Lone Star 03

by Ellis, Wesley

  “You know about the rustlers, then.” When Jessie nodded, Ki went on, “Those gangs work in a pattern, remember. The chances are they’ll hit us or the Lazy G next.”

  “After what you told me about your run-in this afternoon, the Lazy G’s going to be shorthanded,” Jessie frowned.

  “They’d be an easy target. I suppose we would too, unless we put out night herders. But the Lazy G’s a syndicate ranch, and they’d have the resources to tide them over. We could recover too, if we lost a herd. Not that I’d want to.”

  “I’ll talk to Ed tomorrow,” Ki said. “Charley Smith might be luckier here than he was at the Box B.”

  Jessie was still pursuing her original train of thought. She went on, “Brad didn’t say so outright, Ki, but I got the idea that losing his market herd could just about wipe him out. And he’s been a good friend since my father’s time.”

  “You’ll help him, of course?”

  “Of course. Maybe a loan from one of the Starbuck banks to tide him over while he’s rebuilding his herds. He wouldn’t let us help him directly, I know, but he wouldn’t realize we’d have anything to do with a loan from a bank.”

  “We’ll see how he feels after supper,” Ki said. “And it’s time for me to get cleaned up. I’ll be down in time to eat.”

  Rested and refreshed by a good dinner, Close was better able to give a complete account of what had happened when he set out to trail his stolen cattle as he, Jessie, and Ki sat in the big main room of the ranch house after they’d eaten.

  “I didn’t waste no time,” the old rancher said. “Took out after ‘em before the trail got any colder.”

  “Alone?” Ki asked.

  “Sure. Hell, Ki, I wasn’t looking for a fight. I was out to find out where my steers was. If I’d been lucky enough to run that bunch to their hideout, I‘d’ve got a bunch together to give them rustlers a real bellyful. There’s always men with guns for hire south of the river.”

  “But you didn’t find the hideout?” Jessie asked.

  “Nope. Oh, it was easy enough to trail the herd from the Box B to the river, and I found where they crossed, and followed the trail partway into Mexico.”

  “Only partway? You’re not the kind of man to give up on a trail like that, Brad,” Jessie observed, frowning. “What happened?”

  “What happened was that whoever was bossing them rustlers had sense enough to leave four or five men as a rear guard. I had to dodge that bunch over half of Coahuila before I shook ‘em off my trail.”

  “And the main bunch got away with your cattle, of course?”

  “You bet they did! You know what the country’s like on the other side of the Rio Grande, south of the Big Bend.”

  “Yes. Pretty much what it’s like on this side. Baked earth that doesn’t hold tracks well, rough desert mile after mile, and no real landmarks to go by.”

  Close nodded. “You’ve named it, Jessica. Oh, I never did get what you’d call lost. After I shook off the rustlers’ rear guards, I swung north by way of San Pedro, and stopped to talk to the rurales that’s headquartered there. But all I got from ‘em was what the little boy shot at.”

  “Meaning nothing?” Ki asked.

  “Meaning nothing,” Brad agreed. “They wasn’t about to put theirselves out for a gringo. Well, I could understand that, so after I got back on this side of the Rio Grande, I angled up to Fort Chaplin to tell our own soldiers what was going on.”

  Jessie took advantage of the pause to ask, “They weren’t any more help than the rurales had been?”

  “Maybe not even as much.”

  “I can’t understand that,” she said. “Captain Stanford has always tried to do what he could to help the ranchers when bandits from the other side of the river give us trouble.”

  “Stanford’s been transferred,” Close said. “They sent a young pipsqueak Yankee from back East to take his place.”

  “Surely some of the men who were serving under Captain Stanford are still there, though,” Ki put in.

  “Oh, sure. But they can’t lift a finger to help a body if the fort commander don’t tell ‘em to.”

  “And the new commander wouldn’t?”

  “Not for a minute!” Close stopped long enough to take a swallow of coffee. He went on, “Hell, that new man never even caught on to what I was talking about when I told him I figured the old Laredo Loop was working again.”

  Jessie shook her head. “I just can’t imagine the army doing nothing when we ask for help.”

