Dark night of the mounta.., p.21
Dark Night of the Mountain Man, page 21
“You really think this tame bear of yours could have made it this far from where you lost him?”
“I certainly do, Sheriff. Barnaby is extremely intelligent. He could have foraged for food along the way, and bears have been known to range hundreds of miles in their travels.”
“Where’s his cage?” Smoke asked. “I didn’t see it attached to the wagon outside.”
“I unhooked it and left it where I camped last night, not far from here,” Rocklin explained. “I didn’t see any need to bring it into town. I knew I wouldn’t find Barnaby here.”
Monte said, “That’s where you’re wrong. He was right here in Big Rock less than a week ago.”
“When that bartender you told me about was killed?” Rocklin shook his head emphatically. “I’ve told you, Sheriff, there’s absolutely no way Barnaby could have carried out such a heinous deed. He hasn’t killed anyone.”
Monte’s voice was grim as he said, “We’ve got four men dead.”
“Did anyone actually witness those deaths?”
“No, but what else could have torn up those men like that?”
“Another bear, perhaps, or some other sort of wild animal.”
Smoke said, “We can’t rule that out, Monte.”
“But the bodies had bear tracks around them,” the lawman said. “You saw them for yourself, Smoke.”
“That’s right, and several folks have laid eyes on a bear that acts just like the one you describe, Dr. Rocklin.”
“Did the bear harm anyone when he was spotted?” Rocklin asked.
Monte grunted. “You already know the answer to that. He chased one cowboy, but I suppose he could have been chasing the steer that the cowboy was looking for, figuring to make a meal on it. He didn’t hurt the hombre.”
“And the other times?”
“He just waved his paws in the air and roared.”
“Just as I taught him to do.”
“And then he wandered off,” Smoke mused. “Like he knew the act was over.”
“Exactly! I tell you, gentlemen, the bear that’s been seen in this area has to be Barnaby, but he’s done no harm. He’s innocent of those killings.”
“And you want us to help you find him?”
“I’d be eternally grateful, Mr. Jensen. If Barnaby and I could be reunited, I swear I’d never allow him to stray again.”
“I believe you mean that, Doctor,” Monte said, “but the problem is that somebody else is already looking for that bear . . . and if I’m any judge of men, that hombre is a stone-cold killer.”
CHAPTER 23
Rocklin’s eyes widened in horror.
“What are you talking about, Sheriff?” he asked. “I assumed that Barnaby was in some danger, that he might be the object of a search, but you make the situation sound even more ominous.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have ever heard of a man called Major Mordecai Daylight, would you?”
Rocklin stared across the desk in blank bafflement for a moment and then shook his head.
“He’s a man who makes his living hunting down wild beasts that pose a particular threat,” Monte explained. “A few days ago, the town council and some of the local businessmen agreed to pay him a bounty of two thousand dollars if he finds and kills the bear responsible for those deaths.”
“But Barnaby didn’t harm anyone! I explained all that!”
“Major Daylight doesn’t know that,” Smoke said. “Even if somebody told him, I’m not sure he’d believe it . . . or care.”
“I don’t reckon he would,” Monte said. “I’ve got a hunch that hombre doesn’t care about much of anything except collecting bounties.”
“He has to be stopped. Please, Sheriff—”
Monte’s shaking head caused Rocklin to break off his entreaty.
“I’m sorry, Doctor, but I don’t have any legal authority to stop the major from hunting a bear. What he’s doing isn’t against the law.”
“But it . . . it’s immoral! Barnaby is harmless. He’d never hurt anyone.” Rocklin swung his stocky body toward Smoke. “Mr. Jensen, can you help me?”
“What do you want me to do?” Smoke asked. “Go after Major Daylight? I don’t have a right to interfere with him any more than Sheriff Carson does.”
“But if we could find Barnaby first—”
“We?” Smoke interrupted, cocking an eyebrow.
