Trego, page 27
When all the howdy doens were all over, I asked; “How is your haying coming? It’s going to be a snowy winter, I feel it in my bones.”
“We have it all stacked, I think there will be enough to get us by till spring. Are you going to need some in town?” Harold asked.
“I suspect they will. Or we will, whichever. Brie and I have sort of been hashing over some ideas. We just might winter in the Boulder Valley. We have a place there, sort of a family combine, with Janie and Melinda.”
“Well, who’s going to take over as Marshal, and what about the Mine, who’s going to run that?” Molly asked.
“There’s a new guy, I was thinking about him being the Marshal, his name is Harry Little Light, he’s pretty handy. As far as the mine goes, John Derek has been handling the management. But that’s what Brie is seeing about now, she was talking about Sam Benbow taking over as the big honcho.”
We made small talk for awhile, then helped to clean the table off. They had kitchen help to do the rest. Janie and Melinda were standing outside talking to those lovesick ranch hands.
“So, what did those boy’s have to say?” I asked as we were riding out of the yard.
“They asked if they could come a’courten.” Melinda said.
“Well, what did you all tell them?”
“Nothing much, we just smiled. But I think they got our drift.” Janie said.
“I reckon you’d better tell Brie about it. She might put the run on them if they showed up.” I said.
“Naw, Ma wouldn’t, she don’t want us to be old maids, either.” Melinda said.
“Who’s this either person?” I asked.
“Us, that’s who, we don’t want to become old maids, after all we’re sixteen now, we’re almost old maids right now.” Janie said.
“Oh, for Craps sake, you’re not. You’re still little girls, to me anyway.” The trail had narrowed, so I dropped back behind them, single file. Watching them ride ahead of me, I had to admit that they were women, full grown, with all of the proper attributes. How come girls grew up so fast, and boys didn’t? Some boys never grew up. They just swapped one mother for another one.
When we got back to Coolidge, we put up our horses at the livery, since Old Lady McBeths house didn’t have a proper barn, just that old lean-to. When we got home, John Derek and Sam Benbow were having coffee with Brie.
“Come and set down, the three of you.” Brie said. “We were just discussing the mine. Turns out, John says, that it looks like they found another vein. Enough to keep the mine going for some time.”
“So, does that mean that you want to stay on here?” I asked.
“No, it doesn’t. But it does mean, that it will take more capital to develop the mine like it should be.” Brie said.
Sam spoke up, “I was just telling Brie that I knew of some money people back east that would like to invest. They asked me to keep an eye out for something promising.”
Brie took a sip of her coffee and found out it had gone cold, she made a face and said, “I guess the four of us will have to discuss all of what you and John have told me, then make some decision’s. Why don’t we meet at the mine office in the morning?”
I showed John and Sam to the door, while the women stoked the kitchen range up to start supper. Since I had been out of whack for those two weeks they had got in the habit of cooking our own meals, instead of eating at the boarding house or at the saloon.
Which I liked, cause Brie and the girls were very good cooks.
After supper, the girls went to make the rounds with Harry Little Light. The cool evening breeze had started to blow. Brie and I sat on the front porch in some old chairs. Coolidge population had grown since I first rode in here, just two months short of a year ago. Coolidge was a compact little village, therefore there wasn’t much privacy, people were walking by and nodding or stopping to shoot the breeze.
Brie liked to talk, she was the sociable one in the family. Me? I could take people to a certain extent, but preferred to be alone. Well, let me qualify that, alone with my family….
In a spacious lull, I asked Brie, “So, what have you decided to do, set and squat, or rise and walk?”
“I am tired of Coolidge, the mountains seem to be closing in. I have been here way to long. And too, we have enough money to last our life time, plus all of the ingots in the safe. Plus with the advent of the new vein I don’t feel bad about the people of Coolidge, this mine will go on for years.”
“So, you’re saying there are a lot of plus’s in leaving?”
