Brothers in Blood

by Dusty Richards

  “He’s the new head man down there, isn’t he?”

  “Yes. We’ve never met, but he telegraphed me. I’d like to borrow Deputy Roamer to ride with us, but if he does, when it’s over, I want him to have his job back here with you.”

  “For how long?”

  “Six weeks to three months. I don’t know for sure, but it could be lengthy.”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “Thanks. I’ll go talk to him about going along.”

  “When are you leaving?”

  “Within a week.”

  Simms nodded. “Talk to him. Tell him I’ll keep his place open. He may not want to come back after you finish the job.”

  “I’m sure he will.”

  “I hope you succeed. There’s a vast number of those bandits down there. And I understand they’re treacherous.”

  “I know it won’t be any picnic. Thank you.”

  “Tell the new marshal I’d like to meet him.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he’ll spread out.” Obvious the new Chief Marshal hadn’t talked to Simms about the bandit problem.

  He left the sheriff’s office and went by Frye’s livery to see if Roamer was there. He found him and they hunkered down on their heels in the midmorning sun outside the barn, the warming sun shining on them.

  “I’m forming a task force for the new US Marshal in Tucson, to try to stop the Mexican raids on the small ranches and outposts on this side of the border. I went on my best behavior and spoke to your boss about borrowing you.”

  “What did he say?’ Roamer twisted his handlebar mustache.

  “He said I could have you and he’d keep your job open. Now, we may be gone for months. I don’t know how that plays in your life and family?”

  “As long as I get paid, my wife and kids will be fine.”

  “So, you’ll go?”

  “Hey, I’d rather ride with you than any man living. Who else is going?”

  “Cole Emerson, Jesus Martinez, Shawn McElroy, you and I, right now. They say my nephew JD is coming back, and he may join us.”

  “I know all of them but the McElroy boy.” He shifted on his boot heels. “What are your plans?”

  “Take four packhorses, and move like lightning to cut them off.”

  “It might work. We should get lots done anyway.”

  “If we once get started putting fear in their hearts, they may quit or taper off.”

  “I like that lightning idea. What else?”

  “I can advance you two months’ pay right now. And you men will be paid a dollar a day.”

  “That’ll make my wife happy. Send word when you plan to haul out. I’ll be packed and ready.”

  Chet handed him sixty dollars. They stood up and shook hands, then parted.

  He went to see Bo next. Busy behind a pile of papers, his land man looked up. “What brings you to town?”

  “I’m headed out in the next week to run a task force against the border bandits. I may be gone for a few months. Marge can get hold of me, if you need me. And that about the task force don’t need to be told to anyone.”

  Bo nodded agreement and shuffled some papers around. “There’s no news on the Rankin place. It’s still in limbo.”

  “Fine. We can settle on it whenever it happens.”

  “How are the other ranches doing?”

  “Great. When the government finally does pay, it pays well for our delivered cattle. That’s what counts.”

  “Where are your peace keepers today?”

  “One got married last night. The other is home, shoeing horses for the trip.”

  “Keep your fool head down. I need your business.”

  “How’s Jane?”

  “A mean witch.”

  “Liar.”

  “You defend her. She bites me.”

  “Tell her I said hello.”

  When he left Bo, he went by to talk to Ben Ivor at the store. The big man stood up behind his cluttered desk. “Hey, how are you? Can I get you something?”

  “No, I just came by to check on you.”

  “I’m doing fine. That lady is all you said she was, and I’m pleased. She said to tell you hello, if I saw you. She’s coming in this afternoon and filing these papers. After she gets through here, I may even have an office system.”

  “No good or bad news about the machinery?”

  “Oh, yes. They said they shipped it, so it should be here on time.”

  “That’s great that the machinery will be here in plenty of time before it’s needed.”

  Before Chet left, he explained to Ben about the task force and his future absence, then he went to the bank to see Tanner.

  When he walked in, the banker handed him a telegram. “Good news. They’re paying three more months of your paper.”

