“We can’t buy anything until we exchange those old coins for real money,” Marl said, “and that will take a week at least. The trip to Denver is a long trip for pack mules to be carrying a load that heavy. We’ll take four mules—that way we won’t have to load them too heavy. Vard, you and I can make the trip, and Alex can stay here to look after things while we’re gone.”
“If we go through town,” Vard said, “people will want to know what we’re taking to Denver that requires four mules to carry. If anyone suspects that we’ve got a load of gold, we’ll never get to Denver.”
“Going through Indian land could cut a day’s travel time,” Marl suggested, “and no one would suspect a thing.”
“The Ute will never let us ride through their reservation, especially after those prospectors killed two squaws,” Vard noted.
“Talking Drum is well known among the Ute,” Alex said. “If he gives you a sign, they’ll let you pass. Cindy and I played with the Ute children all our lives, and I think Talking Drum will give you a pass if I ask him. I’ll ride over and talk to him right now. If he gives the okay, you could leave tomorrow morning.”
“Good,” Vard nodded. “We’ll be getting ready while you’re gone. on the way back from Denver, we’ll go through Timberland and put the money in the bank. We’ll buy the Bar H and the land you and Cindy want all at the same time. If all goes well, we’ll own both our farms and the ranch this time next week.”
“That will be wonderful!” Eva said, hardly able to hide her excitement. “But be careful; I’ll be worried until you get back.”
* * *
With the coin that Talking Drum had given him to make the mold and the three extra coins he had promised the elders, Alex rode at a gallop to the Indian village. Gray Wolf and Soaring Eagle rushed to greet him. Alex exchanged greetings and told them he couldn’t stop because he had to talk to Talking Drum.
Talking Drum wasn’t expecting him until tomorrow, but when he saw Alex coming, he sent a runner to bring the two elders to his tepee while he went to get the long knife.
Alex presented each elder with a new coin and also gave one to Talking Drum, along with the original coin that was still in its leather pouch.
Talking Drum’s surprise showed in his usually placid face as he looked at all three coins. “They all look the same. How can you tell which coin is the sacred one?”
“Do you remember the mountain design on your coin?”
“I do,” Talking Drum nodded solemnly.
“Look carefully at the coin in your hand, and then look at the coin that is still in the pouch, and you’ll see the mountain. I made a copy of this coin, but I erased the mountain when I made the mold to make the others.”
When Talking Drum opened the pouch and examined his coin, he exclaimed, “I see the mountain!” and then passed it to the other elders.
“I see it, too!” each agreed looking at the original and then marveling at the new coins.
“The mountain is not in the others,” Talking Drum said. “Young warrior, you are brave and wise. We would be honored if you would sit in council with us.”
“I would be honored to sit with such great men, but tonight I have things to do, and I have a favor to ask.”
“Ask what you will, and if it’s in our power to give, it’s yours.”
“My father and Cindy’s father must get to Denver with mules, and they must make the trip without other white men knowing. The journey would be shorter if they could go through Ute land. Can you give them something to carry to show to the Ute warriors so the warriors will let our fathers through?”
“My warriors will escort them,” Talking Drum said. “When do they want to go?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“When the light first blesses the land, my warriors will be ready.”
After his usual parting words, Alex bowed with gratitude to Talking Drum, picked up the sword, mounted his horse, waved good-bye to his friends, and rode home.
* * *
It was dark when Alex got home, so he led his horse to the barn, and he noticed two strange horses tied to the hitching rail in front of his house. Sensing that something was not right, Alex looked through a window into the living room. Two men were holding his family hostage. They were the same gunslingers who had challenged him when he and Cindy were in town. The tall one was pointing his gun at Cindy, and the short, pudgy one was holding his gun on Vard and Marl. They had tied Vard and Marl to chairs and taken their guns. The women also had their hands tied and were sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. In the shuffle, Eva’s dress was pulled up accidentally exposing her legs.
“Hey, Shorty, look at the legs on this dame,” Slim, the tall man said as he stared at Eva's legs. Then he turned his eyes on Vard. “Hey, you, we know you’ve got money stashed away somewhere, so you may as well tell us where it is.” While still looking at Eva's legs, Slim continued, “I don’t mind if you take your time telling us because I want some time in the bedroom with this one. When I’m through with her, Shorty can take his pick of the other two.”
Eva's heart skipped a beat and looked at Slim with disgust. Vard and Marl were trying desperately to free their hands.
“Yeah, Slim,” Shorty said as he looked and agreed. “Let’s have some fun.”
Cindy started to cry as she thought of her recent experience hoping it wasn’t going to happen again. Marian and Eva were able to console her that time, but they might need consoling themselves this time.
“Where’s Alex?” Eva whispered to Cindy.
Cindy shook her head. Little did they know that Alex was standing in the dark just outside the window. The window was open and covered by a curtain that ruffled in the slight breeze, and he could hear everything being said. The gunmen referred to one another by the names Slim and Shorty. Aptly named, Alex thought. Slim had his gun pointed at Cindy.
