Whispering Pines

by Scarlett Dunn

  Once they’d reached the hidden fork along the path that led to the cabin, a voice rang out in the dark.

  “Who goes there?”

  Frank pulled to a halt. He recognized the voice. “Walt?”

  “Frank?”

  “Yeah.” They dismounted and made their way through the brush. “I’m glad to see you made it,” Frank said.

  “We all made it.” The remaining two men walked from the rocks.

  “Roper chased us in here, but Reb shot him,” Walt said.

  “Is he dead?” Frank asked.

  “I don’t know. I took a different route than Reb and Mason, and I made it to the cabin a day earlier.”

  Reb picked up the story. “The sheriff and his men were on our tail. We arrived at the canyon before them, so we had time to get to the rocks to pick them off. We fired as soon as they entered the canyon. They didn’t make it this far. All I can tell you is Roper slumped over in the saddle, but his men surrounded him and they rode out fast. They haven’t been back.”

  “Good job, Reb. We’ll find out if he’s dead when we get to Whispering Pines,” Frank said.

  “How did you boys get away?” Walt asked.

  Frank told the men about the stagecoach accident, but he left out the part about threatening his own sister in order to get the drop on Morgan.

  “If it wasn’t for Frank’s sister we’d be pushing up daisies,” Deke added.

  “Why are we going back to Whispering Pines?” Walt asked.

  Frank smiled at Walt and slapped him on the back. “We’re going to rustle more cattle from LeMasters.”

  “You don’t mean we’re going back on his ranch?” Walt could hardly believe they were going to tempt fate by stealing from LeMasters again. He didn’t know why Frank couldn’t leave it alone.

  “That’s the plan. Stevie will know what’s going on. This time we’re going to do it up right. We’re going to kill Joseph Longbow. He’s the only one that can identify us as the rustlers. And when we leave, we’re going to take Stevie with us. Who knows, we might even rob a bank after that.”

  “Don’t you think they will be expecting us?” Walt asked.

  “Morgan thinks we’re headed to Mexico. He’s probably on his way there now.” Secretly, Frank hoped Morgan was back at Whispering Pines. He wanted to be a thorn in his side for as long as possible. He planned that when the day came that he left Whispering Pines for the last time, he’d see to it Morgan was dead. Morgan was known as a fast draw, so forcing him into a gun battle was not an option. Frank wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him in the back. Of course, it’d be interesting to see if Morgan was a faster draw than Stevie. Stevie practiced day and night. Maybe one day they would have the chance to find out.

  All that mattered to Frank right now was to kill Joseph Longbow. With him dead, there would be no one to testify against him, and he would never be hanged for his crimes. It was a bonus that Morgan cared about the old Indian.

  “It might be smarter to rob the bank and go on down to Mexico. Forget LeMasters,” Walt said. He didn’t agree with Frank’s plan when it came to LeMasters. He’d never met the man, and he didn’t have a beef with him. But Frank had it out for LeMasters for some reason, and he couldn’t let it go. Walt had joined the gang because of Deke and Dutch, not because of Frank.

  Deke and Dutch exchanged a look. They already knew Frank was not going to be dissuaded when it came to harassing Morgan.

  Frank figured he needed to make it clear who was running things. “I’m making the call.” He leveled his eyes on Walt and added, “Unless you think you are smart enough to make the decisions now.”

  Walt didn’t back down. “I’m saying it ain’t smart to go back to Whispering Pines.”

  Taking a step toward Walt, Frank was nose to nose. “Are you saying I ain’t smart?”

  Walt inclined his head toward the rest of the men and said, “We ain’t got nothing against LeMasters. This seems to be personal between you two. I think I speak for all of us when I say we ain’t hankering to swing from a rope because you have something to prove to LeMasters. With all the trouble with the Sioux, if we were smart, we’d hightail it out of here and go on down to Mexico.”

