The Reluctant Bounty Hunter

by S G Read

  ‘If my calculations are correct, this is the thinnest part which separates us from the plain on the other side. I can picture a route through here, with the cave blocked off as storage. The thinnest part of the plain is at the end nearest the Pawnee village and that can be easily closed off. The other end will have to be fenced to keep the stock inside.’ Duncan explained.

  Sarah stood there thinking about it for a while before she answered.

  ‘I like it.’ She declared. ‘But tell me you will get experts to make the hole through the rock face!’

  ‘I will definitely get experts to make the hole through the rock face.’ He answered and they walked back to the cabin.

  Chapter 16

  Duncan and Sarah spent the next few days trying to work out how to pan for gold, ably helped by Duncan Wolf Lee who was good at stirring up the silt from the bottom of the stream. It took practice but they learnt how to do it and how to entertain Duncan Wolf Lee at the same time, without letting him throw the gold back so that they could find it again! Morning Sun made pokes to store the gold in and they were stored on one of the shelves Duncan had made out of the boards he used to get the range into the valley. He had no idea of their true value as he did not buy anything to weigh them but he thought they would have enough eventually for everything he wanted to do in the valley. Sarah kept working beside Duncan, proving that she was not afraid of work and they both fell into bed at night, which annoyed Morning Sun at first but when she was able to coax some life out of Duncan in the mornings before Sarah was awake, it was soon forgiven.

  When ten pokes were lined up on the shelf Duncan saddled his horse. He knew that as soon as he paid the money into his bank account he would attract the interest of some unsavory characters but he was prepared for that. He rode out leaving Sarah working in the stream and Morning Sun watching him from the doorway, dewy eyed.

  His first port of call was the plain and he rode through it, putting up markers to show the boundary of his land. When he had it marked, he rode toward Bluegrass, a town with both an assayer, a land agent and an engineer.

  That night he camped in his usual way, with the gold hidden away out of camp, just in case. He was snugly settled in his camp away from the fire when he heard horses.

  ‘Ahoy the camp.’ A voice called.

  ‘You are out late Slim.’ Duncan called back.

  ‘He got lost.’ Prairie Fox called back.

  ‘I did not! I just took a different turn that was all!’ Slim argued.

  ‘Come on in.’ Duncan called and uncocked his rifle.

  Soon they were sitting round the camp fire talking, and eating. They had not eaten as they were late arriving at the camp site.

  ‘Some times it is good not to go the right way Fox.’ Slim declared.

  ‘Why?’ Prairie Fox asked.

  ‘To throw people off the track.’ Duncan answered. ‘Even if you have to back track to get on your way again, you do it in such a way as to miss anyone who might be following but make sure you find any sign they left behind.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Prairie Fox declared.

  ‘Stick with Slim and you will.’ Duncan assured him.

  ‘Where are you off to?’ Slim asked.

  ‘Going to Bluegrass to lay stake on the plain, now that the village has moved.’ Duncan answered.

  ‘You’re going to raise horses, aren’t you? That pipe dream you have!’ Slim chortled.

  ‘No longer a pipe dream, Slim. I have my plans and it will soon be a reality as long as I can get the plain and the valley.’ Duncan explained.

  ‘Hell they don’t know about no valley, why include that?’ Slim exclaimed.

  ‘Because, if I don’t, some smart carpet bagger can lay claim to it and force me out of it with the law on his side. I want it all legal and above board so that any carpet baggers who come along can fertilize the garden like those Sioux are!’

  ‘I get your point, Carter nearly lost land to one of them carpet baggers.’ Slim retorted. ‘Luckily the chap just seemed to disappear and his land returned to the government. Carter waited and then filed his own claim on it, before some other carpet bagger came along.’

  ‘As a marshal, the least I know about that the better.’ Duncan said with a laugh.

  ‘As if we would do anything dishonest!’ Slim declared. ‘I am shocked at the insinuation!’

  ‘I am glad I ran into you two, I might have company when I return in the way of an engineer. I might also have some fellers following to see just where I am going.’

  ‘More fertilizer?’ Prairie Fox asked.

