Brothers in Blood

by Dusty Richards

  Squatted beside the carcass, he decided the fire-scorched hide wasn’t worth much and stunk as bad as any male bruin, but he would mount the head. Even dead, the bruin’s worn eyeteeth still looked dangerous.

  “Well, big game hunter. I thought for sure you and Star were going to crash and burn coming off there,” Tom said, laughing.

  “I didn’t want him to get away. We can skin his head so it can be mounted.”

  “Let’s eat lunch first. It’s ready,” Jesus said. “So he found another exit, huh?”

  “Yes, he had a back door,” Chet said. “Thanks, boys. He won’t kill any more Quarter Circle Z stock.”

  He and Tom walked back to camp, discussing ranch business, but Tom ended with, “You’re a damn tough man, Chet Byrnes.”

  “Nah. Just doing what needs to be done. I figured if I didn’t, he’d kill some unsuspecting cowboy. Now he won’t.”

  “No, he’s damn sure dead.”

  “Damn sure.”

  “After lunch, we’ll pack you up so you can go home.”

  They reached the base ranch long after sundown. After he showed the bear’s head to everyone, he went to Susie’s where she fixed him a hot bath and fed him supper. Then, over supper, she listened to his bear story.

  “What’s next, brother?”

  “Home to my wife.”

  “Marge will be glad, I bet. I sure miss Sarge a lot. I never thought I’d feel like I do about a husband. But he’s a great guy.”

  “I’m the same about my finishing school wife.”

  She gave him a shove. “All right, my concern about her education was wrong. She’s a great woman and I love her.”

  “You know,” he said, growing serious, “I’ve been thinking about all we’ve accomplished here, and it isn’t bad. I doubt we’d have found this kind of opportunity in Texas. Folks tease me about having an empire. But, I guess, we do, as a family, have one started.”

  “I know, and it works because of you, so don’t let any bears get you.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He yawned. “I want to get an early start tomorrow so I’ll be up before sunup.”

  “I’ll have breakfast for you and Jesus.”

  “I’ll go up and warn him.”

  “Where did you say Cole is?”

  “Courting a young lady.”

  “Oh, do I know her?”

  “Her name is Valerie. She works for Jenn.”

  “I guess I don’t know her.”

  “Back when I was searching for Bonnie, I sent Valerie up here from Tombstone. She helped us and wanted no part of life in a brothel. Cole was impressed when he met her again in Preskitt, and they’ve had some face-to-face meetings.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  “Yes, Cole is serious. I gave him a few days off. And Jesus has sent for his woman in Mexico.”

  “Oh, he has one there?”

  Chet shrugged. “She hasn’t answered his letters so far. But letters get lost down there, too.”

  “Oh, I do hope that works for him. He’s such a sweet man.”

  “Pretty loyal to her, too, I’d say. We’ve been lots of places where he’s had the opportunity and never strayed. That takes willpower.”

  “How about Nate? I don’t know him very well.”

  “He’s just a cowboy. Happy to have work, but he won’t ever make a foreman or boss. He’ll work, but he’s not a deep thinker.”

  “Do you fret about DJ taking off again?”

  “I can’t nail his foot to the floor. I don’t think he’s ever got over Marge’s friend, Kay, and he took lots of risks she never appreciated him for.”

  “No, he started changing when you were out here buying this ranch. I saw it then and wondered what he was trying to do. Reg had Juanita, and JD was left to his own devices.”

  “Was Reg happy with her?”

  “I think he was—dedicated. But she showed a fiery side I’d never seen when she worked for us. He was so happy when he found out she was with child. Then she had the crash—and I blame that on the impatient streak she’d begun to show.”

  “I simply wondered. Lucie was such a great fun person with us on our honeymoon, but I never saw her as a wife for Reg.”

  “I did. She rides everywhere he goes. Maybe not now, but she can out rope him and he admits it. He’s also the best looking man up there, huh?”

  “I remember she told us there wasn’t a man up there worth marrying. Then Reg showed up.”

  They both laughed at how things worked out for those two.

