High Country Rescue

by Michael Skinner

  Then Maria came in at the end of dinner and asked, “Colonel, would you like for me to serve the apple pie now or later in the parlor?”

  “No, neither. I know it is later than usual for dinner, just leave the pie out in the kitchen. Then after you have everything cleaned up in the kitchen, start a pot of coffee. By then we should be ready for some pie and coffee, and we will serve ourselves.”

  “Will you want breakfast at seven o’clock as usual?”

  “Yes, that will be fine, Maria. We will see you in the morning.”

  “Goodnight,” said Maria

  Then to Dan and Joe, the Colonel said, “Let’s go into the parlor.”

  chapter 4

  The Problem

  As they entered the room, the Colonel pointed to the right of the door at the ‘Cyclone Windmill’ box and said, “I picked up your gear yesterday afternoon in Durango.”

  As they walked toward the four wingback chairs around the fireplace, he said, “Please have a seat.”

  The small fire in the fireplace provided more light than heat, which was just as well for the night was not as cold as Dan had expected.

  After being seated, the Colonel began his story.

  “First, let me apologize to you Joe for not confiding in you earlier,” and as Joe waved his hand to show no offense was taken, the Colonel continued, “but I had made a promise not to share information about this matter until tonight.”

  “This all began about a year ago, but I didn’t find out about it until the 4th of July Celebration this summer. I was staying at the Strater Hotel while I was in Durango. At the bar-be-que that afternoon, Will Johnson passed me a note while shaking my hand. Assuming that a note passed to me in that manner was a note not to be read in public, I waited until I was alone to read it. The note asked me to come by his room, #16, after ten o’clock pm, make sure I wasn’t seen and knock once on the door. Will has a large ranch about twenty-five miles north of here near Montrose. Our fathers were friends, but with me gone in the Marines, he and I were only a little more than acquaintances. I returned to my room at about nine-thirty, and then about ten-fifteen, I went down the hall. His room was the last one on the right. I knocked once and immediately the door opened, and Will motioned me in. His room was large enough to have a small table and two chairs against the outside wall. Will quietly asked me to have a seat and thanked me for coming. Then in a soft voice, he said we needed to talk as quietly as possible because he wasn’t sure whether someone was watching him. He said he hoped I could give him some advice if not help. I told him I would do what I could. He then told me his story.

  “He has a daughter, named Alice, who is about to turn eighteen. His wife died six years ago, and he and Alice didn’t get along as well as they should. Late last fall, they had a big fight, and she left the house and went to Gunnison and got a job working at Miller’s Dry-Goods Store. In May he went to Gunnison to check on her, but found that she wasn’t there, after several inquiries he was told that she had run off with Jason Reynolds and gotten married. He went to the sheriff and found that the sheriff was Mark Reynolds, Jason’s uncle. He inquired about his daughter and was told indeed she had married Jason and had moved with him to the Jackson ranch that he had just purchased. The old Jackson ranch was about fifteen miles south of Gunnison. He thanked the sheriff and headed back to the livery stable. He was uncomfortable with the situation, and he didn’t think Alice would get married without telling him. He told me that he didn’t get to Gunnison very often since his ranch is closer to Montrose and he only knew a few of the people in town well enough to ask questions. One of these was Juan Martinez, the blacksmith.

