Joe said, “We can prepare rooms for you here at the main house. There’s plenty of room.”
“That’s a splendid idea,” Bonnie replied. “Sage and Juanita will be my first guests. We can talk of what we’ll need for the wedding.”
Sage said, “Then it’s all set. As soon as we get our clothes, we’ll be ready. We can lay out the plans for diverting the stream. I would like to get it completed right away. The miners have done one stream, and they’ll be able to do this one even more quickly.”
“Thank you,” Frank said. “That will solve several problems all at once.”
Bonnie told the ladies to prepare a special meal for their first guests and to prepare two of the guest rooms for Juanita and Sage. After dinner, they talked well into the night. Bonnie was pleased to have Juanita advise her on how to make guests comfortable. When Sage told Juanita that he wanted to go to Santa Fe to get the things he would need to wear, she told him that she already had her dress, but she would help him select a tailor to sew his special clothes. Sage was pleased to have her help him. It was something he had no experience in doing. The girls were discussing the suit Sage would wear. Sage could see that all he had to do was be there, and everything would be taken care of.
Sage and Juanita rode into Santa Fe the following morning to get his suit made. The tailor Juanita chose was the best in town. When the tailor was told what the suit was for, he put everything else aside to work on this order. He had to complete it today because the wedding was going to be tomorrow. After the tailor took his measurements, he asked Sage to be back in two hours, and the suit would be ready for a fitting. He and Juanita went to the hotel for breakfast and, when they returned, Sage tried on the beautifully tailored suit. All it needed were a few adjustments.
For the first time, Juanita saw the man she loved dressed in the manner in which she was accustomed. Sage had donned the formal garment of Spanish aristocracy, and she was pleased. He was bigger than the men she had seen before, but he looked great in his new outfit.
When Sage and Juanita returned to the ranch, the two young men Carlos sent were waiting. Sage took two boxes of cartridges and began their training. They proved to be adept students, and in a few hours they were able to fire the guns with a high degree of accuracy.
Sage showed them the wagon and taught them how to install the barricades to make the wagon a rolling fortress. They would leave in three days. In the meantime, they had to learn to harness the mules and care for the wagon. Sage checked with them to make sure they were proficient. They were young and eager to begin the journey.
* * *
The next morning, Sage, Juanita, and many of their people rode to the McBain Ranch for the wedding. Joe and Bonnie decided to hold their wedding in a grove of large trees beside the river. The ride to and from the chapel was too far, and not all of the people who wanted to attend would fit in the chapel. The grove was decorated with flowers and brightly colored ribbons. The musicians played.
The ranch house was lovely, and it had plenty of room for their guests.
Joe, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, was a handsome bridegroom.
When Bonnie came down the aisle on her father’s arm, she was dressed in white silk and Spanish lace, her red hair shining in the early morning sun. To Joe she was a dream come true.
“Sage,” Joe said softly, “I’ve faced many men with guns, and I’ve never been so nervous. Is it possible that a guy like me is being married to a girl so beautiful? Thank you for all you have done, and thank you for being my best man. Now, don’t you let me stumble, and make a fool of myself.”
Juanita, as maid of honor, was also glowing. She presented a quiet elegance that left no doubt that she was the descendant of nobility. Sage couldn’t take his eyes off her. She glanced at him, gave him a little smile and a wink.
The grove was as quiet as a chapel while the wedding vows were being exchanged. When it was over, a cheer went up, and the newlyweds greeted their guests. The wine and food were delicious. The ranch owners, the people from Santa Fe, and the people from the wagon train were all there. Maggie brought her musicians, and they played while the dancing girls performed and the guests celebrated.
As the evening wore on, the guests started leaving. Some had to ride for hours to make the return journey to their ranches. After a time, there were only a few close friends and members of the family remaining. Sage sat quietly on a bench under the big tree near the veranda. It was a lovely old ranch house. There had been many celebrations in this house, and there would be many more.
Juanita came and sat beside Sage and held his hand. He felt good to be sitting there with the woman he loved and his friends around him. The changes in his life had been profound. He thought of his parents and wished they could be here. He would have liked for them to meet Juanita.
Juanita whispered, “We must go now. The newlyweds want to be alone.”
Sage nodded and called for a wagon to take them back to their place. They tied the reins of their horses to the tailgate. Sage lifted Juanita up on the back of the wagon, and they rode along with their feet hanging over the end, discussing the things that needed to be done before Sage could leave with the wagonload of bullion.
“I’m leaving,” Sage said, “but never doubt, I will return. You’re the most important thing in my life, and you always will be.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
The Mule Train to St. Louis
“Juanita, I’ll be taking only the silver bullion to St. Louis to trade for gold coins and leave the gold we have here. Carlos is the only other person who knows where we hid it. I’ll bring the gold coins back, hidden in the false bottom of the wagon. You and I will be the only persons who know that the coins are there. Not even the drivers will know. When the wagons return, if I’m not here, get Carlos to help you store the gold coins. I’ll be back as soon as I can complete what I have to do.”
Juanita snuggled in his arms and said, “I’ll live only for your return, and when you return, we’ll share the ranch and have a wonderful life.”
