Williams remembered Silvia too well from when she was married to his brother before he was killed to underestimate the lengths she would go to get her way.
A match flared and lamps soon lit up the Green Parrot’s kitchen. Nellie fed thin sticks of kindling to the fire box of a heavy cast iron Crawford cook stove. Soon still hot coals banked from last night ignited the tinder. After a few moments, she added larger wood chunks, building a fire that heated the iron cook top to cooking temperature.
Williams walked into the kitchen through the back door, “Nellie, I’m so hungry my stomach thinks my throat’s cut. What can ya whip up?”
“Coffee will be on in a minute, and I’ll get some ham and bacon started. Come over and sit down. I got some bad news for ya.”
Williams perched on a wood stool near the stove and faced her, “Well, shoot.”
“Silvia and her daughter are in town at the hotel along with Jonas. They ran into a Bannock war party on the way in and Justin was badly wounded. Doc Thurgood tried but couldn’t do much and we lost him.”
Williams slipped off the stool with a look of shock on his face. “What, Justin’s dead?’
“I’m really sorry I have to be the one to tell ya. I know you two were close. Sadly, it appears we’ll have to bury two people today.”
Williams shuffled into the still dark dining area, his appetite suddenly gone. Too much is happening at once. I’ve got to get a handle on this fast, he thought, fighting the pain from losing a young deputy and close friend.
Nellie turned back to the stove and nudged a large iron skillet over to the cooktop’s center, wiped her hands on her apron and stepped over to where the sheriff stood his head bowed in grief.
“Nate, you can’t stop bad things from happening... there’s nothing you could have done. It was Justin’s job to ride out to the Crawley ranch. From what I hear, him and Jonas put up a good fight, and it was lucky they got away and weren’t all killed.”
“I know, Nell. Justin was a good deputy. I practically raised him from a cub. It just hurts like hell to lose him. But, I’ll pull it together. It’s going to be downright testy when the town fills up with ranchers and cowhands in couple of hours. They won’t be in any mood to listen to me or reason and will impose their own justice if they feel I haven’t done enough to track down who’s behind this.”
“Come and have some breakfast. You’ll need it,” Nell said as she took Williams by the arm and led him back into the warm kitchen.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Could you send something over to Walsh? You may have to wake him up. He was pretty beat last night.”
“We’ll take care of it. But first, you need to get some grub in you.”
After breakfast and a few more cups of Arbuckle, Williams reluctantly left Nellie’s warm and wonderfully smelling kitchen just when the sun rose above the eastern peaks. He angled across the street to the hotel to see if Jenny and Silvia were up yet.
The desk clerk was sweeping out the lobby as Williams walked in, “Morning. Crane. Silvia and Jenny up yet?”
“They were stirring around earlier. First room upstairs on the right. Do you think there’s going to be trouble when all the ranch hands get to town?”
“Hope not...probably not until after the services at the cemetery.”
Williams rapped on the door and almost immediately Jenny opened it a few inches and gave him a forced smile. “Oh, hello Nate, please come in,” she said and opened the door wider for him to enter.
Silvia stood looking out the window at the main street below, her back to the door. She turned around when Williams entered, her attractive face drawn and haggard from her ordeal the past 24 hours. Dressed appropriately in black with her blond hair brushed back and tied into bun, she still showed a style that could make any cowboy stare. “I was wondering when you would come by, Nate,” Silvia said, her tone cold but she did manage a weak smile. “Please sit down and tell me what you found out about what happened to Randal.” She motioned him to a high-backed wooden rocker while she sat stiffly on the edge of the bed.
Williams told her about Walsh bringing her husband in dead and about riding out to Dry Bone Gulch and what he found there. He concluded with, “I’m going try and get Judge Mullen along with the town council together later on this afternoon after the funerals for a formal inquest...”
Silvia stared at him for a moment then anger flamed in her eyes. Her fingers gripped the bedspread bunching it up, “I don’t believe this...Randal wouldn’t ambush anyone. We’ve been married eight years, and I know he would never shoot anyone in the back. Besides, he was in Fort Laramie working on a cattle deal with the army. How could he be in Dry Bone Gulch shooting at someone?” she demanded, her voice becoming shrill and breaking with emotion.
