“In all your years you haven’t found out which force does it?”
“Why worry about who does it? You’ll sure not change it anyway. We were surely having really wild times up there, when I courted your mother. There were raiders and they hurt people. I was the head of the safety unit. We were over a long day’s ride from the county seat and any real help.”
“She told you she was with child?”
“She said to her mother that I would not listen or take no for an answer. My heavens, her man was dead and my wife had drowned. I told her that life was left to the two of us and it might be short, too, so why not celebrate it together? Oh, Harp, it was one of the most glorious days in me life when she said she’d marry me.”
“You were on the way to a dance?”
“I was with her. The preacher must have thought I was drunk when I said hurry up and marry us before she changes her bloody mind. I was but not on any spirits. Still he married us. They threw rice at us driving back north in that fancy coach I had borrowed to impress her. It was like we had wings.”
“I hate to dig, but was your first marriage that wild?”
“Her husband died coming down from Iowa. A nice chap but obviously too fragile for the hardships we had on the road. She had two children and a wagon—her things. I only had a good saddle horse and was helping protect the train that was going to western Arkansas from Iowa. The captain said she needed a man after we buried him that afternoon. Three of us drew straws and she married me in the campfire light.
“The children both died shortly after. She was a kind, generous woman. But those losses had shocked her into what I called a numb stage. She wasn’t really all there, and the day of the picnic she wandered away from the crowd like she intended to do it. Then I discovered she’d gone wading out in the swift stream and that water swept her away. I never said it was suicide, but losses piled on more losses were more than her mind could stand, I always believed.
“It was never love between us, like me and your mother found. She was like a sewn rag doll, just there. I wanted her to spring up and be the woman I saw before her husband died, but that never happened. Your mother was the biggest blessing in me life from the first minute right up to today.
“I am glad Katy came along and waited that extra time for you to come. She did what I wanted me first wife to do—forget the past and live for tomorrow. And, Harper, I pray that God will find Long a woman as great as the ones we have.”
“Oh, yes. Emory’s woman wasn’t ready. But there are lots more out there—good ones, too.”
His dad agreed.
* * *
About to be off to another cattle chasing, Harp kissed Katy and Lee good-bye. He greeted his buffalo horse Comanche and soon was leading the gang to another roundup. It was getting to be a regular thing for him to saddle up and go find the elusive unbranded livestock with his men, then come home like Roman soldiers with a tally book full of newly claimed cattle. But as their circle widened, he knew his competition also was doing the same thing and they would soon have every damn stray longhorn in west Texas wearing someone’s brand.
The place the men rented from one of the landowners, for a small fee, had some large corrals and looked suited to buy. The elderly man who owned the land had no teeth and looked like he’d been put away wet.
Harp stepped off his Comanche horse. “Mr. Erickson, how much land have you got here?”
“Ten sections.”
“You have a price for it?”
“Yeah, I want a nice little house paid for near a town to live in. Nothing fancy but where I can walk to and fish for bullheads and pan fish and forty dollar a month income until I die.”
Harp nodded his head maybe ten times. “How many head of cows you got?”
“About a hundred and there are calves, too.”
Harp nodded. “You and I are going to town and find that house tomorrow, and you will have that income. I will buy your land and cows.”
“Good.”
“Mr. Erickson, thank you, sir. Chaw, you better ask him where the corners are on this land.”
Chaw looked hard at him. “Why?”
“Mr. Erickson, what brand do you have?”
“CHX.”
“Chaw, you are going to be the foreman of the CHX Ranch. I just bought it from Mr. Erickson. He says there are a hundred cows and calves. You better learn all about it.”
Chaw took off his weather-beaten hat and slapped his chap-clad leg with it. “I can damn sure handle that. Harp, you ever met Calamity Morton?”
“No.” The name didn’t strike a bell for him.
“She’s Watson Morton’s daughter up at Mason. We’re engaged. Now I can marry her. Boss man, that is just dandy.”