  When he reached the livery stable, he told Juan that his saddle needed repairs to get Juan inside the barn, where they could talk. Once inside he told Juan his saddle was okay, but he needed to ask him some questions. Juan told him he would help any way possible. Will asked, first tell me about my daughter and her marriage to Jason. Juan told him, he hadn’t known she was in town until he ran into her at Miller’s store. He asked her what she was doing in town, and she said she was working there and that you and she had had some words. Then he told Will, he had seen her around town occasionally, but about April he realized he hadn’t seen her lately. Juan then asked Miller about her and Miller told him that she left Miller a note that she was marrying Jason Reynolds and moving out to the Jackson ranch. Then Miller told Juan that he hadn’t seen her in town since. Will then asked what Juan could tell him about Jason Reynolds? Juan told him, he was tall, good looking and mean. Will asked, what are you trying to tell me when you say he is ‘mean’? Juan said an incident last summer is the best explanation. Jason and one of the McHenry boys got into a fight in the saloon; it wasn’t much of a fight because Jason had forty pounds and about eight inches in height over Bob McHenry. In just a few minutes Bob was out and laying on the floor, and Jason continued to kick and stomp him until the sheriff came and pulled him off. Bob almost died, and his left hand was crippled. Will then asked what the fight was about and did Jason go to jail. Juan said he never heard what the fight was about, and Jason was not arrested. Will then asked what do you know about the sale of the Jackson ranch, Will said he didn’t know that it was up for sale? Juan said the Jackson ranch had been seized for back taxes and sold at a sheriff’s sale to Jason for five hundred dollars, and Jason was the only bidder. Will said that seems strange. Juan said with Jason’s father, Jacob Reynolds owning the bank and his uncle being the sheriff and they can make it hard on anyone who goes against them.

  Will thanked Juan and went over to Miller’s store. He knew Frank Miller but not well enough to call them friends. When he entered the store, Frank told him it was nice to see him and asked Will if he heard from Alice. Will said, no he hadn’t. He had just learned she wasn’t working there anymore. Frank said he knew Alice and Will hadn’t been talking, but he had hoped that might have changed. Will told him that was why he was there, but Alice was gone. Will asked Frank to tell him about Alice’s marriage. Frank said, Alice worked hard in the store, but sometimes she seemed lonely. She was staying in the back of the store, in a small room that Frank and his wife had set up for her. It wasn’t much, just a bed and dresser, but it was hers, so Frank didn’t always know what she was doing. He opened the store on Monday and found a note that she had left for him, which said she had married Jason Reynolds and was moving out to the Jackson ranch with him. Frank said he was a little surprised, but then he didn’t know how long she had been seeing Jason. Will asked him, have you heard from her since she left. He said only that she had said “Hello” in a note that she had sent in for supplies. Will told Frank to tell Alice if he saw her that he had come by to see her and that he was sorry. He said he would, and Will left the store and headed back toward home.

  “He decided instead to go by the Jackson ranch and see Alice. When he reached the ranch, he was told that Jason was out with the herd and that Alice had left word that she did not want to see her father. Will went on home, but was worried about Alice. He wrote letters to Alice but never got an answer to any of them. When Will was in Grand Junction on the first of June, he went to see Judge Parker. Will said, he just needed to talk to someone he knew and could trust. After giving him all the facts the Judge asked Will if he knew where Jason and Alice were married, and did he have a will. Will said, he assumed they were married in Gunnison, but he didn’t check when he was there, and no, he didn’t have a Will, and then asked why? The Judge said he did not want to alarm him, but with his legal training and experience, the first thing he thinks about is the legal implications of the facts. Then the Judge told him, if something happens to you, Alice will inherit the ranch, but since she is not yet eighteen the court would appoint a trustee to manage the ranch until she turns eighteen. Since she is married, the court would normally appoint her husband as trustee. When she turns eighteen the ranch would be deeded to her, then if something happens to Alice, Jason would inherit the ranch. Will asked the Judge, what makes you think th
at something might happen to Alice or me. The Judge said, he had no specific knowledge of anything, but there seem to be too many things happening around the Reynolds. Jacob Reynolds became President and owner of the Miners and Ranchers Bank here in Grand Junction, when his wife and father-in-law were killed in a bank robbery, five years ago. It could have been just a coincidence, but Jacob didn’t seem too upset and sold the bank, after about six months, to a group of local investors. Then he moved to Gunnison and bought the Gunnison Bank and started calling on the daughter of Robert O’Day, the owner of the Broken-Peak Ranch. Just before they were set to marry, Robert was killed in a ranching accident. The Judge said, he saw too many similarities not to be concerned, but not enough facts to prove anything. Will asked him, do you think Alice and I are in danger. The Judge said he didn’t know, but there are some things they could do to give them some time and hopefully some protection. First, we will prepare a Will for you, in which you will leave the ranch to Alice, but it will be kept in trust until her twenty-fifth birthday, and if she should die before her twenty-fifth birthday the ranch will go to the Colorado Historical Society in Denver, and the Judge said he would act as trustee until she turns twenty-five. Will then said he understood that offers some protection for Alice and him, but how do we tell the Reynolds about the Will. The Judge said, they would file a copy of the Will at Gunnison Court House as well as at Grand Junction Court House, and he was sure the sheriff would know about the filing. When you file the Will in Gunnison check the records and see if Alice’s marriage is recorded. Will took the copy to of the Will to be filed in Gunnison with him when he left. He went to Gunnison and filed the Will, but couldn’t find any record of Alice’s marriage. He left Gunnison and headed home. Then Will said, when he got home, the more he thought about it, the more he was unsure what to do. He didn’t think he can just sit and wait. Just because there wasn’t a record of a marriage in Gunnison, didn’t mean they are not married, but she could be being held against her will, he just didn’t know. He asked me what I thought.

