High Country Rescue

by Michael Skinner

  As he worked, it began to get light in the trees. He blew out the candle and got the jerky and hardtack out for breakfast.

  chapter 8

  She’s Gone

  Sam White, the ranch foreman, was awakened by the light coming in the bunkhouse windows. He cursed himself for having gone back to sleep after Alice knocked on the door.

  As he pulled on his pants he yelled, “Everyone up, it’s late, get moving.”

  He crossed the floor to the door and opened it. With a surprise, he asked himself ‘Where’s the coffee?’ Then it hit him, Alice didn’t awaken him or bring the coffee. He started running toward the ranch house; he crossed the porch in one stride and almost ripped the door off the hinges as he went through it. The room was empty, so he ran directly to the kitchen which was empty and dark.

  Without hesitation, he turned and went through the door to Alice’s room, seeing it empty cursed, “Damn!”

  As he was going back into the main room, Jason came out of the bedroom and said, “What’s all the racket about?’

  “Alice is gone!”

  “What do you mean she is gone?”

  “I mean she is not here! Not in her room! Not in the kitchen, and she is not in the house!”

  “We have got to get her back! Check the horses and find out if one is missing. Get the boys ready and have everyone meet me in front of the house in ten minutes.”

  Sam ran out the door toward the bunkhouse and Jason returned to the bedroom. As he entered the bedroom, Rosa, who was walking toward the door, asked him what was happening.

  He said, “Alice has run away.”

  With anger, she said, “I told you she was trouble, you should have kept her locked up!”

  His face turned red, and he exploded.

  As he struck her hard across the side of her face with the back of his hand.

  He said, “Shut up! If I want to know what you think, I will ask.”

  The force of the blow knocked her back onto the bed, and she screamed in pain. Her hand instinctively went to her face. She became aware that her hand was wet, she moved her hand from her face and looked at it, and her hand was bloody. She returned her hand to her face and looked at Jason. She knew he had a temper, but she had never seen him this mad.

  As Jason began to get dressed, he said to her, “Get in the kitchen and get the coffee started and fix something quick and cold for breakfast.”

  Rosa rose from the bed, with her hand still on her face; she picked up a wrap and walked out of the bedroom. As she left the room, she avoided looking at Jason. She crossed the main room and entered the kitchen. The kitchen was partially lit from the early morning sunlight coming through the window, but she lit the lamp for more light. She opened the firebox on the stove to stir the embers, but they were too cold. She looked around the kitchen to see what was at hand to get the fire started. There was a sheet of butcher paper in the trash barrel, so she quickly grabbed it and placed in the stove and lit it with a match, she then added some small kindling from the box beside the stove. She took time to throw her wrap around her as she only had on a nightshirt. As soon as she was sure the kindling was on fire, she added some larger kindling to the firebox.

  There wasn’t a mirror in the kitchen, so she took the lamp and went into Alice’s room where there was one. She held the lamp up and took her hand away and looked into the mirror. At first, there was so much blood smeared on her cheek she could not see how bad the cut was, then she could see an area of fresh blood that marked the cut. It looked like a cut about two and a half inches long across her cheek. Rosa returned to the kitchen and added some firewood to the stove. She picked up the coffee pot from the side table and carried it to the sink. She had to work the handle on the hand pump a couple of times to get the water flowing, she filled the coffee pot and set it on the stove. Then she found a small pan and filled it about half full of water and set it on the stove. She wasn’t sure when Jason would show up looking for coffee and food. She had started the coffee as soon as could be expected, but what to do for food.

  In the pantry, she found a loaf of bread, some corn tortillas and under a piece of cheesecloth what was left of the ham they had had for dinner last night. She took the bread and ham from the pantry and then started to slice the bread for sandwiches.

  As she sliced the bread, she tried to think about what had just happened. First, why was her face bleeding? Then she remembered the ring with a wolf’s head on it that Jason wore on his right hand. It must have cut her as it went across her face. Why had Jason gotten so angry? She had often complained that Alice had too much freedom, but he had always said she would not go anywhere. He had always said that it was important to him and his family that she not be allowed to talk to anybody, but he acted like this was something much more serious.

  The bread slices were uneven, but she didn’t think anyone would complain, she laid out enough bread to make ten sandwiches. She sliced as much of the ham as she could, then pulled as much of the meat as she could off the bone. She divided the meat as evenly as she could between the slices of bread. Then she placed the sandwiches on a baking pan and set on the table in the main room and then checked on the coffee pot. It was hot enough to add the coffee to the pot, so she did.

