The Secret Saddle: Anna Troy's Emancipation (The Emancipation Series Book 2)

by Dani Larsen

  "You saw his broken nose and swollen eye?"

  "I tended to him when he got here and reset his nose for him."

  "Do you remember the foreman's name?"

  "Yeah, it was Jude something or other. I told him that his name should have been Judas, it would have fit him better."

  "Did he tell you what the fight was about?"

  "Something about some woman that the foreman was supposed to have beat up."

  Just then, the door opened, and Henry came in with a man Charlie assumed to be his brother. He was much taller than Henry, with a strong muscular body. Their facial features were alike, and they both had blonde curly hair, except that Henry's curls were only by his ears, as he had lost most of his hair on top. It was obvious that Gus was several years younger. Charlie stood up and shook the man's hand.

  "Gus Schmidt? I'm Charlie Siringo. Mrs. Hempe gave me your address."

  "How do you do, sir? I'm sorry, I meant to send her back that money she sent me, because Frank already paid me. Don't know why he didn't tell her that. I just never got around to sending it."

  "I don't know anything about that, Gus. Did you know that Frank Hempe was in an accident the day you left?"

  "Frank was in an accident?" Gus' mouth fell open, and Charlie was sure that this was the first time Gus heard about it.

  "Didn't Mrs. Hempe say anything when she sent you that money?"

  "No, there was just a note that said, 'Thanks for all your hard work', and it was signed Caroline Hempe, and there was thirty dollars in the envelope.

  "Is he okay?"

  "No, Gus, he is not. He was unconscious for several weeks, and when he did wake up, he didn't seem to recognize anyone, and just speaks gibberish. It was a car accident down by the Pyle Creek Bridge"

  "Oh, no! He is the nicest man. I can't believe it. I saw him in his car that afternoon. He was on his way home from town, and I was just leaving."

  "Can you start from the beginning, Gus, and tell me what happened that day, or maybe you should start with the day before, and tell me what you know about Dolly Dampierre, and what happened to her the night before."

  Mrs. Schmidt interrupted the conversation. "Is it okay if we eat supper first? I have a feeling this is going to take a while, and I don't want to miss any of this. Would you all please wash up for dinner?"

  "Certainly, ma'am! I do appreciate you having me join you for supper. We'll talk after we eat."

  She put the big slab of beef on a plate, quickly mashed the potatoes, made gravy and put it on the table with the creamed corn and sliced tomatoes that she had already prepared. Gus got the plates out of the cupboard and put them on the table with the silverware he found in the drawer.

  Henry said the blessing, and they all quietly ate dinner. When they had cleaned up their plates, Gus told his sister-in-law to sit still while he cleared the table, rinsed the plates and put them in the sink, then he put all the leftover food on the plate with the beef, covered it, and put it in the icebox. Elsa poured everyone more lemonade, and they sat at the table waiting for the conversation. It was hot, so Henry opened the door wider so that they could all feel the early evening breeze.

  "Okay, Gus, whenever you are ready."

  "Well, Mr. Siringo, I think it all has to do with Jude Burden. He is the foreman at the Hempe Ranch. I've been watching him do little things to get others in trouble on the ranch for a while. Just seems to be full of mischief. All of us ranch hands went into town on that Saturday night. Jude was already in a bad mood, because we had a little poker game in the bunk house before we left, and he had already lost a little money. When we got to "Anton's" we all got into another poker game there with a couple of strangers who were passing through town. It got too steep for me and the other two ranch hands. The other guys quit and left, and I just had a drink and was hanging out talking to Molly."

  "You mean Tilly's girl, Molly?"

  "Yes, sir." Gus looked at his sister-in-law, who didn't seem to react, so he went on. "I was talking to Molly when I heard an argument at the poker table. Jude accused one of the men of cheating, and he got mad and got up while reaching for his gun. Luckily, Anton makes everyone check their guns when they come in, or Jude may have been a dead man right then. The guy was huge, and Jude backed off, threw his cards down and left the table. He went over to the table next to Molly and me and ordered a drink. I could tell he was mad, as his face was red, and he was fuming. Anton brought him a drink and told him that was the last one, because he thought Jude had already drank too many. I saw him glare at Anton when he brought the drink."

