Sharpshooter

by Dusty Richards

  In three days, two pickaxes were pounding and dust and rocks were being hauled off to be busted and smelted. Jed showed them some rich pockets of gold they’d found that raised their hopes.

  Billy Bob took the livery horses back to Hayden’s Ferry to save the rent and livery charges. He took a stage back that afternoon. By Saturday, they were more excited about the rich ore coming out and they were handpicking through the tailings.

  Jed was smiling. “I think we are going in the right direction. There is some side-tunneling we can do later.”

  Jesus began to talk about going home for a few days and checking on his wife. Friday, Chet sent him home and told him to bring Lisa back. He sent her a wire to come back Sunday with Jesus.

  Chet and Jed looked at other mines for sale. But Chet wanted their current project to become more profitable and use that money to run a second one. They really had a good week. Jesus came back with Lisa, and midmorning they had a big breakfast at the Gold Dust Saloon.

  In three days she had a two-story house rented and they moved in. It was the fall and the desert temperature made the area livable. Things were really doing great at the mine. Chet had full confidence in Billy Bob and Jed running the Calico Mine.

  In the mine office, with the doors shut, he warned his two superintendents the things to watch for. High-graders leaving after a shift with their pants pockets full of gold nuggets, teamsters hauling rocks to the crusher putting aside high-grade ore and coming back after shifts to get it. They’d caught some employees doing that and fired them.

  That all in place, Lisa, Chet, and Jesus took the stage back to Preskitt.

  Chet found everyone in good health and, with things going so smoothly, he wondered why he came home. With Lisa, Jesus, Vic, and Tad to cook, and Eldon for their horse wrangler, Chet set out to check on things at the other ranches. They went by the Rustler’s Ranch first. Toby and Talley were doing fine. They had four of their hands married and living in the casas they built for them. They had a lovely time and were ready to move three hundred cows over from the east ranch. Chet and Thurman had plans to use the crew coming back from the Navajo drive to bring them over to Rustler’s Ranch.

  Chet got a kick out of the thinking and planning that went into the move.

  Thurman and his foremen wanted their cow count down to fourteen hundred, so Toby was going to be up to capacity at his house. Of course, that suited Chet. His range was really being utilized with all Toby’s water development on the homesteads watering the range cattle. More of his places needed that.

  In bed at night, Lisa told Chet that Talley was expecting number two, and she herself didn’t have number one. But she also said how proud she was of Renny helping teach at the Cherry School.

  They rode clear over to the east ranch and stayed with Thurman and his wife. They were ready over there for the drive of cows to Toby and had hands borrowed from Fred.

  Lisa teased him, “You are getting to be one of the largest cattlemen in the Territory.”

  Fred, Josey, and their new baby were next. Fred had settled into running the vast Wagon Wheel ranch. He and Chet discussed upping his numbers of cows and the future. He didn’t need an older man to help him—maybe a younger guy to break in.

  Next was Flagstaff to see Rocky, Cole, and Val, who were making it fine. Cole had to hear about everything, and Chet told them about the gold mining operation.

  “Man, you did good on the strip this last time, too. You know, I think the railroad is going to pick up and go when they get out of that Rio Grande gorge down there.”

  “They might.”

  “We are hard-pressed to get the three new telegraph lines up before it snows. That Spencer is a whiz, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he sure is.”

  “Stay for a day. You and I can put our boots up and visit.”

  “I’ve been gone so much that I better get home. I wanted to go see Lucy and Sarge, but I better haul my butt back home.”

  “Good luck mining.”

  “I may need a lot of that. One day you have gold—the next day you have sand.”

  “I want to tell you that Rocky is still talking about his time with you and Renny. He has never looked at a girl before she came along.”

  “You coming to the horse races?”

  “I will have to. I have three racehorses in training now. If Rocky doesn’t win he may never be the same again.”

  “He’ll be fine. He and the other two really worked well together on that trip.”

  “He drove that big water wagon and mules and told me all about it.”

  “It was one great adventure.”

  “Something he won’t ever forget.”

