The Secret Saddle_Anna Troy's Emancipation

by Dani Larsen

  "Thanks, Sam. I guess that settles it then. He must have just fallen and hit his head and laid there and died. Too bad, he really never hurt anyone."

  "Yes, sir, that is too bad, the poor guy. You have a good day now, officer."

  "Thank you, Sam. You too. Thanks for your time."

  Sam smiled, as George went out the door, feeling good, knowing that the one man who could have recognized him was no longer a threat. He started humming a tune, as he cleaned the bar and served beers to the two men at the other end of the bar.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  "Charlie Gives Up"

  Charlie lay in bed in the room above Bart's saloon for two months, listening to people laughing, talking, fighting, and to the loud music that went on in the rooms below him. Bart had put a second bed in his extra room above the saloon, and he made sure Charlie had everything he needed. He brought him three meals a day, and he spent most of his free time talking to the retired Pinkerton man. But Bart worked about fifty hours a week, so when he got off he was tired and ready for sleep. The man worked most nights, so when he went to bed Charlie was asleep, and Bart slept late as often as he could. The doctor came daily at first to check on Charlie, then every other day, and finally he was checking on him once a week.

  Charlie was still shocked that this had happened to him. In all his days with the Pinkerton Agency, he had never been injured like this. It was unthinkable that when he should be retired that he was in the worst shape he had ever been in. Bart had telegraphed Louise, and she had written immediately and sent him money to cover all his expenses. Charlie had received a letter from her at least once a week, since he had been injured. He knew he wouldn't make it home until spring, and it was very frustrating for him.

  He hated to give up on looking for Jude Burden. It disturbed him, as he knew the man was a threat and that everyone who came in contact with him was in danger, but he couldn't do anything about it now. His right arm was healing nicely from the broken bones, and the bullet wound in his left arm had made that arm weak too. He wanted to write, but could tell it was going to be a while before he could do that. When he finally started getting out of bed, he could hardly walk without limping from the bullet wound in his left leg and the break in his hip. His jaw seemed to be healing okay, and so did his nose, but his hip was still painful with almost any movement. He felt fortunate that he still had sight in his eye. When the swelling finally went down, his eyesight was fuzzy, but his sight was improving daily.

  Bart was writing letters to Louise for him, because when he tried to write his arm would ache for hours afterward. He knew it would eventually be okay, but he was impatient, waiting for his body to heal. It was hard to do, but he had finally forgiven the men who had done this to him. Bart spent a lot of time telling him how badly the miners had been treated in Butte, and finally Charlie realized that he would probably have been just as mad, if he had been one of those miners who had lost a loved one in that terrible accident, and had then seen the man who was fighting to help the miners, get unjustly hanged. It made him wonder if he had been on the wrong side much of the time that he worked for the Pinkerton Agency.

  Charlie spent a lot of time thinking about everything that had happened since he had started trailing Jude Burden. He couldn't wait to heal enough so that he could go home and start writing about the elusive man that he wanted so badly to put in jail. Writing a book about the man would be a good way, he thought, to get the news out about him and all his bad deeds. If after reading the story, someone came across a man whom they thought was Burden, or Dampierre, hopefully they would report him to the authorities. He wondered if there were pictures of the man anywhere. Maybe he could draw a picture of Jude Burden, from memory, or get an artist to draw one with his description. It would add a lot to his book.

  It was a lonely Christmas for him in Butte, Montana. Charlie was walking by then, but still limping heavily. He planned to get on a train and head south at the end of February. He didn't care how cold it was, he would leave then, no matter what. Bart had been taking care of Jody for him, and Charlie knew that his horse needed to see her master. His arms were much better by Christmas, as they were both movable, but still painful. The doctor had given him exercises to do to help him heal faster, and he was doing them daily, no matter how much pain they caused him. Finally, he felt well enough to leave, and with the doctor's okay he boarded the train for home on the last day of February.

  Bart helped him put Jody in the horse car, and got him settled in the passenger car before he said goodbye. Charlie thanked the man for being his friend and doing so much for him.

  "Charlie, I wish I could have stopped the whole thing from happening. I think it was partly my fault for telling them that you were a Pinkerton man."

  "If I would have been paying attention to what was going on up here, I would have kept my mouth shut, and you wouldn't have known that fact to tell anyone. I thank you, Bart, for being such a good friend to me. I will send you a copy of my book when it gets in print. I wish I could do more."

  "You have paid me well, and just seeing you able to get around on your own is worth a lot to me. Good luck to you, Charlie, and please stay home and retire now."

  "You can count on that, Bart. I promised Louise that when I get home, I will be staying there. If the ranch is too much for me, Louise and I will sell it and move to California. We have talked of doing that for many years, so that may be in our future."

  They heard the conductor calling, "All aboard," so they said their last goodbyes, shook hands, and Bart got off of the train. It was two weeks later when Charlie rode up to his ranch in New Mexico. He was so happy to be home that he just let Jody go free in the pasture still saddled and walked into the house to find Louise.

  She came out of the kitchen and squealed when she saw Charlie, almost knocking him down when she threw her arms around him.

