Trail Drive (The McCabes Book 5)

by Brad Dennison

  Later on, Johnny took a walk out beyond the edge of the firelight, a cup of coffee in one hand. The sky was clear and the stars were shining big and bright. The camp was quiet and most everyone was asleep. The four horses remaining of the remuda were picketed nearby.

  Though the sky was clear, the wind was a little cold. Nothing that would bother you normally. A cowhand would just wrap up in his soogan and sleep warm as could be. But the men were in clothes that were still damp from the rain, and the cold wind was just making matters worse.

  Johnny looked at the stars. Not a cloud in the night sky. You wouldn’t have thought that less than ten hours ago, there had been rain and lightning and twisters descending on them.

  The herd was gone. They had recovered almost two thousand head after the last stampede, which was a little more than half. Now he wondered if they would be able to recover enough to make the trail drive to Cheyenne worth their while at all.

  He had seen other cattlemen lose their entire herd on the trail before, but it had never happened to him.

  He threw his cup upward at the sky. Throwing it at God. The cup bounced off a ways, and the coffee splattered down nearby like brown rain. He kicked a clump of grass and sent some dirt flying.

  “Don’t do no good to be mad at God,” his father had said once, years ago.

  Johnny had been twelve, and a young colt he had helped deliver had died in the night. Didn’t know why it had died, they had just found it dead.

  Johnny hadn’t wanted to cry, because when you’re twelve you want nothing more than to be taken seriously as a man, and at twelve it had seemed to him like men never cried. Only boys did. But Johnny had loved that colt, and tears streamed down his face and he kicked the wall of the stall hard, and then grabbed a wooden stool and heaved it across the barn.

  “Why’d he do it, Pa?” Johnny had screamed out. “Why’d God let the colt die?”

  “Don’t do no good to be mad at God, son. It’s like the whole world, all that there is, is one big tapestry. Like when your mother is workin’ a quilt. Every piece in place.”

  Pa had put his hand on Johnny’s shoulder and said, “Everyone passes on when it’s their time. That time is determined by God, based on His knowledge. And believe me, He knows more about everything around us than any of us know.”

  Johnny wiped away a tear, hoping Pa hadn’t seen it. He said, “Does God ever make mistakes?”

  Pa shook his head. “He’s got more information than we do. Lots more. We have to trust that He’s doing what’s best for everyone involved. You never know—maybe that colt had a terrible fate waiting for it down the road. We’ll never know the answers, son. But being mad at God is a waste of energy. The tapestry is as it is, and we’re all a part of it.”

  Johnny thought of this now as he stood out beyond camp. He said out loud, “But, Pa, I’ve worked so hard to build this ranch. To build a life for my children. For your grandchildren. And now we won’t have enough to pay the bills.”

  He could almost see his father standing there in the darkness, listening to him. Pa stood a little taller than Johnny, with his shoulders a little stooped from all of the hard work he had done over the years.

  Johnny shook his head and said, “I made a bad mistake, Pa. I got myself shot up three summers ago. Shot up bad. We needed to make a cattle drive a year ago and the herd was ready, but I wasn’t. I ain’t been the same since I was shot up. And I had to go to California to see Lura’s grave one more time.”

  Johnny looked at his father. “And I met Jessica and Cora. That part wasn’t a mistake. You’d like them, Pa.”

  “I know I would.”

  “But now it’s all gone. I waited too long, let the ranch’s debt pile up too high. We had made a few sales to the Army and to a couple mining camps, but it wasn’t enough. We needed this trail drive. We had almost four thousand head, Pa, between me and Zack. And with Matt’s and Jessica’s beeves thrown in.”

  Pa walked over and placed his hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “You take too much onto yourself, son. You always did.”

  Johnny wiped away a tear. He hoped Pa hadn’t seen.

  “Son, are you mad at God?”

  Johnny shook his head. “Not really. Mad at myself, is what I am.”

  “Do you trust in God?”