“I would have to come with you. Barnaby is shy, you see. If you came face to face with him, he’d do his act, just like he has in those other encounters, but then he’d want to go on his way. If you tried to capture him, he might get annoyed.”
“And I don’t want to annoy even a tame bear.”
“It probably wouldn’t be wise,” Rocklin agreed. “Whereas, if I accompanied you and we located Barnaby together, he would see me and know that no one meant to harm him. I’m certain he would come along with us peacefully.”
Monte said, “You figure he actually remembers you after this long?”
“I have no doubt of it, Sheriff. Barnaby and I are friends and will remain so for life.”
“You go running up to him, you might find out different.”
“I’m willing to risk that. Wouldn’t you run a risk for a friend?”
Monte glanced at Smoke and said, “I have, many times, so maybe I understand.”
“I do, too,” Smoke said. “I’m not really comfortable about taking you along, Doctor, but you’ve got a point. Barnaby, if it is him, wouldn’t cooperate with me. I couldn’t bring him back alive. You might have a chance of doing it.”
“So you’ll help me search for him?” Rocklin asked eagerly.
Smoke nodded. “We’ll give it a try. Why don’t you come out to my ranch with me, so I can gather up some supplies, and we’ll start from there.”
“I realize nothing’s been said about it, but I’d be willing to pay you—”
Smoke held up a hand to stop him. “Let’s leave it with nothing said. I’m doing this to help a man who’s lost a friend and wants to find him again.”
* * *
Smoke rode alongside the medicine show wagon as Rocklin drove back out to the spot where he’d left Barnaby’s cage. When they got there, he helped the older man hook it up to the back of the medicine show wagon.
Smoke had seen such wheeled cages before. Traveling circuses used them to transport animals that were part of the show. It was a straw-covered floor with closely spaced iron bars for the sides and a simple flat roof.
Big enough for a bear to stand up and move around a little, the enclosure was small enough that Smoke understood why Rocklin liked to let Barnaby have a bit more freedom while they were camped. It would be hard for any animal to stay cooped up in there all the time.
“You said you chain the bear when you’re putting on a show?” Smoke asked.
Rocklin nodded. “That’s right. One end of the chain is attached to a shackle around his leg, and the other is attached to the wagon. I make sure the shackle is loose enough that it doesn’t cause Barnaby any discomfort, although the customers don’t know that, of course. Even so, he’s secured quite effectively and can’t get loose, even if he wanted to. Which he doesn’t.”
“He wandered loose when he escaped,” Smoke pointed out.
Rocklin winced. “I wish you wouldn’t say that he escaped. That makes it sound as if he were mistreated, and I would never do that. It’s more like a child that wandered off.”
Yeah, a child that weighed a thousand pounds and had razor-sharp teeth and claws, Smoke told himself. That was a disturbing thought.
The campsite was north of Big Rock. They didn’t have to go back through the settlement, but rather skirted around it to reach the road that ran to the Sugarloaf. They reached the ranch by midafternoon.
Pearlie came out of the barn as the wagon clattered to a stop. He paused for a moment and stood there with a surprised look on his rugged face. Then he came forward and greeted Smoke by saying, “Looks like you brought in a stray.”
“Pearlie, meet Dr. Jasper T. Rocklin. Doctor, this is my foreman, Pearlie Fontaine.”
Rocklin tipped his derby and said, “A great pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fontaine.”
“Yeah, uh, likewise, I suppose, Doc,” Pearlie said. “Smoke, you figure on puttin’ on a medicine show?”
Smoke laughed. “Not hardly. Dr. Rocklin is after the same thing a lot of folks are. He wants to find that bear.”
“Barnaby is his name,” Rocklin reminded him.
“Barnaby?” Pearlie repeated. “That big ol’ varmint has a name?”
“It’s a long story,” Smoke said. “Can you see that the doctor’s team gets a drink? Then you can join us at the house.”
“Sure, happy to.” Clearly, Pearlie was baffled by what was going on, but he was content to wait for an explanation, at least for now.
