“Did you come to disrupt the operation of this ranch again?” Frank asked.
“I came to see my mother and to tell you that I told Kyle to drive that herd to the Indian village. He was following my orders.”
“Well, I fired Kyle and sent some men to retrieve that herd.”
Before Alex could respond, Eva came to the door.
“Frank and I were married yesterday,” she said, “and he’s in charge of running this ranch. I know I should have told you, but I didn’t think you would approve.”
“You knew that I wouldn’t approve, Mother! You didn’t need my approval to get married, but you did need my approval to put Frank in charge of this ranch. And Frank knows exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Well, I don’t,” Eva said. “Vard owned the ranch, and as his wife, ownership came to me when he died.”
“It seems there are other things you don’t understand, Mother. First, Father didn’t just die—he was killed. He was ambushed, but before he was ambushed, he left a will leaving this ranch to me. I own the ranch, Mother, not you, and I hope you and I can agree on policy, but if we can’t, I’ll exercise authority as Father obviously intended me to.”
Alex paused and glared at Frank before he continued.
“Father prepared a will and left it in the courthouse. Frank read the will yesterday. I wonder why he didn’t tell you about it.”
“I’m sure he was going to—maybe it slipped his mind,” Eva said, looking at Frank.
“Mother, you and I need to talk. May I come in?”
“Of course you can come in. You’re always welcome here.”
“Frank, you wait on the porch,” Alex commanded. Once they were in the room alone, Alex faced his mother. “Mother, I don’t want to disrupt your life with Frank, but he must understand that he’s only the foreman. I own this ranch. I own this house and all of the land. I can’t let Frank fire Kyle for doing what I told him to do. I want the Indians to get the cows I promised them. If Frank tries to stop me, I’ll discharge him and hire Kyle as foreman. If Frank tries to use force, he will fail. Father left you all the money you’ll need. You and Frank can live in town like Marl and Marian. I think Frank either killed Father with the gun he keeps under your bed or he hired someone to do it.”
“The gun is no longer under the bed,” Eva offered.
“Did you tell Frank that you showed me the gun?”
“No!”
“Then why did he move it, and where did he take it?”
“He didn’t tell me, so I don’t know.” Eva was in tears.
“Do you want to settle this thing about firing Kyle straight with Frank, or do you want me to?”
Eva didn’t answer, so Alex walked to the porch. “Frank, where’s Kyle Coulter?”
“I fired him, so he’s in the bunkhouse packing.”
“Well, I’m going to stop him, and if you interfere, you had better start packing.”
Alex walked to the bunkhouse leading Midnight and saw Kyle coming through the door carrying his meager belongings.
“Kyle, Frank is not your employer—I am. If you want to continue working for me, I’ll increase your wages. I need you to teach the Indians to raise cattle. They’ll be glad to work for beef. They’re starving because they have no meat. I’ll hire more men to help you teach them to grow grain and vegetables. They Indians will also need to raise chickens and pigs.”
“Do you think they’ll change to the white man’s ways?” Kyle asked.
“They probably won’t, but I have to try. If you’re willing to try with me, then get on your horse and take a herd and get them started.”
“What are you going to do about Frank?” Kyle asked.
“I’m not going to do anything unless he tries to stop me. He’s Mother’s problem.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Kyle said. “Frank thought he had this ranch all tied up, and he’s not going to take this lying down.”
“He’s been taking it lying down for some time now,” Alex chuckled.
“I admire your sense of humor,” Kyle replied with a smile.
* * *
Kyle and the cowboys were more particular in selecting the herd this time, taking a mixture of cows and bulls. The cowboys who had attended the Indian celebration were glad to be returning. They had met some very pretty Indian girls, and they were looking forward to seeing them again. “You make damn sure that those Indian girls want what you’re offering,” Alex said, addressing the cowboys. “Indian men are not going to take more kindly to your cavorting with their girls than you would to them cavorting with yours. While you’re on Indian land, you’re subject to Indian justice.”
Gray Wolf, Soaring Eagle, and three other young Indians agreed to work with Kyle. Alex rode back to town and stopped at the Flying W on the way, to talk with Joe Tyler.
* * *
When Alex arrived at the Flying W, Joe was eager to talk.
“Alex, I have something to tell you that might be important. That Henry rifle you were looking for mysteriously showed up.”
“Are you sure it’s the same gun?”
“It’s the same rifle, Joe replied. I recognized it from the marking on the stock. Come, I’ll show it to you.”
“Let’s fire it to be sure it leaves the same markings on the shell casing.”
They test-fired the gun, but the markings on the shell casing were different.
“Did you tell anyone about the faulty firing pin?”
“I told Cayman about it. It’s his gun, and I thought he ought to know.”
“Do you know if he got it repaired?”
“I don’t think so, because the gun just reappeared, and Pete didn’t know who had borrowed it. That’s why I’m telling you about it—because I don’t want you to think I’m involved.”
“Thanks for telling me. I have to get back to town. I think the net is closing in on the man who killed my father.”