  Frank looked at the other men. He could tell they agreed with Walt since none of them spoke up. He couldn’t take them all on. “We have to kill Longbow. We need to create a diversion to get to him. If you men don’t care that Longbow can identify us, then we can leave for Mexico right now. But all of us can hang for rustling.” His eyes met each man’s, but silence ensued, so he continued. “I figure we can rob the bank afterward. Heck, we might even rob a train.”

  “Like the Reno Brothers gang?” Reb asked.

  “Who knows, we might become more famous,” Frank said.

  “Ain’t they all dead?” Dutch asked.

  “I think they was lynched years ago,” Deke added.

  “You make my point for me, Deke. If Longbow is dead, no one can testify against us, and we won’t end up swinging. I think we’ll be more like Jesse James. No one lives long enough to point their finger at him in court.” Frank turned toward the cabin. “You boys have whiskey? I sure could use a drink.”

  * * *

  “Stevie, where have you been?” Granny asked when her grandson walked in the kitchen.

  “I went to Denver to see a friend of mine.” Stevie walked to the stove to see what she was cooking. “Something smells good.”

  “I’m making some soup for Sheriff Roper. One of the men in Frank’s gang shot him.”

  “He’s alive?”

  “By the grace of God.” When she glanced up at Stevie, she saw how pale he was. “Are you sick, son?” She raised her hand to his forehead, but he jerked away.

  “I’m fine. I’m just hungry. You got anything else to eat beside soup?”

  “I’ll fix you a sandwich.” She’d thought once Frank was no longer around to influence Stevie, he might be more like the sweet young man he once was. He’d changed over the last few years, and like Frank, she wasn’t able to steer him on the right path.

  Granny watched as he walked to the stove and poured himself a cup of coffee. He was moving slowly. When he reached for the cup, she noticed he winced in pain. “Is there something wrong with your arm?”

  “I told you, I’m fine. Where was Roper when he got shot?”

  “The deputy said they were in some canyon.” Granny pulled out some ham and sliced some of her freshly baked bread.

  Just as Stevie figured, Frank would make his way back to Purgatory Canyon. “Was Frankie with them?”

  “No, Morgan went after him, but he escaped with three men. Somehow Morgan met up with your sister, who was on the stagecoach. There was an accident and Rose was injured. Morgan is bringing her home in a few days.”

  “Where’s Frankie?”

  “I don’t know.” It irritated Granny that Stevie didn’t ask about Rose. She placed his sandwich in front of him. “You don’t have any questions about your sister?”

  Stevie picked up the sandwich and took a huge bite. “You said she was coming home in a few days, so I reckon she must be okay.”

  Granny pulled a chair out and sat across from him. “Mind your manners, and don’t talk with your mouth full. It wouldn’t hurt you to say a prayer before your meal.” Seeing he wasn’t going to listen, she bowed her head and said a quick, silent prayer. She thought she might be wasting her breath, but she wanted to try one more time to save Stevie from Frank’s fate. She asked God to help her find the right words. “Stevie, I don’t know what is going on, but I don’t want you following in your brother’s footsteps. I failed him, and I’ll always regret that, but Preacher and I did teach him right from wrong. As much as it pains me to say it, he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. You know what he’s done to Morgan is wrong.”

  Stevie swallowed another big bite. “You care more about LeMasters than you do Frankie. You never did take Frankie’s side, and I don’t think that he’s done anything wrong.”


  “I love Frank, but I will not abide his outlaw ways. If that means I take Morgan’s part, then you are right.”

  “LeMasters started the feud between them. Why don’t you ask him what happened to make Frankie hate him?”

  “I’m sure Morgan didn’t start their problems.” She stood and walked back to the stove. She couldn’t reason with him when it came to his brother and Morgan LeMasters. “You don’t want to go the way of an outlaw. There will only be heartache and death.”

  Stevie didn’t respond, so she dropped the subject. “You need to start helping out around the farm. All you’ve done for the past year is target practice, and that’s not a useful skill for farm work.”

  “I don’t like farm work,” Stevie said.

  Granny’s patience was running thin. He was a grown man now, and he was acting like a baby. She walked back to the table and waggled a finger at him. “You like to eat, don’t you? Farming is hard work, but it’s good, honest work. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Your brother would have been a lot better off if he’d spent more time on the farm and in church.”

