There were the expected insect type organisms that ate plants so we had to store grains carefully after harvest to protect them. There were also roden... type animals which also ate grains. These pests had stronger teeth than the Earth versions, and we had to do things like electrify the metal silos to keep the things out of our food.On the plains we found a horse type marsupial with four horse type legs, but the ability to stand up on its hind legs, rising up over nine feet tall. They were. I called to Mary to shoot at the horses, not at the men, and I was doing the same. We began to make immediate inroads into the gang when we did that. Most of the men who had been riding horses that were shot were injured in the fall sufficiently to put them out of the fight. Those that were not so badly injured, still made nearly stationary targets at a range that made them nearly impossible to miss with a second shot.Fortunately, we both had spare cylinders for our revolvers, so we were able. . once I thought you were ... rather more than friends."He blushed. "I..." Tom, Chrissie would kill me for telling you this, but she's in love with you." Sure, we love each other..." he began."Tom, I don't mean she loves you like ... a brother. She's in love with you."Tom's blush deepened perceptibly and he mumbled something."I didn't hear that, but I suspect it's codswallop," she said."I said," Tom spoke more distinctly, "she's much too good for me. I'm just a sailorman. I'll always be grubby,. “If she had scared you off then she would have been off restriction,” Betty explained to me that was the deal. It was sort of an incentive to be as rough on me as they possibly could. Waverly hadn’t needed an incentive. She just liked being an asshole and making men cry. Betty asked Hayden if she went soft on me because she thought I’d be a push over later.“If I did, you’ll never know,” Hayden teased her mother playfully.“I had to be sure you wouldn’t just run out the first time the girls tried.