by Lou Bradshaw
Chapter 9
After supper, I walked over to visit with Sam till he went to sleep, and then I went down to the café for some coffee and a piece of pie. I was sitting there just picking at that pie. I didn’t really have much of an appetite, but I figured I should have more than a cup of coffee for using up the table space. I’d sat there about as long as I dared, and was just getting ready to leave when a man of some degree of toughness came in. There are some men that you can just look at and know…. That’s a tough man.
There wasn’t anything rough or ragged about his appearance that would make you think tough. If anything, his clothing might belie his toughness. He was wearing a black hat with silver conchos on the band and a black silk kerchief. His shirt was black with white pinstripes, and a big silver buckle held up his pants. The buckle that held up his well oiled gunbelt wasn’t near as flashy. He was clean, well groomed, and recently shaved, but I still knew he’d be a hand full and then some. And he was walking straight at me.
He stopped across the table from me and asked, “Your name Blue?” I admitted that it was and he said, “my name is Banks… Cletus Banks. I’ve got a proposition for you… do you mind?” I’d heard the name back a long time ago, when Andy and I were coming through Texas the first time. Seems like he had been a gunfighter making a name for himself farther south
I motioned for him to have a seat. Which he did and ordered coffee. “What’s on your mind, Cletus Banks?” I asked.
“I work for Mr. Chambers… you might say I’m his assistant. As such, I handle many of the day to day chores that he doesn’t have time for, such as ranch overseer….This afternoon, you played hell with a couple of my ranch hands…. Now, I’m sure they had it comin’ and they’ll be gone as soon as they’re able to leave…. I can’t have men who are out there runnin’ wild like that.”
I nodded as to acknowledge that I agreed with that, and he went on… “Of course, that’ll leave me a couple of men short… I like your style, Blue. If I remember right you came through Texas back around eight or nine years back. You and a gent called Hickory Jack Moore as bounty hunters. You be that Ben Blue?.... You here lookin’ to collect on someone?”
“That was a long time ago, and the bounties were just fringe benefits. We’d have gone after that bunch if we’d had to pay to do it.” It was his turn to nod understanding.
“Well, the short version of this is, I’d like to have you on the payroll, we… the ranch can use a man who can take care of himself and use his head… and it sounds like you played those boys like a fiddle.”
“I surely do appreciate that, but I’m just gonna be here long enough for my friend to get well, and then we’ve got business in Amarillo. Then it’s back to my ranch near Taos, but thanks for the offer.”
He said he wasn’t aware that I was a rancher. His men made it sound like I was a drifter. Then he apologized for the misunderstanding, we shook hands, and he left. Yeah, that was a tough man and a smart one.
Back at the boarding house, I sat out on the porch with a cigar, a cup of coffee, and made small talk with a few of the other guests. I listened to their jokes and their tall tales, and all the while I kept pulling the conversation back to the town, the area, and Mr. Chambers. There wasn’t much known about Chambers, except that he was rich and powerful. The town was too new to have much of a history, but I did get some particulars on the land grant that Chambers had inherited. It was a royal grant given by the King of Spain to Generalissimo Hernando de Vega back in the mid seventeen hundreds. As far as anyone knew, de Vega had never lived on the land, but his grandson had tried building a ranch, only to be run out by Indians.
The evening grew chilly and the others started heading for their beds, so I did the same and called it a night. I went in and got ready for bed, but my meeting with Cletus Banks kept nagging at the back of my skull. He was getting rid of a couple boys who were a bit on the wild side, but he tried to hire someone who was tougher and had a history of violence. Something just didn’t add up.
Finally, I got up and wrote another letter. This one I didn’t have to ease my way into it, and I didn’t have to sign with love. When I’d finished, I blew out the lamp and went to sleep with no problem.
The next morning after breakfast, I went straight to the general store post office, where I bought postage and an envelope. I told the lady that I may add or change something, so would I wait till the last minute and put it in the bag as it goes on the stage. She said that was permitted and it happens all the time. I thanked her kindly and went to visit Sam.
The doctor came in and when he saw me he asked, “Mr. Blue, I appreciate the business, but did you have to put so much effort into wrecking those two men. What did you use on them, cord wood or a sledge hammer?”
“Sorry to cause you so much trouble, Doc, but seeing how they mistreated Sam here, I didn’t want to turn ‘em loose before they were sure I was serious.”
“I’m sure they got the message.” He said with a wry smile. “I think Mr. Stellars can be moved to the hotel or the boarding house tomorrow… He’s coming along nicely, but I still wouldn’t do any traveling for a while.”
I told him that I had a room at the boarding house reserved for Sam, and the lady that owns it will help out.
The stage agent, who was also the post office lady, told me that the east bound stage would leave at noon. I made myself available at the general store just before noon to put my letter in the bag just before she put the lock on it and handed it to the driver.
The boarding house didn’t serve a mid-day meal, so I went in to the café to take care of that necessity. I’ve spent so many days on short rations or none at all, so when I get a chance to put my feet under a table, I take it.
I spotted the marshal sitting at a table by himself. He motioned me over and asked me to join him, so I sat down and placed my order.
