by Bill Sheehy
Nothing else was said and after a few minutes Fitzwalter stood up and, nodding at the two men, walked his horse down to the saloon.
‘Not many cowboys would bother walking that far,’ said Louie, ‘not when they could ride.’
Buck nodded, ‘and not many ranchers would have someone like Isaac Black on their payroll. Wonder what all he does to earn his pay.’
Chapter 25
Two events, unconnected in any way, had brought Henry Raymond Fitzwalter to financial success. A very comfortable and secure kind of success. At least it would be for a while.
Fitzwalter didn’t start out life with that name; it was one he’d picked up when the name he’d been born with got too much notice. Notice of the wrong people. No, back when he was a youngster, he had been known as Henry Morse.
For the next few years after walking away from his pa’s farm he worked in many places, mostly saloons and whorehouses. Being a man not afraid to use a short iron bar, his favourite weapon, his reputation as a bouncer grew. In time it was his own saloons and brothels he was protecting. The iron bar was replaced by a six-shot Smith & Wesson .38 caliber pistol which he wore in his left armpit in a leather shoulder holster.
Operating a brothel or saloon he got to meet everyone; politicians, outlaws and just your common man. Meet them and learn about them. He learned how to dress like them, leaving behind the rough working clothes of your everyday saddle tramp. Watching and learning he discovered most didn’t last very long in their business. Politicians got voted out when people got angry, outlaws got shot or caught and hung, and too often businessmen got too greedy. On the other hand the common man rarely made much money.
He was thinking those deep and dark thoughts one morning when Harry Yarberry came to his saloon.
‘Harry, old son, what are you doing out in the sunshine this early in the day?’
‘Don’t be yammering at me, Henry. I got troubles enough without you bitching at me.’
‘What’s the trouble, Harry?’
‘They’s a fellow come into town last night. He’s been asking questions. I think he’s a bounty hunter.’
‘Bounty hunter? Looking for you? Who put a bounty on ya?’
‘It’s one from a while back. Down in Jack County. Some woman claimed I shot her husband. Don’t know if the money on it is still good, but I don’t need some idiot coming around asking too many questions.’
‘No, Harry, I can see that. Any way I can help you out?’
‘You got some idea where I can hide out for a while? Long enough for things to die down? I’d pay good money for such a place.’
Henry shook his head. ‘No, afraid not.’
Harry’s problem stuck with him long after the killer had left. The solution to the problem came with the second event in Henry’s life.
Chapter 26
Henry took the stage road from Fort Rawlins toward Auburn, aiming to visit an old friend of his, Handley Runkle. The two had once been partners in a saloon and brothel down in New Mexico. Runkle now owned a cattle ranch while he was still in the saloon business. Wanting to become more than a saloon keeper, he invited himself to the Double Bar R ranch.
‘Well, Henry,’ explained Runkle when the two men got together, ‘right now running this kind of spread is pretty good. Out there’s a thousand acres or more of open range. But it ain’t gonna last. A few years and this territory becomes a state and that’ll be the end of it. With statehood will come homesteaders and that’s the end of the open range. Fences’ll spring up and trying to raise a likely herd will get tougher.’
‘Didn’t you say you’ve got near a thousand acres filed on?’
‘Well, closer to about half that. But I might not be able to keep it all. When I filed on the 160 acres I was allowed I had some men working for me to file on their own 160. Then I bought them out. Gave each of them fifty dollars and they signed their homesteads over. Gives me rights to enough range and the way it’s laid out, control of a lot more open range.
‘This valley is huge, Henry. Old Jacobson’s got most of the south-half covered. Across the river that’s in-between us on south he’s got at least as much open range as I got. Mine runs all the way up toward those foothills there. An old man, name of Price, has got himself a horse ranch up there. Right up against those mountains. Raises riding stock he sells to us ranchers.’
‘That range of mountains, isn’t Fort Rawlins just there on the other side?’
Runkle nodded. ‘Yeah, about twenty miles, I’d guess. But it’s pretty hard travelling in places. Not many people bother. They usually come like you did, around the end of that stretch of foothills. The stage road stays pretty much on the flatlands that way. Might take a while longer but it’s by far a lot easier.’
