Violence of the Mountain Man

by Johnstone, William W.

  “It was probably nothing.”

  “Ahemm,” Cal said, clearing his throat. Reaching up, he thumped the brim of his hat.

  Pearlie saw the silver band around his hat, and he knew that Cal was waiting for him to reply, but he showed no sign that he had seen it.

  “Ahemm,” Cal said again.

  “You got a frog in your throat?”

  “No, I ain’t got no frog in my throat. Why do you ask?”

  “You seem to be clearing your throat a lot.”

  “Ahem,” Cal said again, thumping his hat.

  “Come on, let’s get us a beer,” Pearlie said. “I’m pretty sure that will clear up your throat.”

  “A beer sounds good, but there ain’t nothin’ wrong with my throat.”

  “Really? Well, you can’t prove it by me.”

  As Van Arndt started riding back toward the edge of town, Keno called out to him.

  “Hey! Where are you goin’?”

  Van Arndt neither answered, nor looked back. Instead, he kept riding toward the edge of town.

  The others looked at each other for a moment, then started after him.

  Keno caught up to Van Arndt.

  “Are you just going to ride away and leave all this money?”

  “You heard the fella,” Van Arndt said. “There is no money. There is nothing but a worthless piece of paper. It wouldn’t do us no good if we did take it. We couldn’t spend it.”

  “Yeah? What if I told you I know a way we could get the money?”

  Van Arndt looked over at Keno. “How?”

  “It’s simple,” Keno said. “We find something that Jensen will pay forty-five thousand dollars for.”

  “You aren’t making any sense,” Van Arndt said.

  “If you knew Jensen as well as I know him, you would know that I’m making a lot of sense,” Keno said. “Do you want to hear the idea or not?”

  “Yeah,” Van Arndt said. “I want to hear the idea.”

  “It’s simple really,” Keno said. “All we have to do is snatch his wife. Jensen will do anything to get her back. You want the forty five thousand dollars? Tell Jensen to cash that bank draft and bring the money to us.”

  “Where is his wife now?”

  “Like as not she’s at Sugarloaf, Jensen’s ranch,” Keno said.

  “How many are on the ranch?”

  “Ah, that’s the good part of it,” Keno said. “Just before Jensen left on the cattle drive, he fired all the cowboys he had workin’ for him. And since he took Pearlie and Cal with him, that don’t leave nobody back at the ranch but a bunch of Mexicans, most of ’em too old to do anything. Hell, we can walk in there and take her without no trouble a’tall. Onliest thing is, if we’re goin’ to do this, we need to do it right now. We need to get back to Sugarloaf before Jensen does.”

  “All right, Keno, I’ll go along with your plan,” Van Arndt said. “But there better be no surprises.”

  “There won’t be none if we can get to Sugarloaf afore Jensen does,” Keno said.

  Turning in his saddle, Van Arndt saw the others riding behind him. The men were dispirited over not being able to steal either the herd or the money.

  “Gather round, boys,” Van Arndt said. “Keno has come up with a plan that I think may work.”

  “What plan is that?” Peters asked.

  “Tell them,” Van Arndt said.

  Smiling at his newfound sense of importance, Keno explained his idea of going to Sugarloaf to take Sally Jensen prisoner and hold her for ransom.

  “Yeah!” Jeeter said. “And maybe we can have a little fun with her! I’m tellin’ you the truth, boys, Jensen’s wife is one of the best lookin’ women I’ve ever seen. Yeah, that is a great idea.”

  “We’re not taking her to have fun with her,” Keno said.

  “What do you mean? You plan to let that just go to waste?”

  “Keno is right,” Van Arndt said. “If we are going to hold her for ransom, then we can’t do nothing with her.”

  “That don’t make no sense at all,” Jeeter said. “As long as we’ve got her, we may as well use her.”

  “I agree with Jeeter,” Shardeen said.

  “We ain’t goin’ to touch her,” Van Arndt insisted. “After we get the money, you’ll have enough money to buy any whore in Colorado. Hell, you can buy half a dozen whores if you want to.”

  Peters laughed. “Half a dozen whores! Lord, wouldn’t that be a kick now?”

