Dead Aim

by Dusty Richards

  “You want them?”

  “Maybe. I’d like to see if I can sober him up.”

  “For you, on the rigs, seven-fifty each. The business of making him sober, I bet will be harder.”

  “Charge them to me. I will sign the papers when I come back to town.”

  “No problem. Good luck. I think even the ministers gave up on him.”

  “Draw me a map to his house.”

  “Grant, draw Long and Carter a map to Lance Grey’s house. Long is buying those rigs. All he needs is a harnessed team to pull them out to his ranch.”

  Grant Thomas nodded. “That is how I repossessed them. They are both at the livery stables.”

  Ira nodded he heard him.

  “Here is the map, Carter.”

  “Thanks.”

  Outside, Carter showed the map to the others. Ira knew the place. Back in the saddle, Ira asked him if they’d better get the drills. Long told them it could wait until they talked to Grey.

  “We have anyone in our crew to run one?”

  “Yeah, Jud Aikens worked as a helper for three years on one. He said last night, with a little guidance, he thinks he could drill with them.”

  “We may need him. My banker thinks the ministers gave up on this guy.”

  They rode out to the weed-grown adobe place. Long dismounted and with Carter walked to the open front door.

  A small Mexican teenage girl carrying a baby in a sling asked what she could do for them.

  “I am Señor O’Malley. I need to talk to Señor Grey.”

  She shook her head. “He is sleeping.”

  “Is that his baby?”

  “Sí. I am a cousin of his wife. She left the baby with me when she left him. There are two more small children. She left them all and ran away.”

  “Bad business. And he drinks because she is gone?”

  She nodded.

  “What is your name?”

  “Wanda Robles.”

  “Wanda, I am going to send a couple of cowboys and a wagon to get you and the children. And if they have to hog-tie him, they will bring him along. My foreman has a house for you and we have plenty of food. I will pay you to care for and watch the children for him. I aim to dry him out.”

  Tears ran down her brown cheeks as she nodded. “My prayers have been answered. Gracias, señor.”

  “Can you buy some goat’s milk for the baby?”

  “Sí.”

  He gave her a few loose dollars. “We have milk goats at the ranch. The ranch women will help you clothe the children. And they will help you when you need it.”

  “Ira, go in there and see how many men you’ll need to haul him home.”

  He came back. “Two of us can hog-tie him and load him in the wagon.”

  “You have much to move?” Long asked the girl.

  “Some pots and some blankets. The crib.” She shrugged.

  He got out a pocket-size book. “Your name is Wanda Robles?”

  “Yes.”

  “What are the children’s names?” That was what Jan would ask him right off.

  “Gloria, the baby. The girl is Stella and the boy Drake. They are napping.”

  “You can bathe them, and they will be given clean clothes at the ranch.”

  “Oh, I prayed to the Virgin. I have done everything. Thank God you have found us.”

  He gave her his kerchief. “Quit crying. Tomorrow you will have a better place for you, the children, and him.”

  She shook her head. “I will care for the children. I fear he is what you say pickled.”

  “We will try.”

  She impulsively hugged him.

  Not many things got to him, but the squalor and what she didn’t have stabbed his heart. That passed-out drunk had shed no tears for his children when his wife left him.

  “Get four men to do it tomorrow, Ira.”

  “We can handle it.”

  “I’ll have that empty jacal cleaned out and ready for when they arrive,” Carter added.

  “Sounds good.”

  “Damn right. This was sure sad to find.”

  “But we can try and sober him up. With Ira dealing with the girl, children, and the drunk, Collie, you are in charge of a team to haul the drills back to the ranch.”

  Collie spoke up, “I aim to get both of them out to the ranch tomorrow. Someone might steal them if we don’t claim it.”

  Long laughed and shook his head. Way to do it. Men like Ira and Collie grew into foremen. He liked to see people who saw things that needed to be done and did them. It was how men rose up to better jobs—men like Boone and Rob. Riding home with Carter he looked north at the blue horizon. All he could do was hope those two were making their way to Abilene without any trouble. Harp too.

  “What did you find?” Jan asked him, joining the returning men.

  “A drunk. A sister—no, a cousin—to his wife had their three children dumped in her lap when she ran off. He drank because she ran off. He was passed out when we got there. I gave her some money, and Ira will head a crew tomorrow to bring them out here. They can use that empty jacal. Carter’s going to get it swept out and will put some furniture in it. That poor girl was even left with a baby. Oh, and we bought two well drilling rigs.”

  “Who will run that?”

  “Ira has a cowboy who has had some experience. The first well we’ll do is the one you want for the new house.”

  “Up on the hill. So I can look over the headquarters and get a good breeze.”

  “Got’cha, ma’am,” Carter said, taking their reins to put them up.

  Long and Jan walked to the office.

  “I want to run to San Antonio, take your drawings, find that architect, and have him draw plans so we can build this house before Christmas if possible.”

  Inside the door she drew him back to her and kissed him. “And one more thing. It may not happen but, right now, I think I am two months pregnant. I wasn’t going to tell you since I had so many miscarriages, but I really wanted you to know.”