He hugged Harp.
“Boss man, you made my day. My whole day. That little gal will holler so loud you will hear, at the home ranch, when she learns we will have our own place and can afford to be married.”
Harp was laughing too hard to speak. Finally he managed, “Damn you, Chaw. You are the biggest mess in Texas, but I am pleased she will be that happy being your missus. You know Katy will want to help you two get married, buy her a wedding dress if her folks can’t afford one.”
“Oh, that girl would be pleased. I expect her folks are like the rest of Texas, penniless.”
“Tell her not to worry. Who is next in command behind you to lead the cattle drive?”
“Chadron Turner. The boys will listen to him. Could I run up there to tell her and then meet you in Kerrville? I’d really like to do that.”
“Get a fresh horse. Mr. Erickson can wait a couple of days to show you what is what. You go take care of business. And then report back here.”
“Oh, sure.”
The old man was really amused, listening to it all, and told Chaw, “Just don’t break your neck doing it. I’m plumb tickled I won’t have to worry about a thing thanks to Mr. O’Malley’s deal.”
The crew was congratulating poor Chaw, and Harp could see he was shaken by the entire situation.
Harp was now owner of another rough ranch—ten sections. He hoped his brother liked it. Hell, Long liked Texas; he wouldn’t be hard to please with his name on ten more sections.
Chadron sauntered over leading his horse, while they all watched Chaw saddle a fresh horse. “Chaw said you wanted me.”
“I am surprised he did anything, as excited as he is. Yes. He said you should be the one to lead the cattle drive in his place.”
“Well, thanks. I won’t go plumb crazy, but thanks, I believe I can handle it.”
“I do, too. You lay out the plan with the men. I am taking Mr. Erickson to town tomorrow to find him a house and make out some plans for him to move closer to a fishing hole.”
“I can handle it.” They both watched Chaw on his fresh horse barreling north.
“He’s going to get his life with her, boss man.”
“No doubt about that.”
* * *
At times he could not believe all that happened over two cattle drives. Two dumb boys taking eight hundred head to the railhead in Missouri with a dying boss and enough opposition to turn back an army. Then the Abilene trip.
Wherever you are, bro, I hope you’re being careful.
CHAPTER 32
Harper left Chadron Turner in charge. The men saddled up in the cool predawn and under his new man’s orders divided up forces to make the first roundup while he rode off to handle the land deal. He and the old man used his buckboard and team to head into town and find him a house.
When they reached town he bought the old man lunch in a café and sent word to his land man, by a boy, to tell him where he was. Clare’s Café was busy, and Tommy Snyder, lawyer and land man, soon joined them. Tommy ordered lunch while Harp explained, between eating his chicken-fried steak, what he needed.
“I have one house close to the river we can go look at.”
“Can you guarantee him he will catch fish?” Harp asked when the man said the
house sounded like it would suit him fine.
“If he can’t catch any, we can always use a blasting stick for it,” Tommy said.
Erickson closed his eyes, laughing.
Between looking at the house, and the lawyer drawing up the papers, the business ate up the entire day. He fed the old man, put him in a hotel room, and drove out to the ranch in the dark. When the dogs barked, lights came on and his dad came out on the porch.
“Just me unharnessing,” Harp told him. “I will be up there in a few minutes.”
“Naw, boss let me put them up,” a hand said, taking over the job.
“Thanks. Please grain and water them. They’ve been harnessed all day.”
Katy tackled him on the porch. “What is wrong?”
“Oh not much—” He kissed her. “I bought another ranch, made Chaw foreman. He got so excited he ran off to Mason to tell some girl they could get married. I told him you’d buy her a dress.”
“Of course. What else?”
“I left Mr. Erickson, who is selling us his ranch, to sleep in a hotel and decided I would drive out here and sleep with my wife.”
“Wonderful. You hungry?”
“Don’t go to any trouble.”
“It won’t be.”
