Valley of Bones

by Dusty Richards

  “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go home. The others can size up the rest of the deal.”

  “Have you decided anything?”

  Chet nodded. “It will take a helluva lot of work to repair, but it could be a helluva ranch. I want the cowherd size and the range quality information. I see how this place caved in during Mitch’s last years. He was like the man who slapped his son upside the head for taking a new nail to pound down a board when he still had bent ones to straighten and use instead.”

  Jesus laughed even harder.

  “That’s the truth. I knew men like that back in Texas.”

  “You’ve taken on some deals rougher than this one. What do you think about it?”

  “I want the rest of them to tell me what they think.”

  “So if it don’t work you can say you told me to go ahead?”

  They both laughed all the way back to the ranch.

  Toby, his wife Talley, and Miguel had just ridden in.

  Liz was out greeting them. So there was handshaking all the way around.

  Talley asked him if he didn’t have enough places already.

  “Always room for another good one. Getting any hay put up this summer?”

  She gave a really smug nod. “At home we had a great crop and we have mowed three of those places that the land man bought for you. I have calluses to prove it.”

  “Chet, we are going to have plenty of hay, she’s telling the truth,” Toby said. “Three of those places were fenced and they have tons of hay stacked on them. That went real smoothly.”

  Chet hugged Talley. “There is a Joseph Chavez at Socorro that I am going to wire to gather cows for you.”

  “You found the cows for Rustler’s Ranch?” Toby asked.

  “Yes. We will go get them soon.”

  “Miguel told me about the ones you got for the Oracle Ranch, and now I am getting some, too. Thank you.”

  “You two and those helpers of yours have been working hard this summer.”

  “The boys wanted to keep working after they cleared that entire hay field. Toby asked them if they could put up hay. They said they could. I cooked and we camped at those places while we hayed them. I also mowed a lot while they stacked. Those boys worked their backsides off getting through all that hay. Now Toby has them hauling a lot of it to the home place for feed next winter. I know you’re busy, but you should see it now.”

  “I promise I will come see it.”

  “Talley and I talked a lot. If we fenced three more of those homesteads that Bo bought for you, we could cut hay on all of them next year and we could run five hundred to seven fifty mother cows.”

  “Sounds good. If those boys still want to work, then let’s fence them.”

  Toby winked and kissed his wife’s cheek. “See, darling, that was no big deal to get him to agree to that.”

  “On that,” she said. “I am going up to the house to talk to your women. I miss doing that.”

  “You still need us to go look at the ranch?” Miguel asked.

  “Yes, I do. But remember, Saturday is fun day here. Sunday is rest day. Monday go back and make a final survey of the Three V’s and Tuesday we all report what we found. Toby, if you hay your place and six homesteads, that will be over a section and half of land to mow.”

  “I may need more than two mowers, won’t I?”

  “I’d say so.”

  Chet put his arm on the shorter man’s shoulder. “You’ve done a great job. Thanks and you, too, Talley.”

  Talley paused and turned at the foot of the porch steps. “I had to.” She chipped in.

  “How is that?”

  “First, you found me.” She began to count on her fingers. “Second, you saved me from a horrible life where I was headed. Third, I needed to show Toby I was tough enough to be his wife. Fourth, I wanted to show the world I was not some dizzy lazy you-know-what.”

  Chet walked up and hugged her, then spun her back toward the stairs. “You are wonderful, girl. Now, get up there. Those women will talk with any old hay maker.”

  When she disappeared into the house, Toby said, “She misses that the most. Talking to another woman about anything. Being around those boys who idolize her she speaks Spanish like she was born there. She learned that, too, on purpose, since we took over the ranch. She’s my idea of what a wife is supposed to be. Maybe someday we’ll have kids. I know you want some, too. One day we will both be blessed. Miguel’s back and he wants to show me some things. Guess I am excused?”

  “Excused is right. Toby, you are cutting a great trail. Keep up the good work.”

  “Thanks, I try.”

  He and Miguel were barely gone when Sarge, Susie, and Irwin arrived.

  “Ready for the party, big brother?” she asked.

  He swung her off the buckboard and on her feet.

  “I damn sure am.”

  “Toby already here?” She straightened out her dress.

  “Yes. And we are having a foreman contest here.”

  “What for?”

  “The foremen are telling me what they think about me buying the Three V’s ranch. Sarge can get into it tomorrow.”

  “Well”—she looked at him with a small smile—“wrestling me out of the wagon, could you tell anything?”

  He laughed. “Lucy asked me two months ago if you were keeping up with her.”

  Sarge laughed. “She is now.”

  “Wonderful. Get inside and talk. Talley is there, too. She’s been putting up hay and wants to talk about it.”

  “That bunch really have been busy,” Sarge said. “We put up some but they have hayed several of those homestead places. Those two are hustlers and have lots of hay. He says he will get cows this fall.”

  “Yes. He will. How is the Navajo deal going?”

  “Super. I know Susie wrote and told you but the agent confirmed that the ring is not getting our beef contract.”

  “I knew that. They threatened me hard when I was in Washington D.C.”

  “You weren’t able to do any good at all about the Navajo selling coal then?”

