Lord of the High Reaches

by James Haddock

  “I’ll let it be a surprise,” I smiled. “I’ll be back in a few days.”

  Next morning, looking dapper in my ‘gentleman’s clothes’, I caught the train to River’s Fork. Time to get Tink and the sawmill headed this way.

  Chapter 13

  While on the train, I gave thought to Seeker’s notes and drawings, specifically, those on weapons. If war came, having these could make the difference between winning and losing. Losing was not an option. To enable scientists and craftsmen to understand what he had written would require translating his work from clannish to common. To do so, I would need a blank journal.

  It was just after noon when the train arrived in River's Fork. Most shops were clearly marked with the goods and services each provided. It was easy to locate a printing ship, and in short order, I had a brand new, blank journal.

  Down the street was an inn with a painted sign showing a bed, a tankard of ale, and a plate of food. This would be my next stop. I was famished. Passing by an alley, four men stood propped against the building, looking my way. Walking by, one fool decided to impress his three idiot friends and spat on my boot. Bam! One punch to the jaw, and he was out cold, hitting the ground hard.

  The idiots jumped away, looking down at the fool. "What's the trouble here?" shouted a watchman in a hard voice.

  "That cat attacked Johnny," one idiot pointed at me.

  The watchman looked at me, taking my attire. "That true?"

  "Partially. That one," I said, pointing down, "spat on me. I slapped him for his impertinence." Hopefully, I used the right word.

  "Liar!" idiot number two shouted.

  "Shut-up, you." The watchman shook his nightstick at him. Turning back to me, he asked, "and who might you be?"

  "Baron Lord Highreacher in service of King Edward." Mouths dropped open. The fools knew they were in it deep now.

  "My apologies, Lord Highreacher. We got notice of your elevation. What do you want done to these four?"

  I let my gaze slide over them as they stood weak-kneed before us. "I'll leave that to you, Master Watchman. I have other matters to attend."

  “Very good, sir.”

  Walking away, the sounds of a nightstick smacking bodies filled the street as well as words about how stupid someone could be and still draw breathe.

  Clearly, I was now known in River's Fork and had no further troubles. At the inn, no one stared while I ate, which was a pleasant change. Both Isla and Michael had been right; dressing and acting the part of a nobleman would create acceptance. The bill paid, I headed to Tink’s house.

  His house was much the same as before, except for the addition of a shed over the steam engine. Noise of someone working meant he was there. I stepped in. Tink, seeing a cat dressed as a gentleman, stopped what he was doing, and asked, "How may I help you, M'lord?"

  "Master Tink, I've come to check on the progress of my investment. She still looks rough."

  His frown turned into a smile. "Cam! That's just paint,” he said, dismissively. “It’s coming along nicely. All the needed ports have been installed, and the pressure tests went perfectly. The circular saw is not installed yet, but we can move to Windford almost any time now."

  "Excellent. That’s the news I was hoping for. I have come into possession of a train yard steam engine, and I'd like you to look it over and test it."

  His eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Seriously? Where is it?"

  "Yes, seriously. It's near Windford on my estate." I liked the way that sounded.

  Lips pursed, he looked around. "Hmm…, need to pack some things. I can be ready in six days."

  "What if men were hired to help load your equipment?"

  "That would shave off a couple of days.”

  “Good. By then, workmen will be available on the other end to help off-load. Go get your help. I'II pay."

  Tink was out the door and in short order, brought back six men. Within three days, everything was loaded, including the wood car to feed the steam engine’s boiler. By sunrise on the fourth day, the water tanks had been topped off, and the boiler was blazing. Once steam built up, we were on our way, making good time as the engine was only pulling one wood car and two flatcars. Tink stayed busy, watching the gauges closely while I relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

  By early evening, we passed slowly through the town of Windford and moved on to the keep. We pulled straight into the rail yard before stopping the engine. James and the men were keenly excited about the onsite sawmill. After looking it over, making “oohing and aahing” noises, they off-loaded equipment under Tink’s watchful eyes.