  After supper, he went upstairs to bed. He could still smell that fire-singed stinking grizzly. Well, he was gone. They could go back home. Sarge would be back any day from New Mexico.

  And he needed to talk to Tom about something pressing him. Oh, he’d think of it in the morning.

  Marge, I’m headed home. I love you.

  He and Jesus headed for Preskitt Valley in the cold air of dawn with Chet sunk in thought about the ranch business. Another six weeks and things should break wide open into spring. Tom had the cattle assembled for the next shipment, and he’d even talked to the Boones about them selling him some cattle in the spring. Tom said they were looking forward to it.

  That cattle sale would set the Boones on their feet. They were frugal folks and they’d make it with a good cattle sale next spring.

  “Jesus, if you don’t get a letter soon, you want to go down there to see if you can find her?” he asked his helper.

  “You have many things to do, señor. I do not wish to trouble you about my cares.”

  “Hey, you and Cole are like my sons. If we need to go down there, we can do that.”

  “Gracias. I will send her another letter this week.”

  “Don’t forget. We can go down there, if you want us to.”

  “We will see.”

  They arrived home midmorning, and after he dismounted by the house, Jesus took his horse along with him. Marge was waiting on the glassed-in back porch and hugged him when he came inside.

  “Get the bear?”

  “He’s dead and he was a big stinking one. Bigger than any bear I ever saw.”

  “Monica has the boiler going. It’ll be heated by the time we eat lunch. Is Susie all right?”

  “Waiting for Sarge.”

  “Oh, yes, he’s coming home. I’m so glad you’re back safe and sound. How are the others doing?”

  “Tom has things well in hand, of course, and they’re getting lots of cattle fed. I know this is a droughty year, but our plan to stack that hay was good. But as we increase our herd size, I see us having to expand our hay operation.”

  “You’ve been buying irrigated ground as it comes available along the river. How much more is there?”

  “Not a lot, but if more of it comes up, I need Bo to be ready.”

  “You going to be in charge of farming, too?”

  “No, I’ll make Jesus the boss of that and he’ll do good.” He hugged her. “No worry, so far. Tom takes care of the valley, Hampt the land over there, and Reg does the top.”

  “What will you do next?”

  “Keep her all rolling.”

  “Good, you can do lots of that around here.”

  “Fine with me. I’ll go to town tomorrow and make the rounds. If it isn’t bad, you want to go along?”

  “Sure. I need to get out once in a while.”

  “I don’t want you to get too tired.”

  “I won’t. Besides, I’ve not heard another word about Roamer being laid off. Nor any good gossip, or anything. I’ll go by the dress shop and get filled up on gossip again.”

  “Fine. The water must be warm by this time, so I’ll go take a bath.” He walked toward the stairway.

  “Can I go along?”

  “You can go anywhere I go.” He held out an arm for her.

  “Well, I do get anxious when you’re gone. I don’t know if I’ll really like this baby. I’ll miss the time I had taking care of you.”

  “Oh, you’ll spoil the fire out o
f it.”

  “I don’t spoil you.”

  “Not too much, but, yes, you do, and have since we met.”

  She looked at the ceiling for help.

  Chet undressed and sank into the tub of hot water. How great that her father had seen an ingenious contraption in Pennsylvania and installed it in this house. The hot water came gravity fed from a boiler on the second floor and filled the large metal washtub. A windmill also fed the copper house tank upstairs.

  The water was hot, but would cool fast, so he kept slipping in deeper and deeper until he was soon immersed to his neck. It sure felt good to simply soak. Nothing better than this, being back home, and not a thing wrong that he needed to straighten out.

  After he finished his bath, Marge brought him clean clothes. He shaved, then dressed, looking forward to catching up on the news in the Miner newspaper. But when he came out of their bedroom, he heard someone talking downstairs. He paused at the top of the stairs, looked down, and saw that Marge had started up.

  “Wait there. I’m coming down. Is something wrong?”

  She nodded, a concerned look on her face.