  "Charlie! Charlie, I have been so worried about you."

  "I know you have, Louise. I'm sorry to put you through all of that. I am home for good, Louise. It's you and me from now on. But I need to go lay down now. This was a long trip home, and I am exhausted. Could you ask one of the help to take care of Jody, I just set her free, still saddled, in the pasture."

  "Of course, darling, come and lay down on the sofa for now, and I will get you a sandwich and something to drink."

  As soon as he got over the long trip home from Butte, Montana, Charlie started writing his last book. He was still upset that Jude Burden was free, as he was sure that the man had committed many crimes. The only way he knew to get that information out there to warn others was to write what he knew of the man. He sat down and began to write the book about the one man who had eluded his capture.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  "A Break In at the Troy Ranch"

  It was a Thursday night and Mary and John Troy were ready to retire early. It had been a long day for everyone working on the ranch. Fan and Zee were giving riding lessons in the mornings to some of the children they taught during the winter at school. The two women had received their teaching certificates after attending Normal School in Baker City, soon after they graduated from high school. The women had taught at various locations throughout the Valley. They had taught at the Parks Creek Schoolhouse, which was twenty-seven miles north of Huntington, and twelve miles south of Robinette. Now they were teaching at the Manning Creek School during the winter, which was up in the hills on the Durkee side of Lookout Mountain. As the women rode their horses to school, instead of driving a buggy or a wagon, or having a man drive them, the children, especially the girls, looked up to the two women with great admiration. The Troy women rode their horses everywhere they went, and even helped with the round up when necessary. They told their students that they would be happy to teach them to ride, that they only needed to have their parents bring them over to the Troy Ranch for a few days during the summer. Five students had shown up right after school was out to learn how to ride. Three of them were girls. The teachers were c
alled Miss Frances and Miss Elizabeth by their students, and Miss Troy by the ranch hands, so when the students heard their mother call them Fan and Zee they began to giggle. The women laughed with them and told them their brothers and sisters had given them those nicknames when they were very young. It was late-summer now, and the sisters had taught twenty-three children to ride already this summer. It had been a busy day giving six students riding lessons.

  The sisters were talking about their students, as they finished embroidering some handkerchiefs they were working on. They often gave their work as gifts to the girls in their classes at school, when they had achieved something special, and they had decided to embroider the girls' names on the ones they were making for their equine students. They embroidered the boys' names on kerchiefs that they bought in town. They both loved teaching and spent much of their free time talking about their students.

  They were so happy that Steve had come home in March, as they had been so worried about him as thousands of young men had been killed fighting in France during that awful war. Steve had talked about joining the Navy for some time, and when the United States had joined the already raging war overseas in 1917 he had insisted upon going. His parents tried to talk him out of joining up, but he wanted to do his duty and had left in early December of that same year. They had heard from him once or twice a month. Steve had dreamed about visiting France, but his letters sounded like seeing that country was not the dreams he had envisioned.

  "Exciting fer ye maybe, but a lot of worry fer yer mother." Mary had said when he signed up.

  "And for your sisters." Fan had said.

  "War isn't all fun ye know, Steve." His father had added. "We don't want our son coming home in a box."

  "I know how you all feel about it, but I don't think the Navy is as dangerous as other services."

  "Maybe not, but it's still dangerous."

  "Okay, Da, I will be careful." Steve had said as he left to join the others leaving on the train that day. John had driven him to the station in Baker City.

  The family had been overjoyed when they got a letter at the beginning of March telling them to meet the train in Baker City on March 31st, because their son was coming home. Steve was thin and exhausted when he arrived, and didn't want to talk about his experiences in battle, so everyone just showered him with love, and let him talk when he was ready. Tonight he seemed better than most days, as he was laughing and joining in their conversation.

  "I'm going to turn in now." John went to bed first.

  "I'm tuckered out too, John. Ye children don't stay up too late, we've got a lot of work to do around here tomorrow, ye know. Good night, sleep tight."

  "Good night, Mama. Good night, Da."

  "See ye in the morning."

  The three siblings stayed up a little later that night, laughing and talking about whatever came to their mind. Finally, about ten, they said good night and went to their upstairs bedrooms. By eleven the family was sound asleep, and everything was quiet in the stable as well.

  Jude and Sam were waiting in the bushes behind the barn. They had left their horses about a half mile away, so they wouldn't wake up the household. They waited until the lights had been out for about forty-five minutes, then Jude stood up, lit the lantern, and motioned for Sam to follow him. They pulled their hats down over their ears and put the kerchiefs over their noses, only leaving their eyes uncovered. They put on the long dusters they had brought with them. The weather was too warm for the coats but they knew everyone was wearing them these days, and they didn't want to be recognized if they were discovered.

  They knew the saddle had to be in the stable where the family's horses were, so they moved quietly to the door and pushed it open on its rollers. They didn't realize that the Troys purposely did not oil the wheels on the door as they knew that the noise of that door opening would wake them if someone broke in.

  "Damn." Sam said, as the door squeaked loudly.

