Sharpshooter

by Dusty Richards

  “Nice to meet you both.”

  “You run a neat ship here, sir,” Jamie said.

  “I have lots of good help.”

  Jamie shook his head in wonder.

  “I’ll get someone on a fast horse to go get Bo,” Vance said.

  “Thanks. Have him stop on the way and tell Jesus that we need to go in the morning.”

  Vance agreed and was gone.

  “Well, this has certainly been an interesting day. Hines and I came to ask for help and got jobs instead. Thanks.”

  Lisa stood looking out the west-side window. “You can’t leave. They set your personal things on the ground at the foot of the stairs and put your horses up. I have hot water upstairs. Take a bath, rest awhile, and this evening these girls will serve a great supper. Tomorrow you can ride home and Chet can go with you.”

  “Amazing. I have never slept in a house this nice.”

  “Welcome to the ranch team. You will find you like it. There will be clothes for you to wear after your bath while we wash your clothes. Later they will be dry and ironed and ready for you to put back on in time for supper.”

  “Thank you.”

  CHAPTER 29

  For the second time since Bo had arrived, Chet asked him if he could ride that far.

  “Hell, yes.”

  “Good. We will ride horses over there. We leave at sunup.”

  A boy took his reins to put him up. Bo took a war bag off the saddle horn. Chet took it away from him.

  “You bring your long-handle underwear?”

  “I sure did.”

  “Good.”

  “I haven’t ridden much lately, but I’ll make it over there.”

  “Fine. We are not taking a wagon to haul your carcass back in.”

  “Tell me about this deal you’re working on.”

  “Bar Ten Ranch. A brother and brother-in-law to the couple I told you about that were murdered on the North Rim came by asking for my help in the investigation. And in our talk, they told me about a large ranch on the east border of the Territory that is for sale. The man married a Texas woman and she wants to move back there. It goes by the Bar Ten brand.”

  “Twenty sections. He wants half a million for it. I saw the listing.”

  “Cut that in half. Maybe two hundred thousand cash.”

  “I don’t think he would take that little.”

  “We are going to go see. These two young men suggested one of their fathers for my foreman. They know ranching and were willing to be the jingle bob foremen under him. They also know the ranch.”

  “You going back up on the strip again?”

  “After branding in the spring. You want to go along?”

  “Hell, last time you paid the ones who went along a fortune to each of them.”

  “Bo, the chances of doing that are one out of a hundred.”

  “I’d still like to see it and the opportunities I might find. And I doubt very strongly this guy will take your offer for his ranch, but we can ask.”

  “We have not asked him.”

  “Right.”

  At the top of the stairs, Lisa had the door open and smiled to welcome him. “You ready for this long ride?”

  “You going, too?”

  “No, Fred Taylor’s wife is here and expecting any day to deliver her firstborn. I better stay and help her.”

  “I understand, now that I have two of them.”

  “Wash up. Billy Bob is up here already. Vic’s coming for supper. He is a vaquero here, and our cook, Tad, we will pick up at the Verde Ranch tomorrow. Jesus will join us here in the morning. Six of us are going over there with packhorses. It will take three or so days to get to Holbrook. If we can make Windmill tomorrow night, Wagon Wheel the next, then Holbrook, and we can sleep indoors all the way.”

  Everyone around the table laughed.

  Chet shook his head. “What is so funny?”

  “Chet, you always push those places as if they are closer,” Lisa said.

  “We can do it. So that is the plan.”

  “How are the real estate sales going?” Billy Bob asked Bo.

  “I sell some houses in Preskitt. But no one wants to sell their ranch. What I mean by that is they want such a high price they don’t have to make any moving plans.”

  He drew some laughs.

  “There is a place west of Jesus’s that has a ‘For Sale’ sign out front?” Vic asked him.

  “Charlie Overton. Eighty acres. He wants twelve thousand dollars for it. It is worth maybe two thousand on a very hot day.”

  “What are some of those homesteads we bought worth?” Chet asked.

