Chaparral Range War (9781101619049)

  “You getting concerned about the wedding?”

  “No. But I don’t want anyone hurt or left out from this cleanup of lawbreakers.”

  “Will your buddies from Texas come help you?”

  “If they can get away.” He was watching a distant eagle soar on the wind drafts. Then he turned and wrapped her in his arms. “I won’t forget you. Don’t worry. You’re the light in my life.”

  TWENTY-THREE

  WHEN SATURDAY ARRIVED, Noble drove Cally to the dance with her white wedding dress packed carefully in a box in back. Dressed up, the old man was going to give her away. Guthrey’s best man, Dan, rode on horseback with him.

  The law clerks were guarding the ranch. Guthrey hoped they weren’t challenged. He doubted they were really tough enough to withstand an attack, and his roiling guts warned him it would be a bad situation if they did have to defend the place.

  The sky was deep blue and the summer temperature was raising waves of heat off the ground, making the mountains to the west look fuzzy. A few buzzards, searching for something dead to feast upon, coasted across them on the wind.

  There had been no answer to his wires for help so far. But the Rangers were all busy men and the messages may not have reached them if they were off chasing down criminals. And Guthrey had asked Noble to ride to Tucson while he and Cally were gone and take care of paying the rent on the pasture and collecting the money for the cattle they’d sold to Michaels.

  The main thing on Guthrey’s mind was his bride. For the next week or so he intended to forget about everything but her. A man who had waited this long to pick a bride had many things to fret about.

  Would he please her? Be the partner she expected? Would the honeymoon evening when they were finally alone shock her? Damn, things got so complicated.

  The schoolhouse looked like a grand ball was about to begin. There were hordes of campers and folks set up all around the yard who must have come from miles away. They spilled out into the desert and set up their tents down near the dry creek. He hoped the yard pump had plenty of good rubbers in it. They might burn them out trying to get adequate water up from the depths. He needed to stop worrying about every damn little thing. He couldn’t fix them all anyway.

  “You look nice,” Dan said softly.

  Guthrey dropped his chin and shook his head. “Nice isn’t good enough. I hope I’m not dragging your sister down with me.”

  “Hey, you’ve worked your butt off to help all of us and it is still unfolding. I’m proud to have you in the family. She’s a big girl. She can take licks and wants to be your wife. Just enjoy yourself. You deserve her.”

  “Thanks. We’ll have a good life, I am certain.”

  “You will. There’s some people outside who want to volunteer to help you.”

  “I’ll speak to them.”

  He stepped out of the tent set up for him. Cally had her own tent across the grounds. He glanced up there and saw she was having lots of company and probably getting more friendly advice.

  When he came out, a cheer from all the folks spread out before him went all the way up to the schoolhouse. He stood and nodded, saying thanks. “I want all of you to be involved in our election and use your vote to send the bad officials out of office.” They cheered. “We plan to take charge immediately after you vote them out, and those lawbreakers better get on a fast horse or catch it from us. We will get all of them. You must support all the deputy U.S. marshals in charge of those ballot boxes and be sure they aren’t bothered.”

  Someone handed him a telegram. He frowned, reading it.

  I am on my way. Stand your ground. C. Magio.

  A smile swept Guthrey’s face. Number one was coming. It was all going to work.

  Think about your bride, he told himself. He reminisced about those sparkling dances with his princess at the various times they’d gone to socials. Time to dedicate a new life for both of them.

  Finally it was time for the wedding ceremony to begin. There was not room enough for everyone there to fit inside the schoolhouse. Guthrey wore his new starched white shirt and britches Cally had acquired for him. Noble, like a handsome prince, brought Guthrey’s bride to him at the altar. The vows they repeated were like fat snowflakes falling to earth on soft pillows. He kissed the bride and then they went through at the head of the food line. They ate a few bites of the enormous amount of dishes set on the tables, then Cally cut the great cake and they fed each other a piece.

  He saw the sparkling pride in her eyes. In a few minutes after the cake cutting, they rushed out to the waiting team and buckboard. Guthrey swept her up on the rig in the snowy dress and drew some loud cheering. Joining her, he waved at the crowd ahead to make room for the horses to pass through them. The people backed up and he clucked to the excited team. They danced away, and she squeezed his arm.

  “This is the biggest day of my life, Phil. Oh, my heavens, I think I can fly, I am so high. I’m glad you have so much patience for me.”

  He leaned toward her as they reached the end of the lines of well-wishers on both sides. “This is really the first day of our lives together and they will all be this rich or richer.”

  She leaned her head on his shoulder as they hit the river road and headed north. They camped their first night off the road at a watering hole that Noble had told him about. The topknot quail flocks came cautiously in for water. The two of them ate some packed food and sat on a blanket to watch the small soldiers come in at double time to seek water and then dust in the loose dirt.

  They soon melted into each other’s arms upon the blanket and the sunset on their first exciting honeymoon evening.

