Blood on the Verde River

by Dusty Richards

  Marge had a bad case of morning sickness. It finally settled down and she was better when Hampt and May arrived about nine. The two women went to town shortly thereafter.

  “What do you know about the Randle place?” Chet asked Hampt seated at the table.

  “You know Slim Randle?”

  “No.”

  “Well,” Hampt began. “He must be eighty years old. He has boys for ranch hands, ’cause he only pays them twelve dollars a month. As soon as they learn anything, they quit and get a real job. He doesn’t have any British bulls, maybe a few crosses. We had it out already. I told him if any of his cull longhorn bulls got over on my property and bred my cows, I’d cut them.”

  “That family owns almost four thousand acres.”

  “I never knew that. Man, that is lots of deeded land.”

  “Six sections.”

  “They do put up some hay on land down near the Verde. I just rode by it.”

  “Bo says after they get the estate settled we can buy it.”

  Hampt shook his head. “That and the Hartley place would make a great ranch.”

  “Start looking at more of it. Maybe get Tom to look it over with you. Three heads are much better than one.”

  “This is all secret right?” Hampt asked.

  “Oh, yes, it needs to be.”

  “I can keep it quiet. That place would give us lots of ranching. Reg, up there at Hackberry. Sarge up at the Windmill ranch, Tom and all the Verde operation, and then my two places put together.”

  “Does the place have some big steers?”

  “Land yes. I don’t know when they sold any cattle last.”

  “Selling off some cattle could pay for the ranch,” Chet said thoughtfully.

  “I believe it could. Wow. Wouldn’t that be something? Buy a ranch and let the cattle you can round up pay for it?”

  “I think Reg’s place will do it, too. Haze and Lefty went up to help those two.”

  “Boy, things have sure moved fast.”

  “We got in on the frontier here. No railroads to ship on. No markets. When this country opens up, it will boom, and we will be well situated by then.”

  Hampt nodded. “Damn right. I never took selling cattle to be that serious. Never thought it would be that important. But you sure need money to operate on. I look at my books with May every week. I’ve been thinking about something called barbed wire. The blacksmith in town has started making it. It will turn back cattle. I need to fence those hay fields I have down on the Verde. Cattle keep getting in there. I can cut posts this winter and by spring plant them.”

  “How much is it?”

  “Fifteen bucks a roll. A five-wire fence costs seventy-five dollars plus posts and staples for every quarter mile. It would cost a thousand dollars to build enough to close in the hay fields. May helped me on that math.”

  “Good girl. I think some day we will need miles of it to survive in this business. Order the wire and go look at some tight wire fences. I have seen all kinds. We used smooth wire and stick fences in Texas. You really need well-set corners so they hold the wire tight. Posts just support it.”

  “Before we stretch any, I’ll know all I can about fence building,” Hampt promised. “Thanks.”

  “We better order it now. They can’t make those rolls that fast.”

  “Good idea.”

  The two men had a good day talking about cattle, land, and water resources. Chet told him about the water development he’d seen down at Rye. Hampt talked about places where he had such springs that could use developing.

  “We need to go to work on that, too,” Chet agreed.

  “All I do is cost you money,” Hampt said, smiling.

  “Hey, we are going to build ranches we can live and work on. I’ll need to get our new blacksmith John to make us some clam type posthole diggers. I saw some in Texas that had two handles and you closed them to lift the dirt out of a narrow hole.”

  “I think I can find some Mexican boys to make and split posts. We better get to cutting on this deal. It will be spring before we know it.”

  “Marge’s foreman Raphael can find them and they’ll be good ones.”

  “Can I close in sixty more acres down on the Verde bottoms for more alfalfa?” Hampt asked suddenly.

  Chet began laughing.

  Hampt frowned. “I meant for later on.”

  “Sure. You are an expansionist as bad as Reg.”

  Hampt shook his head. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Means you want more than you’ve got.”

  “I guess so boss man, but I am loving it. May’s the best thing I ever found and this ranch business—well I never believed I’d ever get a shot at running one.”