  "Shhh. Maybe they can't hear that at the ranch house." Jude went inside and stood by the door watching the house to see if there were any lights. Sam came in behind him. When they didn't see any lights come on they started searching around the stable for the saddle. There were eight horses in the stable, and they had all been disturbed by the noisy door. Jude held the lantern up as he opened the gate to each stall and walked inside looking everywhere for the saddle. A couple of the horses got big eyed and side stepped away from the man. Sam was searching the rest of the stable by the dim light of Jude's lantern. When Jude got to the third stall, the black stallion reared up and whinnied loudly. Jude was good with horses and tried to calm him down, but the horse was having none of it, and started snorting loudly as the man came near him.

  "Shut that horse up." Sam whispered loudly. "Damn, I hear someone coming."

  Jude came out of the stall, and the two men jumped behind the bales of hay that were stacked up in one corner. Jude blew out the lantern and set it down as they squatted behind the bales with their guns drawn.

  Fan came in with a rifle in one hand and a lantern in the other, and her sister was right behind her with the pitchfork she had picked up by the door. Fan hung the lantern on the wire that crossed the entire stable.

  "Who is in here? Come out now!"

  Mary, John, and Steve were close behind. They all still wore their night clothes.

  John and Steve both had a pistol in their hand. Steve walked over to the stall to check on the stallion, and the family moved into the stable, all wary of what had woken them.

  "Maybe it's a coyote, Da." Zee said.

  "No coyote can roll that heavy door back. It had to be a man." John answered.

  Jude picked up a riding crop that was on a hook behind him and threw it over toward the stalls. He knew they needed to get out of there without being recognized. When the Troys all turned toward the stalls, Sam jumped out and grabbed Mary around the waist, holding a pistol to her head.

  "Don't move or I'll shoot her. All of you drop your weapons."

  Jude came out of his hiding place holding a pistol on the family. John and Steve laid their guns down carefully in front of them, Fan put the rifle down next to her, and Zee laid down the pitchfork.

  "Kick those guns toward me, NOW!" Sam spoke, as he roughly pushed the gun harder against Mary's head.

  "What do ye want?" John said, as he kicked the pistol farther in front of him. "Ye can have whatever ye want, just don't hurt her."

  Jude held the gun aimed at the family as he slowly used his feet to bring their weapons closer to him, and out of the reach of the Troys.

  "The saddle, we just want the saddle." Sam spoke angrily.

  "Saddle, what saddle?"

  "Jack Bane's saddle, the one with his initials on it. We know you've got it. The old sheriff told me he gave it to you."

  "I don't have it anymore." Mary said, with her voice shaking.

  "What did you do with it?"

  Mary hesitated, thinking quickly and then said. "I gave it to the church bazaar a few years ago. I hated that saddle, and didn't want anything to do with it. Jack Bane was an evil man. I don't know why I kept it so long."

  "Are you lying to me, woman?" Sam pulled her around to face him, holding her tightly, and putting the gun to the front of her forehead now.

  "No, I gave it away. Why do ye want it?"

  "I just want it that's all. I heard it was a valuable saddle."

  "Who are ye?" Mary's right arm was free and she reached up and yanked the kerchief off of Sam's face, and he pushed her to the ground as he tried to re-cover his face with the kerchief.

  Jude was surprised at Mary's actions and stepped forward reaching for her. He stepped on the pitchfork and fell backwards, and Steve picked up the rifle holding it on him.

  "Don't move, mister, or I'll shoot!"

  Sam saw Jude fall and started to reach for Mary, but Steve grabbed his mother and was pulling her away from them.

  "I know who ye are!" Mary yelled. "Ye were with Bane on the mountain that d
ay. I'd never forget yer eyes."

  Jude grabbed for Fan's nightgown and pulled her to the ground with it. As the Troys scrambled for their weapons, the two thieves ran out the door and into the dark woods behind the stable. Steve and John came out of the barn and started shooting as the two figures disappeared into the thick grove of trees. Then they came back in the stable to see if the women were okay.

  "I'm fine." Mary said. "Are ye okay, Zee, Fan?"

  "We are fine, Mama. Are they gone?"

  "Yes, they are gone. I may have wounded one when I shot at them." Steve said.

  "I know that was one of Bane's men, I'll never forget that face, even with a beard, I know it was him."

  "I heard in town that the old sheriff was found dead last spring behind the Chinese Restaurant. I didn't want to tell ye as I know ye felt sorry for the old codger. George said they thought it was an accident. Do ye think that man had anything to do with it?"

  "Sure sounds like it to me. C'mon, let's go inside. I don't think they will come back tonight. John, ye should probably go into town and report it in the morning."

  Jude was running as fast as he could when he realized Sam wasn't keeping up with him. He was so mad at his partner for letting Mary Troy pull down the kerchief, and for telling them what they were after. He knew she had recognized Sam, and he was afraid that he would rat on him. They had been very careful not to be seen together, but still he didn't trust Sam. The moon had just come out from behind the clouds, and when he turned around he was able to see his partner's outline bent over by a tree. When he reached him, he saw that he had blood running down his leg and that he was limping badly.

  "Damn, what am I going to do now? She knows who I am. If she comes into town and sees me, she will tell, and I can't go to work this way."