Lauraine Snelling - [Wild West Wind 01]

by Valley of Dreams

  “Just a gaping hole in our fence. We’re missing at least two cows.”

  “Why would someone go to all that trouble for two, three head?”

  “The others say the same?”

  “That’s what the guys at the Rocking R said. At the Bar S they didn’t know how many were missing, but there weren’t tracks enough for a larger bunch.”

  “So, say they got between six and ten head. Where are they hiding them?”

  “I don’t know. None have been shipped out of here. I would have known about that.”

  “What about Hill City or Rapid?”

  “As I said, I’ve not checked, because I thought it was just a fluke.”

  “Lucas is out checking with the other ranchers. Oh, and he’s inviting them all to a cider party Saturday at our place. He’s pit-roasting a deer.”

  “Sounds mighty good. I remember when I was a young feller and your pa would roast a steer in that pit of his. Best meat I ever tasted.”

  “If you have extra apples, bring them and a jug. We’ll have a lot of arms to crank that press.” The apple-cider press was another thing Ivar had built that was still in use. He’d ordered the gears from someplace east, and while they’d had to replace some of the staves in the basket, the grinder worked just fine.

  Edgar turned and looked at the calendar on the wall. “How about we set a meeting for Sunday after church? Save everyone an extra trip. We’ll see if anyone knows anything at all and devise a plan to catch whoever’s doing the thieving. Cattle rustlers in this day and age . . . I thought that went out with the Old West.”

  “I’ll tell everyone I come in contact with. I’m heading to the store and Reverend Brandenburg to let them know about the party. Spread the word.” Ransom stood. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.”

  “We’ll catch him, son. No matter how long it takes.”

  “I hope so, before someone goes off their rocker and—”

  “Me too.”

  Ransom stepped outside and settled his hat back on his head. A rustler. Could you beat that? He groaned inside. One more thing to take care of—watch for rustlers.

  With his forehead in the milk cow’s flank, Ransom forced himself to calm down, or he knew she would put her foot in the bucket. He knew that from experience. The cow did not like angry hands milking her. When she switched him with her tail, he stopped and spoke gently to her, then resumed milking calmly and let the peace of the cow and barn flow over and around him.

  When she was dry, he pulled out the bucket and hung up the stool. “There you go, old girl. Thanks for the respite.” With the handle of the bucket over his arm, he let her out of the stanchion and watched as she backed up, turned, and meandered out the back door. As always, she would go get a drink, then graze for a bit, and lie down to chew her cud with the other cows. She and Rosy were the only ones trained to come to the barn to be milked; the others produced milk for their calves and then dried up to be ready to calf again.

  Ransom shut the back door and blew out the lantern on his way out the front.

  “Sorry I’m late.” Gretchen stopped her horse near the door. “I stayed to help Mrs. Micklewhite after school. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to get on her good side for a change.”

  “Good idea.”

  She removed her saddle and led her horse to the corral that had no water tank, where she let him go until he cooled down. “Take it easy, boy. I’ll come back and let you out again.” She slammed the poles into the gap between posts and turned to see that Ransom had put her saddle up. “Thanks. Where’s Lucas?”

  “Good question. He went out to talk with the other ranchers regarding that cut fence and see if others have had the same. I thought he’d be back soon after dinner.”

  “He probably came up with some excuse to go to town.”

  “Most likely.”

  “When is he going to grow up?”

  Ransom bit back a burst of laughter, and when she laughed, he joined her. “You are wise beyond your years.”

  “Sometimes, maybe.” They poured the milk into the pans and grabbed the jug of already skimmed milk to take to the house. Gretchen shook the jug to stir up what cream was left. “You find us a hog to butcher?”

  “Not yet. Had to talk with the sheriff. Some other ranchers have had the same problem.”

  “Somebody cut the fence? Why would they do that?” They scrubbed the soles of their boots on the mat and went in the back door.

