“There is no reason for him not to.”
“I will get your back feeling better after you eat,” she promised the older man.
“I’ll be ready, Jan.”
* * *
Before dawn, Harp arrived and woke Long up. Jan joined them in the lighted kitchen and made coffee while they talked things over.
Long explained how he settled the ranch buyout from Oscar Beatles, and Harper agreed that was super. Then Long told him about Albert Newman and his hired hands. How Newman said he had lawyers to void the sale in court and get the land back for the state.
“I will have our real estate man immediately contact the lawyers in Austin who did this. They are a top law firm. I really checked them out because we’d be dealing with a carpetbag government and I trust the men who recommended them, though they are outside government because of federal rules. We will have this all checked out. But I am satisfied that everything is good. Who was this Newman?”
“I think he’s the chief hired gun and has eight hired gun men to back him. He says he works for landowners around here, but none of them have that kind of money. I think someone rich came along after you made the land deal and closed it, that he wants it for himself.”
“Wonder who that could be?” Harp shook his head. “But I don’t doubt it. Money is flowing down there to get things done. Our purchase was all done in a very open and legal way.”
“Newman said his lawyers would get it set aside.”
Harp shook his head. “No way. There are lots of shady deals going on. We were not involved in any. The government needed that money and badly.”
Long lowered his voice. “I told Oscar he could live here if he wants to, after he sells to us.”
“Why sure. I’ll inform our agent and the lawyer in town writing the deed, mortgage, and the will of his desires. I can arrange a large down payment if he needs it.”
“Tomorrow, with armed guards, take him into town and get it all arranged and settled. We will have to protect all our operations. This guy intends to bust up our ranch for his boss, and he won’t care who gets hurt or killed.”
Eye to eye, Harp agreed. “But we won’t stand for it. We’ve fought Comanche. He wouldn’t make a wart on a Comanche’s ass.” Then Harp chuckled and shook his head at Jan. “That’s pretty raw for me to say with you around.”
She shook her head. “No, that S-O-B was in the yard out there and I had my twenty-gauge pointed right at him.”
“I’m sorry he put you through that.”
“No, don’t be sorry about anything. We are family and families stick together regardless if they are men or women. He isn’t getting anything we own.”
“Thanks, Jan.”
“Don’t ever tiptoe around me. I am a big old girl and I’m ready to fight.”
Long winked at his wife, then told Harp, “You better get a few hours’ sleep, Harp. If you really want, I can take him into town, but you know all about the deal to do it legal. I’d prefer to stay here.”
“You may need to send word to the others that we may be under attack,” Harp said, shaking his head. “I’ll take him to town with some guards. The men for the cattle count will be here before I leave tomorrow.”
Jan gave Harp some blankets and told him he could sleep in the second bedroom upstairs.
He thanked her and went upstairs to catch some sleep.
After they went back to their bed she said, “Harp sounds sure enough about the title.”
“Oh, I am sure it is good, but no telling what they will do to try to stop us. Newman hadn’t been out here long enough to know how few hands we had to support us today or he’d pushed his hand harder, but it saved us and worked this time. We will go armed and ready from here on.”
He kissed her and they went back to sleep.
In the morning, while eating breakfast with Oscar and the others, Long felt hungover. He told Oscar that Harp came the night before and would soon be up.
“I have never met him,” Oscar said.
“He’s just another O’Malley.” They both laughed. “Except he has no Cherokee in him.”
“Like I said, I heard lots about the good things you two have done for many ranchers delivering cattle. No one could believe that two boys drove that first cattle herd clear to Missouri before the war even ended. I know I was amazed when I first heard that you two’d done it. I knew you two weren’t boys . . . you had met some strong forces and won, and that’s why I want to leave it all to both of you.”
“Thanks, Oscar. We’re going to show Newman and his bunch how damn tough we can be about owning this ranch.”
“Him and his bunch wouldn’t have given wooden nickels for my ranch two years ago. You boys cut a trail everyone is now taking, and suddenly cattle have a market.”
“We aren’t the only ones made a run, but yes, it changed lots of things.”
“Are you and Jan going to live down here?”
“I am going to be honest. We have a huge outfit, the Diamond Ranch, to run for two older women closer to Kerrville and besides, we have many other ranches. I think we need to live closer to Kerrville because of that. But hey come by, put your boots up, and stay with us there wherever we land. We will always have a room for you.”
“I’ll consider it. I think your wife is an angel for all the things she does. If I were forty years younger I’d steal her from you. She fixed my back and it hasn’t felt this good in years.”
They both laughed.
“I bet you’d try.”
“Yes, I’d definitely steal her.” A mischievous smile spread over the old man’s face, and Long decided that Oscar might really have tried back then. He really liked the old man. He only wished they had less trouble over the purchase of his ranch. He had to figure a way to get rid of that damn Newman once and all. Whatever it required to do that, he’d get it done.
“What are you working on so hard this morning?” Jan asked, bringing him some fresh coffee. “I can tell when you’re deep thinking.”
He pushed his chair back and hugged her to him. “This whole Newman business needs to be stopped.”
