Dead Man's Poker

by Giles Tippette

  Finally I turned the horse and headed back for Justa’s house. It was going on for five o’clock. I might already be a wanted man again.

  We didn’t talk at supper. Justa said it would be better to go on over and counsel with his brothers and Howard, that one of them might have an idea. I didn’t make mention of my thought that I hadn’t understood it was a family affair. After all, Justa had gone well out of his way to do me a turn, and I figured I’d let him lead for a time.

  We went up after supper, and as usual, everybody got settled down with a drink. The old man wasn’t there. He was laying down in his little bedroom, the day having been a bad one for him. But Ben was tipped back against the wall in his straight-backed chair, and Norris was at his desk, and Justa and I were sitting in chairs against the back wall.

  I said, “Well, Justa? I sent you to Galveston to fetch back Phil Sharp so I could shoot him. You ain’t even got part of him.”

  Justa said, “Sharp ain’t in Galveston.”

  That brought me up short. I said, “Where in hell is he?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “Who does?”

  “I don’t know that either.” He killed his drink and then got up and got the bottle of whiskey that always sat on the little table by Ben, filled his glass, and went back to his chair. He said, “I went to his office. I imagine that same office in that warehouse where you run into trouble. There was some clerks there and one man who said he was kind of Sharp’s partner. He’s a big, tall drink of water that can’t weigh over 140 pounds. About in his forties. Pretty bald on top. Name is Patterson.”

  I nodded. I said, “Yes. I saw him. He was in the outside part of the office. Sharp’s office is more back in the warehouse.”

  Justa said, “Yes, but now Patterson is there.”

  “What did he mean he was ’kind of’ Sharp’s partner?”

  Justa said, “Hell, Wilson, I couldn’t just go in there asking any-which-way kind of questions. My pretense for seeing Sharp in the first place was to discuss getting some cattle shipped to New Orleans. Then when Sharp wasn’t there, I couldn’t say to Patterson, ’Look here, where’s Phil Sharp? I got a friend wants to shoot him.’ ”

  I said, “Well, when he said Sharp wasn’t there, did he make it sound like Sharp would be back in a day or two?”

  Justa shook his head. He said, “The man kind of had a hangdog way about him. I asked him, naturally, when Sharp would be back, and he said, ’Damned if I know,’ like he’d like to know himself.”

  Norris said, “Did you get the feeling that the place was a going concern or that they were in trouble?”

  Justa said, “Trouble. This guy Patterson had lately put some money in the business. He volunteered that part to me, why I don’t know, but he did. In fact, he went so far as to say that if I found Sharp, would I let him know. I got the impression he was trying to hang on by the skin of his teeth.”

  Norris said, “He have a title?”

  Justa nodded. He said, “When I asked for Sharp, one of the clerks said he wasn’t there but that their bookkeeper and manager was. Patterson. I went in and sat down with Patterson like I’d come to do business with Sharp and I was considerably put out by coming so far only to have the man I was to see be absent. I made it sound like we had had an appointment.”

  I said, “When did Sharp leave?”

  Justa smiled around at me. “Sounds like the day after you and him had the disagreement.”

  Norris said, “I still don’t understand this disintegration in their business. As I mentioned the other evening, Sharp had a going concern.”

  Justa said, “Well, it ain’t going no more. Except down. I put it to Patterson that I wanted to ship some cattle to New Orleans, that I’d practically had a deal made with Sharp. Patterson said I couldn’t have. He said they’d lost their only oceangoing vessels to the bank about six months past. Two steamboats with sail. He said all they had left were three sail-driven coasters capable of handling only about three hundred head of cattle each.” He looked over at me. He said, “A coaster is a shallow draft vessel that sails along the coast. It ain’t built for big seas, but you can land at little harbors and bays you couldn’t get a big boat in.”

  Norris said, “I wasn’t aware Sharp was in the business of shipping cattle. There’s been very little shipping of cattle by water in a long time. Too much cheaper by rail.”

  Justa said, “Patterson asked me if these were Mexican cattle.”

  “Ooooh,” Norris said. He nodded.

  I said, “What the hell does that mean?”

  Justa said, “It probably means why Sharp is going broke. It probably means that he did shoot you over twenty thousand dollars. Isn’t the biggest business around Del Rio fattening up illegal cattle swum over from Mexico?”

  “Swum?” I laughed. “Crooked as that place is you can march them across the International Bridge if you’ve paid off the right people.”

  “Was it always that way?”

  I shook my head. “No. For a good while the officials on the Mexican side kept the lid clamped on tight. And, of course, the ranchers on the Texas side damn sure didn’t want any Mexican cattle crossing over. So damn few was getting through.”

  Norris said, “Except by way of Mr. Sharp. Isn’t there a small port at the mouth of the Rio Grande where it flows into the gulf?”

  I said, “Yeah. Bodega. But it’s only a hundred or so miles up the coast to Tampico.”

  Justa said, “But then the border loosened up and the cattle could be walked across and fattened up around Del Rio. Which didn’t do Mr. Sharp’s business one damn bit of good.” He turned to me. He said, “That’s what Sharp was doing in Del Rio so much, trying to buy cattle to ship to New Orleans and maybe Cuba or Florida or even Galveston or Houston. Only he couldn’t compete with the ranchers around Del Rio or Eagle Pass or maybe even Brownsville.”