  Chet shook his head. “Could have done more here than I did up there.”

  “They said you really tried and told me to tell you thanks for all you did do.”

  “Well, it was not much. I think the Tucson Ring had an under-the-table deal made before I got there. How is Tom’s son-in-law working out for you?”

  “Cody Day is really a smart young man. The men listen to him and he gets it all done. I hope I am not going to lose him?”

  “Don’t worry, but we need to increase his pay and get him some more time off to come back here and visit with his folks.”

  Sarge winced. “I’ve tried to get Cody to take more time off but he just shakes his head.”

  “Well, he needs to take some time off.”

  “I‘ll handle it. He is taking this month’s cattle to New Mexico. Which gives me a breather.”

  “Sarge, we have come a long ways since you joined me down on the Verde.”

  “I have never regretted one single day doing that, Chet Byrnes.”

  Both men hugged and then nodded.

  “I bet there is some cool tea inside.”

  “I’m ready.”

  They went into the living room.

  The others rode in shortly after that.

  Tom found Chet and shook his head. “Needs lots of improvement. I did some day work for him back when I was unemployed. I thought then he was letting the place fall in bad and no one was doing anything about it. I was glad to get the day work at the time and he even hinted he wanted to talk to me about a permanent job. He never did. You hired me shortly after that and I forgot about him.”

  “Did you think he would hire you?”

  “He never really had a foreman. Oh, they called themselves that but they weren’t.”

  “Well, I am glad he never hired you.”

  “Me, too. When Fred came for me last night, I talked to Millie about what you might have found.”<
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  “We better talk about that later. Let’s get in a party mood. My wife was upset I was breaking up plans for the big ranch party to celebrate our victory at the trials in Tucson with our success.”

  Tom laughed. “Well, let’s enjoy ourselves.”

  “Thanks.”

  Chet mixed and talked to the wives, listened to them, and talked to Lisa privately in the kitchen, where a half dozen ranch wives were helping her prepare the evening meal.

  “You are doing great,” he assured Lisa.

  She rolled her eyes like she was dizzy. “I have good help. The food will be served on time. Liz says things are going fine, but it is my first test and I want it perfect.”

  Suppressing his laughter, he shook his head and mumbled that would be impossible.

  She heard and punched his arm. “Damn you. I want it to be one hundred percent.”

  He patted her shoulder, and she, shaking her head, told him thanks and broke out in a grin of pride.

  Boy, she had made a real person out of herself.

  Back in the crowded living room, Liz caught his arm. “Susie tell you?”

  “As I put her down.”

  “I knew you were close—”

  “Do not worry, my dear. We try and I am pleased to have you.”

  “I try not to. I know we have lots to be grateful for. How is the ranch doing?”

  “The V’s?”

  “Of course.”

  Chet shook his head. “The jury is not in yet.”

  “Can it be saved?”

  “Oh, any ranch can be revived. It is the cost that it will require to do it that worries me.”

  “One more thing. You recall the Talley you brought home?”

  “Yes.”

  “She acted like marrying Toby was the last resort for her?”

  “Sarge said that they have really stacked tons of hay on those fenced homesteads that Bo bought for us.”

  “She and Toby want a real ranch like Lucy and Shawn have. They already asked me to talk to you about it.”

  “Well, they damn sure might get it.”

  “Toby always was serious. But Miss I really don’t care woke up out there,” Liz said, laughing.

  * * *

  Supper was served. It was damn near perfect. The wonderful prime rib proved delightful. Lisa’s roasted potatoes were done. The green beans were fresh from the garden. The yeast rolls floated on his plate. Yet another tough-cursing female he had brought back and turned wife, she was seated with her husband, who wore a snowy white starched shirt at the table, and everyone was bragging on her meal. Liz announced besides her great cooking Lisa had eleven Hispanic children enrolled in the Cherry School in grades from one to seven because of her tutoring.

  When they stood and applauded her, she blushed.

  After the meal and her pecan pie dessert, the women helped do the dishes while the men went out on the porch in the cooling evening.

  “Tomorrow we can rest and prepare for the party. That will be another great event.”

  “Tell us about the trials,” Hampt asked him.

  “It was a white slavery ring. Men had been selling kidnapped girls for large sums. Two were prominent Tucson businessmen, and we rounded up every one of them. It all started with the kidnapping of two farm girls from Thatcher’s community. We arrested them red-handed and hauled them to the Pima County Jail until the trial. A judge listened to what we had to say, and would not bond them. We finally got one of their own to testify against them. They will be serving long prison terms. Jesus and Fred caught one of their cohorts, a slave dealer from below the border, on the U.S. side, and arrested him and brought him back for trial, too. How many innocent children they sold I can’t tell, but it was more than a handful. Unfortunately this job isn’t over. There are more evil men out there with no morals that must be stopped. But those two girls are safe at home tonight, thanks to my associates.”

  All the men nodded.

  “Who among us is looking at the Three V’s for our opinion about the outfit?” Hampt asked.

  “Everyone on the porch. JD and Shawn are too far away to come. Monday we look again, and Tuesday I want everyone here with all your opinions.”

