by C. J. Petit
When he finally realized what he’d done, he spent another ten minutes trying to figure out how he could avoid the noose. He knew that if he opened the safe and grabbed the money and ran, they’d catch him soon enough.
It was then that he realized that his goal of owning the Elk was still possible. He left Rose where she was, then hurriedly walked out of the house through the back door, mounted his horse and led Emperor to the barn. He quickly unsaddled the black stallion and put him in his stall before taking a shovel and a hatchet then riding back to the forest. His biggest concern was if one of the men suddenly returned. If anyone showed up, it would most likely be Big Tom and that might pose a problem.
He’d dragged Chet’s body deeper into the forest and dug a hole just deep enough to keep the critters away. He chopped more than a dozen pine branches to cover the ground because he knew it would settle. Because he needed to hurry, he just tossed the branches as he cut them without making sure that they covered the entire hole. Nobody would ever come this far into the trees anyway. Even if they did, by that time he’d own the Elk.
After he replaced Chet’s Winchester, he returned to his house to clean up. While he ate his lunch, he fabricated more details to the story he’d tell the sheriff. He waited as long as he could before he mounted his horse again and left the Elk. He had to give his alibi Chet enough time to make a clean getaway.
But even as he rode toward Fort Benton, he was thinking about the last obstacle to owning the Elk…his young friend Jake Elliott.
Dave wasn’t happy when Jake enlisted. He had tried to talk him out of it but failed. But after a year or so and Jake hadn’t even visited the ranch, Dave began to believe that Jake would never come back. It also meant that, once Jake was out of the picture, he had to shift his allegiance to Chet to gain his trust. He hoped that the massive rift between father and son would be permanent and Chet would name him as the secondary heir to the Elk. He had actually been instrumental in Chet’s decision to have one made. He didn’t know who he’d named as the heir until he read the will after he’d murdered Jake’s parents. That was when he decided to take the money from the safe which served a dual purpose. It gave him some cash in case things went wrong and it added credibility to his story of Chet’s hurried escape.
For the first week after the murders, he’d expected Jake to at least send a wire, but no one heard a word from him. With each passing day, Dave grew more confident that Jake wouldn’t return at all.
Then, seemingly out of the blue, Jake arrived at the Elk. Dave may not have expected to see him, but it didn’t take long for him to resume his starring role as Jake’s friend and confidant.
He planned to advise Jake to have a will of his own written by Jerome Wright and had no doubt that if he did, Jake would name Dave as the heir. Dave would have to wait a while before Jake had his accident, but he was back on track to possession of the Elk.
But when Jake said that he’d be leaving to chase his father, Dave’s new plans were already endangered. He’d argued and cajoled, but knew he was failing. He even offered to accompany Jake, but Jake had insisted on going alone.
Dave was still examining his options when Sara Smith entered the picture. She didn’t so much as enter as explode into the situation. Dave could tell that Jake was smitten with the younger Smith girl and decided to use it to his advantage. But he thought it was just a passing fancy until Jake stunned him by saying that he was going to marry her when he returned. His eight years would amount to nothing if that happened. He knew that he’d have to come up with some way to prevent the marriage. But Jake was moving so quickly in every direction that it was difficult for Dave to keep up.
He still hadn’t come close to deciding his next step when Jake almost casually mentioned that he would show Sara his sanctuary. Dave felt his stomach twisting into a knot as he visualized one of them stumbling across his father’s shallow grave.
He thought he might be able to eliminate Sara Smith, but that would mean going into town. When she suddenly arrived on the ranch that Sunday, Jake never left her side. Even though he’d murdered Rose, that had been in self-defense and once he met Sara, he knew he couldn’t kill her. He had to kill Jake. All the hands knew that he and Jake were close friends, so he could still be in line to own the Elk.
