by S. L. Stoner
“I’m going to do what I’ve been trying to do for the past week,” Van Ostrand said. He pointed the revolver toward the loft’s trapdoor. “Climb up there and snap that padlock shut,” he ordered Thomas. When Thomas hesitated, Van Ostrand gestured angrily with the gun. “I said, get up that ladder and lock that damn padlock!”
Thomas did as he was told. Seconds later, the padlock shut with a metallic snick, ending any hope of rescue from above. Sage sighed and said to Van Ostrand. “I’m beginning to think that you’re the fellow who killed both O’Dea and Rayburn.”
Thomas gasped at Sage’s declaration. Obviously, the accusation surprised the Congressman. “You, you killed Asa and Timothy? My God in heaven! Why? O’Dea was such a fine young man,” he stammered.
The dentist pulled a small pistol from inside his suit coat. Van Ostrand waggled the gun’s barrel at Thomas.“Go stand over there by Miner,” he instructed.
“You know Thomas,” he said, his voice dripping with contempt. “I’ve regretted every minute we were partners. You lack vision and gumption. How the hell did you think we were going to save our investment and stay out of jail now that the federal prosecutor, Heney, is on our trail?”
Van Ostrand’s voice turned patient, as if he were talking to a three-year old. “Rayburn helped round up our dummy claimants. You knew that. So, your hands are just as dirty as mine. But Rayburn had other damaging information. He burned the Kepler’s barn under my orders. And, the snake watched me ride back into town the night I killed O’Dea. That’s why he was in the office demanding money.”
Van Ostrand shook his head, ruefully. “You’re so stupid, Thomas. You thought he was talking about money I owed him for finding the false claimants. If you ever bothered to examine our books, you’d know we’d already paid him for that little deed. The bastard was there trying to blackmail me over O’Dea.”
It seemed that Van Ostrand welcomed the opportunity to finally detail his actions—probably because he knew his words would never be repeated.
The dentist continued his telling of all, “But Rayburn was a liability for another reason. Heney came waltzing into Prineville. That same day, I spoke to Bellingham’s lawyer who was stopping at the Prineville Hotel. He said Rayburn was a turncoat. That he was going to testify against Bellingham in that land fraud case up north. He’d have done the same thing against us. The man lacked loyalty.” Van Ostrand finished with a sad shake of his head.
“But, we’re going to be okay. Nobody’s turned any land over to us,” Thomas stammered. “We stopped most of them from trying to prove up their claim. We’ve decided to keep only the claims on sections that have year-around water,” Thomas protested. “I can’t see how a few claims, spread apart, are going to implicate us in any land fraud deal.”
Hmm, thought Sage. So that’s what they had me doing. Helping them figure out which land claims they should keep and which ones to abandon. Sage cleared his throat, drawing both men’s attention toward him. “So, Van Ostrand, why’d you kill O’Dea and his dog?” he asked.
“The damn dog charged at me. It was like he knew I was there to kill O’Dea.” Van Ostrand said, no regret in his voice.
“But why O’Dea?” Sage asked again.
“I rode out to reason with him. To tell him he could keep the claim he filed on. He came out of the cabin to talk. Said his ‘conscience’ wouldn’t let him.”
Van Ostrand’s voice was scornful. “Here, I told him he could keep the $450 filing fee and he was still going to turn me in. So, I shot him.” This last declaration was said matter-of-factly, with not a smidgen of guilt.
Van Ostrand’s words sent a shiver traveling up Sage’s spine. There’d be no talking him out of another murder. Sage glanced up at the padlocked trapdoor and then at the barred stable entrance. He would need to rescue himself all by his lonesome. Slowly he brought both his hands and his feet together, releasing the tension on the cords so that he could whip free of them.
Van Ostrand had used the brief lull to come up with a plausible plan of action. He looked at Thomas and said in a slow, sad voice, “It is truly a tragedy that my brave partner decided to confront O’Dea’s and Rayburn’s killer all on his own. I begged him to wait until I’d fetched the sheriff but Congressman Thomas was so upset, so determined to prevent Miner’s escape that he raced off to the stable. Unfortunately, the sheriff and I will arrive too late. Our congressman got his man but, unfortunately,” here Van Ostrand shook his head in mock sadness, “the killer managed to squeeze off a fatal shot before he died. Such a terrible loss for our dear congressman’s family and the citizens of Prineville.”
