by Clay, Verna
Cooper glanced at Emmett. "How about you?"
Emmett said, "As beautiful as it is, Lydia and I have our hearts set on the Willamette Valley."
Captain Jones grinned and asked, "Well, Emmett, since I'm losing two of my leaders, how would you like to volunteer for the position. Saves me havin' to appoint you."
Emmett gave the captain a speculative look, reminding Cooper of a juror weighing a verdict, and asked seriously, "Do you think I have what it takes?"
Captain Jones glanced at Cooper. "Well, Coop? Does Emmett have what it takes?"
Cooper frowned as if pondering a deep question and then, suddenly smiling, said, "I surely do."
Relief washed over Emmett's face. Captain Jones said, "Since we all gave up whiskey years ago, how 'bout we celebrate with some more sarsaparillas?"
Cooper and Emmett lifted their glasses and said, "Hear, hear!"
A pretty saloon gal delivered a round of sarsaparillas and Captain Jones lifted his mug. "Damn, I miss the whisky."
Again, Cooper and Emmett agreed. "Hear, hear!"
For the next hour the men enjoyed jovial conversation and praised a journey that had only seen the death of two men, four mules, a few oxen, three horses, two cows, and all of the chickens. They laughed over the latter. Emmett said, "My Lydia makes the best fried chicken I ever tasted."
Cooper said, "I have to agree with you there." He swigged the last of his drink. "Guess I best get back and check my animals."
Captain Jones and Emmett concurred and started to push away from the table when scuffling across the room and shouting got everyone's attention. "Get the hell out of my way!"
The three of them looked up to see a tall man who obviously hadn't bathed in days—maybe weeks—with a salt and pepper straggly beard, matted hair, and wild eyes, pointing at Emmett. Still sitting at the table, Cooper edged his hand toward his revolver.
The wild man said, "Move your hand again and you're a dead man." Then with his hand poised over his own gun he said to Emmett, "Stand up, Cheyenne Jack. I'd know your face anywhere. You killed my brother, Smoke Jenkins, in a gunfight and now I'm gonna kill you."
Cooper said calmly, "You're obviously mistaken, sir. Why don't you join us while we figure this out?"
Without moving his gaze to Cooper, the gunfighter said, "Shut yer mouth!"
Emmett, who had thus far been silent, slowly rose with his hands extended, palms up. "I'll handle this."
Patrons of the saloon had removed themselves to the edges of the room and suddenly made haste toward the swinging doors.
Captain Jones said low, "Cooper, Cheyenne Jack is well able to handle this."
Cooper's gaze shot to Emmett, who nodded his agreement, and he felt like he'd been gut kicked. Mild-mannered Emmett was legendary lawman Cheyenne Jack, who supposedly died in a cholera epidemic back in the late fifties?
Emmett pushed his chair back with his foot. To his accuser, he said, "Sir, if you would like to know the truth of what happened I would be happy to explain."
The man's face contorted in rage and he snarled, "You bushwhacked my brother!"
Calmly, Emmett responded, "No, sir. You have it backward. Your brother bushwhacked me."
The man sputtered some profanities and Emmett said, "I don't want to kill you. Like my friend said, why don't you join us and we'll talk this out."
With a crazed expression, the cowboy went for his gun. Before it was barely out of its holster, Emmett shot the man dead center between his eyes with the gun Cooper knew he kept strapped inside his jacket above his waist.
Silence filled the saloon, and then men began rushing back through the doors. Those who had heard of the famous Texas lawman stared at Emmett in admiration. Cooper was still trying to process the revelation when the captain of the fort and several military men burst in. Emmett dropped his gun on the table, raised his hands above his head, and said, "I'm ready for you to take me in for questioning."
* * *
After an hour-long interrogation, Commander Rickert released Emmett to be reunited with his tearful wife. Captain Jones had given his statement earlier, along with the eyewitnesses, and returned to camp shortly thereafter. Cooper now walked back to camp with Emmett, Lydia, and Hallie, who had stayed with Lydia to offer support.
Emmett said, "I guess I owe ya'll an explanation."
