"Alex Hardenson," the man responded. "There was a group of six came by yesterday, told us all about it. Said two of the robbers was caught and killed a couple days ago over near Buffalo Springs."
Sam sucked his wind in at the news but didn’t want to show alarm. He knew if what the man said was true then it was a matter as to where the two were caught up with before he could surmise who it was. Joel and Skeeter were more or less traveling south and east the same as he and Jack were. Willie and Tom should be up north someplace and headed due east. "They got two of them, huh?" Sam asked trying to be as casual as he could. "Where’s Buffalo Springs?"
"It would be southwest of here, might be forty, fifty miles by the way the crow flies. The deputy told me it was them all right. He said the sheriff and a group of soldiers rode right up on ‘em, tried to arrest them then ended up shooting ‘em from their saddles. They recovered part of the loot, a whole lot of brand new gold coins, hundreds of ‘em, he said."
Sam was troubled by what he had just heard. If in fact this information held true it would mean that Joel and Skeeter had been caught up with and killed. He felt a moment of panic and thought about forgetting the coffee and riding like hell to get away to somewhere, anywhere that afforded safety. Jack grimaced then gave Sam a knowing look of apprehension that mirrored Sam’s reaction to learning of their former partners’ fates. After a moment Sam decided that running would be a rash move and that it was safe enough here to go ahead and get some coffee and talk about a horse.
"Is there anything that we can help you with before coffee?" Sam asked. "I can do that milking, if you want."
Hardenson nodded. "That would be a big help." He handed the bucket to Sam. "I’ll just go in and tell Maggie to fix a little extra for breakfast."
When the man had stepped away, Jack asked, ""Do you believe what that old man said about Joel and Skeeter?"
Sam shrugged. "I didn’t like hearing what he said any better than you did, Jack, but yeah, I gotta believe it. He’d have no reason to say other than what he was told. I knew he wasn’t joshing us when he said the soldiers found a lot of new gold coins. We will just have to keep our eyes open and be careful."
After Sam did the milking, he and Jack went inside the cabin. It was a cramped living area smelly with lamp oil and grease. The kitchen was part of the room on the left side. A table covered with a red and white checkered oilcloth sat in the middle of the room. Sam and Jack took seats in ladder back rickety chairs when the woman of the house smiled and pointed to the table. She was about fifty years old, presumably the same age as her man. She was skinny and frail-looking. Her skin had a jaundiced coloring. She had her graying hair pulled into a bun at the back of her head and wore a faded and threadbare cotton dress. She was cheerful, though, and smiled as she served the cornmeal mush and coffee. "That was nice of you to do that milking. Alex has been ailing of late," she said.
Sam nodded. "Glad we could help."
The woman poured coffee in earthen mugs then sat. "I hope you catch up to those robbers. It ain’t right for some to go stealing what others have worked so hard for," she lamented. Alex Hardenson remained standing while eating and sipping coffee, further suggesting the man had some tender areas.
After breakfast Sam laid a five dollar gold piece on the table then he, Jack and Alex Hardenson stepped outside. Sam spotted a dusty and spider-covered buggy under an open lean-to roof and became inspired. "Do you use that buggy often?"
Hardenson glanced toward the hack. "Not like we used to. It’s just me and Maggie here, we don’t get out much."
"Would you be interested in selling it?" Sam asked.
Hardenson eyed him curiously. "I don’t know." He studied the ground before speaking. "Maggie and I used to take a ride from time to time but she doesn’t like to go just riding around without going on a visit to town." His brow furrowed as he worked the thing over in his mind. "What the heck would you have interest in that thing for? As you can see, it’s been used a bit and been sitting for a while."
Sam answered right away. "Mack’s horse has developed a limp. I don’t think that it’s anything serious and after a rest he ought to be good as new. We could get by using only one horse with a rig like this, otherwise we might be down to riding double or walking."
The old man continued to think on it. "That could be a problem being out here, we’re a fer piece from anywhere. I reckon we could talk about it, though, that’s if the price is right," he said.