  Chet grinned. “We’ll be in good shape then.”

  “I think so. Now, we’re breathing anyway.”

  “No, more than that. We’re in fine shape. My man, Sarge, says the agency is pleased with our deliveries. If they keep paying for them, then I’ll be fine, too.”

  When he got back to Jenn’s, the bleary-eyed married couple were eating their first meal of the day.

  “Your wife and Mom are off renting them a new house,” Bonnie said.

  “How will I ever repay you?” Valerie asked. She looked awfully dreamy eyed.

  “By being happy with him.”

  “Oh, that won’t be hard. Marge and Jenn are busy setting me up in housekeeping. I’ll be fine there. Plus, I’ll still help Bonnie and her mom in here.”

  “It’s been a long time since I put you on a stage and headed you up here.”

  “The best day in my life.” She beamed at him with teary eyes, then turned and brushed a strand of hair from Cole’s eyes. “Thanks for him, too.”

  Cole sat his coffee cup down. “How’re things going?”

  “Good. Roamer is going along.”

  “That’s good news.”

  “Yes, things are coming together.”

  “I don’t see how you hold it all together—it’s all so much.”

  “With lots of help.”

  Cole leaned over and kissed his bride. She blushed and put her arm on his shoulder. “I better get all the attention I can with him leaving this week, huh?” she asked Chet.

  “Aw, he won’t forget you.”

  “I sure hope not. But thanks. You all are being real sweet to us.”

  “My wife and Jenn I can’t control.”

  They laughed and he ordered lunch from Bonnie.

  Clouds were gathering when he and Marge drove home in midafternoon. The day was still a warm one. When they drove in, a jaded ranch horse was hitched at the rack in front of the house. The porch door opened and JD, coffee cup in hand, came out to greet them.

  The prodigal was back. Chet felt better, for the moment anyway.

  CHAPTER 20

  “You’re looking good,” Chet said, and stuck his hand out to shake his nephew’s hand.

  “Jesus told me Cole married Valerie last night?”

  “We’ve been tending to them today,” he said.

  “Wow, she is a neat lady. I wasn’t being gossipy. It just surprised me.”

  “No, they were in serious discussions before, and since we have to leave shortly, he went and married her. Dazed, but they look happy.”

  “Oh, I hope they are. Tell me about this task force business.”

  “Let’s go inside and drink some of Monica’s coffee.”

  Marge hugged JD. “Good to have you home again.”

  “Yes, ma’am. It’s good to be here. They said down at the lower ranch you’re good at forecasting weather. Is it going to snow?”

  She held up two fingers. “Those clouds are only harbingers.”

  JD laughed. “What’s that word?”

  “Means they are forecasting that the storm is coming.”

  “I’ll use that word. It’ll impress everyone at the Palace Saloon.”

  Chet herded them
inside. He turned back and saw Jiminez had already come for the team. Chet told him to put up JD’s horse, too, that he was staying. They’d eaten supper when Chet showed him the telegram from Marshal Blevins.

  When he finished reading it, he looked up at Chet. “I guess you’re going to help him?”

  “You want to go along?”

  “I think so. I’m not doing anything worthwhile and that might be interesting.”

  “It could be dangerous as hell.”

  “I know that from living around you all my life.” JD laughed. “Thanks for inviting me along.”

  “Pick you out a stout horse. The two of you are going to be close companions. Get him shod. Get an extra set of clothes. We may be a while looking for the bandits.”

  “How long do I have to get ready?”

  “Three or four days. Then we leave.”

  “I’ll go in town and see about a few things. Be back here in two days. Jesus can pick me a horse. I’ll tell him.”

  “You can stay for supper, if you like,” Marge said.

  “Naw, I know him. Once he gets ready to go, he goes. Thanks, Chet. I like the sound of this task force business.”

  After he left, she asked, “Where’s he going?”

  “Maybe to get married. I don’t know.”