  Johnny nodded. “I guess I do.”

  “God has given you a lot of know-how. A lot of knowledge you’ve picked up over the years. You got a good group of men who would follow you into hell if you asked them to. You have three great sons and a wonderful daughter, and now you have Jessica and Cora, too.”

  Johnny nodded.

  Pa said, “Everything will work out. Trust in God. Ask Him for guidance.”

  Johnny drew a breath and let it out. The feeling of crushing despair was starting to dissipate, just like the rain had earlier in the day.

  Johnny said, “Thanks, Pa.”

  “Think nothing of it.”

  Johnny looked up and saw he was standing alone out in the night. But he realized he was never really alone.

  45

  The morning sun brought much-needed warmth. Ches had the fire going and coffee was brewing. Dusty had woken up to the sight of an elk standing tall at the top of a low ridge in the distance. He had gone to the wagon and grabbed Pa’s Sharps, and made a shot that woke the entire camp up, but now Ches was roasting freshly cut elk meat. The smell made Johnny’s mouth water.

  Joe came over. He said, “I heard you out there talkin’ in the night.”

  Johnny nodded. “Talking to Pa.”

  Joe nodded, too. “I do that sometimes, too.”

  Johnny knew they needed to start trying to round up as many beeves as they could, and as much of the remuda as possible. But at the moment, they were alive and the sun was warm and the smell of coffee and roasting elk was what these people needed.

  When the first of the meat was ready and cut into plates, Zack brought it over to Crystal and the children. Luke and Mary chewed into it like they hadn’t eaten in days. Zack was sure their stomachs were telling them that.

  He said to Crystal, “You eat, too.”

  “No,” she said. “You’re hungry. And so are the men.”

  Johnny walked over. He said, “We insist. Please, eat. There’s more than enough for all of us.”

  As she ate, Zack went over to the fire and refilled his coffee cup. Johnny walked with him.

  Johnny said, “She’s a pretty woman.”

  Zack shrugged. “Hadn’t noticed.”

  Johnny gave him a look that said, like heck you haven’t noticed.

  He said, “Where’s her husband?”

  “Gone. The children don’t know it, but he’s dead.”

  Johnny gave him a curious look, and Zack said, “It’s a long story.”

  Johnny said, “So, she might be a welcome addition at your ranch house.”

  “Haven’t given it any thought at all.”

  Johnny grinned and gave him that look again.

  Zack said, “So, boss, what’s next?”

  “Well,” Johnny scooped up his tin cup from where he had set it in the grass and poured himself some coffee. “We get to work rounding up the horses and the herd. Again.”

  Four horses meant the search for strays would be limited. Horses had to be rested, and the option of switching off to a fresh mount wasn’t there.

  Zack rode most of the morning and found two horses. One was a bay he had ridden a few times during this trail drive, and the horse knew him and came over. The second one wasn’t quite so sure. Once he had them roped, he thought about switching his saddle onto one of the fresh horses, but then decided against it. These horses had been scared by a storm and then spent the night in the wild. They might be a little skittish. He wanted to get them back to camp and let them get settled in before anyone rode them.

  On the way back to camp, he saw a third horse. But that horse cut and run. He knew he could never catch it on the tired mount he was on.

  He rode into camp
with the two horses. Crystal was at the fire working with a pot. Zack stripped off the saddle then walked over.

  She said, “I found some wild onions, and I’m using some of the elk Dusty shot this morning to make a stew. I’m kind of improvising as I go.”

  “Sure smells good.”

  She grinned. “I think you’re just hungry.”

  He shrugged. “I am a little hungry. But that doesn’t mean it don’t smell good.”

  His eyes held hers for a moment. She smiled then looked away.

  “Crystal,” he said.

  She looked at him. He saw a look in her eyes that every man wants a woman like her to have when she looks at him. He wanted to say so much, and yet it was so soon and he didn’t want to frighten her away.

  Then, Ches came walking around from the back of the wagon. He said, “That stew yer workin’ on sure does smell good.”