Jack looked exasperated at the idea. "Hell, Joe, we’ll have to give up the idea of any kind of overland travel except by following the roads. We’d have to just say the heck with it and go on home!"
Sam didn’t flinch. "That’s right. We’re just two dumb farm boys heading home." Jack nodded his understanding and quieted.
Sam turned back to the farmer. "We’d trade you both our horses and the saddles for that buggy and your horse which is already trained to pull the rig. I wouldn’t want you to think I was trying to get the best of you since I already told you that the one horse is limping a little. Fact is I’d give you an extra forty dollars just to sweeten the deal. I think Mack and I will give up on collecting that reward, we’re both tired of all this and ready to go home."
* * *
Jack was driving the buggy while Sam sat beside him when they left. Jack was feeling peevish. "We should have looked at that horse before you made the deal. She looks pretty old and rundown. Hell, we’ll be lucky to make it to the next farm, let alone Texas."
Sam thought of their current situation as a hand of cards. The odds against them were great but he’d faced big odds before and came out okay. Getting this buggy was like being dealt a wild card. It changed the game. Now if only they could play the hand out, win or lose they had to go on, there was no way to simply fold and walk away. He figured to ease Jack’s mind a little. "Well, we ain’t got time to be training a horse to buggy pulling and I figure those folks will take good care of our tired out horses. Besides I believe they could sorely use what little cash we gave them."
Jack was still argumentative. "We should’ve just made a deal on the horse instead of this buggy, now we might ride right into a trap with no way to escape!"
Sam gave a sigh and shook his head. "This little buggy is going to be our salvation. We have to play the hand that’s dealt to us if someone comes to question us. The trick is to make them believe what they see, just a couple of down and out farm boys on their way home. Fact is, Jack, why don’t you pull over as soon as we’re out of Hardenson’s sight?"
Jack pulled the horse to a halt behind a little knoll.
Sam stepped down. "Let’s put the gold down flat on the bottom of the buggy and cover it up with our goods." They took the time to place the coins in neatly arranged rows on the very bottom of the buggy then carefully covered them with a burlap bag, their extra clothes, all the cooking gear and food stuff on top of that. Unless someone took everything apart, the gold was well hidden. Sam took his six-gun out of the holster and stuck the pistol in the top of his trousers then removed the belt and holster and rolled them into his slicker. Next he took his hat off and bent it out of shape to look more like a slouch hat and then placed it back on his head. "Now don’t I look more like a farmer than a bandit?" he asked.
Jack nodded and did the same. "I hope I don’t need any more than the six shots in this pistol," he declared. They didn’t have a choice to do anything else to conceal their identity; ten days on the trail with unshaven faces and rumpled clothes had already done that for them. Satisfied that it was the best that could be done, they returned to the buggy seat.
Hardenson had said that the road due south led to Hays, nearby to where Joel and Skeeter had been caught. Sam and Jack figured to not take the chance of meeting already excited posse men and traveled a road that led southeast for the rest of the day. As the sun was dropping behind the western horizon, Sam started to pull up. "Let’s camp and make a fire. I’m hungry."
Jack was quiet for a long moment. "You thi
nk we can risk a fire? There might be someone who sees the smoke and comes to check us out."
Sam shrugged. "I reckon I’ll take my chances. We haven’t seen anyone all day. If someone was to come by, we can’t let them think that we’re running scared. They’ll judge us by what they see. If they figure we’re trying to hide something then it tells them we’re afraid and have a reason to be running. Next thing you know we’d be in the middle of a gunfight. It’s up to us to convince anyone we meet that we have nothing to hide."
The Kansas flat country was lined by ravines flanked on both sides by red oak, white cedar, and short leaf pine. Thickets of dogwood lined hidden creeks. It was one of those thickets they maneuvered the buggy into and made their evening camp well away from and out of sight of the road and any prying eyes. Old Mabel, the mare, seemed content to munch the sweet grass next to the creek. Jack rubbed her down and reassessed her condition. "I reckon she’s in pretty fair shape."
They did keep their campfire low and the night proved uneventful as no one came around.