* * *
Sage awoke early and spent his time going over everything, making sure nothing was overlooked. He rode to the wagon camp to bid farewell to the people leaving for California. Sally came to him and again thanked him for saving her life.
She said, “I’ll always remember you and wish you well.”
“Have a good life in California,” Sage said, “and perhaps someday our trails will cross again.”
Then Sage returned to the hacienda and asked Carlos to help load the bullion. He placed two armed guards at the wagon and then went to Juanita. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could before leaving. Everything was working well at the ranch, and there was no reason to believe that it wouldn’t continue that way until he returned.
* * *
The following morning, after breakfast, Sage and Juanita went to the wagon. The drivers were saying goodbye to their families. Sage was dressed in buckskins, the same as when he first came to Santa Fe. He was once again a man of the Great Plains. He carried his ax under his arm and his knife in its scabbard. The only difference was that he now carried a revolver in a holster at his waist.
Sage and his drivers began the journey to Bent’s Fort. They arrived one day before the mule train was to leave. The leader of the mule train was a man named McFarland. They called him “Mac.” Sage took Mac to look at the wagon and showed him how the barriers fit, making the wagon into a fort, to stand off an attack.
Mac said, “Eight men with guns could stand off a whole tribe of Indians in that wagon. I don’t know why I never thought of it.”
The bullion was intentionally open to view. Sage didn’t want anyone to know about the false bottom. It was made in a way that it was almost impossible to detect. Yet, you could store a ton of bullion it.
While waiting to depart, two men came into the fort and said, “The Arapahos are on the prod. They’re looking for four men who raped and killed two of their women. If
the Indians find the men, they’ll kill them, and those lousy bastards need to be killed. You’d better be on the lookout for both the Indians and the four men.”
“Thank you for the information and your concern,” Mac said. And then he finished securing the packs of beaver pelts and otter skins to the mules and headed out. The trip east didn’t hold the feeling of adventure that the trip west held, but it was just as difficult and just as dangerous.
The trail followed the Arkansas and the Missouri rivers. It would take several months, and every mile was fraught with hardships and danger.
The mule train consisted of twenty-eight mules led by seven riders on horseback. Each rider was responsible for four mules. Sage scouted for the mule train and his Mexican drivers.
Pack mules could walk where the wagon couldn’t go, so Sage had to look for a route for the wagon. At times, the wagon would be miles from the mule train. Everyone met at night and shared the same campsite. When the wagon was alone, it was vulnerable to attack. Sage was constantly on the lookout for trouble. That trouble could be Indians, bandits, bad weather, or difficult river crossings. As scout, he had many things to watch for other than Indians. He had to be concerned about food and water for the riders and the animals. Every night, when Sage returned to camp, he came with fresh meat and knowledge of conditions ahead that Mac could use while planning the following day’s journey. At night, the drivers taught Sage the Mexican language, and he taught them English.
One day, Sage came upon two Arapaho warriors. They were ready to attack until he gave the sign of peace, then they allowed him to approach. Sage told them that his people knew why they were looking for the bad men. If he found them, he would let the Arapaho know and allow them to deal with the bad men in their own way.
Sage asked them if they knew of Chief Long Knife and his sub-chief Black Crow. They said they had heard of Chief Long Knife, but they had not seen him for many years. They told Sage that the southern Arapaho were talking of moving back to their ancestral hunting grounds in Colorado. The Comanche and the Kiowa were banding together to drive the Arapaho out. The warriors didn’t know about Black Crow or Evening Star. They told Sage they would not bother the mule train, and that they would check with him farther down the trail, to see if he had encountered the men they were looking for.
* * *
At last, the mule train passed north of Indian Territory. Sage could have ridden to the cave in a few days, but first he had to make sure that the bullion got to St. Louis safely, and then purchase the things on the list.
He had so many things to bring back that he would probably need to buy another wagon. If he bought another wagon, he would have to hire two more drivers and mules to pull the wagon. He would accompany the wagons to this spot on the return trip and then go to his cave.
The mule train came upon a gruesome scene—someone had slain a group of Osage Indians—women, children, and old men. The women had been ravaged; the children and old men had been wantonly slain. This was not the work of Indians. This was the work of deranged white men. These men must be found and dealt with.
Sage left camp long before the mule train was ready to go. A few miles out, he came across the tracks of four horses that were being ridden at a gallop westbound. Now, why would the four riders be going west in such a hurry? Suddenly it occurred to him that they were after the bullion! The people at the trading post knew that he would be hauling bullion. The riders had somehow gotten word of it and were here to steal it!
Shortly after his drivers broke camp, a wheel came off. The pin holding the locking nut had fallen out. Sage’s men told Mac that they had a spare wheel and could handle the problem. They would just put the wheel back on and be on the trail in no time.
The train continued, with the understanding that the wagon would rejoin them when they stopped for lunch. But since the wagon didn’t show up, Mac sent one of his drivers back to see what had happened.
The four men who were going to steal Sage’s bullion saw the man Mac had sent back. They lay in ambush and shot him off his horse. The men in the wagon heard the shot, put up the barricades, and waited to see who had fired the shots.