  Then she got a mixing bowl from the cupboard and poured the water from the small pan into the bowl. The water was too hot, and she added a little water from the pump; she wanted the water to be as hot as she could stand. She took the bowl of water into Alice’s room and set on the chest of drawers by the mirror. She went back to the kitchen and got two hand towels and a bar of soap from the sink. Taking one of the hand towels, she dipped it into the hot water and started to wash the blood off her face. It requires several wettings of the towel to clean her face, and when the hot towel touched the cut, it hurt. Finally, she rubbed a clean part of the wet towel on the bar of soap and cleaned the cut as best she could, then rinsed it off. The cut was still bleeding a little, but she could see it clearly now. It was a cut about two inches long with a small tear at the end. She knew it was going to hurt, but she was more worried about how it would scar. She placed the clean, dry towel over the cut and put pressure on it to try to stop the bleeding.

  Jason finished dressing and went outside. The lights were on in the bunkhouse, the corral was quiet, everything seemed so normal, he was hoping that it was just a bad dream. Then he turned toward the barn and saw Sam running toward him.

  Jason said, “Anything?”

  Sam replied, “No sign of her, none of the horses are missing from the corral or barn.”

  “Did Juan know anything?”

  “No, he said he didn’t hear or see anything.”

  The men came out of the bunkhouse and gathered around Jason and Sam.

  Jason said, “Listen up, Alice has run away, she must be caught and brought back. She left sometime during the night. None of the horses are missing, so she must be on foot. There was almost a full moon last night, so she would have had enough light to follow the road in the dark. Jimmy, you and Bill ride as fast as you can to where the ranch road meets the Montrose road, that should be farther than she could have made it on foot. Pick a place where you can watch the road and not be seen and wait.”

  Jimmy asked, “How long do we wait?”

  “You wait until you catch her, or somebody comes to relieve you.”

  “John, Jay, Frank, and Bobby ride to a point about two hundred yards past where the ranch road leaves the trees. Then John, you and Jay ride south until you hit the creek, then follow the creek back here; Frank, you and Bobby, ride north then west for about three hours. Watch the grass for any signs that Alice has crossed. Return here when you are finished. Alice must be returned! I will pay a hundred-dollar bonus to whoever finds her and brings her back. Get your gear together and get something to eat and be ready to ride in five minutes. Bob help Juan get the horses ready, then come see me. Sam, you come with me into the house.”

  Jason turned and walked back to the ranch house,
and Sam followed.

  They went up the steps to enter the house, but Jason stopped on the porch and turned to Sam and said, “Sam, this is big trouble, Alice knows too much, I can’t let her get away, what else can I do? I don’t know if the men will find her, but we need to make plans if they don’t. We may need a tracker, a professional tracker. Do you know anyone?”

  “I have heard of a man over at Redstone, but I don’t know if he is available.”

  “We can’t wait, ride over and get him and get back as quick as you can!”

  “We will have to pay him if he comes and we don’t need him.”

  “That’s okay, just get him here as fast as you can!”

  “I will leave now, but it will be late this afternoon or tonight before we get back if he is there when I get there.”

  Jason entered the ranch house and went over to the table and poured a cup of coffee and sat at the table. As he sat there, he tried to think, but he could not think of anything that had changed that would make Alice try to run away or where she would run to. She knew if she caused any trouble, her father would be in danger. His father had wanted to wait before killing Alice’s father to avoid people getting too suspicious. He was sure his father would blame him, but he had to let him know. He got up from the table and went over to the desk. He opened the top of the desk and taking paper and pen began writing.

  Alice has run away.

  She did not take a horse.

  I have all the men out looking for her

  and I have sent for a tracker.

  I will send word when I find her.

  It was just a short note, but he knew his father would understand. He placed the note in an envelope and sealed it, but he didn’t bother to address it.

  Bob had not come in from getting the horses ready, so Jason went back out onto the porch. The men were just leaving, and Bob was saddling his horse. Jason didn’t hesitate, but left the porch and walked quickly over to Bob at the corral.

  Jason said, “Bob take this letter to my father. If he is not in his office, then find him. Ride this horse into the ground if you have to, but get there as fast as you can.”

  Bob replied, “Do I need to wait for an answer?”

  “Yes, but if there is no reply, find Jimmy and Bill and take Bill’s place and send Bill back to see me.”

  Bob mounted his horse and was almost at a run when he passed the barnyard.

  Jason returned to the porch and thought about going out himself to look for her, but decided to stay at the house in case she came back or was found. It was not yet mid-morning, but so much had happened. Now that things had slowed down, he realized he was hungry. He went back inside and saw that there were still two sandwiches there, but he wanted something else, so he went into the kitchen. He expected to find Rosa, but she wasn’t there. Through the kitchen window, he saw her walking toward the barn, so he returned to the main room. He picked up a sandwich and his cup of coffee and went out on the porch to eat.

  Rosa entered the barn by the side door. Juan was at his bench replacing some leather on a bridle.

  She walked over to him and said. “Morning Juan, can you help me?”

  Looking up, he saw her face and asked, “What happened, are you alright?”

  “Jason got mad and hit me when Alice ran away.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, do you have something you can put on this to help it heal?”

  Juan rose and looked at her face.

