the trees but he was also annoyed that he was interrupted while he was trying to tell a story. Telling stories seemed to be Dr Jones favourite pastime.

Dr Jones glared at them and then let his face soften and he said, "Look here kids, I hardly have enough to buy some food, let an old man be".

"Okay boys, the old mans hiding something search the wagon", said the boy with red hair, he was obviously the leader of this pack of ruffians and as soon as he said that the other boys started to walk to the side of the wagon and at that instance Dr Jones swung his left arm back knocking both of the amazed twins inside the wagon and he yelled at Jessy "Go Jessy, GO"! He slapped her rump hard with the reins giving Jessy a fright and sending her into action.

Jessy hurled forward sensing the urgency in her friends voice, her horse intuition also sensed danger and she was off at a good speed.

With all her walking and good caring from Dr Jones she was a fit horse.

Jessy ran straight for the red headed boy who had a shocked look on his face and it was obvious that he had never come across this situation before, he said "What the...", and then made a desperate attempt to dive out of the way of those hooves that would kill him if he did not move fast enough.

The other boys being young and curious stared at their leader to see if he would make it safety or not, they were as surprised as he was.

The gang leader hit the ground fast and rolled just in time out of the way of the front hooves but his shirt got ripped by one of the back hooves barely missing his arm. As soon as he rolled clear of the hooves and wheels he yelled "Shoot them you fools, stop the old man", and with that the other boys seemed to wake up and they raised their guns and fired into the large dust cloud that the fast moving wagon had made with its wheels hitting the old dirty road. But they fired only one volley and then the wagon shot around a corner, away to safety and away from danger. Most of the bullets missed the fast moving target and a couple of bullets hit the woodwork on the wagon, harming nobody.

Dr Jones new that the boys must have horses around somewhere so he kept the pace up with Jessy and they moved along at speed. The twins climbed up on the wagon seat again.

"Are any of you hurt"? said Dr Jones. Both children said together "No, just bruised and surprised".

"That was smart thinking Dr Jones", admired Mary, "Do you think that they will come after us".

"I am not sure, they may do, but it depends on how desperate they were for some money or whether they were after something else", "we will keep a watch on the road behind us to see if they are trailing us, we aren't far from the next town so they may not follow us". "Ben could you please take the first watch"?

"I sure will", said Ben who like Mary was eager to help, but as time went by it was obvious that the teenage boys were not following them.

Soon they came upon a small town that looked like a town from the past it had the appearance of a 1800's western town. Dr Jones said "These towns in the outback's like this don't get many visitors and they enjoy it when I bring medicines, material and gossip from the big cities and other towns. I prefer to use the old wagon because its the way I am, I like to live an unhurried lifestyle and just take it easy". This was an old gold mining town, it used to make its living from a gold mine but it closed down many years ago and what is left is a small example of how big the town used to be, this is Jacksonville.

Into town they rode and to the left and right of the main street were many wagons and buckboards as well as many solitary horses tied to railings. The town had a happy feeling about it and people were everywhere yet there were far to few shops to cater for most needs.

The traditional Saloon was there to the left and the entire town had a look and feel off days gone by. The church was at the end of the main street on the right, it was the nicest building in the town and the tallest with its steeple reaching far above the shops false fronts.

Dr Jones wondered what day of the week it was as they went down the main street, a boy yelled out and pointed towards Dr Jones wagon and people started heading towards them. Dr Jones then stopped the wagon at the side of the street and tied Jessy to a rail and went to the back of the wagon, he then let down a ramp.

He stood at the bottom of the ramp waiting for the people to gather around and start his selling speech.

Mary and Ben stood inside the wagon watching the people gather around Dr Jones.

Mostly woman and children, were there to see what Dr Jones had to offer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls gather around for Dr Jones specials" said Dr Jones.

An old lady who was at the front of the crowd said, "Welcome Dr Jones, what have you been up to over the last six months since we last saw you?"

Dr Jones smiled at her fondly and said "Why its Mrs Darling, I have been busy. How are you my dear friend"? Dr Jones had a knack for remembering people's names.

"Missing your stories and wares good Dr Jones, for we are very short of good supplies, material, and news of the world", "Thank you for coming, please show us what they are selling in the cities these days and tell us of the doings going on in the world today!"

With that Dr Jones started holding items up one by one and asking for the public to bid for them. There were pots and pans, material of all shapes and sizes, candy for the children and good strong leather boots and work gear for the men.

Ben and Mary stood in the wagon and handed Dr Jones whatever he called for, it was very exciting for the twins and a new experience. They loved the challenge and worked hard all afternoon helping Dr Jones sell his goods. After about 2 hours of non stop selling and story telling, Dr Jones said, "Time to shut up the shop for today, we need a rest and some good food and a place to sleep for the night". With that he waited for someone to kindly offer him and the children a place to stay, for free of course.

Mrs Jane Weatherbee stepped forward and offered Dr Jones a place to sleep for the night at her house. Dr Jones of course was delighted and accepted with his gracious charm that was only seen in the presence of good woman.

"Will there be enough room for the children"?, said Dr Jones.

Jane said, "Yes of course, what are there names"?

Mary quickly said before Dr Jones could answer, "Jim and Grace Sanders.

Dr Jones turned towards the twins and gave then an enquiring look and frowned but did not say anything. But it was obvious he was curious about these two youngsters who had fallen on his lap and who were both so young and travelling alone at the tender age of eight.

Mrs Jane Weatherbee said, "Come on then Jim and Grace, come to my house to refresh yourselves and we will leave the good Dr Jones to pack up all his gear, you children have worked hard enough today!"

With that the twins jumped down from the wagon and followed Mrs Weatherbee to her humble home which was a small two story house which she and her husband lived in. The Weatherbee's children had all grown up and were now living in the town with families of their own.

Dr Jones smiled as he watched the children who followed the good natured Mrs Weatherbee and then he set about putting everything away for the night and tending to Jessy who had earned her keep that day by helping save them. Humming to himself he set to work.

Once inside the Weatherbee's home the twins found the house to be very warm and friendly. But they were having to ward off difficult questions from Mrs Weatherbee, so Ben said to her that they would both like a bath if that was possible and Mrs Weatherbee said, "Of course, how rude of me. You have been travelling for so long and worked so hard, I will set up the baths for you both now".

While the twins were bathing Dr Jones came in and was helping Mrs Weatherbee light the fire in the large fireplace and he then helped her set the table. Mr Weatherbee arrived and he walked straight up to Dr Jones and shook his hand warmly, "Oh, so we have the pleasure of your company in our humble home Dr Jones".

"Scott, Your kind and generous wife offered your home and I would be a fool to say no to such a lovely lady and who you and I both know is the best cook in town", with that last comment Mrs Weatherbee blushed and smiled at Dr Jones and her husband and said, "flattery will not get you an extra helping Dr Jones" but she was very happy with his comments just the same.

Just as Dr Jones and Scott sat down the twins walked into the room and smiled at the adults, they looked wonderful with the clean clothes that Mrs Weatherbee had given them, clothes which her own children wore many years before but they fit the twins now. Ben was especially happy about the nice shoes that she had given them and Mary loved the dress she was wearing, she and Ben had never owned clothes like these before.

Scott Weatherbee looked at the children and said, "Well what have we here, twins, a girl and a boy and what are they doing with the devious Dr Jones may I ask"?

Dr Jones chuckled at Scott's comment and the twins smiled along with Mrs Weatherbee.

Dr Jones said, "They are distant cousins and they were dumped on me by a relative, their names are Jim and Grace Sanders, but that's a long story Scott what have you been up to here?"

To be continued…