Pray for the Dead

by Dusty Richards

  “Able, all we can do is go look at the facts and if they aren’t right, change them.”

  “You were the only hope I had. Thank you so much.”

  “We haven’t done much so far.”

  They laughed.

  “I better get home. Maw and the kids are there alone. Thank you, it was sure good food.”

  Monica smiled. “I will burn candles for your boy’s release at my church.”

  “Well, God bless you, too, ma’am.”

  Chet followed him to the door. The old man smelled bad and it would be a long while till spring bath time. Maybe some cinnamon sprinkled on him might have helped. When Able was on his buckboard seat, he waved and Chet hoped those spindly horses would make it back, too. He closed the door.

  “Don’t close that door all the way,” Monica said to him, shaking her head in disgust. “It still stinks in here.”

  “Sorry. He was a man needed some help and came to find it.”

  “I’m surprised we don’t get more stray dogs and cats that folks left off out here for you to feed.”

  “Oh, Monica, it is good to be home for a few days.”

  Rhea came packing the boy and she wrinkled her nose. Adam’s nanny was a nice-looking girl in her late teens, and fixing to be the bride of his farm foreman on the Verde Ranch. He took the boy and went to talking to him about riding a bronc before breakfast. Then he bounced him on his leg and Adam laughed. “Paw Paw, ride.”

  “That’s all Paw Paw gets to do is ride horses somewhere and back.”

  “Was Victor alright?” Rhea asked.

  “He was with the herd of cattle going to New Mexico. His last cattle drive. Susie said he was fine. He won’t miss your wedding.” They both laughed.

  “Oh, Chet I know that. I miss him when he’s gone and I know he needs to work.”

  “Rhea, the Verde Ranch job will make a foreman out of him. He’s getting lots of experience about what makes a ranch tick.”

  “And I can keep Adam and we will live in the big house. I’m very pleased. I will have the best of the best.”

  “You deserve it,” Liz said, and came to scoop up Adam from his father. “Where did your man go, Chet?”

  “The smelly one? He has gone home, thank God,” Monica put in. “I feel sorry about his son. Maybe you can find a way to prove him innocent, but I don’t want him back.”

  “Aw, a little cinnamon sprinkled on him and he’d been fine.”

  The women had heard all about his cinnamon story on the day he met his present wife and his smelling it—they chuckled.

  “I am going down to Phoenix in a few days and see what it all entails.”

  “Taking your boys along?” Liz asked.

  “Yep. Them too.”

  “Am I invited?”

  “Yes, ma’am. You sure are.” She might learn more than he could.

  “What is on your agenda for today?” she asked.

  “See my land man, Bo, and learn about that outlaw land ownership. We may buy that if he owned it. I need to check the wanted list at the sheriff’s office. There may be rewards for my men on them.”

  “Just what you need is another ranch,” Monica said, delivering him his breakfast.

  “We’re paying all our bills and we have money in the bank. Some good ranches, too. Why not buy one more?”

  “You were just saying how busy you are.”

  “That was then, this is now. It could be a good ranch.”

  “Is it way over there?” Monica asked.

  “Yes, why?”

  “Maybe you can get smelly Pete to run it over there.”

  “I give up. That poor man will take a bath.”

  Monica frowned. “When?”

  “Next spring when it gets warm enough.”

  “Oh, Lord, he will really stink by then.”

  Chet’s foreman, Raphael, came by and spoke to him. There were no problems except a mountain lion had killed two calves. His men ran him down after the second kill and shot him.

  “He was an old tom. His teeth were worn down and he could not catch a deer anymore. So he is gone now.” Raphael paused. “That man who was here? He asked for your help about his son, no?”

  “Yes. We’re going to see about it.”

  “I am glad you came to this country. You help lots of people from the time you went after those killers who shot my boss and his number one man. And you cleared the border business. We sure needed you, hombre.”

  “Raphael, it’s people like you making this territory entitled to be a state. I only help.”