  “I guess the old army’s changing, Jessica,” Close said. “You take this young Lieutenant Farnam that’s taken Stanford’s place, now. He wasn’t no brighter’n Adam’s off-ox when it come to him understanding what I tried to tell him.”

  Somewhere deep in Jessie’s mind, a tiny warning bell tinkled when she heard the lieutenant’s name. She asked, “Farnam? What’s his first name, Brad?”

  “Joe, which I’d guess is short for Joseph.”

  “Did he happen to mention where he’d come from?”

  “One of them big old towns back East. Boston, I believe it was. Why?”

  “Oh, just an idea I had. Farnam isn’t a very common name.”

  “You mean you might know him, or his kinfolks?” Jessie shook her head. “No. Except that the name sounded familiar for a moment. But it’s not important, Brad. Go on with your story.”

  “Well, there ain’t much more to tell, Jessica. This little puffed-up lieutenant’s got no more idea of what them soldiers he bosses is supposed to do than that palomino of yours would have. I wanted him to get some patrols out along the river and try to nab a bunch of them rustlers with a herd of steers they’d stole, before they could get over on the other side of the river and change brands on ‘em. No, he says, he can’t do that, the army’s got orders now not to mix up in civilian business. Go see the sheriff, he told me.”

  “I’m sure you explained to him that the sheriff’s at the county seat, which is a three-day ride from the river?”

  “Sure I did. He said he was sorry, but that’s all the satisfaction I got. Now if your daddy was still here—” Close stopped short and shook his head. “I guess I didn’t have no call to say that, Jessica. I’m sorry.”

  “You shouldn’t be, Brad. I agree with you, if Father were here, he’d get some hands from the Box B and the Lazy G and some from our place, and put an end to the rustling. But ...” her voice trailed off.

  Soberly, Close said, “Yeah.” He yawned again. “Well, I’ve told you about all I know. And if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go back upstairs and catch up on the rest of that sleep I lost.”

  “And bed sounds good to me,” Ki said, standing up.

  “I know you’re both tired,” Jessie told them. “We’ll talk some more at breakfast, when we’re fresh. Among the three of us, we ought to be able to think of some way to stop this new Laredo Loop gang before it does any more damage. Then we can sleep peacefully all night, every night.”

  Chapter 4

  After Ki and Brad Close had gone upstairs, Jessie sat alone in the big main room, sipping the last swallows of her coffee. Slowly the house grew quiet as the noises from above—doors opening and closing, soft footsteps in the hall—died away as Ki and Close settled down in their own bedrooms.

  Poor Brad! she thought to herself. Losing a herd that could mean the difference between keeping his spread and having to close it out. And being given such rude treatment by the army must have been the last straw. Which reminds me—

  Jessie stood up and went into the big square room that had been Alex Starbuck’s office and den. She sat down in the oversized leather chair in front of the huge oak rolltop desk that had been her father’s. Alex had bought the desk when he began his first business venture in San Francisco, a small importing firm dealing in goods from the Orient.

  At that time the Circle Star had been a small specialized spread, breeding fine horses as a sideline to catching the wild mustangs that roamed the prairie, breaking them and tr
aining them as cattle ponies. The first expansion of his interests had been almost accidental. To tide the Circle Star over a long period of drought that had brought ranching to a standstill, Starbuck had taken a shipload of fine horses to the Far East. Unable to sell them for cash, Alex had taken merchandise in trade, and to dispose of the goods he had been forced to open an Oriental merchandise store in San Francisco.

  It was on this base that Starbuck had built his business empire, which by the time of his death had grown to span the globe. The success of the little store led to his first major expansion from Oriental goods to general merchandise, and from that point the growth that multiplied the Starbuck enterprises had begun. Other retail stores had followed the first one, and led him into dealing as a wholesaler. Then, securing transportation for his goods had gotten him involved in railroads and ocean shipping.

  When he saw that he’d need financing for his railroads and shipping lines, Alex had bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and later added banking to his other enterprises. To secure the raw materials needed to build tracks and coaches, locomotives and steel-hulled steamships; he’d moved into mining and foundries.