Thomas looked at Sage, terror twisting his face. Sage switched his own gaze back to Van Ostrand who raised both guns until each targeted a beating heart.
THIRTY
Faint shuffling sounded above. Sage tried to cover it by scraping his heels across the plank floor. They must know that Van Ostrand wouldn’t hesitate to shoot up into the loft. Given the padlock, there was nothing they could do anyway.
Van Ostrand cocked his head. He’d heard the sound as well. He glanced upward, his body tense as a coon hound’s. “Quiet,” he snarled at Sage.
Just then the stable door rattled against the bar. Someone was trying to push it open.
That new noise did the trick. Van Ostrand’s attention snapped away from the loft and toward the door. Those inside the stable turned dead silent, as if each of them was holding his breath.
Sage looked at Van Ostrand. The dentist’s pocket pistol was aimed at the door. His fingers tightened and sweat trickled down the side of his face. Determination stiffened every line of his face.
The rattle came again. This time followed by a pounding fist. The door boards shook beneath the blows. Van Ostrand’s eyes snapped back toward Thomas and Sage as if he’d suddenly remembered their presence.
“Go away,” he shouted. “We’re closed!”
“We need horses fast!” came a frantic voice. “My mother’s sick. Dr. Rosenberg is already headed out to the ranch. My father and I have to get there. She’s really sick! Please open up the door so we can get the horses!” The voice was female and pure music to Sage’s ears. Lucinda was trying to save him.
“Go away!” Van Ostrand yelled again. “There aren’t any horses left. We’ve rented all of them out.”
“Please mister, I know there are at least the two old fellows still in there.” Lucinda’s voice was now pleading.
“My daughter’s right. We just talked to the stable boy and he told us you have at least two horses in there for rent,” said Herman Eich’s calm, deep voice.
Van Ostrand’s face flushed red. He gestured to Thomas. “Get over here, open the door and tell those people to step inside here. I have to shut them up before they draw people’s attention with all their shouting. If you try anything tricky, Newt, I’ll shoot you in the back the same time I shoot Miner here.”
Van Ostrand had moved to the side. He pointed Twill’s revolver at Thomas while turning his smaller gun toward Sage. His hands were steady as he kept both weapons level. Rooting around in people’s mouths likely kept the man’s hands and wrists strong, no matter what the provocation, Sage irrelevantly mused even as his muscles tensed, readying to spring.
Newt Thomas lifted the bar from the door and carefully set it to one side. Van Ostrand turned his head to watch Thomas ease the door open. Strong sunlight illuminated Lucinda. She stood in the bright light with her bonnet, sporting a jaunty red silk flower, shading her face. A rush of love filled Sage as he stared at her. Then he noticed Eich standing beside her, wearing his traveling suit, his gnarled hand on her elbow. He opened his mouth to shout a warning.
Suddenly, Thomas flung the door wide and rushed out, his hands in front of him. He shoved Lucinda and Eich to one side, away from the door. “Run!” he shouted, grabbing Lucinda and pulling her even further away from the door. “He’s got a gun!”
The dentist pulled the trigger of Twill’s gun. There was only the snappin
g sound of a firing pin hitting on an empty chamber. There came a second snap and then a third. Exactly as Twill had planned. All but the last cylinder was empty. Meanwhile, all three people disappeared from view. Van Ostrand roared in frustration and flung the revolver to the floor where it bounced out of sight into a mound of loose hay.
All of that registered on Sage even as he moved to take advantage of Van Ostrand’s momentarily distraction. Whipping the cords loose from hands and feet, he leapt up from the floor and then to one side. When the dentist swung his remaining gun in Sage’s direction, his prisoner had already moved. Not away, as one would expect but closer and to one side. Before Van Ostrand could adjust to the change, Sage’s left hand grabbed the dentist’s gun hand at the same time he also stepped forward and swung the back of his right wrist upward to connect with Van Ostrand’s chin. The gun fired harmlessly into the floor as the dentist stumbled backward. Sage felt momentary gratitude that the bullet’s trajectory was away from the two horses, though they started squealing and kicking in their stalls.