  James marveled at the mill. “Well, sir. I nay thought you could do it, but here it sits. Wished I thought about doin’ something like that. Would provide a good livin’ for a man,” he nodded at Tink.

  Tink, letting the steam off the engine, replied, “I surely do hope so. This is the first job she’ll be used on.”

  When James’ men arrived after the harvest, they had thrown up a quick barracks with the wood Michael had got. There was even a small cooking area. It was a basic building , but would be enlarged given a little more time.

  Tired and ready for the day to be over, Tink and I bunked in the barracks. Another workday awaited us, but tonight, we slept.

  * * *

  The next morning something smelled wonderful. I sat up, looking around. Cookie brought me a hot cuppa…something. Handing it to me, he said, “coffee”.

  “Ka fee,” I repeated, looking at the dark brown liquid.

  “No. ‘Cough’, like you cough up a hairball then stick an ‘E’ on the end.”

  “Cough E.”

  “Now, you’ve got it!”

  Taking a sip, it was stronger than tea, but had a good flavor. “Not too bad. Compliments to the cook.”

  “Only the best for you and the workers, sir.”

  “Your new man, Tink, left earlier. Said he’d be in either the maintenance shed or one of the warehouses." I nodded at him, and he went back to his cooking.

  As the men came to breakfast, there was some good-natured ribbing. "Where's my cuppa in bed?" someone asked in a deliberately soprano voice while batting his lashes.

  "When you pay the wages, young Robert, we'll talk about that," Cookie said, giving him a playful jab on the shoulder.

  "That's not likely to happen," someone else said, causing laughter. These were a good bunch and got on well.

  "I'll be looking for share farmers for the land," I announced, scooping sausage, fried potatoes, and eggs onto the plate. "So, if you know someone who's interested, let them know."

  "At what share, M'lord?" I had talked to Michael, and knew what they paid. It was fair. "60/40 after expenses; 60 to the farm, 40 to the keep." The best anyone else offered was 45/55, and the 55 went to the estate.

  "Fair, M’lord. Aye, we'll pass it along."

  "I'll need stockmen too, for pigs, sheep, and cattle."

  "Will you be buyin’ horses, M'lord?" I recognized the voice without looking.

  "That depends, Robert. Will I have the sheriff coming to see me?”

  "Weeell now," he said. "He may come ‘round to Cat’s Keep, but you'll have a good set of papers on ‘em." Everyone, including me, laughed all the harder.

  “What’s this “Cat’s Keep”?”

  “Beggin’ your pardoned, sir. Since it’s not the Watson Estate anymore, the men have begun to call it ‘Cat’s Keep’, if it pleases you,” James replied.

  “Most fitting.” I raised my cuppa coffee, and all did likewise. “To the Cat’s Keep”.

  “To the Cat’s Keep, sir.”

  The food was excellent, and Cookie was well supplied. No one would go hungry while working at Cat’s Keep.

  I changed into my everyday clothes and went to the train yard. Tink was crawling in the bowels of the engine.

  "How's she look, Tink?"

  "Whoever put her to rest knew his business. She's grand! May need a few seals here and there, but she's grand."

  “Glad to
hear it."

  He climbed out, wiping his hands. "You never said what you were going to do with her."

  "Extend the rail line, harvesting timber as we go. What lumber we don’t use on the keep, we'll send back to market by train."

  "Great idea."

  "Once you get everything up and running, I have some other projects in mind."

  “Whenever you want to discuss them, I will be ready to listen. In the meantime, I have a request,” he hesitated. “Can I live in the maintenance shed?"

  "Is there a place in there for you?"

  "It’s a good size room with a potbellied stove. It will give me plenty of room to work and live.”

  "Sure. Some of the men can help you move your things."

  “Thank you,” he bowed.

  “When it’s just the two of us, no bowing.”

  “Got it. No bowing.” He grinned.

  A crew helped Tink move into the maintenance shed, where he got busy setting everything up. I walked through the keep checking on progress. About half the men were working on enlarging the barracks while James and the rest worked on the main gate.