  Soon the Starbuck enterprises spilled into Europe, and his expansion there resulted in a series of collisions with a tight, unscrupulous international cartel, which Alex out-maneuvered in deal after deal. As the cartel’s losses from the competition of the aggressive American increased, its masters set out to eliminate Alex, and ultimately succeeded in bringing about his assassination.

  After the death of Jessica’s mother, Alex Starbuck had never considered remarriage. He’d brought up Jessie himself, training her as he would have trained a son to take over the Starbuck enterprises after his death. Neither of them had anticipated that death would take Alex so early, nor that it would be at the hands of a team of killers hired by the international cabal.

  Sitting in her father’s deep leather-upholstered chair, the fragrance of his cherry-flavored pipe tobacco still clinging to the well-worn cushions, Jessie closed her eyes and leaned back for a moment as memories, glad and sad, flowed through her mind. Then she straightened up and rolled the top of the desk open. Reaching into the pigeonhole that only she and Ki knew held the latch of the secret drawer built into the desk, Jessie opened the concealed drawer. Lying on top of a small stack of confidential reports and notes was Alex’s small black notebook containing the data his agents had uncovered regarding the histories and habits of the cartel’s top members.

  Jessie thumbed through the dog-eared pages until she found the entry she was seeking. Her memory had been correct. There, in a condensed version of her father’s flowing script, she read:Farnam, Joseph John, Sr.

  Boston, Mass., U.S.A.

  Res: Commonwealth Ave.; summer home Marblehead

  Wife Deborah decsd. ; Farnam never remarried but mntns mistresses Birdie Ostrow, N.Y. actress; Mabel Cross, former secy, Boston

  Chldn: Joseph John, Jr., Leicstr Acad., USMilAcad.; Constance, m. Rbt. Higham; Lynn, m. Ward Peabody

  Bus. offcs Mayflower Ntl Bnk Bldg, State St.; clubs, Somerset, City, Union

  Pol: R

  Textiles,felting, shoes, coal, RR; financed short sales B&VRR stock, took control B&V after bnkrptcy wl Henri Duclos, Belg., Augustus Schertz, Ger.; Farnam new member cartel; Farnam, Duclos, Schertz constrct rt-of-way Starbuck RRs Ohio, Penna., Montana Terr.; suspct sabotage train Toledo.

  Jessie read the entry twice, trying to read into it more than Alex’s often-cryptic abbreviations revealed. She went to the entries covering Duclos of Belgium and Schertz of Germany. These two had crossed swords with Alex more than once over the years, but Farnam’s name was not mentioned in connection with other clashes between her father and the cartel.

  It can’t be coincidence, though, Jessie mused. There simply couldn’t be another lieutenant named Joe Farnam who graduated from West Point. And a young officer who‘s the son of a man like Farnam usually gets a more comfortable assignment than Fort Chaplin. So, if it can’t be coincidence, there’s got to be a reason. And the only reason that makes sense is some scheme the cartel’s trying to carry out.

  After rereading the Farnam entry, Jessica restored Alex’s notebook to its hiding place and closed the secret drawer. She leaned back in the big leather chair and closed her eyes, trying to think of any possible connection that could be made between the cartel and the rustling of Brad Close’s market herd. She was on the point of falling asleep when the scattered factors came together and brought her awake with a start.

  Jessica stood up and glanced at the Vienna pendulum clock that hung on the wall over Alex’s desk. Even though it was past midnight, she ran up the stairs and tapped on Ki’s door. When he opened it, she whispered, “We’ve got to talk tonight about the Box B herd being rustled, Ki.”

  “Tonight? Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

  “No. We need to go over my idea right now.”

  Ki nodded. “You wouldn’t be in such a hurry if it weren’t important. I’ll be right down.”

  “In Alex’s study. I’ll start some water boiling. We’ll both want tea.”

  By the time Ki came into the study, water was boiling in the miniature two-cup kettle over the flame of the spirit-burner that was always kept ready on its stand in a corner of the room. Jessie had just opened a tin of tea, and its subtle aroma was stealing through the air.

  Ki sniffed appreciatively. “Ah, Cloud Mist. Perfect for a late-night conference.”

  “That’s what I thought, too.”