  “Sorry I was late, Ma. I was helping Mrs. Micklewhite.”

  “That’s fine, dear. Would you please set the table?” Mavis pulled a roasting pan from the oven and set it on the reservoir top. “We’re having stuffed heart. Ransom, hand me that cutting board and a bowl for the potatoes.” After she’d made gravy from the pan drippings, she set the platter of sliced meat on the table. “Do you think Lucas will be back?”

  “I don’t know. I can only suspect where he went.”

  “He’s a grown man, son. You can’t be responsible for him any longer.” Mavis sat down. “Gretchen, please say the grace.”

  For a change Gretchen said the Norwegian grace her father had taught all of them when they were young. “I Jesu navn, går vi til bords . . .”

  Ransom silently said the words along with her. While they’d all learned to speak Norwegian from their father, with his passing, they seldom used it any longer. He knew Gretchen did it to please their mother, who tried to keep some of the traditions alive. They all said the amen together, including a voice from the doorway.

  “You’re just in time, son. Get yourself a plate and silver.” Mavis did not get up to serve him. “There’s plenty here.”

  Ransom passed the serving dishes on to his sister, who held them until Lucas sat down. As far as he was concerned, Lucas could eat on the porch or not at all. But he didn’t smell any cigar smoke on him or booze either. Where had he been? Curiosity was always a Ransom trait, but so was keeping his mouth shut. Except when his brother irritated the words out of him, which seemed to be happening an awful lot lately.

  “So what did you find out?” Mavis asked when everyone had been served, including herself.

  Ransom looked up. “Edgar said others had reported cut fences. He’s scheduled a meeting for after church on Sunday.”

  “Which ranches?” Mavis asked.

  “The Double Bar S and the Rocking R. No one else, so we might be catching this early. They weren’t sure how many head were stolen but less than ten.”

  “That’s still quite a few.”

  And where were you all afternoon? is what he wanted to ask, but he didn’t. No sense making supper uncomfortable for everyone.

  Lucas smiled at his mother. “This is so good.”

  “But none of our stock got out?” Gretchen asked.

  “No. We don’t have them in that pasture right now, or they would have.”

  “Good. Please pass the potatoes,” Gretchen said, with a nudge to Ransom.

  “Oh, sorry. Did I miss something?”

  “I already asked once.” She took the bowl, helped herself, and passed it on to Lucas. “So how come you weren’t here to milk?”

  “Sorry. I got tied up.”

  “Tied up? As if you didn’t see the sun going down? I even warned you.”

  “I know, but it took longer than we thought to load the saw.”

  Ransom passed on the bowl of applesauce. “What saw?”

  “Well, I was over at Dan’s, and I got to talking to him about his sawmill. He said he would either sell it to us or loan it to us if we needed it, that it would be easier to move the saw than to haul all the logs over there. So we got the wheels under it and hitched up his teams, and I hauled it home.”

  Ransom let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “You brought his sawmill home, here to our ranch?”

  “Yes. I let his teams loose in the corral and threw them some hay. He said we can bring ’em back after we get the saw out to the trees.”

  Ransom stared at the c
eiling. Leave it to Lucas. He could charm the squirrels out of an oak tree. “Do we have a time limit?”

  “Nope. He said he’s run out of timber, and no one’s come around to hire him. I have a feeling he’d just as soon get rid of it, but we can’t buy it right now. I think he’s lonely out there since his wife passed on.”

  “I have to apologize that I’ve not been a good neighbor. I’ll send him a note and invite him to dinner.” Mavis shook her head. “Is he coming to our party?”

  Lucas nodded. “Everyone sounded pleased about a get-together.”

  Now they could cut the timbers and perhaps even some lumber to be used around there. One minute he wanted to pound his brother into the ground, and then he up and does something like this.

  “Thank you, Lucas.”

  “You’re welcome. We might need to talk to Emerson about looking at the sawmill. Dan says it needs a bit of work, but we can try it first.” Emerson Hansel was the blacksmith in town, and he had a knack for working on steam engines, something that was slowly taking the place of his dwindling blacksmithing.