  “Yeah,” Boswell said. “I don’t care how good lookin’ the Jensen woman is, she ain’t worth half a dozen whores. I say we don’t do anything that might cause the whole thing to go sour.”

  “All right, all right,” Jeeter said. “I’ll go along with the rest of you. But you wait until you see her. You’ll know what I’m talking about then.”

  “If you boys are through discussing this, it’s time we made a few plans,” Van Arndt said dryly.

  “Yeah, whatever you say,” Shardeen said.

  “Good. Shardeen, when we get to Gunsight Pass, I want you to climb up to the top and wait on Jensen.”

  “When I see them, do you want me to come catch up with you?” Shardeen asked.

  Van Arndt shook his head. “No,” he said. “That would be too late. I want you to hold him up.”

  “Hold him up? How?”

  “Just start shootin’ at him,” Van Arndt said. “Don’t kill him. We wouldn’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs now, would we?” Van Arndt asked with a chuckle.

  “Let me get this straight. You want me to get into a gunfight with Jensen, but you don’t want me to kill him?”

  “I didn’t say nothing about a gunfight,” Van Arndt said. “All I want you to do is get up on top of the pass. When they start through, you shoot at them. Get close enough to make them scramble. Then, all you have to do is keep their heads down for a little while. Then, sneak on out of there and come catch up with us.”

  “Where will you be? At Jensen’s ranch?”

  “No. I tell you what, you meet us at the east end of Hardscabble Saddle Pass,” Van Arndt said. “By then we’ll already have the woman and all we have to do is get through the pass, then wait for Jensen to pay off.”

  “All right,” Shardeen said. He started chuckling.

  “What are you laughing at?” Van Arndt asked.

  “Half a dozen whores,” Shardeen replied. He reached down to rub himself. “Damn, I like that.”

  “Now, Shardeen, just tell me what the hell you think you can do with six women,” Peters said.

  “I’m not exactly sure,” Shardeen replied. “But damn me if I ain’t willin’ to give it a try and see how it all comes out.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Pearlie and Cal met Smoke for supper at the Mama Lou’s Café. Supper consisted of steak and beans, with the beans being liberally seasoned with hot peppers. They washed the meal down with mugs of beer.

  “Those beans will set you afire,” Pearlie said. “But I’ll be damned if they ain’t about the tastiest things I’ve ever put in my mouth.”

  “Ha,” Cal said. “I’m sure Miss Sally will love hearin’ that some beans you et at a café was better’n anything she can cook.”

  Pearlie pointed his fork across the table at Cal. “Now, I didn’t say no such thing and you know it,” he said.

  “You said they was about the tastiest things you ever put into your mouth.”

  “Well, I didn’t mean ‘ever,’” Pearlie corrected. “I was just pointin’ out that they was good beans, that’s all.”

  “Well, you et ’em so damn fast, I don’t know how you was able to taste ’em in the first place,” Cal said.

  “Hey, Smoke, you got that bank draft you said you was goin’ to get?” Pearlie asked.

  “What bank draft?” Smoke replied, teasing.

  “You know what bank draft. The one that says forty-five thousand dollars.”

  “Yeah, I got it.”

  “Can I see it? I’d just like to see what t
hat much money looks like.”

  Smoke pulled a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to Pearlie.

  “That’s it?” Pearlie asked, his face registering his disappointment. “This little piece of paper is all there is to it?”

  “What did you expect it to be?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I figured it would be some sort of certificate with fancy writin’ on it,” Pearlie said. “I mean it’s forty-five thousand dollars for cryin’ out loud. What would it hurt for them to make it look real elegant?”

  Smoke chuckled. “Oh, the writing is fancy enough,” he said. “It says forty-five thousand dollars. Take a look at it.”

  Pearlie unfolded the paper and examined it.

  “Whooee. That’s a lot of money!” Pearlie said. He smiled. “And you’re right. It bein’ forty-five thousand dollars makes it fancy enough.”

  “Let me see it,” Cal said, and Pearlie passed the paper over to him.

  “I’ve never seen this much money in my life,” Cal said.

  “You ain’t seein’ it now,” Pearlie said. “All you’re seein’ is a piece of paper.”