Jenny rushed over and sat down next to her mother trying to comfort her. For a few moments nobody said anything. Williams squirmed uncomfortably in the rocker not knowing what to say.
He finally stood up, “I hear the parson is having a service for both Randal and Justin in the cemetery at noon...if there’s anything I can do,” his voice trailed off and he turned to leave.
Silvia regained control. “Nate, I don’t blame you for what happened, but I want to see that son-of-a-bitch who killed my husband punished. If you can’t do anything, my riders will be in town soon and they can.” Her tone turned chilling and full of venom.
Williams met her gaze. Her blue eyes was dark with anger, dark as a prairie thunder head that left him with no doubt that she meant what she said. As he walked down the stairs he mopped his face with a new blue scarf he wore for this sensitive meeting. At least this part was over, but he knew the day wasn’t going to get any better, not by a long shot.
Two town council members stood on the boardwalk in front of the hotel talking when Williams stepped out. “Nate, what do you plan on doing about this Walsh fellow?” asked one of the councilmen.
“I thought we’d get the town council and Judge Mullen together for an inquest after the services at the cemetery. Everyone can get the low down on what I found at Dry Bone Gulch and hear Walsh’s side of what happened.”
“I’ll let Nathan know. He’s out at the cemetery getting everything ready for the service,” volunteered the second councilman.
Williams nodded in agreement, left the two men and headed for his office. As he crossed the street, about a dozen range hands rode into town kicking up clouds of dust. They reined in at the Black Widow and Painted Lady saloons and dismounted giving their reins a few quick turns around hitching rails. Pushing and shoving each other with loud bantering, they crowded through the bat-wing doors. To them, a day off in town was cause for celebration and even their boss’s funeral was not going to dampen it.
Over the next hour, other riders trickled in and joined Circle C hands in the saloons. Alcohol flowed and more talk turned to a possible necktie party after Randal and Justin were planted in the cemetery.
Williams rounded up his temporary deputies and briefed them what he wanted done. Two deputies would assist him at the cemetery and while the other three would patrol main street and the saloons until after the funeral.
Then, armed with scatterguns, they would set up a perimeter around the city office for the inquest. If any liquored up cowhands got unruly and tried to take justice into their own hands, the deputies would be in position to handle it.
Satisfied he was ready for whatever happened, Williams returned to his office and walked back to the cell block intent on telling Walsh about the planned inquest and found it empty. Dirty dishes on a stool confirmed that Nellie had brought over breakfast not long ago.
Williams looked around and noticed that Walsh’s saddlebags and gun belt were missing. It appeared that not long after eating he had taken off.
“Damn it,” Williams exploded and dog-trotted out the door. “If one of these cow punchers runs into Walsh, he’s likely to get shot or strung up before I even know what’s happening.”
Williams slowed down to a fast wa
lk and headed to the Green Parrot. Entering by the back door he found Nellie and two helpers kneading dough and making venison stew for the expected crowd. “Nell, Walsh took off. How long ago did you take breakfast over?”
“About half an hour ago, I had to wake him up. We talked for a few minutes and I told him about the services planned for noon at the cemetery and we expected a lot of ranchers and hired hands to ride into town for it...”
“Well, Walsh flew the coop and took his saddle bags and gun belt. It appears he decided to take no chances with the town filling up and cowpunchers looking for some excitement...maybe he figured gettin’ out of here was the only way he could avoid a necktie party.”
Nellie gave him a coy look, “Well, can you really blame him? What would you do in his situation? Would you wait around and hope things don’t get out of hand?”
Williams bolted out the door and fast walked down Main Street toward Waldon’s livery. Raucous cowpunchers filled the saloons. Liquor flowed and energy started to build. All it’ll take is one cowboy to get liquored up enough to start talking big and soon all hell will break loose, he thought entering the livery.
“Howdy, Seth, looking for Walsh...seen him?”
