Dakota Trail

by David R Lewis

  Marion Daniels become durn near as much of a fambly member as any of the rest of us, spendin’ about half his time in Deer Run, stayin’ in his place out off the stable. He had to go up into Ioway for a spell that spring to testify on a arrest he’d made, an’ when he come back, he had a gray dog follerin’ him. Just about a half-growed pup, actually. His left ear wodden stand up like the right one done, but just kindly flopped over. Judgin’ by the size a them paddles a his, that some folks mighta called feet, he was gonna be fair big. Marion come ridin’ down the main street on a clear blue sky afternoon an’ pulled up to where I was settin’ on the boardwalk down at the office. He got down an’ walked up to take a set beside me. The pup jumped up on the boardwalk, sniffed around for a little bit, an’ laid down by Marion’s chair.

  “You runnin’ with wolves now, Marshal?” I asked him.

  “Found this pup just across the Nebraska line,” Marion said. “He was layin’ under a wagon in the middle of a rainstorm beside a corpse of all things.”

  “A corpse? You mean a dead body?”

  “Yessir. Old fella with a team a mules an’ a buckboard. Looked to me like he’d died in his sleep an’ the pup was stayin’ next to him. I took the team, the dog, the wagon, and the body into Lincoln. Nobody I could find wanted the dog, so I decided to bring him home. He growled at me when I first run across him. Even at his age, he was fixin’ to eat me alive if I bothered with the body. Took me a spell to settle him down. I fed that dog ever bit a jerky I had with me to git his mind right and shift his attitude. We git along fine now. ‘Cause a the noise he made eatin’ all that jerky, I named him Grunt.”

  That set me to grinnin’.

  “Grunt?” I asked.

  Marion looked at me right sharp. “You got a problem with his name, do ya?”

  “Nossir, mister marshal, sir,” I said. “Grunt is one a my favorite names. I was thinkin’ about changin’ my name to Grunt just a couple days ago. Got a nice ring to it, Grunt does.”

  Marion smacked me on the brim a my hat then, an’ I’ll be durned if that pup warn’t on his feet an’ grumblin’ at me.

  “Oh Lord,” I said, “save me from the savage beast. Call him off, Marion. He’s eyeballin’ my throat.”

  Marion was laughin’.

  “He’s tough,” he said. “At least, he thinks he is. Hell, look at the size a them feet. If he grows into ‘em, he’ll be about half as big as that pore ol’ worn out buckskin a yours.”

  That give me a idea. I got one a Willie’s candies outa my shirt pocket, broke a little piece off it, an’ dropped it on the boardwalk by the pup. He sniffed it, then pickled it up an’ et it. I throwed him another little bite, an’ he hit it like a garter snake gittin’ after a mouse. He was a little more suspicious when I helt another piece out to him in my hand, but decided to take a chance an’ took it from my fingers. I set down on the boardwalk then, put another little piece between my lips, an’ leaned over to where he could reach my face. I helt real still when he smelt of me, an’ the pup took that piece a candy out from my lips about as gentle as a butterfly. I scratched his head then, an’ his tail come to wag quite a bit.

  “Grunt,” I said, “are ya alright?”

  That pup put his foot on my leg an’ studied on me some, then, quick like, gimme a lick on my chin, his tail pickin’ up speed. Marion got to chucklin’ quite a bit.

  “Damn,” he said. “I hoped ol’ Grunt was a better judge a character than that.”

  “He follerd you, didn’t he?” I said. “That woulda made me suspicious of the hound on the spot. How is he with horses?”

  “He doan pay much attention to ‘em,” Marion tolt me. “He’s careful a gittin’ too close to they feet an’ such, but other than that he mostly ignores ‘em.”

  “That’s good. If Grunt is gonna live around here with us an’ the livery, he needs to accept horses an’ the like. You et, Marshal?”

  “Need to,” Marion said. He stood up then an’ headed off toward the Sweetwater. Me an’ ol’ Grunt follerd along.

  The pup tried to go inside with us. Marion turned him back after a little struggle in the doorway. When Grunt figgerd out what Marion wanted, he sat out on the boardwalk where he could peek in the place whenever anybody come or went. Then, once he seen us comin’ back out, he got to yodelin’ some, happy we was returnin’ to where he could git at us.

