by A. J. Arnold
Diamond looked up, in pain over those once-easy confidences. God, if only he knew what he’d do next. Or, at least, how his shaky new plans might come out. Was it all silly dreams? What could he tell this woman—what did she really want to know?
Nancy lightly touched his arm. “Buck, do you have some plan to prove that you’re not—not what Newt Yocum tried to hang you for?”
He sighed and made to unstop his mouth. Hell, it was always like this when he talked to her. Why hold back now?
“Yes and no,” he answered. “I still have this crying need to be a straight man. I know now I’ll never prove I didn’t steal your man’s cattle. No matter my personal reasons nor all the hashed-over details, I did take ’em. So the only way to get self-respect is, stay on this range and earn the kind of reputation I want.”
“How?”
“Well, I can’t do it by running. I can’t do it by giving myself up to be hanged. And there’s no way I can raise the money your husband would’ve gotten for those cattle if he’d taken them into Dodge himself.”
“But what are your choices?”
“Not many.” Diamond grinned ruefully.
“Know what I’d like, though. There’s a place south of here where I’ve been holed up. An old sod house and pole corral, been deserted a long time. There’s a lot of unbranded cattle running that part of the range. I’m thinking to file on the quarter section where the soddy and spring are. To start a spread of my own. Only, I’m having trouble working out a couple of things.”
Nancy’s deep brown eyes penetrated him. “Buck, I feel privileged to be the friend of someone like you. You’re smart enough and decent enough to see the other side of the issue. Don’t be embarrassed, or too modest. I know you have real strength, that you’re the kind of person to make good.”
Diamond couldn’t shake off or put aside this last praise. Nancy was sincere, and she made him feel like a man.
“Buck,” she continued, “can you tell me about those problems you’ve yet to solve?”
“Well, the first I didn’t know about until you recognized me back there on the street. For if you could know me so easy, there’ll be others. I got no chance if I can’t stay on this range without men remembering and judging.”
“I have a confession to make,” Nancy announced with a sly little smile.
“You see, what brings me to Garden City is visits with my only true female friend west of Saint Louis. She’s married to Tom Dobbins.”
Diamond was stunned. He tried to interrupt, but she hurried on.
“I saw your mare in his corral and started asking questions. Of course, he said your name was Diamond, but I knew it was you. And I’ve been watching for you.”
She paused, noticing his stricken expression. “Buck, don’t look at me that way. It’s true. Now, don’t worry. If you get that trim and haircut, no one but me will find you out. I’m sure of that. Let’s hear your other problem. It couldn’t be any worse.”
Diamond shook his head in disbelief. What kind of friend was this Nancy Blough? What kind of woman was she, at heart?
“To answer your question. Uh...well, it’s money, or, rather, the lack of it. I got enough for some provisions. But if I’m goin’ to start ranching, I’ll need cattle. Oh, I know there’s plenty out there with no brand at all, but is it honest of me to register without one single cow or bull? Dare I start to put my mark on the mavericks?”
His breakfast came and he ate it. In very short order he went on talking without so much as looking up.
“I could justify it in my own mind. I could say that even what money I got for your husband’s cattle didn’t pay me all he owes me. But then there’s the matter of my reputation, and who can put a price on that? And there’s another way, too, but I guess I don’t want to think on it much. I could go work for somebody else. But, God, it would take years, and I could never use my own name again! Who in hell would hire Peter D. Buckow?”
“I don’t know, Buck,” Nancy responded gently. “But I’m sure we can find an answer. Tell me about calling yourself Diamond. Is that the D. in your name, or is there another reason?”
He lifted his beard with one hand and pulled down his necker-chief with the other, revealing the permanent scar that encircled his throat.
“See how clear it is, Mrs. Blough? I’ll always have Newt Yocum’s brand on me.”
“Oh, my God, Buck!” Nancy gasped, her whitened knuckles tugging at the edge of her own collar.
Her senses reeled. She waited for herself to steady before she spoke on in a calm, cold fury.