“Ya, just missed him. Traded horses and sold him a used saddle about twenty minutes ago. Said he wasn’t going to be a guest of honor at a neck tie party.”
“Can’t blame him for that. Though it looks bad to skip out before we can hold an inquest and he can tell the judge his side of what happened.”
Seth tossed a pitchfork load of hay into a stall. “You know sure as shooting, Crawley’s widow is going to send everybody she can hire after him. That gal has a will of her own I hear.”
“Ya, tell me about it.” Williams shrugged. He knew there was not much he could do about it right now. Maybe after the funeral I can calm Silvia down enough to buy some time to find Walsh. But I don’t think she’s gonna listen to me, he mused while kicking a pile of dried horse manure in frustration on his way out of the barn.
Williams spotted Jonas riding up and waited for him to dismount. “Howdy, Jonas. Just the one I need to talk to...”
“Howdy yourself, Nate. Town getting hot enough for ya?” Jonas said with a knowing smile.
“You might say that. How are your riders taking it?”
“Well, they’re pretty riled up, but I told ‘em any hand who steps out line will answer to me personally. We’ll see what happens at the inquest before doing anything.”
“Obliged. Come over here and let me show you something.” Williams led the way to his saddle draped over a rail. He untied his rifle scabbard, unbuckled the end flap, slid a rifle out and handed it to Jonas. “Seen this Sharps before?”
Jonas took the rifle and immediately recognized it. “Why that’s Randal’s custom Sharps. Where did you get it?
“Found it out at Dry Bone Gulch. Rode out there with Walsh yesterday and scouted the area where he said Randal ambushed him.”
Jonas looked down at the rifle stunned. After a few moments of silence he looked up and stared off at the distant peaks then faced Williams with a puzzled expression. “If that doesn’t beat everything all to hell. When we left the ranch, I noticed that rifle was missing from Randal’s gun cabinet. I thought it odd that he would take it with him to Laramie. Couldn’t figure out why he would pack a heavy .45-70 on a business trip. I guess he didn’t really go there after all.”
“I scouted the area carefully where Walsh was ambushed and read the signs. Walsh is telling the truth. Why this all happened is still a mystery...I still don’t have a clue.”
“Well, Nate, guess you still have a rogue bear to track down. Life never gets boring around here, does it?
“Nope, but it would sure be fun to find out what a boring week would be like,” Williams said with a wry smile.
“Don’t worry about Circle C riders getting out of line today. I’ll keep ‘em snubbed down.”
“Obliged, owe you a drink and steak at Nellie’s after it quiets down later after the inquest. Oh, and I may have to ask you to identify this rifle at the inquest,” Williams said as he cased the Sharps and tucked it under his arm.
“Glad to...looking forward to a good steak and being able to make moon eyes at Nellie,” Jonas said giving Williams a knowing wink.
Chapter 6
About two hundred ranchers, cowhands and townspeople people crowded into the small Henryville cemetery. Reverend Horstmann climbed several steps onto a small platform that men from his church had worked late into the morning to build for the occasion. From his broad toothy smile, he clearly relished this rare opportunity to impart the word to a bigger crowd than the two dozen or so that regularly attended his church.
Silvia, Jennifer, the mayor and town council sat on chairs in front of the platform. Williams and a couple of temporary deputies took up station at the back of the crowd to handle any rowdy cowpunchers.
After starting services with two hymns and an opening prayer, the reverend launched into his prepared sermon. Silvia, dressed in black with a veil covering her face, maintained a stoic composure through his twenty minutes of fire and brimstone oratory. She leaned over to Jenny and whispered, “I had to go through this nine years ago when your father was killed during a cattle stampede two days after your seventh birthday.”
“I remember it was awful,” Jenny whispered back squeezing her mother’s arm.
A ten member church choir concluded the service by singing A Home in the Meadow. Widow Crawley and her daughter threw flowers on Randal’s casket and walked another 30 feet to where four men were poised to lower Justin’s casket into the ground.