  “We have more than enough frijoles for all the ranch people to eat for over a year.”

  “That bean-growing project worked real well, and I appreciate all the women that helped you, too.”

  “I wondered if we could give my church some of them for the poor?”

  “Good idea.” Chet slapped the table. “You handle it.”

  “Gracias. We will do that.” The thickset Mexican left the house smiling under his broad mustache.

  Monica came by and said, “He is becoming a good foreman, no?”

  “Oh, he always has been a great one. Now he is even better.”

  She was watching Raphael head for the barn. “The world could use many more men like him.”

  Chet agreed. He had some reading to catch up on. The Miner newspapers were laid out for him to look through. Liz and Rhea were playing with the toddler, who went waddling from one to the other laughing. His men would be there with the stolen horses sometime in the afternoon, along with the two women they’d “hired” for Jenn’s café. And he still needed to check with Bo on the rustler’s ranch ownership, too.

  Liz’s lady-in-waiting Anita had gone back to Mexico to check on her mother, who was sick. She’d left before they went to run down the rustlers. He wondered if she had written Liz a letter about how things were going. Jesus would also ask when they got up there if she’d sent him one.

  “Anita wrote me her mother is some better but she will stay another week. I am going to answer her,” Liz said. “Oh, and there are three letters for Jesus here. I only got one.”

  He put down the paper. “You can tell who is important to her.”

  “Of course. Are you going to town today?”

  “After lunch. That bunch is coming up here today.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Chet hustled around. They would probably be all day driving the loose horses up there. “I think we better go to town. It will be some time before they get up here today. I can ask Jenn about her help needs and then they will know more, too.”

  “I’ll be ready after I brush my hair,” his wife said, seated at the dressing cabinet before the big oval mirror and brushing hard.

  “I’m not rushing you.”

  “Yes, you are. You always act like, ‘Well maybe I’ll go,’ then you jump out of the chair and say, ‘Daylight’s burning. Let’s go, Liz.’”

  He kissed her on the forehead, laughing. “Darling, things run in streaks.”

  “I’ll be there. Go harness the team. While we’re in town, I must make an appointment for Rhea to get her dress measured.”

  “I’ll remind you.”

  “Go. I am coming.”

  “That stable boy has them hitched already.”

  “Bless his heart, I will slow him down after this.”

  They told Monica good-bye and left with the team in a trot. Liz hugged his arm. “If we weren’t so busy all the time, what would we do?”

  He about laughed. “Play checkers?”

  “I doubt you could sit down that long.”

  “Is all this business getting to you?”

  “No, but few men fly around and get things done like you do. I really love being a part of it and being with you. I just tried to imagine what you’d be like if you ever slowed down.”

  “I imagine I’d fall asleep.”

  “Probably. Who comes first?”

  “Jenn will be over the morning rush and we can ask about the two women w
orking there.”

  “Fine. She’d do anything for you.”

  “I know. But this is business.”

  “Of course, but who else goes out to arrest outlaws and comes back to find work for their women?”

  “I feel I have a responsibility to help them.”

  “Cole has been with you so long, he thinks the same.”

  They both laughed.

  Jenn and Cole’s wife, Valerie, both hugged him at the café and spoke to Liz.

  Valerie was excited because she knew with him home her husband was not far behind. “Everyone alright?”

  “Everyone’s fine. They’re bringing the stolen horses to Frey’s Livery and will be here today or tomorrow.”

  He quickly explained about the pair of women, and Jenn said she could use them. They had a cup of coffee and Liz told them about the shoot-out and recovering the horses. Then they left for Bo’s office.

  The tall real estate man stood up behind the desk when they walked in. “What’s up with you two?”

  “The usual,” Chet said to him. “Let’s look at a map. A rustler I caught said a man owned a section.” He walked over to search for the property on the wall map, found the section he wanted. It was marked as private land. “Maybe he did own it after all.” He pointed. “Is that a full section?”