“There’s even more to tally against Yocum, Buck. I—well, it’s going to be difficult to tell you this. Promise to try to understand. You must!”
She squeezed his outstretched hand so hard that he nodded immediately. Nancy drew a deep, shuddering breath and plunged ahead.
“You see, Henry is a lot older than I am. He and I have never really been man and wife. We sleep in separate rooms, and he’s never come near me since our wedding night.”
Her face flushed, and she told the rest of the tale to the coffee in front of her.
“I guess Newt sensed something of this and thought I’d be an easy mark. I kept telling him I wasn’t interested, but words mean nothing to a man like that.”
Diamond felt his blood rise, and wished anew he could kill the bastard.
“Twice,” Nancy said, trembling, “twice I had to fight him off. The first time it was out on the range, and what saved me was having a faster horse. The second time he forced his way into the house late at night when he knew that Henry was gone. I talked myself blue and finally bluffed him out with a rifle he didn’t know was unloaded.”
“So that was it!” Diamond exploded. “I saw him come slamming out your back door that night. Figured he’d been with you—for whatever reason. Then when he was so damned hot to hang me, I reckoned he knew I’d seen him. He was determined to get me out of the way, so’s I’d never tell.”
Nancy paled, then colored. Her troubled eyes finally locked with Diamond’s probing ones.
“Buck, I’m not sure—what do you mean, for whatever reason?”
It was his turn to look abashed.
“Mrs. Blough...Nancy. I got to tell you, I feared the obvious. But that never sat easy, because as a friend I was sure I knew you a whole lot better’n that. And I’d have died not saying nothing, lest it hurt you.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” She sat there with her eyes brimming, and he let her get over it.
Then he said, “Nancy, I got to tell you one thing more. It’s important. When they put the rope around my neck, I started in to pray. I promised if I could live I’d be the most honest man ever was born. I’ll allow I don’t know how to do it, but I got to keep the promise. And I got to do it right here on this range where I got into trouble.”
She leaned closer, her voice hoarse. “What do you want me to say?”
“Nothing. Just that you think I’m right.”
“Oh, Buck, of course you’re right. And you can’t leave town without getting in touch with me again.”
He was incredulous. “Now, how am I supposed to manage that trick? You’re married. It’s risky—if people see us together, we’ll both be ruined—or dead.”
She shook her head. Her eyes danced like dark stars.
“No, it’s all right. I stay with the Dobbinses when I’m in town. You could come over pretending to talk horses. Or at least we can leave messages there. Please stay in touch, Buck. I might even think of a way to help with your money problem.”
Dazed, he agreed. But as he looked up he saw some early noon customers approaching the Cattlemen’s Rest. Diamond convinced Nancy they had to part ways for now. He left with his emotions whirling.
Chapter Fifteen
Diamond sighed deeply as he recalled the words and ideas he’d shared with Nancy Blough. His earlier sense of foreboding was now warmed away like the sun’s burning off a dawn fog. A strong wind blew through his brain. It left hi
s mind clean of all the old cobwebs that were encrusted with his past mistakes.
He knew what he was going to do. For the first time in months, Diamond’s lips puckered to form a whistling tune. He walked toward the land office, where for a small fee he was able to file on the quarter section. When it came time for his signature he boldly wrote, “B. Diamond.”
Next time it would be Diamond Buckow. Soon, he hoped. But at least he knew that in his head. Maybe B. Diamond would always be just as good, for everybody else.
He looked the agent in the eye. “I understand you also keep the brand book for this section?”
“That’s right, I do. But if you want to register a brand, it’ll take more time than filing on a government claim. If you want it recognized by the other ranchers, that is. ’Course, plenty of brands are being used that aren’t registered. Can’t say as I know what a court of law would decide about them.”
“I don’t have any cattle right now,” Diamond stated. “But I aim to have a legal brand for them when I get some.”