  “None of them ever will.”

  Chet and his crew made it down to the Verde. Adam joined them and they had some laughs. He had plans to be at the races. He had two horses in training.

  “Is Renny teaching school?”

  “Oh. Yes. She helps the teacher at the Cherry School.”

  “Bet those kids are learning lots.”

  “I bet so, too.”

  They were back home before lunch. Chet learned that Renny had stayed home that day to greet them. It was a nice reunion. The house girls fixed a frosted cake. He swore that Lisa and Renny both bawled.

  About bedtime, a youth rode in with a telegram. Chet heard the commotion while readying to go to bed. He went out on the back steps.

  “Telegram for Mr. Byrnes.”

  “What is it?’ Lisa asked.

  “I have a telegram.”

  He took it from the youth and read it in the lighted back room.

  “It is from Goldfield. From the sheriff deputy in charge.”

  DEAR MR. BURNS

  BOTH YOUR MAN BILLY BOB AND YOUR

  MINE SUPERINTENDENT JED CARLISLE

  WERE SHOT IN AN ATTEMPT TO ROB

  YOUR BUSINESS OFFICE. I HAVE AN ALL-

  POINTS BULLETIN OUT FOR THREE

  SUSPECTS AND THINK OUR LOCAL LAW

  MAY FIND THEM. BOTH MEN ARE IN

  SERIOUS CONDITION AND IN THE

  HOSPITAL AT DR. REDDING’S HOUSE.

  HAROLD FREDRICK,

  DEPUTY SHERIFF IN CHARGE,

  GOLDFIELD, ARIZONA TERRITORY

  “Oh my God,” Lisa said, reading the telegram. “How will you answer it?”

  “I’ll get a paper and pen. I am going to offer a thousand-dollar reward for information and help finding the men responsible.”

  “Yes, do that.”

  “What is wrong?” asked Renny, coming into the room.

  “They have shot both Billy Bob and his mine superintendent, Jed Carlisle, over at the mine.”

  “Why shoot Billy Bob? Oh, that is terrible. He is such a nice man.”

  “We think they had a robbery at the mine office.”

  “What will you do, Dad?”

  “Get Jesus and go after them tonight.”

  Lisa took charge. “Renny, please tell Vance to get Vic and tell him it’s going to be for days. Chet is going to need him and Jesus. Tell him and Jesus that they are going to Goldfield. That Billy Bob and the mine superintendent were shot in a robbery. Then have Vance send someone to the stage office to hold the stage so they can get on it. Tell them it is very important they wait for them.”

  Turning to Chet, she continued, “You better come inside and change clothes.”

  He nodded. “Pay that boy for the outgoing telegram and give him a tip, too.”

  He headed upstairs, on the run, to change clothes. It was still August but he’d need fresh ones. His heart was pounding in his throat. He dressed quickly, strapped on his gun and hat.

  “Chet, you have to be careful. I know you are mad. And upset. But be cautious, because Renny and I need you. We don’t need you dead. We need you to help us run this vast empire. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes, I hear you fine. I won’t be careless. I love both of you. I will be fine.” He kissed them, and his boot heels rumbled down the stairs. What had he forgotten?
He could not even imagine what it was.

  Vic was mounted, and a boy handed Chet the reins to his horse.

  “We sent a boy ahead to tell Jesus you were going to Goldfield.”

  “Vance, thanks. Watch the women and tell everyone to be careful. I will be coming back when this is over.”

  His foreman nodded. “God be with you, hombres.”

  The two tore out in the long twilight.

  “I am so sorry I had to call on you so suddenly. Let’s ride—hard.”

  “There is a boy coming to get our horses at the stage line and take them back home.”

  “Wonderful. We will make the stage fine.”

  At Jesus’s house, Jesus kissed his wife and baby, then tore off the porch, mounted his horse, and joined Chet and Vic.

  “God bless all of you,” Anita shouted after them.

  “You, too,” Chet shouted as they rode out.

  When they reached the stage station, they stripped their saddles off their horses while Chet ran and bought tickets. He thanked the ranch boy standing there.