Before he even had a semblance of a plan, Jake was gone. He thought about leaving Tuesday night to follow him, but then decided to wait until he was on his way back. Then two things made him change his mind once again. Jake had given him the seven hundred dollars and he had almost eight hundred more that he’d taken from the safe. Friday was payday, so if he stayed to wait for Jake’s telegram telling them he was returning, then he’d have to part with a good chunk of it. He had to leave and try to catch up with Jake. The letter was an inspiration and an insurance policy. He wrote it just in case he wasn’t able to find Jake on the road. If he didn’t, then Jake wouldn’t be worried about his absence.
Dave didn’t think that Jake would notify the law about the seven hundred dollars even if he hadn’t left the letter. But he believed that its confession would almost guarantee that Jake wouldn’t bother Sheriff Zendt. He’d grabbed the Martini-Henry and its ammunition because it would enable him to set up for a longer shot when he did spot Jake. He’d be able to identify him at long range because of Mars. He’d have time for some target practice on the road.
When Dave left the Elk, it was well after midnight, so he had to stop and set up camp just twenty miles from the ranch. When he saddled his horse that morning, Jake was closer to Helena than he was to Fort Shaw.
Then it was just a series of coincidences that kept each of them from seeing the other. As Jake arrived in Helena, Dave reached Fort Shaw. He got a room at their small, unnamed hotel, then boarded his horses at the Stoker brothers’ livery. He knew that if they’d even seen Mars and Vulcan, they’d remember. So, when he asked about Jake, they gushed about the two big geldings and surprised Dave when they told him that Jake had gone north to Woman’s Breast but hadn’t returned. While Dave understood that Jake could have ridden past Fort Shaw after inspecting the ghost town, the temptation of finding him alone either in the empty settlement or on the road was too great to ignore.
The next day, Jake was riding north out of Helena, anxious to see Sara again while Dave also rode north, but to Woman’s Breast. Dave’s route was along more level ground, but Jake was making better time as he had better horses and a greater incentive.
Dave didn’t find anyone at Woman’s Breast, not even old Joe Packard. He spent about an hour inspecting the town looking for anything of value, but early that afternoon, he headed back to Fort Shaw where he’d spend another night.
As Dave slept in his hotel room, Jake was camped out just a few miles south. By the time Dave awakened to make the ride to Helena, Jake had already turned east on the road back to Fort Benton. He would soon meet Jack Parker and Joe Hatcher who would break the news of Dave’s disappearance.
When Dave arrived in Helena, he checked in at the Flanagan Arms Hotel. As he registered, he noticed Jake’s signature just four lines above his and asked the desk clerk if his friend was still in town. When he was told that Jake had checked out the next day. Because he hadn’t met him on the road from Fort Shaw, Dave assumed that he probably had continued his search by riding south. But he didn’t discount the possibility that he might have taken the wider route through Deer Lodge City before looping back to the ranch.
Not finding Jake finally put an end to his dream of owning the Elk, despite the letter. Even if he returned with a sad cover story about how the love of his life had already found a new husband, he knew it was over. He had murdered two people and couldn’t live with the constant worry that someone might find Chet Elliott’s body. While it was possible that Jake or someone else might discover the grave, he knew it wasn’t likely to happen for a while. Dave thought he could enjoy himself in Helena for a while before deciding where to go.
So, as Jake was standing in his office, wonderi
ng about his ex-foreman’s location, Dave was sipping a cup of good coffee and admiring a young waitress.
_____
Sara had trotted down the hallway and made use of the bricked walkway to the privy while Jake was in the office. He heard her hurried footsteps and smiled as he left the room and headed to the kitchen.
Despite yesterday’s stunning and disturbing revelations, Sara’s light, barefoot race to the privy was enough to counterbalance all of it. He reached the kitchen and after pumping water into the coffeepot, he set it on a hotplate before taking down a large skillet. He set it on the largest hotplate then put a smaller skillet on another.
Jake entered the cold room, took the basket of eggs, laid four large pork sausages on top then picked up the tub of butter before returning to the cookstove. After closing the cold room door, he added a dollop of butter to the skillet and as it melted, he took down a heavy bowl.