Jenny stood on the grave’s edge. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she dropped a bouquet of roses and hollyhocks on the casket. She liked Justin and would miss him. They had many fun rides together and she delighted in humbling him with her shooting prowess. That she could outshoot Justin and the other hands on the ranch—much to their chagrin— rankled him no end. It didn’t help his ego when the cow hands ribbed him without mercy a month ago when he foolishly challenged her to a rematch and had to eat crow.
Silvia and Jenny mingled with dozens of townspeople and area ranchers who offered their condolences and stood around in groups filling each other in on the latest news and range gossip. But their socializing was cut short as valley winds started to pick up. Blowing dust and tumbleweeds on the low barren hill forced most folks to leave for the small church where the women had prepared a pot luck.
Williams drifted through the departing crowd toward his ex-sister-in-law but Jenny intercepted him and threw her arms around him sobbing. He held his niece and talked to her quietly trying to console her. “Jenny, you’re sure growing up faster than a sun flower. Too bad we have to see each other under these circumstances.”
“Uncle Nate, you need to come out and see us more often...it’s been at least two months.”
“I know, lass, but marshaling takes up a lot of time. I’ll try and do better.” Williams turned to Jenny’s mom, “How you holding up, Silva? Anything I can help with?”
Silvia looked at him with defiant, red-rimmed eyes “You know what I want, Nate. Some answers and quick justice.”
“Well, we’ll be holding an inquest at the city office in about an hour. You’re more than welcome to come and hear what we’ve found so far.”
“You can be sure I will.”
An hour and half later, Williams, Judge Mullen and three members of the town council gathered at the city office. The judge cleared his throat and banged his gavel on a rough-sawed table that served as the court bench. “This is an inquest into the death of Randal Crawley...” He was interrupted when the door opened and Silvia, Jenny and Jonas walked in. All the men stood and the judge motioned the late-comers to a row of chairs, “Please sit down we’re just getting started. Sheriff, I understand this Welsh fellow had disappeared for parts unknown. That doesn’t look too favorable for him, and I may have to issue a warrant. But at any rate, we have to go with an as
sumption of innocence until proven guilty. You want to tell us what you’ve found so far sheriff?”
Williams related the details of what he found in Dry Bone Gulch and un-cased a Sharps .45-70. “This is the rifle I found at the ambush site where Randal dropped it. I also found a spent cartridge on a bluff above the dry wash where he had waited in ambush and shot at Walsh.”
The judge looked over at Silvia and Jonas, “Have either of you seen this rifle before?”
Silvia shrugged and looked down. But Jonas stood and picked up the rifle. “I reckon this looks familiar. It’s a custom Sharps that Randal ordered about nine months ago from a Denver gunsmith, has his name engraved on the receiver. He used it quite bit when we went hunting.”
Williams walked over to a corner and picked up Walsh’s damaged saddle he had covered with a saddle blanket. “As you can see judge the damage to this saddle is consistent with a big bore slug hitting it.”
The judge examined the saddle closely. “I see what you mean. I served in ‘65 with Wilson’s Raiders in Alabama so I’m familiar with what .45 and .50 caliber bullets do to equipment. Some ended up very similar to this.”
After asking Williams a few more questions, the judge turned to the Crawley’s. “From what I hear and see here, there’s no reason to charge this Walsh fellow although I would still like to hear his side of what happened. From the evidence, it appears he did act in self-defense.”
“That’s a pile of bullshit, if you men aren’t willing to bring Randal’s killer to justice, I’ll make sure it’s done myself!” Silvia screamed at them and stormed out of the room.
The men scrambled to their feet shocked at the outburst. Jonas looked at the others in the room, shrugged and spread his hands in exasperation, “I’ll talk to her,” he said and followed her through the door.
Jenny stayed seated, her eyes wide with shock and surprise. Williams moved over and sat down next to her, discouragement showing on his face. “Uncle Nate, after my father was killed and mother took me to Reno to live with my grandmother. I don’t remember much about that year; I was only eight. She worked at a casino as a book keeper for a few years. When the new mint opened in Carson City, she hired on there as a secretary. But I do remember mother met Randal in Carson City and after a few months they decided to get married and she quit her job.
Ambush at Dry Bone Gulch Page 6