  He hugged her. “Wonderful news. I know you are pleased. Should you stop riding horses?”

  “The doctor told me at three months I should since I am so risky.”

  “No worries. It sure pleases me.”

  “Carter’s wife Edna told me she lost all of hers after birth. So having one isn’t the only challenge. Tell me more about this cousin.”

  “She is in her teens. A Mexican girl who has been stuck with three small children and their drunken father. I promised you and the entire ranch wives would help her.”

  “She just—”

  “Tomorrow she will tell you all about it.”

  “Fine. Have you eaten?”

  “Supper is soon. I will be fine. I charged those rigs at the bank. They cost seven fifty. Mark it down somewhere, please. It has been some day, but now it is a special one. I am so glad we have a chance at having a baby.”

  “I’ll write it in the ledger when we go back to the office. They’ll feed you early. Let’s go to mess.”

  “That must have been Doogan’s word for it. Sounds like a sailor’s slang.”

  “Just think. You never had to put up with him.”

  “I am certain I’d have fired him. I want to check on the surveyor tomorrow.”

  “I won’t ride with you out there.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Aren’t Ira and your men going to move the girl and children here by then?”

  “Yes, they are. All I need is one man to ride along with me. There is little threat west of here.”

  “Pick him out tonight.”

  “I will.”

  “Then you have no excuse to go alone.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Easy enough maybe he could see if the line was going this side of the Rocking H Ranch headquarters. That niggled him, too—the chance of running into their operation.

  He drew an elbow in his side for that.

  The cook crew welcomed him and said they’d have them a pl
ate soon. The biscuits were done.

  He and Jan took their place and steaming coffee came in cups.

  The cook, Sam, came out of the kitchen and thanked him. “That butcher very good. Thank you for him.”

  “You need something, holler. We can fix it.”

  “I quit but not now. I proud of this ranch.”

  “Sam, you have not seen anything yet.”

  “Good. I will love it.”

  Their steaming food came. The men were coming in and the dinner bell—a schoolhouse one—was pealing. Suppertime on the Three Star Ranch was ready.

  “Will you have a cook at the new house?”

  “Do you want one?”

  “Maybe one to run the kitchen?”

  “Maybe. But I am not the witch. I can cook, but I like this system and it puts us closer to the crew.”

  “Fine. I will check with you again later on that. For now, I am thinking that we can go to San Antonio after I get back from seeing the surveyor. By buckboard, I think we can reach there in two days and find an architect. I have names to check out.”

  When Carter came by, Long asked him to find Harry White. He wanted him to ride with him out to the survey crew in the morning.

  “I can do that. You need two?”

  “No, we’ll simply run out and see where that line will go.”

  “Harry will be here for breakfast and have two horses ready. Long, are you expecting trouble out there?”

  “No, but the fence line might crowd out our neighbors. Harry mentioned it and I want to check it out.”

  “Thanks.” He turned to his wife, “Good luck with the girl, tomorrow.”

  “Yes. I will have a nice welcome for her and the children when she arrives.”

  “That would be great, Jan.”

  “We can show her we are going to help her?”

  “Edna will be here, too. She is coming about ten.”

  Jan spoke up, “They won’t be back until mid-afternoon. Let her come, then she won’t miss a thing.”

  “Anything else you need?” Carter asked.

  “Jan and I want to go to San Antonio the day after tomorrow.”

  “Collie and Ira will go along with you two. Ira will be back tomorrow. I will have the buckboard ready. I still think another man tomorrow?”

  “Harry and I will be fine.”

  “Good to see you, ma’am.”

  “Thanks, Carter.” She put down her fork for some coffee.

  He tipped his hat at Jan and left to go back to his house and the meal waiting for him.

  When he left she said, “He is a real good man.”

  Long agreed.

  * * *

  The next morning, at breakfast, Carter was there to make sure all was well.

  Long kissed her and headed for Harry and the horses.

  “Busy man, isn’t he?” Carter asked Jan.

  “He stays that way,” Jan said, amused.

  “Well it damn sure is a better ranch than before he bought it.”

  She agreed.

  Harry White sat a bay horse, and he had a saddled dun horse with a few white patches on his side for Long.

  “They said you liked him,” Harry said, handing him the rein.

  “Comanche are damn fine horse breeders. I’ve learned that living closer to them than most folks. This is one of their horses.”

  “I’ve heard that, too.”

  “Where did you come from?”

  “Georgia originally. After serving in the war I headed west to find a place wasn’t burnt down. Got a job to go north last year with a herd, came back, and learned that Carter needed more hands.”

  “Nice to meet you. I want to be sure we don’t cut the Hudsons out at the Rocking H by our survey. I guess he told you it concerned me.”

  “I planned to see about it when I went back out there with supplies.”

  “Good. I don’t like surprises that can be prevented.” Harry agreed.

  They rode along at a trot and made good speed, so by noon the working crew was in sight. He reined up, and Arthur Miles, in his shorts, met him. His bare legs bore some scratches, but he seemed unbothered by them.

