Sharpshooter

by Dusty Richards

“It may take a month to get it all checked out but Spencer can fix it so it will not to do that. We ran for days with no problems when I had it before.”

  “I understand, but what a waste to have equipment and you have to repair it all the time.”

  “Come back in a month. It will work or I’ll know why.”

  “Cole, that is why I hired you.”

  “I want the sharpest accountant I can find. Chet said you might have a person, somewhere, that works for you and likes to hunt deer, elk, and antelopes. He can fish down in Oak Creek Canyon. This isn’t New York or Chicago but it is a hunter’s paradise. He can do that and work on the books.”

  “Brilliant idea. I will find him and send him to you.”

  “Tomorrow we sweep the place clean?”

  “Eight a.m. You must be ready?”

  “Exactly.”

  * * *

  To start with, Ivy McKinney, the manager, didn’t show until ten a.m., but they were ready for him and sent him packing. Cole told the current employees, after McKinney was gone, they had jobs as long as they worked hard, were on time, and did things correctly.

  “You must be at your places when the clock strikes eight. People waited this morning for you. I won’t stand for it. People who schedule coaches, meet in my office in ten minutes. Thank you. This man, here, is my right arm, Salty Meeker. If I am not here he knows what to do. And thank you, Mr. Cosby, for all you have done for me and the railroad.”

  Chet and Cosby kind of faded. Cole knew what he had to do. Billy Bob and the women were getting things settled in the first house, and Tad had come along to cook.

  To the evening meal Cosby brought two bottles of champagne and some bottles of sarsaparilla. Tad had found some really good beef he’d cooked in the oven at Cole’s house, along with some yeast rolls. The gals found an assortment of glasses to use and they toasted his first day.

  Chet sat drinking his sarsaparilla, agreeing they had set Cole up well to run it and that he had had a wonderful day. He and Lisa were riding home with Billy Bob to the Verde Ranch, then on home the third day.

  CHAPTER 23

  Someone had gone after the mail and had it stacked on the dining table with the back issues of the Miner newspaper. Lisa found them and told Chet there was a letter postmarked from Kanab, Utah, for him. He took the envelope and slit it open with his sharp pocketknife.

  She leaned over. “Who sent it?”

  “Rory Lincoln at Joseph Lake.”

  “What’s it say?”

  “I am reading it.”

  “Fine, tell me later. I am going to talk to the girls.”

  “No, stay here. This is a very tough letter and you need to hear it.”

  “What happened?”

  “‘Dear Chet, I am sorry I have to write you this very bad news. Someone murdered the entire Meadows family. They shot him six or more times. They had her tied on the bed and must have raped her—it was a horrible sight. They cut the two children’s throats ear to ear. It had happened a few days before anyone found them, and they rushed to get me. There was no way to get the law to look at the crime scene. I wrote the Yavapai County sheriff about the crime and I know he won’t send anyone up here at this late date. They needed to be buried.

  “‘I wrote Michael’s brother, too. The killers had tried to burn the cabin to hide the crime but the fire went out. I have few clues but if you had time—’”

  By then Chet had to hold up his sobbing wife and pulled out a chair for her to collapse on.

  “Why kill those lovely people and those dear children—”

  “Darling, I have no idea. I can’t imagine anyone that bad to do such a thing.”

  “What will the law do?”

  “Nothing. They have no evidence and the bodies are buried. It will be another unsolved crime maybe two hundred fifty miles away from us.”

  “But someone has to try to do something about it.” Lisa threw her arms on the table, hid her face in them, and cried more. “I can’t even get pregnant and they killed two children I loved.”

  “We can go up there and see what we can find, but finding help will be a problem—you understand?”

  “Yes, I know everyone is busy. You have solved greater crimes than this one. At least we can say we tried.”

  “I understand. I’ll go talk to Jesus this evening. See what his plans are.”

  “Vance, maybe you could spare Vic and another vaquero?”

  “Yes, and Tom might have someone. Johnny, he can go. He’s been in a similar situation, but he’s tough.”