“Doctor, that beautiful woman over there who just came out of the house and is waiting for us on the porch is my wife, Sally. Come on and I’ll introduce you.”
“I never pass up an opportunity to meet a lovely woman,” Rocklin said as he hurriedly climbed down from the driver’s seat of the gaudy vehicle.
He not only took off his hat but also bowed when Smoke introduced him to Sally. Despite his portly figure, he managed to look graceful while doing so.
“It’s my great honor to meet you, madam,” he said.
“Welcome to our home, Dr. Rocklin,” she replied. She glanced at Smoke. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing back company from town.”
“When I left here, I didn’t know I was,” Smoke said, grinning.
“I suppose this has something to do with why Monte wanted you to pay him a visit?”
“That’s right. Let’s go inside and the doctor and I will tell you all about it.”
Smoke motioned for Pearlie to follow them as the foreman approached.
For the next quarter of an hour, Smoke filled Sally and Pearlie in on the situation, aided by Rocklin’s explanations. Sally sympathized with the loss of the doctor’s friend and companion, and she said, “Smoke, do you think it’s possible Dr. Rocklin’s bear isn’t the one causing all the trouble in the valley?”
They were sitting in the parlor, Smoke and Sally on a heavy leather sofa, Rocklin and Pearlie in armchairs flanking the fireplace. Smoke leaned forward, clasped his hands between his knees, and said, “Almost right from the start, something about this whole business bothered me. It took me a while to figure out what it is. Every time someone’s actually seen a bear, it hasn’t tried to hurt anybody. It just acted like Dr. Rocklin said, like it was putting on a show.”
“That’s exactly what Barnaby would do upon encountering humans,” Rocklin said.
“And every time somebody saw the bear, it left enough tracks for me to follow it for a ways,” Smoke went on. “Sure, eventually I lost the trail, but at least it left a trail, like you’d expect.” He shook his head. “That wasn’t exactly the case with the killings. There would be a few prints around the body, maybe an occasional track elsewhere in the vicinity, but as far as leaving a trail that could be followed, that wasn’t what happened, even in places where tracks like that should have been visible.”
“What are you sayin’, Smoke?” Pearlie asked. “It almost sounds like you think maybe those poor fellas weren’t even killed by a bear.”
“That’s exactly what I’m starting to wonder.”
The eyes of the other three all swung to stare at him. After a few seconds, Sally said, “I thought you were going to say there must be two bears roaming around the valley, Barnaby and a rogue grizzly that killed those men.”
“Well, that’s the most obvious explanation if you accept Dr. Rocklin’s claim that Barnaby wouldn’t hurt anybody.”
“He wouldn’t,” Rocklin said. “I’m absolutely certain of it.”
“But it couldn’t have been a mountain lion or somethin’ like that,” Pearlie said. “We found bear tracks. They were at the scene of every killin’.”
Smoke nodded. “That’s right. Because someone wanted us to think that a bear was responsible.”
“Well, that’s just loco! Who’d do a thing like that?”
“And why?” Sally added to Pearlie’s question.
“And how? Them fellas was torn up like a bear or some other wild animal got ’em.”
“I don’t know those answers,” Smoke admitted. “It doesn’t make any sense, and there’s no evidence that I’m right. It’s just an idea that might explain what’s been going on, but it’s going to take a lot more figuring to know for sure. For now, I think the most important thing is to find Barnaby, if he’s really out there, before Major Daylight does.”
“I concur,” Rocklin said, “and I very much appreciate your help in this, Mr. Jensen.”
“Call me Smoke. If we do find Barnaby and get him somewhere safe, maybe then we can concentrate on figuring out the rest of this mystery.”
“When are you going to start looking?” Sally asked. “It’s too late in the day to start out now, isn’t it?”
Rocklin said, “I was hoping we could begin our search immediately, Smoke.