  ‘That depends how many there are and just what their intentions are Prairie Fox. Sort of suck it and see. I might not be followed but that would just be another pipe dream.’ Duncan answered.

  ‘So how can we help, as if I didn’t know?’ Slim asked.

  ‘Not how you think. If I camp here, I reckon they will camp back a ways and then trail me when I move on. If you happen to ghost into my camp and leave in the morning, bold as brass out the front door on my horse, I reckon they will follow you instead. Giving me and the engineer the chance to follow them and then slip away.’ Duncan answered.

  ‘Pull a switch on them to make them follow us, sounds like fun. We’ll take them into the old Indian village, that will spook them and Prairie Fox knows all the ways out when you don’t want to be tracked.’ Slim replied.

  ‘As long as they stay far enough back so that they don’t see it is us!’ Prairie Fox warned.

  ‘They’ll want to know where you are going, before they ask you where anything is.’ Duncan replied.

  ‘And what will they be asking about?’ Slim asked.

  Duncan walked over to his saddle and pulled out a poke of gold dust. Under normal circumstances he would not have shown anyone his gold, as gold can make men do silly things but he trusted Slim. He threw it over to him and Slim grunted when he caught it.

  ‘Is this what I think it is?’ Slim asked

  ‘It is.’ Duncan answered.

  ‘What is it?’ Prairie Fox asked.

  ‘Best you don’t know Fox, believe me.’ Slim answered and threw the poke back. ‘Damned heavy stuff.’

  ‘The horse thinks so.’ Duncan answered.

  ‘You will have to weigh your horse down when we swap Duncan Lee or the men following will see that your horse is lighter.’ Prairie Fox warned.

  ‘Oh I won’t have it when I come back Prairie Fox, Slim will explain one day.’ Duncan replied.

  Prairie Fox looked at Slim and then Duncan but no one explained. That night they settled down to sleep round the fire, with strength in numbers they did not worry about intruders. In the morning Duncan saddled his horse and put the gold back in it after he had put the saddle on the horse to save lifting it all at once, then he turned to Slim.

  ‘Don’t you worry none, we’ll watch your back trail and join you here if you are being followed. If we don’t show then no one is following you.’ Slim assured him.

  ‘Thanks Slim, and you Prairie Fox, I’ll see you when I get back.’ Duncan replied and rode off slowly, making sure his horse did not miss his footing.

  It was a slower journey to Bluegrass than normal and it was getting dark when he finally arrived. He was met by a marshal with a shotgun on the outskirts of Bluegrass.

  ‘I need you to leave your weapons with me, pilgrim.’ The marshal declared.

  Duncan flipped his coat open to reveal his star.

  ‘Marshal Duncan Lee at your service son.’ Duncan replied. ‘I’d rather keep my gun as my cargo is a might valuable but if you think I should still hand it over, I will do.’

  ‘Not at all marshal Lee, go on in.’

  ‘Thank you son, and you be careful now, it is not an easy job, taking a man’s firearms from him. Although I supposed there is another of them there blunderbusses pointed at me from inside the shed?’

  ‘Two actually Marshal Lee.’ The marshal answered.

  ‘That Zeke certainly looks after his men,
night son.’

  Duncan rode on but with the bank and the assay office closed, he could not do anything with the gold so he rode up to the marshal’s office. Zeke looked up when he walked in.

  ‘Duncan Lee, it’s been a time since I last saw you. To what do I owe this pleasure? Anything going on I should know about?’

  ‘Not a lot Zeke. Can I put some things in the cell for the night, out of harm’s way?’

  ‘Surely Dunc, got something you want to keep hold of?’

  ‘I have.’ Duncan walked out and then returned with the pokes of gold.

  ‘I have something better than a cell for that Dunc, we now boast a safe!’ Zeke declared and led Duncan over to it. ‘Be safe enough in here over night Dunc, found a vein somewhere?’

  ‘Well it didn’t grow on a tree.’ Duncan retorted.

  ‘Hell no, it didn’t.’ Zeke declared as he loaded it into the safe. ‘You’d best keep hold of the key, in case I get tempted.’