  Marge stopped and squeezed her chin. “You don’t think he’s going to see Bonnie, do you?”

  “Hell, I have no idea. But it won’t be unheard of.”

  “No, you all rescued her, too.”

  “He was there, so he knows her and her background.”

  “Did you think he sounded jarred that Cole had married Valerie?”

  Chet threw up his hands at his wife’s questions. “I haven’t seen him in months. Tonight, he’s back and ready to go. That’s all I know.”

  “I’m sorry.” She crossed the room and hugged him. “I know he’s your Achilles’ heel.”

  He frowned at her. “Whatever is that?”

  “Oh, it was one spot that would bring down a great Greek warrior in mythology.”

  “Remember, I only made six grades in a rural Texas schoolhouse. We hadn’t gotten to Greeks by then.”

  “I don’t know if they’d ever gotten there.” She kissed him on the cheek and put her arms around him. “Well, you have your task force. Jesus, Cole, Roamer, Shawn, and JD. The lightning outfit.”

  “Now, if we can get the Mexican bandits to respect us, we’ll be back home shortly.”

  “We’ll see about that. Just be careful.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” They went to bed. Another day had closed on his preparations to leave again.

  The next morning, Tom was there early. Chet figured he must have left the lower place at four a.m. He rode up while Chet and Marge were still eating breakfast.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I wasn’t sure when you were leaving and wanted to catch you. Leroy, up on Oak Creek, needs a good team to farm with this coming season. He’s doing a lot of work up there. There are some local carpenters need work and can build those cabins you wanted. When the roads clear again, Robert can get lumber up there. They have those plans Marge drew up. You ready to start that?”

  “Yes,” Chet told him. “I’ve never seen it, but I understand it’s nice. Leroy is a good worker. Let’s hold construction to about fifteen thousand dollars.”

  “I’ll watch that close.”

  “And I agree he will need a team of horses. I saw Frye yesterday, but he never mentioned the California horse trader.”

  Tom smiled. “It is confusing at times, all we have going on. Robert talked to me. He says if the railroad doesn’t come soon they may shut down the mill.”

  “Well, they will close that mill down if the railroad is all holding them there. Bo said the railroad wanted to sell the entire strip of sections that cross Arizona and they aren’t even in New Mexico yet.”

  “You know Robert’s married now. He’s concerned about his job.”

  “If the lumber business goes under, we’ll make a place for him and his bride. He’s done too good a job as manager up there. You don’t have to follow him around to get the job done.”

  “No, he’s great to handle things. He’ll be relieved to hear you’ll have a place for him.”

  “Who did he marry?” asked Marge.

  “You’ve seen her at the dances,” said Chet. “She wears her blond hair on top of her head. She’s the farm girl like Susie kept telling me I needed in Texas.”

  The three of them laughed.

  “I have talked to the young lady and she is very nice,” Marge said.

  “Nothing is wrong with her. It’s just a family joke.” Thinking it time to change the subject.

  “Tom, JD has agreed to join up and go with us on the border trip.”

  “That’s good. Don’t worry about anything here. Everything is running smooth. We can handle it. I got word that the building crew is at Windmilll. Susie is excited.”

  “If the mill closes, Robert and his wife can stay in the big house. We’ll need a family to live there.”

  “JD and his bride may want to live there,” Marge said.

  “JD? Married?” asked Tom.

  “She thinks it’s contagious. Cole married one girl and she thinks JD has gone to marry Bonnie.”

  “Oh.”

  Strait-laced Tom was probably taken back by the notion of such a union. But it might not mean a thing to JD. Only time would tell.

  After Tom left for home, Chet checked to see how Jesus was coming along with the shoeing. He found him working on one horse and a ranch vaquero working on another. He squatted down on his heels in a sunny spot just outside the alleyway to the barn to watch them work.

  “JD said he was going along,” Jesus offered between shaping a shoe.

  “Yes, he’s going, so we now have a team.”

