The Way of the Dogs (The Colter Saga Book 2)

by Joel Baker

  “Sure,” Seth said. I’ll send Jacob Roberts with you. He’s one of our best and has studied up on trains a lot. He helped build the engine we’re going to use. Let me know when you get back and we can talk again. For now James, we think it’s best if we keep this quiet.”

  ****

  Molly walked over to a large easy chair and sat down, putting her feet up on a footstool. It was the end of October, and the heat of August and September were just a bad memory. In her seventh month, Molly was beginning to feel both tired and uncomfortable. Her lower back ached too.

  James had told her about the railroad. It had all seemed a little strange and disconnected. He was gone three days and returned excited about the prospects. Molly was glad for he’d found something to do. She worried about her father still. He seemed distant and depressed over the turn of events following the People’s Temple fiasco. He blamed himself unfairly, Molly thought. But the more she and James tried to do for him, the more withdrawn he’d become.

  “Ouch,” Molly said to the baby inside her.

  The kicks had become more insistent lately. It had been awhile since Molly had a good night’s sleep. She was also unhappy about having to use a chamber pot at night. There was no way she was going to walk clear out to the privy every time she had to pee. Christmas and the baby were both fast approaching. Both couldn’t get here quick enough to please Molly. Just then she heard someone in a hurry come up the front steps across the porch and open the front door. It was James and a woman she’d never seen before.

  “Molly I’ve got some good news,” James said. “This is Sheila Burke. Sheila, this is my wife Molly.”

  “Please to meet you Mrs. Colter,” Sheila said.

  Molly studied Sheila Burke carefully. The woman appeared to be fifty or so, was heavy set with graying black hair. She had kind eyes, and when they shook hands, Molly could tell she was used to hard work. Her hands were rough and dry. She had a small bruise on the side of her face and several small scars on her forehead. Her nose seemed to tilt as if it had been broken sometime in the past. Sheila was having a problem maintaining eye contact too. Molly had seen this sort of thing before from someone who was beaten regularly at home.

  “Please to meet you, Sheila,” Molly said. “Now what’s the good news?”

  “Sheila’s youngest child turned fourteen and went into apprentice with the dry goods store over on Easter Street,” James said. “She’s free now and would like to come cook, clean, and do laundry if you thought you needed some help. What do you say?”

  “Do I need help? I’m going to need help getting out of this chair,” Molly said, as she struggled to her feet. “Welcome Sheila. Are you able to spend your nights with us too?”

  “If it’s not too much of a bother, I would really prefer to stay here,” Sheila said.

  “Oh, that would be a god send, for sure,” Molly said. “You and I can fix up the little back room just for you. Did you bring anything with you? Can you start right now?”

  “I can start right now if it pleases you, Mrs. Colter,” Sheila said.

  “It pleases me very much, Sheila. Please, call me Molly. There must be a hundred Mrs. Colters just in this county. Now let’s you and I get started on the back room.”

  Molly took Sheila’s arm and pulled her close as they walked into the kitchen.

  “Good. It’s all decided,” James said to the empty room. He picked up his hat and walked out onto the front porch.

  Chapter 20

  Cutting the rails at the site of the old railroad bed, was easier than either James or Jacob Roberts expected. There were broken railroad ties lying all along the track. Soaked in creosote, the ties burned with a white hot intensity. They heated the rails much quicker and made cutting them to length no problem. At twenty foot lengths, they needed five hundred rails for a mile of track. They were cutting two hundred rails a day. They expected to finish by March.

  James had left Jacob in charge of the work site and managing the work crews. Each crew had five men. One was a fire starter, another a fire tender, a rail cutter, and two draggers. They used a leap frog technique where they would cut and lay track from where the steam engine sat. They then cut and position the rails so the engine could advance ever farther down the newly laid track.

  When the rails were all cut and reassembled, the engine would back the two coal cars up to the end of the track and the crews would disassemble the track and load it into the coal cars. The engine would pull cars loaded with rails to the end point and empty the rails in a stockpile then return the now empty cars to the end of the track. The process would continue until all the cut rails were stockpiled at the end point.

  ****

  James provisioned the work crews and kept a sharp eye for the Evans brothers. It took about three weeks for news of the venture to become common knowledge around Haven and Eagle Rock. James figured the Evens brothers heard about it even sooner. The first sign of trouble was a lone horseman sitting on a ridge looking down on the work site.

  Jacob was the first to spot him. The horseman sat and watched until Jacob and one of his crew leads started up the ridge to see who the rider was. As the men approached, the rider turned leisurely and rode down the other side of the ridge. Jacob took it as a warning and told James about it the next day.

  The rider came back the next two days at about the same time. The third day Jacob again started up the ridge and the rider turned to leave. This time, James sat on the sorrel waiting behind him.

  “Morning, I see you’re interested in railroads,” James said, his rifle lay across his saddle.

  “I’m curious as to what you’re doing up here on this ridge,” James said.

  The rider smiled and pushed his coat back off of his holstered revolver. James could see it was a pre-fallback revolver and looked to be in really good shape. He was young, had hard look about his face, and seemed to have been in this situation more than once.