“What ranch?” his father asked as he and his mother joined them.
“Erickson’s ten sections south of town.” Lord sakes, by then everyone was up. All he wanted was to sleep with his wife.
Up at dawn, he drove the rig back to town, met the old rancher, and they had breakfast. They went to see the snug house and ten acres again. The cost was fifteen hundred dollars and later at the lawyer’s office, the papers completed, he drove Erickson back to the ranch.
He saw the dust. His bunch was bringing in the first drive of cattle and it looked big. Once at the ranch, he was amazed at the numbers being pushed into the corrals. He let the old man off at his house—a typical shotgun Texas ranch home—and asked if he’d be all right.
“Fine. Fine. My lands. Them boys must ah went to Mexico to find that many cattle.”
“There’s no telling.”
Holy Wars told him that he’d put the team up and gave him a saddled horse to ride.
“Those boys got a bunch didn’t they?”
Holy was laughing. “I bet Chadron wants the next foreman’s job is my thought.”
“He’s gaining on it.”
The two men parted laughing.
He found his headman, wearing a kerchief for a mask against the dust. When they met he pulled it down and the Texas dust rolled off it.
“Lots of cattle,” Harp said to compliment the man.
“Ah, some of them are branded. We can cut them out and drive them off.”
“No problem. We aren’t cattle rustlers.”
“Right. I met two angry ranchers about daybreak. They threatened me. I told them we only wanted the mavericks. Nothing come of it but they were mad as hell about us being down here.”
“Not the first or the last.”
“Oh, I knew that.”
“We better get to sorting huh?”
Chadron looked around. “Yeah. I’ve been expecting Chaw to be back.”
“He will. I can help meantime.”
“I guess so.” Chadron shrugged and they joined the crew.
He made the two cousins Sly and Jimbo as the cutting riders. Things were moving along.
When Ira rang the triangle for lunch, they had most of the branded ones outside and the holding team split to take turns eating lunch. The plans were to drive the branded ones off the ranch.
The remaining wild cattle needed to be worked. They quit branding at dark that evening. Ira had lanterns hung for light on the meal. One man drew night watch. He was to wake another in two hours and so on. Harp’s eyes felt sunburned. Dust scratched and he was anxious to finish the meal and find his bedroll.
Chaw arrived and slid onto the bench beside him, his plate full. “Lucky you guys worked late or I’d have starved.”
“No. Ira would have fed you. We worked late and still have some two hundred head to work tomorrow. Excuse me, how’s Calamity?”
He put down his fork. “She is excited. She is real excited that we can be married. I told her you would buy her a wedding dress—”
“My wife Katy will.”
“Oh, okay. No problem. What do I need to do with Erickson?”
“When we finish working cattle tomorrow, move him to the house I bought him in town. Take a few boys, hire a wagon, and get him settled. Get your gal to Katy, and we will take them to town to find a dress.”
“Good. I am really grateful for this opportunity.”
“Let’s get these cattle worked first.”
“Yes, sir. Get some sleep; you look tired.”
“I am.”
Harp fell asleep when his head hit the saddle seat he used for a pillow. It was a groggy wake-up call. He could sure use his brother there to spread some of this load off on to. No telling about him or what he was up to; he simply hoped he was breathing and taking nourishment somewhere.
He ate breakfast and drank the good coffee. They worked cattle till noon. Chadron had the tally book and read off his numbers. They had found 100 cows and 70 calves with Erickson’s brand. Then they branded another 150 maverick cows and 25 springing heifers. They turned 180 bulls into steers, and there were 85 yearling steers and 75 yearling heifers.
Chadron said there were a lot more in the region they were working. They took the afternoon off. Most everyone was so damn tired they slept. Erickson said he was in no hurry so the next day they made another drive and brought in a lot more—sorted the branded ones, drove them off the ranch, and worked the rest that day and another half day. Mother cows and springing heifers made another 110. There were 150 steers and 120 mixed-sex yearlings. The number of mother cows impressed him the most.