“It sure does. But don’t worry. My husband’s working on it. I know him and he’ll figure it out.”
“I wish I was as confident of my own skills as that.”
She hugged his head. “You will.”
CHAPTER 12
The weak winter morning sun shone through the dusty cedars and live oaks, and Long, Johnny, and Anthony were out searching for any sign that Newman and his bunch might be located around the ranch. Oscar said Newman’s bunch didn’t go south from the ranch, because he and his two men had been that way checking cattle and never saw them.
Harp and two guards had taken Oscar in a buckboard to Kerrville to arrange the paperwork. Harp and Long had decided that Oscar had no reason to lie about the cattle numbers, so the six men that came were sent out in threes, with each of Oscar’s men, to check north and west for Newman’s camp, if there was one. And they were instructed that when they found it, go back to the main headquarters, get everyone together, and roust them out.
Long’s newest Comanche horse had a head full of notions that morning, and he bucked in the chilly air. After being laughed at by his own two men for stopping the bucking, they set out in another direction to find traces of Newman and his enforcers.
By mid-day with no sign of them, they decided they’d not set up anywhere east of the ranch headquarters and started back.
“Where did he go?” Johnny asked.
“I have no idea. But he has a camp someplace. I’ll put out word that I’ll pay to know the place they stay, and we’ll find some answers.”
His men agreed and they rode back. When they arrived, they saw the others were back, too.
“No sign of them?” he asked some of the men unsaddling.
“We didn’t find hide nor hair of them,” Andy Davis said. “The other teams didn’t, either, so they have to be holed up elsewhere.”
“Tomorrow a
ll of you head back to your assigned ranches. Harp and Oscar will be back. I’m leaving Johnny and Anthony here with his two men Rico and Donnie. Go in twos. Johnny is in charge here, and until we get things settled everyone watch their back. I have no idea what they will try, but I bet they’ve got some plans to stop our ranching operations.”
Harp and Oscar plus their two guards were back the next day. Jan had her few things packed, but the decision was made to go back home in the morning instead.
Long had told Donnie and Rico they had jobs if they wanted to stay. The two agreed to stay and help Johnny learn all about the ranch’s features—water and anything else.
Long and Johnny talked at length about Johnny making diary entries about things he found needed attention, so when he or Harp came down they could go over them. He was also to make a list of real needs, like how many more hands he might require.
“Also look for land close by that could be farmed. Oscar had no desire to farm, but for a ranch to be self-sufficient it needs a farming operation in my opinion.”
“I savvy that,” Johnny said. “Did he say if his plans were to live here?”
“He’s welcome. The boys, I bet, can find a cook and housekeeper for you. Find one and hire her. I’ll leave you some money for small expenses and set up a store account in Kerrville for the ranch. Harp or I will check on you. Need help, send word. Just be careful . . . Newman may do anything to stop us. I don’t want our people hurt or property destroyed.”
“What else?”
“We’ll need a count of all the two-year-old steers we can send to Abilene in March.”
“I can do all that, Long, but you be careful, too. We sure need you and Harp safe.”
“We will.”
Harp and Long had a long visit in the kitchen, heated by the cooking range while Jan was making more pies.
“I asked a lot about this Newman in town. Not much is known about him or who he represents. The lawyer, Mr. Lacey, wired our contacts in Austin and told them what Newman said, and asked for more information. So we have things moving.”
“They have not been anywhere else threatening our people?”
“Not that I learned, but I was really busy getting all the papers signed and done with Oscar. I didn’t even get to see my wife or son. It was late but I’ll get to her tomorrow. She’s fine and so is he.”
“Johnny will run this ranch. Oscar’s two boys will stay on and Anthony as well. Johnny will need more men to back him and will need more things, but I have him keeping some lists of things he sees he needs as he gets to know the place. I told him to look for future farmland, too.”
“I think you did a great job with buying this place. You and I need to go look real close at the Diamond Ranch. I am certain it needs things that you and I will see when we examine it closer.”
Long sipped some hot coffee and then said, over the cup’s rim, “First time I saw that Diamond Ranch I must have been fourteen. Mom had a book with a dust cover on it. I can’t recall the title but it had a painting of a plantation home on it. I swear it looked just like that big house.”
“Oh, it’s still that fancy a place. I heard one guy who fought in the South say the Union Army burned lots of them in the war.”
Long agreed. “You and I were damn lucky that they needed rangers out here or we’d been in those trenches and watched fine homes burned down.”
“I know you are right. The rangers knew they needed to keep the defenses up on the Comanche side, too.”
“Not having them now damn sure shows.”
“Nothing we can do but be sure not to rile them, or they’ll send black soldiers down here to restore peace.”
“I agree . . . I sure don’t want them. Jan and I still have more folks to see who are inside our boundaries, but let’s put it on hold. I doubt many of them are in with the Newman bunch. I bet it is someone wants all of our land, period.”
“It would look that way to me. And while I expect more problems, the battle may be fought in Austin in the courts between lawyers.”
“I won’t be much help there.” Long laughed. No need in him even going there; Harp was the talker for that end of the business.