“This girl,” he said, “and the coward she was with were looking at land charts yesterday. They talked to the man who sells land, so we know you have money. Now where is it, and where’s that coward who was with this girl? If you don’t give us the money, we may as well have some fun. Shorty and I are going to take turns with these women.”
Alex’s blood began to boil—he had to do something, and quickly. I don’t dare shoot through the window. Slim’s gun is pointed right at Cindy’s heart, and Shorty has his gun trained on Father!
To attract their attention, Alex threw a rock on the front porch, and they all looked in that direction.
“That must be the coward who people around here say is fast,” Slim said, laughing. “Now we know where he is. What’s he waiting for? Why don’t he come on in and watch while I have my way with this woman?”
They waited, all eyes on the front door, expecting Alex to walk in. But everything was quiet.
“Shorty, go see what made that noise,” Slim said.
Alex rushed to the porch and hid in the shadows. Shorty stuck his head out and said, “There ain’t anyone out here. It must have been an animal, or maybe an acorn fell on the roof.”
“Well, don’t just peek—go out there and look around a bit,” Slim ordered.
Shorty, being a coward, stepped out slowly. As soon as Shorty was out of sight from the people in the house, Alex hit him over the head with the barrel of his pistol and quickly bound and gagged him. Then he dragged him off the porch and rolled him under it. When Shorty didn’t come back, Cindy knew that Alex was out there and nodded reassuringly to Eva and Marian. Alex returned to the window to watch; Cindy couldn’t see him, but she was smiling. Confidence had returned to her face.
“Shorty!” Slim yelled. “Get back in here! If that kid ain’t out there, I want some time with this woman. And when her husband hears me in the bedroom having a great time, he’ll tell us where he’s hid that money and where the kid is. Then we can finish what we came here to do.”
Still no reply from Shorty.
I can’t just shoot it out with him, Alex thought. The la
st thing I want is bullets flying around. If I should fail to kill Slim, Cindy will be at his mercy. I’ll wait—time is on my side.
Shorty had recovered from the blow to his head, but with his hands and feet tied and his mouth gagged, he couldn’t move or make a sound. When Slim realized that Shorty wasn’t coming back, he knew that something was wrong and was getting scared. Grabbing Eva's hair, he said menacingly, “You’re coming with me.” he wasn’t thinking about the bedroom this time—he was thinking about saving his hide. Slim dragged Eva out the front door to the hitching rail, but in order to get on his horse, he had to release her. And when he did, Alex stepped from the darkness and pulled his mother from the line of fire.
“Slim,” he said, “you and Shorty came to Timberland to kill me to improve your reputation as gunfighters. I ignored your challenge, and you called me a coward. Now you’ve came to my home to kill me and steal from my family. You held my family hostage and called me a coward again. If I let you go this time, you may harm or kill one of us next time, and there’ll be a next time if I don’t stop you. I don’t want to kill your horse, so step away from him and draw when you’re ready.”
Shorty watched Slim make the fatal mistake of going for his gun. Cindy and Marian had untied Vard and Marl, and they all came crashing through the door just in time to see the would be-fast gunman slump to the ground. Cindy kissed Alex while he was holstering his gun.
“I knew you’d be back,” she said, “and I knew you could beat them.”
Eva had regained her composure, and they all marveled at how quickly Alex had taken command of the situation. Alex dragged Shorty from under the porch and took his gun.
“Take your foul-smelling partner and get him out of here, and don’t come back!” Alex ordered.
They watched Shorty gallop away with Slim tied over his saddle.
“I’ll follow them a ways to make sure they get off our property,” Vard said and got on his horse.
Again, Alex had been forced to kill a man, and it didn’t sit well with his stomach. Alex and Cindy went to their rendezvous, and after thinking hard about it, he realized that killing Slim was unavoidable.
“Cindy, I’m sorry you had to watch me kill a man, but I had to do it.”
“Yes, Alex, I know,” Cindy said as she held him closely while he settled in his mind what he had done. “Thank you for coming to our rescue.”
When they got back to the house, Eva ran to her son. “Son,” she sobbed as she hugged him. “You did what had to be done, and we’re all grateful.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Alex replied.
They all sat down at the supper table, but no one seemed to be hungry. Marl asked for blessings on the food. Little was said while they ate. They were all feeling relieved at how everything turned out.
“Father,” Alex said, “Talking Drum will have a scouting party ready at sunup to escort you and Marl through Ute country. Going through Ute land will save time, and no one in Timberland will ever know, and as you suggested, I’ll take care of things here while you’re gone.”
Chapter 7
Vard and Marl were at the Indian village at sunup and, as Talking Drum had promised, the warriors were ready. They proceeded without delay across Ute land, and the warriors dropped off at the boundary. Vard and Marl continued on to the gold buyer’s office in Denver.
The gold buyer was a big man with a round, kindly appearing face and discerning eyes peering out from under a cap with a green shade.
“Name’s Miller,” he said, as he extended his hand. “How can I help you?”
