The stalking death, p.18
The Stalking Death, page 18
“Everyone knows about you,” Shamrock said.
“Not as Brad Houser, and I’m quite comfortable with that name. You had better get used to being called Paul Harris. Anyway, when I secured your commission from the governor, I did it under the name of Paul Harris.”
“What about the others? What names did you use for them when you was talking to the governor?”
“It wasn’t necessary for me to even bring their names up. You and I were the only two who required a commission. We have the authority to appoint our own deputies. Thus, they will derive their authority from us. You are answerable only to me, and I am answerable only to the governor.”
“What does that mean, that you are answerable only to the governor?”
Houser smiled. “That means that I can do anything I want. And, if you have my permission, you can do anything you want.”
A broad smile spread across Shamrock’s lips. “I can do anything I want?”
“Within reason, and as long as it has my approval.”
“Ha! You know what I’m thinkin’, big brother? I’m thinkin’ this here is goin’ to be a lot of fun.”
“And profitable,” Houser added. “For each miscreant standing in my way who’s disposed of by you and your men, I’d be willing to pay a bonus of, say, one thousand dollars.”
“Yeah,” Shamrock replied with a grin. “Mighty profitable. Only how come I had to change my name, but you didn’t have to change your name? You was involved in the robbery back in Sulphur Springs, same as I was.”
“No, I wasn’t involved. I set the job up for you, but I didn’t actually take part in it, if you remember.”
“Yeah, I remember. I wound up taking all the chances, but you got most of the money.”
“What I’ve got set up for us now, why, you will be in position to make as much money as you did from the bank robbery in Sulphur Springs, and much more money than you earned from that job in Seven Oaks.”
Shamrock smiled. “Yeah, I will, won’t I?”
“The first thing you must do is instruct your men to refer to you as Paul Harris, not only in public, but even when you are alone. As I intend to do.”
“Yeah, all right, if you say so.”
“I do, indeed, say so.”
* * *
As soon as Houser and Shamrock returned to the ranch, Shamrock rounded up Jaco, Evans, Wix, Pete, and Hawke, and told them that Houser wanted to talk to them.
“What about me ’n Malcolm ’n Dobbins?” Knox asked.
“He didn’t say nothin’ about none of you,” Shamrock replied.
Turley didn’t even ask about himself; he had already learned that there were two groups of men employed by Houser, those who worked, like he, Cooper, and the remaining cowhands, and those who, as far as he could tell, did nothing.
Turley shrugged. It didn’t really bother him all that much that Houser had so much dead weight at the ranch. He wasn’t paying their salary.
* * *
“What do you mean we’re goin’ to be deputies?” Jaco asked. “You signed us up to be deputies? I thought we was goin’ to be makin’ some money while we was here. What does a deputy make? Thirty dollars a month?”
“You won’t be deputies for the sheriff, you’ll be deputyin’ for the governor of Wyoming,” Shamrock said with a wide smile.
“The governor?”
“Yeah, I’m a special lawman for the governor of Wyoming. ’N from now on when you talk to me, you’ll call me Captain Harris.”
“Why the hell should we do that?” Wix asked.
“For two hundred dollars a month, ’n a chance to make a lot more money,” Shamrock said.
“Two hundred dollars a month?” Jaco replied excitedly. “Damn, that’s ten times more ’n a cowhand gets.”
“Yes, it is. So, what do you say? Do you want to be my deputy?”
“I say you got yourself a deputy,” Jaco replied.
“Two deputies,” Wix added.
The others signed on as well.
“Here’s a hundred dollars apiece to get you started,” Houser said. He smiled. “And this, gentlemen, is just a bonus. It will not come out of your monthly salary.”
Happily, and eagerly, the men took the proffered money.
“Hey, Shamrock, you ain’t said what it is that we’re goin’ to be doin’ as deputies,” Hawke said.
“The first thing you’re goin’ to do is stop callin’ me Shamrock ’n start callin’ me Captain Harris. ’N then, after that, why, you’re goin’ to do whatever I tell you to do,” Shamrock said.