In a short time, the thieves showed up, expecting an easy time of killing the two drivers. When they attacked, the drivers hid behind the barricade and put up a strong resistance. Afraid the mules would be killed, one of the drivers released them to allow them to run away. The drivers knew they could retrieve them once the problem with the robbers had been dealt with. While the driver was trying to get back into the wagon, he was shot in the shoulder. He could still fire his revolver, but the wound was painful.
The thieves realized they couldn’t drive the defenders from the wagon and decided to burn them out, if they could drag brush under the wagon and set it on fire. The fire would drive the defenders out into the open. The bullion wouldn’t burn, and they could take all their horses could carry.
Sage heard gunfire and proceeded carefully. His drivers would be able to make a stand until he could get behind the bandits and eliminate them one at a time.
Sage saw one of the bandits trying to pull up a dead bush. He hit him over the head with the butt of his pistol, gagged him, and tied him up with his arms and legs around a tree. He then continued looking until he spotted the leader who was watching the others gather dry brush.
When the one Sage had tied didn’t return, the leader called out, “Deet, what’s holding you up? Get that wood over here. We’ve got to get out of here before the people in that mule train show up. I hope that wild man shows up. I still want to see if he’s as tough as they say. I’ll beat him with my fists, and then put a bullet through him. Carl, go see what’s holding Deet up.”
Sage stepped back and waited for Carl. When Carl saw his companion tied up, he looked around, but it was too late. The blunt end of a knife hit him between the eyes with a thud. He, too, was soon tied up. Now, Sage had only two more to deal with.
When the firing stopped, the drivers wondered what had happened. They could see the leader, but he was too far away to shoot at, so they just waited knowing that Sage would show up soon.
“Skinner,” the leader of the four bandits said to the man near him, “bring your wood on over here, and let’s get this fire started. I want to get out of here.”
Before Skinner could move, Sage hit him on the head. Then Sage threw his knife and pinned the leader’s gun arm to the tree he was standing beside. The ruffian’s startled look was frozen on his face. He hadn’t heard or seen anything before he felt the knife pin his arm to the tree.
Sage walked to him and said, “Now, at long last, you’re going to find out just how wild a wild man can be. I tried to be your friend. You rejected my offer. You raped and killed Arapaho women, and then killed a group of friendly Osage Indians. You raped their women, and killed their old men and children. You have killed one of our men, and you’re trying to steal something that doesn’t belong to you. I’m going to turn you and your men over to the Arapaho warriors. You have broken their law and killed their people. You will stand trial by their law and face their justice.”
The mule drivers saw Sage take control of the robbers, so they came out, got the mules, and hooked them back to the wagon.
“Tie these men to those trees,” Sage said. “Tie them with their hands and feet around the trees. If they even try to get away, shoot them. I know where those Arapaho warriors are, and I’ll be back with them in a couple of hours. One of you, go see what you can do for the man Mac sent to help you.”
When Sage returned with the warriors, Mac and some of his men were at the wagon. The drivers had told Mac what had happened.
“Sage,” Mac asked, “are you going to turn these men over to those warriors? Do you have any idea what they’ll do to them?”
Sage replied, “These thieves killed one of your men. You can take any one of them to deal with as you wish for that killing. They killed two Arapaho women. The Arapaho men could deal with two of them as they wish for that crime.
Then I will take the other one to the Osage to deal with for killing their women, children, and old men. Does that seem fair to you?”
Mac, seeing the logic of Sage’s thinking, said, “Yes, it does.”
Sage then explained the proposal to the warriors. They, too, felt that would be fair, and they accepted the arrangement.
Sage said to Mac, “Okay, pick your man, but be prepared to explain to the dead man’s family what you did to the man who killed their loved one.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Mac said. “I wouldn’t know which one to pick.”
“Okay, let’s give them a trial. Ask them who killed your man.”
Each of the thieves blamed the killing on the others. They were all shouting and saying that they didn’t know who had killed the man Mac had sent.
“Who raped the women?” Sage asked.
They each accused the other. They all raped the women, the warriors said.
“Who killed the old men and children, and who raped the Osage women?” Mac asked.
They had all participated in the killing and the rapes.
Sage asked, “Now, what should we do? Do you want to let them go free to continue killing and raping?”
“No!” No one wanted to let them go free.
“No? Then who wants to kill them?” Sage asked.
“Why don’t we just leave them tied to the trees and let the animals take care of them?” Mac suggested.
“I promised these warriors that we would let them deal with these horrible creatures. I’ll keep my promise,” Sage replied.
Mac said, “Okay, I’ll go along with that.”
Sage then asked the warriors what they wanted to do with the men.
The warriors talked together for a while, and then the leader said, “Strip them of their clothes and all their tools, and then leave them to survive like the animals of the prairie. They’re no better than animals, so they should live like animals.”
Everyone thought that was a good idea. The robbers were relieved that their lives had been spared, so that was what was done. They were stripped of everything, and turned loose on the Great Plains completely naked, to see if they could survive. Everyone watched the killers stumble away, and then the Arapaho and the people in the mule train went their separate ways.
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