“Now that we do have. A couple of widow women opened a café. Nothing fancy, but they serve good wholesome food. Since my Missus died, I eat there three times a day. Every week or ten days, a brother of their husbands’ brings down an elk or deer for them. He lives up in the mountains.”
“So the women married brothers and another brother furnishes them meat for the café?”
“You got it figured right. And they’s sisters,” he added with a chuckle. “We tend to look after our own here.”
“And where could we find this café?” Man asked. “That noise you hear isn’t an avalanche, it’s my stomach.”
“Go on past the doctor’s office and you’ll see it. When you finish chow, keep on going and at the end of the street, you’ll see my barn. It’s the only one, so you can’t miss it. Put the animals inside and toss them some hay.”
Man and Kate thanked Mr. Dasher, went out, and mounted their horses. When they were even with the doctors, Man turned toward the hitching rail. “I want to check on Lucille.”
He jumped down and hurried to the door. He came back in less than two minutes. “The doctor had her bandaged and put her to bed. There was no major damage and he said she could travel in a day or so. Her feet, knees and hands will be sore, but with soft shoes, she’ll be able to move around some, enough to travel as she will be sitting most of the time.”
“I wonder how Cliff is getting along?” she asked. “I’ll ask tomorrow when I send a wire to Chief Kincaid,” Man said. “I’m sure Roy and Dan will want an update on their mother and I’ll put that in the wire.”
They found the barn and Kate climbed the ladder. Man handed her the two packs from the mules. He put the animals in stalls and gave them a generous ration of oats and hay. He climbed up and found Kate busily arranging the hay to make a bed. She saw him and said, “Somebody put bales of hay around the straw bed. It’ll help keep the wind from blowing over us.”
Man looked at the enclosure, brought three more bales, and placed them outside the opening. Kate had tossed the blankets that were there to the side. She preferred to use the buffalo robe and bearskin with her own blankets.
Man picked them up and spread them over the top of the hay making a covering. “This will help keep it warm inside,” he said.
Kate was undressing and put her clothes beside the bed. He pulled the hay to the opening and closed it. It was dark inside, but he managed to undress and put his clothes on the other side of their bed.
Kate held the cover up and Man slid inside and found his lovely Kate as natural as the day she was born. She wiggled under him and sighed in contentment as she clutched him with her arms and legs. “It has been too long,” she whispered.
***
Bob Engledow ordered Al Valdez to strip Lucille, tie her hands and feet, and hide her clothes outside wagon.
“Why?” he asked.
“We’re going to set up a welcoming committee for the marshals following us. I don’t want her running away while we’re gone.”
“She’ll freeze if we leave her naked,” Al said.
“Toss a blanket over her. We won’t be gone long. I have a hunch they’re close behind us now. In this weather, we should be able to get behind them and put them both on the ground before they know what hit them.”
Bob led the way back down the road to a spot he noticed as they passed. He gestured to a rock on the other side of the road. “You stay hidden behind it and I’ll be on this side. The instant they are past us, we step out and shoot. You take the one on your side.”
“Be careful,” he warned. “Don’t let them see you before they are past you. They’re both fast and accurate with those Walker Colts.”
Al nodded and ran across the road. He looked back and saw his tracks in the snow. Bob saw them as well. “With the way the snow is falling and the wind, they’ll be gone in a couple of minutes.”
They settled in their hiding places and waited for Man and Kate to ride into the ambush. Every few minutes, Bob would walk to an opening where he could see back down the road. Finally, after an hour, he walked out to the road and motioned for Al to join him. “I’m either wrong on them trailing us or they packed it in for the night. It’ll soon be dark and we need to find a better campsite. Should they come later, they would see the wagon.”
Al joined him and they hurried back to the wagon. Bob looked inside and began to curse. “She’s gone!” he yelled. “The rope you used is on the wagon bed.”
Al ran to where he’d hid her clothing. “It’s still here,” he said. “She can’t get far with only a blanket and bare feet.”
“Maybe not,” Bob growled, “but which way did she go? Her tracks are gone. We don’t have time to look for her. We need to put a mile or two between us and those marshals. She’ll be frozen solid or in such bad shape she would be useless to us, anyway.”
Al and Bob quickly hitched the mules to the wagon and Bob led the way. He looked back at the wagon tracks and cursed. “If the snow and wind doesn’t wipe them out, we have to keep moving to stay ahead of them. They can move a lot faster than us on horseback. We may consider abandoning the wagon.”
“I don’t like that idea,” Al said. “It gives us a warm dry place to sleep and we have too much to carry to load it on the mules without packsaddles.”
“Then keep them mules moving as fast as you can and put some distance between us and those marshals.”
“What if by some miracle Lucille found them?” Al said.
“I expect they would turn back with her,” Bob said. “I can’t see them staying after us if they had to bring her along. If that should be the case, we have it made. By the time they get back to Lewiston, we will have disappeared. They can’t track us with a snow cover.”