  Zack said, “That’s what I said.”

  Johnny and Josh came riding in. They swung out of the saddle, and Johnny said, “You found two horses. Good.”

  Zack said, “Found me a third one, but there was no way I could catch him. They’re still a little skittish, and the one I was riding was too winded.”

  “We’ve found five head of cattle. One with your brand and four with ours. Dusty is staying with them so they won’t wander too far.”

  Johnny got a cup of coffee and said to Josh, “I’m gonna take a fresh horse and ride out and check that pond. See if it’s filled up at all. I’d like you to come with me.”

  Johnny and Josh saddled up and headed out. There was really no need for both of them to check out the water. In fact, since Zack was the scout, it probably would have fallen into his line of duties. But Johnny wanted to talk to Josh about the hard realities that might be facing the ranch.

  They found the land around the pool mostly torn up, like Zack had said. A twister had touched down and ripped up sod and a couple small trees, and they could even see a hollowed out section that had probably been the resting place for a large rock.

  The twister had gone along a hundred yards and then straight through the pond, sucking up the water. The stream was still running and the pool was about a foot high with water again.

  “It’s not enough,” Johnny said, as he and Josh stood on the bank looking at the water. They were letting their horses drink a bit. “The stream’s still flowing, but since it’s spring runoff and it’s now June, there’s not enough water in the stream to fill this pond all the way up. There won’t be enough to water two thousand head here again until next spring.”

  “At this rate, I’m wondering if we’re going to be able to put together a herd of two thousand head.”

  “That’s something else I’d like to talk with you about. That’s why I brought you out here. Since you’re the ramrod of our ranch and our brand is on most of the cattle. We’re running late as it is. We were originally planning to be in Cheyenne by next week, and we’re hoping the buyers got our letter and are willing to wait. But we’re going to be easily two weeks right here, trying to round up the herd. And that’s if the weather’s cooperating and luck is on our side.”

  “So, what are you proposing?”

  “We take a couple of days, three at the most, and round up what we can. Then we head to Cheyenne with what we’ve got.”

  “It won’t be enough to cover the ranch’s debt.”

  Johnny nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that. We’re going to have to sell off some land.”

  “Not to Bertram Reed.”

  “No. Not to him. Not unless he can convince me he had nothing to do with that grass fire and the murder of Bingum and his men, and those cattle thieves we had to shoot. But there are others. There’s some good bottom land in the valley that’s not really enough acreage for a herd our size, but it might make for some good farming with today’s methods. Things like irrigation.”

  Josh was quiet. He paced forward a couple of steps. He pulled off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. The day was hot and his hair was wet with sweat.

  He said, “To sell off land. We never had to do that before.”

  “It’s not an easy decision, and I can’t make it alone. We all need to be involved in the decision. We can talk to Dusty about it, and we’ll talk to the women when we get back home. Maybe I’ll wire Jack from Cheyenne. But I wanted to talk to you about it first because you now have a position of leadership.”

  Josh rubbed his hands through his hair again, and let his eyes roam about the land around them. The sod that had been ripped up by the twister, and the low grassy hill out beyond. Overhead the sky was mostly a clear, bright blue. A heavy white cloud looking like a big scoop of mashed potatoes hung low in the sky to the west.

  He said, “The land, the ranch, isn’t just our home. It’s always seemed like it’s almost an extension of you. Bree and Jack have said the same kind of thing over the years when we were growing up. I said this to Dusty a while back and he said he could easily see it. And since we all come from you, to sell any acreage would be like selling a part of you and a part of us. But a McCabe pays his bills, one way or another.”

  Johnny nodded. “That we do. I see this as a setback, but we have good brood stock back home. We’ll rebuild.”

  Josh put his hat back on. “All right. Let’s go back and talk to Dusty. Tell him the plan. And tell the others we’ll round up what we can, and we’re off to Cheyenne in three days.”