Before Van Ostrand could raise the gun and take aim for a second time, Sage stepped closer, his left wrist rising again, this time to hook Van Ostrand’s gun hand aside. At the same time the heel of Sage’s right hand drove into the man’s diaphragm.
This hit sent the gun spinning out of Van Ostrand’s nerveless fingers as he staggered backward, gasping for breath. Before Sage could launch a third attack, a huge figure charged through the open door. Twill.
With a wild yell, the Irishman flew through the air and hit Van Ostrand, taking him to the floor. Sage stepped back and did nothing as Twill straddled Van Ostrand and landed two very stiff blows on the dentist’s face. The sight was gratifying. After all, McGinnis had lost a good friend to this man’s greed. Van Ostrand deserved worse than a few blows to the nose.
Shouts sounded above their heads as Lucinda and Eich rushed into the stable. A timid Thomas hung back.
It took a few minutes to find the padlock key but soon everyone stood around Van Ostrand’s supine figure. Thomas had finally re-entered the stable. He was tugging at Heney’s sleeve and whining “I didn’t know all that he was doing. I really, really didn’t know.”
Heney turned to Thomas. “Get a grip on yourself, man. It’s clear what you did and did not know. I’ll be seeing you in court over the land fraud unless you use your God-given good sense and plead guilty. Maybe help me with this scoundrel’s conviction.
At that, Heney toed the unconscious dentist with a dusty shoe, “Though it’s more likely that this rascal will dangle from the end of a rope long before any trial for land fraud.”
Then the prosecutor’s stern face softened. “That was a brave thing you did at the end there, Congressman Thomas. We could see through a crack in the floor that you pushed the woman to safety. If there’d been bullets in that gun, you would have died.” After saying this, the federal prosecutor began picking straw bits from his suit coat and pant legs. Tidying finished, he straightened up to look Thomas in the eye. “To my mind, that action brought you some ways back toward redemption. I won’t forget it.”
Sage heard all this but mostly his awareness was focused on Lucinda’s arms. They were wrapped around him, gripping him tightly, her face buried in his chest. He held her close, whispering assurances into her hair, feeling the sweat that dampened the back of her dress.
In a single moment of clarity, he remembered when only sweat lay between his hands and her naked back. He cleared his throat, saying again, “There, there. Everyone is fine. You did it Lucinda, you and Herman saved us.”
Over her shoulder, he caught sight of Siringo’s face. The cowboy stood in the stable’s gloom, staring at them, one sardonic eyebrow raised.
Sage’s heart hit the ground with a thud. He sighed. No way was he going to cause problems between Siringo and this woman. There was no reason to think that Lucinda’s reaction was anything more than relief that the danger was over.
Sage let loose and gently pushed her away, telling himself that Siringo was a proven friend, that the cowboy was good enough for her and that was what mattered. That realization brought acceptance and released something inside him that had been coiled tight as a watch spring. An unexpected ease filled him and the understanding that, caught up in longing and jealousy, he lost his moral footing. He’d regained it, finally. He didn’t like how things had turned out but he could live with it.
He was lost in this thought when Twill sidled next to him, nudging his big shoulder against Sage’s like a friendly dog. Nodding toward Van Ostrand, who was beginning to stir, the Irishman quoted softly, “He did the deed, ‘which both our tongues held vile to name’.”
“Ah, the words of that traitor, King James. In this case, all treachery is his and none of ours,” Sage said, watching Van Ostrand struggle into a sitting position on the stable floor, his fingers trembling as he probed his bloodied face.
A rustle of skirt and squeak of hinge made Sage look toward the stable door. He watched them slip away. First Lucinda, then Eich.
THIRTY ONE
“Miner,” Sage became aware of his alias being spoken and somehow realized it wasn’t the first time the prosecutor had tried to get his attention. He turned toward the man. “Yes, Mr. Heney?” he answered.
“I asked whether you’ll be staying in Prineville or heading back to Portland.”
