by LeMay, Jim
Matt knew Chadwick had a toll station on the river, but he didn’t know exactly where. Thank god the gang hadn’t followed the river any further east than Kane’s Cove!
“Anyways,” Tim continued, “Del wondered if maybe Mitchell had thought ’bout tryin’ the market at either Coleridge Gardens or Stanley Market an’ he decided t’ check ’m out. We come t’ Stanley Market first ’cause its closer t’ Parkerville. We wasn’t supplied well ’nough t’ be away from Columbia so long so we did a little truckin’ on the way up here. Now we’re tradin’ for some scratch. In a couple more days we’ll head on t’ Coleridge Gardens. Maybe do some more truckin’ on the way while we look for the Johnson, uh, Mitchell gang.”
Truckin’, my ass, thought Matt. These guys could not have collected enough truck to purchase all the horses and tents and other gear he had seen around their camp. More likely there was at least one community somewhere near, or maybe a scrounger gang, missing those horses and enough truck to have paid for all that scratch.
Matt knew that if Matheson and his men broke camp and headed for Coleridge Gardens he would have to beat them there to warn the gang. He could probably slip away in the dead of night, but if Matheson saw him missing in the morning what would he think after ordering him to stick around? He’d probably be suspicious and decide to leave for Coleridge Gardens immediately. On the other hand, if he stayed here Matheson might believe his story and not go to Coleridge at all. Maybe he would decide to pursue the gang to Chicago!
In any case Matt had to stay in the camp that night, if for no other reason, to see what Matheson’s next move would be. He found the feud between Chadwick and Matheson interesting but needed to know more to determine if he could use it against them somehow. Maybe his loquacious new friend could be pressed for more information. But though Matt tried to quiz him subtly as they ate, the man refused to divulge any more information. Maybe he thought he’d talked too much already. They finished eating and got up to return their plates and spoons to the cook tent.
“Where are all your other men?” Matt asked.
“Most of ’m are out scoutin’ the area lookin’ for Mitchell’s guys. They’s three or four at our stall. Me and a couple others ran it all day. Now the other two’s up t’ Wellsville lookin’ for a piece a ass.”
“Is that close to here?”
“’Bout a hour away. I was up there last night.”
“If there’s a town that close, why don’t the Stanleys have their market there?”
“They used to but the preacher run ’m out. It caused too many ‘sinful activities.’” He snorted. “Guess the preacher don’t know ’bout the whores livin’ there under his nose.”
Maybe he’s a drinking man, thought Matt and said, “Y’ know, a beer ‘d taste pretty good about now. Is there a place that sells beer in the market?”
“Y’ know, you’re right.” Tim grinned; even his grins looked sad. “Follow me.”
Tim led him from the camping compound into the market and down the moldering asphalt of Highway 63 between tents and stalls displaying the market’s wares, then turned right to a tent some distance off the road. Matt bought them each a pint of beer, and they sat outside on either side of a picnic table while they drank. The first drink told Matt that this was Bernie’s ale. So he did sell it to other markets!
They talked. Matt stayed carefully off the subject he really wanted to discuss and turned to the one he knew would be of most interest to Tim if he was like most people: himself. That subject never fails to warm the listener to the narrator. Matt asked Tim about his adventures as a scrounger, the places he had been, things he had seen. Every beer made the adventures more colorful and the hardships more onerous and Tim more competent. Tim became ever more eloquent and ever more patronizing to the poor hard-scrabble farmer sitting across from him.
During the fifth beer, Tim began to confide in Matt. According to Tim, Matheson considered him his closest and most dependable man and he hinted at secrets Matheson had shared with him that were unknown to the others. Over the sixth beer, Tim bragged of his amorous adventures. In addition to his many conquests along the road, the most beautiful woman in Columbia waited for him. When Matt bought their seventh round, as he had done with each of the previous ones, he poured a little of the beer on the ground below the table when Tim wasn’t looking. It was almost impossible to do to Bernie’s wonderful brew, but he had to keep his wits.
“It must be rough on you,” said Matt, “being separated from your woman.”
“Yeah,” said Tim, “but it’s what a career like this calls for. It’s rougher for her, though. I can git a woman any time I want.”
“That’s right,” said Matt, “and you got so much on your mind, bein’ the boss’s right hand man an’ all, y’ need a piece of ass to settle your nerves once in awhile.”