  * * *

  THE SECOND MORNING the honeymooners woke up on top of the summit of Mount Graham in the tall pines as the cool air flowed over one of the highest ranges in southern Arizona. They had set aside a little over a week for their honeymoon. Noble and Dan could keep an eye on the ranch that long, and McCall and Brown would be monitoring events in the county seat to make sure that no one succeeded in putting a halt to the election that would take place in two weeks. For the next week, Guthrey and Cally had nothing more pressing to do than cook their meals and spend time in each other’s arms.

  After a week of bliss, Monday morning Cally was busy making them breakfast with the front and back door of the small cabin wide open to usher through the soft coolness.

  “We have one more day of this peaceful world.”

  She looked up at him from her cooking and quietly asked, “I hope you are pleased with me. I have no experience at pleasing a husband as his wife.”

  “Don’t change a thing you do. I am very pleased with the entire experience of becoming your husband. Does that answer all your concerns? I want us to go on day after day living our life so we please each other.”

  “It is so unbelievable. I’ll try.” She spun around, then laughed. “I am still light-headed.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. “You’re not alone, darling.”

  “We better go home today . . . or tomorrow?” she asked.

  “One more day up here in heaven, then we better get back to work.”

  “Someday we need to get us a cabin up here to get away from it all.”

  “Yes, we will.”

  TWENTY-FOUR

  THE NEWLYWEDS DROVE home. Their descent off Mount Graham was a steep, narrow road that wound down from the pine-forested mountaintop, through the juniper pinions’ section, until they reached the hotter chaparral desert floor, billowing dust churning up in their wake.

  “What will you do first?” Cally asked, holding Guthrey’s arm in both hands as they rocked on the spring seat of the buckboard.

  “I’ll need to check and see how many of my Ranger pals are coming.”

  “How long have you known them?”

  “I’ve kno
wn Todd Bowles since I was a kid. We grew up together in northeast Texas. We got into lots of things as boys, but if you were going to fight, you had to fight both of us. He was a Ranger last time I talked to him. Chuck Magio is the craziest guy I know, but when things get serious he’d be the toughest one. He’s a big lover and flirt, so you be sure to avoid him. Gus Agnew is another tough Ranger. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, men listen. All three know the law and how to handle lawbreakers.”

  “You’re going to send out four teams to arrest all these guys?”

  “For starters. One team will be at Whitmore’s headquarters that second morning after the election and arrest him, Hampton, and everyone on his payroll. Second team will arrest the man who wears the ruby ring, Curt Slegal, and his bunch. There’s at least two of those raiders over in the Chiricahuas, and we’ll have a group get them. My group is going over to arrest Killion at his ranch for malfeasance of his office.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Means he didn’t do his job properly.”

  “He didn’t do it at all.” Cally shook her head in disgust.

  “Well, you’re right about that. Backed by some solid men, we should have every outlaw in the county in jail or on their way to prison in a very short time.”

  “Will my father’s killer be with them?”

  “Cally, I am hoping someone will slip and tell us who killed him. I’m going to coach the law clerks to listen for any reference to his death. Criminals will do anything to save their own necks, like testify against each other to get a shorter term or even to get released. We’ll use it as a carrot.”

  “I know you’re doing all you can. But I don’t think I’ll ever really put that to rest in my mind until we find the one who did it.”

  “I agree.”

  They reached the ranch in late afternoon. Among all the people standing in the yard he saw Pete and his two Mexican boys. Was something wrong? Had something happened?

  They looked at each other as Dan came on the run to meet them. Out of breath he gasped, “You won’t ever believe what’s happened!”

  Guthrey stepped to the ground, then turned and reached out to lift Cally off the buckboard.

  “They’ve found gold!”

  Guthrey whirled around. “Who—Pete?”

  “Damn right.”

  He turned and asked Cally, “Did you hear that?”

  “Oh, yeah, big man. I heard him very well.” She beamed down at him.

  Someone said, “Lots of it. Maybe a fortune.”

  Guthrey lifted Cally off the buckboard, and she kissed him hard as he set her down. “I can’t believe it. How did they do that?”

  “He said they’ve been blasting and finally found it today.”

  “I trusted he’d find it if it was there,” Guthrey said, but he still felt taken aback by the news. “Anyone know how much?”

  Pete held up two fingers. “We brought out two buckets of nuggets to show you.”

  Guthrey backed into the wagon wheel, still half-overwhelmed by the news. “You know what that means, Mrs. Guthrey?”

  “Kinda.”

  “Kinda?” He broke out laughing and then he hugged her. “You’re rich.”

  “Oh, Phil, I wish Dad was here. He’d have loved this day, and he’d sure have loved you.”

  “Hey, you two, come inside,” Dan said. “Kinda wild out here right now.”

  “I have to ask Pete one question,” Guthrey said to Dan. “Go ahead, Cally. I’ll be right there.”

  He drew Pete aside. “Do you think there was any way that someone knew there was gold in that outcropping before you opened it up?”

  “I don’t think so. Unless he found some richer samples that were on the surface and removed them. I bet over the past number of years several prospectors poked around that outcropping. Those types of formations intrigue people who are looking for sources of gold. Why do you ask?”