He dropped the four sausages into the small skillet and just as he was about to crack open the first egg, Sara popped back into the kitchen. She was surprised to find Jake not only already dressed, but about to cook their breakfast.
Jake turned and said, “While you take your bath, I’ll fix your breakfast, Mrs. Elliott.”
“My eggs will be cold by the time I’m dressed, Jake.”
“I know. I thought I’d have enough time to scramble the eggs before your returned from visiting the privy, but I’ll wait until you’re dressed now.”
“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes,” she said before kissing him quickly then jogging out of the kitchen.
Jake was still smiling as he returned the egg to the bowl, then slid the skillets off the hot plates.
_____
When Sara returned to the kitchen exactly twenty-seven minutes later, she smiled when she found the table set and two platefuls of scrambled eggs and sausages waiting. Jake was pouring their coffee as she sat down behind the plate with a slightly lower mound of steaming scrambled eggs.
As Jake sat down, he asked, “Sara, how are you with needle and thread?”
“My sewing is better than my cooking. What do you need?”
“I’ll show you after breakfast. It shouldn’t take long, but I’d probably mess it up if I tried.”
Sara was curious what he needed stitched but didn’t want her breakfast to get cold and knew that she’d find out soon enough.
_____
After they’d washed the dishes, Jake walked with Sara down the hallway and soon entered the office.
As they passed through the doorway, Sara looked at his father’s Stetson on the desk and said, “I cleaned it as well as I could, but it still looks pretty sad. Do you think Mister Twitchell can return it to almost new condition?”
Jake picked up the hat and replied, “No. It think it’s too badly damaged. But can you remove the elk band and add it to my light gray Stetson?”
“Of course. It should only take me a few minutes.”
He said, “Thank you, Sara,” as he handed her the hat.
She nodded then asked, “Are you going into town this morning?”
“When I left Sheriff Zendt, I didn’t think I’d have the time, but it might be a good idea to write my statement now.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“I’d guess about two hours. I’ll be back in time for lunch and then we can meet with the men before the burial.”
“I’ll have your hat done long before then.”
“Maybe tomorrow will be just a normal day on the Elk for a change. I don’t think I’ve had one since I walked into Major Brotherton’s office.”
“I hope so. I can finally admit that I was relieved when you told me that you’d let the law handle Dave Forrest.”
“I’ll try not to bore you to death before the month is over.”
Sara laughed, kissed him then as she walked away, she said, “I don’t believe that I’ll approach boredom for another fifty years, Mister Elliott.”
Jake walked to the gun rack, pulled down his Winchester, then left the office to saddle Mars.
_____
An hour and ten minutes later, Jake slid his statement across the desk to Sheriff Zendt. To his left, deputies Willie Jacobs and Joe Farley were sitting in chairs along the wall just watching. When Jake entered the jail, he’d been surprised when both deputies shook his hand as if they were old friends. He assumed it was because he was now the owner of the Elk and not some spoiled kid.
While both deputies were still young, even Joe Farley was older than he was. He wouldn’t turn twenty-one until the second of September yet felt much older. The events of the past month had aged him.
Arv Zendt finished reading his statement and said, “This is very concise and well-written, Jake. If you weren’t a rancher, I’d offer you a job as a deputy.”
“Thanks, Arv, but I’ll let you and your deputies handle the law. I’ll stick to handling cattle and horses.”
Joe Farley snickered and said, “And your new bride.”
The sheriff glared at Joe and was about to express his displeasure when Jake said, “She’s the boss now, Joe. I just take care of the four-legged critters.”
Joe and Willie laughed, and Arv was impressed that Jake hadn’t tossed a much harsher insult back at Joe.
Jake then asked, “Do you need anything else, Arv?”
“Nope. I sent out a telegram to all of the territorial lawmen an hour ago, so maybe we’ll get word that somebody has him in jail in a little while.”
Jake stood and said, “Then he’d be escorted here for trial and hopefully, he’ll hang for what he did.”