  “Those near the Marcy Road? Probably would sell at three times what you paid for them.”

  “None are for sale,” Chet said, and sipped on his hot coffee.

  “I’d say so, too. Toby has fenced them, has windmills on them, and you can mow fence to fence on most of them.” Bo shook his head, studying the apple cobbler one of the girls put on his plate. “I should have bought the Oak Creek orchards. But I didn’t know you could hire that couple who runs it.”

  “They are wizards at growing things,” Lisa said.

  “Didn’t you save him from some kidnappers in Utah?”

  “Yes. And Jesus and the crew nearly froze to death coming home.”

  “I’ve heard his story about it being so damn cold, too.”

  “It may be that cold this trip.”

  “No excuses. You get back here for the Christmas celebration,” Lisa said.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She came around and hugged him. “I know this may be a very good deal. But I want you back here for Christmas.”

  “You guys heard her. We have to be back for the ranch party.”

  They all nodded.

  * * *

  His crew rode out with him on a mild winter morning. Jesus had joined them earlier and they pushed off the mountain, then gained Tad and three more packhorses. They pushed hard for the Windmill. They trotted their horses a lot that day but it was still past dark on the short winter day when they reached the Windmill and Sis’s hospitality.

  Billy Bob saw that the horses were grained and watered, for they had another long day to Wagon Wheel next. When Billy Bob slid into his seat at Sis’s dining table he told them, “The horses are all fed and watered, and they will be rested for tomorrow. Lucy, you tell your men thanks for helping me.”

  “What are you going after?”

  “Look at a ranch.”

  “That figures. It must be a bargain?”

  “It ain’t, we won’t buy it. It is, we will.”

  The men thanked Sis for the food and got ready to sleep in one of her many beds in the warm house.

  “Breakfast at five. I know you have a long day tomorrow. Chet, how is Josey doing?”

  “Lisa says very well. She is healthy and ready, she says, to have it.”

  “I know how that goes.” She smiled and shook her head. “She is in good hands with Lisa.”

  Chet agreed.

  * * *

  The weather was cooler, in the predawn, than the day before. Chet, seated in the saddle, turned the collar up on his wool coat. He was a little amused at seeing Bo, stiff-like, getting on his horse.

  They rode off at a trot. Tad was driving the packhorses that Vic led that day. Billy Bob had that chore the day before. He was riding stirrup to stirrup with Chet.

  Midmorning, they were on the Marcy Road. Chet felt they’d be, at their current pace, at the Wagon Wheel by evening. It was one of those sharp days where the wind cut a person in half with its sharpness. Even wearing long-handle underwear, a wool shirt, vest, and his coat, the wind still let Chet know it came from the North Pole, and the message it sent was cold.

  The lights on at the ranch house were a beacon in the night for them to bear down on crossing the basin. Chet felt relieved they were making it at last. But even so he felt worn out riding across the wide-open country under the star-sparkling sky.

  F
red met them, and three of his men came, dressed warmly, to put up their horse stock.

  “Kind of shocked us, you all riding in this late in the day.”

  “Fred, we are damn glad to see you. Been a cold day getting here.”

  “No baby before you left?”

  “Josey is doing fine. Lisa says she is very healthy and strong. She’s in good spirits. No baby before we left.”

  Fred nodded that he heard him. “I appreciate all you and your wife have done. I’d like to be closer but we both understood it took a lot of work to get her over there so nicely. She really thanked Billy Bob. He’s a pretty nice guy for doing the job he did to make her trip over there so easy.”

  “He’s a good guy. Did two guys from over by Holbrook drop by here?”

  “Yeah. They came by and said they planned to go with you to the strip.”

  “Did they tell you it was their relatives that were murdered?” Chet had the latigos undone on his girth and swung his saddle and blanket off his horse.

  “Here, I’ll put it on a rack. Yes, they told us it was his sister and the other guy’s brother they murdered.”

  “Fred, it was a horrific crime and there’s no evidence to point a finger at anyone.”

  Fred lowered his voice. “You must be over here on business?”