  "So you think he was in an angry mood at that time?"

  "Oh, I know he was. I worked with the guy for several years. I've seen him angry many times. Then Dolly came over and sat down at the table with him, and I saw him glare at her. Molly started talking to some guys at the next table, so she didn't hear the part of the conversation I heard, but Jude quietly told her not to talk to him there, but to meet him at her room in fifteen minutes. Then he raised his voice and told her to get lost in a loud voice. I don't think he thought anyone heard the first part of the conversation, but our table was close behind his, and I heard every word."

  "Then what happened?"

  "Jude waited a few minutes, then went and got his gun and went out the front door. Dolly left out the back door about ten minutes later. About an hour after that I escorted Molly home to her room at the boarding house." Gus looked at Elsa again, who still showed no reaction. "When we got near her room we heard this terrible moaning. Molly knocked on the door, but nobody answered, so she opened the door, and there was Dolly on the bed. She had been beat up real bad, and there was blood all over."

  "Do you think Jude had anything to do with it?"

  "I think he had everything to do with it. I suspected him immediately. I went and got the doctor right away, but Dolly wasn't talking. She wouldn't say who did it. I think she was afraid he would come back and hurt her again. I don't know what those two are to each other, but I think they are hiding some kind of a secret."

  "So what happened the next day, Gus?"

  "He was asleep when I got back, which was real late. I had to take a torch to find my way home. When I got done with my Sunday chores, I asked him if he had anything to do with it. We got in an argument, just as Frank and his family came home from church. Frank heard the end of it, just before he went into town, but he didn't know what was going on. Jude told him it was about work."

  "So Frank went into La Grande after that argument?"

  "Yes, I think he had some errands to attend to. He was gone maybe a couple of hours. While he was gone, Jude and I got into it big time. I told him I knew he was the one who beat up Dolly. He got real mad and attacked me, before I knew what was going on. Broke my nose and hit me several times in the face, before I could get him off of me. Then I said I wasn't working for a woman beater anymore and I quit. He told me to leave the address of where I was going on my bunk, that he would give it to Frank and have him send me my pay. I loaded up my stuff and left."

  "You said earlier that Frank paid you already. When did that happen?"

  "I was on my way up the road toward Pendleton, when I saw Frank coming home in his car. He saw me and pulled over. He asked me what happened, so I told him that I had accused Jude of beating up that woman in town the night before and that he had beat me up. I told him I had left the address to send my pay, and he pulled out his wallet and gave me forty dollars, even though I told him it was only thirty. I told him to watch his back and not trust that Jude Burden for a minute. I told you Mr. Hempe was a real nice man. I don't know what happened after that as that was the last time I saw either one of them."

  "Is there anything else you can think of to tell me about either day?"

  "Oh, yeah! Jude's knuckles were all bruised, before he started beating on me. When I saw that, that was when I accused him. Frank was heading home when I saw him, so I don't know why he was at the Pyle Creek Bridge, unless he was headed back into La Gran
de."

  "Thank you, Gus, you have been very helpful. Here is my card in case you think of anything else. Or if you move somewhere else please let me know. If I find him I might be able to bring him to trial, and I would need your testimony."

  "If you can find him? Isn't he still at the Hempe ranch?"

  "No, he must have thought I was getting close to finding out what happened as he up and quit just before I went to talk to Mrs. Hempe. She sold the ranch and is moving to Walla Walla, Washington, where there is a hospital that might be able to help Mr. Hempe. Oh, and by the way, you probably haven't heard that Tilly supposedly fell out of the window of the boarding house and died not very long ago. The doctor said she broke her neck. I'm wondering if Jude Burden didn't have something to do with that too. If you think of anything else, please let me know."