  That was one of the things that bothered Ransom. Times were changing and machinery speeded up things like haying and harvesting. They’d hired a traveling crew to harvest the oats and wheat. Not that they’d planted huge amounts of either.

  But their granary was full of oats, and the wheat had been shipped out on the train from Argus, except for what they kept for farm use. The corn had dried and filled the corncrib for the chickens and the hogs. The stalks would be thrown out for the cattle when the pasture was snowed under. Hopefully they’d have seed left for the spring too.

  Gretchen prodded him again. “The bread, please.”

  “Thought we were going to dig that pit for the party this afternoon,” Ransom said.

  “Oh, that won’t take long,” Lucas said. “I’ll see if I can get a deer tonight or in the morning.”

  Ransom heaved a sigh. Lucas always had an answer for everything, but Ransom hated to leave things until the last minute, a far different attitude than his younger brother’s.

  They’d finished supper when Mavis asked, “You want cream on your apple pie?”

  “Not me,” Ransom answered. “Just plain pie.”

  “I’ll take cream,” Lucas said. “Are those the apples we picked?”

  “Some of them. The sauce too. I’ll do the apple butter tomorrow.”

  Gretchen cleared the table while her mother cut the pie and served it. When they’d sat down again and all taken a bite with the requisite murmurs of appreciation, Mavis cleared her throat. “All right, what’s this I hear again about you wanting to sell this ranch, Lucas? I thought we’d already settled that.”

  Lucas laid down his fork. “I don’t see how we’re going to meet the payments to the bank with the little cash we have. If they foreclose, we lose everything.”

  “That is true,” Mavis said.

  “Why would they foreclose?” Gretchen asked.

  “Because we can’t meet the payments. They foreclosed on the Double Y,” he explained.

  “Do you know how long that ranch had been in arrears?” Mavis asked.

  “No.”

  “Do you know what their assets are or were?”

  “No. But I don’t think they wanted to move.”

  “Did they move?”

  “Yes, and left it.”

  “Did you know they had another ranch in Wyoming and that they moved cattle and all their belongings there? That they tried to sell the Double Y and were not able to and so let it go back to the bank?”

  “No.”

  “What is it you want to do rather than ranch here?”

  “I . . . I thought of homesteading in Montana.”

  “You know, Lucas, if you want to go homestead in Montana, you have every right to do that,” Mavis said. “But I don’t plan on leaving here, and while I know things are tough right now, I’ve seen things turn around before, and I’ll see them turn around again.”

  “But you need both of us here to work this place. There’s more work than two men can do, let alone one.”

  “If you leave, we’ll have to hire help, but we’ll still make it.” She leaned forward. “But I don’t want to hear any more talk about selling out. Do you understand me?”

  Lucas nodded.

  Ransom sat staring at his mother. Where had all that come from? The legal terminology, the definite plans? Who was that woman at the end of the table?

  She turned her gaze on Ransom. “Now, I understand your desire to open the mine again. I don’t think it will be worth your time and all the work that will go into it, but I won’t tell you not to do it. I would ask that you pray about it. The trees that are downed could be sawed for lumber we can sell so they wouldn’t be wasted. There are other stands that can be thinned too. Your pa planned on doing just that after he read some papers on tree farming.”

  “He did?”

  “He was a forethinking man. And he loved this place with a passion.”

  “All but the mine.”

  “He trusted what the professional miners told him. Had there been any chance there was more gold in there, he’d have gone for it. He even thought of blowing up the entrance to the shaft to keep anyone from being injured there.” She leveled one of her stern looks at Ransom. “Your pa would not be happy that you are dreaming of opening that mine.”

  My pa might not be happy about a lot of things around here, but he’s dead and gone, and I’ve been pretty much in charge for the last years. Until tonight. “But what if there is gold left in there? That nugget we found came from some vein.”