  “Back again,” Miles said to Harry.

  “Yes. We’re collecting your needs. I will bring them back next week. Long is concerned about finding out if the next ranch is going to be inside our line.”

  “I made a projection. We are going to be a quarter mile east of them, and I think their headquarters are north of the line of the land they own. They are not on your property.”

  Long said, “I imagine that is Texas rangeland and that they can buy it.”

  Miles nodded. “Your man pointed it out so I ran a fast survey. They will be west of you.”

  “Without surveys it is hard to know, isn’t it?”

  “It is like throwing darts blindfolded. Do you want lunch?”

  “No. Harry and I brought some food. Thanks again. I appreciate your effort and concern. In the next year we will have the exterior fenced.”

  “That will be amazing.”

  “I thought so, too.” Long shook his hand and they rode back.

  But he felt better—one matter not hanging. When they galloped back, they flushed several prairie chickens and jackrabbits. He’d be glad to be home and with his wife.

  Visions of him and Harp driving those first cattle up the hill street, past the Butterfield Hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas, came to him. The big green hardwoods lined the street still showing artillery damage from the war. And he was riding a plug that day northward to Sedalia.

  What a change, compared to riding, at a gallop, on this powerful horse through the grass and low brush of his large ranch. It sure was different. He dreaded the next day and the drudgery he faced driving a buckboard all the way to San Antonio, but he promised. And Jan would be with him.

  CHAPTER 35

  Dodging a few of spring’s rains, it required three days for the four of them to reach San Antonio. They ate supper in the nice hotel restaurant, and Long said they’d visit the architect’s office in the morning.

  “We will be ready for breakfast,” Ira said to her as they split up.

  “It is a long ways from our ranch to here.”

  “It didn’t hurt you, did it?”

  “No. I am simply tired.”

  “Good. So am I.”

  In the morning, they were at the most recommended architect’s office. The men waited outside in the lobby. Long and Jan met Jim Fountain and his two assistants Earl and Norman.

  He looked at her drawings and nodded that he could make her a house plan like that.

  “We want pressure water and one of those water heaters,” he said.

  Fountain nodded. “Five bedrooms enough?”

  “That would be more company than I need.”

  He laughed. “Seat twenty for a meal?”

  “We may have that many sometimes.”

  He nodded. “Do you have limestone on the ranch that can be quarried?”

  “Yes. It was used in another large building,” Long said.

  “Timber.”

  “No.”

  “We should have this plan sketched in six weeks. You can look at it and make any changes you want. Should we mail it?”

  Long said, “I think that would work. We are three days away each direction.”

  “Okay, we will mail it, but we will need your comments before we do the final plans.”

  “Thank you,” Jan said.

  They left his office, and Long felt sure they had the right man. Time would tell.

  “It is not raining. Let’s grab lunch, check out, and go home. We will be a half-day closer to home by sundown.”

  Everyone agreed. He thought about his family west of there at the H Bar H Ranch. Two days west from here. He thought about going there, but he needed to get back north and keep his section under control. Besides, he’d heard nothing had gone wrong. With all that was going on with all the herds, everyone was spread thin, but so far no bad new
s. It was unbelievable, all that had happened to him and his brother, in what was now going on three years.

  He could see while traveling north that Jan being pregnant had sucked some of her strength out of her. Simple things, but he needed to take more care of her. He wanted this to be a wonderful experience for her. She had waited so long for this to finally happen. He knew he would worry about her.

  Their arrival two and a half days later brought cheers from the workers.

  CHAPTER 36

  Ira’s man, Jud Aikens, must be drilling up at the house site. Long heard the thud sounds of the drill when he was still a quarter mile from operations, and knew the driller must be poking a well down in the earth.

  “They’re drilling your well.” He kissed her. “I have to see this.”

  The buckboard parked, he, Jan, and his guard hiked up the rise to where it was set up. A bareheaded cowboy in leather gloves held the cable so as to quickly stop the reel if the drill bit hung up. If the tool got hung up in the rocks, his failure to hold the cable might break the drill. His man was smiling over the roar of the steam engine.

  “We are forty feet down,” he shouted.

  “Great work. Where’s the man, Lance Grey?”

  “Let me shut down and we can talk.”

  “I hate to stop progress.”

  “Oh, we can catch up. This rig is in good shape. He is napping. He’s still really drunk, but managed to tell me how to use this one. We borrowed some whiskey. Gave him one drink. It stopped his shaking, but he is exhausted. I had some experience doing this, so I can make it work—save having a big problem.”

  “I will double your wages if you make it work.”

  “Oh, I will make it work. The last guy paid me half cowboy wages and that’s why I left him.”

  “He must have been a damn fool.”

  “I know for a fact he’s had six guys since me.”

  “You need to keep drilling. We have a lifetime job for you drilling wells on all our ranches.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “How deep will he have to go?” she asked, going back downhill with him.

  Long turned his hands up. “I have no idea.”

  She shook her head and grabbed his arm. “My husband knows all things.”

  “No. How do you feel?”

  “All right. I had a little nausea but it passed.”