Valley of Bones

by Dusty Richards

  “Then the feud came?”

  “Yes. Arizona was sleeping when we got here. Places are five times higher now than when I first came out here.”

  “And now. I can’t believe you have sold two ranches.”

  “Oh, those two ranches never deeply appealed to me. Letting the Boyd family have the one on the border was good for him and his family to have. It was too far from Prescott. The Oracle Ranch made lots of money selling it. I knew I bought it low enough to make a real profit when the time came. I even told the banker what he needed to do. He had no interest except to get rid of it. I never expected the windfall from the sale of the stage line and telegraph wire.”

  “Kinda unreal, isn’t it?”

  “No, the real unbelievable thing that happened was when the railroad management told Cole they were cutting his salary in half right then. I bet they will spend four times that managing it.”

  “Yes. You said at the time they had no sense whatsoever, when they did that. But enough of that, Lisa is close to having lunch ready, and Lisa is having a cookout for the ranch. I expect Tom and Victor’s bunch to join us”

  “Great. And as to the sales—it’s nice not to have any of that business to worry about.”

  “Val says she’s glad Cole’s back to ranching.”

  “I heard. I am glad he’s back with me, too.”

  He stood, put with his arm around her, and they went to eat.

  “No one is here yet? Jesus is home today so I’ll send word that I need him for a trip, and I am counting on him to select what we need to take along.”

  “He and Anita are coming to supper. Tell Miguel, he’s helping down at the cooking.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She gave him a poke. “That way, if he misses anything I will personally deliver it to you.”

  Rocky came and hugged Liz. “I helped them bring in a calf who lost his momma.”

  “I bet that was exciting.”

  “He didn’t want to come here.”

  “Sounds like the work of cowboys.”

  Rocky smiled at his father’s words. “I thought so, too.”

  They took seats and Chet blessed the food. Lisa had brown beans, fire-grilled beef strips, and green beans with biscuits for lunch. A peach cobbler was ready for dessert.

  Lisa took a seat with them. “This meal was not done by me today. I was busy helping the crew. In the yard, getting ready for tonight. Josey helped Val. They did everything here.”

  The group thanked them both and Val put all the praise onto Josey. She blushed. “I am so grateful for my marriage to Fred and getting to live with you all. I wake up every morning and thank God I am here in a place where people take me as their own and not take something away from me.”

  “Did you know Chet had taken Fred in?”

  “Yes. I saw him drive Liz to town and ride with Chet, but I figured he was just a stable boy and had no room for me. The first thing he told me when he came for me was he felt so afraid to do anything that might get him fired that he didn’t dare do anything at all except what he was told to do.”

  “I am sorry. He must have been busting to go get you. He should have said something sooner. Of course we would have allowed it.”

  “I know. It was even scarier when I realized what we did, getting married and coming here. But I am most grateful our firstborn will not be delivered in an alley.”

  Val reached over and dabbed the tears on her cheeks. Then she hugged her. “Josey, you are safe and so is the baby. This is the greatest family anyone will ever know and you are one of us. All of us are survivors.”

  “Amen.”

  Chapter 14

  Miguel smiled, when, after lunch, Chet told him to get the horses and pack saddles along with needs for five of them for ten days. They were going to Mesa with Jesus to meet Fred and Spencer to try to find a banker who ran off with a great deal of money.

  “I bet they have no idea where he went,” Miguel said

  “Why else ask us to find him?” Chet replied, amused

  “Well, I’ll have everything ready. Does Jesus know about it?”

  “No, but he and Anita are coming for supper. He will learn then. Everything else going good?”

  “Yes. Raphael and I decided to put the tent up for the ranch meal tonight. We’ve had some afternoon showers this week. You never know about them.”

  “Good plan.”

  “I’ll have everything ready to go.”

  The ranch folks began arriving. Ranch hands from the Verde. There were three farm wagons of Victor’s field hands and their families. Cole’s people came in wagons and a surrey. Hampt had a wagon and the hands rode horses. His farmers, Betty Lou and Leroy Simpson from Oak Creek, brought two wagonloads of peaches, blackberries, and garden vegetables. Chet knew that they would be the big hit because of the food they brought. Toby and Talley arrived with a camp wagon and four riders.

  The Hereford crew who looked after the purebred herd at Perkins came alone, but the ranch women, young and old, would dance with them.

  Talley and Toby found Chet.

  Before Chet had a chance to ask, Talley said, “The cows are doing great. They are licking their hides in circles.”

  “Please tell Mr. Chavez he found us some great cattle. I bet they were the best ones for sale this fall.”

  “I met John Slaughter down there. He’s a sharp cattle trader and he told me Chavez was the man. He saved us two weeks or more work, finding that many good ones.”

  “Chet, having cattle makes that place a real ranch. Thank you.”

  “On the bad side, have you learned anything?” Toby asked.

  “No, but I wrote letters to all the county sheriffs asking about finding that Harris and those two rifles.”

  “I guess that is all we can do. We still don’t know much about who they are. Maybe your letters will get us some leads.”

  “I am going to Mesa tomorrow. Some banker ran off with the bank’s money and they don’t know where he went. I will be checking there, too. We won’t quit trying to find them. I promise.”