“You will need a new team anyway. Let’s go back and we can look at the Diamond and be certain it is going well. Meanwhile, hopefully, our lawyers in Austin can learn what Newman’s outfit is trying to do.”
Long agreed. So with things set at Oscar’s ranch, they left, Long driving the buckboard with Jan on the spring seat and Harp riding his horse and leading hers.
They made a flying trip back to Kerrville, and she shopped for some things while the menfolk had a draft beer in the Longhorn Saloon.
Near empty, except for the lunch crowd at the lunch counter, Harold Hellmann, the head bartender, took a seat with them and when asked said he knew nothing about Newman.
Harp asked him to put his ears to the situation and told him part of the threat he’d given Long.
“Can they do that? Void the sale in court?”
“We aren’t lawyers,” Long said. “If it was cow or Comanche business we could tell you, but this land business is all new and we have good lawyers on our side.”
“I hear anything I’ll send word. You two worked your backsides off driving cattle to hell and back. These worthless dealers wanting your ranch need strung up.”
Harp agreed. “But we want it done right and not be involved in some range war.”
“But,” Long said. “They start one they’ll think they have a wild bobcat by the tail.”
“And you’ll have lots of support. Why, your cattle drives have helped lots of folks around here I can tell you.”
They both thanked him and left to meet Jan at the buckboard.
On the sunny winter afternoon, Harp asked him, “You ever regret marrying her?”
“No. She’s pretty much my style. She’s a tomboy and not afraid to be one. I’m pleased. She’s generous, loving, and has concerns that impress me. We kind of fell together. She really wasn’t over her husband being killed, but, like your wife was when you found her, she had to realize he couldn’t help her, either.”
“I’ve sure never regretted a day since I found Katy. I’m glad you’re that happy,” Harp said.
“She must have found all she came after . . . she’s waiting on the porch,” Long said.
“Hey, partner, we are growing aren’t we?”
“Between the Diamond Ranch and all this new range we are definitely in the driver’s seat to build a great ranch. Harp, I knew we could do it but I didn’t expect it for twenty more years. You know two years ago at this time we faced a fifteen-dollar-a-month job driving cattle to Missouri through Yankee lines.”
“We’d done it, too.”
“Hell, yes.”
“What for?” Jan asked, smiling and joining them.
“Oh, two years ago we were going to cowboy for the captain for fifteen dollars a month taking some steers around union troops and get them to the railhead at Sedalia.”
She shook her head. “You two have come a long ways since then. I’m proud to be a part of this train, full steam ahead.”
“Right on.” He lifted her up on the buckboard and then he went around to climb on and unwrap the lines.
She hugged his arm. “Learn anything?”
“Not really.”
“Betty Haycox who owns the Spearhead Ranch may know all about your man.”
After he flecked the team to start, Long frowned at her. “What does that mean?”
“I overheard two women in the mercantile talking about Newman staying with her.”
“An affair?”
She laughed. “I imagine so.”
When they were out of the town and on the road homebound with some fenced fields on both sides, he told Harp to stop.
Harp blinked at him, then reined his horse back to the buckboard. “Is something wrong?”
“Something you need to know. You know Betty Haycox?”
“Sure, she’s a
widow woman owns the Spearhead Ranch. What about her?”
“Jan overheard two women in the store who were talking about Newman staying with her.”
“I’ll be damned. Never thought about her hiding him. Thanks, Jan. That may answer more questions I have about him.” Harp settled his anxious horse.
Long said, “We need to talk to some loose-tongued men that work for her.”
“I bet this Saturday night we learn all about his stay out there. Thanks again, Jan.”
Long and his wife were moving again. The sun was warm on the side that shone on him. His back was warm but he buttoned up his jumper. His chest felt cool. What was this troublemaker doing with the forty-year-old widow of Bracket Haycox? He’d only been in the grave a short while when she had an affair with her ranch foreman Russell Macomb, but a few months later she fired him in a violent scandal that the sheriff had to settle. But not before more details were spelled out about her affairs with another ranch hand when Macomb was gone on business.
They needed to get a few Spearhead cowboys drunk this weekend and learn all about what was going on with him. Where did he park his hired guns . . . and find that camp and send those guys packing. Lots to do. Long made the good team of buckskins go faster. Somehow they needed to end this threat Newman tried to put on them.
Things were busy at the ranch when they returned. Harp set up the deal to get the Haycox hands drunk with three of their ranch hands on Saturday night. His mother, Easter, Harp’s wife, Katy, and Jan were holding a conference in the kitchen when Long walked in.
“Learn anything in town?” Easter asked.
“Jan must have told you our man is staying out at the Spearhead Ranch.”
Easter shook her head. “That poor girl lost her head when her husband died.”
“No, Mother, she’s had those problems long before he passed away. But they kept it covered up. I simply wonder how those two found each other.”
“No idea who he works for?”
“None. No one in town knows much about him but the local women gossips.”
They laughed.
“Have you seen your dad?” his mother asked.
“No, is he missing?”
“He and Ira went on a mule-trading trip. Said they’d be back but I guess they haven’t arrived.”
Dead Aim Page 11
