by Joel Baker
“Sure, take this coffee and food with you,” James said.
“Maybe just the coffee,” Molly said. “I’m not hungry this morning for some reason.”
“Go lay down,” James said. “I’ll stay with Sheila until the doctor comes.”
“You were out kind of late last night,” Molly said. “Is everything alright?”
“Charley and I were just hanging around town, sweetheart,” James said. “Now go lay down for a while and rest.”
Molly gave James a strange look with an arched eyebrow as she left the room. Sheila moaned in her sleep and turned her head towards James. Sheila’s face continued to swell during the night and the bruises had begun to turn to a greenish yellow. James tried to eat the breakfast on the plate, but could only finish half.
The doctor came at mid morning and James went to check on Molly. She was sleeping soundly so he went for a walk. There was a big commotion down the street where Sheila and her husband had lived. James was curious as to what was happening. As near as he could determine from the people milling around in front of Burke’s house, poor Leonard had finally flipped out and hung himself. The general opinion of everyone outside the house was the world was now a better place.
When James got home the doctor was waiting for him in the living room drinking a cup of coffee.
“Hope you don’t mind, James,” the Doctor said. “I helped myself to some coffee. I’ve had quite a morning so far.”
“That’s fine Doc,” James said. “Help yourself. How’s Sheila?”
“Oh, she’ll recover,” the Doctor said. “I can’t say the same for that rat bastard husband of hers.”
“Leonard Burke?” James asked. “What happened to Leonard?”
“He probably felt remorse for what he did to his wife in there, and hung himself,” the Doctor said.
“No kidding?” James said. “Hung himself you say? That seems odd don’t you think?”
“What was odd was he had broken fingers on both hands,” the Doctor said.
“How do you explain that?” James asked.
“Nobody knows,” the Doctor said. “Nobody even cares.”
“Listen Doc,” James said. “Molly is getting close to her time. Are you going to be around if she needs you?”
“I’ll be around, but the best help she can have is her midwife,” the Doctor said. “Peg has delivered more babies than I have and is better at it. I just get called if there’s a problem, and there’s not going to be any problems.”
The door to the bedroom opened and both James and Doc turned to see Molly standing in the doorway.
“Well, somebody go get Peg,” Molly said. “This baby is coming now. My water broke.”
She bent at the waist as another contraction hit.
“Jesus wept! Somebody get Peg now!” Molly said turning back towards the bedroom.
James ran for the door and came back with Peg in a few minutes. He paced back and forth in the living room until the doctor came out of the bedroom.
“She’s fine, James.” The doctor said. “She’s strong and in good health so this should be a walk in the park, although I doubt if she’ll think so. It will be some time before the baby comes, this being her first. She and Sheila will need some help around here for a while. Do you know someone who can stay with them for a few days?”
“I think I do,” James said.
“Well, you have time to fetch them if you want,” the Doctor said.
James stuck his head into the bedroom just as Molly was hit by another contraction. He left the room just as fast, putting on his coat as he went. The ride to Haven took a while on the fresh snow. Smoke from chimneys rose from every building. The dogs were out in number and close to the stable where James left the Sorrel.
He stomped his feet to get the snow off his boots before entering the main house. Janice was in the middle of fixing something and was the only one in the kitchen. She turned when the door opened and smiled at James.
“Good news, Janice,” James said. “The baby is coming.”
“Oh that’s wonderful news James!” Janice said.
“We got someone to help Molly out around the house, but she had an accident,” James said. “I was wondering if you could come and give us a hand for a week or so. It would be a big help.”
“I’m sure it would be fine, James,” Janice said. “Let me go check with Mary.”
Mary Colter was Seth’s wife and a kind and gentle person. Everyone loved Mary Colter. Janice was only gone a few seconds when she and Mary came back into the kitchen.
“We are so excited, James,” Mary exclaimed. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, if Janice will help, that’s about all the people our house can hold,” James said. “It’s a little too small for lots of company.”