  “I think those women just drove up.”

  “We’ll need to get home. Those two boys and that little girl will have that cowhand watching them treed. Curly said he could watch them, but I bet he’s plumb wore out. The boys have outgrown those two old horses. We better find them some peppier ones.”

  “I’ll have my livery man find them.”

  “Good. They could ride a billy goat and would try him, but May can’t stand the smell on them when they do.”

  “We’ll find them some horses to ride.”

  “There’s enough kids over there now so they will hold school. They are going to have a four-month session.”

  “Good.”

  They shook hands and Hampt went to join his wife in their buckboard.

  Marge had already climbed down and grinned at him. “Take care of her.”

  “Oh, I will ma’am. If she’ll just mind me.” He climbed on the spring seat and turned the rig in a circle to leave. May was waving and shaking her head at him.

  Chet kissed his wife. “Have fun?”

  “Yes. May is a changed person and she talks to me now.”

  “I guess she was under so much pressure being my brother’s wife and a family member her lips were sealed.”

  “I think Hampt brought her out of her quiet silence. I think he made a happy woman out of her.”

  “Good. He’s found more work for me. I need to talk to Raphael about some Mexican boys to cut fence posts.”

  “He’ll find them for you. He knows the ones that will work, too. Where are you building fence?”

  “Around some land on the Hartley place that has alfalfa on the Verde.”

  “When I have the baby I want to go down there and see that lower place. What did he think about the ranch next door?”

  “He about cried. Never thought he’d ever get a chance to run a real big ranch. Let alone the size of those two combined.”

  “What else?”

  “My nephews need faster horses.” They both laughed.

  “May told me they were going to get to go to school again. You know she’s been home schooling them all this time?”

  “I knew she and Susie were concerned about the short sessions and no school setup over there.”

  Marge hung on his arm. “Lots to do, isn’t there?”

  “I’m almost as busy as I was in Texas.”

  “Oh pooh. You have more irons in the fire than any man I know including my own father when he was building this ranch.”

  “All right. I am busy. We aren’t getting it all done as fast as I’d like, but we are making strides.”

  “Big ones.” They went inside the house, kissed, and she went to tell Monica about her day with May.

  He read the Miner newspaper until supper.

  The next morning Chet struck out for The Quarter Circle Z, arriving at the Verde Ranch mid-morning. He entered the kitchen where Susie was busy making cinnamon rolls for the crew as a treat. “Morning Mrs. Times,” he teased, kissing her cheek.

  She grinned. “Morning, Mr. Byrnes.” She poured him a cup of coffee and told him the wagon train people were seriously talking about going down to Hayden’s Mill and farm.

  He found his blacksmith John in the shop Tom had thrown up for him. The man in his big leath
er apron was working on his anvil and forge. He took off his gloves and shook Chet’s hand.

  “Is it all going all right?” Chet asked.

  “Fine. We’re repairing the mowing equipment. It needs lots of work and some reinforcing. Those implements were made for cutting smooth orchard grass and timothy hay fields in Iowa. Not sagebrush in Arizona.”

  Chet laughed. “Have you ever seen those clam-like posthole diggers?”

  “I think I have. Why?”

  “Could we make some?”

  “Sure. Why?”

  “We are going to fence the lower hay fields on the Hartley place next year and we’ll need several of them.”

  “I’ll draw one up,” John promised. “My wife said to be sure to thank you. The house is solid, dry, and warm with a fire in it. My kids are in school and we’re settling down. Tom has gotten me everything I needed. We’ve fixed single and double trees, made parts for that boy up at the sawmill for his wagons, and kept busy. How are you going to fence it?”

  “They make a twisted wire at the blacksmith shop in Preskitt with sharp barbs on it.”

  “I have seen that. We could make that here. Maybe when things settle down for the cowboys this winter we can use them to help.”

  “Let me talk to Tom about that,” Chet said.

  “Fine, but I bet we can beat the price in Preskitt.”