“Yes, but what do you think, this just isn’t my decision?” Brie said, leaning close and giving me a kiss.
“Well, I just happen to agree with you. Besides, I’m getting tired of killing people. I know, I know, I have never killed without the other person trying to kill me or someone else.” I added, when Brie started to protest, when I said I was getting tired of killing.
“I don’t blame you Honey, each time we have to kill a little bit of us dies along with them. Taking a life is something abhorrent. But I for one, don’t feel like getting killed, that’s why we pack these guns.” Brie said.
“I guess its damned if we do and damned if we don’t.” I said, as Janie and Melinda came home. “Well how did it go?” I asked.
“Mostly quite,” Janie said, “We only had to throw four drunks in jail, one of them tried to feel up Melinda, she kicked him in the crotch, he won’t try that again.”
“Girls,” Brie said, “Dad and I have made up our minds, we are going to leave Coolidge, is that alright with the two of you?”
“Sure, what ever you guys decide. Are we going to the ranch in Boulder?”
“Yeah, for awhile. We have to hurry before winter sets in. We need to build more houses. I was also thinking about asking Uncle Lambert and Aunt Garnet if they wanted to go with us. I know the last time I talked to him, he was saying how he was getting weak in the knees from standing in one place all of the time.” I said.
“Yes, I would expect them to go with us, after all, they are family.” Brie said, then added: “We have a lot of details to settle about the mine and all, which we can start working out tomorrow. So why don’t we get a good’s night sleep?”
It really wasn’t that late, I think Brie had the other thing on her mind, she hadn’t caught up yet, not with me being out of action for two weeks.
Brie and I were at the mine office by nine the next morning, Sam and John were waiting for us. I don’t want to bore you with the details, let’s just say we ended up, that Sam would try and get in contact with his money people. The co-op idea was sort of shelved for the time being, waiting to see what happened. In the meantime John would continue as the day to day manager, Sam would oversee everything. Brie hadn’t released any control over the mine, she still owned it and would continue to do so, till someone bought her out. Which we hoped those Eastern interests would do so.
We next went by the barber shop. As expected they were more than glad to leave Coolidge. Turns out a young fellow had approached Uncle Lambert just yesterday looking for a job as a barber. He had just recently graduated from Barber College in Philadelphia. Even Jie-Le Wu was anxious to leave Coolidge, especially since she knew she would be meeting up with Lei, Angus Murphy’s wife.
Our next stop was at the Livery, we needed wagons and horses for the move. At least four wagons and six head of horses for each wagon, plus spares. Henry said it would take a week or so to gather everything up. We told him that would be fine, it would take us that long to sort everything out. Of course we still had our wagon and horses from our trip to Helena.
Next we went to the boarding house. Margaret hated to see us leave, but she was some mollified when she learned that Brie was giving her the boarding house scot free. Jane and Mary could of cared less, they both had their minds on something else. And I don’t have to tell you what that was, not with them being in full blossom and having beau’s beating down their doors.
Next we stopped by the blacksmith shop to see the Mayor, Klaas Bleecker. We filled him in on our plans. He was alright with Harry Little Light being the Marshal, figured he’d have to hire him a deputy though. We told him we’d stay on till just before we left. With that, we were satisfied that we had covered everything. But as you know, there never was a time that everything could be seen to.
Strange thing about telling a story like ours, you want to get it done right. And not forget anything important. But what I might think is important, you might think was boring. I’ve done a lot of reading when I was younger, living alone with Dad, way back in the mountains you didn’t have anything else to do on those long winter nights. I only mentioned this cause I know what I like in a book, ‘action, adventure and the story not to get bogged down in its own verbosity’.
But hell, life isn’t always like that, it has its boring moments and the trick is to make those moments seem interesting. You see, that’s where your brain comes in, or you could say your imagination. I have seen a little kid perfectly satisfied for hours, just playing with an old stick. Oh well, I guess I had better get back to the task at hand….