“We can head for the mountains, toward the area where I lost the bear’s trail the last time I tried to find him, after he spooked Fred Jackson and his kids. We won’t have time to get there today, but we can make a start. We’ll need some supplies to take with us.”
Sally got to her feet. “I can take care of that.” She left the room, headed for the kitchen and pantry.
Pearlie said, “How about me comin’ along, Smoke?”
“No, I’d rather you stay here. I never worry about the ranch when you and Cal are around. Also, the fact that none of those men who went after the bear after the reward was posted ever caught sight of it tells me that Barnaby is smart enough to avoid large groups of hunters.”
Rocklin said, “Indeed, he’s definitely above average in intelligence. I know that from the ease with which I was able to train him. Of course, bears are some of the smartest members of the animal kingdom to begin with.”
“So I figure the doctor and I should go after him, just the two of us,” Smoke continued. “That way we’ll be less likely to spook him and make him hide. You think he’ll recognize you if he ever lays eyes on you, Doctor?”
“Without a doubt! Really, all he’ll have to do is catch my scent. Bears are very intelligent, but their eyesight isn’t all that good, I’m afraid. But if he can smell me and hear my voice, Barnaby will know me. I’m sure of it.”
“All right, then. As soon as we can pack those supplies, we’ll start out, cover as much ground as we can, then first thing tomorrow morning, we’ll head up into the mountains and see if we can pick up Barnaby’s trail.”
Rocklin smiled. “You sound like you finally believe me, Mr. Jensen . . . Smoke.”
“Well, it’s still kind of a far-fetched yarn you spin, Doctor, but if you’re right, it’ll scratch that itch I’ve been feeling in my brain.”
Pearlie said, “But if the doc ain’t right, Smoke, you fellas may wind up with a thousand pounds of killer grizzly in your laps. Not to mention you’d better watch out for that Major Daylight hombre. From what I’ve heard about him, he might not take it kindly if he thinks you fellas are tryin’ to keep him from collectin’ that bounty.”
Smoke nodded slowly and said, “You and I have always known, Pearlie, that the most dangerous animals are the ones that walk around on two legs.”
CHAPTER 24
The next morning found Smoke and Dr. Rocklin several miles from the Sugarloaf, on the north side of the valley heading for the snow-capped peaks in front of them. They had brought along an extra saddle mount tied on a lead rope behind the cage, since eventually the terrain would be too rough for the medicine show wagon.
As he rode alongside the gaudy vehicle, Smoke indulged his curiosity by asking, “How did you ever come by Barnaby in the first place, Doctor? You don’t find a tame bear every time you turn around.”
“Indeed you don’t, Smoke. I was still back in Pennsylvania, putting on shows there, when I happened to visit a town where another attraction was already taking place. A man had set up a wrestling ring and was offering fifty dollars to any challenger who could stay in the ring for two minutes with his champion.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying that Barnaby was a wrestling bear?”
“That’s exactly right. And it was quite a spectacle. Man versus bear! Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“Well, I have an old friend who wrestled a bear one time,” Smoke said, thinking about Preacher. “It wasn’t a competition or an exhibition, though. It was a fight to death.”
A shudder went through Rocklin. “Thank goodness such a fate never befell Barnaby.”
“I suppose the fella who had him would charge an admission price to watch the matches?”
“Of course. Plus any man who wanted to pit his strength against Barnaby had to pay a fee to do so. It was all pure profit, since no one was ever able to emerge victorious and the fellow simply kept all the money.”
“I’m surprised he found enough challengers to make the whole thing worthwhile.”
“Oh, there are always a few men in those small towns who are so confident of their own strength and prowess that they were willing to risk it. Often they’ve fought each other enough that they’re bored and looking for some new excitement.” Rocklin chuckled. “And without a doubt, ample helpings of old John Barleycorn were involved, too.”
“Most men are braver when they’ve been drinking,” Smoke agreed. “The foolish ones, anyway. Did Barnaby ever hurt any of those fellas who challenged him?”