  “Those two want me to buy the Bar Ten. They say the man who owns it is ready to sell.”

  “Wow. I heard he has a new wife. The guy who owns it.”

  “Yes. He met her on a trip to Fort Worth. Pretty woman, but she comes from a rich Texas family and she’s spoiled, from what I hear. Holbrook damn sure ain’t Dallas.”

  Tad and the two Mexican women who worked the kitchen soon had a hot meal on the table.

  In the warm house, most of his men had recovered from the cold and were glad to be there taking their places at the long table.

  Bo asked Jesus if it had been that cold on the strip.

  “Almost.”

  The answer was still funny in the face of the relief and warmth they’d found inside the fine house. Chet even decided Bo was a damn sight tougher than he had imagined, to have made the two days’ hard riding under the cold weather. But there was no other way to get over there.

  “Is there anything I can do for you while you are here?”

  “No. We’ll go look, talk, and if it is a bargain we will try to buy it.”

  “It is a big outfit.”

  “Do you know a man called Thurman Meadows?”

  “Yes. We worked with him at roundup. He has a small herd of cattle, but, yes, he is really respected among all large and small ranchers.”

  “He’s Jamie’s father.”

  “Yes. I had not connected that. But it makes sense.”

  “I am going to talk to him about running it if we can buy it.”

  “You know where he lives?”

  “Maybe you could show me.”

  “Yes, I could. I have some men who can handle the ranch for a time. Just say when.”

  “You know the railroad wants more telegraph lines?”

  “No. I have not had anything but some short letters from Spencer. I am doing all that.”

  “Fred, you may be running this ranch before spring.”

  “Chet, I’m not up to being Cole or Spencer but I believe I can run it. The men work well for me. I know what I need to do. Toby is going to put up the hay. I am not afraid.”

  Chet slapped his shoulder. “It will be better here for you when Josey and the baby are back here.”

  “Amen. That is right.”

  “After I make this deal I’ll leave Jesus and Billy Bob to run the ranch and you can go join Josey at my house.”

  “I don’t—”

  “They understand such things. So do I.”

  “Good. What else can we do for you?”

  “I want to meet Thurman Meadows tomorrow.”

  “As I said, I can take you there. He’s a few hours from here.”

  “Thanks.”

  Chet found Jesus before he went to bed. “You will be the foreman tomorrow along with Billy Bob. Vic can ride with Fred and me. Bo can rest. I am going to talk to Thurman Meadows about the Bar Ten superintendent’s job.”

  “We can handle it,” Jesus said.

  Chet nodded. When he went down the hall to his assigned bedroom he felt his plans were going well so far. Was owning the Bar Ten simply a dream? In a short while he’d know.

  CHAPTER 30

  The weak sun was near twelve o’clock when the three of them swung into the orderly yard of the Three T Ranch. A man he suspected was Thurman Meadows put down an ax he’d been using to split stove wood and removed his leather gloves.

  “Thurman Meadows, I am Chet Byrnes. How are you, sir?” He stepped off his horse.

  “They said you were tall. Nice to meet you, sir.”

  “No, sir. I am simply Chet.” They shook hands.

  “Maggie has some coffee. Hitch your horses, man. She has some sweet raisin bread. Be a good excuse for me having you for my guests to eat it.”

  “Thanks. Nice place you have here.”

  “I guess I am a coward about borrowing money. I could have done that, to build bigger, but I have built this small ranch with money I had in my hand.”

  “My dad did that. I guess I was too anxious and I borrowed money since I took over our original ranch back in Texas. Kansas cattle deliveries crossed those debts out.”

  Meadows nodded he’d heard him. “The boys said you made them an offer if you bought the Bar Ten?”

  “You interested in the job of foreman?”

  “Helluva big job for a man my age to be offered.”

  “Those boys said they wanted you to run it.”

  “And they’ll be the jingle bob foremen?”

  “Exactly. You’d earn three-fifty a month, ranch house, and expenses.”

  “The boys?”

