Beyond The River

*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activities are at least eighteen years of age.

Disclaimers: Yes, I need an editor. No, I do not want an editor. If this fact bothers you that much, kindly stop reading now.

Yes, it jumps around too much, yes there's too many people to keep track of, yes it's too long, yes it's too short, yes this is in the wrong category, yes this is stupid shit and yes I am a horrible writer, barely literate, hardly legible.

Also, there is a transsexual in this story. If that sort of situation makes you uncomfortable, kindly quit reading now. I could have put this story into the 'Transsexual/Crossdressers' category, but it was more than just a story about a transsexual, so I put it into 'Anal.'

Blackrandl1958 had recently organized a block of stories for the Western genre. I was not asked to participate, and I felt no slight or exclusion in not being invited to contribute. The vast majority of those excellent writers are far superior to my own writing and their contributions were excellent. I felt compelled to stretch my literary muscles, try my own hand at that wonderful genre. So, thank you, Blackrandl1958, and thank you to the writers that contributed your talents.

*.*.*.*.*

There was a river. Richard Aucliffe could not remember the name of the river but the river separated Louisiana and Texas. If he could cross that river, he had a better chance of living out his days as a free man.

He had a better chance of living. Captain Boudreaux had sworn to see Richard Aucliffe swinging from the end of a rope. And as a hero of the Confederacy, Captain Boudreaux was a respected man around the Atchafalaya.

Richard had served in the War Between the States as well, but had never risen above the ranking of Lieutenant before Robert E. Lee surrendered.

Richard kept to the woods, keeping off the trail. Captain Boudreaux's men would be looking for him on the trail. Richard had told his sister he planned to head down to New Orleans, hole up there until this all blew over. But it would only take the boys a few hours of hard riding to figure out Richard had intended to head west.

The river was nearby; he could smell the water. He could also feel the sting of mosquitos as they swarmed around him. But he dared not slap at them, dared not make a sound.

"Damned fool boy!" he heard Captain Boudreaux's heavy voice curse.

Then he heard a splash and knew that they too were crossing the river. They would be waiting for him on the other side of the river.

There, Captain Boudreaux would not even have to wait for a rope to be knotted. He could just put a bullet into Richard Aucliffe and be shed of him.

More splashing and even raucous laughter as one of the men lost his footing and fell into the river. Then their voices were but whispers on the wind.

That night, keeping their campfire within sight, Richard crossed the river. He did not worry about trying to keep himself dry, he just swam along.

Then he was on the other side and he kept to the edge of the trail, kept just at the brink of the thick woods as he journeyed to put distance between himself and the determined man and his two companions. When he'd walked for an hour, he gave to the temptation and stretched out and slept.

The sun was just beginning to rise when he heard gunfire. He doubled back. He knew not what drew him to the commotion; perhaps it was the screams.

Just beyond a bend in the trail, he saw Captain Boudreaux and two of his men accosting a hapless Wagoneer. The man lay dying on the dusty trail, their two mules already dead. The wagon the mules had been pulling was burning brightly even as Captain Boudreaux ransacked it for what goods he could find.

Richard saw movement, saw two females hiding in the brush across the trail from him. He knew that Captain Boudreaux would soon see that the clothing he was pulling from the wagon were women's' clothing. Then he would deduce that there must be females nearby. Then he would order John and Matt to scour the brush. John and Matt would either find the two females, or they would find him.

Richard took careful aim and squeezed off a shot. For a brief moment, Captain Boudreaux actually clawed at his chest. Then he collapsed in a heap on the dusty trail.

Matt turned from his own ransacking to see if he could locate the source of the shot. When he turned, Richard put the second shot in his forehead.

John had been busy stripping the body of the wagon's driver. He whirled around and actually tried hunkering down behind the dead man's body. The trouble with that was, John was a large man. He could not hunker down very well.

Richard again took careful aim; once John was able to pinpoint his location, he'd return fire. The Colt he had in his hand was a good weapon and John was quite skilled with it.

Just as John saw the glint of Richard's rifle barrel, Richard squeezed off his shot.

John screamed as a gurgle of blood erupted from his throat. He stood to his imposing six feet five inches and raised his Colt but Richard squeezed off a fourth shot, one that slammed into John's chest, toppling the large man in the dusty trail.