The next morning I was sort of left to shift for myself. Brie had some details to take care of with the mine. Janie and Melinda were making the rounds. So I went down to talk to Bayard at the saloon.
Bayard brought me a hot cup of coffee and some bearsign..(doughnuts). There were a few men hanging around. Some miners that had just got off shift. And a few old timers jawing away. I got to listening to some of their yarns, they were talking about the early days of Bannack and Virginia City. How the Vigilantes cleared out the road agents.
Henry Plummer was the Sheriff of Bannack in 1863, he and his gang thought they were invincible. But the Vigilantes wiped most of them out by hanging in a two month period, in January and February of ’64.
“So Old Timer,” I asked one of them, “just what did 3-7-77 mean, you know that sign they used to warn criminal’s?”
“Well Sir, one thing it meant was, they had three hours, seven minutes and seventy-seven seconds to light a shuck. But I have heard other explanations. But one thing for sure if that was scrawled onto your door or tent flap you had better move on or they sure enough hung you.” He said, with a cackle….
“Did these murderer’s and highway men get a trial or what?” I asked.
“Trial? Sure they did, right on the spot. Those Vigilantes usually rode in bunch’s, so they just set up a trial with a jury and everything, then they hung them.”
“Well that don’t sound very fair.” I said.
“Fair? Maybe not, but who was going to argue? I tell you, it was sure a lot safer for the average citizen after those Vigilantes started taking care of the riff-raff.” There was that laugh again, it was creeping me out. I sort of got the feeling that this old man used to be one of those Vigilantes.
Listening to those old men made me glad we had a semblance of law and order. Of course it was only as good as the officials that enforced those laws. Cause power corrupts and total power totally corrupts. Right now the land was new, so to speak, but all I could gather from reading history was the fact that every civilization has its hay day, before collapsing in on its self.
“What are you thinking about so hard? You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders Trego.” Bayard said as he refilled my coffee cup.
“Oh, I was just reflecting on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.” I said, with a lopsided grin.
“Sure you were. But I wouldn’t worry about it, cause you have to get up before you can fall down. Here let me put a little whisky in that coffee, that will perk you right up.” Bayard said with a little more insight than I had given him credit for. Really, what did I know about Bayard? Not much, isn’t that true of a lot of our so-called friends?
I watched him as he was telling a new girl what to do. New girl? Where did she come from? Looked mighty young, I bet there was a story about that. I suppose, since I was still the Marshal that I had better find out. Bayard came back over and sat down beside me.
I looked a little closer at him than I usually did. He wasn’t all that old, maybe in his late thirties. I guess if you want to get to know someone, all you have to do is ask.
“So Bayard, have you ever been married?” I asked. He sort of jumped, like I had hit a nerve.
“Nope, but came close once. She died of the fever before we could get hitched.” He said, a little red had started to creep up from under his collar. I took a sip of my coffee and then said, “So who’s the new girl?” Damned if he didn’t jump again, just a twitch really.
“Don’t go getting any ideas about me and her, she’s just a kid. Her mother and little brother and her showed up here two days ago. They came in on the stage, surprised that you didn’t know about them. Anyway, it seems they were trying to get away from some sort of situation back east, I haven’t got all of the details yet. They were plumb broke, I sort of took them in. Gave them a room upstairs. The girl wanted to work for her keep, so I told her she could waitress here in the daytime, but not at night. The crowd gets too unruly at night.”
The red had gotten into his cheeks. He got up and went in the kitchen. So if it wasn’t the girl that had caused the reaction, it must be the mother. I dunked what was left of my doughnut in the coffee, then glanced up to see a woman and a boy about nine years old come down the stairs. That must be her, I thought. Yep, and she was a looker. Bayard came out of the kitchen and went to her, taking her arm he brought her my way, the boy trailing along after them.
