by Lilah Rivers
“They did it last night,” Jonah said, standing up.
“Can you prove that?” Jonah glanced at Dean, and then sat back down. Barton went on, “Being cut off from the grazing land south of the creek is a devastating blow for them. And you seem to be utterly unsympathetic.”
“Where is their sympathy for us?”
Otis said, “All right, all right, this is getting us nowhere.”
Elroy turned back to Barton. “Tell Decker we mean business, Barton. We’ve waited as long as we can; we’ve given up all the ground we’re going to give.”
“There’s only so much I can do,” Barton said. “But I’ll tell him.”
“You do that,” Elroy said, “or bring him here, and I’ll tell him myself.”
Chapter 6
Josh Callahan followed his father out of the meeting. He’d parted with the Archers in a civil manner, but the tension between their families was palpable.
Walking toward their horses, Josh said to his father, “They have a point, Pop.” Turning to glare at his son, Barton said nothing. “You really think Decker is pressuring his fellow cowboys to take those animals north of the creek? If anything, I’d bet he’s encouraging them to tread further and further south.”
“And why would he do that? He wants peace as much as any of us do.”
“Peace at the end of the day, Pop. But the sun’s still high over this conflict, and it’s not setting anytime soon. If Decker won’t back down, the homesteaders will take steps. Then what?”
“I’ll talk to Decker.”
“You’ve already talked to Decker … and he’s talked to you.” Barton stopped and turned to face his son, and Josh went on, “He’s the one who convinced you to represent him and his pokes. I don’t even see why you accepted the responsibility to begin with.”
“Somebody had to, Son. If this nation is going to come to anything, we have to learn to work together. Didn’t you learn anything from that terrible war?”
“I did, Pop, and what I learned was that neighbor shouldn’t turn against neighbor, brother against brother.”
“Then what do you suggest, Josh?”
Josh wanted to offer a quick response, but it was not ready on his tongue. “I … I’m not sure, but we can’t go on stalling Archer and the others. You can see they’re already done with it, done with us.”
“I hardly think they’ll take it out on us personally. That’s why Decker enlisted me, because we’re so well respected in the community.”
“But how long will we still be respected if we cow-tow to that Decker? I tell you, Pop, he’s ruining us in this town; at least as far as the homesteaders are concerned. Decker’s not honoring his agreements, and that means we’re not honoring ours!”
“We don’t know that to be true,” Barton went on. “I will look into it, Josh, but in the meantime, you need to reevaluate your priorities. This is your family. It won’t do our reputation any good to have you turn your back on your own.” A tense silence passed between them. “Choices have ramifications, boy. Whatever we do, there’s a price.”
“That’s exactly my point, Pop. There’s a price for us to pay for taking this position.”
Barton shook his head. “I wish I could get through to you! One does not take a position because it is popular, but because it is right!”
“Are we in the right, Pop? The homesteaders do have their rights.”
“And so do the ranchers. You heard them back there! They’d sabotage the land, the steaders, lay barbed wire down! What kind of land would this be, festooned with trip trenches and barbed wire?”
Josh nodded. “Granted, they seem willing to go to extremes. But what choice do they have?”
“They can be content with the land they’ve got! The cattlemen have as much right to exploit these lands as anybody!”
“You heard that land man, Bristol. They’ve made developments to the land.”
“Did they? They put up fences, they planted seeds, but this isn’t seventeen-hundred anymore, Son. Suppose everybody were to lay down and fence and call the land their own? It’s an abuse of the system, Josh! Those laws were meant for people who built houses, developed the land!”
“But they did build houses!”
“And that’s the land they have! But they can’t keep spreading out their holdings simply by virtue of their own sense of entitlement. And if they do, can they really object to the ranchers’ presence in the area? They’re just as entitled to the land as the homesteaders, every bit as much.”
“But they need more,” Josh said, “more and more all the time.”
“And so would the homesteaders. Both parties have to respect the other. So long as they won’t, there will be a limit to how much we can accomplish here. But in the meantime, this is a good opportunity for you to prove to me that you’ve a clear eye to see things as they really are. Your sense of judgment has been muddled for too long now.”
Josh gave it some thought. “And how are things, Pop, how are they really?”
“You’re a member of my household,” Barton said, “my son! Your loyalty should always be to your home, your name; that should be clear to any man.”
Chapter 7
Elroy held his hands out to the roomful of angry homesteaders, their ire rising with the volume of their voices.