  “Fred can’t. Spencer is gone to help Cole. Cole needs Salty. Would Sarge let Cody go with you?”

  “I can ask. We can’t be long about getting ready. It is a damn long way up there and winter isn’t far away.”

  Lisa dried her eyes on a handkerchief from her pocket. “I’m going, too.”

  “You certain?”

  “Damn certain. I am not with child.”

  “It’s some hard, long ways up there. It’s a rough land.”

  “I think we need packhorses. No wagons.”

  He agreed. “We can move faster.”

  “In the morning, I’ll send Billy Bob to Windmill and ask if they can spare Cody.”

  “Make a note to Tom that you need Tad, that horse wrangler, and Johnny as well.”

  “Hey, is anyone home?” Spud came through the kitchen. “There you are. What’s wrong?”

  Chet explained about the murders on the North Rim.

  “You are planning to go after the murderers, aren’t you?” Spud asked.

  “I want to try.”

  “Vance and the men here can take care of my place. I want to go and Shirley will, too. I haven’t had anything exciting to go after in years.”

  “That can be arranged. Lisa is going, too.”

  “Good. I’ll be ready.”

  “Billy Bob is going to Tom’s early tomorrow and get some of our crew from there and a new man. Then he’s going to ride to Sarge’s place and see about another young man to help us. Everyone else is working with Cole on the stage-telegraph redoing.”

  Chet wrote his letter and told Tom what happened and what he needed. They would pick up those men and Billy Bob on the way. Plus Cody, if he could get away. They needed things packed and loaded on packhorses. No wagons this trip. They were going to move across country fast, this time.

  He added he’d like for Tom and Millie to stay up at Preskitt Valley if they could.

  Then he wrote his sister and Sarge why he needed Cody and asked if they could spare him. If not, it was fine either way. He sent Billy Bob the next day.

  Every man would have a sound rifle, cartridges for it, and their Colts. Raincoats and jackets in case it got cold, Jesus promised the nine men and two women. Chet would have enough force to stop most any outlaws.

  His ranch crew got busy making sure every horse they took was well shod. The coal smoke was boiling out of the blacksmith shop chimney. Hammers were tacking away on the shaped plates to hooves. Others were rapping on top of anvils to make them fit. Everyone making the effort to send them off properly outfitted.

  Like on all occasions on the ranch, there was lots of teasing going on but Chet made sure they were doing a good job. They had a real long way to go to get there.

  Late in the afternoon, Billy Bob came up from the Verde Ranch to get some personal things. He found Chet and announced they’d let Cody Day go with them.

  “That’s good news.”

  “He’s at his in-laws tonight. Tom and Millie will be up here to look after things while you’re gone.”

  “That’s a job done good.”

  “I’ve been trying.”

  “I know and thanks.”

  Lying in bed that night, he’d run so much all day he couldn’t calm down enough to fall asleep. He knew that at daylight they needed to ride out under the overhead gate bar and push to be on the north side of the Verde Valley and on top of that rim by sundown. Finally, he fell asleep.

 
; * * *

  Breakfast was served under lamps, and the riders were loaded up and went out the gate before the sun peeked out. The sun wasn’t up on the sheer journey down the canyon to Verde. In the shadowy gorge, steel-protected hooves clacked on the rocks going downhill. The riders from the other ranch were out at the main road waiting and they put their packhorses into the string and started jogging their mounts northward.

  Tad and Cody Day both shook Chet’s hand, and he saw the horse wrangler was back there keeping the packhorses moving. It was quite a procession but they’d be well north of that rim before dark. They were making good time. They took a break on top to rest the horses and check their tack. One rider put on a new cinch Billy Bob found for him and they soon were back on the march.

  Before they left, Chet told Vance they’d push for sundown to quit. When they finally stopped, they watered the horses and things moved fast. Horses unloaded and fed grain in nose bags. Cooking fires lit. Bedrolls set out.