  Talley hugged him. “We know. We know. If they hadn’t murdered those two boys it would have been the highlight of our lives, getting those cows.”

  “It still is good. You two are building a great ranch.”

  They agreed and shook his hand.

  “Cole’s back. He went to shower. A driller was there today and is going to set up next week.”

  “Is that Davis?”

  “Yes,”

  “Sounds good. That test will decide our next move.”

  Jesus arrived and must have talked to Miguel before he met up with Chet.

  “How is your wife feeling?”

  “Good, she says. We leaving at dawn?”

  “Yes. You have help to watch the place? If not, she can stay here.”

  “Yes. And they can help her, too, but I’ll ask her. She will probably want to stay at our house.”

  “The deal is the U.S. Marshals want us to try and find a banker who left Mesa with a load of money. I sent a wire for Fred and Spencer to join us.”

  Jesus smiled. “He left no trail?”

  Chet shook his head. “You knew that or they’d have arrested him.”

  “If it had been easy, they’d never asked for us.” Jesus was chuckling.

  “Hey, you three need me?” Cole asked, fresh from his shower and in clean clothes.

  “I was thinking about it, but you have enough to do here. Spencer and Fred will join Miguel, Jesus, and me down there.”

  Cole grinned. “Sounded like fun.”

  “Did Davis think we have a shot at hitting water?”

  “He wants a water witcher to check it.”

  “Liz can do that. I don’t know if she would do it, but she can witch a well with a peach tree fork.”

  Cole chuckled. “I’ll try to get her to do it.”

  Chet shrugged. “Good luck.”

  The new people met the hands from the other operations. The cowb
oys politely danced with the ranch wives and they all had a good time. Everyone ate until they were full, and Chet didn’t know of anyone who didn’t have a good time. He thanked them all for coming. Some would sleep over. Others would go home. The women promised breakfast at sunrise.

  Jesus said he’d take Anita home and be back before dawn. Chet thanked him and went to the house with his wife to find some shuteye. Miguel said he would have it all ready. Lisa asked if he’d eat with the morning bunch. He told her yes and bragged on the job she did.

  There was a letter for Fred from his wife, who’d already gone to bed. She’d left it on the kitchen table for Chet to take to him. He put it in the jumper pocket that he’d wear against the cool morning air.

  “Did Cole ask you to witch for a well?”

  “I figured you’d told him I did that. What if I can’t find any?”

  “He may need two opinions.”

  She broke out laughing “I will go try it while you look for this runaway banker.”

  “We may not find him, either. His trail will be cold by now.”

  He lay in bed wondering, before he drifted off to sleep, if they would find him.

  Chapter 15

  The next morning when he awoke he heard distant thunder. There was rain on the bedroom windowpane. How unusual. It seldom rained at night in the monsoon season, but any rain in late summer was always a blessing to ranch folk.

  He would have bet all the overnighters were grateful for the big tent. It must have been raining for some time. Liz woke up.

  “Is it raining?”

  “Yes. You getting up now?”

  “Of course. When did it start?”

  “I discovered it when I woke up. I’ll take it all, but the overnight campers may wake up to a shock.”

  “I imagine so. The tent is up, so they have cover.”

  “I’ll wait for you.”

  “I won’t be long. I like to see you off, though you may be swimming away today.”

  They laughed and when she was dressed they went downstairs, put on their long-tail canvas raincoats, and under old felt hats headed for the tent in the now gentle rain. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the sky but they were under cover of the tent when the next, stronger rainfall came.

  Lisa came to greet them. “Maybe you should plan trips more often, Chet?”

  “I’d do that once a week if it brought rain every time.”

  “Well, Miguel has the packhorses loaded. He said a little rain won’t change his mind.”

  “Daylight is not far off. One day won’t matter if it continues this hard.”

  “The ladies have breakfast ready. Get a plate and eat.”

  “Thanks. Tell everyone how much Liz and I appreciate the hard work all of our workers did to put on that great party.”

  “I will.”

  A wet Jesus arrived smiling, shedding his slicker. “Whew, it’s been raining between my place and here. The creeks and arroyos are full of water.”

  Chet sat down to eat his pancakes and ham. One of the ladies brought him and Liz cups of coffee.

  “Is Anita doing all right?” Liz asked.

  “She has some morning sickness. We thought it was early, but the doctor said it hits women at all stages. She is excited. You know how hesitant she is about things, and I think she dreaded it happening at first, but she’s over that and happily planning for it.”

  “Good. Get a plate and join us,” Liz told him.

  “I’ll just have coffee. I had breakfast with her before I left.”

  “Miguel must have the packhorses loaded to suit him. He just came in to eat.”

  “He asked me a few things last night,” Jesus said. “I told him he was right on.”

  “I knew he’d be worried about doing it right but he does need to know how.”

  Jesus agreed.

  “I am impressed by him. You know he has learned to read?” Liz asked.

  “He won’t be left out. Most men don’t bother at his age, but he has a good teacher,” Jesus said. “When we brought Lisa back I thought she wouldn’t ever be anybody worthwhile. But I think you, Liz, converted both Lisa and Talley to become real doers.”