“Trego, this is Blythe Bodicia and this young fellow is Almund.” As I was acknowledging the introduction, the daughter came up. “And this is Mae, she’s thirteen.” Bayard added. The girl gave a small curtsy. The Mother just looked at me, I returned the gaze, I could see the deep look of a wounded deer in her eyes. Yes, she had seen a lot of trouble in her past. I did not envy Bayard his task of healing her past wounds. Because I could well see that he was smitten with her.
Blythe looked at my two tied down guns, then at my badge. She said, “I have seen some that looked like you in Denver, but they did not wear a badge.”
“Yes, most do not. But my wife wears two guns, plus also my daughters do also, and they also wear badges. So you see it must run in the family.” I said. She smiled, a bit small, but still a smile.
Bayard said, a bit hurriedly, I might add, “Yes, Trego and his wife keep the peace here in Coolidge. But they say they are leaving us. Brie, Trego’s wife owns the Wise River Mine.”
“Ah, now I understand, power begets power, does it not?” Blythe said. Most times, a comment like that would be considered a jab. But she said it in such a way that one could not take offense. Really, why would I? Because she was right, power does seem to evolve upon its self. I smiled and gave a little bow, while my mind mulled her words over.
Yes, I suppose we did have power. But power is as power does, you see along with power comes responsibility. That’s what a lot of powerful people don’t understand. And I didn’t like either one, the power and its self imposed companion; responsibility. Life was so simple when I first rode into Coolidge, just my horse and dog and the flea’s on his back. Now look at me, a family with the whole town looking at us for their security.
And speaking of my family, in they strode, with their boot heels ringing solidly on the rough plank floor. Blythe and her children backed up a step as Brie and the girls came up. What a contrast, Blythe and Mae were dressed in the latest fashion from back east, or so I supposed. While my women were dressed in pants and shirts with those crossed six guns on their beautiful hips.
Bayard made the introductions. Brie took Blythe’s hand and held it, not letting go, even when Blythe made the feeble effort to secure its release. There seemed to be some kind of communication going on between them, not hostile, thank goodness. I could see Blythe relaxing her guard and some of the hurt leaving her eyes. Some women just seem to automatically have such rapport.
Janie and Melinda meanwhile were talking to Almund and Mae. Bayard and I were subsequently dismissed by omission. Bayard went back behind the bar to take care of business. Jake and Wolf had come in with the women, I motioned for them to come with me. We went back outside and up the street to the Jail, I guess it was about time I did a little something for my pay.
Harry Little Light was setting at the desk going through flyers. He looked up. “Got a new batch of wanted posters, do you want to look at them?” He asked.
“Didn’t you look at them?” I asked.
“Just a couple of the ones on top of the pile, I have to go see Old Women Hetland, she said someone has been stealing her chickens. Probably just a fox or a skunk, but I guess I had better go look.” He said.
I took his warmed up chair and put my feet up on the desk with the wanted poster in my lap. It was sort of entertaining, those wanted poster, some were wanted for small offenses, like stealing chickens. The offense wasn’t worth the paper they were printed on.
Down in the stack four or five deep, was the likeness of Blythe Bodicia.
My feet came down off of the desk with a bang. Said she was wanted for questioning in the death of her late husband, Charles Turnblood. And for absconding with his fortune and children. They called her Blythe Turnblood, but they had caught her likeness quite nicely.
I have found out one thing for sure, just because something is in print, doesn’t make it the truth. I believe she took her children, after all they were her children. And if she did kill her late husband, I bet she had every reason to do so. As far as the money goes, I bet his family or his lawyer absconded with that.
Now we weren’t an official state yet, even though we were a Territory. Now these flyers we were always getting, I didn’t set much store by them. I sort of figure its up to the discretion of the local law as to what’s important and what’s not. Now this ranked pretty low on my important list, so I dug a match out of my vest pocket and tossed both the match and the flyer in the stove.
I sat back down in my chair and put my feet back on my desk. That flyer had come from Philadelphia. Now that place was a far piece off, and since she had got clear out here to the western part of the Territory of Montana, I figured she’d suffered enough.