  After we got to the house, Miss Harmony was glad to see us an’ was kindly surprised Marion had brung a dog home. Bill seen ol’ Grunt an’ come a runnin’. I headed the boy off an’ slowed his approach some, afeared the pup might git scairt an’ give him a bite or somethin’. I explainin’ how Grunt might not be as joyful to see him as he was to see the dog. But, the two of ‘em made up with each other right smart. I believe boys an’ dogs was meant to be together, an’ it warn’t ten minutes afore the two a them was shore enough pards. Arliss the mule didn’t think very high a Grunt an’ shook a leg at him a time or two, but the pup slipped them kicks an’ backed off. That’s when I remembered the ol’ boy what sold me Arliss had mentioned that little mule warn’t over fond a dogs.

  Grunt went down to the livery with us, met Verlon an’ Willie with no trouble, then follerd us back up to the house. When we went in he wanted to come with us, but Miss Harmony warn’t terrible took by that idea an’ shut the door while the pup was still on the porch. She was fixin’ up a pot a coffee for us when little Melody come to fussin’ in her crib an’ squawkin’ quite a bit. I headed in to git her an’ heard that pup barkin’ an’ scratchin’ at the door, respondin’ to the noise an’ all I reckon. Bill went over an’ opened the door.

  The pup come in like he owned the place. When he run across little Melody, he reared up on his hind feet, stuck his nose through the bars a her crib, studied on her for a minute, then give a lick on her arm. She jerked some, then shut up an’ looked him over right serious. Ol’ Grunt give her another lick, his tail goin’ so fast it warn’t much more than a blur, an’ Melody commenced to wavin’ her arms around an’ jabberin’. The pup give her another little lick then laid down on the rag rug beside her crib. It warn’t more than a minute or two, afore both of ‘em was asleep. Miss Harmony shook her head, muttered somethin’ about dogs in houses that I didn’t hear well enough to understand, an’ went back into the kitchen. Marion an’ me looked at the baby an’ the pup an’ grinned at each other.

  “Gittin’ to know his little pack,” Marion said. “He’s already fixin’ to watch after Melody. It won’t take long for him to git ta know his job is to watch after all of us.”

  It was a fine thing, is what it was.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It was about the middle a April, I reckon, when Marion come home from workin’ over at Jeff City for a spell. He’d been back in Deer Run for a couple days afore he got a telegraph from the Marshal Service. He run across me havin’ a piece a pie at the Sweetwater an’ took a chair at my table. I could easy see he was kindly upset.

  “We gotta git back on the trail, Ruben,” he tolt me.

  “When?” I asked him.

  “Can you git us set up with chuck and such by tomorrow?”

  “I speck so. I’ll git after it. Can you take over ‘til Emory comes in for his shift?”

  “Can,” he said.

  “We need a packhorse?”

  “I’d a lot rather have one than need one,” Marion said.

  “I’ll talk to Verlon an’git us one we can depend on,” I said. “Where we goin?”

  “Sioux Falls, up in the Dakota Territory, for a start. Had a marshal kindly disappear up that way. A ol’ boy by the name a James Jacklin. I worked with him a time or two a few years ago. Jimmy was a good feller. I thought some of him.”

  “Oh, Lord,” I said. “I’m some sorry about that. Ain’t it awful.”

  “It truly is, boy. Jimmy had sand.”

  “It’s a ways up there, Marion. It’ll take us some time to make the trip.”

  “Sioux Falls is where we’ll start from,” M
arion said. “Details is some thin. The sheriff up in Sioux Falls is gonna try an’ git us more information. After Emory comes in for his shift, I’ll see about gittin’ us on a train. If memory serves, the Black Hills and Fort Pierre Railroad runs right through Sioux Falls. If we can git a connection to it, we can be there in less than two days, dependin’ on schedules and the like.”

  I et the last bite a my pie an’ stood up. “I’ll git it done, Pard,” I tolt him.

  “Never thought differn’t,” Marion said.

  The first thing I done was go back to the house to git myself some money. The Marshal Service would pay me back after Marion give ‘em the receipt for whatever we might need to buy. Miss Harmony was settin’ at the kitchen table gittin’ herself a little something to eat. She took notice of me.

