by Lou Bradshaw
He pointed toward some clothes hanging over the back of a chair. There were two kinds. One looked like a preacher suite, and the others were range clothes complete with drawers and socks. I asked him to bring me the rougher ones. He took a step back in shock and said,
“You no get dressed now… you stirr velly sick… too sick… hard head cowboy.”
I wasn’t any kind of a cowboy but I got tickled at his fussing and told him and started laughing, and pretty soon we were both laughing. Cal came through the back door looking confused and said,
“You two having a party in here and didn’t invite me?”
“Oh we was havin’ a little friendly argument… I want to get out of this frock and get into some man clothes, but my nurse won’t let me…. You must have seen all them bullet and arrow scars when this knucklehead was cuttin’ my clothes up. If I’d a laid up after any of them, I’d a been dead a long time back.”
“The man knows what he can and can’t do, Foo. Let him get dressed, he’s got company waiting to see him.”
Foo brought me the range clothes, and I asked him if there was any of that soup left. He left to warm up the soup and fix me a little something to eat, and I got dressed. Cal stayed, and I told him the whole story. And I told him that if things work out for him, he’d be getting himself a fine boy.
“That boy has learned things that white kids never have a chance to learn. It’s not just tracking and fighting, but they learn respect for their world… rocks and trees… deer and wolves. They learn to revere their elders, endure pain without a sound. They can go days without water or food… and don’t ever play poker with him because you’ll never know what he’s holdin’….. And you’ll probably never see a tear or hear him cry.”
Foo brought in a big bowl of soup and some warm buttered bread. He moved me to a small table and a chair while he took care of the blankets and the couch. I was just finishing up when Cal brought the family in. I would have to take a second look, if I didn’t know there was only one little boy in Snake Junction. His hair was cut and combed, he was washed and polished, and he was dressed for a dance.
I did have to take that second look at his ma. I’d never seen a woman change so drastically in just a few weeks. The last time I saw her, she was just a slight tug on a loose string away from coming completely unraveled. But when I looked at her, she was practically glowing. She had the prettiest smile I’d seen in a long long time. It was the smile that she couldn’t ever have forced on her face… it came straight from her heart.
As they came from the short hall and into the main sitting room, I started to get up, but Cal put his hand on my shoulder and kept me in my chair. The boy was happy to see me and came running. I put my hands on his shoulders and told him how grand he looked in his new duds. He grinned and told me all about his new family while he held Dog close to him and stroked him.
Eleanor thanked me over and over. She laughed and told me,
“The hardest thing for him to get used to is keeping his clothes on.”
“Up until about a year ago, he would have run completely naked… so it might take a little getting used to….. Ma’am, he’s fine boy, and I’m sure he was well loved and cared for by the Apaches…. They treat their youngens well and protect them.”
“If I was you, ma’am, I wouldn’t start him into school right away, unless you want your door knocker wearin’ out from parents bangin’ on it. As rough and tumble as white youngsters are, he’s seen and done things they can’t even imagine…. I’d give him a year at least to become a little more civilized.” I told her. “I’d even get him a tutor…” I chuckled, “That is if you can afford it.”
“And, ma’am… I’d go real slow with the fancy clothes… He’s run free for most of his remembering time. Them clothes can strangle a fella. And I wouldn’t try to take all the Apache out of him. The things he learned about honesty, honor and pride are the things that are going to make him a fine man one day.”
I told her that the first two things he remembered was being called “Sweet Ally” and “ma ma” When I told her how a light in his eyes came on when I called him by that name, she had big old tears in her eyes and went to thanking me again.
Sweet Ally his ma ma left after a while, leaving Banister, Bailey, and me drinking coffee and feeling proud of ourselves.
Chapter 21
Cal said, “Well done, Shad, I’ll not deny I had my doubts that one man or a small party could go down there and bring him out. I was praying it could happen, but deep down I thought I’d seen the last of a man called Cain. You don’t know how happy I am to be wrong…. Oh when we were getting you undressed your purse fell out… and I was shocked to see over a hundred dollars spilled on the floor…. You never told me you were rich.” He went behind the desk and retrieved the little sack, and then tossed it to me.
I laughed and told him, “Oh I been savin’ up to buy myself a railroad.”
Banister stood up and cleared his throat a couple of times and said,
“Mister Cain, I don’t know how to thank you for what you’ve done for Eleanor, me, and most of all for my grandson. I said I’d give you five thousand dollars to bring him back to us, but that hardly seems to be only a drop in the bucket to what it’s worth… I would have paid any amount that man Fargo asked, if it would have brought him safely home to us.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll give you a bank draft on the Territorial Bank of Tucson. We don’t seem to have that much cash money here on the train.”
“Well, Mister Banister, I’d rather you wrote two bank drafts for one thousand each. As I said before, I really don’t care much about money… I live alone in the mountains and make most of my own clothes and most everything else…. You can make one of those out to Tobias Crocket, the lad nearly died gettin’ the youngster to you.”
“That way he can go home with something in his pockets besides lint, or he can stay out here and have something to start with.”
“But, Shad, that’s three thousand dollars, that you’ve earned, and that you deserve.” Cal barked.
