The high country, p.30
The High Country, page 30
After breakfast and the horses were rested, they got underway again, and like before, Luke pushed them a little beyond a slow walk. With the sun no longer blocked by the mountains to the east, they rode about two miles before coming to the point where the tracks of the Shoshone camp joined the trail beside Big Sandy. They would now follow that obvious trail to the Shoshone village, a trip that would take a week, if there were no interruptions.
* * *
“What the hell?” Drum blurted. “Where the hell are they?” He got up from the log he had been sitting on and walked back along the side of the stream until he came to the trail left by the Indians. He glared back in the direction of the river, then turned and looked up at the sun now high enough to see. He turned then to complain in Cain’s direction, “They shoulda been here by now.”
“Maybe they just didn’t git everythin’ packed up like they thought they was and they’re gittin’ started late,” Cain suggested.
“I don’t know,” Drum insisted. “I don’t trust that Ransom. There must be some reason why they didn’t go to that Injun camp. I ain’t gonna set here all day waiting for them to ride across this stream. I’ve wasted half the night and most of the mornin’ waitin’ for ’em.”
“Whaddaya gonna do?” Cain asked.
“I’m goin’ right back down this trail we came up on, and if I meet ’em comin’ this way, I’ll show the yeller dog what it’s like to get a rifle ball in the center of his forehead. I don’t care if he’s out of the Rendezvous or not.”
“Don’t go shootin’ off half-cocked,” Cain said. “Most likely, they just didn’t get everythin’ ready to go yet. Let’s ride by that camp of theirs and see what they’re doin’.”
“Anything’s better’n settin’ here by this stream, but if we meet him comin’ outta there, I’m gonna shoot him down.”
“Dad-blame-it, Drum,” Cain responded, “just get ahold of yourself. There ain’t no sense in stirrin’ everybody up for a lynchin’ party, with me and you as the guests of honor. Let’s go see what he’s doin’ and maybe find out when he is goin’. All right?”
“All right,” Drum finally replied. “I reckon that is the thing to do.”
With Drum calmed down a little, they got back on their horses and returned to the Rendezvous the way they had come out, getting wet once again in the process. They knew where Luke’s camp was, so when they got to Ham’s Fork, they turned north. When they came up upon the creek below Red’s Place they stopped to look for Luke and Lester’s camp, but there was nothing there. “What the—?” Drum said. “That’s the place, ain’t it?” Cain, just as baffled, said that it was. Seeing one of the trappers in his camp on the other side of the creek, Drum rode on across and rode down the creek to the camp. He pulled up in front of the startled trapper and asked, “What happened to the folks that was camped on the other side of the creek yonder?” He pointed to the vacant campsite.
The trapper said, “They packed up and pulled outta there.”
“Pulled out?” Drum asked. “Which way’d they go?”
“I don’t know, I weren’t up yet. I knew they was fixin’ to leave, but I just woke up yesterday mornin’ and they was gone.”
“Yesterday! Did you say yesterday?”
“That’s right,” the trapper said, “they pulled out yesterday.”
Drum was rendered speechless for a moment and looked about to explode, so Cain asked the trapper, “Are you sure it was yesterday and not this mornin’?”
“As sure as a man can be about anything these days,” the trapper answered.
“Come on, Drum, let’s go. He slipped out on us. Remember day before yesterday when he came into Red’s? I was thinkin’ at the time that he was talkin’ mighty loud about when he was leavin’. I expect that was for us to hear, and we bought it. So he slipped out of town a day ahead of us.”
“I still aim to catch him,” Drum declared. “He ain’t gittin’ away that easy.”
“Come on, Drum,” Cain said, and rode back up to the road to wait for him, since the trapper appeared to be much too interested in their conversation. When Drum came up beside him, Cain said, “It don’t make no sense to go after him now.” When Drum immediately started to protest, Cain said, “Just listen to me. He left early yesterday mornin’, but he’s got a bigger lead on us because, while we’re usin’ up another half a day, he’s travelin’. And you know he ain’t takin’ his own sweet time about gittin’ there, ’cause he knows we might be on his tail.”