  Hampt shook his head. “It is a damn sight better place than the Quarter Circle Z was when you bought it.”

  “Hampt, that ranch had a river running through it.”

  “I still say Mitch’s place is a better buy than that was.” Hampt was laughing by then.

  “Boy, did I buy a wildcat by the tail?”

  “And got half of us, too.”

  Hampt went up and hugged him. “Sarge, Tom, Cole, Jesus, and I have ridden through lots of hell to make Arizona a damn sight better place and we are still winning that war. I will be there Tuesday and proud to be invited.”

  “Most of you don’t know Cole. He rode with Jesus and me after I was told I had to have two guards to bring me home alive. In the only battle I had with warlike Apaches I was taking our first herd to the Navajos. A war party of boys attacked us. Cole shot one. I captured one and left him to bring him in while I went to make sure we had enough cattle to feed the Navajos. When Cole caught up to us, he had no prisoner. I asked him why. He said the Apache drew a knife and he had to shoot him. Then he asked if he was fired.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “That boy expected to lose his job. He really was worried I would fire him. He was the one that ran the stage line and telegraph wire for me and my partners.”

  “Now, everyone has beds. Tomorrow is party day. Horseshoe pitching. Rifle range shooting and anyone who thinks he can ride broncs, we have some that need gentling.”

  They shook hands and broke up the gathering.

  Liz joined him as he walked through the living room and hooked onto his arm. “How is the ranch examination going?”

  “I am not asking them. Monday we go out again and reexamine it and Tuesday we gather and talk about it in the living room.”

  “Well, thank you. That means our party will not be interrupted by the Three V’s purchase.”

  “Or nonpurchase.”

  “I doubt that.” She poked him.

  “We will see.”

  “Your friends will be here tomorrow. I invited them all.”

  “Cole and Val invited?” Cole Emerson was a former ranch hand, now one of Chet’s guardsmen. Valerie was his wife.

  “Of course, and Rocky. Rhea is bringing Adam. Victor went back to get her, him, and Millie from the Verde Ranch.” Adam was Chet’s son from a previous relationship. Rhea and her husband, Victor, often took care of the boy when Chet was working.

  “You do good work.”

  She poked him as they went up the stairs. They laughed. How nice to be back home with this lovely woman. Thank you, Lord.

  Chapter 10

  Morning slipped in with doves calling and quail whit wooing around the house in the cool morning air. Chet was sipping steaming coffee on the front porch as the golden sun shone slantwise across the polished floor.

  “You are up early,” Miguel’s tall wife Lisa said while standing in the doorway with her own coffee.

  “I always rise early. I have to think about what trouble I need to avoid for the day.”

  She chuckled. “Monica warned me, ‘he will be up before you in the morning, but he knows where I keep the coffee. His will be too strong for the rest, so let him make his, and you make it for the others.’”

  Chet rose and went to the edge of the porch. “There’s a bald eagle up there circling this morning. I think Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be the American bird, but they chose the eagle. He was the stronger one when it came to a fight.”

  He went back toward the bench and his coffee. Standing to sip it, he said, “Did you ever regret coming here?”

  “Never. I came and your wife said, ‘Lisa, no one here knows your past. What you do here will be what they know about you.’ When Miguel first spoke to me, I froze and wondered if he knew about me. We started to talk, and I let thi
ngs progress to see if he really wanted me.

  “I asked Liz if I should go ride with him. She said, ‘If your heart tells you to ride with him, but only if your heart tells you to.’ I had to think about what she said. She told me of her first day with you. I was not in a rush. If he was really in love with me, he, too, had time to wait. I felt that when I was strong enough to tell him the truth about my past and he accepted it and me—I would know. I did.”

  “That is a great story. Almost as good as the one about Liz and my meeting down at Tubac.”

  “Don’t you ever think I was ungrateful for you bringing me here. I never thought anything horrible riding down here with you. I thought I was tough and mean enough to make it on my own. I quickly saw I wasn’t that person and I am happy. Liz told me that the longer Miguel rides with you the smarter he will be. I see that happening and he also learned to read—that from me. I am so proud of him.”

  “He will learn it all. I know you love Liz, but why did you take Monica’s job?”

  “Oh, I have so much I want to learn about being a real woman. Doing this job I am learning something new every day. Never worry about me. If I was not here, I could never do any of this and expand my mind.”

  “Thanks. I will remember that. We are glad you chose to do it. You are doing great.”

  “I hope so. You ready to eat breakfast?”

  “Yes. Where is Miguel?”

  “He and Raphael are checking cows. He is teaching Miguel how to tell if a cow has a calf in her.”

  Chet narrowed his eyes at her. “Seriously? Do they punch her?”

  “No they simply ride by her.”

  Chet was amused but curious about the method as he followed her into the kitchen.

  She looked over her shoulder. “Miguel says Raphael can see if a cow is carrying a calf by the dark greasy hair on the cow from the tail forward.”

  “That sounds simple enough.”

  “Miguel wants to use it riding through the Three V’s herd. He says some of the bulls are old and he fears there are not enough of them to breed all the cows.”

  “You two make a great pair.”

  “He asked me one morning where else could we learn so much working for people we like. I told him nowhere.”