  “Two hundred a month.”

  “I didn’t take the job I guess they’d hate me.”

  “No, I bet they’d respect your judgment.”

  “You can introduce your men to my wife. Maggie, we have company.”

  “I’m Chet Byrnes. That is Vic and this is Fred, my foreman over at the Wagon Wheel Ranch. He said you know him from roundups.”

  “Come into my kitchen, gentlemen. Our son said you’d come and ask Thurman to work for you.”

  “Has he decided?”

  “Well, Thurman?”

  “How foolish do you think I am? Yes, Mr. Byrnes, I would appreciate being your superintendent.” Gesturing, Thurman said, “Sit down, gentlemen,” then continued. “I consider this is the greatest day in my life. Thank you, sir—I mean, Chet.”

  “Good. I must warn you I have not bought the ranch yet but I had to be sure I had some real leaders if I do.”

  “Those boys already consider you the next owner of the ranch.”

  “Are there fifteen hundred mother cows on that ranch?”

  Thurman smiled and shrugged. “I’d have to count them. There are lots of them.”

  Things settled, they rode back to Wagon Wheel.

  Jesus met them on the front porch. “Well?”

  “We have a superintendent and two foremen.”

  He nodded in approval.

  * * *

  The Bar Ten was a good distance south of Holbrook and farther yet from the Wagon Wheel. Chet and his outfit, including Bo, left the next morning and found it midafternoon. When they reined up before the rambling house, a man put on his cord coat and hat to come out to greet them.

  “I’m John Arnold, may I help you?”

  Chet dropped out of the saddle and stuck out his hand. “Chet Byrnes, Quarter Circle Z, Preskitt, Arizona. These men work for me. I heard you’d like to sell this ranch. We rode over to talk to you about it.”

  “Nice to meet you. I want half a million dollars for lock, stock, and barrel of this place.”

  Chet nodded. “I’m thinking two hundred thousand, cash.”

  Ar
nold smiled, shook his head as if amused at Chet’s offer, and started to turn away.

  “Arnold, it’ll soon be snowing here. How much hay have you got?” Chet had not seen a stack in sight.

  “You talking cash for this place?”

  “I am talking cash.”

  “Where is the money at?”

  “Preskitt.”

  “That your best offer?”

  “Yes.” Chet gathered his reins as if ready to leave.

  “How long will it take to get it here?”

  “Oh, it’s already at the bank.”

  “I would have to see a clear deed,” Bo said.

  The man blinked at him. “It’s clear.”

  “That’s Bo. He’s my real estate man.”

  “The First State Bank have all the papers on it in Holbrook.”

  “This is Tuesday. We can have your money there Friday. We will meet you there at ten a.m. Friday, but I will meet you at the bank at nine a.m. tomorrow to see the papers on it. I must see that there are no liens or judgments against it—you understand?” Bo said.

  Arnold stood there nodding his head. “You understand I only had this week to sell it?”

  “No. Why is that?” Chet asked.

  “My wife was moving back to Texas without me if I didn’t. Gentlemen, I will meet you at the bank tomorrow.”

  Chet reached out and shook his hand. “Tomorrow at the bank.”

  “Yes. I’ll be there.” Chet watched him head for the front door like he was under a spell until he disappeared inside and closed the door behind him.

  “Now, what was his problem?” Bo asked.

  Chet took off his hat and shook his head. “I reckon she planned to leave him here.”

  “How serious is his hay situation?” Billy Bob asked.

  “I have no idea. Mount up and we will look at it while we are here.”

  Chet noted the nice spring-fed creek that divided the wide, grassy swale the ranch headquarters sat in. This would be some outfit and might be the best ranch he’d bought so far. There were several haystacks and no immediate forage problem. The corrals looked extra stout and well designed. A few ranch hands waved at them passing by.

  Chet reined up and spoke to one, a man in his thirties. “Who’s the foreman here?”

  “We don’t have one right now. His wife fired him three weeks ago. He’s the boss. I mean Arnold. And I think he’s at the house.”