“I don’t care what you say, Nate. He owes me and I aim to collect,” Drum insisted.
“You ain’t thinkin’ this thing through, Drum. We don’t have to go chasin’ him all the way to Popo Agie, ’cause he’s comin’ back here. All we have to do is wait right here. He’s got to come back.”
“I don’t believe he’s comin’ back here,” Drum replied. “I know, he said he was leavin’ but he was gonna come back when he was at Red’s. But he lied when he said he weren’t leavin’ till this mornin’, and I expect he was lyin’ when he said he’d be back, too.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Cain said. “I know he’s comin’ back. You forget I was in American Fur when that old rooster and his squaw who’s ridin’ with him asked Johnson how much longer they was gonna be here, because Luke Ransom had to come back to buy his goods.”
Drum went speechless for a few seconds while he was suddenly struck with new hope. “Damn . . . that’s right,” he drew out. He’s gotta come back. I forgot about that.”
“That’s a fact,” Cain said. “So let’s go back to the camp and see if Alvarez is still there.” They rode up Ham’s Fork to the narrow road that ran between Red’s Place and The Chinaman’s, and down past Boutwell’s to their camp on the stream. They found their two packhorses tied beside the stream. But Alvarez’s dun, his packhorse, as well as their two extra horses were all missing.
* * *
The caravan of riders and packhorses continued across the flat terrain of South Pass, making good time with no sign of any pursuit from Drum and Cain. When they reached a point where the broad trail left by the huge Indian camp cut away from Big Sandy Creek, Luke continued to follow the Indians. He figured he could put his trust in the Shoshones to know that there would be water up ahead. To justify his trust, they struck a sizable creek after a short waterless stretch of prairie. They followed this creek for about twenty-five miles before leaving it to turn due north so as to strike Beaver Creek and continue on until reaching Little Popo Agie Creek, which they would follow to the Shoshone village. It was not a hard journey, but it was a tense one with the uncertainty of pursuit. And as the days went by and the days remaining became fewer, the tension seemed to increase. They were almost to their destination and there was a growing concern for the odds of their successfully outrunning the determined demon that was Big Mike Drum.
They knew they had made it when they began seeing young Shoshone boys playing in the small streams and along the banks of the river. Soon they saw the broad Shoshone village and a large herd of horses grazing near the river. Young Shoshone boys ran to announce their arrival, and soon men and women came to meet the visitors. Luke spotted White Wind, who was walking to meet them. He was walking with another man that Luke guessed was Yellow Moon, and as more people gathered to receive them, Luke saw several others that he recognized from the Rendezvous.
“You can step down,” Carrie said softly, so they all dismounted. Yellow Moon welcomed all four in the Shoshone tongue, with White Wind translating for Luke and Lester and Willow. Carrie was all smiles as she received a special welcome back from her people. Yellow Moon thanked Luke for bringing Lester and Carrie to the village and told him he and Willow were welcome guests.
Then they got around to the gift giving. Three of the packhorses carried heavy loads of gifts to the village from Lester and Carrie. They were mostly food items, like flour and cornmeal, sugar and salt, and things that were seldom available to the Indians, like canned peaches and apricots. In addition to those gifts, Luke had suggested that Lester should keep all of the packhorses he had needed to transport his and Carrie’s belongings to the village. He insisted that he and Willow would need no more than the five packhorses that would leave him. That would allow Lester to make a present of one or two horses to Chief Yellow Moon, Luke pointed out, and make him even more welcome. Carrie was much in favor of the idea.
White Wind, and most of the village, led Lester and Carrie to the tipi that had been erected for them. The supporting poles had been put in place and a hide covering attached to give them some temporary protection while they worked to finish it themselves. “Looks like you and Carrie are gonna have plenty of work to keep you busy for a while,” Luke said to Lester. “Willow and I will leave in the mornin’. I’ve gotta get back before American Fur closes down, or I’d stay and help you.” He looked around at all the smiling faces and remarked, “But it appears like you don’t need it.”
“I swear, Luke,” Lester started, “you’ve done more for Carrie and me than any other man could have. I’m just sorry I can’t do more for you to show you how much I appreciate it.”