“Yeah.” Then Tim began to relate an escapade of questionable veracity that he and Matheson had partnered in, apparently sometime before they joined Chadwick. Matt tried to appear interested. He’s headed in the right direction, thought Matt, but this isn’t the exploit I wanted to hear about.
“Wow,” said Matt. “No wonder you’re in tight with Matheson.” He hoped he wasn’t overdoing it.
“But that’s not the main reason I’m his top man,” said Tim. He belched. “Hang on a minute.” He disappeared behind the beer tent to piss. Matt poured the rest of his beer out just before Tim returned with two more.
“Now,” he said, “what were we ... Oh, yeah. What I done for the boss just last...” Tim paused, seemed to be debating something. “Maybe I shouldn’t be tellin’...”
Matt shrugged, grinned. “Suit yourself. Y’ sure got me interested in this stuff, though. I don’t get to hear many of you guys’ stories, livin’ in the sticks like I do.”
Then Tim relaxed, grinned, took a drink of beer, and said, “What the hell. You seem like a good ol’ boy. And who the hell y’ gonna tell? Just y’r old lady or the neighbor, right?”
Matt’s grin broadened and he leaned forward as if enthralled by Tim’s tales. “That’s right. Who the hell could I tell? Nobody important.”
Tim leaned forward too and said in a conspiratorial near-whisper, “This happened just last month. And it was these guys we were tailin’, the ones that stold somethin’ from Chadwick?” Bingo! Matt’s interest was now genuine. “First of all, I gotta tell you these guys was dangerous. They had lots a weapons, an’ their boss and some a the others was trained killers. The boss was a big guy, name a Johnson, at least seven feet tall an’, believe it or not, he could take on a whole gang at oncet all by hisself! I seen him do it in Kansas City myself.
“Anyhow, they stold some important stuff from Boss Chadwick, an’ he had Del an’ me take some guys out t’ find ’m. They was so dangerous Boss Chadwick told us t’ hit their camp while they was asleep. But do it on the sly. It ain’t good t’ let the other gangs know ’bout such doin’s. No sense rilin’ ’m up agin y’.”
“Yeah,” said Matt. “I can see that.”
“One thing I ain’t told y’ ’bout yet was we had a guy from their gang tellin’ us their movements.” Downing! Matt had been right. “This guy knew where the stolen goods was hid, but he wouldn’t tell us till we stiffed this Johnson. He knew Johnson’d come after him if both he an’ the goods turned up gone at the same time. After Kansas City, Boss Chadwick figgered that Johnson’d come after him too, so he agreed Johnson had t’ be killt. ‘Fact he said if it worked out, he didn’t give a shit if we stiffed ’m all. Del didn’t like all that killin’ though, an’ Chadwick hadn’t give him a direct order. After we left Columbia, he said we’d just stiff Johnson an’ let the others alone ’less they shot at us.
“We knew where they was gonna camp. Not the exact day, but close. We had our camp just over the hill from ’m so we could tell when they moved in. When they was all asleep an’ our stooge in their gang was on guard, he’d call like a whippoorwill, an’ we’d move in. After we stiffed Johnson, we’d scar
e the others away an’ steal their mules an’ truck so that maybe they’d think we was some other scroungers. Then this guy, Downing was his name, would lead us t’ where they hid the goods.
“It was a perfect night, dark an’ cloudy. Downing give his call. We come over the hill an’ saw him under a tree. He waved his arms t’ show us ever’thing was okay. Was so dark we couldn’t hardly see t’ git in place. Finally did though, an’ Del was ’bout t’ give the order t’ fire. We was gonna fire a few rounds t’ git their attention an’ then move in, find their boss, stiff him, an’ run ever’body else off. But before Del give the order he says, ‘Tim, d’ you see Downing?’ An’ I said I didn’t. ‘C’mon,’ he says, an’ I follered him. I knew what he was thinkin’. If Downing slipped off without us, the goods ‘d be all his. We would’ve taken care of Johnson for him for nothin’.
“Now one direct order Boss Chadwick did give Del was as soon as Downing showed us the stolen goods, stiff him. If he’d sell Johnson out, he’d do the same t’ us. Del agreed. He didn’t like Downing anyways. He’d tried t’ join our gang oncet before, an’ Del voted against him along with most of us. That’s why Del watched him so close, didn’t trust him.
“Downing was doin’ just what we figgered. Slippin’ off through the trees. Was so dark we couldn’t hardly see him. The only way we kep’ track a him was the noise he made in the brush. We follered him up the hill an’ started down t’ other side. Then we couldn’t hear him no more. Del says, ‘Sst!’ and we stop. An’ listen. Nothin’.