  ‘I trust you Zeke, so there is no need but I may not know who takes over from you later when we go to the saloon for a drink.’ Duncan answered and accepted the key to the safe.

  ‘I’ll be with you in half an hour Dunc.’

  ‘I’ll go put my horse in the stable and then save a place for you then Zeke.’ Duncan replied with a laugh, he was looking forward to a drink.

  He woke with a sore head the next morning, Zeke had come a little late and they had talked well into the night. Zeke catching up on things in Duncan’s life and Duncan catching up on what was going on in and around Bluegrass. The area was becoming less wild and Bluegrass was growing into a bustling community. Instead of marshals walking round town, they now had policemen in uniform like the bigger towns had. Now it was safe to walk through town at night. There were still unsavory characters about, but they kept their noses clean in town and were careful who they robbed and when.

  Duncan fished the key out from where he had hidden it and walked down for breakfast. It was not as good as Morning Sun’s food but he still ate it. He paid for his meal and then walked down to the marshal’s office. Before he walked in, he pinned the star onto his chest in plain sight, just in case he did not know the marshal in there.

  ‘Good morning marshal.’ The man in the chair behind the desk greeted. ‘How can I help?’

  ‘Just collecting something I left in the safe last night.’ Duncan answered and produced the key.

  ‘You must be Duncan Lee then.’ The marshal declared and jumped to his feet, his hand outstretched.

  ‘Sure am son.’ Duncan answered and shook his hand. ‘Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?’

  ‘Tom Hickock, Marshal Lee, no relation to you know who.’

  ‘Glad to make your acquaintance Tom.’

  Duncan unlocked the safe and took the gold out, then with it firmly held in his arms, he turned to go.

  ‘Can you get the door for me Tom?’

  ‘Sure can marshal Lee, I’ll ride shotgun as far as the assay office with you as well.’ To prove a point he literally took a shotgun from the rack and followed Duncan out of the office.

  Together they walked down to the assay office and Tom opened the door so that Duncan could walk in with his load. Duncan dumped the gold on the counter and it caught the assayer’s attention.

  ‘Be right with you sir.’ He called from behind his horn rimmed spectacles.

  ‘This here is Marshal Duncan Lee, so don’t you go keeping him waiting.’ Tom warned and the assayer leapt up from his chair.

  ‘The Marshal Lee, in my office! How can I help?’ The man cried and ran to the counter.

  The two marshals looked at the pile of hand sewn gold pokes which were lying on the counter.

  ‘You are an assayer, I believe.’ Duncan answered.

  ‘Oh. Yes sir.’

  Both men watched as he weighed and checked the purity of the gold, filling out a form as he did so. He checked and double checked before he finally tore off the slip from the bottom of the form.

  ‘Just take that to the bank Marshal Lee and they will cash it for you.’ He declared and held the slip out to Duncan.

  ‘Thank you for your time.’ Duncan replied and the two marshals walked out.

  ‘That got his attention.’ Tom exclaimed.

  ‘That and everyone else in town.’ Duncan answered dryly.

  ‘No one is likely to try to tangle with Marshal Lee.’ Tom declared.

  ‘Not on their own, anyway.’ Duncan replied.

  Duncan walked to the land office with the marshal in tow and was soon in deep discussion about the land he wanted to settle. He marked the boundaries of the land to include the trail past his cave and as much as the stream on the other side, as he assumed that the gold might have washed that far. He paid his fees and left with his deeds of ownership. They walked to the bank and Duncan handed the slip of paper to the teller, who immediately called the manager.

  ‘Marshal Lee, how nice to see you again. Come into the office.’ The manager said sincerely.

  Duncan followed him in and motioned Tom to follow.

  ‘As you are here, you might as well be a witness.’ Duncan explained and that was good enough reason for Tom to go in.

  With the banking over and the land title also in the hands of the bank for safe keeping Duncan walked outside.

  ‘So do you boast any engineers in this town now?’ He asked Tom.

  ‘Yes. You saw the bank is built in bricks, well it was the engineer who did it.’ Tom answered. ‘I’ll take you up to his office, then I have to get back to the office.’