“I’m sure he would and so does Mister Jones. It’s just a matter of finding him.”
“My father’s burial is being held on the Elk at three o’clock if you want to come. It’s nothing formal, but I thought you’d want to know.”
“I’ll see if I can make it.”
Jake nodded then waved to the deputies and left the jail.
He was about to mount Mars when he decided that he’d visit the bakery. He felt the need to explain what he’d found to Mrs. Kemper.
When he entered the bakery, Mrs. Kemper was helping Mrs. Goforth. Margaret Kemper glanced at him but continued to talk to her customer, so he removed his hat and walked to the back of the shop to wait for her to finish.
Gladys Goforth noticed Jake as she turned to leave but seemed uncomfortable when she saw him, so she just hurried from the bakery.
Jake approached Mrs. Kemper but before he stopped near the counter, she said, “I’m sorry that you had to find your answer in such a horrible way.”
“It was, but I’m actually relieved to have made the discovery. Is it already well known in town?”
“I’m sure it is, but Jack Parker stopped by yesterday and he let me know.”
Jake was puzzled because he couldn’t imagine any reason for Jack to visit the bakery.
He was about to ask her when she said, “I can tell that you’re curious about why he would ride into town to tell me what had happened. I guess that he hasn’t talked to you yet”
“I am curious and now I’m even more so about what he needs to tell me.”
She smiled and replied, “When you made Jack the foreman, he was ecstatic when you told him that he could have a wife now. He proposed the same day that you and Sara married, and I accepted. Of course, we’ll have a much longer courtship than yours. But next May, when Robert has been gone a year, I’ll divorce him for abandonment.”
Jake shook his head as he said, “I guess I was too focused on Sara to give him a chance to tell me. Then it was the next day when Sara and I found my father’s gravesite in the forest.”
“I’m sure he’ll tell you when you return.”
Jake then asked, “Mrs. Kemper, are you sure that your husband took a riverboat when he left?”
“No. I just assumed he’d taken one because we didn’t have a horse. Have you heard something?”
“When I was in Helena, I found an entry in the registe
r for an R.L. Kemper. At the time, I thought my father had used his name rather than his own. What was your husband’s middle name?”
Margaret slowly replied, “Louis. But he always signed his name as R.L. Kemper because he thought it made him sound important.”
“The stage only runs twice a week now, but riverboat traffic is even more unpredictable. Did you ever ask Mister Hibbert at the Overland depot if he boarded the coach to Fort Shaw? He could have gone there and then bought a horse to make the ride to Helena.”
“I never asked anyone about him. I was embarrassed that he’d run away and worried that he might return.”
“After things settle down, maybe I’ll take Sara to Helena for a delayed honeymoon. I’m sure she’ll be able to identify him, then I’ll give him fifty dollars to give you a divorce.”
“Jake, you don’t have to do that. Jack and I can wait.”
“But if you can marry Jack sooner, I’d have a much happier foreman and Sara would have a friend on the Elk.”
“I admit that I’m sorely tempted by the idea, but you have to ask Sara, and only after the law catches Dave Forrest.”
“I’ll probably ask her about it when I return, but I’m not going anywhere until I get word from the sheriff that they found him.”
Margaret smiled and said, “Sara is already keeping you from doing foolish manly things.”
“Yes, ma’am. I wish I’d visited her and not Kay when I was a teenager. She probably would have talked some sense into me, and I wouldn’t have enlisted. Then none of this would have happened.”
Then after a short pause, he said, “You knew my father better than I did, Mrs. Kemper. I trusted Dave Forrest because he was nice to me. But I guess that only made my father seem even harder than he was.”
“You were just a boy, Jake. Young people think they know everything, and by the time they realize that they don’t, they aren’t young anymore.”
Jake nodded and said, “You’re right about that. I’m not even twenty-one but at least I already know how ignorant I am.”
“You’re far from ignorant, Jake. Now you have Sara to help you, too. I swear that sometimes I believe your young lady is older than I am.”