by Larry Hunt
* * * * *
A week or so later Sam and William ride into Gettysburg, leading the string of horses behind. They stop at the livery stable and make arrangements with the liveryman to corral their ponies. While getting their horses attended to, they inquire as to the location of the business establishment of Mark Holmes.
From the livery, they move down the empty street to the building with a sign reading, ‘CLOCK REPAIR, Mark Holmes, Prop’. The hand-lettered sign in the door glass reads ‘OPEN’. “I guess this is it,” said William, “Let’s giver a try.”
A small bell over the door jingled as it announces their entrance. From the back room, a man’s voice answers the bell, “Be with you in a second.” A man with a slight limp enters putting on his jacket. “May I −”
“Matt is that you? Is it really you?” interrupted William.
Looking surprised, Matthew looks at William and then at Sam. “Sir I don’t believe I have had the pleasure −”
Before he has a chance to finish, “It’s me Matt, William, your brother William.”
“William? Brother William? Why boy you wasn’t no taller than this,” he indicated holding his hand about waist high, “when I left home. What...why...?”
“It’s okay Matthew; this is our brother-in-law Sam Babb. His sister Catherine went and married brother Luke. We figured you needed help making them fake legs so Sam and I come up here to help.”
Hollering to the back room, “Mark! Mark! Come up front, I’ve got some people you need to meet.”
A few hours later Matt and Mark have brought Sam and William up to date on the manufacturer of the artificial legs. They have explained they are broke and unable to pay the mortgage and had to suspend all work on the soldier’s artificial limbs.
“Well, not to worry no more brother Matthew. That’s where me and Sam come in. We’ve got the money,” and William told the entire story of the Cumberland Mountain gold strike and the two pouches of gold nuggets he and Sam had brought with him. “Sam hand me your saddle-bags.” William searches through both the left and right side then says to Sam, “They must be in my bags. Check mine?”
Sam thoroughly searches every possible place two bags of gold nuggets could be, “William, they’re just not here!”
“They’ve got to be Sam; we haven’t taken them out since we left. Oh, wait a minute, that last river we crossed was rough, you suppose the gold fell outta our saddlebags. You know being so heavy and all?” Feeling around in his pockets, William laments, “Come to think of it, our ‘Good-Luck’ nugget is missing. It must’of fell out too.”
Sam looks at the leather saddlebags then at William, “What about them outlaws? I told you they took our gold!”
“Sam, be sensible, that was just a nightmare. And nightmares didn’t steal the gold!”
“Well, it ain’t here and I told you that the dream felt awfully real.” Thinking about the dream, he remembered he tossed the gold map into the fire before the outlaws could find it. Sam grabbed his hat and ran his fingers around the inside band – no map. “See William the map is gone, I burned it! It’s gone I tell you! That weren’t no dream.”
“Yeah, you did Sam, and you also said we were killed dead too! If you ain’t a ghost, and I feel reasonably sure I’m not, then we’re alive! And there’s Kentuck over by the door, he seems alive too, and oh, by the way, look in your shirt pocket, that’s where you put that map.”
Feeling his pocket and finding the map, Sam said with a sheepish grin, “You’re right William, I guess the pokes of gold fell out crossing that last river.”
Mark speaks up, “Fellers, Matt and I appreciate your good intentions. We sure could have used that money, but I guess we’re back to square one now, nothing to do, but move out to Alabama.”
“Wait,” said William. “We still got a trick or two up our sleeves, right Sam?”
“You may have one up your sleeve William, but mine’s empty,” said Sam.
“The string of horses! Our horses at the livery stable – them’s just greenbacks walking around on the hoof, we can sell them. I’ll wager we can get maybe ten or twelve dollars a head for them. Mark that money will give you and Matthew enough funds to make your mortgage payment and buy a few supplies for the work on the soldier’s legs. Me and Sam will go back to the Cumberlands and get some more nuggets. We should be back in less than a month or two.”
Matt asked, “How much you think you can get for the horses Sam?”
“I reckon at least a hundred dollars, maybe a little more. Why, how much do you need?”
They were told the mortgage money was due at the end of the month, and they owed two hundred dollars, Mark’s tools are out on loan, and he owes another fifty dollars on them. Supplies for the artificial legs were going to be another hundred, and all were due way before they had time to travel to the mountains, load up some gold and return.
“What is your idea Matthew? What do we do Mark?”
“For sure,” said Mark, “We can’t meet this month’s mortgage and pawn payments much less order supplies. That old scoundrel, that holds the note on my place, will not give us one extra day. Yeah, he’s one more snake-in-the-grass, that...that...Bill Johnson son of a gun! He’s already sent his yes man Lucky Lawson over to demand the money. No we won’t be able to meet their payments.”
Sam’s ears perked up, “Who did you say Mark? Did I hear you say Bill Johnson and Lucky?”
“Yes, why? Some call him Crazy Bill Johnson, do you know them Sam?”
“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. But no, I don’t know those dastardly, knaves; however, it does seem as though I’ve heard their names before. I can’t dwell on them too much right now, I have this splitting headache right above my right eye.”
“Your right eye? Can I get you anything, maybe a cold compress to put on your forehead?”
“I’ll explain it to you both some day,” answers Sam. “But right now I believe Mark is right, we need to sell our ponies to the livery and get out of this town and head south to Scarlett as fast as our horses will carry us. I have a strong feeling of impending harm if we stay in this town.