  “Frankie doesn’t want to be a farmer, and I don’t either. Don’t think I’m going to stay here. You’ll have the girls here, they can help you farm if you want to keep it going.”

  She was almost afraid to ask him the question. “What do you plan on doing with your life?”

  “I’m going with Frankie when he comes back.”

  She shook her head at him. “Frank is going to be in jail.”

  “That’s what you think.” There was no way his brother was going to hang. Frankie was too smart for that. He’d outsmarted all of them for a long time.

  “Joseph Longbow said it was Frank and his men who did the rustling. Frank was the one who shot Joseph. Your brother is going to the territorial prison if Morgan doesn’t hang him first.”

  Stevie silently wished Frankie had killed Joseph Longbow. Maybe he should make sure Joseph Longbow was dead so he couldn’t testify against his brother. He’d talk to Frankie and see what he wanted to do. He was a better shot than Frankie, so it made sense he should be the one to shoot him. As soon as his arm healed he planned to ride to Purgatory Canyon. He felt confident that’s where he would find his brother.

  Stevie started to walk out the door, but Granny stopped him when she said, “Stevie, you need to consider your eternal soul.” When she saw her words were falling on deaf ears, she added, “Take a bath today, and go see the barber unless you want me to take the scissors to your hair. If you can’t do that much, you can stay in the barn.”

  Stevie walked out, and Granny turned to look out the window at the cloudless blue sky. “Preacher, if you’re listening, I could use some advice.” She felt like she could hear her husband’s voice in her ear saying, You’ve done all you can do. Pray. Granny chuckled. “That was always your answer to every problem.”

  * * *

  “Granny, you didn’t have to bring this food. I know you don’t have time to be babysitting me,” Jack said.

  Granny removed the jars of soup from her basket and placed them on Jack’s kitchen table. “I wanted to see how you are doing, and you need that bandage changed.”

  “Webb could change this bandage.”

  “I don’t trust him to scrub your wound good. Besides, I made you a pie too.”

  He was grouchy and bored from staying in bed, but the thought of one of Granny’s pies brought a smile to his face. “What kind?”

  “Apple.”

  Jack winked at her. “Marry me, Granny.”

  “I can see you are feeling better, Jack Roper. You’re full of your usual nonsense.” Granny walked to his stove to make fresh coffee. “Do you want some soup now?”

  “Some of your good coffee with a piece of pie sounds too good to pass up.”

  “You have to promise you will have some soup later,” Granny said.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Now let me look at your wound while we wait for the coffee.” Granny filled a pan with water, grabbed a bar of soap, and placed it on a table beside the bed. She removed Jack’s bandage and cleaned his wound. “This looks good.”

  “Did you give Joseph Longbow his medicine pouch back?”

  She reached into her skirt pocket, pulled out the pouch and handed it to Jack. “It’s a spirit bag. He said it was for you, and you would need it again.”

  Jack frowned at her. “Why? Is he trying to tell me I will be shot again?”

  Granny shrugged. “He said it will protect you. You know Joseph. He’s a man of few words and he wouldn’t explain. Most of the time he walks away while you are still talking. He doesn’t say good-bye, he just takes off.”

  Jack chuckled. “Yeah. He doesn’t spend a lot of time conversing.”

  After Granny wrapped a clean bandage around his shoulder, she cut a large piece of pie and poured him a steaming cup of coffee.

  Jack thought Granny looked worried, and he figured it had something to do with Stevie. “Did Stevie come home?”

  Granny poured herself a cup of coffee and sat in the chair by the bed. “Yes, he told me he visited a friend in Denver.”

  Jack took a big bite of pie and chewed in silence, trying to figure out where Stevie was spending his time. “You think he’s got a girlfriend?”

  “Not on your life. The way he smells, he’s not good company for the pigs.”

  “Not big on bathing, huh?”

  “I told him he could stay in the barn if he didn’t take a bath.”

  “Does he have friends that you don’t know about?”