  He said, “If this was a cut we could put some turpentine on it, but since it is torn and scraped it would be best to put some clean grease on it.”

  “What will that do?’

  “First, it will keep the air from drying out the cut and pulling the skin, second it will keep the cut moist and let it heal without scabbing and reduce the scaring.”

  “Do you have some or can I use lard?”

  “You cannot use lard, but you can use grease. I have a ten pound can of axle grease over here, let’s see want it looks like.”

  They crossed the barn to where Juan kept a can of grease.

  He said, “There is a little more than half the can left, I will try to clean it up.”

  Juan used a small piece of wood to carefully remove the top layer of the grease in the can. The top couple of inches had been dipped into and contained some of the old grease off the wheels as well as pieces of wood from the sticks used to dip it out. Soon the grease had a golden-brown color instead of the brownish black color it started with.

  He said, “This looks pretty clean.”

  Then he used his knife and dipped out some of the grease and with his finger, he spread it over the cut on Rosa’s face.

  He asked, “How does that feel?

  She said, “It feels okay, how does it look?”

  “It looks a little messy, but you can do a better job of putting the grease on looking in a mirror.”

  “How long will I need to do this?”

  “The longer you do it, the better it will heal. Just try to keep a thin coat on the cut as much as possible. At night, you might want to bandage it to keep the grease on it all night.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That is alright. Get a cup, and a spoon from the kitchen and I will take up some of this grease for you.”

  “I will be back in a little while.”

  Rosa left the barn and headed back to the house. She saw Jason sitting out on the porch steps, but she ignored him and went in the kitchen door. She went through the kitchen to Alice’s room and looked into the mirror. Her face was bruised and puffy around the cut. She used the corner of a towel and removed some of the grease. There wasn’t anything else she could do so she went back into the kitchen and began to clean up.

  Jason was worried and wanted to know if any of the men had found the girl. If they didn’t find her, it would be about noon before any of the riders could cover their area and return. He couldn’t leave, but he couldn’t stand not knowing. He decided that a drink might steady his nerves. He went inside and over to the side table where he kept the whiskey. He filled his coffee cup with whiskey and went back out to the porch. He set down and watched the ranch road for any sign of a rider and sipped the whiskey.

  Rosa finished cleaning up the kitchen from the morning and added wood to the stove. She took the pot of beans that Alice had set out to soak the night before and poured the water off and added fresh water to the pot and placed them on the stove. She added the ham bone that was left from this morning and some spices. She should have started the beans earlier, but a few hours at a boil would have to do. She got a clean metal coffee cup from the cupboard and a clean spoon, and went back out to the barn. When she entered the barn through the side door, Juan looked up and saw that she had a cup in her hands. He rose and headed toward the grease can. She handed him the cup and spoon.

  He asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  She took the cup and spoon from Juan and said, “Thank you.”

  Juan just nodded, and Rosa returned to the house.

  Jason was watching the ranch road, so he did not see John and Jay ride in from the other side of the barn. When he heard their horses, he turned quickly to see who it was. He was disappointed that Alice was not with them.

  He asked, “Did you see anything?”

  “No, nothing,” John answered.

  “Tie the horses up at the corral and stay ready in case I need you.”

  As the riders headed toward the corral with their horses, Jason went into the house. In the kitchen, he found Rosa putting some cornbread in the oven.

  Jason said, “When will you have lunch ready?”

  “The beans on the stove are ready, and I have one pan of cornbread done and one in the oven, the men can eat whenever they are ready.”

  “Well, keep it warm. The riders will be in shortly.”

  Rosa didn’t ask about Alice and Jason did ask about how Rosa was doing.

  He left the kitchen and went back outside.
About ten minutes later, Frank and Bobby rode in from the ranch road.

  Jason said, “Anything?”

  Frank said, “Only cattle.”

  “Tie your horses up at the corral and tell John and Jay that lunch is ready.”

  Jason went back inside and filled his coffee cup with whiskey again and returned to the porch. He didn’t know what to think, where had she gone, why did she run away and why couldn’t they find her. The men passed him without saying a word as they went into the ranch house for lunch. He heard a horse coming down the ranch road and looked up to see who it was.

  It was Bill. He rode to the ranch house and stopped.

  “Any sign of the girl?”

  “No, the only thing to come along the road was a freight wagon headed west.”

  “Give your horse to Juan, and you can join the rest of the riders for lunch.”

  Jason was really starting to worry. If she was headed toward town, she had enough time to reach the main road by now. But the country around the intersection of the ranch road and the main road was open grassland. Maybe she was hiding back in the trees and waiting for dark to continue into town.

  Jason went into the house. The men at the table turned to look at him when he came into the room.

  “John and Bobby, get your gear and some food and ride up the ranch road and find Jimmy and Bob. Tell them to come back here, and you take their place. I want you to spend all night watching the ranch road. There will be a full moon, make sure you can see the road. No fires, no smokes and stay awake!”