The two horses, quite used to gunfire, grazed nearby. They still wore the saddles of the Confederate Calvary. Good, serviceable saddles.

"Come on out; that's the last of them yeah," Richard ordered the two females.

But when they stood, Richard saw that it was in fact one male and one female. They appeared to be brother and sister; they both had long blonde hair, big blue eyes, the same square jawline, the same small nose. Both had red lips that were pouting.

Both were short, slender of build. And both were sobbing, holding one another tightly.

"Our father," one hiccupped. "He's..."

"Dead, afraid so," Richard said.

Then when the boy moved, Richard could see that their existence was no secret to Captain Boudreaux. Captain Boudreaux had used his sabre on the youth. The sword had sliced the boy's clothing from shoulder to thigh and had actually sliced into the young man's posterior, causing a thin trickle of blood.

"Our jennies!" the girl cried out, seeing that the two mules also lay dead.

"Our wagon!" the boy echoed.

Richard took the sward and scabbard from Captain Boudreaux's lifeless form. He strapped the weapon around his waist, marveling at the weight of the blade.

"Said they'd bury you with this, Captain," he spoke somberly to the dead man. "But, don't think you'll much need it in Hell now will you?"

He found the coin purse dangling around the man's neck and noted that his bullet had struck just beneath the heavy leather satchel. One inch higher, the man would have survived the strike.

Richard stripped the corpses of John and Matt, ignoring the two youths as they wailed and sobbed over their losses. He finally unhitched the shovel from John's large draft horse and began to dig a shallow grave. The irony that Captain Boudreaux had intended for John and Matt to use this shovel to dig his own grave was not lost on Richard.

"What was his name?" Richard asked.

"He was our father," the girl said, sobbing.

"What was your father's name?" Richard asked.

"Henry Charmers," the boy said.

"Heavenly Father, we ask that you receive the soul of Henry Charmers this morning," Richard said out loud. "We pray that your son, our Savior Jesus Christ hold him well until such time that we shall meet him again."

With an 'Amen' Richard placed the man into the shallow grave. And covered him with the dirt. The two youths stood and watched, sobbing heartily.

A gust of dry wind blew some sparks from the remnants of the wagon and suddenly, the girl's dress was burning. Richard grabbed and tackled the screaming girl, then smothered the burning clothing.

When he looked up, he saw that the boy had likewise fell victim to the sparking embers. The boy was running around, batting at his clothing.

Richard tackled the screaming youth and also smothered what was left of the youth's clothing.

"Have you any other clothes?" Richard asked, seeing that both girl and boy's clothing was burned to the point of indecency.

In answer, the girl grabbed a few dresses from the dusty trail. But all other clothing was now just a smoldering ash.

The boy's clothing now gaped open where the sparks had burned through, and the gash at his rear made his blouse and trousers unwearable.

"Afraid you going have wear a dress," Richard said, a slight smirk on his face. "Least 'til we can get you something better wear."

"But I am afraid I have no pantaloons for you," the girl said.

Despite their tears, the brother and sister actually tittered as the boy dropped his ruined clothing to the trail and slipped his sister's dress on over his head.

Richard knew, even with the death of Captain Boudreaux, he could not return home. The Captain was well liked, even if he was in truth nothing but a common thief, a criminal. Matt and John, likewise, had friends and Matt even had a wife.

"What of them?" the boy asked, indicating the three ruffians.

"What of them?" Richard asked. "Ain't worth burying."

He grabbed the two horses and pulled them to the two youths.

"Know how ride?" he asked the two youths.

In answer, the girl shoved her foot into the stirrup, gathered the hem of her dress, and swung astride the smaller mount. She reached for and grabbed the reins.

"You and me going have share, but Brassy here's a big horse," Richard said to the young man.

He helped the boy up then swung himself up. The boy's plump buttocks pressed against Richard's crotch, his back pressed firmly against Richard's chest.

Richard held onto the reins with one hand, the pommel of the saddle with the other. This kept the boy safely anchored to the broad saddle.

As they rode, Richard found that, not only were Virginia and Seth Charmers brother and sister, the two were twins.

"I am betrothed to a business man in Great Oak, Texas," Virginia said.

"Betrothed? Ain't you kind of young be betrothed?" Richard asked.

"I'm eighteen," Virginia said.

"Our father, he knew Mr. Young," Seth volunteered.