“Oh you can give it to an orphanage if you think you need to, or you can give it to a home for retired saloon gals…. I’m really not particular. Don’t worry, when I catch up with Fargo, I’ll collect it… either from his pocket or his hide.”
They fussed at me for a while, but I didn’t need or even want that much money. If Eleanor hadn’t stepped out when she did a month or so back, I’d probably gone on home and cleaned the packrats out of my cabin. But that poor woman’s haunted face stuck in my soul and I couldn’t dig it out.
Banister finally gave up and took the discounted price, and said he had that much cash in the safe, so he paid up, and I made two stacks one for me and one for Tobe. I told them, I’d be fit for moving out in the morning. That wasn’t much more than a flesh wound except it took in a bit more flesh than most of them.
They put a cot in the station, where I would stay till I felt good enough to go after Fargo. I didn’t believe he was still staying with the Fishers, or that he stayed around No Place for that matter. With his limited brain power, he’d most likely head for Tucson or maybe up to Hayden’s Ferry on the Salt River… Word is there were a few settlements popping up there about.
Wherever he headed, I’d find him and even the score, or maybe I’d just get ahead of him. The best way to start a search like that was to start where he started. That would be the cabin where we first saw each other. The trail was cold by now, but this country doesn’t get a lot of rain… There should be some traces left.
I figured to loll around here for a few days and get my strength back. I needed plenty to drink, and there was a whole water tank just a few strides away from the station. Tobe came by and said,
“Cal said I should take any of the railroad horses in the corral and the gear to go with it as a replacement for the one I lost.
“Did they tell you about the reward money for your help gettin’ the boy back?”
“No… n
o one said nothin’ about it… I was just happy to get a horse and outfit. How much was it?”
“Well here, count it out for yourself… I can’t do everything for you.” I said as I handed him a roll of bills.”
His eyes bulged out and he said,
“Cain… there’s got to be a mist…mistake. There ain’t this much money in all of Arizona. Lordy…. I don’t know what to say…. I’m just dry mouthed.”
I told him to go ahead and count it just to make sure they didn’t cheat him out of any of it. He sat there counting it on my cot, and I had to tell him when he had two bills stuck together. As he got close to the end, his hands were shaking so bad I had to finish the count for him. He just sat there staring at it and finally said,
“But you did all the important work. All I did was bring the kid to the railroad… and let him get snatched, and you had to go get him.” He looked up from the money and asked, “Did they give you a reward too?”
“Don’t worry about me… I got more than I would have asked for… I’m mostly happy for the boy and his mama.”
“Now you can go home with something in your pocket, and let them know you’ve amounted to something.”
“I don’t reckon I’ll go home. My ma has her new family, and I just wouldn’t fit in. And besides that I kinda like it out here… There’s land to homestead up around Tempe on the Salt. This much money would sure get me started if I could find the right parcel.”
“I was kinda hopin’ that was what you’d do… The country is gonna grow and it needs men who are ready and willing to grow with it. That seems like a lot of money, but if you’re plannin’ a homestead, you’re gonna need all of it. And you should always try to keep a little stashed away in a rat hole. Think and plan for the future, boy, and you’ll do fine.”
I gave him a money belt I’d bought for him at the general store and showed him how to wear it inside his shirt, so it didn’t bulge. Then we walked to the corral so he could pick out his new horse and outfit. I gave Bud a good going over and judged him fit to travel. Tobe found one he liked, and I reminded him that the Indian pony belonged to him also… the boy was plumb rich.
Cal caught up with us and filled me in on their plans and some loose ends. They were leaving in the morning for San Antonio, where he, Eleanor, and Alan would make their home after the wedding… to which I was invited. I told them not to hold a seat for me because I was heading back to Colorado.
He also told me that Turner was put on a train this morning for the end of tracks. Since the boy wasn’t harmed, they wouldn’t have him arrested. What happened after he got off the train was no more their concern. There was a new telegrapher due in this afternoon from El Paso. They would switch the caboose from one end to the other this afternoon and send the locomotive to the end of tracks to turn around. It all sounded complicated, and I was just happy not to have to think about it.
He asked if I’d have supper with them this evening to say goodbye. I was always happy to take part in one of Foo’s meals, so I said I would be there, since I most likely wouldn’t make the wedding.
Chapter 22
The new telegraph fella was nice enough, but he snored so bad, Dog and me went out and slept on the platform. The nights get a little chilly in the desert, but it was better than listening to that fog horn inside.
The locomotive arrived shortly after breakfast, and within a half an hour they were ready to go and waiting for the word that the track was clear to the next station. The word came through and the private train started spinning its wheels and dropping sand for traction. And then it was on its way. The family stood on the little platform ahead of the caboose and waved till they were out of sight.
I considered that to be a successful encounter… well almost. I’d met some fine folks, made some people happy, and made a few friends. On the other hand, I found a boil on the butt of the world that had caused a powerful lot of trouble. I didn’t figure he was inclined on making friends, so I was thinking to give him a pretty fair enemy to cope with.
Tobe had been standing with me and Dog on the platform watching the train fade into the distance. We were both silent for about a minute before he asked,
“What now, Cain?”
