by C. J. Petit
When he reached the first horse, he stepped down, made another trail rope out of the big man’s rope, and tied the remaining five horses to the black gelding, then left them to check on the first man he had shot.
John didn’t find anything different on this one, either, except he had more cash, $54.10, and had a Colt New Army, and another Henry. The last man had $42.35 and another Colt New Army and Henry. Not one had anything that would indicate who they were. But like the big man in the gully, there was one thing that the other three had in common. They all wore army infantry boots, and some pieces of army clothing. The last one, was wearing what looked like Confederate pants.
He carried the guns to the horses, slid the repeaters into the scabbards and decided to check out the tack and saddlebags. The saddles were all in excellent condition, as were the horses. In fact, each of the animals was probably better than the horse that Kate was on, or even Arrow, to be honest.
But it was the saddlebags that yielded the biggest haul of interesting items. In addition to the normal items like shaving kits, ammunition for the pistols and the Henrys, and a change of clothing, there was a leather bag in each set of saddlebags with cash. Each one had exactly $285, as if they divided the spoils. He ran the total of cash they had on their bodies and the saddlebags, and came with over $1300. He took a few minutes to take out his money belt and began stuffing in the cash from the pouches, but left the $168 and change from the bodies in his pockets. He did a quick count and found he had $4426 in his money belt, which was more money than some of the banks he had seen. He estimated that he had another $500 in cash spread around in different locations on his person, too. He needed to talk to Kate about money. She was obviously in need of some, and he didn’t know the financial condition of his or her family, either. But he knew that the money he had set aside from the army was his future. The added money was negotiable, depending on the needs of the others, with Kate’s needs taking priority.
With everything sorted out, he needed to go back to Kate, so John mounted the first man’s horse and led the others back to the gully, really appreciating the feel and ride of the big horse. When he reached the gully, he stepped down and left them ground hitched on the level ground and stepped over to the gully and looked down at Kate a few feet below.
Kate had heard him approaching and looked up with a big smile.
“Hello, down there, Milady. Would you mind if a wayward ex-soldier joins you in your waterless moat?” John asked has he peered down at her from ten feet above.
“I suppose that I may grant you that boon, kind sir. Feel free to enter.”
“Indeed, I shall, Madam.”
Instead of walking to the gentle slope that they used to enter the gully, John just stepped over the edge and let himself slide down the ravine’s edge on his seat, popping up to his feet as he reached the bottom and transitioning to a normal walk as if his entrance were routine.
Kate was laughing as he stepped over to Kate and offered his hand. She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet.
“What did you find up there, John? Who were they?”
“I have no idea what their names were. Not one of them have anything that identifies them, but three were probably in the Union army during the war, and the last one looked like he might have been a Confederate. So, most likely, they all worked for Union Pacific laying rails and didn’t like the work.”
“Anything else?”
“Each one of them had more money on them than most men have, altogether over $160 in their pockets, and then, in their saddlebags, each one had exactly $285 in a leather pouch.”
Kate’s mouth dropped. “John, that’s over $1200!”
“I know. I’m guessing they had been on the road doing just what they tried to do to us; steal our supplies, money and horses, drop our bodies somewhere and then selling the excess horses and saddles. It’s why their horses are all so much better than ours, because they’d sell off the lower quality and keep the good ones. I think you should switch to one of theirs, by the way. I’m already planning on changing to the big black gelding.”
“Luckily, they didn’t get us. They would have done pretty well with the horses, mules and supplies.”
She paused, and just out of curiosity, asked, “John, would they have gotten much money?”
John replied, “Kate, go ahead and sit down.”
She thought she might have hit a sore spot by asking about money, but it was too late to take it back, so she sat down.
He began to unbutton his shirt, which didn’t bother her at all, which was an amazing change from just two days ago when she might have run screaming into the Platte River. Now, she just watched.
John shifted something around and pulled out a money belt, then sat down.
John sat down in front of her and handed her the thick belt.
Kate felt the weight, and knew it contained a lot of cash, but didn’t know how much because the bills could be one dollar or hundred dollars notes, but she still didn’t say anything for thirty seconds.
Then she asked quietly, “How much is in here, John?”
“Including the money from the saddlebags, $4426.”
Kate was completely stunned. She didn’t know anyone who had a tenth of that much money, and felt a bit queasy about asking her next question because she didn’t want to think poorly of John Flynn.
“Where did you get so much money?” she finally asked softly.
“Almost all of it from the army. I never spent that much, and the army paid me $105.50 a month as a lieutenant. When I mustered out, they had to pay me over a year’s salary, so that, plus the pay I had never spent, worked out to over $3000.”
“John, I’ve never seen more than $100 in my life. What are you going to do with it?”
“I have no idea.”
“Don’t you feel uneasy carrying that much money with you?”
“I don’t even think about it, honestly. I’ve gotten so used to having the money belt around me that I don’t even know it’s there. When I was in the army, pay was so infrequent that I’d just get my pay and stick most of it in there. I’d have to change the small bills for larger ones from time to time, but it just kept growing.”
