Mr Tucket [Paperback]

Francis Alphonse Tucket celebrated his fourteenth birthday while traveling with his parents and little sister in a wagon train bound for Oregon. His father had secretly brought along a Lancaster rifle as a surprise birthday present. Francis loved the rifle, but he strayed a little too far behind the wagon train practicing his aim. He didn't even get to eat his birthday cake! About the time he noticed the wagon train was out of sight, a band of Pawnee Indians showed up and captured him. They fled like the wind to their village, erasing the signs of their passage so rescuers wouldn't be able to track Francis. At the Pawnee village, Francis was treated poorly, then lost hope when a raiding party came back with a doll that looked just like the one his sister had. It was at this sad time that Francis saw a white man riding boldly into the village. He was Jason Grimes, a one-armed Mountain Man. He was leading two pack horses loaded with goods to trade to the Indians for their furs. Francis was quickly exiled out of sight by the Indians, but Mr. Grimes had seen him. After a long session of spirited trading with the Indians in which he got most of them drunk, Mr. Grimes found Francis and released him, and helped him escape. Francis rode off barely holding on to a galloping Indian pony, heading for a place where Mr. Grimes said he would meet Francis.

The rest of the story is just as exciting as the beginning. Francis runs in and out of trouble, while learning how to survive in the wilderness and how to stand up for himself. Jason Grimes plays a large role in the story, but Francis is the star.

This first book is one of five in the series about Francis Tucket, so there is a lot to look forward to, and plenty of questions to be answered. Did his family make it to Oregon? Will Francis ever see them again, or will he become a Mountain Man like Jason Grimes, living off the land and trading with the Indians? You'll have to read it to find out!

That's how Mr. Grimes and Mr. Tucket finally met. Mr. Grimes helped Mr. Tucket to shoot and practice with the rifles. He taught Mr. Tucket to find meals by shooting rabbits, antelopes, and dears. Mr. Grimes showed Mr. Tucket the Sioux Indians. Mr. Grimes and the Standing Bear, the chief of the Sioux Village decided to have a competition of wrestling with Mr. Tucket and a one of Sioux Indian. Mr. Tucket was sure he was going to lose, but he didn't, and instead he won. He was rewarded a new black mare and was given buckskins. Then Mr. Grimes took Mr. Tucket to Spot Johnnie's house, Mr. Grimes' friend. After meeting Spot Johnnie, Mr. Grimes took Mr. Tucket to pond of beavers. It was located in Crows Indians' territory, so Mr. Grimes tried to be very careful. After few days after building a cabin near the pond of beavers, another mountain man, Mr. Grimes' friend, Jim Bridger came to the cabin and had a talk with Mr. Tucket. After killing 200 beavers, Mr. Tucket and Mr. Grimes skinned and stretched out the beavers.

When Mr. Tucket thought it was really bored, he rode his mare around the pond where he could see his own cabin. But saw 5 Crows Indians. He almost died, when Mr. Grimes shot 2 of the Indians and saved Mr. Tucket. They hurried and left the place and went to Spot Johnnie's house. Then suddenly, Mr. Grimes said in a very concerned voice that there was a bit too much smoke at the house and ran hard to the village. The buildings all burned down and many dead bodies were around. Mr. Grimes searched for a second and finally said that it was Pawnees Indians. They wanted powders from Spot Johnnie's, but they didn't have any, so the Pawnees just killed them. Mr. Grimes hurried and found some people riding wagon on road to Oregon. He told them to take care of Mr. Tucket and left for another fight with Braid, a war chief of Pawnees Indians.