  Ben said, “How come them Mexicans suddenly started letting the cattle through? The pay get high enough?”

  I said, “That and the fact that they just flat don’t like gringos. When they were stopping the cattle, they thought they were hurting us. But then one of them bright son of a bitches figured out that the way to really hurt us was to flood our market with cheap beef.”

  “Which knocked Mr. Sharp and his shipping business in the head. No wonder he had vigilantes along the docks. He didn’t want people to see him unloading illegal cattle.”

  I said, “I wonder where he’s gone.”

  Justa said, “I don’t know. But Patterson said he left in one of the coasting vessels. So he could be anywhere from here to Vera Cruz. He just left Patterson a note that he was gone on business. Nothing more than that. Boat carries six crewmen.”

  Norris said, “Did he clean out their assets?”

  Justa gave him a look. He said, “Of course, Norris, I asked Mr. Patterson if Sharp had emptied the safe. As it was the man was getting damn curious about all my questions.”

  Ben brought me over the bottle of whiskey and poured me out a fresh drink. I thanked him. I said, to Justa, “Did your sheriff find out anything?”

  Justa said, “Lew sounded him out as best he could without giving away all he knew. The Galveston sheriff knew about the shooting but not the way you described it. The bodies were just found on the docks.”

  “Three of them?”

  He nodded. He said, “So either the one you gut-shot died or Sharp finished him off later so he wouldn’t say anything.”

  “What else did the Galveston sheriff have to say?”

  “He for sure does not care for vigilante committees. As far as he’s concerned it’s the vigilantes who have been doing most of the dirty work down on the docks. If he had his way, he’d disband them by putting them all in jail. But he says the docks are such a rough and dirty place that it would take ten sheriffs to do the job.”

  “Sheriff Vara mention me?”

  Justa shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

  I took a
drink of whiskey. I said, “Well, partner, I am much obliged to you. You’ve told me a lot I couldn’t have found out on my own.”

  Ben said, “What are you going to do now, go back to Del Rio?”

  “No,” I said. “I reckon I’ll go on up to Galveston as soon as Chulo gets here.”

  Justa said, “What the hell for?”

  I was fumbling in my pocket for a cigarillo so I was a second in answering. I struck a match and got it lit and drawing and then said, “To bring charges against Sharp.”

  Norris said, “What!”

  I looked at him. “Man tried to kill me. That’s against the law. Might bring civil action against him in a Galveston court over the twenty thousand dollars. I got his promissory note.”

  Justa started laughing. He said, “Why don’t you do that? Why don’t you just march into that sheriff’s office and tell him you’re Wilson Young and you want to bring charges against a leading citizen for attempted murder.”

  They were all laughing. I said, “That’s what I intend to do.” I tapped off the ashes of my cigarillo into a little saucerlike thing. “I plan to get it on record that I got a right to be seeking the man.”

  They stopped laughing. They could see that I was serious. Justa said, “Will, you might want to think about that a little.”

  “Already have,” I said.

  After a time they appeared to accept that my next move would be to go after Phil Sharp. They began talking about it, each in his own way. I found it a curiosity to note the difference in the brothers by what they found the most interesting in my plans. Ben was mainly interested in speculating how and what I’d do to Sharp and the men he had with him when I ran them to ground. Justa was concerned about the risk. Norris found the financial end of the matter the most worthy of note. He said, “Well, it is clear that Sharp’s business got badly undermined when they began crossing the illegal cattle by land. Obviously he couldn’t compete with that arrangement and lost the biggest part of his trade.” He said, to me, “I’ll warrant you that when Sharp was gambling in your casino and losing twenty thousand dollars on credit, he was gambling to win cash. He may have told you he had plenty of cash with him but that he needed it to keep for business in Mexico, but I’d wager his intent was to win a large stake.”

  I said, “I don’t generally run the place on those principles. Very few gambling houses plan to lose much money. It’s in the nature of the business not to let that happen.”

  Norris said, “So we have a man left with the shell of a business. He’s lost his two biggest assets, his steamships. And he’s lost his supply of trade goods, illegal cattle. I would imagine that Mr. Sharp has run up considerable debts in Galveston and thereabouts. I think he was planning on fleeing anyway. Your arrival demanding money he couldn’t spare only speeded up the process.”

  I said, “Well, now I’m going to process him. If I can catch him.”

  Justa said, “The man could have done otherwise than what he did. There’s plenty of cargo along the coast and even to Florida and Cuba and other islands. He could have hauled rum or sugar or lumber or cotton.”

  Ben said, “Probably wouldn’t have been crooked enough for him.”

  “You have a point,” Norris said. “But not so much crooked as not as big a margin of profit as shipping illegal cattle that could be bought for a song. A hundred years ago Mr. Sharp would have been a slave trader. I wonder if this Patterson has realized the boat has sunk beneath his feet.”

  Justa said, “He didn’t look none too chipper.”

  I said, “But if he was the bookkeeper, he’d have known what was going on.”