Lydia sniffed and Emmett wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "My ma and pa had eight boys and I was the youngest. My given name is Charles Jack, but my eldest brother nicknamed me Cheyenne. He said I was as red as an Indian after I was born. Anyway, we lived on a small cattle ranch and I learned young to fend for myself. My brothers taught me how to rope, shoot, wield a knife. They were all big, tough cowboys and they always gave me a hard time because of my size and studious look. They said if I didn't know how to defend myself, I'd always be recovering from beatings. My family wasn't perfect, but they weren't criminals. When I was seventeen, my ma sent me to town to pick up something for her and when I returned…" He paused, took a deep breath and said, "My family was dead; even my ma. They'd been ambushed."
Lydia gasped and Hallie let out a little cry.
Cooper said, "You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to."
Emmett sighed. "It's okay. I came to terms with my loss years ago." He paused again before saying, "It seems my eldest brother, Joe, had tangled with the wrong man. He got in a card game with a young buck and won everything. When the loser accused my brother of cheating and then jumped him outside the saloon, my brother beat him up bad. Like I said, my family wasn't perfect. Anyway, the young man ended up going blind. He was just shy of turning twenty and his father, a wealthy rancher, brought charges against Joe that were dismissed because witnesses said the boy started the fight."
The group slowed their progress as they approached the circle of wagons and Emmett lowered his voice. "Anyway, the boy killed himself. Shot himself in the head and his pa found him."
Other than Lydia sniffling, no one said anything until Cooper asked, "So the father took revenge on your family?"
"Yeah. I won't go into the particulars, but he hired killers to shoot them all. After I found out who'd done it, I went crazy and swore I'd find them and exact revenge. I told the sheriff my intent. He tried to talk me out of it, but when he couldn't, he offered an alternative. He said he'd swear me in as a deputy if I promised to let another lawman know when I'd located them so they could be brought to trial." Emmett chortled, "I wasn't fooled. The men were already wanted for heinous crimes and the sheriff knew I wouldn't be deterred in killing them. He was offering me a way to eliminate evil men without going to prison. Course, he figured they'd kill me first."
Emmett stopped walking. "It took three years but I finally found them. Originally, there were five men, but three were already dead by the time I met up with the other two. The leader was still alive and I called him out on the street of some no-name town. When I told him who I was and that I was bringing him in, he just laughed and pulled his pistol. I was faster. His companion ran out of the saloon and I shot him, too.
"After that, I showed my badge to the drunken sheriff of the town and he wanted to pin a medal on me for ridding his town of these monsters."
Emmett started walking again and stopped outside his wagon. "When I returned to my hometown and tried to give the sheriff back my badge, he asked if I wanted to become a bounty hunter. I had no family and no aspirations, so I agreed. I guess you could say the rest is history. When I started making a name for myself, I suddenly saw my life laid out before me. I would die in some dusty town at the hand of some lowlife wanting to make a name for himself. While I was trying to figure out how to disappear and start over I got the cholera. Most of the town got it and most of them died. I figured I'd die, too, but when I started to recover, I told the sheriff that I wanted to start over as someone else and he went along with it. Since the cholera hadn't killed me, he said it was a sign from God that he should help me.
"There were so many dying that
when he added my name to the list, no one questioned him. I hid out in an abandoned shack and when I was able, rode out and never looked back. I changed my appearance from scraggly to what you see now." He chuckled. "My hair started receding early on and aided my disguise. I left Texas, got a new name, and visited several states, ending up in Missouri, where I met Lydia."
He pulled his wife into an embrace. "I'm so sorry for not telling you, sweetheart, but I just couldn't take a chance on losing you, and when Sam was born, I felt such joy…" His voice cracked and Lydia lifted her arms to encircle his neck.
She said, "I'll always be here for you, Emmett."
After returning Lydia's embrace and kissing her forehead, Emmett stepped back and said, "Contrary to what I told you before, I was good at cards, so I made enough money in my travels to buy a small farm. Lydia and I lived on our farm about five years, but I was always afraid someone would recognize me."
Cooper said, "So that's why you decided to move to Oregon."