"Said he was as fine a man as I'd hope to meet," Virginia said.

"We must stop," Seth suddenly said.

"What? Why?" Richard asked.

"I must relieve myself," Seth hissed urgently.

Richard sighed but pulled to a stop. Virginia pulled her own mount to a stop.

"How do, how'm I supposed to..." Seth fussed as he wiggled about.

Richard laughed and dismounted. He then helped the boy down.

"And how do you make water in a dress?" Seth spluttered.

"Here, for goodness sakes!" Virginia laughed.

She guided her brother a few yards off the brush. Richard watched, amused as the two squatted behind some scrub. Moments later, the two returned. Again, Richard helped Seth into the saddle, then swung up behind him.

He could feel the young man's heat. He could feel the softness, yet firmness of Seth's buttocks as they swiveled and swayed with each step of the large horse. Within time, he began to develop an erection.

If Seth felt the hardness of Richard's cock pressed against his buttocks, he did not say. He just continued to swivel and sway, rock in the saddle.

"Food! Our food was on that wagon," Virginia suddenly remembered.

"Wasn't anything left," Richard reminded the two.

"But what, we need to eat," Seth whined.

"Now, don't you worry none, little lady," Richard teased, patting Seth's belly.

Virginia looked over at her brother's sulking face and giggled. A moment later, Seth smiled as well.

Richard released his grip on the pommel and felt for John's saddle bag. He found the hunk of jerky the man had stashed and handed the jerky to Seth. Seth bit off a chunk, then stretched and handed the jerky to Virginia.

Virginia chewed a chunk of the dried meat then handed it to Richard.

The sun was low in the horizon when Richard declared an end to that day's travels.

"There's, yes, there's two tents," Richard said, checking the rear of John's mount. "Seth and me'll take this one, Virginia you taking that one."

Richard hoped that neither brother nor sister noticed his hardness as he dismounted. His cock stood, rampant and proud, tenting his britches mightily as he struggled to erect the two tents.

"Now, one of y'all could be gathering up some wood, one of y'all could be making a fire," he ordered.

Seth hurried to gather wood while Virginia gathered dried grass and small twigs. Then she set a small log on the ground and the twigs and grass went on top of the log.

Richard nodded approval as she took a twig between her two hands and rubbed the end of the twig briskly against the dried log.

The maneuver caused her large breasts to wobble and shake as she rubbed the stick. Soon, a wisp of smoke began to curl. Then the grass and twigs burst into flame.

Seth dropped an armload of wood and Richard and Virginia arranged the armload of logs.

Richard searched the saddlebags and found some canned food and used his knife to open the cans. Then, as the beans heated, he took his rifle and scouted around.

A grouse obviously thought Richard was no threat. The small bird did not even look in Richard's direction when the man approached.

Again, Richard used his knife to clean the bird, remove the entrails. He carried the carcass to the fire and showed Virginia how to cook the bird.

Now that the twins were still, they again sank into their grief. In one short burst, they had lost their father, their mules, their wagon, and whatever possessions the wagon had held.

Captain Boudreaux had no need of the wagon, had no cause to kill the man and the mules. Matt and John had no cause to set the wagon afire.

They had done so simply because they could do so. The war had created some bloodlust within the three men and Henry Charmers had been an unfortunate man to come across such men as Captain Boudreaux and John and Matt.

After they'd eaten, Richard set the coffee pot on a flat stone near the blaze.

"Be ready in the morning," he explained to the two.

Then he crawled into his tent. A moment later, there was a rustling of a dress and Seth joined him inside the low slung canvas tarp.

Now, with the knowledge that Captain Boudreaux was no longer pursuing him, Richard fell into an easy sleep. In the night, he dreamt of Claudette, Captain Boudreaux's plump wife, dreamt of her womanly charms.

Claudette enjoyed a sexual position she called 'horsey,' where she would be on hands and knees. Richard would kneel behind her and shove his engorged manhood into her furry cleft. Then her pudgy buttocks would shake and jiggle as they thrust against one another.

In the morning, he found himself spooned against Seth. Seth's dress was bunched up to above his waist. Richard's morning erection was nestled snugly against the boy's plump buttocks. Richard's hand was around the boy's lower belly, holding the boy's dress up, pulling the boy tightly against himself.