Kate shook her head and blew out her breath, astonished that anyone could be so cavalier with that much money.
John said, “Let’s pack things up and we can get ready to move. All four of their horses have excellent saddles and saddlebags too for the same reason that their horses were so good. They had two pack saddles on the horses they were trailing, too, so I’ll restructure all of the load tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll help.”
They put away the grate and Kate’s tea things and then John temporarily slid the two Henry rifles onto the pack mule and the two outlaw gunbelts around two of the Murphy mules’ saddle horns. John mounted Arrow, maybe for the last time, as Kate stepped up on Bow, and they turned to go up the gradual slope that they had used in entering the gully.
After they had cleared the gully, John rode to the string of horses that hadn’t moved ten feet, and attached them to Kate’s horse.
He turned to her and asked, “Did you see any of the horses that you like?”
“I don’t know, John. I’m kind of partial to Bow. I’ll think about it though. What do we do next?”
“We’ll stop in Cayote and see if we can find out what was going on.”
“What about all the money?”
“When we get there, I’ll ask about the men, and if the local lawman mentions that a bank was robbed and lost some money, I’ll give it back. But, more than likely, they took it from travelers like us and then killed them all, so the money will be ours.”
“Ours? John, I didn’t do anything except almost get shot. You did everything.”
“Yes, Kate, it’s ours. But about that almost getting shot, why did you leave in the first place? I saw you leave and it scared me to death.”
Kate shook her head, knowing she had messed up.
; “I was mad and forgot what you had told me about not letting emotions take over. I messed up and almost died because of it.”
“Lesson learned, Kate.” he replied with a smile to let her know she was forgiven for her mistake.
Kate was relieved, but still wanted a change in topic, and she recalled that he had told her to ask about something earlier.
“John, you mentioned that you wanted me to ask about Billy Bannister. Who was he?”
John didn’t mind telling the story a while ago, but with the inclusion of Melissa, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed, which didn’t make any sense considering some of their topics of conversation. But, he knew he’d have to tell her the truth, and just hope she didn’t start looking at him funny again. He began the story about Billy Bannister.
“Ah! Billy Bannister. Okay, because he was the cause for my nickname, I’ll start with the fight that begat Slow John. Remember how I told you how I had pummeled those two eight-year-olds? Well, when I went to school the next year, Billy Bannister was a fourth year already and a bully. But he remembered that day and avoided me. I didn’t notice anything until one day, Billy and a pal of his named Elmer Garson, who was the other half of the Slow John fight, were busy beating up another first year like me named Jeffrey Bigelow. Now, I didn’t do anything other than walk up to them and tell them to stop. They both whipped around and saw it was me and just walked away. It was then I realized that Billy and Elmer were afraid of me, even though they were a lot bigger. I would use that fear to keep their bullying under control all the time we were in school.”
“Now, when I was a sixth year, Jeff Bigelow was found dead in a well. Nobody knew how he had fallen into the well, but those of us who knew Billy Bannister for what he was, suspected that he had done it. Jeff was found feet first in the well, but hadn’t screamed out, so it meant he had to climb over the well’s stone walls and just drop in, which we knew he wouldn’t do.”
“Jeff and a girl named Melissa Blake were friends at the time. Jeffrey was a good kid, and we all liked him, and when he died, Melissa was very upset, as you might expect. Well, after Jeffrey died, Billy Bannister began to make his intentions about Melissa known, which really fueled our suspicions. It didn’t matter to Melissa, because she didn’t like Billy at all.”
“Then, I went to war, and everyone, including Melissa, thought I was dead. When I reappeared a few months ago, I stopped in at her father’s hardware store and she was there. She fainted when she saw me, thinking I was a ghost. After she came to and finally figured out who I was, we talked for a while. I asked if she was married, and she told me she was. And guess who she married?”
Kate smiled and replied, “Billy Bannister.”
John nodded and continued.
“Billy Bannister. When she said it, she had a mixture of embarrassment and fear. When I was looking at her, she suddenly dropped her eyes down and held out her arm, pulled up the sleeve on her dress and I saw a long burn mark on her arm that looked to be a few days old. She didn’t say a word, nor did she ask me to do anything about it. She didn’t have to. I asked her where she lived, and she told me. She knew I was going to go and have a talk with Billy, and possibly do more. She tried to tell me it wasn’t important, but it was to me.”
“What did you do?” Kate asked, intrigued by the story.
John then explained what had happened when he went to the house.
Kate rode on her horse with her eyes riveted to John as he talked.
When he finished, she said, “You scared him to death?”
“Pretty much. He must have felt some guilt for killing Jeff Bigelow and maybe even a little for how he treated Melissa.”
“What happened to Melissa?”
“After I eliminated her problem, she reverted back to the cheerful, enjoyable person she was before she married. I had to stay in town for a while to ask around about my family, and began to work at her father’s hardware store to fill the time. One thing led to another, and Melissa and I spent a lot of time together, most of it in her house.”