  46

  Cheyenne was a cow town, and there were cattle pens set up near the railroad. Johnny and the others herded their cattle into the pens. All four hundred and seventy-two head.

  The buyer was a man named Reaves from Chicago. A round stomach pulled tight against his vest and jacket, almost like a badge of his success. Johnny had noticed how many successful businessmen seemed to be fat. The chain of a pocket watch spread across the man’s belly from one pocket to another, and it had to be a long chain. He had bushy white sideburns and a thick white mustache that covered his entire upper lip. Johnny didn’t see how the man could drink coffee without getting brown stains on it.

  Reaves said to Josh, “Young man, we were originally planning on a much larger herd.”

  Johnny let Josh do the speaking. As ramrod of the ranch, it had been Josh who had met with Reaves originally and negotiated the price.

  Josh said, “Yes, sir. I’m not making excuses but it was a hard drive.”

  Zack was standing there too, as some of the cattle were his. And some of the stock belonged to the McCabe-Swan Cattle Company that Jessica had started with Matt and bore the Swan brand, so Matt was also there. Dusty was sitting on a fence, chewing a piece of grass.

  Reaves said, “I’m a cattleman and I understand the hazards of the trail. I’ve seen some herds more decimated than yours. In your favor, the cattle you do have are in good shape.”

  Should be, Johnny thought. They spent enough time standing around grazing while they waited to be rounded up.

  Reaves said, “Well, cattle prices have dropped a bit since we last spoke, but we agreed to a certain price per head, and I’ll stand by it.”

  He extended his hand and Josh shook it.

  Luke had been concerned that when his father came home, he wouldn’t know where to find them, so Crystal had decided it was time to tell him the truth. He hadn’t taken it easy. She never expected him to.

  He had said, “You could have told me right off. I’m not a little child, anymore.”

  “No,” she said. “I suppose you’re not. It’s hard for me to realize sometimes how fast you’re growing up. It seems to me like just yesterday you were in diapers and now, here you are almost a man. You’ll understand when you’re a parent.”

  He was silent for a moment. To her surprise, there were no tears.

  Then he said, “I suppose in some way, I knew. You kind of know when you’re father isn’t coming back. I kind of knew it was you and Mary and me. The three of us. And I remember how Pa was. He was a rough man a lot of the time. I
saw the way he treated you.”

  This had made Crystal’s eyes well up. She thought she had kept Conner’s abuse hidden from the children.

  Luke said, “He wasn’t a good man. Not like Zack. I wish he had been more like Zack.”

  She pulled Luke in for a hug. “Me too.”

  Josh paid the men, and there was a little money left over. Enough to cover a hotel room for Crystal and the children.

  Zack was able to afford a bath, and there was a laundry in town, so when he knocked on Crystal’s door, he did it freshly bathed and in clean clothes.

  He invited her and the children to dinner, and later in the evening, once Luke and Mary were asleep, Zack and Crystal sat at a small table in the hotel room. He had bought a bottle of wine and filled two glasses. He couldn’t afford the fancy goblets Aunt Ginny used for wine, so they were using two tumblers that the hotel had supplied.

  He said, “Do you have any plans?”

  She shrugged. “The only family I have is back in Perth.”

  She saw by the look on his face he didn’t know quite where that is. She said, “It’s a small town in Scotland. I can’t afford passage, so we’ll have to remain here. I’m a fair seamstress. Maybe I can get some financing to open a shop here in town.”

  He nodded. He wasn’t surprised she was a seamstress. Women on the frontier seemed to be able to do everything.

  He said, “You know, there’s a place for you back in Montana.”

  “Does that little town you talk about have room for a seamstress?”

  He nodded. “They already have one, but the way the town’s growing, I’m sure there’s room for a second. But...”

  He hesitated. He took a sip of wine to see if it would settle his nerves any at what he was about to say. He found it didn’t.

  He said, “I know a rancher who could sure use a good woman to be his wife.”

  Zack winced at the way it came out. He had never been good with words.