  “John, you have the right idea.”

  They parted and Chet went by the cook shack to see how Hoot was.

  The old man was sitting down at the long table, drinking coffee.

  “You all right?” Chet asked, concerned, stepping over the bench to sit down beside him.

  “I been having some sorry days lately. Guess I’m just tired today.”

  “You need to go see a doctor.”

  “He got any pep pills? I’ll come out of it. That last boy Tom hired—Clarence—can feed the hands. Susie’s making rolls special for them today. She wanted to. I’ll go lay down. Don’t worry. I’ll get over this.”

  “You should see a doctor,” Chet advised.

  “If I don’t get better, I will.”

  “Do that.”

  Hoot shuffled off to the bunkhouse, leaving Chet concerned. He’d never seen the old man that low.

  Back at the house, he talked to Susie about him.

  She wiped her hands on her apron. “He’s been failing lately. I’ve been baking pies, bread pudding, ’cause that boy, while he’s good, can’t get it all done, otherwise.”

  “Hire him a helper.”

  “I’ll tell Tom. Hoot will listen to him. Me, it would be crowding in.”

  “He’s not well. Hampt and May came over the other day. Singing May is really doing good as a wife.”

  “Why didn’t we ever know she could do that?”

  “Damned if I know. But she truly is happy and so is he.” Then Chet told her about what the new ranch deal might be like.

  “Man, you are hoeing and going.”

  He also told her about his wife receiving the home place as her own.

  Susie shook her head. “You always liked being busy.”

  Since Tom wouldn’t be back until late, he decided to ride on up to the Windmill Ranch and come back the next day. Sarge would be there and he wanted to see what his plans were.

  It was past sundown when he arrived, but thanks to the mild day, the ride across country had been pleasant.

  Victor cooked him some food as Sarge told him how things were going at Gallup. “Hay partners are set up. They didn’t get the snow you got at Preskitt. We’re doing fine here. Tom sent me a letter that the next shipment would be up here in a week. It will be early, but we’ll head out right away to be at the Navajos for the December delivery. That okay with you?”

  “You’re the boss. This winter will be a booger to get cattle there on time but the agency knows that. They still happy?”

  “Oh, they say they are. I hear all the time that some Texans are underbidding us, but so far they ain’t won that contest.”

  “Rumors can be just that. The agency needs orderly deliveries. The last bunch couldn’t do that, so they’ll be wary.”

  “We got a bed. You are staying for the night. Boys grained and put your horse up already.”

  “Hey, I’m ready for bed.” Chet turned to the cook. “Thanks, Victor, for caring for the men. This is a critical operation for our ranch.”

  “Ah, sí. You tell your wife to come see me.”

  “I will.”

  Satisfied, he slept in the bunkhouse and woke to eat Victor’s breakfast with the crew and talk to the men, then he rode back to the Verde ranch without incident. Despite the sunshine, he kept his jumper buttoned against the north wind that kept him hunched up in the saddle. Next time he’d wear his sheep-lined jacket.

  Tom was at the ranch when Chet returned in late afternoon. They visited at Susie’s house. Leif was out with two others making sure cattle hadn’t drifted too far north of their range.

  A fire crackled in the fireplace and the radiant heat felt good on Chet’s face. The two sipped fresh coffee.

  “Any word on the three that got away from you and Roamer?” Tom asked.

  “No. I imagine we won’t ever hear about them again. We were lucky to get back the loot we did and that one brother.”

  “You hear anything from JD?”

  “He’s working for someone west of Socorro, New Mexico. He says it’s out of that range war.”

  “I hope so. Some tough stories coming out of there.”

  “I’d say. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “No telling about him,” Tom said. “He really went under after the breakup with that woman. She didn’t appreciate all he had done for her.”

  “JD’s father was a strange guy. The government said he was killed in the last battles in Mississippi during the war, but records weren’t good in those last days. A lot of us thought he’d probably show up one day. He never did.