“You were pretty steamed up when you left yesterday.” He said. “I hope you got that out of your system.”
“You gonna arrest me for whoopin’ up on a pair of horse thieves?”
“Naah, those boys are trouble on the hoof, and I guess they’re lucky you didn’t hang ‘em… I talked to their boss, and he’s runnin’ ‘em off as soon as they’re up to it…. So you got your horses back and your pound of flesh… that ought to make it about even.”
“Well, it squares things with those two, but we were put upon twice by at least twelve men all together, and the first bunch was set up like a military operation. We were damned lucky to get out of that one… but they didn’t draw no blood, so I’m willin’ to call that a draw.”
“And the second bunch?” he asked.
“That’s a different story, marshal, they drew blood, and we were damn near left stranded in a blizzard. They left that old man to die… And two of them were right here in town… local men…. workin’ for a prominent citizen.”
“Hold on there… don’t go tryin’ to tie Mr. Chambers into any of this.” He said as his face started turning red. You’re a stranger here, so don’t go tryin’ stir up trouble where there is none. This is a peaceable town, and I aim to keep it that way
“I don’t even know the man,” I said, “but I’ve met Cletus Banks and he looks capable of controlling a few wild cowboys.”
“I was you,” he said, “I’d sure steer clear of Banks. He’s pure poison… you hear… poison.”
“Oh, I recognized that right off. That’s one tough and capable hombre. I believe, he’d be a handful under any circumstance.”
“Just you remember that.”
“I’ve got no call to go after Banks, Marshal. And since I don’t know who those other three hit and run artists were, I’ll just have to be satisfied with the couple of pounds of flesh that I’ve already collected. But you can bet if I knew for sure Banks to be one of them, you could sell tickets to one hell of a fight… and that would go for anyone else, no matter how powerful they were.”
He didn’t like that one little bit, and his face showe
d it. “You that fast with that sixgun?” he asked.
“No faster than half the men in this town, but I can soak up a lot of lead before I go down, and I usually hit my mark.”
I assured the marshal that I wasn’t scalp hunting. I was waiting for my friend to get well enough to ride out of town, and out of his life. He grudgingly accepted that and left the café.
I had some time to kill, so I saddled my horse and took a ride out into the open country, if for no other reason than I wanted to get out of town for a little bit. I think Smoke was as happy to get out of town as I was, especially since he didn’t have that travois hanging on behind him.
We had gone about three miles down the trail heading south from town, when we came on one of those curiosities that are fairly common in open country. The trail went through an open gate. Now open gates aren’t all that peculiar, but they are when there’s no fence attached to it. They aren’t even gates so much as they are gateways. They’re simply a couple of poles sunk into the ground, and another pole across the top with a sign of some sort hanging from it. This one said “C (C over bar) Ranch, “Tobias Chambers, Owner”. Below his name and title it said “No Trespassing”
Now that was peculiar, most western folk welcome visitors or travelers. You never knew when you might be stuck out on the trail and need a meal or a little shelter. I pulled out the field glasses from my saddle bags and took a look at the layout. I was surprised at the size of the main house… it wasn’t much more than a cabin. There was a large stable, a few out buildings, a long bunkhouse, and a smallish barn. None of the buildings looked to be well made or well kept.
I was a little surprised by the look of things. Folks in town revered and almost worshipped the name Chambers. Well, maybe he’d been so busy getting other folks started out, that he hadn’t taken the time to get himself settled. And maybe he was just a humble sort of fella, although, somehow doubted him being a humble sort. I’d have to give that a little thought.
Turning my gelding, to head back to town, I saw a horseman and a buggy coming up the half mile lane that led to the ranch. The driver of the buggy waved and I waited for them. Shortly I recognized the man in the buggy as Doctor Heinz.
“Were you looking for me, Mr. Blue?” the doctor asked. “Is there something wrong?”
“No Doc.” I said. “I was just getting some fresh air. Towns tend to get me all cooped up, and my horse needed a little time away from the stable. He’s still mostly Mustang and not used to confinement.”
The doctor introduced me to his companion, “Mr. Blue… Ben is it? This is Mr. Tobias Chambers.” We each touched the brim of our hats and said howdy. “Mr. Chambers was riding back to town with me. I was just checking on the two patients that you supplied me with yesterday.”
Chambers’ head jerked up and said, “Oh, you’re that Blue, I’m sorry, I didn’t connect the name… or maybe I hadn’t heard it… no matter…. Banks tells me that you’re on your way to Amarillo on some business.”
Chambers was a well set up man who sat the saddle like he knew what he was doing there. He was probably close to my size, but his clothes cost a damn sight more than mine. That coat he was wearing and his boots probably cost more than everything in my wardrobe. He was about thirty and a rather nice looking man, who would look more at home in town than on a ranch.
“That’s correct,” I told him, “as soon as my friend can travel, we’ll be on our way.”
As we rode the few miles back into town, Chambers offered his regrets that his men had caused us so much trouble. “I can’t understand what they were doing way up there. That’s miles away from where they were supposed to be working.”