  “You have that look, Marshal Beeler,” she said.

  “What look?” I asked her.

  “That going back on the trail look.”

  I grinned at her.

  “You just think you know everthin’, doncha?”

  She smiled at me.

  “That’s because I do, Ruben. Where are you and Marion going this time?”

  “Sioux Falls, up in the Dakota Territory, for the first part of the trip. They has been a marshal kindly vanish up there that Marion knowed. We have been dispatched to git up there an’ investigate the situation.”

  “That’s a long ride.”

  I nodded.

  “It is,” I said, “but we’re goin’ on the train. Marion says with the right connections we kin git ta Sioux Falls by day after tomorra. That new spur line will save us some time. You reckon Velron’ll care to loan me a packhorse?”

  She looked at me some serious.

  “Ruben, you are part of the livery business. It belongs to you just as much as it does me or Dad. If you need a packhorse, take one. Besides, the Marshal Service will pay us for it when we invoice them. If you’re going to be traveling quite a ways on horseback, see if Marion wants to take the big sorrel. He’ll cover more ground than that Appaloosa warhorse, and with less effort.”

  “There ain’t much doubt about that, but I speck Marion’ll stick with that warhorse. There’s a mess a sorrels out there, but that big ol’ App is purty much one of a kind. It’s kindly like Marion an’ his hats. If he was to run across a fella that was wearin’ a hat bigger’n his, he’d have to go git a hisself new one.”

  That tickled Miss Harmony some an’ she come to laugh a little bit.

  “He does look a little frightful astride that big horse.”

  “I cain’t ride too close beside Marion if we’re jawin’ about somethin’. It makes me terrible dizzy lookin’ up at him all the time. I done fell offa Willie twice from it.”

  “It is true that being out on the trail has a few hazards,” Harmony said, teasin’ me a little bit. I grinned at her an’ headed down to the livery.

  Verlon was fussin’ with a new hinge on one of the stall doors when I come in. He stopped workin’ an’ studied on me for a minute.

  “Goin’ off someplace?” he asked me.

  I nodded.

  “Marion an’ me are on the trail to Sioux Falls in the Dakota Territory. There’s been a marshal disappear up that way. Marion wants us to git back on the trail. Says were gonna take the train ta Sioux Falls.”

  “What do ya need, Ruben?”

  “I need a packhorse an’ them big ol’ saddlebags you got that I used that time.”

  “I’ll pick out yer packhorse an’ go over yer kit an’ such. Take the wagon an’ go git the chuck an’ possibles ya need. I’ll shake out the panniers. Doan worry about a thing.”

  It was gittin’ close to dark when I was headin’ to the house with our chuck. I stopped by to make sure Emory knowed what was goin’ on an’ struck out for home. I took my guns an’ such to the west porch an’ commenced to cleanin’ ‘em by lantern light. I was fussin’ with a bunch a spring moths that was flappin’ around the light an’ gittin’ in the way when Marion walked past the corner of the house an’ come up to take a set.

  “Put yer lantern out and relax, boy,” he said. “We got a extra day, an’ our train don’t leave until early in the afternoon. We’ll be able to take that new line just outa town a ways. We’re supposed to be in St. Joe by day after tomorrow in the evenin’ and we’ll git to a second train a little afore eight o’clock the next mornin’. If the schedule runs true, we should be in Sioux Falls afore it gits dark. I sent a telegraph to the town law there, a feller by the name a Forest Hickman. I doan know nothin’ about him, but I figgered it might be a good idea to let the local law know we was comin’, an’ that we’d be ridin’ in a stock car with our horses. Plus, I asked him to look into the matter as much as he could for us.”

  “That’s good news,” I said, turnin’ down the wick in the lantern. “I believe I’ve et about a half dozen a these damn millers flappin’ around out here. Glad we gotta train to take. It’ll save the horses for the trail. Be kindly nice to have to go that far an’ still have fresh stock after we git there, plus be able to git some town food when we come to St. Joe.”

  Marion kindly peered at me.

  “You gittin’ soft, are ya?” he asked me.

  “Weak as a kitten,” I said. “I doan know if I got enough strength to git myself inside the house without help.”