“That’s all right with me,” Hawke said.
The others agreed.
“Hey, Sham . . . uh . . . Cap’n Harris, is it all right with you, if me ’n some of the others go into town tonight?” Jaco asked. He smiled. “I mean, what good is it to get a hundred dollars if you cain’t go into town ’n spend it?”
Shamrock looked over at Houser, who, with a slight nod, gave his acquiescence to the request.
Chapter Twenty-three
The girls who served drinks at Fiddler’s Green let it be known, very quickly, that a drink and smile was all they were willing to give. Jaco and the other men with him wanted more than that, so they took their business to the Wild Hog Saloon.
The newly constituted deputies were greeted by some working girls as soon as they stepped inside the saloon.
“Well,” one of the girls said with a practiced smile. “What do you think, ladies? Here are some cowboys we’ve never seen before.”
“We ain’t cowboys,” Pete said.
“Oh?” one of the other girls said. “Well, what are you, honey, if you ain’t cowboys?”
“We’re deputies,” Jaco said.
“Deputies? My, my, you mean to tell me that Sheriff Sharpie has hired himself five new deputies?”
“Nah,” Evans said. “We ain’t deputies for the sheriff. We’re deputies for the governor his ownself.”
“Are we deputies for the governor, or just for Shamrock?” Wix asked.
“His name ain’t Shamrock no more, remember?” Hawke asked. “His name is Harris now, Paul Harris.”
“Oh yeah. Captain Harris,” Wix said.
“My name is Cindy,” one of the girls said, taking hold of Jaco’s arm. “How would you like to buy me a drink?”
“Yeah,” Jaco said. “I’ll buy you a drink. ’N then maybe we can do somethin’ else,” he added with a salacious smile.
“Honey, as long as you got the money, we can do anything else you want,” Cindy replied.
As the girls paired off with the men, it quickly became evident that there was one girl short of being enough to go around, Wix being the one who was left out.
“Hey, ain’t there no other girls here?” Wix asked.
“Dianne is upstairs with a gentleman,” Cindy said. “She’ll be down soon.”
“What room is she in?” Wix asked.
Cindy laughed. “It’s the first door on the right as soon as you reach the top of the stairs. Don’t worry, if she decides to go upstairs with you, she’ll show you which room is hers.”
“Yeah, well, I ain’t plannin’ on waitin’,” Wix said, starting for the foot of the stairs.
“Fred! Fred, stop him!” one of the other girls shouted, pointing toward Wix. “He’s going up to get Dianne.”
“Hold on, mister, you can’t go up there unless you’re invited,” the bartender called out toward Wix.
“I’m invitin’ myself,” Wix said, pulling his pistol and pointing it at the bartender.
The bartender put his hands up in the air. “You’ve got no right to do that!”
“Yeah, I do,” Wix said.
Wix hurried up the stairs, then jerked the door open. A man and woman were in bed, and both of them called out in alarm when Wix stepped inside.
“What the hell?” the man shouted in surprise and anger. “Get out of here! Can’t you see we’re busy?”
“No, you get out,” Wix said, pointing the gun at him. “The woman’s comin’ downstairs with me.”
“I’m not goin’ anywhere with you!” Dianne shouted angrily. She pulled the sheet up to cover herself.
“You’re either comin’ downstairs with me now, or I’m goin’ to shoot this feller you’re with.”
“What? No, no! She’ll go with you, she’ll go with you!” the man responded, the anger in his voice replaced by fear.
Getting out of bed, the man hopped around on one leg as he began to pull on his pants.
“You better get dressed, too, missy, unless you want to go downstairs without no clothes on a-tall.”
Dianne got out of bed then and, still clutching the sheet around her, reached for her clothes.
“Maybe you should just wrap a sheet around you to come downstairs,” Wix said with a little laugh. “You’ll just be takin’ your clothes off again in a few minutes, after you’ve had a couple o’ drinks with me ’n my friends.”