“He’ll talk to ’em?” Jesse Hayden glanced at the other homesteaders, twenty strong, gathered in the Archer barn. Dean and Jonah surveyed the men, each representing another family of hopeful homesteaders getting angrier by the day. “You’ve already talked to ’em, and our land is still getting trampled!”
The other men nodded in agreement, an angry murmur hovering above them.
“But that’s what we’re doing,” Elroy said, “negotiating.”
“And it ain’t doin’ any good! I wonder why we ever picked you to take care of this to begin with!”
“Our father agreed to help you,” Dean said, “you should be grateful for his efforts.”
The homesteaders looked at one another, disgruntled, mumbling their discontent. Elroy went on, “The land man Bristol is holding up any further homestead claims, so at least we’ll have less competition for the land.”
“Small potatoes,” another homesteader, Sam Meyerson, tall and bony, said as he stepped forward. “We have families, here and now, we need help!”
The other homesteaders nodded and muttered louder.
Dean and Jonah shared a glance, and then looked up at their father before returning their attention to the crowd. One look at them in the corner of his eye told him they were with the homesteaders. But they were holding the line with Elroy, and that was what mattered most.
Jesse Hayden said to the entire barn full of men, “It’s time for the wire,” he said, “and trip trenches, snap a few of them cows off at the hoof!” The others agreed, clear in their angry huffs and grunts.
Elroy said, “Neighbors, friends, I know how you feel. My own family suffers too! But … the barbed wire, the trenches and trip holes, they’re … unnecessarily cruel. The animals are innocent —”
“No,” Samuel Meyerson said, “we’re innocent, they’re just a bunch of dumb animals!” The other men agreed, nodding their heads and shaking their fists.
Jesse Hayden said, “That’s right. It’s time we took measures!”
“I appreciate your impatience,” Elroy said. “But give it some thought! If they suffer losses, they’ll strike back. Know that what you’re doing will have ramifications.”
“We’re ready for ’em,” Samuel said. “We’ll show them ramifications!” The others threw up an ugly cheer, turning their attention back to Elroy. “We’ll head out tomorrow, bring your boys.”
But Elroy had to shake his head. “No, friend, no. I will go on fighting for your rights, of course. But I can’t join you in setting these traps for those poor dumb creatures.”
“That’s the ranchers, but what about the cattle?” The crowd erupted in a spat of laughter, but it didn’t last long.<
br />
“I’m asking that you remain on a peaceable course,” Elroy went on. “But if you insist upon this route, I … I must abstain … and insist my sons abstain as well.”
They groused in a loud fog of angry chortles, the men shaking their heads. Jesse Hayden said to Elroy, “How do we know yer really on our side, Callahan?”
Dean pointed an angry finger at Jesse. “How dare you?”
“We’ll string you up too, boy!”
“All right now,” Elroy said, loud and strong, “we’ll not have any more of that! I’ve done everything I can do at every turn, and I continue to do so. If you want somebody else to represent you, pick that man and welcome!”
The men shared a cluster of mutual glances, whispering and mumbling their notions among themselves. Jesse turned back to Elroy.
“You go on with yer negotiations if y’like, you an’ yer boys.” Jesse glared at Dean and Jonah, the other men doing likewise before Jesse went on, “But we’re gonna do what we gotta do too … you tell the ranchers that. And don’t forget it yourself.”
The men let their threats hang in the barn before filing out and returning to their own houses and farms, carrying in their hearts the secrets of their hatred and festering frustrations. Elroy knew their disposition, and that of his two boys, and once they were all alone in the barn, just the three of them, Elroy knew he’d have to contend with it.
“Spare me your lecture, boys.”
“We’d never admonish you, Pop,” Dean said. “You’re a good man, we both know that. But look how they’re turning against us!”
Jonah said, “Dean’s right, Pop. They’re going to rise up in anger; there seems little doubt.”
“They’re already doing so,” Elroy said.
“I mean against us! For our own survival, it’s time we took up arms as well, joined them.”
“No, Jonah,” Elroy said, “we won’t join a lynch mob!”
“But that’s just it,” Dean said. “Could be the only way to prevent a lynching; not just our own. You know the Archers will be the first to fall.”
Jonah added, “True. Not that I have much care for any of them, but … at least they’ve proven they can be dealt with.”
Dean nodded. “What’s that saying, about the devil you know?”
“Don’t blaspheme in my barn,” Elroy said. “You’d have us join the mob … the better to direct it responsibly, not to justify your own hot-blooded thirst for a fight?”