  He saw his wife in the last red light of sundown, stirring a large pot with a wooden spoon. She stopped, took both hands, and pushed on her hips. Obviously she was stiff after all day in the saddle. She was still as tough as she was coming down from Colorado. Someday the two of them would connect and she’d have a baby.

  When they sat down on the ground to eat their supper, he asked her if she was stiff.

  Her reply was, “Not too bad.”

  “Good.”

  “But you could help it some by rubbing it out.”

  “I will.” He laughed at her not complaining. She was tough.

  Cody came by and dropped on his haunches. “Billy Bob said they buried the victims.”

  “Had to. They were dead several days before anyone found them. Warm weather and they were a hundred miles from an undertaker.”

  “The sheriff never investigated it?”

  “No. That’s why I am making this trip to try and learn what I can. Lisa and I met them on our trip up here. Not many folks live up there.”

  “They have any money?”

  “I don’t think much. He couldn’t afford a ranch so he brought his cows up there and homesteaded some ground, built a cabin.”

  “Not many people saw anything, then?”

  “I didn’t say it would be easy.”

  “Yeah, Billy Bob said—he said the killers were bastards and needed to be stopped. He met the family, too. Said they were real western ranch folks.”

  “Cody, I know it is a hopeless case but someone has to try to find and stop them killers.”

  “Amen. Glad you asked me along. I needed a break.”

  They reached the Little Colorado Crossing the third evening. Things were holding up well. Chet shared his thoughts about there being too many horse thieves at that location. He set up a lookout schedule and they managed it. No horses were missing. Two hard days later they talked to Mrs. Lee and never explained a thing to her about their purpose. He paid the crossing fee and they rode west toward the Kaibab Plateau.

  When they got to Jacob Lake, Lincoln came out of the store and recognized him. “Well, bless the Lord, Chet Byrnes, you did come after all. I am ashamed of my doubting about you not coming. People said you are a man of your word. Thank God you came, sir.”

  “Rory, several of us met that family and we share your loss. What we can do right now is look. No one found and secured any evidence from that scene that we could use as proof of who was there.”

  “I was there the first time when we felt we must bury them. Many of us walked about looking, but no one said they found any evidence left by the murderers.”

  “Do you think they had any money worth killing them over?”

  “They were sincere young people but I doubt they had any large amount.”

  “Did anyone say who they thought was responsible for the crime?”

  “No, sir.”

  Chet rose in the saddle and asked if anyone had any more questions to ask him.

  No one did. “Thanks, Rory. We will look around and see if we can find anything that points that way. She didn’t have any jewelry?”

  “Not that I knew about. She had a single gold band wedding ring that his great-grandmother Betsy Cates wore. She was proud of it. Come to think of it, she didn’t have it on when we buried her. Funny. I never looked for it. Her hands were stained with her own dry blood—” He shook her head. “From all I saw they really mutilated her, aside from the rest they did to her.”

  He turned away to overcome his sorrow. Gathering his strength, he turned back. “If I caught them I’d choke them to death with my bare hands. God forgive me.”

  “We do, sir. So you say her ring was gone?”

  He managed to bob his head. “God be with you and these fine people who work for you. I am going to have to go somewhere and find myself. That funeral haunted me for days. Just talking about it has me beside myself. And now you point out those mad men took her ring.”

  “Was it marked?”

  He swallowed hard. “Betsy Cates was written inside by the jeweler. How he did that I never knew but she showed me and I read it on the inside of the ring. It was Michael’s great-grandmother’s name.”

  “Thanks, Rory. We will try to find out what we can.”

  They all rode south in silence.

  “You all right, Chet?” Jesus asked.

  “Sure. That was hard back there to be in the prosecutor role. But I want these mad people.”

  “So do I. We need more evidence.”

  “The only people that saw a bunch of outlaws that close were Salty and Cole. Think we can find out where they lived?”

  Chet nodded. And maybe at the cabin they’d find something that the burial party didn’t.