  “Mr. Byrnes, we aimed to wait for you. You didn’t have to ride that hard.”

  “I have two men down there that were shot. I had to catch this stage.”

  “I understand. But we’d have waited.”

  “Thanks.”

  There wasn’t much sleeping on the rocking stage. How the driver ever held it on the gravel road going south under the stars, Chet never knew. But they rolled on, changed horses at various places, and drained their own systems at the stopovers.

  Chet had explained to Jesus all he knew about the robbery and shoot-out. Of course, he knew nothing about the men’s wounds or even if they were alive. Past dawn they arrived at Hayden’s Ferry. They ate breakfast in a diner, then hired a buckboard, loaded their saddles and gear, and charged off into the rising sun toward Goldfield and the purple Superstition Mountain range.

  They went through miles of flat desert and irrigated farmland that spread out in orange groves, cotton fields, and milo, beginning to end. They passed many farm vehicles and Indian wagons going to town or home, through the Mormon town of Mesa with its wide streets, and trotted on through the city limits. Out again, they were in the saguaro cactus–staked desert, and by evening, with the livery horses sweaty and worn down, they made Goldfield. They drove to the mine. Two men with rifles guarded the office in the golden light of sundown.

  “Señor Byrnes, Ramon and I have guarded the mine since they shot both Billy Bob and Jed. We are so glad to see you.”

  “Are they alive?”

  “Sí.”

  “Where are they at?”

  “The doctor’s house, behind the Longhorn Saloon.”

  “Thanks. You two be here a little longer. We must eat and put these worn-out horses up and we will be back.”

  “Fine. Fine.”

  He turned the team around and went to the doc’s house. Chet and Jesus ran up the stairs while Vic tended to the horses. A male nurse met them and Chet explained who he was.

  “They are both sleeping.”

  “Chet—you made it—” His head wrapped in bandages and looking wobbly, Billy Bob stood in the doorway, shaking his head.

  “Good to see you.” Chet and Jesus ran over and took him back to bed. The entire time, the Texan was trying to explain and apologize about what happened.

  “We will get them,” Chet promised him. “Now, get into bed and get your rest.”

  In the unlit room, in the other bed, asleep and looking more bandaged, was Jed.

  “We had some—pure gold that day. Those three busted in and shot us. I swear, they aimed to kill us.”

  “Billy Bob, you did all you could.”

  “No. Damn it. We didn’t do anything about it.”

  “We can talk about it later. I know you did the best you could—”

  Billy Bob didn’t answer. He’d slipped back into sleep.

  The nurse said he was heavily dosed with a sedative to keep him down.

  Chet thanked the doctor and the nurse for all they had done for the pair. Then he explained they needed to stable the horses, get hotel rooms, and a meal.

  “Sir, there is nothing you can do for them tonight. Get some sleep. They will be all right for now.”

  Chet introduced Jesus, who shook the doctor’s and nurse’s hands, and they went to get set up.

  With the horses stabled, they left their things at the hotel and walked over to the lit café. Close to shutting down, the six-foot-tall waitress saw how worn-out they were and promised she wouldn’t close until they finished their meal. She even made them fresh coffee. Chet tipped her ten dollars, and they went back to the hotel and stumbled into bed. Chet slept on top of the covers, still dressed.

  * * *

  Past sunrise, Chet awoke to a knock on the door and answered it. It was Jesus.

  “A deputy sheriff is downstairs in the lobby. Vic is down there.”

  “I’ll be right down. Thanks.”

  The deputy’s name was Frisco Holden. The four went into the hotel restaurant for breakfast and a waitress took their order, poured them coffee, and welcomed them to Goldfield.

  “There were three men robbed them. Jack Newman, Rodney Harte, and Jewels Roberts. You’d hired them ten days earlier. They had not caused any trouble. I have found out Newman and Harte were in trouble over at Silver City, New Mexico. Roberts, they had never heard about.”

  “I recall one of them,” Chet said. “Harte, he had run a jackhammer.”