  “Most likely the one they worked until it quit. And after the cave-in, he never allowed anyone back in there. I’m sure he guessed at where you found that nugget.” Ransom kept from looking at his brother by studying the crumbs left on his pie plate. “And did you know?”

  She made a motherly face. “Let’s say suspected. And now I know for sure.”

  “You think he figured it out?” Lucas looked as guilty as Ransom felt.

  “I never asked.”

  23

  Today was the day.

  Right after breakfast Ransom and Lucas moved the sawmill out to the stand of pine and set it up to be ready for cutting. But when they tried to start the engine, the smokestack went puff-puff, and that was it.

  “Sure wish I knew more about engines.” Ransom felt like kicking the black monster.

  “I’ll go see Emerson and ask if he’ll come help us get it started. Need anything in town?”

  “Not that I know of, but ask Ma.” After looping the reins over the collar nobs and hitching the traces to the harness, they each mounted one of the heavy horses and rode back to the barn. They ate dinner, explaining what had happened, and Lucas picked up the list Mavis prepared, saddled his horse, and rode out with the teams in tow.

  So much for digging the pit that afternoon. Ransom watched him go, grateful on one hand that Lucas enjoyed going to town and frustrated with the lack of help around the ranch. He went back into the house and poured himself another cup of coffee. The cinnamon from the apple butter baking in the oven made the house smell delicious. “Any more of that pie?”

  “Do you think I would bake only one?” His mother cut him a slab and set the plate on the table. Bringing herself one too, she sat down. “So did you decide what to do regarding the mine?”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t know you felt so strongly about it.”

  “Your pa always had good common sense. He was adamant no one go back in there. He came too close to losing his life there. I know that was part of it. He always said better the gold on the hoof than in the belly of the mountain.”

  “Well, the gold on the hoof isn’t quite as brilliant as it used to be.”

  “No, but it is steady. Would you help me haul those spuds down into the cellar? Some of those big squash too. I got the cabbages hung up.” She’d pulled the cabbages out by the roots and hooked them up to the floor joists, something
she’d read about in her gardening magazine.

  “Of course.” Two barrels of apples lined one wall of the cellar, the carrots, parsnips, and rutabagas were packed in sand, and now the potatoes filled another bin, covered by several thicknesses of burlap bags to keep the light from turning the potatoes green. Sealed jars, filled with fruits and vegetables, syrups and jams, lined the shelves, and crocks sat on the damp earth floor under the shelves.

  “I love to come down here,” Mavis said, holding the lantern high to spread the light around. “No matter what happens, we’ll have food this winter.”

  “The dried beans and such are upstairs?”

  She nodded. “And the dried herbs are hanging along the pantry beams. Everything smells so good.”

  “You and Gretchen can be right proud.”

  “I know. She’s a trooper. I thank God for my children every day and pray you will always make wise decisions.”

  Ransom followed his mother and closed the outside cellar door behind them. One of the last things his father had done was to install the inside stairs to the cellar to make it easier to get to in the winter. Taking after their father was a good thing. After he had quit drinking.

  RAPID CITY

  The next morning, after brushing Wind Dancer, Cassie mounted and headed for town again. At the first corner she saw a livery stable and a sign for a blacksmith. How had she missed it yesterday?

  “How can I help you, miss?” a burly man in a leather apron asked. “Horse need shoeing?”

  “No, I need a branding iron. Ours got left behind.” She pointed to the brand on Wind Dancer’s rump. “Like that.”

  “I see.” He walked to her horse’s rear. “Is he touchy?”

  “Not if he knows you’re there.” She patted the black-and-white shoulder.

  “Easy, fella.” He patted the rump and ran his hand over the brand. “And this stands for?”

  “L and T. Lockwood and Talbot. Lockwood was—is—my father.”

  “I see. Where you headed?”

  “Some land he owns in the Black Hills.”

  “Give me an hour.”

  “How much?”