  “I’m just out for my morning ride,” the man said. “How about you? You out for a morning ride?”

  “No,” James said. “I came up here to see if you we’re spying on the railroad we’re building down there. You wouldn’t by any chance be an errand boy for the Evans brothers would you?”

  “Now why would you call me an errand boy?” the man asked. “Are you trying to piss me off?”

  “No,” James said smiling. “I think we can drop the pretenses though. If you’ve got a message, deliver it. If you don’t, then you have my apologies.”

  Now it was the gunman’s turn to smile.

  “As it turns out, I do know the Evans boys,” the man said. “They’re curious as to why you want to take over their coal business? They know about what happened with those temple people and their not looking for trouble. They just want their share of the coal business. Things could get rough if they don’t get it.”

  The click of James rifle as he pulled back on the hammer sounded loud on the quiet side of the ridge. Now, neither James nor the gunman was smiling.

  “So, now we know,” James said. “You are an errand boy and a professional one at that. You either draw that hog you got strapped to your leg and get busy, or get the hell off my ridge. It’s your move.”

  The sound of silence was deafening. The moment held in suspense as time seemed to stop. The gunman seemed to be weighing his odds and found them short. He looked at James with dead eyes and a smile. He pulled his coat back over his holster.

  “I’ll be going now,” the man said. “I’ll tell the Evans you’re not interested in doing business with them. They’ll be disappointed.”

  James released the hammer on his rifle, and backed his horse up to give the gunman a path down the other side of the ridge.

  “That seems reasonable,” James said. “But if I see you up on this ridge again, or anywhere near our railroad, I’m going to assume you have bad intentions. “What’s your name anyway?”

  The gunman started forward and stopped when he was alongside James and the sorrel. He
smiled at James again and reached forward to pat the neck of his horse.

  “People who know me call me the Grim Reaper,” the man said. “Something tells me well be seeing each other again.”

  The gunman flicked his horse with the reins and started down the far side of the ridge.

  ****

  It was early afternoon when Molly saw Sheila’s husband for the first time. He was peering through some bushes on the side of their house. Her first impression of Leonard Burke was not good. It may have been tainted by what she had finally drawn out of Sheila.

  During twenty two years of marriage, Sheila had endured a great deal at the hands and fists of her husband. Besides being a mean drunk, the children, especially the youngest boy, would set him off. When the boy finally found a way out of the house and away from his father, Sheila decided she’d had enough too.

  “Mr. Burke!” Molly called out. “What in the world are you doing hiding in my bushes?”

  “Ah… ah… I thought I dropped something,” Leonard Burke said.

  “I almost shot you for an intruder,” Molly said. “I got a shotgun here that could have blown your head clean off. I strongly suggest you not go creeping around here. It could be dangerous to your health.”

  “Well I’m thankful you didn’t shoot, Mrs. Colter,” Burke said.

  He was stumbling a little as he stood up. He smiled his most charming smile, sure in his ability to get his way.

  “Is Sheila around so I could talk with her?” Burke asked.

  “Are you alright, Mr. Burke?” Molly asked. “You seem to be stumbling about a bit and it’s only the middle of the afternoon. Are you feeling alright?”

  “If she’s busy Mrs. Colter,” Burke said. “I could come back at a more convenient time.”

  “Perhaps when you feel better and aren’t stumbling so much would be a better time,” Molly said turning and disappearing into the house.

  She watched through the curtain as Leonard Burke’s face showed rage. He doubled up both fists as he stomped away from the front of the house.

  ****

  James came off the ridge and back to camp. He had Jacob call the two crews together to explain the situation. He looked around the circle of faces and saw the concern.

  “Men, I don’t want to make too big a deal out this,” James said. “But we had a visit from someone sent by the Evans brothers. We expected something like this, but I wanted you to be aware they’re trying to scare us off. There is the chance of trouble and I wanted to make you aware. I know this may be more than you signed up for, so if any of you feel the need to leave, I’ll understand.”

  The men looked down at the ground and scuffed their shoes in the dirt. Several looked at one another afraid to speak. Finally the fire starter on crew two named Carl Owens cleared his throat.

  “How big a threat do you think there is Mr. Colter?” Carl asked. “The boys would like to see this thing through. We’ve all been talking and think this railroad thing is going to be good for Haven and Eagle Rock when we finish it. But it’s not worth dying for.”

  “Well, the guy up on the ridge was a professional,” James said. “I suspect they just sent him over here to scare us. I’ll be watching out for signs of trouble, but I wanted you to be aware and decide what you want to do.”

  “Any chance those dogs of yours will be up there?” Carl asked. “We’d feel a whole lot safer if they were.”

  “You and me too,” James answered. “All I can promise is to do everything I can to protect you and the work we’re doing. What do you say? Do we keep pushing ahead?”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Carl said. All the men turned and headed back to work.

  Jacob hung back until everyone left.

  “I noticed you didn’t tell them the name of that gunman,” Jacob said.

  “What? Grim Reaper?” James asked. “Do you think that’s his real name?”

  James headed towards his horse.

