The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set

by Robert Vaughan

  Bat handed the money to Ed, who counted out the proper amount, then gave the rest of the money back to Ritter.

  “There you are, Mr. Ritter. We are satisfied now that we have been paid in full, and you still have over a thousand dollars with which to carry out your affairs. Now, don’t you feel better that your honest debt has been satisfied?”

  “You are insane,” Ritter said, angrily, as he took the money Ed handed him. He was able to give vent to his feelings because he was now satisfied that Bat wasn’t really going to kill him.

  “There may well be those who would agree with you,” Bat replied. “But those same people would also say that I’m honest.”

  From those who had gathered around to watch the drama play out before them, laughter broke out along with a spattering of applause for Bat’s words.

  “Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I intend to buy a new shirt and a new pair of trousers with my honestly earned funds,” Bat said.

  “Ha, you’d spend your money on fancy duds,” Ed said. “I’m going down to the Dodge House and have a fine meal.”

  “The Dodge House? Is that a new place?” Theo asked.

  “Just another name change,” Ed said. “Mr. Cox has a new partner, and Mr. Boyd wants a new name.”

  “Well, then let’s all go try out the Dodge House,” Theo said.

  “Cade?” Ed invited. “Are you going with us?”

  “I’d rather not.”

  14

  Cade was playing cards at Hoodoo Brown’s place, when a shadow fell across the table. Looking up, he saw Jacob Harrison.

  “Jacob!” he said, grinning broadly. Standing, he extended his hand.

  “Hello, Cade. I was told I might find you here.”

  Cade and Jacob had done some freighting business together in the recent past. It was that experience that Cade had used as a means of searching for Arabella, but it had been almost a year since he had last seen Jacob.

  “If you aren’t a sight for sore eyes. What are you doing here, in Dodge?” Cade asked. “The last I heard you were working out of Hays City.”

  “I have been, but I’ve got a new contract with the army.”

  “What sort of contract?”

  “Freighting, same as before. Now that the railroad’s here, Fort Dodge will be an even bigger shipping point that it has been before,” Jacob said. “I’ll be hauling supplies down to Camp Supply and Fort Reno.”

  “And you need a driver,” Cade said. He smiled. “Yes, I’ll be glad to drive for you.”

  “I don’t need a driver,” Jacob said.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I just assumed that . . .”

  “What I need is a partner.”

  “A partner?” Cade shook his head. “Jacob, you know I’d like nothing better than to become your partner, but I don’t have any money to put into the business. Like I said, I’d be glad to be one of your drivers, though.”

  “No, I want more than that. I want you as a full and equal partner.”

  “You don’t understand the situation,” Cade said.

  “If you mean about you and Jeter losing the Red House, yes, I am aware of that.”

  Cade shook his head. “Jeter had nothing to do with it. I managed to lose it all by myself, and now I’m absolutely broke. Jacob.”

  “Look, the first run will pay us seven hundred and fifty dollars,” Jacob said. “Right now, I’ve got five hundred dollars invested in stock and three wagons. If we split the take, fifty-fity, you can give me two hundred and fifty dollars from your share to cover my expenses, that’ll make you a full partner, and you’ll still have a little money left over. What do you say?”

  Cade grinned again, and extended his hand. “You don’t know how much I need this right now. I’d say you have yourself a partner.”

  Lola Fontaine had been sitting at one of the tables nearest the front window of the Devil’s Den when she saw three wagons with the name Harrison and McCall Freight Company blazoned on the side board. She saw Cade McCall sitting in the front wagon, and she recalled her visit with him. He had not come back into the Devil’ Den since that one visit, and in truth, she was glad he had not. She had been wrestling with the truth as she knew it, but now that McCall was moving on with a new business, it would make it easier to keep quiet.

  The Devil’s Den was a rough place, but in her current position, she was out of the fray. The girls she had hired were making more money, and to Luke and Mack’s credit, they didn’t let the men abuse them.

  “Lola,” Luke said, coming over to sit with her. “I need to talk to you about one of your girls.”

  “Oh? Is someone giving you trouble?”

  “No, it’s not that. It’s the young one. I think you call her Cetti.”

  “I know she doesn’t bring in any money, but we need someone to do the laundry.”

  “It’s not what she costs me,” Luke said. “It’s just that mor’n one of the customers has asked about her. As young and fresh as she is, why the one that would bust her in would pay a pretty penny to be the first one.”

  “No, Luke, Cetti’s not going to whore for you.”

  “Why not? It ain’t like she don’t know what’s goin’ on here. Why her own sister is whorin’. And, if we was to start usin’ her, she’d make two or three times as much as any of the other girls.”

  Lola shook her head. “No, Luke, when I hired Frankie, I promised her I’d look out for Cetti. In a couple more years, if Cetti decides she wants to go into the business, it’ll be her own idea. Right now she’s too young.”

  “How old was you, when you started out?” Luke asked

  Lola flashed an enigmatic smile. “That, Mr. Slater, is none of your business.”

  “Tell me, Miss Lola, do you like your job?”

  “I do.”