Chapter 7
Kate woke before Man and eased out from under the bearskin and blankets. It was freezing cold, but she dressed in her buckskins and pulled her heavy coat on. She wished for a hot cup of coffee and a fire, but that was impossible in the loft of the barn. She looked at Man, still sleeping, and smiled at her handsome husband, even if he was sporting a growth of hair on his face.
She climbed down the ladder, found their packs and coffee pot, went to the rear of the barn, and built a small fire out of straw. The smell of coffee brought Man back to life. He climbed down the ladder and hurried to where Kate sat on an anvil watching the coffeepot. He had a horrible frown on his face.
“Good morning, sunshine,” she teased. “Coffee is about ready if that would help that awful expression on your face.”
His frown turned to an almost smile and he held his hands close to the warmth of the fire. “What makes you so chipper this morning?” he asked.
She raised one eyebrow at him and gave him a suggestive grin. “Maybe it has something to do with what we did last night,” she said.
“Oh, that,” he joked. “It was darn good even if it was so cold it would freeze the balls off a pool table.”
She went to their pack and pulled out a pan. Man saw her and said, “Want to go to the café for breakfast?”
“Of course not. Who’d want ham, eggs, and warm biscuits with gravy instead of this tough jerky?” Kate quickly put the pan back in her pack. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”
Man fed the horses and mules while they waited for the coffee. He came back to her when she picked up the pot and filled two metal cups.
They each finished two before they went outside the barn. “It must have snowed most of the night,” Kate said. “It’s over knee deep.”
They walked toward the café, but stopped to check on Lucille. They found her seated in a chair. She saw them and smiled. “I’m much better today. I’m still hurting, but the doctor says I’m fine otherwise. Thank you for finding me and bringing me here.”
“We’re glad you found us,” Man said. “If you hadn’t you would have been frozen this morning.�
�
“I knew that when I escaped, but it would have been better than staying with those two for the winter, which was what they planned for me.”
“We’re going to eat breakfast,” Kate said. “Do you want anything?”
“No, thanks, the doctor’s nurse brought me breakfast. What are your plans?”
“I’ll wire Chief Marshal Meek and get our orders.” Man said.
“We’ll be back later,” Kate said.
They stopped at the telegraph office and the agent handed an envelope to Man. “This came early this morning.”
He opened it and Kate read with him. “Due to the developing blizzard, continuing on the trail appears to be futile. Return to Coeur d’Alene by train and wait for orders.”
Man sent another wire to Marshal Meek acknowledging receipt of the wire and responding that they would take Lucille Shobert and be on the next train north.
They ate and stopped at Constable Dasher’s office. They found him in his usual place close to the stove. After the greeting, Man said, “We have orders to abandon the search for Engledow and Vasquez due to the snow. We’re going back to Coeur d’Alene. Do you know when the next train leaves?”
“In about an hour. That is, if it leaves at all. From reports coming in, the snow is blocking some passes and cuts.”
“We had better get moving just in case,” Kate said. “Thanks for the use of your loft. We appreciate it.”
“What about the woman?” Dasher asked.
“We’ll take her with us,” Man replied. “We stopped to see her and she was seated in a chair. Except for her feet, knees, and hands, she’s fine. I can carry her inside the train.”
“Good luck, marshals,” he said.
Man and Kate hurried to the barn, put the packs on the mules, and saddled the horses. Kate kept out three blankets for Lucille. They found her still seated in the chair.
“We’re going home on the train,” Kate said. “We need to get you to the station. I brought blankets and Man will carry you. You can ride my horse to the station and Man will carry you onboard.”
Lucille smiled. “I’m glad. Staying here wouldn’t be any good. Have you heard anything new about Cliff?”
“No,” Kate said. “But if all goes well, you can see him in a few hours.”
She didn’t want to worry her about the train not running due to the snow.
Man bought tickets with government vouchers and led the horses and mules to the loading pens. The station manager said there were several empty cattle cars on the train. His only concern was whether the train would be authorized to depart. So far, the line wasn’t officially closed.
Kate and Lucille waited inside the station seated by the big stove in the middle of the waiting room. Only about ten others were there hoping the train could get through to Coeur d’Alene.
The train arrived a few minutes late, the station people quickly loaded the freight, and Man made sure their animals were onboard. He hurried inside and carried Lucille inside the train to a seat. Kate brought the extra blankets and they wrapped her in them to keep her warm.
A whistle sounded and the train began to move. Man and Kate let out a sigh of relief. Had they closed the track, they might have had to wait for days or weeks before it opened again. The snow was still falling and getting heavier.
Man and Kate sat behind Lucille and settled in for the long ride. “Kind of makes you miss Texas, doesn’t it,” he said. “They’re probably basking in the sun down in Austin today.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Kate looked out the window at the beautiful scenery. It was the typical winter wonderland with the white snow on the green leaves. Icicles hung from branches along the rail line. “This is home.”
Man smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the temple.
The conductor came through taking tickets. He stopped to talk to the marshals. Man stood and motioned for the conductor to move back away from Lucille so they could talk privately.
“How does it look ahead?” Man asked.