“What makes you think I’ll come back up here with you?” Dianne asked, still angry at the abrupt intrusion.
“How much did you pay her?” Wix asked the man who was dressed now, except for his boots, which he was pulling on.
“Three dollars,” the man said.
“Here’s ten. Go somewhere else ’n find yourself another woman.”
The anger left the man’s face as he reached for the ten-dollar bill. “Yes, sir!” he said, smiling.
“Your name’s Dianne, ain’t it?” Wix asked.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Here’s another ten dollars for you so that you’ll treat me nice.”
Now, like the man whose good humor had been bought with a ten-dollar bill, Dianne also smiled. She also noticed, for the first time, that there was a good deal of laughter coming from her friends downstairs.
“Sure, honey,” she said, taking the bill. “I’ll be glad to have a few drinks with you.”
By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sheriff Sharpie’s deputy was standing there.
“Mister,” the deputy said to Wix. “You’ve got yourself a peck of trouble, botherin’ these people like this.”
“What do you mean, Deputy Logan? I’m not bothered none,” the man who had been with Dianne said.
“You sure this man didn’t trouble you none, Buck?”
“I’m sure.”
“What about you, miss?”
“I’m not bothered, either,” Dianne added quickly.
Logan looked over toward the bar. “Fred, didn’t you send someone after me, saying you was havin’ trouble here?”
Fred looked at Dianne, obviously confused now by her reaction.
“Don’t worry about it, Fred, it was just a misunderstanding is all,” Dianne said. “But we’ve got it all worked out now, don’t we, honey?” She put her hand on Wix’s shoulder.
“That’s right,” Wix said. Wix extended his hand toward Logan. “I’m Deputy Wix,” he said. “Looks like me ’n you’s in the same business.”
Now it was Logan’s time to look confused. “You’re a deputy? What do you mean, you’re a deputy? I didn’t know Sheriff Sharpie had taken on any new deputies.”
“We ain’t deputies for the sheriff,” Jaco said, calling over from the table where he and the others were sitting with the remaining bar girls. “We’re deputies for the governor. All five of us is.”
“For the governor? I’ve never heard of deputies for the governor.”
“You’ll be hearin’ about it pretty soon,” Jaco said. “I reckon we’ll be takin’ over things here now.”
“Does the sheriff know anything about this?” Logan asked.
“I reckon he’ll find out soon enough. Mr. Houser, he’s the one that got the governor to send us down here.”
* * *
“Yeah,” Sheriff Sharpie said a while later when Deputy Logan reported on what had happened. “I heard about it. They’ll be working with the Cattlemen’s Association, is what I’m told. It won’t have anything to do with what happens here in town. Besides, there were no complaints filed, were there?”
Logan shook his head. “No, sir, I talked to Buck ’n Dianne both, ’n both of ’em said there wasn’t no trouble.”
“Well, there you go, then,” the sheriff said. “In a case like this, seein’ as there was no damage done, ’n nobody was hurt, well, if there are no complaints, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
* * *
The next morning as Elmer and Wang rode up to The Queen Ranch, Keegan came out of the house to meet them.
“Hello, Mr. Gleason, Wang,” Keegan said. “I’ve got a pot of coffee inside.”
“Good man,” Elmer said.
“What did you folks come over for? If you’re here to check on me, well, everything’s goin’ fine. I hadn’t had no trouble with anything,” Keegan said as he served both Elmer and Wang coffee.
“Well, it’s sort of to check up on you, ’n make certain you wasn’t just lyin’ aroun’ on your ass for the whole time,” Elmer teased. “But mostly what we’re here for, is so’s we can take some cattle back to where they belong,” Elmer said. “Seems a few strays wound up in Percy’s herd.”
“Oh yeah, I wondered about that. They are out in the corral.”
A cup of coffee and a short conversation later, Elmer and Wang rode away, driving the wayward cows before them.
“Trail Back is on the way to Twin Peaks, but we’ll go to Pitchfork first,” Elmer said. “Even though it’s in the opposite direction, it’s the closest.”