“Well of course Janice can help for as long as you need her,” Mary said. “”I’m going to talk to Seth about starting on a new house for the two of you. Woops. Baby makes three now doesn’t it? Oh, this is so exciting I can hardly stand it!”
Janice got her things together and James brought a buggy up to take her into town. The roads were snow covered so he took it slow all the way to Eagle Rock. He explained to Janice about Sheila and her late husband. She understood it would be a sensitive time around the house for a while. It was getting dark when they arrived.
****
Shannon Marie Colter was born at three in the morning on a cold and snowy December night, two weeks before Christmas. James walked into the bedroom after Peg had changed the linen and helped Molly clean the little baby. Everything about Shannon was red.
“Do you want to hold her?” Molly asked.
“Maybe later, sweetheart,” James said. “She’s so tiny and soft, I’m afraid I’d hurt her.”
“How is Sheila?” Molly asked. “Is anyone looking after her?”
“I brought Janice from Haven to look after the both of you,” James said. “She can stay as long as you need her.”
“I heard some muttering going on about that Leonard Burke,” Molly said.
“Yeah,” James said. “It was a real tragedy. He apparently hung himself.”
“Well, I know it’s for the best,” Molly said. “You better leave now. I’m exhausted and need to feed the baby, then sleep. I suspect you’ve got things to do in the morning. You go now.”
Molly was asleep before James was out the door. He went into the back room to check on Sheila. Janice was spooning some thin broth through Janice’s swollen lips. It looked to be a slow process.
“Janice, I need to do some business,” James said. “I’ll be gone for several days. Are you going to be able to handle things around here?”
“We’ll be fine,” Janice said. “Peg said to get her if I needed anything and Molly’s father will be around.”
James grabbed his saddle bags and headed out the door. The sun had come out and the glare from the new snowfall was blinding. Jesse pulled his hat brim down to shade his eyes and headed out of town.
Chapter 23
Ed Darby was not in a good mood. He had to go see Mike Evans, and the last thing he wanted to hear today was whining and complaints. He looked around the bar at his gang. They were a sorry bunch of losers.
He needed his brother Frank and he knew it. Frank had been missing now for more than a week. He had gotten Ed out of trouble countless times. He’d been both mother and father to Ed. Ed didn’t know which way to turn without Frank. That was why he hadn’t made a move on the stupid railroad. Now he had to go talk with Evans.
It took Ed fifteen minutes to get from the bar to Evans office. Given the money Evans Freight was taking in, their building itself was unimpressive. Ed went through the front door, passed the receptionist sitting at her desk, and directly into Mike Evans office. He flopped down in the big chair sitting directly in front of the massive desk on the far side of the room.
Mike Evans looked more like a preacher then someone who ran a freighting business. His face was waxy lo
oking and his suit seemed too big for his slight frame. Ed had never met the other brother Carl Evans. He’d asked around and people thought of the two, Carl was the easy going one and Mike was kind of scary. You could never tell what Mike was really thinking. Usually you didn’t want to know. The brothers had lived in Oak Ridge, just south of Knoxville, their whole life. They’d fought for everything they had, and managed to corner the coal freight business some years ago.
“Don’t knock, Ed. Just come on in,” Mike said, without looking up from the papers in front of him. “I assume you’ve taken care of our little railroad problem.”
“Not yet,” Ed said. “I’m still waiting for my brother to show up. I need Frank. I’m not going up against those Colters without him.”
“You’re not going up against the Colters,” Mike said. “You’re going up against James Colter. He’s a twenty three year old kid for God’s sake.”
“That ‘kid’ wiped out the People’s Temple militia,” Ed said. “I’m not going anywhere without Frank.”