  “It’s section number six.” He took down the range and township line and gave it to his assistant. “We’ll find out who owns it,” he told Chet.

  “I doubt the rustlers holed up there owned it.”

  “Where are they?” Bo asked.

  “All dead. So I figure we need to own it.”

  Bo’s assistant looked up from his dusty play book. “Tom Sturgis, Bellville, Texas, is the last owner listed.”

  “See if you can buy it. It looked worth the money.”

  “We can do that. What else do you need?”

  “I need to rent a house for two women,” Chet said. “Nothing fancy.”

  “I have one empty on Dell Street.”

  “Is it a mess?”

  “Probably not bad.”

  “Consider it rented.”

  “Oh, and there was a man in here two days ago. He wanted you to partner with him on some citrus acreage down in the Valley.”

  Chet shook his head. “We’re doing that down at Diablo. But there’s no chance of being close enough to a train to ship them out of anywhere but around Tucson. Not enough market for one yet.”

  “I told him we’d consider it.”

  “I have.”

  Bo smiled. “You’ve sure found markets for cattle, anyway. And that guy at Oak Creek can raise more fruit and vegetables than ten men.”

  “That was a good buy, and finding Leroy and his wife to run it was my good fortune.”

  “You got him back from kidnappers in Utah before that.”

  “As well as Ben Ivor’s wife.”

  “She’s had a baby. He’s going to have a big second family.”

  Chet shook his head. “He doesn’t complain.”

  Bo laughed. “No. He speaks highly about her.” The broker turned to Liz. “Mrs. Byrnes, you still riding all over with him?”

  “Oh, I am, but my friends call me Elizabeth.”

  “I’m sorry. We don’t know each other well enough. He used to have lots of get-togethers and I knew everyone, but he’s gone so much now it saves him the money he spent on them.”

  Chet laughed. “We have been busy. Liz and I have to go. Tell your lady friend Shelly we said hi. Thanks, Bo.”

  “You never said what you’d give for that place?”

  “That’s why you handle those deals. Cheap as you can buy it.” They went out the door.

  “Are you turning that list of those dead men over to the sheriff to check for rewards?” she asked.

  “No, we have a better chance of collecting if I mail the list to the U.S. Marshal’s office in Tucson.”

  Amused, she shook her head. “I won’t go into it with you and the local sheriff’s business.”

  He helped her on the buckboard. “That’s fine. I’m in a good mood.”

  “Where do we go next?” she asked when he took his place on the spring seat and clucked to the team.

  “Dress shop, huh?”

  “Oh, yes. I need an appointment for Rhea.”

  “I’m keeping up then.”

  “Maybe I should stay here instead of going to Phoenix and do more about their wedding?”

  “We can handle the deal down there, but I have no idea how long it will take us to get back.”

  “We need to have a special event for those two.”

  He stopped and she dismounted the buckboard.

  “I will talk to Dorothy in here about when I can bring Rhea in for the fitting and we can decide later today if I should go. I’ll be right back.”

  He sat the seat and watched the traffic. The folks he knew on the sidewalk waved. Friendly place. Folks in Arizona came from lots of places. He’d found them a mixed bunch of nervy folks that had the spirit to leave their homelands and come west to a new land. Oh, they weren’t all good citizens, but most of the arrivals were real great Americans.

  Liz came out of the dress shop door smiling and he pulled her up on the spring seat. “Are we through for today?”

  “All set. I’m as excited about this wedding as I was about ours.” She hugged his arm. “It’s lots of fun being your wife.”

  “Since Bo has a small house for the two women, you can oversee that for me if you stay. When my bunch is through with bringing in the horses, I intend to take a stage to Phoenix and see what I can do for that boy.”

  They were halfway home when they met the horse herders. Raphael’s men were driving them so Cole and Jesus stopped to talk.