When the doctor and I stopped at his office, Chambers went on to the hotel. “That was nice of him to escort you back to town.” I said, just making small talk.
“Oh he wasn’t escorting me. He owns the hotel and keeps a suite of rooms there. The main house at the ranch is half kitchen, and the other half is Clete Banks’ quarters. I believe there’s about a dozen men sharing the bunkhouse… of course they’re rarely all there at the same time.” I noted that the doctor, like his sister, was a good source of freely offered up information.
“He must run a lot of cattle, if he needs a crew that large.” I said. “I run more than four thousand head and I only have four men.”
“Oh, I don’t think he has even that many cattle.” The doctor said. “He must have other jobs for them also.”
“I reckon.” Was all I said.
Chapter 10
I moved Sam over to the boarding house the next morning. He was able to walk the block and a half under his own power, but he was ready to take a rest on the front porch by the time we got there. I left him under the watchful eye of Mrs. Clancy the owner of the boarding house.
It was much too soon to be expecting an answer to either of my letters, so all I could do was wait and watch and listen. I would have liked to get a lead on those yay hoos that tried to bushwhack us back in the cap rock breaks. It didn’t have to be much; I just wanted something I could pass on to Claybrook or to the Rangers.
That bunch was too well schooled to be just a bunch of hit and run raiders. I couldn’t imagine them taking on a large convoy of freighters or even a wagon train, but they would hit lone travelers… but for what? What would be worth their effort, cash, gold, jewels? Cattle or sheep would be too much trouble. I wondered what they expected to get from Sam and me.
They could tell that we had a good outfit, so chances are they assumed we had money on us. At the very least they’d go for the horses. But they wanted something they could turn into money. I could quiz the marshal, but in my years of knuckleheaded thinking, I had learned to trust my instincts, and my instincts told me that the marshal was a peace keeper, and not an altogether professional lawman.
Oh, I suspect he was honest enough, but if push came to shove, if I gave any indication of being a bit nosier than just common curiosity, someone would be interested in that information. And I suspect that the marshal would be happy to pass something like that on. It seemed that all that thinking I’d been doing had given me a mighty thirst. There wasn’t a thing in the world better for a thinking induced thirst than a cold beer.
So I went into the first saloon I came to and hooked my heel on the bar rail, ordered a cold beer if they had one or a warm beer if they didn’t. It was warm, but it was decent. I wasn’t really interested in the beer as much as making some new friends.
I spent a couple of hours in that saloon, bought a few rounds and listened to some unbelievable tall tales, but I also picked up some interesting information. For instance, it seems that Cletus Banks believes there’s gold up in some of those hills to the south. The story is that he likes to go prospecting up in those hills about every other week or so.
“Yep.” The loose lipped slightly tipsy puncher told me. “He’ll git up and leave afore breakfast with a couple of pack horses, headin’ into them hills, an he won’t come back till the nex day….Haw…Haw… Haw… he never ever comes back with any gold…. Sometimes he don’t even come back with them pack ponies… says he turned them out to graze… they never show up.”
The puncher I was talking to had worked for Chambers for six or eight months, but he said there weren’t enough cattle to keep him busy, so he moved on to another outfit.
“I don’t know what all them others do there.” He said. “They was only about two or three of us workin’ cattle. Them others just come and go, and then they come back…. I jes don’t know where they go or what they do when they git there. I don’t know how Mr. Chambers makes any money a-tall with that bunch workin’ fer him. But it ain’t none of my never mind.” I bought him another drink.
I told Sam that evening after supper that I was going to go out in the morning and do a little looking around. “I may be back within a couple hours or I may be gone for a couple of days.”
“Boy,” he said, “I once had a wolfin’ hound. If there was a wolf within two miles, He woul
d know about it and start sniffin’ the air. Then he’d get this look about him, and I knew he had the scent… You got the scent, boy?”
“I sure smell something that don’t smell just right.” I told him. “You just sit tight and let Mrs. Clancy fuss over you.”
He smiled a wicked smile and said, “It’s too bad I’m all banged up, that’s a mighty fine lookin’ widow woman. Course, she’s probably too old for me.” Then he laughed a good healthy laugh, but a twinge of pain brought him out of it.
I went out to the stable and got enough food and coffee out of our supply pack for a couple of days. Then I went over all three horses to make sure they were all fit and in good shape. They sorta liked the attention I was giving them, and it gave some time to do some thinking and talking to the horses. We didn’t get much out of the conversation, but we kinda liked the get together.
Come sunup the next morning, I was on a ridge south of the Chambers ranch laying behind some brush and boulders, watching the trail south. After the sun had been up for an hour and a half, I returned to my horse and went back to town by a wide ranging route. If Banks was going prospecting this morning, he left almighty early, and I doubted that was the case. I’d try again tomorrow.
After checking in with Sam, I started down to the café, but Mrs. Clancy stopped me with a plate full of steak and eggs. “Just because a man has early morning business, doesn’t mean he can’t have a good breakfast.” She said as she sat me down at a little side table and poured my coffee. She was a motherly type in her late fifties, about five feet tall and two feet wide. She always had a smile on her face, which looked like it should belong to a plump pixie.