“We only want to fight the right enemies,” Dean said, “if fight we must. But our own are turning against us, Pop. It won’t be long until we’re alone against both parties.”
Jonah asked, “What chance will we have then, Pop?”
“Perhaps none,” Elroy said. “But sometimes a man must stand alone if it means standing for what’s right.”
The twins shared a knowing glance, Dean sighing and Jonah forcing a smile. “And we’ll stand with you, Pop, no matter who we have to stand against.”
Chapter 8
Bella took Glory, her bay mare, out for a ride as the afternoon sun started to wane. She’d done her chores for the day, and supper of venison stew was already cooking. She rode along the western stretch of their property, other houses popping up in the distance. Their fellow homesteaders weren’t far, though each family had plenty of land around them. Still, the soil was best by the creek, soft and filled with nutrients for the very best crops. But building houses was tricky there, with the softness of the ground, the swelling and thinning of the creek.
If it weren’t for those ranchers, Bella couldn’t help thinking, everything would be fine here, peaceful, beautiful.
But the ranchers weren’t the only problem the Archer family had to deal with.
It had been a difficult year since moving to Nebraska from Illinois. The brutal winters had pushed them south, her father’s import business ruined by unscrupulous competition. The move itself had been difficult, and Bella knew she and her mother were lucky to have such stalwarts as the twins and their father, Elroy Archer.
He was a capable and worthy patriarch, and it was only due to his confident leadership and strong guidance that the family had survived that first difficult year. He’d planned the house, leading its construction with the twins working alongside him. He’d endeared himself to the other homesteaders, who could see the natural qualities of leadership and friendship which the man had to offer.
Bella only hoped that she would be a worthy daughter to him, that she could develop the same qualities of character that made him such a patient and wise man. He’d been strong enough to shoot down a marauding cougar; he’d been able to rescue the Willis family from the fire that consumed their home the previous summer. That was strength Bella felt she would need in the years to come, especially as the conflict between the homesteaders and the ranchers escalated.
And as much as they’d all managed to pull together and create a new home in Nebraska, Bella could hardly enjoy it. She was proud of her father, of course, but being a man of such high ideals had put him into conflict with other men before, lesser men who were willing to do things Elroy wasn’t willing to do.
She wasn’t surprised that the other homesteaders had asked him to represent them, even though he was so new to the area. And she certainly wasn’t surprised that he accepted the position. But beyond even the midnight runs out to the creek and other areas which the ranchers were frequenting, Bella was afraid that the violence would come to them directly, right at the house. She wasn’t fearful for her own life, but for her mother’s; for her father and brothers’ lives. Even they could hardly fend off a raiding band of a dozen or more men.
Bella had heard terrible stories of such attacks, settlers burned out of their homes, or burned while still in them. Bodies were found hanging from tree branches. And while blame had always been cast in any number of directions, suspicion had often fallen on the ranchers. With no proof, no evidence or lingering witnesses, no cases had ever been proven.
The law seemed limited, especially so far west. If things got violent, and they seemed likely to do just that, the Archers would almost certainly be fighting for themselves, and for their lives.
But Bella’s mother’s calming voice returned to her conscience. She’d always cautioned Bella against worrying too much over things, something she’d always had a tendency to do. Sybil had often said, “Faith and fear cannot occupy the same place at the same time. Have faith, and let the fear subside.”
It had always proven true; the Archer family managing to escape challenges which could have brought them down. It must have been faith, Bella had often told herself, glad to have her love of God illustrated in the mysterious goings on in her life. She felt sure that the Lord would go on protecting them, working with them against the Devil’s schemes.
But she also knew that the Devil did his work tirelessly, and that even good men and women often had to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. This was the fate Bella feared for her father, her brothers.
And they weren’t the only men in her life, men who required the attention of her head and her heart.
Turner Moss, Bella thought, imagining his handsome face, black mustache and goatee above and below his smiling lips. He is a good man, it’s true. And maybe Mother is right, about love and life. She’s right about so many other things. Is this one of those times when my fear is getting the better of me?
If Turner is the man God intends for me, I surely don’t want to go against that. But … how can I know for sure? In other instances, God’s will was clear, but only looking back. It was easy to see that God allowed Elroy to be chased from his import business so that he would bring his family to Nebraska, surely where God wants us to be. But … for what purpose? To settle things between the homesteaders and ranchers? Or is there some other purpose, and could it involve me? My troth?