  “Not necessarily,” Norris said. “Not necessarily.”

  Me and Justa walked back to his house after another drink. On the way he asked me what my plans were. I told him I wanted to get away as soon as possible, all I was waiting for was Chulo. From Del Rio his train would have to go through San Antonio to get to Blessing. I asked Justa what times trains got in from San Antone. He said there was one at noon and one at eight at night. He said, “They both go on to Galveston and Houston.”

  I calculated. “Well, if Chulo was to hump himself, he could make that morning train out of Del Rio tomorrow and be in here by noon. Eight tomorrow night at the latest. I guess the best thing for me to do is to leave out of here in the morning early enough to meet that noon train.”

  Justa said, “I ain’t quite sure I understand what you want with a big, mean pistolero. This here errand you’re on sounds like it might take some maneuvering.”

  I said, “I figure some folks might need some scaring, and Chulo is just about the scariest-looking thing on two legs. Besides, he don’t argue. He’d charge a Gatling gun with an empty pistol if I told him to.”

  Justa said, “Well, here you are running all over the country to settle up a debt. What’s happening to your business meanwhile?”

  I said, “I got an old New Orleans gambler looking after the casino part.”

  “Who’s looking after him?”

  I said, “Evita. And she knows where every dollar is.”

  We went on in the house and got us a drink and sat down in the parlor. Justa said, “Will, I think I ought to come with you. Some sheriff might decide to lock you up.”

  I shook my head. I said, “Can’t let you do that. Don’t know what I’m liable to run into. Maybe I would have before, but now I’ve met Nora and your brothers and your daddy, and I know you got a small son with his grandparents. I appreciate it, though.”

  After a moment Justa said, “I been thinking. Sharp may not be running from you. He may be running from debts or trouble we know nothing about. If that be the case, he ain’t going to do what you think he’d do if it was just you.”

  I said, “Somebody knows where the man has gone to. There is somebody in Galveston knows where that man has gone and why. I’m going to find that somebody and he’s going to tell me where I can find Sharp.”

  Justa said, “He took a coaster, Paterson said. Maybe he just run for Bodega or Tampico to try to pick up a load of cattle and sell them somewhere up the Texas coast or even beyond. But at least we now know what he was doing in Del Rio so often: trying to get those Mexican ranchers to keep on doing business with him. Seems clear it didn’t do him no good. But the man should have seen what was coming before it got too late.”

  I said, “Maybe he was spreading around a lot of money trying to plug the gap so he could get the business back.” I laughed. “Maybe he was bribing the officials to stop the smuggling so he could do it. Crazy as that sounds.”

  Justa said, “If he was, it would have been like pouring water in a bucket didn’t have no bottom. I doubt the man understood Mexico, especially the border.”

  About that time we both heard the sound of hoofbeats. I looked up, but Justa just kept on tending to his glass of whiskey. The sound got nearer. I said, “Now, I wonder who that could be this time of night? You reckon you got cow trouble?”

  Justa shook his head. He said, “No, that would be young Ben.”

  “Ben?”

  “Yes. Coming to tell me that the calving season is nearly over and that the remuda is in good shape and that Ray Hays can handle it anyway and can he have a few days off to go with you to Galveston if you’ll have him.”

  I said, “Pshaw! You don’t know that.”

  Justa said, “Just keep right still and listen.”

  He must have seen us through the window because he came in without knocking. He said, “I figured y’all would be having a last drink.”

  Justa said, “You know where it is.”

  He went into Justa’s office and come back with a half a tumbler of whiskey. He sat down on what Nora had told me was a Morris chair. After a little polite conversation on his part and a kind of waiting silence on ours, he said, “Say, Justa, I had me a idea. Calving season is nearly over and the horse herd is in pretty good shape. What little work still needs doing on them new colts we got in here won’t be no chore for Ray and the two vaquero
s. I was wondering if I couldn’t have a little time off. I thought I might string along with Wilson and give him a hand if he’ll have me.”

  Justa looked over at me, laying it on me. I cleared my throat. I said, “Ben, it won’t do. I’ve already asked Justa if I could have the use of you, but he’s said no. And no argument I’ve given him has changed his mind.”

  Then I smiled ever so nicely at Justa. In return he gave me a look that would have killed young corn. He said, “Ben, I can’t spare you. Wilson is most likely going to be on a long trail and I need you around here. You ain’t half through going into the herd books, and if you’re ever going to take a bigger hand in the cattle end of this ranch, you are going to have to learn the breeding.”

  Ben said, “Aw, hell, Justa, I can get that stuff by heart any old time. If it looks like Wilson is going to be out too long, I can break off and come home.”

  Justa said, “Oh, that’d be a nice way to do. Offer a man help and then decide to go home just about the time he needs you. The answer is no, Ben, and you might as well take it for that.”

  Ben looked at me. I just shrugged and held my palms up as if to say, “See? What’d I tell you?”

  After a little he took it with good grace. I said, “Justa, one thing you can do for me is loan me a couple of horses. I don’t want to be afoot in Galveston in case I have to leave in a hurry. Last time I got lucky. The train wanted to leave at the same time I did. Might not work out that way this time.”