“Umm, I guess I’m going to be heading back to Portland.” A Portland without Lucinda, Sage thought, then forced himself to consider whether Siringo needed him to hang around. Probably not. His work was done. Between them, Heney and Siringo could finish things up. The murders had been solved. He doubted the sheep ranchers would carry out their plan to retaliate against the cattlemen once they discovered it was one of their own who’d done the killing and burning.
He looked down at the dentist who was glaring at Twill. “You didn’t have to slug me in the mouth, I think you broke a goddamn tooth.”
“Hah, that’s not the only part of you that God has damned. Besides, you’re not going to be on this earth that much longer to need it,” responded the Irishman, his voice fierce with anger. Twill’s fists clenched and he stepped toward the cowering dentist.
Sage interrupted what was sure to be an escalating exchange. “Dr. Van Ostrand, I understand that you needed range land for your sheep. Losing your lease along the military road left you with a big flock and no place to graze them.”
“Those bastard Kepler brothers, they snuck in and bribed the agent. After years of no problems we suddenly had no place to graze the damn animals. It was a disaster. We stood to lose all of the money we invested, all of the sheep. I’d mortgaged my home. I was going to lose everything.”
Van Ostrand pointed at Heney, “Then this man comes to town. He was going to take everything we’d worked for, even our freedom.”
“You didn’t have to kill Rayburn. I had you dead to rights on the land claim deal without him. Why’d you think no one would notice that you’d paid for all the claim fees?” Heney asked. “Nothing says I can’t loan money to my neighbors,” this time the dentist sounded smug. Evidently, Van Ostrand already had thought through his defense in the event their scheme was discovered.
“That weren’t no loan you gave to me,” came a dry voice from the rear stalls where Samuel Hamilton had gone to calm Rocky and Gasper. Now Hamilton stepped forward and spoke directly to Van Ostrand. “The deal was I lay claim, let you graze and once I prove up, I was supposed to sell the land to you for a minimal fee. In exchange, you gave me a hundred dollars up front and paid the filing fees. And, that’s exactly what I’ll say when Mr. Heney puts me on the witness stand.”
“That wasn’t me that told you that!” snapped the dentist. “I wasn’t even around when you got the papers and filed them. Rayburn did all that.”
That accusation spurred Thomas into speaking. “Oh really, Richard! When I get up and tell the truth, you’re going to be right in the thick of it. Besides, like Mr. Heney said,” he added with a twi
st of his lips, “you signed all those checks that went in with the filings.”
“You’d betray me? After all my efforts to make you rich?” Van Ostrand was outraged.
Thomas’s face flushed, “You tried to shoot me in the back. You involved me in murder. Any claim to loyalty you might have had is long gone, my friend.” Before anyone could stop him, his fist landed a solid hit on the dentist’s jaw.
“Hey, hey,” Heney interjected as he pulled Thomas away. Sage couldn’t resist the opportunity to land his own blow—this one verbal.“You might try to wiggle your way out of a fraud conviction, Van Ostrand.” Sage leaned closer to the dentist to add, “But you have no hope at all when it comes to your murdering O’Dea and Rayburn.”
Van Ostrand slyly peered up at them and said, “You don’t have any evidence that I murdered anyone. You can’t prove it.”
Heney barked a laugh. “Man, you are not thinking clearly. We were in the loft. We heard every word you said. So did Thomas and Miner here. Bottom line, you admitted to killing both men. There’s nothing more to say. I’ll watch you mount the scaffold, Van Ostrand.”
Sage didn’t want to let it go. He needed to know what had driven this man to murder and mayhem. So, he asked, “Dr. Van Ostrand, how did this all happen?”
The dentist shook his head and clambered to his feet. Stepping over to a bound hay bale, he sat down, hands hanging between his knees, head bowed. Heney’s words had dealt a fatal blow to the dentist’s bravado. At last, he felt the weight of certain defeat. When he spoke, his voice was low, “It didn’t start like this. We bought the flock. We had plenty of land. When we lost the lease, I thought if I had Rayburn set fire to the Kepler’s Ochoco barn, that they’d decide the sheepshooters were making the Ochoco’s too dangerous. I thought they’d abandon the lease they stole from us.”