  Jessie put a pinch of the tea into the cups she’d gotten out and poured the boiling water into them. The fragrance of the steeping tea rose from the cups. She handed one to Ki and took the other to the desk, where she sat down in the big leather chair. Ki took his cup to the sofa and sat down facing her.

  “What is this idea you have, Jessie?”

  “It may be farfetched, Ki, but it’s the only thing I can think of that makes sense. If I’m right, rustling the Box B herd is just the start of something much, much bigger.”

  “There’s more to it than just a gang of bandits from Mexico starting the old Laredo Loop again, then?”

  “Perhaps. That’s what we’ll have to find out. But I’ve gotten very suspicious of coincidences.”

  Quickly, Jessie outlined for Ki what she’d found concerning the Farnam family in her father’s notebook. When she’d finished, Ki shook his head.

  “I still don’t see what you’re driving at, Jessie.”

  “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a young lieutenant named Joe Farnam was suddenly placed in command at Fort Chaplin, Ki. Especially at the same time the army changed its policy of helping ranchers along the border to deal with rustlers who come across the Rio Grande from Mexico.”

  Ki said thoughtfully, “Policy is made in Washington, of course. That would mean that Farnam’s father could have had a hand in it, I suppose.”

  “He had enough influence to get his son accepted at West Point. And it’s no secret that the army’s very vulnerable to political influence right now. Besides, the senior Joseph Farnam can use not only his own political strength, he can call on the other cartel members in this country as well.”

  “But for what purpose, Jessie?”

  “Something you said earlier today gave me the idea, Ki.”

  Ki thought for a moment, then shook his head, frowning. “It must have been some remark I’ve forgotten, then.”

  “When we were first talking about the rustlers, you said the Lazy G or the Circle Star might be next on their list.”

  “Even if they stole one of our market herds, they couldn’t hurt the Circle Star, Jessie. Not the way losing a herd hurts Brad Close’s Box B.”

  “Of course not.” Jessie raised her teacup to her lips, and found it empty. She picked up Ki’s cup, which was empty too, and went to the stand. As she refilled the miniature teapot and relighted the spirit lamp, she went on talking. “We could survive, as you said this afternoon, Ki. And you were right
about the Lazy G, too. The syndicate got three million acres of land in ten counties for building the Texas capital, and the Lazy G’s just a little part of those three million acres.”

  “Then what’s your point?”

  “This is our headquarters, Ki.”

  “Jessie,” Ki said patiently, “even if we lost the Circle Star as a headquarters, we have others we can use.”

  Before he’d finished speaking, the look in Jessie’s emerald-green eyes told Ki he’d said the wrong thing. In spite of the angry gleam her eyes showed, Jessie held her temper.

  She said, “I know as well as you do that we can work out of the other bases we have. But they aren’t the same as the Circle Star, Ki. This is more than a base or a headquarters to work from. This is home!”

  “I’m sorry, Jessie. I know you feel just the way Alex did about the ranch. And you’re right, of course. But what I said about our not having to worry over the loss of one market herd still makes sense, doesn’t it?”

  Jessie came back with the cups of freshly brewed tea. She said, “In one way it does, but if you carry that thought a step further, it can be really alarming.”

  “Carry it further in what direction?”

  “In a ring around the Circle Star. Our neighbors, the ones that touch our range.”

  “That means the Box B, the Lazy G, the Lightning Fork, and the X Slash X,” Ki frowned. “But I still don’t see what you’re trying to tell me.”

  “Think, Ki!” Jessie urged. “What would our situation be if we couldn’t drive a market herd from the Circle Star across the range that belongs to any of those four ranches?”

  “Why, we wouldn’t be able to get our cattle off Circle Star land, of course,” Ki replied promptly.

  “Suppose the rustlers who stole the Box B herd never took a single steer off the Circle Star range, but came back and stripped the Lazy G and the Lightning Fork and the X Slash X, not all at once, but one at a time?”

  Ki frowned thoughtfully. “Well, we’ve both agreed the Lazy G wouldn’t be hurt much. From what I last heard, the Lightning Fork’s in good condition. The X Slash X is in about the same shape as the Box B, though. Shaky.”