“I’d say it’s about even between us,” Luke said. He extended his hand and they shook on it. “I feel satisfied that you and Carrie are in a good place.”
“You watch your back,” Lester warned. “Just because Mike Drum didn’t come after us, don’t think he’s decided to forget about it.”
“I’ll do that all right. I ain’t worried about Drum as long as I can see him coming. I worry more about Cain. He’s the back-shooter.” He grinned then, and said, “But to hell with them, let’s get over there and see what they’re cookin’ up to eat.”
* * *
After a night of feasting and farewells, Luke and Willow slept in the sleeping tent they had used on every night of the trip to the Shoshone village. At the first attempts of daybreak to descend upon the sleeping village, Luke and Willow were up and saddling the horses. Neither of them wanted a long farewell from Lester and Carrie, so it was a hurried operation to get the horses ready to leave. But they managed to get underway just before Carrie began to stir. When she got up from her blanket and went to the door of the tipi, it was to see Luke and Willow riding out of the village. She turned to tell Lester that they were gone. “I swear,” he replied, “they didn’t even wait to say good-bye. They coulda waited long enough to do that.”
Carrie smiled. “They good friends. They don’t wait ’cause they don’t want to say good-bye.”
Chapter 25
Still unwilling to wholly accept the fact that Drum and Cain may not have come after them when they left the Rendezvous, Luke kept a sharp eye for anyone lying in wait for them to leave the village. Then he told himself that even a primitive brain like Drum’s might realize that if he shot someone coming out of the village, he might have a village full of angry savages coming out after him. So he relaxed his eye for the first couple of days, but he became more cautious the closer they got to the Green River. He finally had to accept the fact that his two potential assassins could not predict when he would return, so they had simply decided to wait until he did.
They reached the Green River Valley in the early afternoon and went directly to American Fur Company, since they were short on all supplies. Relieved to find it still there, Luke decided to go ahead and buy the supplies they needed. They managed to load everything on the five packhorses, although all five were loaded quite a bit heavier than normal. “Let’s go see if our old campsite has been claimed by anybody,” Luke said as he checked the load on the fifth horse.
“Why do you want to go back there?” Willow asked. “Why we don’t just go away from here before they know we back?”
“I know how you feel,” Luke told her, “but I’m convinced Drum has got me permanently embedded in his brain. He’s a crazy beast that has to have my scalp and I know he’ll follow us wherever we go. And we can’t live like that, worryin’ about his trackin’ us. I’m gonna settle with him and Cain once and for all.” She was distressed, but she knew he was probably right, and she also knew she could not change his mind.
So they left American Fur and rode up Ham’s Fork until they reached the creek, and Luke was glad to see no one had taken their campsite. He immediately went to work setting up the camp. He took the packs off the horses and put up the sleeping tent. Then he went into the trees behind the grassy area and gathered some firewood for the fire. When he was done, he figured it looked like they were there to stay for a while, and it was about time for supper. Willow looked at him as if she wasn’t sure she was supposed to fix supper or not. So he asked, “You want me to make some coffee while you start supper?”
Surprised, she answered, “Yes, if you want to. I’ll start supper. I need to build fire first.”
“You know, I think I could enjoy a little drink of likker before I eat. I’m gonna run up to Red’s and get one drink, and I’ll be back before you get your fire goin’ good.”
“I wonder why you didn’t take your saddle off Thunder,” she said. “I shoulda known.”
“I’ll be right back, I promise,” he said, and went to his horse before she could protest. Up the road at a lope, he pulled into Red’s Place and dismounted. This time he didn’t tie Thunder to the bush, he just dropped the reins. “If I don’t come outta here, I want you to run,” he said. He loaded his rifle and his pistol, then walked in the door.
His first glance was at the table closest to the door, but it was unoccupied. He looked the room over then. There were four customers but not Drum or Cain. “Howdy, Luke,” Red greeted him. “I see you got back. What can I pour you?”
“Howdy, Red, I just have time for one drink, so I’ll have a shot of that rye whiskey.”