“You bedded her?” Kate asked, shocked for some reason.
“We bedded each other, Kate. Melissa had been treated so badly by her husband, she almost pulled me to her bed looking for someone who would treat her well and comfort her. I had just come back from five years in the army and I needed the soft touch of a woman. We talked a lot over those few months and she told me how Billy had forced himself on her and then told her father, just to force her to marry him. Almost from the first, Billy was the worst sort of husband, bullying her and not providing for her at all. The burn was just the latest in a series of bruises, broken bones and cuts that she had endured. When I saw her body, it was amazing that she could recover so quickly from such horrible treatment. I believe that I helped her with that healing.”
“Then why did you leave her?”
“Because I had to find my family. I was lost, Kate. Just like you. Melissa knew I had to go and she knew she couldn’t leave home because she had never been farther away than Omaha. But, in the months we spent together, we both helped each other. I asked Melissa before I left if she was going to marry again and she said she probably would, but I’m not sure. Melissa needed a good man who would stay at home and make her the center of his world. If I didn’t have to do what I’m doing now, I probably would have stayed with her, but I believe it was the right decision. She was a very special woman, but she needed the security of a quiet home life.”
“Did you love her?” Kate asked as quietly as she could and still be heard over the herd of hoofbeats.
“I don’t believe so. Love between a man and a woman is such a powerful thing and not something that should be just tossed around like telling a woman she’s pretty. It’s a commitment and has to be seen that way.”
“Did she love you?”
“I don’t know. We were both very fond of each other. We talked a lot, which is why I knew she would never leave. We laughed a lot, too. Melissa was a very good woman, it was just that she was in her world and I was in mine. I’ll write to her once I settle down, though, and find out how she’s doing.”
Kate felt very strange talking to John about Melissa. She was fighting back jealousy one second and then sympathizing with her the next. She wanted to ask another question about Melissa possibly being pregnant when he left, but even the word frightened her now.
_____
The rode into Cayote somewhere around four o’clock. The town was only marginally bigger than Plum Creek, but it did have a sheriff’s office, so they headed for the small building and stopped out front.
“Kate, can you stay with the horses while go and find out if anyone knows anything about those four?”
“Okay, John.”
John nodded before he stepped down and entered the sheriff’s office.
When he closed the door behind him, he found the sheriff, and three other men playing poker on the desk, and all their heads were turned toward him.
“Good afternoon, gents. I hope I’m not interrupting the game, but I need to talk to the sheriff for a moment.”
“Go ahead, son. None of these boys mind listenin’.” replied the sheriff, a middle-aged man, soft in the middle and sparse on the top.
“About twenty miles east of here, I saw four men coming at me from the west trailing a couple of horses. I didn’t like the look of them, so me and my partner turned north and headed off to a gully a couple of miles away from the road to let them pass, but they didn’t. They followed us and then split up and came at us. After all the smoke cleared, I left the four bodies out there in the plains. I didn’t want to bring them to your town and cause a fuss, but I checked for identification and not one of them had even bothered to write his name on his hat. All I can tell you is that I’m pretty sure one was an ex-Confederate and the other three were all ex-Union army men. They probably worked for the railroad before they got into this line of work.”
When he finished, he saw three of the four with their mouths open.
The fourth was the sheriff, and he just sat there rubbing his stubbled chin.
Then the sheriff asked, “Did any of ‘em look different?”
“Just one. He was enormous, probably six feet six inches and two hundred and fifty pounds.”
The sheriff slowly broke into wide grin.
“Do you hear that boys? Sounds like this feller did away with those four bastards!”
With that the four men all stood and took a step toward John and began pounding him on the back and shaking his hand like he’d just been elected president or something.
“Who were they, anyway?” John asked.
“Nobody knew their names. They just showed up one day outside of North Platte and they’ve been working their way east, raisin’ hell along the way. I got a telegram on ‘em from the last sheriff in North Platte, then the sheriff in Gothenberg and Cozad. Seems like they just waylaid folks on the road.”
“What do I do with all their stuff?”
“You keep it. You and your partner sure earned it. So, what brings you out this way?”
“I’m heading west looking for my family. So’s my partner. The army sent a telegram to my family back in ’62 telling them I had been killed at Shiloh. They went off homesteading two years ago and nobody seems to know where they went.”
Another card player spoke up.
“What’s their name? I’m the postmaster hereabouts and maybe I’ve seen it on a letter.”
“My family’s name is Flynn, and my partner’s is Walsh.”
“Don’t recall any Flynns, but I remember a Walsh family up near North Platte. The lady writes pretty often. Let me think about it and see if I can remember the first name. Hold on.”
He closed his eyes for few seconds and began saying names and shaking his head and then his eyes popped open and he smiled as he said, “Mrs. Peter Walsh, that’s what was on those letters. I hope that helps.”
“I hope so, too. I think we’ll get something to eat and I’ll find out if my partner is tired or wants to stay here overnight.”
“Well, we’re sure glad you boys took care of those four miscreants.’ said the sheriff.