Kwen D Griffeth

The Law of Moses Kwen D Griffeth

"Ain't right. Bushy was a good man. Ain't right burying him with this trash."West looked at the man who had all the characteristics of a teamster."Did you know this man?" West motioned to Bushy."Course I know'd him. He hailed from St. Louis. Still has a daughter back there, I think. He was a good man. Most of the mines in these parts wouldn't have gear and food if it weren't for Bushy and men like him. It ain't right the marshal sticking him in the ground with those two thieves and killers.""I didn't see you voice your concern when the marshal was here.""No! And you won't see me step on rattlesnakes either.""What does that mean?"The teamster looked at West as if wondering if West was simple, "You don't know what I mean? You don't know Sam Moses?"West shrugged, "Can't say that I do. He's only been marshal a couple of days. Our old marshal died in his sleep. Marshal Tom had been the law here as long as I have been here and that's a spell. We put out the word, and Moses was the first to respond. We got trail herds coming through in a bit so we hired him."The teamster struggled to hold back his chuckling, "You hired Sam Moses to be your marshal as a pig in a poke?""I don't see what is so funny.""Do you have laws on the book here, or a list of dos and don'ts the people are supposed to live by?""Sure, we have laws, voted on by the town council and signed into law by the mayor.""Well, you can throw that book away. This town is under the Law of Moses now."Samuel Cardiff had a plan. He had recently graduated from the Teachers College and now he was returning home. The first goal completed, his next step was to find a position and then he could get married. Samuel was a quiet man, some would say a pacifist. He believed in God, family and education. He was not concerned with the happenings outside his home town. Outside events, however, were about to drag him from his beloved Elmira. It was the spring of 1861 and Confederate forces had recently attacked Fort Sumter. Against every moral belief, he enlisted in the Union Army and with his first step toward the south, he changed his life forever.