  Bang! The portcullis on the gate slammed down. It was only because Robert quickly jumped that he wasn’t skewered by the deadly spikes.

  James rushed over to him. “Robert, are you hurt, lad?”

  Robert looked a bit stunned, but rapidly recovered his senses. “Well, I may be needin’ a wee bit of rest for the remainder of the day. With pay, of course,” he said, imitating James’ Irish brogue.

  “If you’d nay been quick, the spikes would ‘ave run you through and through. Let’s be findin’ out what broke on that portcullis. Can nay be havin’ the thing killin’ some poor innocent soul.”

  “James, what caused it to drop?”

  “Young Robert and I are sussing it out now, sir,” James replied while he was checking one side of the portcullis and Robert the other.

  “Here be the problem, sir,” James said with his hand on a broken chain connected to the hoisting winch. “This rusted link gave out and broke in three pieces. When it did, the chain could nay hold the portcullis and down she came. Will be needin’ a new chain since the other links are almost rusted through as well. Takin’ a look-see at the winch, it’s badly rusted too.”

  “Order replacements,” I said.

  Wanting to get a closer look at the circular saw in the train yard, I headed to the train yard. Tink was standing at the side of the engine, staring at it. I stood beside him, trying to see what held his attention.

  Without looking at me, he said, "You see that cover plate there? Under that is a drive shaft plate, where you bolt a drive shaft extension."

  "Okay. How does that help us?"

  "If we can find the drive shaft extension and drive belt, we can use this engine to power the saw. Then, we can use the other engine for the rail work, which would be a better fit for both."

  "We have a warehouse full of equipment," I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. After an hour of looking, we found the drive belt. It was a foot wide and twenty feet long. Later in the afternoon we found the drive shaft. It took both of us to carry it back to the maintenance shed.

  We got to work installing the drive shaft on the yard engine. Tink talked as we worked. "We can still use this engine to do yard work even with the shaft attached. We'll just have to take the belt off. Of course, we'll have to do that every time we change logging locations, anyway."

  "Is it difficult to do?"

  "Not really. The belt will have slack in it. Two men can lift it off."

  Once the installation was done, I left Tink to his own devices. I had other things to do.

  * * *

  When I first saw the keep, it seemed rather small. Now working to rebuild and renovate it, I found it much larger. Work had been going on for two months. The barracks could house up to 60 men and had a large cooking area. Almost done, the stables had a tack room, hayloft, and could hold 20 horses. There was also room for wagons or carriages.

  Repairs began on the inside of the keep proper. It had an open horseshoe shape. Its back wall against the rock outcropping and cliffs; its front faced the main gate. The center of the first floor was the great room, which was also the dining room. To the right was the kitchen and servants’ quarters. To the left was the sitting room and combined library and office. The second floor had a center balcony, overlooking the great room. Left of the balcony were three guest rooms. To the right were three more. The left side of the third floor was a terrace, which was quite nice. Center was the master's private living area, consisting of a master bedroom with study. There was a set of stairs that led up to the top roof battlement. From there, all approaches to the keep could be seen for miles. To the left of the master's rooms were three more bedrooms for the family, I presumed. The backside of the rock outcropping were cliffs some 50 feet high. There was a waterfall that came from a spring-fed pond on top of the plateau. This was where the keep got its water as well as from a creek that watered the land.

  All of this sounded opulent, but it was quite practical. None of the rooms were overly large. This keep was built as an outpost to defend the king's land. They added to it over the years to make it somewhat nicer, but it was still a basic keep. To me, it was grand. I had never owned anything but a hut, and that really wasn't mine. This was my home; I owned it and so would my children.

  Tink used the yard train to bring in the lumber that Lord Windford was providing as well as other supplies from Windford. Occasionally, Michael would accompany a load to see how things were going. When the train returned today, it was pulling two passenger cars. Now, who could be coming?

  As I approached, Lord Windford, Michael, and another man had just disembarked from one of the passenger cars.