  The Schmidts sat there with their mouths open, in shock at what they had just heard.

  "Thank you all for your hospitality. Mrs. Schmidt, your supper was most delicious. I need to head on out now. I'm going to spend the night at the hotel in Pendleton and head out in the morning. I would like to start tracking Jude right away, but I need to go back to my ranch in New Mexico and take care of some things first. Then, in early spring, I'm going to head up to the Montana territory and see if I can find him. That is where he told Mrs. Hempe he was heading. It may be a wild goose chase, but I'm going to check it out. You all have a nice evening now."

  They all stood up, shook hands, and walked outside with Siringo. They stood on the front porch as the Pinkerton man climbed on his horse and headed up the road.

  Charlie sent a telegraph to the sheriff in La Grande, before he boarded the train the next morning.

  Found evidence - Jude Burden beat up Dolly Dampierre. Arrest him if found - tell all involved. ... Charlie Siringo

  When the sheriff of La Grande received Charlie's telegraph, he laughed, wadded up the paper, and threw it in the waste basket by his desk. "The guy left town, and anyway, who cares who beat up that trollop? She probably asked for it."

  Chapter Twenty-One

  "Conflicting Emotions"

  Fall, 1916

  The move to Walla Walla, Washington, was a stressful event for the family. Caroline signed the papers for the sale of the ranch in August of 1916, and then spent three weeks going through everything that she and Frank had accumulated over the last thirty-three years. She became very emotional over all the things that she had to put aside and not take with her. Every piece of furniture brought back a memory of either the couple purchasing the piece together, or Frank making it with his own hands. Even the clothes she had made were difficult to part with. She found herself in tears much of the time. Agnes was fifteen and Mary a few years older, and they were both a big help to their mother. The girls put all of the things that their mother said were not coming with them in the large barn, and they made signs and put them up in La Grande and Union that said they would auction it all off two days before they left. Sylvester and his new bride picked out what they wanted out of those things, and the rest was to be sold. Many of their neighbors attended, and what was not purchased Caroline gave away at the end of the sale. Even though many didn't buy, they came to say goodbye to the family they had come to know well and admired greatly. It was a tearful goodbye with many of their neighbors. Mary left three weeks before the rest of her family, as she was going to marry Oscar Berthelot in Walla Walla, soon after the rest of the family arrived. She had gone to visit her older sister six months before, and had become engaged while she was there.

  Sylvester married his sweetheart in a small ceremony at the Catholic Church in Union, and was going to live with his wife's family until they could get a place of their own. He and his wife were going to bring the larger pieces of furniture and boxes that Caroline had packed to go with them over to Walla Walla in the buckboard that Caroline had given them. The couple would leave at the same time as the family boarded the train. Caroline thought the train would be a much easier transition for her husband in his condition. Ida had found a small house for the family to purchase in the town of Walla Walla, which was only a few blocks from her home, and that of the home Oscar had purchased for his new bride.

  Oscar's parents had posted the banns of their marriage six weeks before, and the pair was to be privately married right after Mary arrived in Walla Walla. Caroline didn't want to miss the wedding, but under the circumstances she thought it was for the best as a wedding would just confuse Frank. Caroline and Frank's new home was also close to the school Agnes would attend until she graduated. They took four suitcases of clothing and other necessities with them on the train, as they knew it would take Sylvester longer to arrive.

  "Agnes, can you help your father climb those steps and get into the train?"

  "Yes, Mama, don't worry. I will take care of him."

  Frank was using a cane and was quite bent over that day as they boarded the train. He seemed to know Caroline and Agnes now, and didn't act afraid of them, but he acted very confused when they boarded and sat in the seats of the passenger car. Sylvester and Ellen put the four suitcases in the luggage car for them. Caroline carried a small carpetbag filled with food, lemonade, and things they might need on their half day trip. Ida and her husband would meet them at the station in Walla Walla. They waved goodbye as the train left the station, and Caroline's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her husband and daughter who were sitting across from her.