* * *
As he crossed Cripple Creek, Alex heard shots and then felt a stinging sensation over his right temple. He saw the ground coming up and felt his body slam into it. He wanted to see who had fired the shot, but he couldn’t move his head, and then his eyesight faded. So this is how it is to die, he thought, but I can’t die yet—I still haven’t found Father’s killers.
Then he heard a voice with a Spanish accent. “Look at that hole in his head and that pool of blood!”
“Yeah, amigo,” another voice exclaimed. “We got him—he’s dead!” Then he felt someone kick him, presumably to make sure he was dead.
“We’ve done what we were paid to do. Grab his bandanna as proof, and let’s get our money and go to the saloon and get drunk,” the first voice said.
Alex heard their gleeful laughter as they were leaving. Soon Midnight came back from wherever he had run and nuzzled Alex’s face. Alex couldn’t respond, but somehow he knew that his right hand was lying in water. he tried to move his arm, but it had no feeling. Just before he sank into unconsciousness, he heard Midnight running away.
Midnight ran to the Trail’s end Saloon and stood tromping the wooden steps until Marl and Elsa came to see what was making the noise. Midnight was bobbing his head frantically. Elsa noticed blood on the saddle.
“Something has happened to Alex!” she cried. “I’ll get on Midnight and see where he takes me.” Then she looked at Marl and asked, “Will you follow me?”
Elsa jumped on Midnight, but she had trouble staying in the saddle because Midnight was so fast. When they got to the creek, she found Alex lying partly in the water.
“Oh, no, Alex, don’t die!” Elsa exclaimed as she jumped off Midnight. She tore off her petticoat, placed his head in her lap, and bathed his face in the cold water with her petticoat. Alex groaned, but he didn’t move. he had lost a lot of blood and needed help badly.
With a team of horses pulling a buggy at full run, Marl finally showed up. “I figured he’d been hurt,” he said. “I knew we couldn’t haul him to town on a ho
rse, so I brought the buggy. How bad is he?”
“He isn’t dead, Marl,” Elsa replied, “but I’m worried. He’s been shot in the head, and he’s lost a lot of blood. It looks like a bullet bounced off his skull over his right ear. He needs a doctor right away.”
“Help me lift him into the buggy, and we’ll take him to your room. I think we should keep this quiet. Someone wants him dead, and if they find out that he isn’t, they’ll try to finish the job. Cover him with this canvass, and we’ll take him up the back stairs to your room. Help him all you can while I get the doctor. I’ll swear the doctor to secrecy. Doc will understand.”
* * *
“He’s got a bad concussion,” Doc said, “but I think we can save him. he’s going to need around-the-clock care for a few days.”
The doctor stopped the bleeding and sewed up the wound. It looked like the wound would heal, but Alex still hadn’t regained consciousness. “Do everything you can, but if he doesn’t regain consciousness, you’ll lose him,” Doc cautioned.
“I’ll care for him right here,” Elsa said. “I don’t think Cindy wants Alex dead, but someone she knows might, so I don’t think we should tell her either.”
“I agree,” Marl said. “With Alex in your room, you won’t be able to work, but you can come and go as you please. I’ll see to it that you have everything you need while you nurse him back to health.”
* * *
Someone put the word out that Alex was dead. No one would say how he was killed, but the two strangers from Mexico sure seemed pleased, and they had lots of money to spend.
Eva also heard the rumor, and asked Marl if he had heard anything. Eva was the last person Marl was going to tell, so he denied knowing anything.
Frank fired Kyle Coulter again, and Kyle moved into town. Kyle knew that something had happened to Alex, but where was his body? A man doesn’t just disappear, not even in the West.
* * *
When Frank Fadden went with the cowboys to retrieve the cattle from the Indians, Gray Wolf and Soaring Eagle met them at Thunder Creek. Morning Flower translated: “Cross that stream and you’ll be on Indian land, and we’ll send you back in pieces!”
Frank knew when he was beaten and retreated.
One of the cowboys mentioned to Jeffery Hamilton that Alex was missing and that he was probably dead somewhere. That was the first Jeff had heard about Alex being missing. He searched for days but couldn’t find him. As time passed and Alex still didn’t show up, Jeff, too, was convinced that Alex was dead, and he got worried when he heard that a couple of Mexicans were saying they were getting tired of his snooping around, and if he kept it up, he might come up missing, also. Knowing that he didn’t stand a chance against the pistoleros, he and Morning Flower prepared to go to his home in the East.
Cindy also heard the rumor that Alex was dead, but that was all she knew, other than that Elsa wasn’t taking customers, and she was busy every time Cindy tried to talk to her. Cindy suspected that Elsa knew something she wasn’t telling.
Because Gray Wolf and Soaring Eagle had threatened Frank with violence, they didn’t dare go into town. Joe Tyler was the last man who had talked to Alex, but he wouldn’t say what their conversation was about.
No one was willing to talk.
* * *
After a few days, Elsa knew Alex was getting well when he responded while she was giving him a sponge bath. She hadn’t worked for days, and she was bathing a handsome man, but she decided she had better let Alex gain a little more strength.
When Alex regained consciousness, he was hungry and was startled that he couldn’t move his right arm. Elsa was attentive and massaged it, hoping he could regain its use.