  “Well you’re going to have to make a decision and it’ll be real soon. Either that little girlie goes on the line, or you go back on your back,” Luke said. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Lola remained silent as Luke turned and walked away, the anger evident in his stride.

  The Harrison and McCall wagons had just passed the Odee Road Ranch, and so far there had been no significant troubles. One of the mules had slipped out of his tether one night and rounding him up had slowed them down for an hour or so, but other than that, Jacob and Cade were enjoying reconnecting with one another.

  “Jeter still hasn’t come around?” Jacob asked.

  “Can you blame him?”

  “I don’t know, you two have been friends for a long time. I know that friends sometimes have a falling out, but generally the friendship is strong enough to overcome it.”

  “This is more than a falling out. I took his livelihood away from him.”

  “It isn’t as if you did it on purpose.”

  “No, I did it while I was drunk, and that’s just as bad.”

  “Well, you’re sober now,” Jacob said. “And you’ll do no good by kicking yourself for past transgressions. The best thing for you to do now is to look to the future.”

  “The future is what I dread most. I don’t know if Jeter ever will get over this. What’s worse, I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself, not only for what I did to Jeter…but for what I have done to Chantal, from the very moment she was born. I made a vow to Arabella, on her deathbed, mind you. And I have broken that vow.”

  “Have a little faith, Cade. You are not beyond redemption, trust me.”

  Just ahead of the approaching wagons, an Indian was on top of a ridge, looking down at the road below. He was lying just behind the crest of the ridge so he could not be seen in silhouette. When he saw the approaching wagons, he wriggled back down to a point where he could stand and return to the ten warriors who waited by their horses.

  “White men come with their wagons,” he said, holding up three fingers. “We will steal the mules and take what they carry.”

  Waquini mounted his horse and led the others to a curve in the road. He felt a sense of power, in th
at the warriors were following him. He was not a chief, but he had convinced the others that he could communicate directly with the Great Spirit. He said that those who would ride with him would be protected from the white man’s bullets, and the ten men who followed him, did so with absolute confidence.

  As they waited, Waquini saw a skunk’s tail hanging from the harness of one of the others.

  “No!” he said. He pointed to the skunk. “You have killed my totem! You have broken my power for this raid!”

  “They are here!” one of the other Indians shouted, and with a loud whoop, he started toward the approaching wagons.

  “No!” Waquini called to them, but it was too late.

  “Damn!” Cade shouted. “We’ve got company!”

  Even as Cade gave the warning he was lifting a Winchester to his shoulder and firing in almost the same motion. The lead Indian, who was charging the wagons with a raised war-club, tumbled from his saddle.

  The other Indians in the war-party were less dependent on the traditional Indian weapons, and they were well equipped with rifles of their own. The Indians began firing at the men on the wagons. Cade brought down a second Indian. By now Jacob had stopped the wagon and picked up his own rifle. A third Indian went down from his shot, and two more Indians were dropped by the others of the wagon team. Now, only four Indians remained, and seeing that they were suddenly outnumbered by the six men on the wagons, they turned and rode away, leaving their dead behind.

  “Was anyone hurt?” Cade called back to the others.

  “Nobody hit here,” the driver of the second wagon replied.

  “We’re all right back here,” the third driver called.

  “I wonder how many more there are?” Jacob asked.

  “I don’t know. But we’d better get out of here,” Cade said.

  “I think you’re right,” Jacob said. “Let’s move on out.”

  When the last wagon started to move, one of drivers called out.

  “We can’t go, we’ve got a mule hit back here!”

  “Whoa,” Jacob said, pulling the team to a halt.

  Cade and Jacob climbed down then walked back to the third wagon where they saw Foster and Keaton looking at the mule. It was braying loudly and they discovered she had been hit in the side and was bleeding badly.

  “We’d better get her disconnected as fast as we can,” Jacob said when he got back to her. “This mule’s about to die, and if she falls in place, we’ll have one hell of a time getting the wagon moved around her.”

  “You know what, the Indians didn’t recover any of their dead, and they may decide to come back,” Cade said. “Maybe we’d better put the other two wagons in a defensive position, in case they try to hit us again.”

  “All right, do it,” Jacob agreed.

  “Are we gonna have to put her down?” Foster asked.

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Damn, I hate that. Maude’s a good old mule.”

  “I’m sorry girl,” Jacob said soothingly, to the mule that was hit. He began stroking her on the forehead, and she dipped her head several times, then put her head against his chest.

  Cade watched for a minute, feeling an intense sadness. Then he considered their situation.

  “I think I’d better go on up ahead and keep a lookout,” Cade said.

  When Waquini returned to the village it was quickly noticed that there were six fewer warriors with him now, than there had been when he left.

  “You were wrong to lead a war party,” Spotted Wolf scolded. “We are at peace with the white man, but you made war and now there will be weeping among the women for those who were killed.”

  “Waquini lied,” one of the Indians who had gone with him said. He pointed to the medicine man and shouted, “You said you could protect us from the White Man’s bullets, but many were killed!”

  “It is your fault!” Waquini said. He pointed to the skunk tail that hung from the warrior’s harness. “Did I not tell you that you have killed my totem? Did I not say that we should not attack?”