  “He said he had business in town and asked if we had time to shoe this horse he picked out. So he left him. I told him we’d fit it in.”

  Chet chuckled. JD’d left, leaving Jesus to do all the work. “So you two got all the hard work.”

  “We have to do something,” the vaquero they called Espinoza said, then he laughed and went back to shoeing.

  “Where was JD going anyway today? He just got here.” Jesus looked over at him.

  “Marge says she thinks he is going to town to marry Bonnie.”

  “Two marriages.”

  “Hell, I don’t know anything, but Cole and Valerie looked happy. We saw them in town.”

  “Two men from the ranch loaded a wagon with firewood to take to a house they’re going to live in, on orders from your wife.”

  “That’s for Cole’s house.”

  “He may never come back and sleep in the bunkhouse again,” Jesus said to his shoeing partner.

  “Not unless she runs him off.”

  They all laughed.

  Shawn was back the next day to help Jesus fill the panniers and check the pack equipment. No word from JD until noontime. He and Bonnie drove in using Marge’s buckboard. The two were kissy-faced and Bonnie wore a brand-new blue dress.

  “This here is Mrs. JD Byrnes,” he announced, helping her down.

  “Well, lunch is being served,” Marge said with an I-told-you-so attitude. She led everyone into the dining room, with Chet bringing up the rear.

  “Have you seen Cole and Valerie?” he asked.

  “Yes, she’s working in my place today at the cafe,” Bonnie said. “Cole’s stacking wood they brought him on their porch.”

  Chet thought she looked shiny-faced like a bride, and she had her hand on JD’s arm. They did remind him of honeymooners. He hoped to God it worked out for them.

  “Bonnie plans to live with her mom until we get back.”

  “We’ll find you a house,” Chet assured him.

  They ate lunch in quiet conversations. Bonnie acted very demure, but she showed her possession several times by squeezing JD’s arm. Maybe it would work—no telling. When they were alone, he’d
ask his fortune-telling wife.

  “Are we going to leave on Thursday?” JD asked.

  “No. On Friday. My wife says it will snow Thursday.”

  Marge smiled high-headed and passed the bowl of corn. “For those who don’t know, I’m not right about the weather all the time.”

  “Hey, we trust you.” JD grinned at her.

  “You two going to stay here?” Chet asked.

  “No, I want to go see Susie. Bonnie doesn’t know her very well and I’d like them to meet.”

  “Who is going to help Jenn?” Marge asked.

  “Oh, she has someone for the rest of the week,” Bonnie said. “But she couldn’t work today. So Valerie filled in. When the men all leave, she’ll have us ’till all of you get back.”

  So JD was married—good or bad. Time would tell. After the meal, the newlyweds drove on to the Verde Ranch.

  When the buckboard made a small dust wake going out, his wife asked, “Will they make it?”

  “I have no idea. I can only hope so.”

  The days flew by. Thursday, they had flakes of snow but nothing big. Word was sent out to all the team members that they were leaving at dawn. Marshal Blevins sent a telegram of thanks and said he’d look for them when they could get there. He asked they meet him at a secret site, so not many would know about them. Otherwise, he was concerned word might travel fast.

  They met before dawn and headed south on the Black Canyon Stage Route with five loaded packhorses in the care of Jesus and Shawn. Each had been chosen for their quickness in leading and ability to move fast when called on. A balky packhorse was a pain that neither Chet nor Jesus wanted to contend with. Heads high, they kept the pace or they were left behind.

  The day was long in the saddle with not many words shared. The newlyweds were picked on a little, and they quit the road about sundown. They found a water tank off the road a ways and not near any ranches. After the horses were grained and hobbled and firewood snaked in, the others helped Jesus with the cooking. After reheating the precooked beans and beef he’d brought along, he boiled coffee and they ate well. Everyone knew meals were to be quick so they could move on. As the calendar pushed toward spring, the days grew longer and Chet intended to use all the daylight he could to keep moving.