"Yes." Emmett shrugged. "Now out here in the middle of nowhere, after years of not being recognized, this happens."
Cooper asked, "What's the commander going to do?"
"Thank God, he's going to deny I'm the person I'm accused of being. I already relayed all this to him and he's a good man. Of course, those who saw the gunfight may not believe him, but hopefully, I'll be able to lose myself in Oregon like I intended." He suddenly looked tired and turned to Lydia, "Do we need to get Sam?"
"No, he and Tim are with Clarissa."
Emmett stuck his hand out to shake Cooper's. Cooper gripped the small man's hand and marveled that he was shaking the hand of legendary Cheyenne Jack.
Hallie said goodnight to Emmett and hugged Lydia. Touching her elbow, Cooper guided her toward her wagon, several beyond the Hankersons. The clouds shifted and a shaft of moonlight highlighted strands of her hair that had escaped her bonnet. When they reached their campsite, he lifted a finger to push back the strands and she inhaled sharply. He said, "That's quite a story."
She responded with a breathless, "Yes. Yes, it is."
Cooper traced a finger down her cheek, its softness tantalizing his calloused skin. "I wish things could be different." Although he meant his words for Emmett, he knew they were for Hallie.
"Yes," she said again.
When he bent forward, he heard her rapid breathing, and as much as he wanted to crush his mouth over hers, he kissed her cheek. "Goodnight, Hallie."
Chapter 30: Goodbye Farewell Bend; Hello Blue Mountains
Fifty miles northwest of Fort Boise, the train again met up with the Snake River and made its final crossing, now following on the opposite side. When they reached Farewell Bend three days later, it was with mixed emotions. For the last time they viewed the river that had sustained them for over three hundred miles. Although they still had four hundred miles or another month ahead of them, their accomplishments thus far served to energize the travel weary pioneers.
That night, amidst the smoke of dozens of camp fires, friends gathered to relate the tales of their adventures and misadventures, and speculate on the Eden awaiting them at the end of the trail. The Hankersons and several of Mrs. Martinique's gals sat around Hallie's camp fire and watched her render a drawing in the dirt of the perfect layout for a cabin while Tim, with another stick, added his ideas.
Mother and son had obviously overcome their differences and Cooper was happy for them. Tim glanced up and smiled at Cooper. "Mr. Jerome, what do you think of our cabin?"
Cooper squatted beside them. "I like it, but what if the bedroom was moved here?" He pointed with his boot toe and Tim handed him his stick. Before long, they were drawing the barn, cellar, chicken coop, outbuildings, outhouse, and fields, with everyone sharing ideas.
After they could think of nothing more to add to their farm, Hallie sighed, "To live in such a place would be heaven on earth."
Unexpectedly, Tim said, "Mr. Jerome, maybe you'll want to move to Oregon after you see our place."
"Appreciate the offer," Cooper replied, "but I have my own place. It's still in the makings of becoming livable, and someday I'll be right proud of it."
Soon, their visitors bid them goodnight and Hallie said, "Son, you'd best head off to bed. Captain Jones said the next few days will be strenuous passing through Burnt River Canyon."
Tim nodded. "Goodnight, Ma. Goodnight, Mr. Jerome."
After he left, Cooper looked at Hallie. "He's a boy to be proud of."
"Thank you," she replied, barely meeting his gaze.
As always, awareness of each other crackled the air. Cooper excused himself to check their readiness for the next day.
The trek through the canyon proved to be some of the roughest of their entire journey. One of their oxen, weakened to the point that Cooper had tied it to the back of the wagon to relieve the poor beast, finally fell to the ground. Sadness enveloped Cooper's heart that the animal had come so far only to die short of a land overflowing with good grazing and plentiful water. With a final pat on the ox's head, he said, "Thank you, old girl, for bringing us this far," and pulled the trigger of his revolver.
It wasn't long after losing their ox that a mule and another ox belonging to other emigrants succumbed to over fifteen hundred miles of travel and their current harsh conditions.