  Holden laughed. “More than likely a sledgehammer. He was an ex-con from Texas.”

  “Any idea where they went?”

  Holden nodded. “I understood they took the Salt River Road, which goes east.”

  “You can go to the copper mines at Globe or turn left and take Tonto Creek to Strawberry or go out east. Jesus and I took it once to recover a pig farmer’s wife kidnapped in Hayden’s Ferry.”

  Jesus agreed. “Cold damn trip in winter.”

  “I figured a posse wouldn’t overcome them.”

  “Well, we have a trail, anyhow. I will offer a thousand-dollar reward for them dead or alive. Can I pay you to make wanted posters and mail them out all over?”

  “Cost you fifty bucks.”

  Chet rose and dug out the money. “Handle it. I need a mine superintendent.”

  “What does it pay?” Holden asked about the time that the waitress brought breakfast.

  “Hundred a month for a good one.”

  “Make it two, and I know the man,” Holden said.

  “Send for him.”

  Holden scraped his chair on the floor. “He will be here in an hour.”

  The deputy put down his napkin and, straddling his chair, he excused himself.

  Chet nodded. “When we get up from breakfast, Jesus, buy us some horses and one packhorse with gear. Get us what supplies we need. You can meet us at the mine office. Maybe the mine men know more than he does. No telling. They have almost a week head start on us but I bet they don’t expect pursuit.”

  “I have money. I’ll bill you later.”

  “This is the best meal we’ve had so far,” Vic said.

  “Yes, it is.”

  Holden came back. “The mine man’s name is August Malloy. He is to meet us at the mine. The job he had, the gold petered out. He knows mining real well.”

  “I can use him if he’s good.”

  “Yes. I wouldn’t have given ten cents for that mine of yours, but it really is producing the gold. We can go by the banker. He was impressed, too. He said you have deep pockets already.”

  “You knew he found the Grand Canyon treasure?” Jesus asked Holden.

  “I heard about that.”

  “The second story isn’t out yet. He discovered a larger treasure hoard the Spanish left up in the bluffs.”

  “Then you guys came down here to Goldfield and reopened a dead mine and have it going full steam ahead. I’m impressed.”

  “Tell us more of what you’ve learne
d about the robbery,” Chet said.

  “I am told that a large amount of gold was found at the end of the week, and they were storing it in the mine office. I heard it was a surprising amount, and I guess your men thought the employees were too busy to notice it or be tempted by the gold. But obviously those three saw it and figured they could steal it.

  “The shift was about over. Those three had a wagon ready. They broke into the office and began shooting up everyone and everything. That’s when your men were shot. Then they flung all the gold they could into the wagon bed and charged out of town. I admit we had no idea there was that much gold in boxes on the office floor.

  “Jed was able to tell me he thought there was over ten thousand dollars’ worth for them to steal. We found where they transferred most of it to packhorses about a mile east of town and rode off. I wired the sheriff in Globe and asked if they could head them off up at the junction of Tonto Creek and the Salt River. I told them the value of what they’d stolen and that they were mad-dog killers. But the robbers must have detoured. His men never caught them.”

  “Well, you obviously did all you could.”

  Just then, August Malloy walked in. He was a man of medium build. He shook hands with them. “I guess you are the mine owners here?”

  “Yes,” Chet said. “Do you know this operation? We are running it for a man who lives in Mesa. He is crippled and in bad health. He ran out of funds and boarded it up.”

  “I have never been in this mine, sir, but I have managed several mines in New Mexico, Colorado, and the Huckleberry until it ran out of gold. That can happen in any gold mine.”

  “I understand. Let’s go look at it.”

  When they got to the mine, the steam engines were shut down to do some timbering, and Malloy approved.

  “You have a safe crew,” Malloy said, going through the operations. “And good equipment. You also bought it at a bargain.”

  When they came out of the mine, Malloy said, “Your mine super hired some good men. Holden said you’d pay two hundred a month?”

  “Yes. And a bonus if you exceed the past month.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “We can cut a contract over at the bank.”