  “Yeah, but I ain’t never even seen a piece of paper with this much money on it,” Cal said.

  “There’s a nice bonus in there for everyone who works at the ranch,” Smoke said, taking the draft back.

  Pearlie shook his head. “Good, they deserve it,” he said. “Juan, Carlos, and those other boys work their tails off for you.”

  “That bonus includes the two of you,” Smoke said. “Especially you two.”

  “Smoke, you don’t have to do that,” Cal said. “We’re not like all them others. We’re more like—” He stopped as if afraid he was about to go too far.

  “Family?” Smoke said.

  “Well, yeah. I wasn’t exactly goin’ to come out and say it, but yeah, that’s the way I look at it.”

  “I look at it that way, too,” Smoke said. “Maybe that’s why I want to do it. Fact is, I plan to give the two of you so much money that you could go out on your own if you wanted to.”

  “Damn, Smoke, you runnin’ us away?” Pearlie asked jokingly.

  Smoke laughed. “Hardly,” he said. “I just hope that by this, I can show you boys how important you two are to me. And how much I trust you to stay around, even when you don’t have to.”

  “I ain’t goin’ nowhere till the day they carry me out in a pine box,” Pearlie said.

  “Me neither,” Cal added.

  Mama Lou walked over to the table then. “Did you boys enjoy your supper?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, we did,” Pearlie said. “I was just tellin’ Smoke here how good them beans was. Wasn’t I, Smoke?”

  “You were in fact,” Smoke agreed.

  “Are you ready for dessert?”

  “Smoke, you think we could get us a piece of that there black and blue pie?”

  “Blackberry and blueberry,” Smoke said. “That sounds mighty good to me.”

  “Me, too,” Pearlie said.

  “Mama Lou, bring us three pieces,” Smoke said.

  “And, uh, could you maybe make ’em large pieces?” Pearlie asked.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Mama Lou said, smiling as she took the empty plates away from their table.

  “Ahem,” Cal said, clearing his throat. Reaching up to the brim of his hat, he repositioned it.

  “What time you want to pull out in the morning, Smoke?” Pearlie asked, purposely ignoring Cal.

  “We’ll leave just before daylight tomorrow morning,” Smoke said. “A good steady ride will get us back home by mid-afternoon.”

  “It’ll be good to get back,” Pearlie said. “Oh, by the way, did you send Miss Sally a telegram tellin’ her that we got here and how much money you got and everything?”

  “I sent the telegram first thing,” Smoke said. “I’m pretty sure she has received it by now.”

  Pearlie smiled broadly. “Good,” he said. “That means for sure we will have some fresh bear sign waitin’ for us when we get back,” Pearlie said.

  “What makes you think that?” Cal asked.

  “Because she’ll be so excited that she’ll want to celebrate,” Pearlie said. “Don’t you think that’s right, Smoke?”

  “I wouldn’t doubt it,” Smoke agreed.

  “Ahem,” Cal said again. Once more, he repositioned his hat.

  “What we should’a done is, we should’a brung us along a sack full of them bear sign,” Pearlie said, still ignoring Cal’s hints.

  “Ahem!” Cal said again, “coughing” louder this time than at any previous time.

  “Cal, you really do need to do something about that cough, boy, it’s beginning to get on my nerves,” Pearlie said.

  “I ain’t got no cough,” Cal said.

  “Really? Well, you can’t prove it by me. Smoke, do you know anything about gettin’ rid of a cough? Ole Cal here’s been coughin’ now for the better part of an hour.”

  “Why don’t you buy you a piece of horehound candy?” Smoke said. “That always works for me.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Cal said. “It’ll go away on its own, I reckon.”

  Cal was clearly agitated that neither Smoke nor Pearlie had noticed his silver hatband. What was the use of getting the thing if no one noticed?

  When the pie was delivered, Smoke and Cal began eating, but Pearlie hesitated for a moment.

  “What’s the matter?” Smoke asked. “Is there something wrong with your pie?”

  “Something wrong with my pie?” Pearlie replied. He took a bite. “No, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s delicious. Why do you ask?”

  “Why do I ask? Pearlie, you are normally the first one to start eating and the last one to finish. But here Cal and I have our pie half finished and you’ve only taken one bite.”