“Look,” Mike said trying to sound reasonable, “All Carl and I want is for you to go fire some shots down at the work site. Hit the steam engine if you can and blow it up. If you should happen to hit one of the crew or James Colter himself, that’s just fine. If they finish that railroad and start hauling coal down from their mine, we stand to lose a lot of money. That can’t happen.”
****
James had Charley and his friends spread out along the ridge above the work site. The day broke sunny and bright and warmed with the wind blowing out of the south. The snow melted quickly and the ground softened. The Indians knew they were looking for Ed Darby and anyone with him. They watched the men below tearing up track and carrying pieces back to the train car and loading them in the back. The steam engine was noisy and dirty. Smoke and steam poured from the engine as it moved slowly down the track.
As James rode into the work site, Jacob Roberts walked up to him and waited for him to dismount. It seemed to James the work crews were significantly ahead of schedule.
“What’s going on Jacob? Anything I can do to help?” James asked.
“Believe it or not, one of men just told me we’re surrounded by Indians!” Jacob said, pointing in the direction James had just come from. “He claims he saw Indians swarming all over the ridge.”
“First of all, that’s not a swarm of Indians,” James said. “There are four Cherokees. Second, they’re up there protecting us from anyone who might try to sneak up on us. Tell the men their hair is safe, at least for the time being. Now, tell me how we’re doing.”
“If the weather holds,” Jacob said. “We should be bringing our first load of coal to Eagle Rock by the end of February. We started preassembling the straps on the rails back at the warehouse depot. It’s really made a big difference. We’ve greatly increased the rate of laying rail. We just drop the rail in place, tighten two bolts, and drive a few stakes. Then we can move on to the next rail.”
“That’s good news,” James said. “I still expect trouble from the Evans brothers, so keep a sharp lookout. If you hear gunfire from up on the ridge or anything else what are you and the crews going to do?”
“Keep the steam pressure up on the engine,” Jacob said. “Then all crew members jump in the rail car and lay flat on the floor. We ride back to Eagle Rock as fast as the steam engine can take us.”
“Good,” James said. “We hired these guys to lay track, not fight outlaws. Make sure everyone knows what’s going on and what they’re supposed to do if anything happens.”
“I got it James,” Jacob said. “Thanks for looking out for us. The crew really appreciates it.”
****
Frank Darby was six years older than his brother Ed. He’d almost raised Ed from a small boy by himself when their mother had died of cholera. When Ed had gotten in trouble with the law as a teenager, Frank had stepped in and tried to smooth things out. It had been like that ever since. Now Ed was planning to take on the Colters. Frank was riding into Oak Ridge to try and talk Ed out of this mistake. He knew the odds were against him.
Down deep Frank knew Ed was a coward. He’d always been a coward. Ed tried to cover up his cowardice by talking loud. But when it came down to it, Frank had to step in and make things happen. He probably would again. Getting mixed up in a coal war was not smart on any level. This was especially true when one of the sides was James Colter.
Frank thought James Colter was a throwback. He was more like the first Colters to settle here than the business people the other Colters had become. This kid apparently knew how to fight and had a reputation for not taking prisoners. Frank had heard a rumor that the Colter dogs listened to James and did what he said. At least that’s what Frank had heard. If it was true, nobody would come out of this alive.
Now Ed was walking around telling people he was the ‘Grim Reaper’. Ed just couldn’t help himself. Frank tied his horse to the hitching post in front of the tavern and walked inside. Ed was sitting with a table of men who looked to be of little consequence. Ed turned towards the door and spotted his brother.
“Frank! I’m glad to see your sorry hide,” Ed said. “What kept you so long? I was expecting you two days ago.”
Frank didn’t say anything, but motioned for Ed to follow him outside. Once they were by the building Frank took off his hat and hit Ed.
“What the hell are you doing with that group of losers sitting there drinking your booze?” Frank asked.
“Hey!” Ed said. “They’re good guys. All of them are looking for a fight and we aim to give them one, don’t we brother?”
“You got any idea what we’re up against?” Frank asked.