  By late afternoon they were at the cabin. He asked everyone to stay away until a few had looked at the scene. Six people slowly walked over the grounds outside the cabin. He slipped inside the door. The smell of death filled his nose and also the aroma from when the murderers tried to burn it down.

  In the fading light, Chet saw where her hands had been tied with rags to the head of the bed. A sourness rose in his throat and he rushed to the open door to vomit outside. It even poured out of his nose and burned his nostrils like fire.

  “You all right?” His wife had run over to check on him.

  “I will be, I promise. Don’t go in there. It is sickening.”

  “Obviously. Learn anything?”

  “Nothing to learn. They tied her hands with rags to the metal headboard rails so she couldn’t fight them off.”

  “Nothing in the yard out front. I want to check the house.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “You still look sick.”

  “I am feeling better.”

  “Liar.”

  “Go ahead.”

  She went to the bed and slow-like pulled the bloodstained sheet loose. “There is something in it.”

  He removed a common, open pocketknife. Dried blood on the long, open blade. It was what they stabbed her with—one of them, anyway. No initials scratched in it for ownership. He almost wished he had not come back in this cabin. He snapped the blade shut and pocketed it.

  “It took more than one to hold her down.”

  His wife nodded. “Not much here. But that woman lived through several hours of pain and punishment.”

  He agreed. Then he went to stand in the doorway and spoke to Jesus. “Find anything?”

  “No.”

  “At daylight, we’ll widen the circle.”

  They all marched on back to the camp, set off from the area that the owners used.

  “Where to tomorrow?” Jesus asked.

  “Widen our circle.” Chet swept his arms out.

  Then Spud and Shirley came out of the brush, waving a pair of old army field glasses.

  Shirley said, “Chet, we think one of the killers had been spying on them.”

  “Go ahead, Lisa. I want to go look where they found this old pair of glasses.”

  She smiled. “
Your Spanish sword is worth more.”

  There was now no doubt that someone using those old glasses had spied on the Meadowses from that pine tree.

  “I bet they did it from about six feet up this easy-climbed tree. He must have thought he had those glasses tied on good enough and went out through that dense cedar cover, lost them, and didn’t come back to find them,” Spud said.

  “What next?” asked his wife, who sounded worn-out.

  “Go eat supper, Shirley.”

  “Good. I am tired as all get-out, Chet.”

  He hugged the shorter woman’s shoulder. “So am I.”

  CHAPTER 24

  They discovered nothing more at the murder scene or around it, except that Cody found a few very small pieces of ruby. The reflection off them struck his eyes. In an instant, he dropped to his knees and gently freed them from the dirt with the blade of his jackknife.

  “What is it?”

  “Didn’t you find rubies in that cave?” He held the small pieces in his palm.

  Chet nodded. “Michael asked me where they got them—the Spanish. I said, probably in another cave around here.”

  “Think he found it?” Billy Bob asked.

  “No telling, but it would give those outlaws a reason to kill them. I never saw any of that in the ground samples we took around here. Nor are there any other tiny pieces in the ground here in the yard—so maybe these fell out of his pocket or hand, handling the rubies.”

  “Where do we look?” one of the other boys asked.

  “Keep looking. We find some, we will all share.”

  “We’re looking.” Shirley said.

  They began to make wider circles around the homestead but the few grains of red were all they found.

  It was obvious to Chet that the gang had abandoned the previous camp that Cole and Salty had scouted out. No one had used that site west of their first camp in a long time. Chet and his crew searched, but the outlaws weren’t anywhere near that area, and when they talked to a few prospectors on the move, Chet learned that no one had seen the Meadowses’ murderers.

  Chet’s posse was camped nearby Joseph Lake that cold morning and Chet told them that unless they found out more, they’d head home in the morning. He hated to give up but no new evidence about the murders showed up nor did any leads to the possible killers appear. To admit his investigation had come to a dead end was not easy, but he told Lisa the night before he had to face the truth—they’d done nothing to solve the deaths of that family.