  “I told him, it sounds very complicated, but maybe you should try to see Alice again and find out if she comes into town and appears to be happy. He said, he had sent her letters in the past and heard nothing, but this time he would take a letter and leave it for her. He then said, if he didn’t see her at the ranch, he would check around town and see if he could find out anything else. Then he asked me, if she is in danger, what do we do? Then I told him, then we would have to take her back by force or stealth. He said, the ranch house sits at the head of a long, narrow valley; force doesn’t seem to be an option. I said, perhaps not, but let’s not rule anything out until we have more facts. When you go to the ranch, and Gunnison take one of your hands with you, if Jason is up to something illegal, then it may be dangerous for you to be alone.

  “I left Will then and returned to my room. As I was returning to the ranch, I thought about Will’s problem. I knew that I had never been to the Jackson ranch, but I did have detailed maps of most of southwestern Colorado, and I hoped that they would be of help. When I looked at the maps two things were obvious, first, Will was right, coming up the valley with force wouldn’t be safe for Alice, and second, that Dan, you had guided a hunting party in the hills south of the ranch house.”

  Dan asked, “Was that the Baker Party?”

  “Yes”

  “Then I do remember the area, but as I remember it, the area was a little more rough than 'hills’, as I recall, we never got closer than a several of miles to the Jackson ranch, the ranch house must sit just the other side of the boundary with the Federal land. The land is not unusually high, but heavy broken and rough.”

  “That’s when I first thought of you, and then I remembered you had met Alice.”

  “When?”

  “At the fourth of July celebration, in Durango four years ago.”

  “I am having trouble remembering a fourteen-year-old girl from four years ago.”

  “Do you remember coming off that bucking horse and on to the corral fence?”

  “Yeah, I remember, I hit the fence hard and some kid who was sitting on the top rail fell backwards into the horse trough. I was hurting like hell, and before I could climb over the fence to check on the kid, the kid jumped up out of the trough and ran away.”

  “That kid was Alice.”

  Dan said, “Well, I sure wouldn’t be able to recognize her.”

  “No, but maybe she can recognize you.”

  The Colonel continued “My next meeting with Will was at the ranchers meeting last month, the Cattleman’s Association members stayed at the Strater Hotel. Will greeted me in the lobby and whispered ‘eleven o’clock room #16 again’ and moved on to greet others. I knocked once on his door at eleven o’clock, and he let me in. After the exchange of greetings, he told me, he thought Alice’s situation might be as bad as he feared. He told me, that when he went to the ranch to see her, he was told she was out on the ranch with Jason, but they would tell her he had stopped by and they said they would give her his letter.