“I’ve been out there and spied out the place,” Ed said. “In fact, I ran into that kid everybody says is so tough. Well I’m here to tell you, he’ll bleed like anyone else.”
“So now he knows we’re coming,” Frank said. “That’s great, Ed, just brilliant. You probably told him you were the grim reaper too.”
“We got to get a move on Frank,” Ed said. “Mike Evans had me in his office two days ago and read me the riot act. Says we got to get the business done and soon.”
Frank knew the smart thing to do was to shoot the Evans brothers, then Ed, and ride slowly out of town. Oh well, Frank thought, No one lives forever.
****
Just before daybreak, Charley Oaks spotted the seven men coming through the divide. They came single file as silent as ghosts. He saw they’d wrapped the hooves of their horses with rags to muffle the sound of their approach. Charley, as quietly as possible, woke his friends and spread them out along the ridge.
The men on horseback dismounted. They stayed in a small group until dawn crept over the work site below. In the distance they could hear the railway engine chugging up the last rise and into the view below.
Frank crawled up to the ridge in time to see the workman pile out of the rear car and begin removing lengths of rail from the second car. They carried the rails down the track placing them one after another. One man crouched near the last car and built a fire, placing a large coffee pot on a rack over the coals. Frank headed back down to the group waiting below.
Charley watched as the riders talked briefly and then began climbing to the top of the ridge. When they drew close to the top, they dropped to their bellies and crawled for a view of the work site below. One of the men, a fat guy, fell back from the others. Aaron Lightfoot was the one Charley trusted most for close in work. As the fat guy crawled by, Aaron reached out and slit the man’s throat without a sound escaping from his last breath.
Frank crawled up and looked over the end of the ravine. The railroad engine and the boiler were a hundred yards from where he sat. He wasn’t at all sure he could penetrate the boiler walls from this distance. He looked back at the group of bar flies his brother had gathered to pull this off.
“Where’s that fat guy that was behind us?” Frank asked, looking around.
They were seven when they�
��d started. Now they were six.
“You mean Larry, Ed said. “He must have chickened out and high tailed it. We got enough without him. Let’s get this over with and get out of here. It feels like we’re being watched.”
Frank didn’t like loose ends. You don’t just lose someone and nobody notices. Where the hell was that guy? Frank wondered.
“Ed, you take the rest of the guys and spread out along the ridge,” Frank said. “Make sure you stay out of line of sight. We don’t want to warn them. I’m going to try and get closer to take out the boiler on the engine. When you hear me fire, move up to the edge of the ridge and start firing. Everybody understand? Good. Get moving.”
****
Charley saw the movement of the ambushers along the ridge. He’d already positioned his men anticipating they would take the ridge. He saw the older man shimmy on his stomach over to the left and over the ridge behind some trees. There was nothing he could do about him. The guy he was after was thirty feet away lying on his belly with his rifle pushed out in front of him on the ground.
The man was unaware of Charley as he moved as quietly as possible downhill and behind the man. When he was ready, Charley looked to his right and saw Aaron give him the thumbs up meaning the rest of the Indians were ready. Charley heard a gunshot off to his left and sprung off the ground and onto the back of the man in front of him.
In one motion, he grabbed the man’s chin with his left hand and pulled up until the man was immobile with his back arched. The razor sharp knife passed over the man’s neck and blood gushed over the front of his coat. The ambusher was dead before his chin hit the ground.
At least two of the men cried out before they died. The skinny one on the end raised his head up and looked around. He fired his rifle wildly before dropping it and running down the ridge towards the horses. Lightfoot rose with a notched arrow and caught the fleeing man in the right side of his back. There was a froth of bubbles in the blood indicating he was hit in the lung.
Charley and the rest of the Indians retreated down the ridge as the older man came running back over the crest. Charley turned, knelt, and let loose an arrow hitting the man in the upper left thigh. He fell dropping his rifle.