  Chapter 21

  The heat from the stove radiated throughout the kitchen. The smell of the cinnamon apple pie in the oven was almost overwhelming. Molly was determined to see this Christmas dinner the best James ever had. Sheila pulled the pie from the oven using her apron as potholders. She set the pie down quickly on the cooling rack in front of Molly.

  “What do you think Molly?” Sheila asked. “Janice Scroggins herself could not have baked a more beautiful pie.”

  “Oh, it is a thing of beauty!” Molly said. “But Sheila, I love Janice like a sister. You must forget what I said about her. It’s just James keeps going on and on about what a wonderful cook she is. It makes me so mad sometimes.”

  Well, it’s a fine meal you’ll be having for sure,” Sheila said using her best Irish brogue.

  Both women laughed. Over the last two months Molly and Sheila had become very close, almost like mother and daughter. Molly had lost her mother some years back when she was but a girl and Sheila had lost her only daughter as a baby. It was natural they would be drawn together. It was clear to Molly that each day Sheila healed a little more from the awful marriage she’d been trapped in for all those years.

  “Have you seen the worm in the past couple of days?” Molly asked.

  Worm was the name both of the women used to refer to Sheila’s ex husband.

  “I saw him pacing back and forth staring at the house again yesterday,” Sheila said.

  “He certainly doesn’t give up very easily, does he?” Molly said.

  “He just misses his punching bag. That’s all.” Sheila said with sadness in her voice.

  “Now, Sheila,” Molly said. “We agreed those days are gone and you need to think as little as possible about it.”

  ‘It would be easier if the worm would leave us alone,” Sheila said.

  “True,” Molly said. “Listen, I feel better than I have in a week. Why don’t we go down to the Dry Goods store, see that boy of yours? Maybe buy you a new hat or something?”

  “With your due date so close, Molly,” Sheila said. “I doubt you could get out of the chair unless I help you up girl. You’ll not be leaving this house until the baby comes and that’s final!”

  “Well, you go then,” Molly said. “We’ve got everything as ready as we can and you deserve a pretty little bobble to wear. Besides it’s been awhile since you’ve seen your boy. Now you go get ready after you help me up from this chair and into the living room. This baby just can’t come soon enough.”

  ****

  It began spitting snow an hour ago. James pulled his wool poncho tight around his neck. The temperature had been dropping for the past two hours and dark gray clouds were rolling in from the west. It looked to get worse before it got better.

  James sat in the woods outside Charley Oaks cabin. Well within Cherokee country, James didn’t want anyone to think he was sneaking up on them. It was a good way to end up dead. The cabin looked to be in disrepair. Some of the shake shingles on the roof were missing, and leaves were piled up on the front porch. But there was a large stack of split firewood next to the house and smoke came from the chimney. James knew someone was at home.

  “Charley, are you in there?” James called as loud as he could.

  A short stocky man came out on the porch and looked around. He was completely naked. Charley Oaks saw James sitting on his horse some distance away and waved both arms in the air.

  “Hello, James!” Charley shouted.

  James rode up to the nude man and sat looking at him.

  “What are you doing standing there buck naked in the snow?” James asked. “Is Little Flower back?”

  “Okay, first of all don’t use the word ‘buck’ around an Indian,” Charley said. “It’s insulting. No, Little Flower never came back. We heard she is very happy with her new husband so we are glad for her. What are you doing here?”

  The wind and snow both picked up as they stood there talking. It seemed to James it was getting colder by the minute.

  “Aren’t you cold Charley?” James
asked.

  “No, I don’t get cold like you white people,” Charley said. “You people got soft somewhere along the line.”

  “Let’s go into the house at least, and maybe you’ll put some clothes on,” James said. “No offense, but this is not your best look.”

  James and Charley went into the cabin and James waited for Charley to come back dressed. The cabin was a mess and James began picking up as best he could. Charley finally appeared fastening his belt.

  “Why don’t you move close to the village?” James asked. “There’s not even good hunting around here. The woods are too old and overgrown with large trees.”

  “Did you ride all this way out here to complain about the way I live?” Charley asked sounding a little peeved.

  “No, Charley and I apologize for butting in where I had no reason,” James said. “I actually came out here to offer you some work.”

  “What kind of work?” Charley asked.

  “The kind of work you love the most,” James said. “You get paid to stand around and a chance to kill white people.”

  “I’m there,” Charley said. “Do you need more than just me? I got a lot of friends who would love that kind of work.”

  “Four of your friends would be fine,” James said. “Make sure they can use a bow. We need stealth and quiet on this one. You’ll be watching men work making sure no one sneaks up on us or tries to shoot us in the back.”

  Charley thought for a few minutes.

  “I got just the men you need,” Charley said. “I’ll have to ride to several villages. Should we meet you at Haven?”

  “Meet me in Eagle Rock,” James said. “I want to run by Linden and talk to the sheriff there. I’ll be back in Eagle Rock tomorrow. I’ll wait for you there. Make sure you’re wearing clothes too.”

  James got the sorrel and headed back the way he came. This time he was riding into the wind, and it was cutting through his wool poncho like a knife. He lowered his head and pressed on as best he could. He wished he’d worn the coat Uncle Paul had given him.