“Give you a suggestion? Decide on your mark and then show it to me. I know ’most all the brands for quite aways around. All you really need is the approval of the committee. If it doesn’t conflict with anything I know of, I’ll enter it on the books as a request. Meanwhile, you can be looking up your cattle. Might save you some time.”
“Fine.” Diamond nodded quickly. “It’ll be a series of diamonds connected at the side points to make a string. I’ll call it the Running Diamond. Here, let me draw you a picture.”
As he sketched, the man looked over his shoulder. “I believe you’re safe. I’ve not seen any mark at all like that.”
Diamond left the land office feeling nine feet tall. His own ranch! The quarter section gave him grazing rights on the adjoining range, and he had a brand. The cattle would have to wait.
He thought to get some supplies to take back with him, and spent most of the day in stores seeking the best buys for his limited funds. It was late afternoon when he came to Dobbins’s Hardware to finish his purchases.
The bald proprietor greeted him with a big smile. “Did you take that chestnut to the smith for shoes?”
“Yeah, left him there mid-morning. I’m on my way to get him when I leave here.”
“Good, good.” Tom Dobbins grinned again, then his face turned questioning.
“I’ve got a kind of proposition for you if you’re interested. I think it’ll make both of us some money.”
Diamond considered. “I’ll sure listen to any good ideas. But why should you offer me a money-making proposal? You don’t know me, you just met me yesterday.”
A thought ran through his head. What had Nancy Blough said about being able to help him? Could she have something to do with this? After all, she was staying with Dobbins’s wife.
Tom was watching Diamond’s face, with a kindly look on his own.
“True, we only met yesterday. But I liked what I saw then. Besides, a friend of my wife’s is staying with us, and she gave you the best recommendation possible. Fact is, I’ve got an asset with no way for me to harvest income from it. I need an honest partner.”
Diamond was taken aback. First by the word honest, which had stuck so long in his craw. Then by a sudden panic that Nancy might have given him away. But he rejected that notion, knowing she’d never do him in.
“I don’t rightly know what to say,” he ventured. “I guess maybe you’d best tell me what I’d have to do, and how this partnership’d work.”
“Had a customer some while back. A decent sort, but he ran up a bill he couldn’t pay,” Dobbins explained.
“Well, I needed the money and he needed out from under. Only asset he owned was a couple hundred head of wild cattle some place south of here. So I took title to any that had a broken M brand, and I’ve never gotten out there to try and count ’em.”
A frown drew Tom’s eyebrows closer together as he continued.
“Last spring I hired a fellow to go out and brand the calves, and give me a count. He had one hoss, and I gave him a pack horse and grub-staked him. Two weeks later he was seen in Denver selling my pack horse. He never even tried to find the cattle, much less brand the calves.”
The frown changed to a sigh, then to a crooked smile. “But Mrs. Blough says you’re honest, and I still have faith in people in spite of what one drifter did to me. So I’m willing to make a deal that if you go take care of ’em, I’ll give you a half interest in the increase.”
Diamond made to speak but Tom held up his hands.
“I know what you’re thinking to say, but just listen a minute. You’ll be doing me a favor. If I was to realize anything from those cattle through you, it’d be more than I’d get the way I’m going now.”
Diamond stood rooted to the spot. He thought how much he really liked Tom Dobbins, and that the man trusted him. He wondered how that trust would work if Dobbins knew about the hanging. The scar on his neck began to burn, and he coughed as he held out his right hand to shake.
“That’s great!” Dobbins beamed. “Listen, why don’t you come out to dinner tonight? My wife’s the best darned cook in this town. Or any other, for that matter. It’d give us time to work out the details.”
“Sounds too good to be true,” Diamond said. “It’s been an awful long time since I ate any woman-cooked food.”
Then he thought with a sudden inward jump, oh, God! Mrs. Blough would be there. But as he recalled something he needed to tell Tom, it helped him calm down.
“You know, one day I happened to ride aways southwest of where I’m homesteading. I saw a bunch of cattle with old grown-over brands. At the time I thought it was a double inverted vee. You reckon it might be yours?”