  “A couple a inches a my boot up yer butt assist ya to git a move on, would it?”

  “Now that I think about it, Mister Marshal Daniels, sir,” I said, “I believe I’m feelin’ quite a bit better.”

  Marion smiled at me an’ give me a smack on the brim a my hat.

  “Glad to hear it,” he said.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  We had more time than what was usual to git on the move with that train not leavin’ ‘til afternoon. It felt some strange to me, not headin’ out on the trail at daybreak. Instead, Miss Harmony fixed us a terrible good breakfast of sugar-cured ham slices an’ biscuits an’ gravy that mornin’. She had a mess a extra biscuits in the oven for us, an’ Verlon had even gone into town an’ come back with a bunch a peppermint sticks an’ a bag a them maple candies that Willie liked so much.

  We was near done with breakfast when Miss Harmony turned to Marion.

  “Is Homer going to meet the two of you in St. Joe or Sioux Falls?”

  Marion smiled.

  “Ol’ Homer had other important bidness an’ didn’t know if he was gonna make it at all,” he said, “but it has been took care of. I got a telegraph from him yesterday. He’s gonna meet us at the Sheriff’s office in Sioux Falls. His wife had herself a little baby girl about a week ago.”

  “Really?” Harmony asked him, a big smile on her face.

  Marion nodded.

  “Both Momma and daughter is just fine and is stayin’ at Royce Taylor’s house ‘til Homer gits back home. I seen the two of ‘em about a month back and Miz Suzie was shore enough with child. I reckon by now she is some grateful for the release.”

  “I can certainly understand that,” Harmony said, lookin’ all happy an’ such.

  “Pappy Homer,” Marion went on. “Got a nice ring to it. Homer said he hoped the kid growed up fast so he might still be around for a grandbaby or two.”

  I was kindly got. I mean, they ain’t no reason Homer an’ Miz Suzy shouldn’t git theyselves a baby or nothin’ like that, but the thought a Homer bein’ a daddy kindly hit me sideways.

  “Mercy,” I said. “I doan believe the world is ready for a female as tough as Homer Poteet. A six year old girl draggin’ a Sharps buffalo gun down the boardwalk would likely have quite a effect on the general population.”

  “What did they name her?” Harmony asked him.

  Marion looked kindly sheepish an’ smiled a little bit.

  “Well,” he said, “accordin’ to the telegraph, they called her Marian, spelt with a A instead of an O.”

  That news kindly hit me sideways, an’ I come to grinnin’ quite a bit. Miss Harmony give a little yelp an’ clapped her
hands.

  “Isn’t that wonderful,” she said, gittin’ to her feet an’ givin’ Marion a little hug.

  For the first time in my life, I seen him blush. He looked like a tomater with a big ol’ droopy mustache. I durn near couldn’t stand it.

  “Marian Poteet,” I said. “If that young’un lives up to her names, she is gonna make history. Twenny years or so on down the road, the Marshal Service is gonna havta pin a badge on a female.”

  It was about the middle a the mornin’ when we got all our necessaries an’ possibles loaded up. I give little Melody a kiss, drug ol’ Bill around some, give his momma a hug, said goodbye to Verlon, an’ we left to git over to the rail yards. Verlon had to shut Grunt up in a empty stall. That pup was some set on comin’ with us.

  Willie warn’t knowed for bein’ over tolerant about trains, an’ got some nervous as we rode through them yards, all that noise an’ bumpin’ an’ hissin’ an’ such put him off some. I rubbed him on the withers an’ spoke quiet to him, an’ he trusted me enough to settle quite a bit. We stopped by the station long enough for Marion to sign the vouchers an’ such so the railroad would git paid; then a ol’ boy, with a name I cain’t recall, led us to a boxcar settin’ by a ramp an’ made sure we got loaded up. The car didn’t have none a them swingin’ gates to kindly make stalls like I was used to, but one end was well covered in straw and had four or five rings bolted into the walls so a fella could have a place to tie stock.

  I dropped the tack an’ panniers, haltered the horses, an’ tied ‘em to they end of the car while Marion spread a mess a straw out over by that big slidin’ door. He covered it up with the tarp we used in case a heavy rain was to come an’ set out our saddles so we’d have a good place to lean back a little while we watched the country roll by.