* * *
“Captain Harris, I am about to give you and your men your first assignment. I want you to ride over to Percy Gaines’s ranch,” Houser told Shamrock. “I think you’ll find some stolen cattle there. And whatever you find, bring back here. I’ll have someone take the Pitchfork and Trail Back cows back to their owners.”
“All right,” Shamrock said.
“Oh, and you might administer a little justice for harboring the stolen cows.”
“What kind of justice is it that you’re talkin’ about?” Shamrock asked.
“The kind of justice that will make certain that he doesn’t wind up with any more stolen cows.”
“Yeah,” Shamrock said with an evil smile. “Yeah, I think I know what you mean.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Turley, who had not attended the meeting the day before, and who had heard none of the exchange between Houser and Shamrock, watched the six men ride off. Curious about it, he walked up to the ranch office to question Houser.
“I seen that your brother ’n them other five men rode off. Are they leavin’?”
“Mr. Turley, I told you not to concern yourself with those men. They are answerable only to me. But for your information, they are not leaving. You will learn, soon enough, that they are going to be dealing with the small ranchers who, I am convinced, are responsible for all the cattle rustling that has been going on of late.”
“Mr. Houser, I know just about ever’ one of the small ranchers here in the valley, I’ve rode with most of ’em. They’re good men, all of ’em, and I just don’t believe that they’re the ones that’s doin’ the stealin’.”
“You are looking at them through eyes that are distorted by previous amity. You feel a fraternity with them, and I can understand that, Turley, but you must look at it from my point of view. If we don’t stop this now, in its earliest stages, then it will only encourage these small ranchers, these usurpers of grass and water, to continue to build their herds at the expense of those of us who, by the size of our operations, make perfect targets for them. Do you understand that?”
Turley didn’t reply.
“Well, do you understand it? Because, Mr. Turley, if you are unable to understand this simple concept, then perhaps I need a new man.”
“Oh no, sir!” Turley said quickly. “I understand just what you are talkin’ about. A thing like this, stealin’ cattle, I mean, is somethin’ that you got to nip in the bud afore it gets way out of hand.”
Houser smiled. “It is good that you understand.”
“If I have to talk to ’em about something, should I talk to you, or to Cap’n Harris?”
“There will never be any need for you to initiate any conversation with them. As I said, they are working for me, they aren’t working for you. And to the degree possible, I intend to keep the special police force separated from you and from the working cowhands. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“On the other hand, there may be occasions when it will be necessary for Captain Harris, or one of his men, to order you to do something. If he, or one of his men, should issue such an order to you, or to any of the hands, you may regard that as an order directly from me, and I will expect you to give them full cooperation.”
“Yes, sir, I will do whatever needs to be done.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Shamrock and the territorial deputies were coming close to The Queen Ranch, though as they were unaware of the name given his ranch by Percy Gaines, they didn’t think of it in that way.
“Hey, Shamrock,” Jaco started to say.
“It’s Captain Harris,” Shamrock corrected. “Remember, my name is Harris.”
“I ain’t forgot, but there ain’t nobody here now but just us, ’n all of us knows you as Shamrock.”
“If you call me Shamrock now, you’re liable to forget ’n call me Shamrock in front of someone else. ’N don’t forget, down in Texas they know all about us.”
“Yeah, but that’s in Texas. We’re in Wyoming now ’n there don’t nobody here know none of us.”
“Do you think we are on the backside of the moon up here?” Shamrock asked, mimicking his brother’s comment to him.
“What?”
“There are newspapers here just like ever’ where else, ’n who knows when they might have a story ’bout what we done down there?”
“All right, I’ll call you Harris.”
“Captain Harris,” Shamrock corrected.
“Yeah, Cap’n Harris. But what I was goin’ to ask you is, how come it is that Houser knows about them other cows ’n where they belong?”
“I don’t know, ’n I don’t care. He knows, is all I care about. That, ’n the money he’s givin’ us.”