“So far, we haven’t had any problems. The train has been able to push through the drifts. We have one big worry, though. There’s a cut about fifteen miles this side of Coeur d’Alene. It’s bad about avalanches covering the track too deep for us to plow through. For some reason, snow gathers on the sides of the cut and when it slides down it can be as much as twenty feet deep. We’ll stop and examine it before he rams into it. We can’t take the chance of a derailment or burying the engine under a mountain of snow.”
“If you can’t get through, what will you do?” Man asked.
“We back to Lewiston, or Council. It’s possible we’ll go all the way back to Boise. If the delay appears to be extensive, that has happened.”
“When will we know?” Man asked.
“About another hour and we’ll be at the deep cut in a hill. When this line was built, that was the least expensive way. Going around would have caused more problems due to the rough terrain.”
“Should we be forced to stop, could we go around the hill on horseback?” Man asked.
“In this snowstorm, it would be risky. You could freeze or fall off a cliff. Your horses could be injured in a fall and you would be stranded in a blizzard. In the summer, there would be no sweat. You’ll be about fifteen miles from Coeur d’Alene. That is, by the track, but circling that hill, I have no idea. It might add five to ten miles.”
Man went back and sat beside Kate. She glanced at Lucille and saw she was asleep. “I heard most of that,” Kate whispered. “If the train can’t get through, are we going on?”
“As I said, going back to Lewiston is not appealing. What about Lucille? Where would she stay? There was no lodging available and I can’t see her in the loft of that barn. What I’m saying, if the train can’t go through, I suggest we go on by horseback.”
“I agree with you,” she said. “I want to get back to my new home and comfortable bed.”
The train began to slow so Man pulled on his heavy coat and went to the door. As soon as the train slowed enough, he jumped down and hurried to the front. The engineer and conductor were looking at the mountain of snow in front of them.
“What do you think?” Man asked. “Can you get through it?”
The engineer turned to face Man. “If I backed up and hit it at top speed I might punch through. However, if I tried and failed we could be stranded under snow. It’s possible the train could be derailed. If that happened, I expect the powers would be looking for another engineer to replace me. The prudent thing for me to do is go back.”
“I understand,” Man said. “Before you start back, I’d like to unload my horses and mules. We’re going around the hill.”
“If that’s your decision then good luck. You’ll have to jump them out of the car.”
“I know,” Man said. “I’ve had to do that before.”
He hurried to the rear of the train. As he passed the window where Kate was looking, he said, “I’m going to get the horses and mules. Get Lucille ready.”
She waved acknowledgment. He saw her stand, bend over Lucille, and touch the sleeping woman’s shoulder. He went on toward the cattle car.
He put the saddles on Arabian and Red Bird. He led Arabian to the door first. The big horse looked at the opening and then back at Man. He tapped the horse on his rump and the horse jumped to the ground without a problem. Red Bird was waiting and followed Arabian.
Man had to pull on the lead rope of the mules to get them to jump. He put both packs on one mule and put the bearskin on for a saddle for Lucille. It would be uncomfortable, but it was the best he could do since he didn’t have a saddle for her.
He led the animals to the door where Kate waited. He went inside, lifted Lucille into his arms, and carried her to the mule. “I’m sorry you have to ride the mule, but Kate and I need our horses to take the lead. The snow will be hard f
or them and we will alternate them forging a trail through drifts.”
“I understand,” she said. “I just want to go home to my boys. However I have to get there.”
Kate brought the extra blankets, wrapped them around Lucille, and made sure her legs and feet were protected.
He mounted Arabian and Kate stepped up on Red Bird and followed him as the train began to move backward. Man waved at the conductor and engineer as they passed.
“Good luck,” they both yelled.
Neither Arabian nor Red Bird paid any attention to the train engine’s noise, but the two mules tried to shy away. Kate kept a firm grip on the lead rope.
As soon as the noise died down, Man rode close to Lucille. “I hope you’re up to this. It may get rough before we get home. The snow is getting deeper and deeper. We need to move as fast as possible while we can.”
“I’m ready,” she said. “Take me home.”
He took the point with Kate riding behind holding the lead rope to both mules. At the first snowdrift, Arabian looked at it a moment, then gave a lunge and landed on top of the snow. He pushed his way through. Red Bird followed in his trail. The big horse seemed to enjoy the challenge and learned to take a few fast steps before jumping on the piles of snow in front of them.
Man kept the point for about thirty minutes, then dropped back for Kate and Red Bird to open the trail for them. Red Bird was eager to have some fun. He came to the first drift and jumped in the middle of it like a kid playing. As Man and Arabian had done, Kate and Red Bird forged a path for them. When Red Bird began to pant and slow down, Kate moved back and let Arabian take point again.
This continued until nightfall was approaching. Man pulled his horse to a stop and gestured to the right. “See if you can spot a campsite. I’ll go to the left.”
Kate turned Red Bird away from their path and began making a circle looking for shelter from the falling snow.
Man did the same on the other side. He located a rock overhang that would offer some protection from the wind and snow. The ground was bare so they wouldn’t have to sleep on snow.
Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard Page 8