  Tom took Duncan to the engineer’s office and left him there. After Tom left, Duncan outlined his plans to the engineer. As the bank was finished and he was now looking for work the engineer was interested.

  ‘A tunnel eh. I can do that.’ The engineer replied. ‘It will have to be arched and supported with bricks, I have some old Roman designs I can try on it.’

  ‘Can you block up an opening as well? It is a cave and will be useful for storage if no one can get in the other side Mr. Levi.’ Duncan asked.

  ‘I can’t see why not, we can use the rock we take from the tunnel to save on bricks as we have to get them there from nearest rail line or river.’ Mr. Levi answered. ‘We can cut the timber locally but it will cost a bit.’

  ‘Money is not a problem.’ Duncan answered. ‘Secrecy early on is, however.’

  ‘We’ll leave tomorrow and I can set up my office when we arrive, I am only renting this place to have a roof over my head.’ Mr. Levi answered. ‘If we are together, no one will find out anything from me. Although I will have to order bricks and the stuff I fix them with, from a nearby town with a telegraph.’

  ‘No problem, will five thousand dollars get you started Mr. Levi?’ Duncan asked.

  ‘That should go a long way but you never know with tunnels, it depends what we run into when we start tunneling. And call me Eugene Mr. Lee.’

  ‘It is Duncan, Eugene. I’ll get the money transferred to your account while you start packing.’

  ‘How far is it?’

  ‘I will tell you when we are on our way Eugene, sorry to be secretive but I need to keep the location secret for a little while. Until the tunnel is finished and the cave entrance blocked to be exact.’

  An hour later they were on their way but to Duncan’s horror Eugene had a mule in tow with his equipment on it. That was something he had not bargained on!

  ‘Do you need all that stuff?’

  ‘I only rent this office, if I am not going to be here it is not worth keeping it. And yes I do need all this stuff plus a lot more but I can order that!’ Eugene answered.

  There was nothing Duncan could do. They left town the way Duncan had come in to it and followed the trail towards the valley. With the mule in tow it was not a fast journey and consequently they had to camp before they reached the place he had agreed with Slim and Fox. He chose a place which was a little secluded, although he did not fear attack at this time, not from anyone who f
ollowed them from Bluegrass. They would want the source of the gold. He set out the camp and settled down to eat his food while Eugene was shaving his face, in water heated by the fire Duncan had lit. Later when darkness covered the entire area, except for the light generated by the fire, Duncan settled down away from the fire to sleep.

  ‘There’s six of them!’ A voice said from the darkness, just loud enough for Duncan to hear.

  ‘How do we do this then?’

  ‘Go into the camp site as normal tomorrow and we’ll ride out again, like you took a wrong turn or something. We’ll have to take the mule though and deliver it later, so make sure the other feller knows that.’ Slim answered.

  ‘He’ll know.’ Duncan answered and the conversation ended.

  Duncan slept well, knowing that they were unlikely to be disturbed. In the morning he brewed coffee and made breakfast before Eugene was awake. After he had eaten Eugene insisted on shaving again before they left but Duncan left his stubble as it was, he would shave as soon as he was home with Morning Sun.

  ‘I found out we have company last night Eugene.’ Duncan said idly as Eugene shaved.

  ‘A man brings that much gold into town, someone is bound to wonder where it came from.’ Eugene answered just as idly.

  ‘You heard about it as well then?’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘Does it worry you?’ Duncan asked.

  ‘I have enough explosives to blow them all to hell and gone, if need be.’ Eugene answered.

  ‘I hope that won’t be necessary but it can be an alternative plan if the first plan fails.’ Duncan answered.

  ‘You cook that up with that friend you were talking to last night.’

  ‘You got big ears?’

  ‘Only when I smelled he was there, needs a bath.’ Eugene answered.

  Duncan laughed.

  ‘Been waiting for us, and it might have been the friend with him you smelled.’

  ‘Didn’t spot two of them.’

  They broke camp and rode out later than Duncan would normally leave his camp and started up the trail to the valley. When they reached the rendezvous, they rode into the camp site, switched places and Slim left with Fox leading the loaded mule. Duncan and Eugene moved out of sight and watched the opening.