“Then there was a noise down the hill, an’ I see a shadda move under a tree. I say, real quiet, ‘That’s him, Del!’ An’ I fire but it’s so dark I miss him. He shoots at about the same time, right at Del, but he misses too. My shot musta spooked him. Then Del shoots at him, and he don’t miss. Downing goes down. We hunker down an’ go over to him, careful-like ’cause we don’t know if he’s down for good. When we git close t’ him, Del says, ‘Don’t move, motherfucker.’ He don’t move, an’ when we git up to him we see why. Half his face is gone.
“It took a minute for what this really meant t’ sink in. Del thought of it first. He says, ‘Son-of-a-bitch!’ just like that. Then he starts off a string a cussin’ that would a been beautiful t’ hear under other conditions. Nobody can cuss like ol’ Del Matheson. Then I git it too. Downing was our ticket t’ the stolen goods!
“In the meantime, shootin’ had started back at the clearin’. Our shots had give our boys away t’ the Johnson gang a course, though we wasn’t thinkin’ a that at the time. By the time we got back there, Johnson and one a his guys lay dead in the middle a their camp, an’ there wasn’t nobody else in their camp. Then we saw that the others was hidin’ acrosst the clearing on the crick bank. Our guys an’ theirs was still shootin’ back an’ forth. Del said for ever’body t’ hold their fire, save their ammo. Somebody over there must a heard him cause they shot at him but didn’t hit him. (That was Mitch, thought Matt.)
“We got down, an’ Del ast what the hell was goin’ on. One a the guys, Philips, filled us in. Our shots had woke up Johnson and another big guy and they come out a their tent firin’. They must a been able t’ see in the dark ’cause they killt two a our guys and wounded another ’n before the boys stiffed them. In the meantime, some a them ‘d got in the trees behind us an’ killt two more an’ stold our Kreutzer, though we didn’t know ’bout that yet. All we knew ’bout was the two dead an’ one that’d prob’ly die soon. That pissed Del off so much he changed his mind ’bout not killin’ all of ’m. ‘Stiff ’m all,’ he said, ‘all but two or three of ’m.’ With Downing gone, we had t’ have at least one alive t’ lead us t’ the goods.
“So the firing started up again, but nobody hit nobody. It was too dark an’ we was hid too good on both sides. They quit shootin’ first, then we did. Matheson thought ’bout it for awhile. Then he hollered for ’m t’ throw down their guns an’ come out an’ nobody’d git hurt. But they wasn’t buyin’ that. They lay low an’ kep’ quiet.” By then, Matt knew, only Lou, Leighton, Miller, and he remained on the creek bank. Mitch and the others had left before Matheson bade them come out, so quietly that, as they had hoped, their enemies had not heard them leave.
“Then some asshole over there stood up an’ hollered somethin’ ’bout Chadwick’s sister, Gretchen. Somebody took a shot at him, then our guys all started shootin’.
“Then the Kreutzer opened up. From their side! We was purty sure they didn’t have one before we got there so we knew they’d been behind our lines at some point. It was spooky ’cause we didn’t know when. That’s why they hollered the insult, t’ git us t’ fire so the guy with the Kreutzer could tell where we was.”
“Did he hit anybody with the Kreutzer?” asked Matt. He had to know.
“Oh, yeah. He did a lot a damage. Blew Philips’s head clean off. I mean there wasn’t nothin’ left of it. He hit Baumgartner in the chest and took off Eklund’s arm. Ek bled t’ death before we could stop the bleedin’.” That must have been the man Matt had heard scream. “That Kreutzer’s a evil fuckin’ machine.”
Tim was quiet for a minute, ruminating over the carnage. Then he drained his beer and Matt got them another round. He had what he wanted now; he didn’t have to worry about curbing his drinking so he didn’t waste any more of Bernie’s good ale.
But Tim wasn’t through. The beer enhanced his volubility. “We all hugged the ground, like we was moss, just shore they was comin’ after us. It had been sprinklin’ a little rain, but then it started rainin’ like hell. We didn’t hear nothin’ from ’m for quite a while. Then I looked around an’ Del was gone. We didn’t know where the hell he went so we just waited. We waited a long time, or at least it seemed like it in the rain, a really cold rain for that time a year.