Finally, on the sixth day after entering the canyon, the train made it through and everyone breathed a communal sigh of relief. Traveling treeless land once again, Cooper longed for the shade and comfort of towering oaks and stately pines; even some straggly saplings would be nice.
Captain Jones trotted his horse beside Hallie's wagon and said, "Remember The Lone Tree I told you about before?"
Hallie said, "Yes."
He pointed in the distance. "Well, over there used to be The Lone Pine. I hadn't reached my twentieth birthday the first time I saw it and I remember it being a fine tree. Course, some mindless yokel hacked it down."
Following another train of thought, the captain pointed northeast. "Those are the Blue Mountains." He pointed west. "And those are the Wallowa Mountains. Before we reach the Blue Mountains, we're gonna go through the Grande Ronde Valley and I suspect some of our train will decide to call it home. It's as pretty as a picture."
When the valley was reached, Captain Jones was right; some of their folks decided to stay, among them, the Livermans.
Camped outside a town aptly named LaGrande—having grown along with the emigrants who continued to settle there—the pioneers held a farewell party for those choosing to remain in such a grand location. As the gathering dispersed, Cooper shook Mr. Liverman's hand. "I wish you all the best, Hank." Cooper and Mr. Liverman had started out with animosity at the Wakarusa River crossing, but ended up fast friends.
"And I wish the same for you, Cooper." He paused. "Maybe it's none of my business, but you and the Wells woman kinda fit like a hand and glove."
Cooper puffed air and Hank hastened to add. "Like I said, none of my business."
Ten days after leaving LaGrande the train camped at Pioneer Springs and the next day, toward the end of August, began their ascent into the Blue Mountains.
Unable to contain her joy, Hallie walked beside Cooper and exclaimed, "This land is positively the most beautiful I have ever seen—so many pines and berries and so much wild game. I fear we shall gorge ourselves to death before we reach our destination."
Cooper laughed. "Well, it's good we're passing through now before the snows make crossing dangerous."
Hallie pondered his words. "I am so grateful that Thomas chose Captain Jones to lead us."
Cooper could sense Hallie wanted to say something more. "Okay, Hallie, what is it you want to ask me?"
She huffed, "How do you do that? How do you read people so well?"
"I have no idea. Now, what do you want to know?"
"You knew Captain Jones before, didn't you?"
"Yes. I served under his command for a short time."
"Why did you hide that information?"
"I haven't hidden anything. Neither one of us thought it necessary information to divulge."
"But you could have told me."
Cooper glanced at her. "Why would I do that?"
Hallie's hurt expression was exactly the reaction he wanted. The more he alienated her, the more she would come to realize there could never be anything between them.
"I see," she said softly, and stepped back to walk beside Tim.
Although beautiful, the mountains soon became almost impossible to cross and a few wagons broke to the point of being irreparable. Two were salvaged into carts, but three more were dismantled for firewood to be shared among the train. The unfortunate emigrants losing their wagons loaded what supplies they could onto their mules or oxen and several folks, including Hallie, helped by carrying some of the supplies on their own beasts or in their wagons.
Mrs. Pittance, now a champion of the underdog, loudly chastised those who did not offer assistance.
After many days of grueling travel, the train finally reached a major campsite for all westward travelers, Emigrant Springs, and camped there for two days enjoying the crystal clear water.
They descended the mountains down Crawford Hill, and at Captain Jones's instruction, the carts were ordered to descend last to prevent injury in case of a runaway wagon. Stubby volunteered to lead the carts and with Sharon by his side, his appearance was so altered from the slimy man he had been, that Hallie would never have recognized him had she not personally witnessed his transformation.
As they headed out of the Blue Mountains, Hallie marveled at the majesty of Mother Nature. Tim pointed out different mountain peaks. "Captain Jones said that mountain is Mount Hood; that one is Mount Adams; and that one is Mount St. Helens."
For several days, Hallie gloried in the changing colors of fall. If the scenery had been a painting, it would have been the most colorful she had ever seen—red, orange, green, yellow, and every shade in between. In beautiful contrast to the brilliant blue sky and puffy white clouds, the sight was enough to steal one's heart and breath. Everyone seemed affected and long silences became the norm.