  “I was just thinking that Stevie doesn’t have any friends other than Frank. Sadly, he worships Frank and wants to be just like him. I told him that he needed to quit his target practicing and do some work around the farm. But he told me he wasn’t going to stay on the farm.”

  “Where’s he planning to go?”

  “He said he will be going with Frank when he comes back.”

  Jack took a sip of coffee. “I’m sorry to hear that, Granny. I reckon sometimes men just have to learn the hard way.”

  Granny turned her tired, watery eyes on Jack. “That’s the problem. I’ve treated them like they were boys and they are both grown men. I’ve prayed and prayed for those boys, but it’s out of my hands.”

  Chapter Ten

  Rose was waiting by the door as Morgan and the station owner hitched the fresh team to the stagecoach. Morgan hadn’t mentioned why he’d stayed behind instead of the pastor. She thought perhaps the pastor was in a hurry to get to Whispering Pines, and Morgan felt an obligation to Granny to see her home. Morgan hadn’t been overly talkative the last two days, so the last thing she wanted to do was annoy him with questions.

  Two men arrived on the incoming stagecoach and they were going as far as Denver, so she wouldn’t be riding alone with Morgan. Rose didn’t care for the way the two men watched her every move. Morgan may not be saying much to her, but she was relieved he would be riding inside the coach with her. No matter their differences over Frank, she felt safe with him.

  Mrs. Barnett walked up beside Rose and followed the direction of her gaze. “That Mr. LeMasters sure is a handsome man.”

  “Hmm,” Rose replied noncommittally.

  “Does he have a wife?”

  “No, he doesn’t.” It was surprising Morgan had never married. Considering the many women who competed for his attention, it was astonishing that one hadn’t talked him into settling down after all of these years. Granny’s letters always made mention of Morgan, and included the usual small-town gossip. She would tell her of the women who would sit beside Morgan at church, or what single ladies invited him to a home-cooked meal, or if he escorted a particular woman to dinner at the hotel. Rose never understood why Granny thought she would be interested in Morgan’s personal life or romantic interest, but she could recall every name of every woman Granny wrote about.

  Mrs. Barnett put her arm around Rose’s shoulders. “At first, I thought you two were betrothed. He
seems so devoted to you.”

  Rose thought of the kiss they’d shared and how much she’d liked it. She couldn’t stop thinking about her reaction to him. “No, we are not betrothed. We’ve known each other a long time.” She thought perhaps Mrs. Barnett knew why Morgan had stayed instead of the pastor, so she said, “Actually, I thought he was going home with his men and the pastor was going to wait for the stagecoach.”

  Mrs. Barnett hadn’t heard any conversation about Morgan leaving. “I wouldn’t know about that.” It hadn’t escaped her notice that Morgan had more than a passing interest in this lovely young woman. And it seemed that Rose couldn’t take her eyes off of him. “Not only is he handsome, he’s a hard worker too. I swear that man doesn’t sit still. He’s been a big help to Ward while he’s been here. If I were you, I wouldn’t let him get away. I can’t believe some woman hasn’t roped him into marriage before now.”

  Rose didn’t reply because Morgan was walking toward the house. “Your valises are on the stagecoach. We can pull out when you’re ready.”

  “I’m ready.” Though Rose was still moving slowly, she was feeling much better. She stepped on the porch, and Morgan reached for her elbow to assist her.

  Mrs. Barnett was right behind them. “Now you take care, and if you need to stop, you just tell the driver. Ward told them to take more rest stops than normal.”

  Rose turned and squeezed Mrs. Barnett’s hand. “You’ve been so kind. Thank you for your care.”

  “It was my pleasure.” Mrs. Barnett looked at Morgan. “Mr. LeMasters, don’t let her move around too much.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Where’s George?” Rose asked.

  “He says he’s riding on top with the driver. I don’t think he likes riding inside the coach. I guess he’s spent too many years driving the team.” Morgan didn’t care to be inside the coach either, but he wasn’t about to let Rose ride inside with the two strangers. Not only that, but he reasoned she might be frightened riding in a coach again.