  In a formal voice, Lord Winford made introductions. “Lord Highreacher, may I present Sir Kirkland, manager of the East Central Railroad Company."

  He bowed. "M'lord."

  Offering my hand," A pleasure, Sir Kirkland."

  "Just Kirk, if you please, M'lord."

  "Kirk has come with a proposition for us," Lord Windford said with slightly narrowed eyes.

  "Why don't we go into my car so we can discuss it over some hot tea or coffee?" Kirk asked. The weather was turning colder; winter was not far off. Once inside Kirk’s business car, we were seated and served hot. My beverage of choice had become coffee.

  "As I'm sure you know, East Central has been directed by the king to help extend the rail line. We would like to propose a partnership of thirds. We would provide the rails when needed, and the management of the actual building of the railroad for our third. Each of you would continue providing your agreed upon contributions. Once completed, we would manage the rail line and split the profits on thirds as well."

  I thought a moment, then asked, “If we disagree on some matter or other, who has final say?"

  "Well, East Central has more experience in these matters, so we would be the obvious choice," Kirk said, as though it was a foregone conclusion not requiring further discussion.

  "Well, now this is my point. We already disagree on a matter, specifically this one. I recognize your experience in running a railroad, but we have other things to take into consideration." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lord Windford smiling.

  "Such as?" Kirk asked.

  "Well, when and where to build. For example, when and where to build a spur; when and where to stop for a time. Things of that nature."

  "If it’s a matter of funding, East Central would loan you the capital."

  "And there it is," I said, slapping both hands on my knees.

  "What?" Kirk asked.

  "The hook in this wonderful deal. Life happens, so you'll loan us money. When for whatever reason we can’t follow through on the terms of the loan, East Central becomes ‘South and East Central’. It leaves us without even a rope to hold up our trousers."

  Kirk gave an ingratiating half-smile. “You are suspicious and cynical for one of your year
s."

  I smiled in return. “Life sometimes forces you to be. You’re either prey or predator."

  "Do you have a counterproposal?"

  When negotiating, my father said to ask for everything the first time, expecting to only get a third or a quarter.

  "Kirk, bear with me a moment as I think aloud with an eye toward this monumental undertaking. We'll need another steam engine, a wood car, two flatcars, and two passenger cars. You provide the manpower and management to lay the track. We have final say-so on where to put sidings and spurs. You provide the track and maintain the track once complete. I get 36 percent, Lord Windford gets 34 percent, and East Central gets 30 percent of the partnership. Once the loop is complete, East Central manages the railroad. The profit split will be 40 percent to East Central and 30 percent to each of us. Oh, and one of these business cars would be nice. Bear in mind the longer, East Central holds off joining, the more track we will have laid, and the smaller East Central’s share will be."

  The Windfords looked toward him, smiling.

  His mouth hung open. "You can't be serious."

  "Well, that's just me thinking out loud," I said. "I'm just a simple tree cat. What do I know of all this business stuff? I differ to Lord Windford's wisdom in such matters."

  Squinting one eye, Kirk wagged a finger at me. "You're after my shirt, aren't you?"

  I smiled. "Well, it is quite a nice shirt."

  * * *

  The meeting was adjourned with all of us agreeing to continue negotiations. As long as talks continued, there was a chance agreeable terms would be reached. Negotiations continued in full swing; it was offer-counteroffer. After a week, an agreement was reached, fair to all parties. We didn't get all we asked for, but neither did Kirk. This was the essence of negotiations. You’ve got to give something to get something.

  We got one flat car, but no passenger cars. Passenger cars were a “want” not a “need”, because East Central was providing the manpower and management to lay the track. Siding and spur locations would be jointly decided. We got the 36, 34 and 30 partnership percentages asked for, but gave some on the profit split, 50 to East Central and 25 to each of us. Surprisingly, we got a steam engine, wood car, and an owner's business car. None of which were new, but serviceable. On the desk in the business car was a box with a new shirt in it. The note read, 'For the simple tree cat'. We all had a friendly laugh.