  Cole said, “We left those two women at the ranch. Did you ask Jenn about them?”

  “Yes. She wants them to come to work and Bo has found a house for them. We’ve got another job in the meantime, though. A boy in jail down in Maricopa County needs our help. He’s been accused of a murder his father said he didn’t do. I think Liz has about decided to stay here and keep up with the wedding plans for Rhea, plus handle the women’s settling down in Preskitt.”

  The men nodded.

  “Jesus, you better go back to the ranch. You and I need to leave tonight. Cole, check those horses in at Frey’s Livery, file a found claim, and Thursday night load your saddle and bedrolls on the stage unless we send word not to. That gives you a little wife time.”

  “Thanks a lot. I’ll be right down there on Friday morning.”

  Chet agreed and shook his head. “Sorry but this matter needs to be straightened out. His father is convinced he’s being framed.”

  They trotted the team home with Jesus along on his horse. Liz told Chet about the plans for her tasks and how she’d get it all done. They left Jesus with the stable boy to arrange for a buckboard to meet the stage that evening, then to come on up to the house.

  Jesus quickly told the stable boy what he needed, then rejoined them headed for the house. Liz teased Jesus about the letters. He shook his head. “She writes better than I do. But I will answer her today.”

  “I will mail it. Come and write it. I have nice stationery.”

  “That is very kind. I will.”

  “Did you have lunch?” Chet asked, walking up the drive to the house with them.

  “No, it was too early.”

  “Monica will have lunch. Eat with us.”

  “I am very dusty.”

  “Come anyway.”

  “I will.”

  Liz hugged his arm. “You two be careful down there when you get to Maricopa.”

  “We know how.”

  “I would miss all of you if anything went wrong.”

  Monica stood on the porch. “Fast trip. I have beef roast, frijoles, and fresh biscuits.”

  “Sounds great,” Chet said loud enough for her to hear.

  The meal went smoothly. Jesus wrote Anita a letter. Liz fixed Chet a war ba
g to take along in case their time was extended. They even found time to take a siesta together.

  His wife rode with them to meet the stage at midnight and kissed him good-bye. He wore a denim shell jacket against the cool night air. Their saddles and bags loaded in the backspace, they strapped in and left for Hayden’s Mill and Ferry.

  The sun was well up when they got off at the ferry. They ate lunch and took a stagecoach to Phoenix. With rooms at the Vista Hotel, they went out and ate supper at a Mexican restaurant with loud mariachi music and dancing girls clacking castanets. They smiled at all the activities, and the food was good.

  “In the morning you will speak to the sheriff?” Jesus asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

  “And the prosecutor,” Chet replied. “I told you all I knew about the case on the ride down last night.”

  “It sounds like a tough one. But you are good at figuring things out. They know you are coming?”

  “No. I asked his father not to tell anyone.”

  His partner smiled. “Good. Maybe we will shock them.”

  “We need to get at the truth, and if he’s innocent get him out of jail.”

  “That’s our job.”

  The next morning they ate an early breakfast and went to the county courthouse. The offices were housed in several adobe buildings near where the new stone structure was being raised.

  Chet spoke to the desk man and asked if the sheriff was in.

  “No, señor. He is doing tax work today.”

  “Is his man in charge here?”

  “No, señor. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m Deputy U.S. Marshal Chet Byrnes. I’m here to see about the charges against Ratchet Thornton.”

  “Oh, he’s guilty. He was messing around with Beacher Plane’s wife. Plane caught them together and Thornton shot him.”

  “Is that what you know about the matter?” Chet asked the desk deputy.

  “Oh, everyone agrees that’s the case.”

  “You have a report on that here?”

  “I can’t show it to you without asking Sheriff Limon’s permission.”

  “When he returns tell him I want to see his report.”

  “You have a court order for that?”

  Chet held his impatience in check and shook his head. “You won’t want me to get one.”

  “I’ll tell the sheriff what you said,” the man said stiffly.