  “Yes, well, uh, Smoke, I have something important I want to ask you, and I been thinkin’ about it.”

  “It must be important if it has put you off your appetite,” Smoke said.

  “Oh, well, it ain’t done that,” Pearlie replied. “I mean, I can still eat as well as I ever could. But—well, it’s about Miss Goodnature.”

  “What about her?”

  “Lucy Goodnature,” Pearlie said.

  “Yes, Ian’s daughter, I know who you are talking about,” Smoke said. “What about her?”

  “Well, I like her, that’s what about her,” Pearlie said.

  Cal laughed out loud.

  “What?” Pearlie asked. “What are you laughin’ at?”

  “Hell, Pearlie, next thing you know, you’ll be tellin’ us that you’re wearin’ a red shirt,” Cal said.

  “I am wearin’ a red shirt,” Pearlie said. “Which is plain to see if you just take a look.” Pearlie was quiet for a moment. “Oh,” he said. “Oh, I think I see what you are talking about. Is it really that obvious?”

  “It’s pretty obvious,” Cal said.

  “I can see why you like her, Pearlie,” Smoke said. “She is a beautiful young woman and, from what I know about her, she is about as nice a young lady as you’ll find in the entire state.”

  “Yes, but her dad owns Crosshatch.”

  “I know Ian owns Crosshatch. It’s a neighboring ranch to Sugarloaf,” Smoke said.

  “Don’t you see what I’m getting at?” Pearlie asked. “How am I going to ask her to marry me if she is the daughter of a rancher and I am just a cowboy?”

  “Marry you?” Cal asked, almost choking on a piece of pie. “Has it gone that far?”

  “Maybe,” Pearlie said. Then, with a sigh, he dismissed the idea. “No, that’s foolish.”

  “Yeah,” Smoke said. “Why, that’s almost as foolish as a young gunfighter on the run marrying a schoolteacher from one of the wealthiest families in New Hampshire.”

  “That’s different,” Pearlie said. Both he and Cal knew all the details of Smoke and Sally’s courtship and marriage.

  “How is it different?” Smoke asked.
/>
  “For one thing, you are you,” Pearlie said.

  “And you are you,” Smoke replied. “Look, Pearlie, I don’t know what you want. Do you want me to talk you out of it?”

  “What? No, no,” Pearlie said.

  “You are a good man, Pearlie. I think any father of a young woman would be pleased to have you as a son-in-law.”

  Pearlie smiled broadly. “It’s too bad Lucy isn’t your daughter. Then I could be your son-in-law.”

  “Don’t push it,” Smoke said. “I’m not willing to go that far.”

  It was obvious that Smoke was teasing, and all three laughed.

  “The only thing is, you haven’t told me what you think I should do,” Pearlie said, continuing the conversation.

  “Pearlie, on something like this, you have to be your own man,” Smoke said. “Just know this. Whatever decision you make, I’ll be behind you one hundred per cent.”

  “Me, too,” Cal said.

  “Are you going to ask her to marry you?” Smoke asked.

  Pearlie thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think I will.”

  “When?” Cal wanted to know.

  “As soon as we get back,” Pearlie said.

  “I know that you will probably have Smoke as your best man,” Cal said. “But I want to do something in your wedding.”

  “Actually, I was sort of thinkin’ you would be my best man, Cal,” Pearlie said. “I was figurin’ on Smoke marryin’ us.”

  “Smoke marryin’ you?” Cal said.

  “Why not? He’s a justice of the peace. That means you can marry people, right, Smoke?”

  Smoke chuckled. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, I suppose it does. I’ve never married anyone before, but I can do it.”

  “Would you marry me and Lucy?”

  “I would be honored to do it,” Smoke said.

  “And you’ll be my best man, Cal?”

  “Yes, of course I will. And I thank you for askin’ me.”

  “Then it’s all set. All I need now is for Lucy to say yes. And I’m real glad both of you have agreed to be in the weddin’,” he said. “I don’t believe anyone has ever had friends as good as you two.”

  “So,” Cal said reaching across the table. “Does that mean you’ll share your pie with me?”