‘But hard or not, there is a trail over those mountains?’
‘Yeah, I reckon. Not good enough to run cattle over so it don’t get used much. Why you asking?’
‘Well,’ said Henry pensively, ‘say you had that spread there, right up against the mountains, and nobody else close by to see what you was doing. And there’s that mostly unused trail over from Fort Rawlins. From over there you’ve got the whole of northern Texas and New Mexico out there in front of you. Now say you was looking for a quick way to get away from over there. I know of a number of people who’d pay big money for a place to hide out. Say a place that was safe and a long way from anyone looking for them. A place they could rest while any of those hunting them had time to move on. Now that spread would be a money-maker, wouldn’t it?’
‘Sounds good. But old man Price, doubt he’d be willing to sell.’
‘Oh, he could be dealt with. I’m sure there’s a way around that.’
Chapter 27
‘Seems like we sit here long enough,’ said Buck watching Fitzwalter disappear into the saloon, ‘everyone will come by sooner or later.’
Louie grunted. ‘So far none of them have bothered to bring us a cup of coffee. Not too much of anything on the vigilantes, either. Do you still think we’ll get around to earning our money? Money we haven’t seen yet?’
‘Oh, can’t see why not. I’ve been thinking about it. Here they are, a gang of men going around hanging rustlers, or men they claim to be rustlers. From what we’ve been told this is something fairly new to the area, having a gang taking credit for their work. Makes me wonder why. Why now and not, say, five years ago? Thinking about the possible reasons, the best I’ve come up with is the impact newspaper stories are having with statehood. All right, if that’s it then one or more of the people we’ve been talking to has close ties to the Vigilance Committee. Now if so, I reckon it won’t be long before we hear from them. However, all that thinking and reasoning has made me dry. Do you want to go over to the saloon for a beer, or the restaurant for coffee?’
‘Hmm. I kinda like sitting here, watching things happen in this quiet little town. Very relaxing. Anyway, it’s a mite too early in the day for beer. Wouldn’t want to cause that Isaac Black any grief either. How about it’s your turn to go for coffee?’
Buck thought about it a moment then nodded. Picking up the empty cups he strolled away. Louie leaned his chair back against the hotel wall and smiled. It was, in his view, shaping up to be a good morning. Be time enough for beer sometime after lunch. Anyway, sitting here, no telling who’d be coming by. Right interesting, he mused, for such a little town.
He didn’t have long to wait for that to happen. Buck had barely gone into the restaurant when Louie saw someone come out of the general store.
‘Will you looky there,’ he said to himself. ‘If that isn’t Miss Mathilda herself.’
He watched as the young woman came across the street.
‘Mr Lewis,’ she called out before coming up to the porch, ‘may I speak to you a moment?’
‘Well, certainly. Come on up and take a chair. Buck’s gone for coffee. He’ll be back in a bit.’
‘There’s something I’d like to talk to you about. Pa told me he’d been worried about
me and how he’d mentioned it to you. I just wanted to let you know I got home all right. Oh, and I wanted to apologize for my making fun of you the other day. About Rose Marie running you down? That wasn’t very nice of me and, well, I apologize.’
Louie chuckled. ‘No need. Looking at it one way it must have been real comical, seeing her trying to keep her horse under control. Probably never realized how close she came to causing Buck and me some real hurt. Never mind. How is your friend, Rose Marie? Me’n Buck were out to the Frying Pan yesterday. Talked to her pa but didn’t see her.’
‘Oh, Rose is fine, I guess. I haven’t seen her since she was in town.’ She hesitated then smiled at the man. ‘If you’re trying to ask if that’s where I spent last night, I’ll tell you. It wasn’t.’ She laughed and turned to step off the porch. ‘My father came out directly and asked me. I didn’t tell him either. I’m grown up and what I do is my business. Good day.’
The coffee, when Buck got back, had cooled just enough to be drinkable. Nodding his thanks, Louie sipped and thought.