“You were goin’ up to that Shoshone village, weren’t you?” Red asked.
“That’s right, had to help Lester Good haul his stuff up there,” Luke replied. “His wife’s a Shoshone. They’re gonna live with her people. You gonna be here much longer?”
“About another week, I suppose, as long as there’s enough fellows holding those hairy-back dollars to make it worth my while,” he said.
“Well, here’s my last one,” Luke said and pulled a male beaver from inside his shirt. “It’s the one I was keepin’ for my final drink to close this year’s Rendezvous.”
“That’s worth more than one shot of whiskey,” Red said. “Lemme pour you another.”
“Thanks, anyway. One’s all I need,” Luke insisted. “See you next time, Red.” He turned and walked out.
“Luck to ya, Luke,” Red called after him.
Thunder was eating leaves off the bush when he walked outside. “Damn, are you hungry, boy?” As a precaution, he looked both ways before he stepped up into the saddle. “I reckon it is about suppertime.” He wheeled the big bay gelding and rode back down the road to his camp where he found Willow waiting anxiously. “See, sweetheart, I told you I’d be right back.”
“Supper’s ready,” she said. “We have cornmeal again, so I make you some corn cakes.” She held one up for him to take a bite.
He took a big bite and nodded his approval. “I declare that shines.” He took the rest of the cake and sat down by the fire while she poured his coffee.
She took a corn cake for herself and sat down beside him. “Rendezvous over. Where we go now?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I’ve been thinkin’ about lookin’ around the Bitterroots. There’s supposed to be plenty of beaver creeks and streams along the Bitterroot River. But that’s only if we decide we’re gonna stay with trappin’ for another year. We were talking about headin’ up to Oregon Territory the other day, to get us a piece of land all our own.” He saw her eyes brighten at once. “But I reckon that don’t really interest you that much.”
She gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. “You like to tease too much. You know I like to go there.”
“Maybe I’ll just set you on your horse and point him in the right direction, and you can go to Oregon while I trap beaver in the Bitterroot Mountains.”
“I go with you. I your wife.”
“Yes, you are,” he said, “and you better go with me, or I might have to spank you.”
For most of the rest of the evening, they enjoyed sitting by the fire talking about what they might do in Oregon. They were fond of Carrie and Lester, but they didn’t really miss them. They enjoyed each other’s company the most. When it was time to turn in for the night, however, the part of the world that, unfortunately, was reality struck home. Luke told her to pick up the blankets while he picked up an elk hide he had rolled up beside their sleeping tent. Then he picked up both his rifles and stuck his pistol in his belt. He handed her his extra pistol and said, “Careful, it’s ready to shoot. Just hang onto it in case you have to use it.” With his powder horn and ammunition vest on his shoulder, he said, “Come on, we’re goin’ to bed.” He led her back into the trees where he had cut her firewood and spread the elk hide on the ground behind a double-trunk tree. She spread the blankets on the elk hide and lay back on them, knowing there was little chance she would sleep. He sat down next to her and propped one of the rifles in the fork of the double tree trunks. The other, he lay on the ground within his easy reach. Ready then for visitors he was certain would come, he waited.
The minutes slowly turned into hours with nothing to disturb the peaceful night. He didn’t know how long it had been, but the fire beside the sleeping tent was little more than glowing red ashes when, through the trees, he caught the movement of a horse on the Ham’s Fork trail. He focused at once on the open space just before the creek, where Alvarez had stopped to warn him before. Now the two horses and riders came into view in the open space. Company calling, he thought and readied his rifles. “Lie as flat as you can,” he whispered to Willow. Expecting to be called out by Drum, he continued to wait and watched as they both stepped down from their horses and walked down from the trail. As both men continued to approach the tent, their rifles aimed directly at it, he realized that he was not going to be called out to face them. They had in mind a simple execution of both him and his wife. Drum was taking no chances. They continued to advance until they were within twenty feet of the tent—until, as if by signal, they both fired their rifles directly into the tent. As quickly as they could move, each man dropped his rifle and drew two pistols from his belt and promptly fired them into the tent.