Dobbins stopped and drew his brand on a sheet from his charge book.
“Here, young fellow, it looks like this.”
Diamond studied the paper. “Yes, sir, Mr. Dobbins. That’s the mark I saw. Only a few, but then, I wasn’t counting. There could be a lot more. Hell of a lot of unbranded stock runs that part of the range.”
Tom’s face lit up. “Glad you’ve got a starting place. Now I want you as a partner more than ever.”
“Thanks, Mr. Dobbins.” Diamond’s tone was sober and quiet.
“First off, if we’re about to be partners, you’d best call me Tom. Most folks do. Now go on and get that new mount before the smith thinks you forgot him. I’ll lock up and meet you at the house in short order.”
Diamond thrust his hand forward for the second time. Then he turned and hurried to go get Bones.
It was late afternoon the next day when Diamond rode into sight of the soddy. Bones was his first animal to sport the Running Diamond brand next to its old, faded, grown-over mark. He led a pack horse marked with a Broken M.
Diamond pulled the geld up so short that the other horse bumped into him.
“Who in hell?” The exclamation slipped from his mouth and rattled in the still air.
A strange mount stood ground-hitched by the corral. Diamond’s immediate thought was to make a run for it. But a man came out of the soddy, shading his eyes against the sun’s glare.
No, by God, Diamond told himself grimly. This was his place now, and he wouldn’t run. The stranger looked like nobody he’d ever seen before. With the new horse and face hair, he couldn’t be known.
But as Diamond slowly rode closer, he saw a star pinned to the man’s shirt front. A wave of fear washed over him.
“Howdy,” the intruder said.
He stood with his feet planted ready for anything, but his voice sounded friendly.
“You the fellow’s been living here?”
Diamond thought fast If he got his feet on the ground, he figured he could beat the other to a gun if he had to. He kept his eyes on the man as he slid out of the saddle.
“Yeah, this is my place now. I filed on this quarter yesterday in Garden City. Name’s Diamond.”
“Jed Driscoll, sheriff of Ford County. I know I’m a county and a
half out of my territory, but there’s no lawman over this way. And I got my reasons.”
He looked Diamond over. Diamond stood like stone.
“I’m looking for a kid who used a running iron on some cattle that belonged to the rancher he worked for. In this job, I sometimes have to do a lot more than just carry a gun and make arrests.”
“Yeah?” Something twitched in Diamond’s jaw.
“’Course, I don’t play judge and jury like some. This past winter I had a man working for me. He tried to be judge, jury, and executioner. Hanged this young fellow I’m looking for now, only it didn’t take.”
Diamond tried to comment but couldn’t. He prayed that the fear freezing his tongue didn’t show on the outside.
Driscoll kept on. “When I found out how this deputy followed orders, I had to let him go. At any rate, this kid had some reason on his side, according to one story I got. I’m trying to get to the bottom of the whole thing.”
Diamond was almost afraid to breathe. Reason on his side? Who’d believe it? What kind of bluff was this?
Jed Driscoll looked into the new rancher’s icy eyes. “Don’t suppose you’ve seen a young fellow, maybe three to five years younger’n you? Riding a little grulla mare?”
Diamond swallowed. “I left day before yesterday forenoon for Garden City. Saw nobody in particular along the way, and I’m just now back.”
He took his courage in hand as a new idea came. “Look, the sun’s got most of the way down while we been jawing. Why don’t you put your horse in the corral and spend the night?”
The lawman studied Diamond’s face and finally said, “Sure, why not? Guess I’ll not find this fellow, anyways—least, not tonight”
“I got some unpacking to tend to,” Diamond said. “Why don’t you set a fire, and we can eat that much the sooner?”
He turned to relieve Bones of some of the weight from his saddle. Diamond’s heart was thumping like a hundred Indians’ crazy war drums. But he thought, damn it! He couldn’t run. He daren’t act like a scared hen.
“That hoss of yours is sure shy of meat on his bones,” Jed Driscoll observed.