‘Never guess who came by while you was gone,’ he said finally. ‘I reckon it was the best of those coming to talk to us so far today.’
‘Now who’d that be? About the only person we’ve missed this morning is that newspaper fella. I kinda expected him to come over to find out what we found out yesterday. He’s the only one I can think of.’
Louie shook his head. ‘Nope. It was the mayor’s daughter, Mathilda. I kinda like that name, Mathilda. Has a real womanly sound to it.’
‘So, the young lady is back home after a night of being missing. Bet that makes her pa feel better.’
‘Uh huh. Maybe. But him not knowing where she was probably doesn’t sit well with him. I know it wouldn’t me, if’n I was in his shoes.’
‘Yeah. Did she mention where she’d been?’
‘Nope. Came by to apologize for the way she was laughing at us. I tried to ask her where she’d been, without coming right out and asking her, you know. But she just laughed. Said she was grown up and didn’t have to account to anyone.’
Buck sipped his coffee and nodded. ‘Yeah, youngsters all reach that age where they think they’ve got all the answers.’
‘I’ve been thinking about it,’ said Louie, ‘and I’ll bet I know who she was with.’
‘Oh? And what did you come up with?’
‘Isaac Black,’ he said, and waited for a reaction. Not getting one he explained. ‘First off they’re of an age, wouldn’t you say? Black might be a couple years older but ya gotta admit he’s got a way about him that a young woman might find attractive. Little Mathilda might easily be taken by him. What got me to thinking about him was her showing up at home about the same time as his coming into town. I can’t see there being too many young men in the area could hold a candle to Black for a young woman who’s just getting to the age of being frisky. Yup, that’s the way I got it figured.’
Buck put his empty cup down and smiled. ‘Well, if that’s the way of it, the mayor could have more to trouble him than a gang of vigilantes. Sure glad she isn’t my child.’
Chapter 28
The rest of the day went along quiet and, far as Louie was concerned, tiresome.
‘Damn it, Buck, we aren’t getting much done to earn our money. Sitting around all day wasn’t too bad but can’t we think of something better to do with our time?’
‘Yeah, I kinda agree. So, tonight after supper we’ll have a drink over at the saloon, then bed down. All the time I’ll be thinking of something to do so you won’t go on being bored. And you do the same. Tomorrow, rather than simply sitting around we’ll compare what we’ve thought of and, by golly, we’ll do it. Whatever “it” is. Now, does that make you feel better?’
‘No.’
Buck laughed.
That was about what happened, until shortly after finishing their breakfast the next day. They were standing on the boardwalk outside the restaurant, Louie was picking the bits of crisp pan-fried ham from his teeth, when a rider rode in pulling a pack horse behind him.
‘We’ve seen this fella before, haven’t we?’
‘Louie, your eyesight is good but your memory needs some work. Coming our way is the gunfighter we ran into out at the Frying Pan. Smokey, someone called him.’
‘I do believe you’re right. Wonder who the fella what’s draped over his pack horse is.’
Stopping in front of the sheriff’s office, Smokey tied both horses to the hitchrail and pushed open the office door. A few minutes later Sheriff McDonald came out and, lifting a corner of the tarp covering the body, looked. Shaking his head, he glanced across toward Buck and Louie.
‘Hey, there,’ he called. ‘C’mon over. This might be of interest to y’all.’
Smokey stood in the doorway rolling a cigarette, smiling at Buck and Louie.
‘Thought it might be what you’re wanting,’ he said, smirking. ‘Too bad you didn’t catch that gang of vigilantes before they got to this jasper, though.’
‘Where’d you find him?’ asked Buck after looking at the dead man’s face. Louie looked then shook his head.
‘Out close to our line shack, south of the home ranch. And before ya ask, no, I don’t recognize him at all.’
Buck nodded. ‘You found him hanging?’
‘Yup. Just off to the side, in a little gully. Almost outa sight, he was. It was a bunch of crows yammering around that caught my attention. They hadn’t done much damage to him so I don’t figure he’d been there long. Probably late yesterday, I reckon.’