His fingers could feel a light patina of hair, could feel the coarseness of that hair.

Seth murmured when Richard pulled away from him. The morning had not yet broken; there was no light. Richard slithered out from the tent, went and found a tree to relieve himself against, then he gathered up some more wood.

The embers caught easily and Richard made sure the coffee pot had not dried out during the night.

By the time Virginia and Seth had roused, Richard had some salted pork frying and was already drinking a cup of coffee. Seth stepped out of the tent, struggling to pull his dress's hem down.

Richard and Virginia could see Seth's predicament. Neither said anything, but Seth blushed hotly at their smirks.

"How far is Great Oak anyway?" Richard asked as Seth seated himself on the opposite side of the fire.

"About nine days once you cross that river," Virginia said, nodding over her shoulder toward the river that separated Texas and Louisiana.

"Nine days by wagon," Seth corrected. "Is it different if we're on wagon or horse?"

"Not much," Richard shrugged.

He could see that the lap of Seth's dress tented out; the young man still had an erection. He looked up at Seth and smiled. Seth blushed but smiled as well.

"Well, I suppose I'll come along, see what Great Oak has offer a man," Richard said. "Didn't really have nowhere go anyhow."

Virginia looked shocked for a moment. Her brow furrowed.

"You, you would, you would have left us?" she asked.

"On this trail? Alone?" Seth asked, erection wilting.

"Suppose not," Richard conceded. "Kind of got y'all, since saving y'all from them, huh?"

They broke camp and again Richard assisted Seth onto the horse, then swung up behind the young man. As the morning sun warmed their backs, they rode in silence. The swaying and rocking caused Seth's buttocks to sway and rub against Richard's crotch

The horse stumbled slightly and Richard's hand slipped from the pommel. He reached to steady Seth and his hand came into contact with Seth's erect cock. There was a bundled layer of dress between Richard's hand and Seth's hard cock, but Richard had no trouble identifying the hard member that his hand had brushed against.

Seth shuddered but neither man said anything. Slowly, Richard returned his hand to the pommel of the saddle.

As noon approached, they could see four horses riding their way. Virginia swiveled in her saddle, pulled her dress down to cover her legs, and rode sidesaddle. This position preserved her modesty.

"What?" Seth asked when Richard nudged him.

"Do what your sister just done," Richard hissed.

"But I'm not a..." Seth protested.

"No, but they'll think you are," Richard hissed hoarsely.

Seth finally acquiesced and the four men nodded politely as they passed alongside the party.

With a look backward, Virginia then swiveled around and again sat astride her mount. A moment later, Seth again bunched his skirt up and sat astride the horse. And again, his buttocks pressed firmly against Richard's rampant manhood.

Twice the trio had to pause so that Virginia and Seth could relieve themselves. The second time, Richard relieved himself as well, but on the opposite side of the trail.

With a few hard strokes of his manhood, he did relieve the pressure in his scrotum. Then he relieved the aching in his bladder.

That evening, Richard managed to shoot two rabbits for their evening meal. After they'd eaten, after Richard had set up the coffee pot, he removed his boots and wiggled into the tent. A moment later, Seth wiggled in, then lay on the bedroll, back against Richard's side.

And in the morning, they again were pressed firmly against one another. Again, Seth murmured in his sleep when Richard pulled away from him.

The fourth day's journey, they entered a small town. Richard first found the stable and boarded their two mounts. He paid six bits extra for the two mounts to have fresh oats added to their fare.

Then he escorted the two women to the hotel the stable hand had pointed out.

"Need two rooms," Richard said to the man.

"Yes sir, one for the two girls and one for yourself," the man nodded.

"No, one for that young lady and one for me and Se, Cynthia," Richard corrected. "And would like a hot bath for each.

"There anywhere we could buy some new clothing?" Virginia asked the man.

"Their clothing got burnt up," Richard explained. "And suppose wouldn't hurt none get me some new clothes either."

"No, it wouldn't," Virginia said, playfully pinching her nose.

She yelped, then laughed when Richard gave a light backhanded slap to her posterior. Richard paid to have the two baths ready when they returned from the mercantile.

Seth went to where the merchant had denim jeans and shirts. The man looked over at the young woman, then looked at Richard.

"Picking out some clothes for me," Richard explained. "Me? Grab whatever's near, don't matter it fit or not."