  Agnes entertained her father on the trip with a deck of cards she had brought with her. He looked at the pictures on the cards but didn't seem to know what they meant, as he turned the cards with numbers upside down. Watching him, Caroline prayed that the doctors in the hospital in La Grande could do something to help her husband.

  "Mama, it is so good to see you! Hello, Agnes! Hello, Papa!" Ida hugged her mother and sister when they arrived, but her father shied away when she tried to hug him.

  "I'm sorry, Ida. He just doesn't recognize you. He acts afraid around anyone he hasn't seen lately."

  "That's okay, I kind of expected him to act that way. C'mon, John pulled the buggy up close so you wouldn't have to walk far. We will take you to your new house." She smiled at Caroline, took the bag, and led her to the rig.

  Agnes led her father to the buggy and gave him a boost up into the carriage. He was so thin that it was easy for her to lift him. Frank did not have an appetite and seemed to eat very little these days.

  Ida was happy to see them and wanted them to like the new house she had picked out for them. It was a short ride as the house was not far. She watched her mother's face when they pulled up in front of the small house.

  "It has two bedrooms, a nice big kitchen, living room, and an indoor bathroom, Mama."

  "It looks lovely, Ida. Thank you very much for taking care of all of the paper work for us." Caroline's first thought was how small it was compared to the ranch house they had just left in La Grande.

  "You should stay with us tonight though, as it will take Sylvester a couple of days to get here with your furniture. There are twin beds in your bedroom, Mama, but that is about it. Those came with the house."

  "Are you sure we won't be a bother, Ida?"

  "Of course not, Mama, we have a big house with five bedrooms. I plan on you and Pa coming to live with us in your old age anyway.

  "Mary and Oscar will join us for supper tonight. They seem to be real happy here in Walla Walla."

  "Oh good, I was looking forward to seeing them too. This is so good of you, Ida, to help us out like this."

  "I have made an appointment for Pa on Thursday of next week, first thing in the morning. They will be running a lot of tests and may keep him overnight."

  "Oh good, I hope Frank will be okay with that."

  Caroline was really impressed with the doctor that took care of Frank at the hospital. Most of the nurses were really good too, although there was one who was gruff, and Caroline didn't like how she treated Frank. She finally asked the head nurse to take that nur
se off of Frank's care, as whenever she was around he acted really frightened.

  Frank was in the hospital for testing for two full days and nights, and Caroline insisted on staying with him through the nights. The nurses were really upset that she was there, but the doctor made sure that she was able to do that. They checked him out of the hospital on the third morning.

  "There is really nothing I can do for him, Mrs. Hempe."

  The doctor took her in his office to break the news.

  "The accident damaged his brain extensively. Frank seems to have gone into senility prematurely. From what I have documented with my patients who have senility, this will just get worse. He has lost his sense of taste and hardly eats anything, which will shorten his life considerably. We are studying brain damage and senility here, and although tests are not conclusive yet, my opinion is that that the brain shrinks when senility sets in, and eventually Frank will lose all of his functions and eventually he will die."

  "Why did he wake up then? Why didn't he just die from the accident?"

  "I think the damage from the accident put him into a coma, and then his body worked at healing itself while he was unconscious. When it healed as much as it could he woke up, but the major damage was done and his body is losing the battle. He will not get any better. I am sorry, Mrs. Hempe, I wish I had better news for you."

  Caroline broke down in tears, and the doctor put his arms around her and tried to comfort her.

  "I think I knew it all along, ever since he woke up and could not talk. I just had such high hopes for a full recovery and wanted so much for the help to be here at the hospital."

  "I understand. I wish we could help your husband, but I'm afraid there is nothing we can do for him. Just take him home and take care of him. I don't think it will be very long, a year at the longest, but perhaps only a few months. Just make him as comfortable as you can. You might want to make sure he sees all of his family in the next few months as it won't be that long."