  “He was a gambler and wanted no part of the ranch work. That was why I ended up running it. My mother always said he was like other relatives in the Byrnes family who ran sideshows and other flimflam deals.”

  “He never showed up again?”

  Chet shook his head. “And I have not missed him.”

  Tom changed the subject. “All was well with Sarge?”

  “He’s fine. Expecting cattle is all.”

  “I sent him a letter. We will have those cattle up there next Wednesday.”

  “He’s ready.”

  “Good. What else is news?”

  Chet told him about the pending ranch deal, then Tom went to his house for supper.

  Chet ate with Susie. Leif wasn’t back and it was dark. She acted edgy at the meal over his tardiness.

  “You finally have someone?” Chet asked her.

  “Oh yes, and I enjoy every day. I dreaded marriage, but I love it and him so much.”

  “Good. I am going to turn in. I’ll have breakfast with the boys in the morning.”

  “No, please don’t. Leif will be up regardless and I’ll have it here.”

  “Fine. Wake me.”

  “I will.”

  Susie woke him in the middle of the night. “Leif is back, but someone shot one of the cowboys. They brought him over here and sent for the doc. Tom is coming.”

  Chet woke quickly. “Who? What’s his name?”

  “Utah. He’s a new hand Tom hired two weeks ago.”

  “I’ll be right down.” Chet dressed hurriedly and took the stairs two at a time.

  Leif looked exhausted. He and two others had the victim on a cot in front of the fireplace. Tom arrived and so did two other hands. Susie was running around getting things.

  “How bad off is he?” Tom asked, entering the room. His wife Millie was right behind him.

  “He was shot in the shoulder and then thrown off his bucking horse. He was out most of the time coming back. I shot at the men who shot him, but they were riding hell for leather to get away. I’d have
gone after them, but he looked in such bad shape I decided we’d be lucky to get him back here. We made a bed between two horses with poles and a blanket. Cole there rode double with me to get him back.”

  “All we had to cut them poles down with were some dull hand axes,” Cole said, shaking his head.

  Susie was putting wet compresses on the boy’s head, trying to ease him some.

  “Did you know any of those men who shot him?”

  Leif shook his head. “We stumbled on three men—I counted—driving a half dozen head of yearlings up the mountain going north. They started shooting and got Utah. His horse went crazy, threw him down the mountainside, and we went to see what we could do for him. Cole told you we had to chop two poles and make a sling to haul him back.”

  “Randy left to get doc,” Tom said.

  “Cattle thieves up in that country. What next?”

  Leif shook his head. “What were they going to do with them anyway?”

  “I have no damn idea.” Chet shook his head in disappointment. “What did you notice about them?”

  Cole jumped in. “One guy had a gray horse, another had a red roan like your good horses, and the third had a bay. He had some silver on his saddle. It shined in the sunlight, didn’t it Leif?”

  “Oh, we could have found them from what we saw and their horses. But we couldn’t quit Utah.”

  “No problem. You all did good getting him back here considering where you came from. Tom, send someone to my place and tell Marge what’s happened and get Jesus. Tell him this will be a long ride and to dress warm. That boy can really track.

  “Susie, we need food and supplies for two weeks. Tom, we’ll need two stout packhorses. I want my other roan—”

  “Cole and I want to go along,” Leif broke in. “We want a chance to even the score for Utah.”

  Tom nodded his approval.

  Chet said, “Get ready. It will be damn cold up there and may get worse.”

  Things were moving. Lamps were lit to saddle horses and the whole crew was up. Chet sized the situation. “Everyone take a minute and get on your knees. We’re going to pray for Utah here. He’s in the Lord’s hands now.”

  Quickly, everyone was hatless and he began. “Dear Lord Heavenly Father, we are just some cowboys living out here on the frontier. Tonight, we ask you to take one of our fallen men ambushed by the devil’s workers and protect him and make him well. Utah is a member of our crew of hard workers. He may never have been in a place of worship, but he lives under the greater cathedral—your sky.”