  “Dan and Cally’s father was killed right there. Some think it was the big ranchers trying to run the small ones out who shot him. But I wondered if someone wanted him dead to own that mine someday ’cause the kids couldn’t handle it alone.”

  Pete nodded. “Sorry I’m not any help. We didn’t find anything until we were close to twelve feet down in this shaft.”

  “Thanks.” He talked a few minutes to others in the yard and then excused himself.

  “Whew.” Cally hugged him when he came into the house and whispered, “When are all these people going to leave?”

  “I don’t know, darling. A real gold strike like this is rare anymore, they say.”

  “We should have stayed on the mountain.”

  The crowd did not thin fast, but finally the folks outside dispersed and Guthrey blew out the lights. Undressed, he slipped into the bed and found Cally’s warm, silky body there. He rolled over and hugged her. Damn, he was one lucky guy. The gold would be nice, but Cally’s subtle form and having her was worth lots more to him than any gold treasure.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  GUTHREY TOOK THE gold to town in the morning. Chuck Magio was supposed to be coming by stage any day. Dan had received telegrams from both of the others too. Todd Bowles was catching the train from Fort Worth to El Paso and then coming on by coach. Gus Agnew would be here later, but told Guthrey he’d be here before he was needed as well.

  The stocky Italian had already arrived, but Guthrey didn’t know it when he rode into town with a packhorse carrying the gold. He dismounted at the bank, hitched the horses, and took the first pannier inside.

  “Mr. Guthrey. What can we do for you, sir?” the teller asked.

  “You can watch this bag. I have another.”

  “What’s in them, sir?”

  He leaned over and told the man, “They’re full of raw gold.”

  “Oh my—” He looked bug-eyed but said, “Oh, I will watch it.”

  Guthrey delivered the second one and found the banker and the teller on their knees, looking in the pannier.

  The banker, named Mitchem, rose to his feet and shook his head, dusting off his hands. “My heavens, where did all this gold come from?”

  “The Bridges Ranch.” He shushed the man’s response, then in a low voice asked if they could speak privately in the banker’s office. Once safely inside, Guthrey asked him, “Anyone mention to you that they wanted to buy that place recently?”

  “A couple months ago, maybe longer, Jim Burroughs mentioned that to me. How he really liked the place and how with the way things were going, Harold and his kids might sell out, and he wanted it worse than Whitmore did.”

  “Thanks. Don’t mention we talked about this to anyone. Especially to Burroughs.”

  “May I ask why?”

  “I think that’s who murdered Harold Bridges. I believe he knew that the gold was up there.”

  “Oh my. All I ever heard was that it was the masked night raiders who killed him.”

  “I’ll let you know. Not a peep to anyone.” They took the gold nuggets and dust into the back room and put all of it into cloth bags to be sent in two strongboxes to the smelter over in Silver City.

  “Is there more?” Mitchem asked.

  “Pete says it’s a rich find. It could be only a pocket, but he thinks there’s more.”

  The banker shook his head. “Tell Dan and your new wife, Cally, that we can handle all this transfer, have it melted into bars, and do everything else for them.”

  “I will do that.” He excused himself and walked the block to Ellen’s house of ill repute. He was in the front yard when someone appeared in the upstairs window. “That you, Phil?”

  He looked up at the man in the snowy white shirt and smiled. “No, I’m not him. When did you get here, Chuck?”

  “Last night. They don’t have a good hotel in t
his place so they put me up here.”

  “I bet they did.” Guthrey chuckled.

  “See you downstairs.”

  The black girl opened the door. “I sure never did thank you that day for arresting them bullies. Land sakes, they was plum crazy. You know’s this man that done come in last night? He’s sure funny. He said he knows you.” She shook her head and offered to take his hat.

  “I’m not staying long. Is the boss lady up?”

  “She’s in the kitchen.”

  “I’ll go see her for a minute. You go up and tell that wild man we need to ride to the ranch.”

  She agreed, and he went down the hall. He found Ellen busy counting the bottles of wine in her pantry, dressed in the same white robe she’d been wearing the last time he was here.

  “I only have one question. Now, I want to know why didn’t you tell me that man’s name when I asked you.”

  She looked askance at him. “I’ve got my reasons.”

  “In a few days I am going to be sheriff of this county. I don’t want to start my term in office and you not level with me about things I need to know about.”

  “Damn, the only reason I didn’t tell you—”

  “Hey,” Chuck said, “am I breaking up a private conversation?”

  “I’ll be right with you, Chuck. Well?” he asked, glaring at the madam directly.

  “I owed him money.”

  “Go to the bank and refinance the loan.”

  “I . . . all right, I will.”

  “Good. Next time don’t tie in with those kinda people.” He frowned hard at her.

  “I won’t—sorry if I caused problems, but I had no choice.”

  He spun around and shook the hard hand of his friend. “Good to see you. This outfit will feed you, then we’ll go out to the ranch and you can meet my bride.”

  “Your bride? I can’t believe that you’re married, but it’s sure good to see you. All that I’ve heard about since I got here is you and all you’ve been doing to make this place livable.”