The next morning as the grey light of dawn began on the eastern horizon Jack blinked awake and sat up, stretched and yawned and rubbed a hand across his stubble. He shoved the blanket aside and stood up. At least there were alive and they hadn’t been caught.
For now.
Thoughtful, Jack stared up at the morning sky and wondered if a posse would catch up to them today, if he would still be alive at sunset. He pushed the notion out of his head. He couldn’t afford to dwell on thoughts of death, or the news Joel and Skeeter were now cold and probably already in the ground. Mourning was something he would have to do later, after he and Sam were far away from the trouble and somewhere safe.
Levering himself up from the ground, he made up his mind to concentrate on the task at hand and the day ahead of him.
* * *
Jack was squatting by the fire stirring some frying bacon by the time Sam was finished with morning ablutions. "Morning, Sam," he greeted. "Coffee’s done."
"Good morning to you, Jack!" Sam smiled. "I slept pretty sound. How did you do?"
Jack shrugged a shoulder. "Off and on. I’ll feel better once we can get some miles behind us."
Sam took a tin coffee cup and filled it, then quickly set it down as the heat of the coffee radiated through the cup and made it too hot to hold with a bare hand. He took his bandana in his hand to hold the cup and began to blow into the liquid before cautiously sipping.
Sam could feel the uneasiness of his partner. "We’re going to make it, Jack," he soothed. "Hell, just getting up in the morning under these circumstances is a gamble." He attempted to change the subject. "I figure we did better than twenty miles yesterday, not bad for that old mare. I hope she can do that and more today."
The sun had brightened to a clear morning as the two men ate their breakfast. A blue jay squawked nearby. Jack threw a piece of fried bread toward it. The bird bounced over, grabbed the morsel in its beak and flew away. After breakfast Sam cleaned the tin plates, skillet and cups with sand and creek water while Jack put the rigging onto Mabel.
They met no one on the road until mid-afternoon when a freight wagon pulled by a six mule team came lumbering toward them. The driver pulled his team to a halt as the buggy approached then stopped beside the wagon. "Howdy," the barrel-chested man said, "you’re the only souls I’ve seen all day. It gets kind of tiresome to just talk to these mules. You boys look like you’re on your way from somewhere."
"That’s a fact," Sam offered, "we’re on our way home from summer work. Where are you headed, mister?"
The man took out a rag and wiped his face. "I come from Salina. I got a whole load of goods for a fellow named Jewett that has a place, oh fifty miles or so north of Plainville. I expect to be on the road for a few days yet."
"Have you heard anything about some train robbers that half the country’s looking for?" Sam asked.
The man nodded. "I ran across some soldiers yesterday, they asked the same thing. They didn’t seem to know who they were after. They were just looking over anyone that they came across. I suppose in due time they’ll catch whoever it is they're after."
The talk went on for ten minutes before both parties decided to travel on, each having learned little to nothing about the other.
Late that day Mabel was beginning to balk, showing that she was tired and wanted to rest forcing Jack to snap the reins to keep her going. Sam and Jack began searching for another campsite when they both saw movement up ahead. It was a group of riders coming up the road two abreast. When he saw the soldiers approaching, Sam could feel the short hair bristling on his nape. Excitement mixed with fear. It thrilled him and troubled him at the same time. Riding straight at trouble offered the greatest cure for anything humdrum.
Jack was troubled by what he saw and Sam could see him visibly stiffen on the seat. Sam was seasoned to remain cool under pressure, more likely to consider risks before lashing out to make a move that couldn’t be reversed. He wasn’t sure about Jack’s demeanor.
"Steady on," Sam assured, "don’t make any sudden moves, Jack, and let me do the talking."
When the column of twelve soldiers spread out and came to a halt in front of the buggy, Jack pulled Mabel to stand idle also. A young officer sitting tall in his saddle walked his horse forward. The stone-faced man took one look at Sam and Jack and seemingly discounted any cause for alarm. "Have you two seen six men on horseback while on your travels?"