  Three men stood in the entry, a small room at the foot of the stairs with doors that led to the living room on one side and to the dining room on the other. Dressed for the cold, they all wore scotch-plaid wool caps.

  “Chet, this is Mr. McElroy and his sons. I’ll go make some coffee. Gentlemen, just hang your coats on the wall pegs by the door.”

  Chet came the rest of the way down the stairs and shook their calloused hands. They told him their names: Lord the father, Shawn the oldest, and Kevin.

  “What can I do for you?”

  The older man placed his coat and cap on the rack beside his sons’ coats. “It’s their sister I came to see you about. Her name’s Sheila, and an outlaw has taken her and we can’t find them.”

  “Is it a gang?”

  “The Turley Gang,” Shawn said.

  “Never heard of them. Let’s go in the dining room and you can tell me all about this business. Marge will bring coffee.” He always worried about offering coffee to any of the many Mormons in the area, but he figured they could always refuse.

  “A wonderful house you have here, sir,” Lord said, admiring it.

  “My father-in-law built it before I came here. He’s a very educated man and studied house design across the country before he built this one.”

  After they were all seated at the table, Lord folded and unfolded his large calloused hands on top of it. “Well, to begin with, Sheila is only seventeen. John Turley, maybe thirty. He’s a man who dresses well and acts like he’s a prince. How he does that on a two-bit cow outfit is beyond me.

  “He has three men with him who I’m sure are wanted back in Texas. Since they showed up, there’s been disappearances of several men over the past two years—mostly strangers who looked like they had money. Never saw them again. Sheriff Simms said they likely drifted on.”

  “But we never believed that,” Shawn said. “We think the Turley Gang killed them and hid the bodies of over a half-dozen men.”

  “Ever see the horses they rode in on again?” Chet asked.

  “No, and we’ve damn sure looked.”

  “Horses are sure harder to hide.”

  “They could have them over to the Bill Williams mining district and sold them, no questions asked.”

  Chet nodded his head. “That’s been done with a few of our cattle.”

  “Anyway, Turley took a shine to Sheila at the dances. I warned her against him, and she agreed that he was probably mixed up in something outside the law. But three days ago, she up and disappeared. We think he kidnapped her and left the country. I knew the sheriff wouldn’t do anything but say it was just romance. But me and the boys don’t agree. I’m here to offer you five hundred dollars to find her. If she wants to come home, fine. She don’t have to, and if you’re certain that it’s her own heart-felt idea to stay with him, I’ll accept that.”

  “I understand.”

  About that time, Monica and Marge arrived with coffee. They brought fresh-baked pastries along with it and the two boys smiled when they saw it.

  “You and the boys have searched for him. Where did he go?”

  “We think south. A few folks saw them with packhorses. Shawn can show you their tracks.”

  “That’ll help. But you three feel certain Sheila didn’t go on her own with him?”

  Kevin swallowed hard. “She and I are pretty close. She told me that he scared her and she wanted no part of him. I’ll never believe she went willingly with him.”

  “I know you’re a busy man, but I feel you’re our only hope to find my girl,” said Lord. “You have a reputation in this country for getting things like this done. I know your wife is expecting and you have several ranches to look after, but I also know there ain’t another man in this country who could do this.”

  “You realize I could fail, too?”

  Lord nodded, face somber. “I would accept that.”

  “Kevin, there’s a Mexican boy in the bunkhouse. His name’s Jesus and he’s a little older than you. Tell him I need to see him. He’ll have to find my other man, Cole, and then be ready to search for her in the morning.”

  Kevin left the room almost at a run.

  “Then you’ll look for her?” Lord let out a sigh of relief.

  “We’ll try. We’ll be in your country about two hours past sunup and Shawn can join us.”

  He turned to Shawn. “Bring your bedroll, rifle, and warm clothes, and be ready for a long ride.”

  “I will, sir.”

  “This ain’t an army. My name’s Chet, Jesus and Cole are the other two that ride with me. Jesus can track, and Cole isn’t afraid of any man we’ve met. Both men are good at this kind of work.”