  “I don’t know if it was me or the atmosphere we have here.”

  “Whichever. It has worked well.”

  “You guys started with Val and Bonnie. Then you brought Ben Ivor’s wife Kathrin back from Utah.”

  Jesus shook his head. “Then he brought you here and you brought Anita for me.”

  Thunder rumbled close by.

  “You going to postpone leaving for a while?” his wife asked.

  “A while.”

  “Good. Want more to eat?”

  “No. I’m full.”

  Miguel came by with his plate of food. “I have the packhorses in the big barn alleyway with our saddle horses.”

  “Let’s let the rain pass or slow up. I’d hate to be hit by lightning.”

  Miguel laughed. “Me, too.”

  Cole came by with his plate full. “Great rain.”

  “A wonderful one. Liz, did you tell Cole that you would try the witching but you needed a peach tree fork and a real witcher there, too?”

  Liz laughed. “No. I didn’t have a chance to, and you just told him.”

  “Oh great. I will get it set up,” Cole said.

  Liz shook her head, smiling. By then Rocky had climbed onto the bench beside her and asked her to go riding with him when the rain quit.

  She agreed.

  Chet realized his son had his second mother tied up in his little fingers, too.

  The rain went north and the world around them sparkled in the sunshine by the time they climbed into their saddles and headed south. Chet was on one of his solid roans; Miguel rode a stout big bay and Jesus was on a dun, leaving his own horse behind. The six packhorses jogged along behind.

  Miguel must have brought everything. Four packhorses were usually enough. But he needed to learn how to do that and he was serious enough about this job that the next time he would do it. Meantime, Chet would have bet they wouldn’t need a single thing except for rounding up the two suspects.

  They camped at someone’s windmill on top of a mesa late that afternoon. And by sundown the beans were edible. That and some good camp coffee closed the day. The next evening they were on the edge of the desert and Chet expected to be at Mesa the following day.

  Spencer and Fred met them at Mueller’s Livery on Main Street. Chet’s back had begun to complain after that long in the saddle even though they had good horses to ride in the search for the getaway crooks.

  Spencer reported that the ranch headquarters would be finished in less than a month. His foreman was proud of the cattle and the bulls Chet bought from John Slaughter, but his wife stated she wished Chet had not sold the ranch. She worried she would never have the chance to meet Liz.

  Since Spence and Fred had gotten to Mesa a day early, they had the police chief’s reports on the pair. Photos of both and all the information they had on the crime.

  “Chief James said he could not believe how those two made such a fast getaway. And they left no trace. He swore he’d interrogated everyone he could find and no one saw them leaving town.”

  “I kinda slipped around town today,” Fred told them. “To see what I could find out. I never learned a thing.”

  “Jesus and Miguel can look in the barrio tomorrow. Is the bank open?”

  “No. The examiners are still looking at the books. Besides what they stole the guy I talked to said Jacobs made many large loans before he left. Loans that far exceeded the collateral they took in exchange.”

  “Whew. Do they think he was paid off?”

  “More than likely.”

  “Maybe those people know where he went. There has to be a tie to this man somewhere. I want to interview his wife.”

  His men agreed. But she probably knew nothing. He felt certain the police chief must have talked to her. If Jacobs liked doves well enough to run off with one,
there might be more of them that would know something about where he went.

  They hashed it out in a restaurant over a good meal.

  The man who owned the business came by. “I met these two men,” he said pointing to Jesus and Fred. “I am Abe Carter. This is my place, and I am one of the people that lost money in the bank theft. You marshals, too?”

  “Chet Byrnes. They are Jesus Martinez and Miguel Costa. We are here, as they told you, to find the thief.”

  “I am so glad to meet you, Marshal Byrnes. I have heard that you have a very successful record of finding the likes of Jacobs.”

  “We try. Do you know anything that would help us?”

  “You might ask—” Carter looked around like he wanted to be certain no one could hear him. “Rowell Jennings. He is big rancher east of here. Those two were real close.”

  “We won’t mention you. Thanks.”

  When Carter left, Spencer asked, “Why didn’t he tell us that before?”

  “He was scared for his life, I’d say. Let’s check him out, too.”

  Spencer agreed.

  They talked about how things were going for Cole and how Toby and Talley were doing.

  Chet told them fine.

  They went to back to the hotel and promised to meet for breakfast, when the small café down the street opened at six. Chet and Jesus shared a room.

  “What will we do about Jennings?”

  “Go talk to him.”

  “What if he won’t tell us anything?”

  “We’ll figure out a way to get him to talk.”

  “The way Carter acted, he sounds like he might be tough.”

  “He can’t be tougher than others we’ve dealt with.”

  “You’re right. But somehow when he gave us his name and how he gave it to us made me think he must be a real son of a bitch.”

  “Most crooks are. They have something to hide and will do anything to protect themselves, at any cost.”

  “I noticed that there are not many roads leading out of here. Everyone sees the traffic, so how did they get away with no one seeing the two leave?”

  “It was well planned.”

  “Like someone hid them in a wagon?”

  “Probably.”

  “We’ll find them, but it’s good night now.”