  “He speaks the truth,” one of the others from the raiding party said. “Waquini did tell us not to attack.”

  “My medicine is strong,” Waquini said. “But in order for it to be true, I must do nothing to anger the spirits. The spirit of the skunk gives me the power to protect my people from the enemy. When the skunk is killed by one who would follow me, that spirit is broken.”

  “Where are the white men you attacked?” Spotted Wolf asked.

  “They cower on the road where the fight was.”

  “And the warriors who didn’t come back? Where are they?” Spotted Wolf asked.

  Waquini didn’t answer.

  “Do they sleep on the road near the white men?”

  “Yes,” the Indian who had the killed the skunk replied.

  “I will go and bring them back.”

  “You cannot go,” Waquini said. “My power has been broken.”

  “My power has not been broken,” Spotted Wolf replied.

  The wagons had remained in place for just over an hour, and Cade glanced back a few times. He saw Maude lying on the ground, well off the side of the road, but he hadn’t heard the gunshot yet, and he knew why. Everyone was hoping that Maude would die on her own, because nobody wanted to pull the trigger. Then Jacob waved to him, and he started back, but he glanced down the road one more time before he left the ridge.

  What he saw caused him to gasp in surprise. He saw a single Indian coming up the road, leading three rider-less horses. The Indian was making no effort to conceal himself.

  “I’ll be damn,” Jacob said under his breath. “I’ll say this for you. You are one courageous son of a bitch.”

  Cade waited until the Indian was practically even with him, then he stood up and, called out to him.

  “Hold it right there, Indian!” he shouted. Though he didn’t raise the rifle to his shoulder, he held it in positon to do so, quickly, if need be.

  The Indian stopped, and held up his hand. Cade saw, then, that there was a travois behind each of the horses.

  Cade looked down the road in the direction from which the Indian had come. The road was clear for at least a mile back, and there were no ridge lines adjacent to the road that would have provided concealment for any Indians who might have come with him.

  Cade ambled down the hill until he was within a few feet of the Indian. From as much as he could tell, the Indian was unarmed.

  “I am Spotted Wolf,” the Indian said.

  “What do you want, Spotted Wolf?”

  “I have come for those who sleep.”

  “You mean the ones we killed today? The ones who were trying to kill us?”

  “I was not with the war party,” Spotted Wolf said.

  As Cade made a closer examination of the Indian, he saw that he was considerably older than any of those who had attacked them. If he had to guess, he would say that Spotted Wolf was in his mid to late seventies.

  “Why should I let you have them?” Cade asked.

  “I will protect you. You will reach the place of the soldiers.”

  “You will protect us?”

  “Yes.”

  “How are you going to do that all by yourself?”

  “I am Spotted Wolf,” the Indian repeated, as if that was all the validation his claim needed.

  Cade made another perusal of the area, and seeing no more Indians, lowered the rifle.

  “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll go ahead and tell the others you’re coming.”

  With the six dead Indians loaded onto the travois, Spotted Wolf led the wagons farther south.

  “We’re damn near to Camp Supply now,” Jacob said. “It’s not more than another couple of miles. Surely he’s not going to take us all the way to the gate.”

  As if Spotted Wolf had heard Jacob speak, the Indian dropped the reins of the three horses he was leading, then rode back to the wagon.

  “I go now,” he said.

  “Wait,” Cade
said. Reaching back into the wagon he picked up a bag of coffee and a side of bacon. “This is for you,” he said, handing the two items to the Indian.

  Spotted Wolf smiled at the unexpected gifts, but said nothing. Instead, he returned to the three horses, who had remained motionless, picked up the reins, then left the road, riding west across the gently rolling hills.

  15

  Over the next few months buffalo hides and the railroad turned Dodge City into a boomtown. The town’s charter members were able to make money by selling off lots at fifty dollars apiece, and the merchants of the town, such as Charles Rath and Robert Wright, Herman Fringer, and George Hoover, were making a lot of money off the buffalo trade. Frederick Zimmermann, a gunsmith who had learned his trade in Europe, was doing a booming business in his hardware store, his biggest business coming from the sale of firearms and ammunition. It was said he was selling between fifty and seventy-five guns a week, and that he ordered cartridges in lots of seventy-five thousand to keep up with the demand.

  Although Cade and Jacob had thought the coming of the railroad would diminish their business, it had proved just the opposite. Business was booming for them as well, and a couple of times Cade had tried to approach Jeter to invite him to join the company. Jeter wouldn’t even talk to him, and when he sent Jacob to speak on his behalf, Jeter turned him down cold.

  The winter saw an increase in business for Harrison and McCall, as the buffalo hunters were out in force, taking the buffalo with the best robes. They also continued their contracts with the army, hauling supplies from Fort Dodge and Fort Larned in Kansas, to Camp Supply, Fort Reno, and even Fort Sill in the Indian Territory. During the winter they added more Studebaker wagons and more muleskinners to drive them as they provided much needed supplies to the Indian agencies, both the Kiowa-Comanche, and the Cheyenne-Arapaho Agency.