  Will then proceeded to Gunnison where he went to Miller’s store to visit with Frank. At the store, Frank told him, that he was glad to see him there in town and that he was thinking about going down to Will’s ranch that weekend. Will asked him why and Frank told him, that about two weeks ago, he was cleaning out his desk and he came across that note from Alice, that he had told Will about. Frank went on to say, he didn’t think anything about it, he just put on top of the stack of papers he was going to throw away; then he placed some other papers on top of it. A few minutes later he got up to refill his coffee cup and when he turned toward the stack of discarded papers something caught his eye. The papers he had placed over Alice’s note covered all of it except the left edge of the note. The letters down the left edge of the note spelled ‘H E L P.’ Will questioned him, and Frank said, yes, it spelled HELP. Will asked to see the note and Frank said it is in his office. Will followed Frank to his office. Frank unlocked his desk drawer and gave Will Alice’s note, and he read it. Frank told Will that he wasn’t sure if it was just an accidental arrangement of letters, or if she was really asking for help. Will said that it was all he could do to remain calm and control his voice, and he told Frank that he was sure that it was just a coincidental arrangement of the letters and that he would stop by for a visit with Alice. Frank said he was relieved, and Will told him not to say anything to anybody. It might embarrass Alice.”

  The Colonel held up a piece of paper and said, “Will gave me the note that night, and it reads:

  Hello Mr. Miller,

  I am sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye, but

  Everything is fine with me. Here is a

  List of things we need here at the ranch.

  Flour, Coffee, Salt, Bacon, Dried

  Peas, Dried Apples,

  Lard, Baking Soda, and Corn Meal.

  Alice

  You can look at it later after I have finished the rest of Will’s story.”

  “Frank also told Will that Jackson had failed to pay his taxes because his cattle had been stolen before he could get them to market. Jackson came into town to borrow money from the bank to pay the taxes, but didn’t get to town until after the bank closed. He checked into the hotel and went over to the saloon for a drink. Next thing Frank knew Jackson was in jail serving 120 days for assaulting an officer-of-the-law. The taxes were already due and ninety days later the sheriff foreclosed. Will decided then that we needed to do something. He wanted to come straight to me with news, but he was sure that he was being watched; in fact, he was sure someone followed him home from Gunnison. He returned to his ranch, knowing he would see me at the rancher's meeting the following week. Will was sure Alice was asking for help. Her mother was a school teacher before she married Will, and they moved back to Colorado. Will said his wife made sure Alice was educated, and she took great pride in Alice’s penmanship and grammar. He was sure that the note was intentional.

  Will told me, that
it scared him to think of Alice being mixed up in a situation like this, and he hadn’t done something sooner. I told Will, it is time to get her out of there. He asked how? I told him, that I had studied on it and I agreed that a forced entry up the valley would be too slow and put Alice in danger, and the terrain around the ranch house is too rough for a force of men to travel through quietly and escape on foot would be difficult and risk recapture. Therefore, my recommendation is stealth, we send in one or two men, who can get in unobserved, then move quickly. Will asked, do you have someone in mind? I told him that I had someone in mind, a young man named Dan O’Neil, he served under me during the Spanish-American War and worked on the ranch when he wasn’t in college, and he knows the area. Will said, good I trust your judgment and then asked how soon can we act? He wanted to get Alice out as soon as possible. I said, I can get started right away. First, I need to get my people in place. I will telegraph Dan right away. He grabbed my arm and said, No! You can’t do that. I asked, why not? He said, because Jason’s brother James is the telegraph operator in Alamosa, and telegraph signals from Durango pass through Alamosa. If Jason suspects we are on to him, he might kill Alice. I assured him and said, I understand, don’t worry, it may take a couple of weeks to get everything moving, but I promise you that no one other than you and me will know about this until it starts. He said, good enough, what do you want me to do? I told him, go back to the ranch, do your normal activities and keep someone with you and I will contact you when I need you. With that, I returned to my room and began working on my plan.”