“I’m worried about my shooting arm, Elsa,” Alex admitted. “Maybe if I practice I can be as good with my other arm.”
* * *
One day, Lila, the girl who entertained men in the adjoining room, knocked on Elsa’s door.
“Cindy asked to use my room. She’s entertaining a new man in town. he’s tall, dark, and handsome and looks like he might be something special. Let’s watch through the peephole—I’d like to see if he’s as good as he looks.”
“No,” Elsa snapped. “Use the peephole in your room. I’m too busy.”
But as soon as Lila left, Elsa moved the picture covering the hole in the wall and peeked.
“Alex, what does Raphael Rojas look like?”
“He’s about thirty, my height, dark-skinned with black curly hair. Why do you ask?”
“Cindy is entertaining a man who fits that description in the next room, and it looks like she’s being entertained a bit as well. . . . Would you like to watch? You’ll have to watch quietly—they can hear you if you make a noise.”
Alex was no Peeping Tom, and he felt guilty about violating Cindy’s privacy, but he couldn’t resist. His mind had been tortured by imaginings of Cindy with Raphe for a long time. Alex looked and saw Cindy cuddled in Raphe’s arms. He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. he had always wondered if Cindy enjoyed the men she slept with, and now he was seeing just how much. Alex stepped back from the peephole, stunned. Elsa replaced him at the peephole, and she was as fascinated as Alex had been.
“So Raphe is back from New Orleans and he’s with Cindy again,” Alex groaned. “Cindy will never stop wanting Raphe, because she likes the way he makes love to her.”
“You have more to give Cindy than Raphe does. She loves you, but she thinks you’re dead. She obviously likes Raphe, but she doesn’t love him. I think she has turned to Raphe for comfort, so don’t judge her too harshly. I’ll be here for you as long as you want me. I’d do anything if you’d accept me in Cindy’s place—I know you couldn’t. So how is your problem with Cindy any different than mine is with you?”
Alex took Elsa in his arms.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been unfair, haven’t I? Thank you for saving my life. I owe you more than I can ever repay.” he kissed her and asked, “Could you be happy with Greg if he married you?”
“I could, and I think I could make Greg happy, but if Big Mike came by, I’d go to him in a minute, and if Greg found out about it, I could never regain his love.”
“If you love Greg, why sleep with Big Mike? What if Greg eliminated Big Mike, or if I eliminated Raphe? We could, you know.”
“Of course you could, and a lot of men in your situation would. I would hate Greg for it, and Cindy would hate you. You said it yourself—she’s used to having a lot of men. You were the last man to make love to her, and that was a long time ago. What you saw through that peephole wasn’t a woman making love to a man; it was a woman getting comfort from a man. She’s grieving, and she needs someone. Can you blame her?”
“The way things stand, I don’t know who in the hell to blame or what I want. Mother is sleeping with the man whom I believe killed my father and put this hole in my skull. I would kill him in a minute; but Mother would hate me if I did. I could eliminate Raphe, and then Cindy would hate me. So what can I do to change that?”
“I saw your friend Jeff when he came to town with Morning Flower. She’s lovely. Cindy told me that Morning Flower is in love with you. She also told me that Jeff wants to marry Morning Flower. If she marries Jeff, and then fantasizes about you while Jeff is making love to her, should Jeff kill you to prevent Morning Flower from wanting you?”
Elsa shook her head and continued. “Alex, you’re young, strong, well-educated, and wealthy. More than a few women are hoping that you’ll notice them, so why are you complaining? You have a law degree, so why don’t you work at your law practice and let life take its course? And remember, Cindy’s with Raphe because she thinks you’re dead.”
“Perhaps working at my law profession would help, but what do I do about the people who are trying to kill me?”
“The two Mexican gunfighters went back to Mexico. We’ll watch, and maybe we’ll see who hired them.”
“You and Marl are the only people who know I’m alive. Let’s keep
it that way.”
“Cindy didn’t want to believe that you were dead at first, but since you haven’t turned up, even she has accepted the idea. Like you, she believes that Frank Fadden is involved. I think she’s pumping Raphe on both ends. She’s pumping one end for pleasure and the other end for information,” Elsa giggled. “What are Jeff and Morning Flower doing?” Alex asked, trying to forget what Cindy was doing.
“They’re still living in your room. Jeff is using your desk to do his writing. Morning Flower has adapted to city living, and she has agreed to marry him. Jeff looked for you for a long time, and when his life was threatened, he bought tickets on the train going east. I guess they’re going to his folks’ place.”
Elsa went on. “Timberland has always been an unruly town, and with everybody believing you’re dead, it’s getting worse. Marl is trying to keep a lid on things at the Trail’s end, but I’m afraid someone is going to kill him, too.”
As Elsa watched Alex trying to relieve the numbness in his right arm, she continued. “Raphe reminded me of Big Mike. I wonder if Mother is still taking care of him, and I wonder if Father knows. I’d like to see Greg again to ask if he’ll forgive me. I’ve saved some money, but I don’t have enough to buy a ticket home.”
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