“Then Del was back. He was walkin’ right acrosst the clearing just like there wasn’t no Kreutzer over there. An’ there wasn’t. ‘The sons-a-bitches is gone,’ he says. ‘We gotta find ’m,’ he says, ‘or we’re dead fuckin’ meat .’ So we started lookin’ for ’m. Del left a few guys t’ round up their mules, strike their camp, an’ pack their stuff t’ load in the morning – found a couple really nice crossbows among it – an’ the rest of us wandered ’round in the rain all night lookin’ for their trail. Never come acrosst it, though. An’ we ain’t seen nothin’ of ’m t’ this very day.”
Oh yes, you have; you’re looking at one of them right now.
“In the mornin’ we all got t’gether, a beat-up bunch a guys, I tell y’. The two wounded guys died in the night, which made our losses eight men. Johnson and his man stiffed three, and the ones that came ’round behind us got Smitty an’ George Bentley an’ took George’s Kreutzer. Their Kreutzer shooter hit three more. The ambush was a disaster any way y’ looked at it. They’d killed almost three times more a us than we did a them, an’ we still didn’t know where them or the goods was. Del was in a black mood. Ever’body knew better ’n t’ even talk to him. But he stood up in front a all the guys an’ said I’d saved his life, told ever’thing that happened up there on the ridge. That’s why I’m his main man now.”
“I see why he values you, Tim.”
“Yeah. Anyhow, he sent a few guys t’ take Johnson’s mules an’ truck back t’ Columbia an’ ast for more men so we could cover a bigger area. Chadwick only let one a the men we sent come back, said he was too short-handed t’ spare the others. This guy said the boss was really pissed, said t’ tell us he’d sent nigh fifty men to kill a dozen an’ we’d handled it like a bunch a Sunday school teachers. Said we’d better finish the job ourselves. If he had t’ take care of it hisself, we’d be in a pile a shit. We better not even think ’bout comin’ home till we’d killt the rest a those fuckers an’ brought back his goods.
“So we been lookin’ ever since. We can’t go back t’ Columbia ’cause a what Chadwick ‘d do to us. Del can’t figger out what t’ do. Sometimes he thinks a sendin’ somebody back t’ see what Chadwick’s thinkin’ nowadays. May
be he was just pissed an’ has got over it. But Del’s scairt a what Chadwick might do t’ whoever he sends back. The rest a us is scairt too so he ain’t gittin’ no volunteers. Sometimes he thinks a just takin’ off and startin’ his own gang like me an’ him usta have afore we joined Chadwick. A couple times he’s talked ’bout just goin’ down an’ takin’ Columbia away from Chadwick. But we only got a few over thirty guys left, an’ we hear he’s busy replacin’ us an’ that he’s got nigh a hunnert men again. Takin’ Columbia’s temptin’. They’s a lot a money there. Chadwick’s got it comin’ in through the market and from taxes an’ from tolls on the river an’ highways ’round Columbia.”
Matt filed the item about Matheson taking Columbia away from Chadwick away in his mind as something he might use. As they finished their beer, Tim said, “The fellers oughta be shuttin’ the stall down purty soon an’ showin’ up here for a beer. You’ll be able t’ meet ’m.”
Matt decided to forego that opportunity. He knew a lot of people of many vocations and reputations along the Missouri River. Since Chadwick could have recruited some of them, and it was possible that some had ended up in Matheson’s group, he didn’t want to risk running into one of them tonight.
He yawned hugely and said, “Sorry, Tim, but I need to head back to the camp. It’s been great drinkin’ beer with you – you’ve sure taught me a lot about what you guys go through – but I had a long trip today and I’m beat.”
“Hell, I understand, Jerry. I really enjoyed our talk. You go on t’ bed an’ I’ll see y’ in the mornin’.” He got up and headed, not all that steadily, toward the beer tent.
Matt went back to the encampment and rolled up in his bedroll to think about his conversation with Tim. Several answers to mysteries had been forthcoming. He now knew why Lou and he hadn’t found Downing’s remains; they hadn’t looked on the other side of the ridge where Matheson had killed him.
And he knew why Matheson wanted them so badly. Apart from revenge for killing so many of his men, he couldn’t find the stash without them, and he needed it to get back into Chadwick’s good graces. He would have no way of knowing of Johnson’s treachery, which left the gang as ignorant of the stash’s whereabouts as Matheson. It sounded as if there had been no communication between Matheson and Chadwick since the latter sent Matheson the message that he had better not show up without the gold. Did Chadwick wonder if Matheson’s long absence meant that he had double-crossed him and run off with it? And was that another possible action that Matheson considered?