  “I’ll be proud to ride with you—Chet.”

  “I don’t expect you to do this for free,” Lord said.

  “We haven’t done anything yet. Anyway, you can’t put a price on your daughter.”

  “I know folks have bantered this around. Why aren’t you the sheriff?”

  Chet chuckled. “I’m too damn busy running five ranches.”

  Kevin came in the door, Jesus following.

  “Jesus, meet Lord and Shawn McElroy. You’ve met Kevin. He told you the circumstances we’re up against?”

  “Yes, he did. I will get Cole and be back. Breakfast here before daylight?”

  “Yes, as usual. And two packhorses and shod horses for the three of us.”

  “Cole and I will be ready.”

  “Shawn’s going to meet us over at their place in the morning.”

  “Good. Does he cook? Nice to meet you all.” Jesus turned to leave.

  “Don’t let him touch a skillet,” his father said, and they all laughed.

  The McElroys started for home, and Marge hung on Chet’s arm as they watched them mount and ride off. “You were’t home even a day and someone needs you.”

  “I guess you married a gadabout.”

  She gazed fondly into his eyes. “No, I married a man who cares about others. I’m proud people count on you when the law won’t do anything for them. You better be thinking hard about finding someone to sit in that swivel chair and administer the law better. And Roamer isn’t the man. He’d be bored to death. And you would, too.”

  They both laughed, and he folded her in his arms and kissed her. Damn, he was a lucky man.

  But while he held her, breathing in her fresh scent of lavender and fresh-baked bread, he couldn’t help thinking about Sheila McElroy. Where was she? And did she want to be there? He’d have to find out.

  CHAPTER 16

  Everything was set. He stood outside in the cold and darkness talking to his men while they saddled and packed.

  “How is Valerie?” he asked Cole.

  “She sent her best to you and Marge. I think things are going fine between us. Say, I hated I missed helping you get that grizzly.”

  “I know.
Glad things are going so well.”

  “They really are. Hey, that Jenn is a great gal, too. She sent her best wishes, too. Jesus told me about this girl that’s missing. What do you think about her?”

  “I think we have to find her and ask just what she wants to do. She may be with them on her own, but it don’t sound like it. You just never know.”

  “Right. You think they’re killers, too—that bit about the missing men?”

  “Not till we can prove it.”

  “Right. We’re about done here. We’ll wash up and join you up at the house in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll be there. Good to have you back.”

  “Still, sure wish I’d come on the bear hunt—”

  “Jesus and I knew that. But we only had one bear. We figured we could handle him.”

  They laughed, and he headed for the house under the cold clouds overhead.

  Over breakfast, Cole asked Marge if she thought it would snow.

  “It may. Right kinda clouds, aren’t they?”

  Jesus nodded and swallowed a sip of coffee. “If they make water, it would be good anyway.”

  “Dry as it was this past fall, I agree,” Chet said, cutting pancakes on his plate with the side of his fork.

  Breakfast over, he kissed his wife good-bye, hugged Monica, and went to dress for the outside.

  Marge watched while he buttoned his coat before leaving the cool enclosed porch. “You know the routine now. Just be careful for the baby and me, Chet Byrnes.”

  “I’ll do that.” He kissed her and left as quick as possible, not wanting to prolong the leave taking that always tugged at his heart.

  The roan horse acted a little upset, breathing vapors out his nostrils. He danced sideways going down the drive and was still upset when he passed under the bar. Chet watched his mount close. He expected the horse really wanted to buck, but was held in check by his past training. They turned west and headed for Preskitt. While the days had lengthened some, they still were short compared to the summer months.

  Shawn joined them on the road south of Preskitt, riding a stout-looking bay. He shook hands with Cole, and after transferring his bedroll to the packhorse, they rode on.

  A few snowflakes whirled around them, but none of any consequence, before they started off the mountaintop. Far below lay the desert, and it would be warmer down there, but it was a steep and long winding road to get there. They camped that night at the bottom at a ranch with water and feed for their animals for a small fee.