Both Jack and Sam shook their heads side to side. "No, sir, we have not. We’ve been on the road all day," Sam said. "Should we be wary and concerned?"
"What are you fellas doing out here? Where did you come from?" the officer inquired.
"We’ve come from Uncle Alex Hardenson’s place up near Plainville. Aunt Maggie sent us a letter said he was doing poorly and we went up to get in the hay and help out. He’s doing better now so we’re just on our way back home. Right now we’re just looking for a place to camp for the night."
The man looked over toward a clump of red oak trees then looked back to Sam. "We’re getting ready to make camp ourselves. This looks like as good a place as any. You men are welcome to join us nearby."
Sam nodded. "We’ll do that." Jack stiffened further.
Jack pulled the buggy off the road a little ways away from where the soldiers began to strip the saddles from their horses and hobble them. Before long the soldiers had their campfire going while Sam made a smaller fire thirty feet away from the soldier camp and near the buggy while Jack attended to Mabel.
A sergeant walked over to Sam. "Lieutenant Barnes said to offer for you men to share a meal with us but all we got is beans, cornbread and coffee."
"Thanks, sergeant," Sam said. "We got beans and bread as well but we’ll take you up on that coffee offer. We don’t have a pot, just a can we boil water and grounds in."
Sam and Jack walked over to the soldier camp with coffee cups in hand. The lieutenant said to a nearby corporal, "Perkins, go ahead and pour these men some coffee."
"Thanks," Sam said. "I’m Joe Hardenson and this is Mack Anderson. We’re cousins."
"I’m Lieutenant Barnes. We’ve been dispatched to locate and detain some men who robbed a train up in the Nebraska Territory and are known to be heading into Kansas. So we stop everyone we come to."
"Oh, you’d have to do that, Lieutenant, we understand. I’d say that we're mighty lucky you come across us and advised us about those robbers. Come tomorrow, we’ll sure be on the lookout! Can’t be too careful, I reckon." Sam tried in earnest to sound sincere and figured to steer the conversation away from any reference to trains and robbers. "Now, how far you figure to travel before you return to the post where you're stationed?"
The lieutenant frowned. "The distance doesn’t matter. I was ordered to take a detachment of men and spend two weeks looking before returning. We’ve been out for five days now, but I believe that we’re too far south. I figure to cut north in the morning."
The evening was s
pent talking to various members of the group about such things as card games, women, and horses. Neither the Lieutenant nor any of the soldiers questioned Sam or Jack any further. They had completely believed the story Sam had given them. Apparently Lieutenant Barnes and his men had been dispatched to patrol duty prior to the killings of Joel and Skeeter, and were unaware that the two men were dead.
The next morning, Sam and Jack shared coffee again before the group of soldiers headed north.
Jack swung the buggy onto the road facing a bright sunshine. "We’re headed due east, Sam. When do we cut south?"
"If we head south now we would come to Ellsworth," Sam reasoned. "I think we ought to travel further east before we turn south and avoid any big settlements. Any lawman worth his salt is going to be on the lookout."
"So be it," Jack said.
It was three more days of travel before they came to a farm a few miles west of Junction City, Kansas. Jack stopped the buggy while Sam walked over to talk to a man in a field. When Sam returned to the buggy, he looked thoughtful. "That fella said there was a road running south from Junction City that goes right into Newton and Wichita. Then it’s a straight shot south to Texas."
"You think we can trade this buggy off for some horses in one of those towns?" Jack asked.
Sam considered the question. "I think we’d be better off to bypass both places and do any horse trading a little closer to the Territory. I believe there’s plenty of law in all these towns. We’ll start looking as soon as we get further south."
They traveled six more days on their slow plod before coming to the outskirts of Caldwell just on the edge of the Indian Territories. Fortunately for them there was a string of three freight wagons heading into town. Jack pulled the buggy right in behind them and followed. Sam slipped to the bed of the buggy and carefully put the gold coins into two saddle bags then stuffed clothes over them. He put five coins in his pocket and handed five to Jack.
West of the Big River: Boxed Set of Eight Western Novels Page 63