“Right now, I’m goin’ to the general store and get some trail supplies… maybe see if he’s got a buckskin shirt. This shirt Cal gave me won’t last long in the wilds…. After that, you’re gonna buy me some stew at the saloon, and I’ll buy you a beer or two… So come along if you’ve a mind to.”
While we were having our noon meal, which was served with plenty of salt, and a complete absence of meaningless talk. When we starting our second helpings of stew and beer Tobe told me,
“Cain, I think I’ve pretty much made up my mind to go have a real good look at that Salt River country… I didn’t mind farmin’ I just didn’t care for the farmer I was tied up to. If a fella plays his cards right and doesn’t waste his money, he can make a good livin’ plantin’ crops. And if I can get ahead, I’d like to get some of those California orange trees.”
“They sure got a bunch of them out there… they got all they need.”
“But the rest of the country doesn’t. Arizona has the same soil and weather as California. And with the railroads coming through, I could ship oranges to the east a couple of weeks ahead of ripe. That way they could have fresh oranges in Saint Louie and Chicago… or maybe even New York.”
“By Jakes, that’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say since I’ve known you. You think you could pull that off?”
“If I can find a place with water and plenty of sunshine. When I was out there, I took the time studyin’ on oranges…. I could probably get enough seed oranges from a bushel of ‘em to get started from seed… If I could get a bee hive started, I’d be in business in about four or five years.”
“I can file on a place and improve on it part time, until I can save enough to go at it full bore… What do ya think?”
“Gotta admit, you may be onto something… If you can get water, bees and the railroad to cooperate, you just might’ve found your place in life.”
I told him that I would be riding out in the morning, and he would be welcome to ride along since it was on his way. He thought that to be a good idea and asked if I wanted some company hunting down Fargo. I told him,
“Absolutely not! You got a plan, Mister, the last thing you need to do, is go off sky hootin’ with me and get yourself dead.”
We rode out while the sky was just being washed pink and orange, and the dark blue and black were fading. I was getting used to this trail, but that didn’t make it any easier. There was no hurry, in fact neither one of us was in as good a shape as we should have been.
I will have to admit to the fact that the desert can be a beautiful place early in the morning. Once a man gets past the thought that everything there was specifically created to sting, cut, scorch, impale, or kill him…then he can learn to love the desert. I was getting past that thought.
About mid afternoon the next day, we tied up at the No Place… Like It Saloon…Tobe had brought along his Indian pony. He said he didn’t know what to do with it, and I told him it was property, and it had to be worth something to somebody. So we tied three horses to the rail and our other four legged companion came in with us.
I asked Frank the owner and everything else if Catfish was still around. He told me that he’d just drifted out one day and hadn’t come back yet. A lot of the old timers tend to drift with the seasons. I imagined he was headed north and into the mountains. Catfish was getting on in years, and his way of life has disappeared. Some of those older fellas just crawl into a hole and are never seen again… don’t reckon I’m ready to try that yet.
The place was almost empty except for a few hard looking characters playing cards with only a few coins on the table. The life of an outlaw is often seen as exciting, freewheeling, and even romantic, and I reckon there are some who get to live it that way. But there are more than a few who end up pe
nniless, starving, or just some bones scattered by varmints in some lonely ravine.
I suspect that most outlaws would make more money and suffer fewer hardships if they’d been working for wages. That was the life they chose or circumstance had chosen for them… Of course, the life of a mountain man ain’t all that much better. The difference I suppose is that an outlaw never expects he’ll have to work for a living, and a mountain man knows he’ll be working every minute of every hour he lives.
“Seen anything of Fargo lately?” I asked Frank.
“No, ain’t seen him since right after you came through with the bullet hole and the boy… that’s been a week or so I reckon… There was smoke up that way… he said Fisher was burnin’ some brush…. Ol’ Fisher’s about the workinest kind a man… He’s cleared a couple acres and they tell it he’s got a nice big kitchen garden, chickens, and a milk cow. I buy eggs and butter from him… time to time.”
We ate a mid-day meal there and went on up to the cabin where I Marcum Fisher had first taken me. The cabin was still empty, as I suspected it would be. It hadn’t been lived in for quite some time. It didn’t take long in the daylight to find the trail to Nell and Marcum’s home cabin. I said to Tobe,
“I’d better go on up here by myself. If Fargo’s up there, it’s gonna get plenty hot for everybody close by. I don’t expect to find him there, but I don’t know that he ain’t…. And I don’t want any orange farmers gettin’ in the way of any stray bullets.”
He understood that I was looking out for his best interest, and he only objected a little, but it was mostly just for style. Leaving my horse tied to one of the porch posts, I went on foot following the well worn path up hill. I took my rifle and of course Dog wasn’t about to wait there with Tobe and the horses. He would have, if I’d a told him to, but I wouldn’t have done that unless it was necessary… which it wasn’t.
It was about a quarter mile up hill, but I could smell the unmistakable odor of damp charred wood well before I reached the clearing. I hadn’t given it much thought, since Frank had said Fisher had been burning brush. But it was only when I topped out the last few yards to the clearing, that I saw what had been burnt.