Chaw and Darvon Studdy thought a regular crew there on that ranch could get the rest. So it was set up that some would go home, some were assigned to move Erickson, and Harp and Kate would help Chaw get some furniture and his bride find a wedding dress. A regular crew was left to keep an eye on the place and still work cattle, but two men were to stay on the place at all times. Harp had a notion if anyone knew the O’Malleys had bought it, they might burn it down to get even.
* * *
Erickson’s things were loaded in two farm wagons Harp hired. Some of the crew and Ira’s supply wagon followed. The old man drove his buckboard at the rear. When they got close, four men went with the old man to help unload his stuff. The rest rode into Kerrville.
It was at the Keystone livery, where they were hitching their horses near mid-day, when hell broke loose. Someone in the loft doorway was firing a Winchester at them. Horses, in panic mode, broke reins, reared, and ran. Shots were exchanged and some of Harp’s men, he knew, were shot. Harp had emptied his pistol, got knocked down by his horse breaking away, and managed, after he scrambled up, to get a rifle out of another scabbard. He shot it at someone firing a pistol across the pen of horses; the animals were stamping up dust, charging around, trying to escape the shooting.
Then silence rang in his ears. Two of the ranch’s downed horses broke the silence with screams of pain from bullet wounds. The dust raised up by the penned horses clouded the air.
“Who’s shot?” Harp asked, his guts roiling, him wondering who had done this.
Sly came to him, holding his bloody left arm. “Scratched is all.”
Two boys were on their knees. “Frank Wayne’s dead, boss.”
Holy Wars was hatless and shook his head, stumbling out of the dust. “Them worthless bastards have shot Candy.”
Hatless, Ira carried her limp form in his arms.
“She dead?”
Ira was so angry, his jaw was set tight. “Why in the hell did them sons of bitches shoot her for? She’s dead, Harper. Dead. And she never did a damn thing to any of them.”
“Some of you boys, help him.”
“N
o. I am going to carry her to Neal’s Funeral Home.”
“Holy, go along and you boys reload your pistols.”
“Boss, come here.” Chaw waved him to the big open doors of the livery.
The owner, Kelsey Hale, and two of his men were tied to wooden kitchen chairs and had been gagged. Chaw began cutting them loose.
“Who did this?”
“They were five of them. Rode in an hour ago, I knew one. Phil Holland. He was a hired gun, but from the blood leaking out of my loft, I figure he’s well on his way out of here.”
“They tell you why?”
“I heard him tell the others to kill both of them O’Malley boys.”
“Who hired them?” He’d cut Hale free.
“I never heard.”
The other two workers, rubbing their wrists from rope burns, shook their heads.
“I’ll go see about the one in the loft,” Chaw said.
About then two town marshals arrived, carrying sawed-off shotguns.
“Harp, what’s happened here?”
“Hale just told us. Some men came, tied him and his men up, and ambushed my bunch when we rode up. I have at least one dead cowboy and a dead girl.”
“Dead girl?”
“They shot an orphan girl that helped my cook Ira. He took her body to the undertaker.”
“We missed him hurrying down here. Why did they do this?”
“Flat out I’d say to stop us from catching any more mavericks.”
“You know who’s behind it?”
“I don’t. But I promise you if you don’t learn it, I will.”
“Where is your brother?”
Harp shook his head. “He might be climbing the Rocky Mountains. He split off to see some new country when we left Abilene.”
“I hadn’t heard that,” the lawman said.
“I think there’s more dead guys lying around.”
“Herb, go out back and see what you can find,” John Tyler said to the other man.
Two of Harp’s cowboys were dragging someone by the arms, coming from behind the barn.
“Who’s he?” Tyler asked.
“He says he’s Allen Capps,” Virgil, one of the new boys, said. “But he says Phil Holland hired him to catch some rustlers named O’Malley.”
The O'Malleys of Texas Page 26