“We’ve got some old gold coins that we’d like to trade for coins of current mint,” Vard said.
“That’s an unusual request,” Miller said. “Let me see the coins.” Marl emptied a bag of fifty coins on the counter. Miller’s eyes widened in amazement and then narrowed as he studied each man carefully. “I’ve never seen coins like these— or coins this heavy. Where in the hell did you get them?”
“That,” Vard said, “we’d rather not divulge.”
“I can understand why,” Miller replied, nodding his head, “but you must know that these coins are worth more than their weight value. Archaeologists and treasure hunters from all over the world are looking for coins like this. I’ll give you their weight value without question, but you’ve got to agree to let me sell them to the highest bidder. I’ll sell them to buyers in europe so that no one around here will hear about it.” he looked intently at Vard and Marl. “how many of these do you have? If you have more, I’d like to buy all of them.”
“We have four mules loaded with them,” Marl answered. “We’ll bring them in, and you can weigh them.”
As Vard and Marl brought in the sacks, Miller weighed each one and then tallied the total. He shook his head. “I don’t have enough money to buy this much gold,” he said, “and I doubt that the bank can pay you in coin. I’ll make arrangements with the banker, though, and he can give you a note of credit to your bank in Timberland. That’ll save you the trouble of hauling all that gold back. News of something like this travels fast, and you probably couldn’t get it back to Timberland even if you tried. Every outlaw band in the West would be after you.”
“How do we know the banker in Timberland will honor the note?” Vard asked.
“Oh, he’ll honor it, because that is his business. The Denver bank will charge a fee of five percent, and your bank in Timberland is entitled to charge five percent, but that’s cheap, considering that you may not be able to get the actual coinage back to your bank even if the Denver bank can come up with that much money.”
Miller took his eyes off the coins, lifted his shades, looked at Vard and then at Marl. “If these terms are agreeable, help me get this gold to the bank, and I’ll help you get a bank note for the proper amount, and then you can be on your way.”
“Then let’s get it done,” Vard said.
* * *
The ride back to Timberland was without incident. Mr. Fowler, the banker in Timberland, was astonished and said, “A deposit of this size will put this bank on the map and make my position as bank manager secure.”
Vard and Marl divided the money evenly, and Vard opened an account in the names of Eva, Alex, and himself, while Marl opened an account in his name only.
“We’ll be buying land today,” Vard said to the banker. “How do we pay for it?”
“Here are some blank checks. When you buy something, or pay someone, write on the check to whom it’s to be paid, fill in the amount, and then sign the check. The bank will take care of the rest.”
Vard and Marl seemed satisfied with the transactions and shook hands with Mr. Fowler. They then went to the land office and purchased the four sections Alex and Cindy had indicated.
“That went smoothly,” Vard said. “Now let’s buy the Bar H.”
* * *
By the time they walked out of the land office, word of the large deposit had spread all over town, and all the shopkeepers were watching.
“If you owned the Bar H,” Marl said, “I wouldn’t have to worry about your cattle eating my crops. So why don’t you buy the ranch in your name? Alex will inherit it someday, and when he and Cindy get married, half of it will belong to Cindy.”
“Yeah, and it will cost you nothing,” Vard agreed with a chuckle. They went to see Mr. Patterson at the land office, and without quibbling about the price, Vard bought the ranch with all its livestock and equipment. Then he and Marl returned home in time for supper.
* * *
Vard told everyone about exchanging the gold coins in Denver for a note of credit to the bank in Timberland. They were relieved that the transactions had gone smoothly.
“We bought our farms and the land that Alex and Cindy wanted,” Vard said. “Then I bought the Bar H, lock, stock, and barrel. We’re the largest land owners and the largest bank depositors in this part of Colorado,” he chuckled. “Alex, if you’ll go with me tomorrow morning, we’ll break the news to Frank Fadden. We’ll tell hi
m that he and his ranch hands work for us now. I’m not sure how they’ll take the news, but I think they’ll be pleased when we tell them that they’ll each be getting a raise and that nothing will change, except who pays them.”
“May I ride with you?” Cindy asked.
Vard glanced at Marl and then at Marian. “If your parents don’t mind, I see no reason why not,” Vard said. Marian and Marl acknowledged his question and nodded.
“Then we’ll be on the trail right after breakfast. Our world has changed, and we’ll have to change with it.” Vard paused for a moment and directed his attention to his beloved Eva. “Do you want to move into the ranch house?”
“No, Vard, I like this house. I love it here beside Thunder Creek, so I’d like to stay here, but now that we have enough money to buy the material and hire carpenters, I’d like to make this house a little bigger. Later, when you and Alex get everything in order, I’d like to ride over to the ranchland with you so I can see what we’ve bought.” Vard kissed Eva. “Okay, Eva. We’ll be leaving as soon as we finish our morning chores. After we’ve checked everything out at the Bar H, we’ll have to decide if we want to continue farming or if we want to incorporate the farming operation with the ranching operation. In either event, we’ll need to hire men to do the work. We’ll be kept busy watching over everything.”
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