‘Anything in his pockets,’ asked the sheriff, ‘to tell us who he is? Was?’
‘Nope. And this time weren’t no paper pinned to his shirt neither. But as far as we there at the ranch know, ain’t been nobody out that way for a couple weeks. I cut him down and took him back to the ranch. Didn’t know but what Mr Jacobson might want a look. Hell, he might have wanted to plant him up on the ridge in the ranch cemetery. The old man’s got some funny ideas. But he said no. Best if I brung him into town. Let the sheriff know. Guess he’s all yours now, Sheriff.’
‘You’re sure he was a rustler?’ asked Buck.
‘Oh yeah. There was what’s left of a bit of a fire. Looked like a cinch ring leaning against a rock. All fire-blackened like he’d been using it to put his brand on livestock. I’ve seen things like that before.’
‘Did you see any livestock anywhere without the Frying Pan brand?’
‘Nope. We ain’t been out into that corner much since earlier in the spring. Probably be another month before we make a gather out there. Could be a lot of cattle out that way. Lots of those little gullies, ya know. Runoff from the foothills cut new ones every winter. Damn cows like to get back in there and hide. Can be hard work getting them out. Let me tell ya, harder getting the yearlings out to a branding fire than I think they’re worth.’
‘Could you take Louie and me out to where you found him?’
‘Sure could. I figure to go back anyhow. Do what I was sent out to do, check on the condition of the line shack.’
Sheriff McDonald untied the pack horse lead. ‘I’ll take this fella down to the undertaker’s place while you get your animals saddled up.’
Chapter 29
Nobody said much as the three rode out of town. Crossing the bridge they rode on, turning off a ways before the Frying Pan ranch road. The pack horse Smokey was leading no longer carrying a load; the dead man was being taken care of by the undertaker. Sheriff McDonald thought he could get the local business community to cover the cost of a pine box and burial in the town cemetery.
‘Quicker to cut across here,’ said Smokey. ‘Unless ya want to go on to the ranch, talk to Mr Jacobson.’
Buck shook his head. ‘No reason to now. Maybe later. Let’s go see what we can. Whoever hung that fellow up might have left something behind.’
‘I didn’t seen nothing.’
For the most part the country they were riding through was flat grassland. Way off to one side Lo
uie spotted a half-dozen or so head of longhorns. The cattle stood watching the riders, slowly coming together in a bunch. It was a natural movement. The cattle wary of anything out of the ordinary, bunching up for protection. Smokey and the other two ignored the cattle and rode on.
‘Y’all do much of this kind of work?’ Smokey asked at one point. ‘Looks to me like it’d be easy money. Coming into a place and cleaning out the bad guys.’
Louie chuckled. ‘Might look easy but at times it’s damn slow going.’
‘To answer your question,’ said Buck, ‘no. We don’t do a lot of work like this. And I’m getting the feeling we shouldn’t have said OK when they asked us to come to Auburn.’
‘What would ya usually be doing?’
Louie chuckled. ‘We were on our way to California when a friend asked us to stop and see what we could do.’
‘Y’all were Rangers, weren’t ya? Someone said ya were.’
‘Yeah, we were until invited to turn in our badges.’
‘Were ya rangers long? During the war with Mexico?’
‘No,’ answered Buck, ‘I joined after that was over and Louie a little later.’
‘Ever shoot someone? When ya were a Ranger, I mean.’
Buck frowned. ‘Things like that happened. I wasn’t ever in any kind of shoot-out like the newspapers back east like to write about. That kind of stuff is, for the most part, garbage. Can’t say about Louie, though. I do know he gets a mite upset when folks ask him embarrassing questions. I’d be a little cautious, was I you.’
Smokey glanced at Louie but didn’t ask any more questions.
Chapter 30
The place the young cowboy led them to was a small swale off to one side of a grown-over trail. For the past hour they’d been riding single-file along the trail. Buck thought it looked like something the cattle would use getting from one water hole to another. Actually, the place Smokey pulled up to looked almost like the mouth of a small box canyon.
